NOVEL NEXT Ch. 261
Chapter 261: Six Great Demonic Gods (1)
Blood Dragon Heaven-Slaying Sword Art.
It wasn’t just any technique—it was the true secret martial art of the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan.
The devastating strike that woman unleashed with her sword at that moment was in no way inferior to the Sword Demon’s own skills in the past.
No—rather, in terms of precision and sheer ferocity, it was even more overwhelming!
I hurriedly twisted my sword to parry the blood-red qi aiming straight for my heart.
Kagagakang!
Her qi collided with the defensive technique of the Heavenly Record Sword, producing a harsh, tearing sound.
‘It’s heavy!’
Above all else, I instinctively realized something at that moment.
That blow hadn’t even been delivered with full strength!
‘She might be on the same level as the Sword Demon… no, perhaps even stronger!’
It was only a single exchange, but that alone was enough to grasp the opponent’s potential.
‘No matter who this woman is, in my current state, I must avoid direct conflict at all costs.’
I prepared to flee at any moment, keeping my eyes on her.
But then—
From the moment I activated the Heavenly Record Sword’s form, her lips clamped shut.
‘What’s this?’
She stared at me in prolonged silence.
“…….”
“…….”
Only after quite some time did she finally speak.
“That’s a familiar technique.”
“Hmm…”
I didn’t really have anything to say in response.
If she was from the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan, it wouldn’t be strange for her to know about the Heavenly Record Sword.
She then pointed at the sword in my hand.
“Are you the chosen one I’ve been waiting so long for? Then why are you wielding that pathetic sword from the Illusion Clan instead of the Heavenly Record Divine Sword?”
“…Huh?”
“If you made it here, you must have passed through the arrangements of the Ten Thousand Mountain, right?”
“……”
I blankly stared at the sword in my hand.
‘Now that she mentions it… why do I have this?’
The Illusion Clan’s Three Great Treasures—one of which was the True Star Sword.
When I blocked her initial attack, I had just reflexively swung the sword I happened to be holding.
‘Surely Hwan Pyeong wouldn’t have been dumb enough to let it be taken…’
It was truly baffling.
But before anything else—
“What do you mean by the ‘arrangements of the Ten Thousand Mountain’?”
“…?”
She tilted her head and frowned.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
“…….”
Suddenly, she lowered her head deeply.
Whatever I had said must have touched a nerve—her shoulders began to tremble with fury.
“That damn Hwanseong stole a piece of the Ice Palace to make a gate, and that bastard Gwan Cheon, Senior Brother or whatever, even snatched the Amethyst Absorbing Jade, the sacred treasure of the Sacred Flame Sect, and embedded it in that thing…”
…Uh?
“And above all—above all! You just bypassed the gate that Senior Brother painstakingly crafted to prevent a future catastrophe? You came here using a trick!?”
“……Well.”
…I mean, that wasn’t really my fault, was it?
But before I could say anything like that, I noticed her eyes were already on the verge of flipping.
For some reason, though, she seemed more enraged by the latter part.
“I won’t forgive this…”
The woman’s entire body began to emanate an aura that was even more sticky and razor-sharp than before.
Flinch!
‘That’s…?!’
The scale might have been different, but I had definitely seen something similar before.
It was none other than…
“…Heaven-Slaying Physique?”
It was almost exactly like when Ma Jinyoon inherited the Heaven-Slaying Physique through the blood memory during that incident with Ma Cheolsu!
Kwakwakwang!
The moment her pupils and sclera were completely dyed in blood-red…
An aura erupted that I simply could not withstand in my current state.
Blood Demon Dragon Treading Sword Formula
Exploding Blood Sea
I stared up at the sky, now completely obscured by a curtain of blood, and could hardly believe my eyes.
Could that really be called swordsmanship?
A sword cascade, as massive as a tidal wave, literally devoured the space ahead like a raging waterfall!
‘What the hell! Just how much internal energy do you need to pull something like that off!?’
