Chapter 558

Absolute Demonic Way.

Those who walk the demonic way must not stop for even a moment.

Wasn’t that what the Heavenly Demon had once said?

No matter what disaster or problem stands before you, there must be no hesitation in the steps you take yourself.

For you must climb to the end and reach the Sky.

One who harbors hesitation will never be able to do so.

Therefore, no matter what blocks your path, do not stop.

Simply break it, cut it, and split it apart.

Those were the words the Heavenly Demon had left to the Demonic Cult.

What a filthy arrogant thing to say.

As for me, hearing those words only made me let out a hollow laugh. Don’t stop? If you would stop, smash everything and pass through instead? Did he think that was as easy as saying it?

Unbelievable.

When I first heard the words, I genuinely could only laugh, but after speaking with this man in person, I did think he really would have said something like that.

Above and below heaven, I alone am supreme.

A man who lived in the same era as Sword Saint Yoo Cheongil and lived as his rival.

At the very end, he was ultimately defeated, yet even now, whenever people spoke of the greatest man of all time, the being placed immediately after Sword Saint Yoo Cheongil was him.

So even if he spat out such arrogant words, the power he possessed and the path he had walked must have given those words justification and faith.

The Heavenly Demon was an absolute figure.

That was what people had said of him until he was defeated.

And the Demonic Cultists who existed beneath him were powerful men no less than that.

The Eight Demons, called the Cult’s elite force, had included more than half whose strength reached the level of beings beyond heaven.

The same was true of the elder circle, who were classified as pillars beneath the Holy Cult.

I had heard several elders had changed now, but among them stood the First Elder.

Black-Iron Demon Sword Gye Mun.

A Sword Demon who had crossed blades with the Sword Emperor.

A Demonic Cultist evaluated as his equal. A martial artist on the so-called level of beings beyond heaven was said to move on a different track altogether.

The absolute master of the current Holy Cult.

According to Woo Young Jin, Gye Mun was the strongest person in the Holy Cult right now, with the firmest standing.

He had not taken the Heavenly Demon’s seat because he lacked legitimacy and did not want it himself.

But they said he was evaluated as someone who would not be lacking even if he ascended as the Heavenly Demon.

An interesting story.

Not lacking even compared to the Heavenly Demon, huh.

There was someone who could dare receive such an evaluation. That was fascinating, and yet—

[An amusing thing to say.]

The Heavenly Demon merely gave the same answer I did. He could have evaluated it himself, but he neither denied nor affirmed it.

And regarding such rumors, Gye Mun had warned that he would tear apart the mouth of anyone who uttered those words.

An extreme pro-Heavenly Demon faction.

The most precious subordinate who had existed under the Heavenly Demon.

If Freak Demon had served as one of the Eight Demons of that era, acting as both fighting force and strategist,

and Sword Demon had moved at the front,

then Gye Mun had been the guardian who directly protected the Holy Cult.

They said that had been the greatest reason why the orthodox faction’s masters, including Sword Saint Yoo Cheongil, had struggled to infiltrate Xinjiang quickly.

Black-Iron Demon Sword.

He wielded a black sword and ink-black Sword Aura.

The Sword Aura he brought down was like a waterfall. The sword strikes he used were like Mount Tai.

A heavy shield focused on defense rather than attack.

Some described Gye Mun as an impenetrable shield.

A shield even the Heavenly Demon could not easily pierce.

That was the evaluation that had come down in Xinjiang.

There were almost no records of him in the orthodox faction, so I could not know for certain, but according to Woo Young Jin, that was Gye Mun.

He does not directly support any particular Family or clan.

Nor had he stood on the Little Heavenly Demon’s side. He was neutral.

Gye Mun was almost the only neutral party in the Holy Cult. He had not even taken disciples. While all the other elders accepted disciples and built up their standing,

Gye Mun simply remained still.

Of course, that did not make Gye Mun’s position fade or shrink.

If anything, it only burned brighter.

