A mountain range prepared for by generations of Demon Cult Leaders—its full scope unfathomable. The slope of shattered stone looked as if a giant like Pangu had smashed it countless times. The early spring wind scraped across the ravaged path, whistling like the cries of spirits in a haunted valley.

Jeong Yeon-shin felt beneath his feet. The slope of shattered stone looked as if a giant like Pangu had smashed it countless times.

The early spring wind scraped across the ravaged path, whistling like the cries of spirits in a haunted valley.

Jeong Yeon-shin felt beneath his feet.

This mountain of warriors he had stepped onto, albeit unintentionally, was nothing less than a hellscape.

Each person, driven by the instinct to survive, had begun releasing waves of internal energy and defensive force.

Wooooooooooong—!

The energy currents of those who had expelled their own unique internal force intertwined like opposing energies in a chaotic art.

As if striking at close quarters, the entangled power didn’t allow escape—it instead bound their bodies in place.

It was a martial hell that not even Buddhist scriptures had described.

“What... what in heaven’s name is going on...?”

“Aaaaaargh!”

“It’s the Heavenly Demon! The Heavenly Demon has cast a wicked spell!”

This was the devastation wrought by So Cheonmujuk.

Even for martial artists, if their bodies collided with energy waves of this magnitude, the internal injuries would outweigh any external blow. Though they would not die—being masters of inner power—they would suffer pain akin to death.

Among them, no familiar energy currents were present.

‘...I suppose I should be relieved.’

The Divine Sword Corps must have resisted the sudden, wide-scale void distortion.

It was likely thanks to the latent anti-evil energy etched faintly into the Radiant Seal—a technique derived from the Circle of Radiant Force.

Mun Gok wasn’t here either.

That monster had likely shaken it off by sheer strength.

If So Cheonmujuk had not personally acted in front of him, there would be no way she could affect one of the Six Original Star Lords.

Even the core disciples of Zhongnan and Mount Hua were not felt.

That was the divine mystery of ancient righteous sects—or perhaps, it was the subtle influence left by the countless masters of past generations, harmonized into their schools.

The complete opposite of Jeong Yeon-shin, who had failed to preserve his own original nature.

That was why the screams echoing from the mountain of martial artists did not come from anyone connected to Jeong Yeon-shin.

He thought,

‘I have to save them.’

The screams only grew thicker and heavier.

It was reminiscent of the Eight Burning Hells described in Buddhist scripture—they twisted through his ears, laced the dry air with the stench of blood...

But only briefly.

Jeong Yeon-shin silently lowered his gaze.

Baek Mi-ryeo, the sister of Ma Gwang-ik whom he had long hoped to reunite with, was approaching as if in a dream.

Her jet-black long hair flowed and gathered like flawless silk, and darker still were her eyes—scanning Jeong Yeon-shin with amused interest.

Then came another step.

Step.

She walked unhesitatingly up from the base of the mountain of corpses, yet only a few of her footsteps rang clearly in the air.

As if it were all a game.

Each time her worn leather shoes grazed the ground, the wailing of martial artists piled like mountain peaks... fell silent.

As if something in their throats had been forcibly seized.

As though she, without intending to, had plucked and seized the suffering of martial elites like strings on a seven-string zither.

She layered overwhelming influence over the entire space.

Jeong Yeon-shin had experienced a similar footwork before.

‘Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Steps.’

The difference from So Cheonmujuk was that this presence wasn’t deliberately releasing anything.

Every step was itself a profound martial technique.

It was as if this being invented martial arts as naturally as breathing.

Yet unlike when he first encountered So Cheonmujuk, there was no sense of kinship.

Perhaps because, unlike Jeong Yeon-shin, this being had lived for countless years—or because once one carves their name into eternity, even physical constitution becomes meaningless.

Step.

At last, the being—hard to define as male or female—stood before the mountain of martial artists.

At last, the being—hard to define as male or female—stood before the mountain of martial artists.

They looked upward at an angle, while Jeong Yeon-shin felt as if he were being looked down upon.

And all of it... felt perfectly natural.

‘Baek-sunbae’s consciousness isn’t there.’

The moment he felt this with certainty, the First Heavenly Demon spoke—just a short phrase.

“It’s been a while.”

Wearing a human body like a garment, speaking with red lips as though divine.

Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the incomplete Heavenly Demon Divine Armor once worn by the Mo Yong Clan Leader.

