Chapter 175. Even If I Have to Paint Myself with Lacquer or Swallow Charcoal (21)

The situation was evolving rather strangely.

While the Heavenly Demon Cult attacked and destroyed several of the important branches of the Hegemon Clan, Martial Heaven plotted a plan instead of responding directly.

They spread rumors throughout the

gangho

, rumors that quickly grew and spoke about how the Hegemon Clan was being attacked on a large scale by the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Woo-Moon, who had emerged as the newest hero of the Justice Coalition, was put even further into the spotlight as the voices of criticism against the Heavenly Demon Cult grew louder and louder, calling for justice for his and the Palm Martial Emperor’s murders.

Eventually, mired in the deluge of grief and pain supposedly caused by the Heavenly Demon Cult, countless people across the

gangho

stood up and began to call for the Justice Coalition to declare war once more.

Wanting to avoid any unnecessary battles, Si-Hyeon actually took the initiative to send an envoy to the Justice Coalition and reveal the whole truth, as well as the existence of Martial Heaven. Obviously, she also refuted the rumors that the Palm Martial Emperor and Woo-Moon had been killed by the Heavenly Demon Cult.

However, no one believed them, saying that these claims were just too absurd.

‘No one in the gangho believes anything our Heavenly Demon Cult says....’

“Whew.”

Suddenly Si-Hyeon sighed.

The report she was reading stated that correspondence and messengers had become more frequent between the Justice Coalition and the Hegemon Clan recently.

‘They’re definitely talking about exterminating the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Dark Wing Demonic Maiden.’

Now, it seemed as though a Justice and Evil Coalition was about to form.

This sounded like a breach of their fundamental creed, but it was actually not a first. In the past, there had been instances in which the forces of the

gangho

had stopped fighting and formed a united front... and it had invariably been in response to a re-emergence of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

The reason Si-Hyeon had chosen to fight was revenge and revenge alone.

Revenge for her master, the Palm Martial Emperor Baek Sang-Woon, and for her love, Woo-Moon.

Therefore, she struggled to reconcile that with fighting against the Justice Coalition. Especially since there was a very personal problem involved.

‘If I have to fight the Justice Coalition, I’ll also have to fight the Baek Family.’

That was something she desperately wanted to avoid more than anything else.

As she sat on her throne, overcome with anguish, she suddenly heard someone call out to her.

“The elders are asking for an audience. What should I tell them?”

“Let them in,” she said.

“I heed your command.”

Just as the elders came in, Si-Hyeon’s expression turned cruel and cold.

After disinterestedly listening to their greetings, she asked coldly, “And what are you bothering me for?”

An elder took initiative to speak up, though he was trembling under the pressure of the Dark Wing Demonic Maiden.

“Currently, we neither have a successor nor a young Heavenly Demon. The cult members are anxious about our future, so I humbly request that as soon as possible, we...”

The bloodlust and pressure Si-Hyeon was emitting grew more and more intense, causing the elder who was speaking to go mute without even realizing it.

“As soon as possible we do

what

?”

The elder closest to Si-Hyeon closed his eyes tightly.

“I believe that it is best for you to go through with the Marriage of the Heavenly Demon and give birth to the next successor.”

Si-Hyeon’s eyebrows rose as, at the same time, black wings formed of demonic qi appeared behind her.

Woosh!

One of the wing’s feathers stretched out like a tentacle and wrapped around the elder’s neck.

“Ugh!”

“I see. If you really want to die, then you should just say so. I’ll fulfill your wish.”

The bloodlust in Si-Hyeon's eyes grew deeper.

However, the elders had experienced many hardships during their tenure at the Heavenly Demon Cult. Since they had made a decision, they would not pull back now just because they were afraid of her.

This time, another stubborn-looking elder cried out while coughing up blood.

“The Heavenly Demon is the Heavenly Demon before she is a woman. The cult needs a successor!”

Six more tendrils emerged from Si-Hyeon’s wings and warped around the necks of all of the other elders.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Although facing death, none of the elders backed down whatsoever.

They could never, ever forget.

They could not possibly forget how much they and the Heavenly Demon Cult suffered after the Dominating Fist Heavenly Demon had died at the hands of his enemies without being able to raise a successor in time. They remembered

exactly

how miserable they had been without a Heavenly Demon.

They would never go through that again.