The greatest fighting force and the most renowned Demonic Cultist aside from the Heavenly Demon.

They said the First Elder’s disciple would have the greatest possibility of approaching the Heavenly Demon.

Assuming there is no Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, that is.

The Heaven-Slaying Star, called a symbol.

Even if someone possessed that, they could not ascend as the Heavenly Demon without the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts.

So if the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts were not restored, the one closest to becoming Heavenly Demon would be his disciple.

Whether that is true or not...

At the very least, there was one thing I could tell.

KAGAGAK—!!

“Ghk.”

This old man was insanely strong.

CLANG—!!

My sword bounced away. The hard aura I had worked so hard to create shattered apart. I saw the fragments scatter through the air.

I staggered, my balance thrown off. My leg—one sole that had barely been bracing against the ground—lifted away.

This is driving me crazy.

The things I had built up shattered from a single strike. Then I felt a gust.

Gye Mun’s sword poured down toward me.

I moved my arm to block, but I could see the limit. At this rate, I would be cut. I steadied my breath and focused.

The instant my eyes darted around, searching for a method—

“Hup!”

Woo Young Jin cut in. With hard aura wrapped around his gauntlet, he knocked Gye Mun’s attack away.

PANG—!! Along with the sound of air bursting, Gye Mun’s sword path twisted.

SLAASH—!

Thanks to that, only my collar was cut, and my body took no damage. I used that. Taking advantage of my twisted upper body, I closed the distance.

After approaching close, I raised my sword high.

Night Moon.

I created night.

I brought it down as it was, aiming for Gye Mun, but—

“You are insolent.”

With a calm expression, Gye Mun lowered his stance.

KUUUNG—!!!

“......!”

He created pressure and stamped the ground. The floor dug in, and my trajectory changed.

“Damn it—”

The movement I had constructed came undone, and at the same time, my body shook. Night Moon’s power weakened too. Seeing that, I clenched my teeth.

I had to cut him somehow. Even so, I added more force and struck down.

SHAAAK—!!

The sword did not reach Gye Mun. It only cut the air.

KWAGAGAK—!!!

It blasted the floor apart. Since there was gathered hard aura inside it, there was destructive power. It had simply swept across nothing but the ground.

“Do you think moving this simply is correct?”

Along with Gye Mun’s voice, something appeared before my eyes.

The top of his foot.

BAM—!

“Khak!”

My jaw snapped upward.

Crack. Even the protective hard aura I had gathered in advance broke apart.

I rolled my eyes and glared at Gye Mun. I had to prepare for his next move.

His sword came flying again. This was a little dangerous, wasn’t it? I put strength into my middle dantian.

I had to use Moonbolt. If it came to that, I might be smashed to pieces as I was.

Just as I prepared with that dangerous thought—

Whoosh!

“......!”

My body rapidly pulled backward.

SLAASH—! The sword passed before my eyes. I dodged it by a hair.

When I checked what had happened, Woo Young Jin had saved me.

“Haa... hah.”

His face was covered in cold sweat.

“.......”

I took my stance and readied my sword. Gye Mun was standing in the exact same place as at the beginning.

“Is that all?”

He spoke in an indifferent tone.

“If so, I am disappointed.”

“......Aren’t you taking children’s play a little too seriously?”

You said this was catching the instructor. What part of this was supposed to be that difficulty? Even an instructor would be annoying enough, but playing house with the Demonic Cult’s greatest fighting force? This was going too far.

“Why are you doing this? What did I do so wrong?”

“I never said you did wrong. If you are guilty of anything, it is merely being a brat of the orthodox faction. I hold no particular ill will.”

“......Then why are you doing this?”

If he had no ill will, why was he doing this to me? I barely held back my irritation as I spoke. Then—

“It is a confirmation procedure.”

“Confirmation?”

“They say you are the Sword Saint’s inheritor. I am checking whether you can truly carry on his will.”

“What does that mean?”

My brow furrowed. Confirmation? What confirmation?