Even at my peak, casting that kind of technique a few times would’ve left me completely drained!
It was a strike that completely ignored the idea of energy control—it was a natural disaster in the form of an attack!
“Damn it! I’m already not in good condition!”
In this state, my only hope was to trust in the durability of the True Star Sword!
I immediately activated the Heaven-Earth Reversal technique, forming a spiraling wind vortex at the tip of my sword.
The bloody energy the opponent had released rushed into that space, gradually coating the True Star Sword in a blood-colored aura.
But—
‘It’s too vast! I can’t absorb it fast enough!’
The woman watched my desperate resistance—and laughed.
“Kukuku! You can even use that? Then I guess you’re capable of Heaven-Sundering too, huh?”
She definitely knew the Heavenly Record Sword’s final technique.
She beckoned to me with one finger and said,
“Go ahead. Show me. I’ll judge whether it measures up to Senior Brother’s version.”
“…If that’s what you want!”
If she wanted to take this to the end, then I had no intention of holding back either.
That was when it happened.
“Hahaha! How about stopping it right there, Junior Sister Ma?”
Boom!
A truly colossal young man, one whose physique could rival even that of Gam Unbi, burst forth like a cannonball through the blood-soaked curtain that blanketed the sky.
At the sight of him, the expression on Ma Samae’s face twisted into one of dismay.
“Ugh! Senior Brother Jin?”
“Senior Brother Pa sent me because you were taking forever to return! But…”
The man, referred to as Senior Brother Jin, turned to me and grinned mischievously.
“You were fighting quite the amusing opponent, weren’t you?”
“No matter if it’s you, Senior Brother Jin, I can’t forgive anyone snatching my prey—”
Slide.
The man flexed his arm muscles with pride and declared boldly,
“Well, I’ll back off once you’re able to pierce through these muscles of mine!”
The pose was so grotesque that both Ma Samae and I were left momentarily speechless.
“You damn muscle pig…”
Ma Samae ground her teeth.
I looked at the two of them, puzzled.
‘That Senior Brother Jin fellow doesn’t seem to be of a higher level than her…’
It must be a matter of compatibility.
“Still, since he’s a guest who came all this way, we should bring him to Master. Stop now, Samae.”
“…Hmph!”
She must have been at least somewhat reasonable, as the curtain of blood that had ruled over the entire area vanished.
The red energy that had dominated her pupils also began to fade cleanly away.
Senior Brother Jin patted my shoulder and laughed heartily.
“Lucky fellow, aren’t you! If not for me, that lunatic would’ve razed this entire place to the ground until her rage ran out!”
“…Yes, I was starting to get that feeling.”
The Heaven-Slaying Physique was, to put it bluntly, the ultimate form of rage disorder.
The fact that she could calm down with just a few words was already extraordinary.
“I’m Jin Gwanchun. From the moment I saw you, I had a good feeling. What’s your name?”
“…!”
Jin Gwanchun.
As soon as I heard that name, I instinctively straightened up in formality.
“Greetings to my ancestor. I am Jin Yeomyung, eldest son of the Jin Clan.”
“Whaaat?!”
I turned to see Ma Samae glaring at me as if I were a cockroach.
“I knew something felt off—it was because you’re a descendant of Senior Brother Gwanchun?!”
In contrast, Jin Gwanchun burst into boisterous laughter, delighted.
“Wahahahaha! I thought you were a promising young man with a sturdy frame and fine skills, but I never imagined you were my descendant!”
“Argh! Disgusting! Why’d it have to be someone from the Jin Clan instead of the Cheon Clan showing up here?!”
At their extreme reactions, I tilted my head slightly in confusion.
No matter how you looked at it, they were both being rather dramatic.
Still fuming, Ma Samae finally introduced herself.
“I’m Ma Seoyeon, you damn Jin Clan heir.”
“Ah, yes. Pleased to meet you.”
Somehow, the duel ended, and I was led deeper into the forest by Jin Gwanchun.