Moreover, they also knew what Si-Hyeon had been like before she became the Heavenly Demon, and they knew that the reason she burned with such endless hatred and desire for revenge against Martial Heaven was none other than Woo-Moon, the person she used to love.

Thus, even though they knew how Si-Hyeon felt, they still decided to risk death in order to come and find her.

Watching the elders’ determined gazes, Si-Hyeon finally gritted her teeth and released the demonic qi strangling them.

Thud, thud, thump!

“Please grace us with an answer!” shouted an elder.

The others shouted in kind, almost coughing up blood from the exertion.

“Please grace us with an answer!”

Si-Hyeon was also fully aware of how anxious and desperate they all felt. Because she understood their feelings, she couldn’t bear to just kill them.

“I’ll think about it, so get out.”

After all the elders left, Si-Hyeon sighed again.

She already understood the mood within the cult. She also knew who was the frontrunner as her possible husband.

‘Blood Heaven Asura Captain Hwi Ji-Gang...’

One of the few who had returned alive from the Heavenly Demon Mound.

He had already been recognized for his abilities prior to the events at the Heavenly Demon Mound and was promoted to the position of Blood Heaven Asura Captain at a young age.

Moreover, after surviving the battle at the Heavenly Demon Mound, his cultivation had improved greatly, bringing him to the verge of the Absolute Stage.

That was why everyone considered him as Si-Hyeon’s potential partner.

Si-Hyeon closed her eyes.

—Junior sister...

She could hear Woo-Moon’s voice calling out to her vividly, almost as if he was whispering to her from right next to her.

The feeling of his lips against hers was still all too clear.

That was why everything was so painful and difficult. Everything going on right now was just...

“Senior brother...”

Si-Hyeon’s helpless voice, completely different from when she was speaking to the elders just moments ago, rang through the hall.

The only person watching, Dark Sword, said nothing.

***

The Kunlun Sect Sect Master Na Ban had four disciples, and through them, thirty-two grand disciples. In addition, a number of lay disciples who had left the sect were here to respond to the sect master’s call, and they had come with disciples of their own as well.

In total, the Kunlun Sect had mobilized a total of a hundred and twenty members to attack the Cruel Sandstorm Riders under Na Ban’s command.

“How strange.”

Na Ban was startled by a voice that suddenly sounded from next to him, causing him to draw his sword.

“Who are you?!”

The disciples around him moved like lightning and surrounded the red-haired, red-browed man who had suddenly appeared.

The new arrival didn’t bother to identify himself, so Na Ban’s disciples immediately gathered in a formation and attacked, intent on capturing him.

Sssss!

However, the red-haired red-browed man moved as if he was gliding on the ground, breaking through the formation as naturally as if he were water, easily evading the Kunlun Sect disciples.

“And where in the world could so many mighty figures of the Kunlun Sect be going? ...Actually, never mind, you don’t have to answer. Whatever you’re up to can’t be something good, so I’ll just go ahead and kill you.”

The moment the red-haired man said these words, an overwhelming force arose and enveloped the Kunlun Sect disciples, causing them to tremble in fear.

“

Ugh!

Everyone, use your qi to counter the opponent's pressure and attack!”

Not only was their opponent filled with bloodlust, but he had even declared that he would kill them. It was clear that he was an enemy, and a strong one at that.

The Kunlun Sect disciples seized the opportunity as Na Ban dissipated a significant amount of the pressure around them and rushed at the red-haired man.

The red-haired man—Yeong Ho-San, the Palace Master of the Great Darkness Palace of Martial Heaven—seemed to be swallowed by the shadows of the Kunlun Sect disciples.

Three of Na Ban’s four disciples were Transcendents, while Na Ban himself was a peak Transcendent. Another disciple was a Peak Class expert, and so were another seven of their own disciples.

Of the hundred and twenty people, the twelve martial artists who qualified to be called experts suddenly attacked together!

Moreover, Na Ban’s disciples even deployed the Four Divine Beast Sword Formation, almost doubling their attack power!

Therefore, Na Ban had no doubt that the red-haired man would be immediately taken down.

Bang, bang, bang, bang!

There was a flash of light and an explosion as all of those who were attacking Yeong Ho-San were blasted away, blood spurting from their bodies.

Na Ban’s eyes widened to the point of tearing at the seams as he stood there unable to move, still withstanding the man’s bloodlust and qi pressure on his own.

His disciples had been struck without ever knowing what had hit them.

‘N-not even an Absolute Master would have been able to escape that attack so easily!’