“Do you have a reason to confirm that?”

Even the orthodox faction was not properly confirming it, yet someone from the Demonic Cult was going to? Didn’t that sound strange even as he said it?

Ugh, that hurts.

My wrist and chest, which had moved to defend, were not just numb but aching.

It felt as though my bones had cracked. How could it be like this after only taking a few hits? I hadn’t even been hit properly—I had only defended.

And yet I had ended up like this.

This is not easy.

He was strong. I could tell that after exchanging just one move with him.

“A reason? I have one.”

Gye Mun smiled. That smile sent an unavoidable chill down my spine.

“The inheritor of that bastard I want to tear to death must not be weak, should he?”

“So you are checking that yourself...?”

“Yes. How is it? Does it not make your heart race?”

“Race, my ass.”

I knew the Holy Cult was a strange place, but I had not expected it to be packed with nothing but humans this abnormal.

I forced myself to hold back a sigh.

Then I looked at Woo Young Jin and said,

“If you see an opening, dig into it. You did well earlier.”

“What?”

“Judging by his reaction, we can’t run either, so let’s try whatever we can.”

“.......”

“If you want to make a proper impression too, get ready.”

Crackle.

I released my energy. I immediately attempted Moonbolt. White energy wrapped around my entire body.

The momentum of Radiant Moon Flash Aura surged all the way to the tips of my hair.

Crack.

The ground dug in. I decided to go all-out too. My speed doubled.

In an instant, I reached Gye Mun’s front.

Wuuung.

I let my energy overflow.

For one moment, time slowed.

Body-and-sword unity—

I entered a state of complete absorption. I made my sword and body one.

I moved toward Gye Mun. I prepared a path with the intention of grasping every single movement he made, but—

“......!”

A chill ran over me as I moved.

Gye Mun’s eyes were watching me. I could see his eyeballs moving.

He can see this?

That was not all. Within the field of vision I was seeing, Gye Mun moved far too quickly.

His lowered sword came toward me.

Chareureuk—!

I tilted the angle slightly and avoided it. Even though my speed had doubled, this was how it was. In other words—

He had not put out even the slightest bit of speed.

And.

This strange feeling...

Body-and-sword unity.

It was what I had felt in my fight with Yu Yeon.

This meant—

“You truly have reached it. That is worthy of praise.”

It meant Gye Mun was also using body-and-sword unity.

All five senses were concentrated on the sword. A sensation as though we were living in a different time.

Damn.

I had naturally expected it. It would make no sense for the Holy Cult’s absolute fighting force not to be able to use body-and-sword unity.

But facing it directly, what I felt was on an entirely different level.

“However, this meager level is not enough.”

CLANG—! KWAGAGAK!!

Sword met sword. A barrage repeated. I barely knocked his blade aside and continued defending.

I was gradually being pushed back.

Damn it.

I thought I had become fairly strong, but was it still impossible after all?

Not yet—

It still seemed too much for me to face a true absolute master. I clenched my teeth until they hurt and tried to create an opening.

Now.

I forced strength into my arm and struck him away.

CLANG—!! It strained my arm, but Gye Mun’s sword shot up toward the sky.

As though he had been waiting, Woo Young Jin dug in.

“Huum!”

He extended fist aura and prepared a blow, but—

“Do not.”

Whack—!

“Ghk!”

Gye Mun twisted his waist and slammed Woo Young Jin’s jaw.

Thud! Had that been an opening created on purpose? Woo Young Jin was struck hard and lost consciousness.

Ah, damn it.

This was bad. What should I do? I was about to consider the next method, but—

“Now the spectator is finally gone.”

Gye Mun spoke in a faint voice.

“Now show me.”

“......Pardon?”

Show him what? I stared at him in confusion.

“How are you using demonic qi? I am curious about that.”

“......!”

Gye Mun dropped a bombshell.

“And.”

Worse still—

“How is the Sword Saint’s inheritor learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts?”

He said something like a damned nuclear bomb.