‘I can feel traces of civilization here.’
Aside from the quiet surroundings, it was evident that some effort had gone into paving the path.
And far off in the distance, I could spot the remains of a small village.
‘Judging by the qi in the air, I thought this place might be the Heaven of Sacred Spirits… but maybe not.’
My mind grew increasingly tangled.
Where exactly was this place, and what had become of the outside world?
‘Damn it. Where the hell did Gu Chil go? Why am I the only one here? He didn’t die, did he?’
All kinds of thoughts surged through me.
Had Yura returned safely to the main cult?
Was Gu Chil alive?
What happened to Baek Sang-ah after helping me escape?
What was going on in the Murim world now, and what was I supposed to do next?
‘These people are the key. I need to understand the situation here before deciding my next step.’
As if she sensed my gaze, Ma Seoyeon scowled and glared at me.
“What are you staring at?”
“…Nothing.”
According to legend, among the six founders of the Heavenly Demon Sect, the one who shed the most blood was the Blood Demon God.
Born with the most wicked Heaven-Slaying Physique in history, she was said to have butchered countless martial artists and plunged the Central Plains into a dark age.
That reputation was so infamous it still lingered over a thousand years later. She must surely have an innately cruel and vicious temperament, and yet—
“I’m back, Senior Broooother!”
…Wait, hold on—huh?
What did I just hear?
“Ah, you’re back, Samae?”
A gentle-looking man far off in the distance, who was stacking firewood, waved at her.
And the previously volatile expression on Ma Seoyeon’s face began to melt like summer ice.
“You’ve worked hard. As always, you’re the only one who listens to me.”
“Hehe, hehehe…”
“……”
The woman now smiling like she was basking in happiness—wasn’t that the same person who just moments ago had tried to turn me into a facial reconstruction project?
“…Who is that?”
I stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape, staring at the fox of a thousand years.
As if expecting this, Jin Gwanchun kindly patted my shoulder.
The man had a remarkably gentle and kind appearance.
Even the energy he exuded was so refined that he couldn’t possibly be mistaken for a demonic cultivator.
He seemed more like a Daoist hermit from a Taoist sect.
“I’m Yoo Jeon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“…Jin Yeomyung.”
I reluctantly shook his hand.
‘To think I’d meet the progenitor of the Yoo Clan in a place like this…’
The relationship between the Heavenly Demon Ancestors, the Six Great Demonic Gods, and Yoo Jeon, the great disciple, was a catastrophic fallout with no path to reconciliation.
And yet, here they were, getting along just fine…
While I was frowning slightly, tangled in confusion, Yoo Jeon spoke to me.
“You possess the key to the Heaven of Sacred Spirits. So why did you sneak in through an irregular method instead of the official gate?”
He echoed the exact same words Ma Seoyeon had said.
“Is this place the Heaven of Sacred Spirits?”
Just as Yoo Jeon was about to answer—
“Hey, Senior Brother was the one asking! Not a counterquestion—give a proper answer, huh?”
Suddenly, Ma Seoyeon shoved her face in front of mine, her expression twisted like a vengeful spirit.
Jin Gwanchun grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and yanked her away.
“Let go, you bastard!”
“Calm down, Samae. Don’t ruin the mood.”
This reminded me of a cat being manhandled by a human.
…If I said that out loud, she’d probably try to kill me.
As he watched their bickering with amusement, Yoo Jeon turned his gaze back to me.
“It’s not the Heaven of Sacred Spirits. We merely recreated the environment to resemble it. The key to the gate was set up to match, as well.”
“……”
“Perhaps it was arranged by a descendant who visited several centuries ago.”
It was almost certain that descendant was the Second Heavenly Demon.
“Then this place…”
“This place…”
Yoo Jeon sighed, his tone tinged with melancholy.
“…is a contingency for the future, a simulated crossroads different from the original path. In short, it is both our shameful refuge and a kind of miniature garden.”