Ten people immediately bled to death, and only two of Na Ban’s disciples survived. However, they weren’t in a good state, either.

Yeong Ho-San held their heads in his palms, pressing down on their Baihui acupoints with his fingers. He let out a soft sigh.

“Scum of the

murim

.”

Crack!!!!

The sound of bones grinding and flesh twisting and tearing spread through the air.

All over their bodies, their veins sprouted through their skin and burst open, blood flowing everywhere.

The two people whimpered, unable to even scream from the sheer amount of pain they were in. It was only at the last moment that they were able to let out a feeble sigh as they shriveled up and fell to the ground.

Thud.

Na Ban looked in disbelief as his two disciples were turned to shriveled husks.

“Y-you bastard!” he roared.

All four disciples were akin to his own children.

They had been orphans he had raised himself, after all. Among them, the youngest had even been abandoned by her parents when she was a newborn and only survived thanks to a village woman breastfeeding her.

They were his children, his kids who would laugh together and bond in happy, sad, and difficult times. Children he could look at forever without a care in the world!

How could he just sit still and watch as those dear children were not only killed in front of his eyes, but also had their bodies defiled by such a horrible technique?

Na Ban was not angry. No... he was far past the point of anger.

Although he was naturally gentle and playful, none of that seemed to exist any longer as he rushed toward Yeong Ho-San, his eyes burning with hatred and thirst for vengeance.

In an instant, the Supreme Void Dragon-Slaying Sword unfolded, and the tip of Na Ban’s sword was imbued with a turquoise aura.

The turquoise aura then exploded, covering a wide area before surrounding Yeong Ho-San from all sides and closing in like a cage.

However, the moment it approached him, the turquoise aura was simply vanquished by the energy radiating from the small aura sphere floating above Yeong Ho-San’s hand.

“You’re nothing more than trash.”

Yeong Ho-San grabbed Na Ban's head.

‘H-he’s going to absorb my energy, too!’

Although he tried to resist, he found himself unable to as all of his qi and vitality were suddenly drained away through his Baihui acupoint.

“AGHHHH!”

A scream of pain burst from Na Ban's mouth.

The Great Absorption Technique not only killed its victims, but it also inflicted such terrible pain on them that some actually prayed for a quicker death.

Yet even as it robbed him of his cultivation and his very lifeforce, and granted him pure suffering in return, the only pain Na Ban truly felt was in his heart, for his disciples.

‘Y-you brats suffered this too... I’m sorry. I failed you.’

“You devil! Let go of him!”

Those who remained rushed toward Yeong Ho-San.

Na Ban screamed inwardly as he lost all his qi and died.

'No!'

Using the qi he had just taken from the Kunlun Sect Master, Yeong Ho-San created an aura sphere as large as one of the heads of the warriors rushing toward him like moths to a flame.

BANG!

With a sharp explosion, the aura sphere blew apart.

Everyone who had been moving a moment ago was on the ground, blood spurting from their entire bodies.

Yeong Ho-San threw the withered husk Na Ban into the pool of blood like he was discarding trash.

“Hmm. I think I need to walk around some more.”

However, a sword suddenly flew at his back.

Ting!

Due to Yeong Ho-San’s Paragon Qi, the weak sword flying toward him without even a hint of sword aura simply shattered into dust.

“It seems you’re choosing death, even till the very end.”

The man who threw the sword was a young man from a small sect founded by a lay disciple of Kunlun. He had only survived due to the sacrifice of his father, who had done his best to protect him with his own body.

With a face covered in tears and blood flowing from a wound on his head, the young man held his head upright even as he lay on the ground, glaring at Yeong Ho-San.

“You bastard!”

Yeong Ho-San walked through the pile of corpses and placed his foot on the head of the young man. The young man seemed barely nineteen.

“Among the scum of the

gangho

, you bastards from the Demonic Path and the Righteous Faction really are the most tenacious. Hm... does this mean that the extreme ends of two opposing paths actually coincide?”

Crack!

After killing the last survivor, Yeong Ho-San used his qi to flip the ground over, burying all of the corpses in a single move.

He wasn’t doing this out of honor or pity; he had no consideration for such useless things. He was simply covering his tracks in order to make sure nothing interfered with Martial Heaven’s plans.

***

The Cruel Sandstorm Riders changed their main camp's location again.

However, Woo-Moon was able to easily track them from the original location of their camp.

‘Then, shall we start?’