Something embedded beneath the defensive force had once spoken to his upper dantian.

—Arrogant.

It was the same tone.

“To say it’s been a while” meant sensing all the Demon Cult’s techniques scattered across the world.

As if the spiritual essence of the dead persisted, passed down from verse to verse.

The Heavenly Demon’s lips curled into a subtle smile.

“You’ll be able to do it too.”

Though the temperament was dreamlike throughout, the tone was casual—it was impossible to tell if it was a joke or advice.

But what mattered most to Jeong Yeon-shin now was the body that Baek Mi-ryeo inhabited.

That devastating bare-handed demon technique had changed her entirely.

Her face now pure white. Still beautiful and sharp, as always.

Yet she no longer felt like the sister he knew.

Not only was she wearing the pure white robe of the Demon Cult, even her expression and aura had changed.

‘So this... is the choice she made.’

Jeong Yeon-shin made sure to hide his true feelings from escaping beyond his upper dantian.

And then, he spoke.

[Judging by the fact you didn’t use your body from life, I suppose you failed to recreate Won Yeong-shin properly.]

He said this of no one else but the First Heavenly Demon.

The being who seemed to look down on the world even from the depths of the underworld—the supreme demon of all time, who acted out every contradiction with ease.

But truth is truth.

Even the Elder Council Chief, Shin Byeok, during the Grand Battle at Ipwang, was different.

His entire energy structure had perfectly reshaped itself into Shin Cheon-hwa’s form.

In contrast, this First Heavenly Demon’s body seemed only half-forged.

The omnipotent one smiled faintly and fell silent.

“......”

At this moment, Jeong Yeon-shin stood above the mountain of martial artists, looking down on her.

The sword-like righteousness within his heart resonated with the scene, as if it were only natural.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Even if—for now—the difference in their existence and martial skill was vast.

Ruuuuumble—

A sound echoed from within his body—three inner energy rings rotating endlessly, though barely held together. It was to keep the internal energy flow moving, even a little. Every muscle in his body threatened to convulse, but he had locked them in place using full-body emission.

“So noisy.”

The Heavenly Demon mockingly covered her ears with her long fingers. The playful gesture somehow carried a demonic elegance. Her next words were the same.

“Three is too many. You should try reducing it to one.”

It was hard to tell whether it was a petty complaint or once-in-a-lifetime advice.

But one thing was clear—she had seen through the inner rings.

She must have also discerned Jeong Yeon-shin’s condition.

He had suppressed the masters on the surrounding mountain slope using Silent Radiance Swordscape and Ten-Mile Lightstream.

He had incapacitated two peerless masters of the previous generation.

At this point, it was strange that he was even still standing.

He was nowhere near full capacity.

Just as Jeong Yeon-shin had anticipated.

He had blocked her full manifestation. Now, they were on equal terms.

No more excuses could be made.

Even in this condition, he had to be able to stand against the world.

‘The Jinryeong mountain range is under my control.’

The west belonged to the Divine Sword Corps and Mun Gok.

The east was held by Jeong Yeon-shin and the Seven Disciples.

There were no other variables.

Only the Heavenly Demon remained.

“What an amusing body you have. Your qi is empty, and your mind flickers in and out...”

The Heavenly Demon opened and closed her white hand, chuckling softly.

Compared to her own body, which had once resembled a heavenly god, this must have felt like being trapped in dust.

Yet she seemed to enjoy the clear disadvantage.

“To fill what is incomplete...”

Slowly.

“...is the delight of life.”

The Heavenly Demon raised her palm to the sky.

Her long fingers stretched wide, as if reaching toward heaven.

It must have been the initiation of the Demonic Path’s most infamous technique—Absorbing Star Great Art.

A supreme technique that devours all the energy between heaven and earth.

In that instant, her gaze brushed over the half-dead corpses dulled by Jeong Yeon-shin’s starlight—

Martial artists with severed arms or swords embedded in their own /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ dantians.

She looked over them all and formed a crescent smile, as if she had found madness akin to her own.

“Truly... a beautiful sight.”

[Their lifelines are too tenacious. There’s no energy left for you to take.]

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke slowly.

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke slowly.

[There’s much to talk about. But first, acknowledge that you are a ghost who has descended into the land of the living. If you’ll sit and share a drink with me, I might consider treating you as an equal.]

“Nothing to take? The heavens have served a feast. And you, you’re a first-rate chef.”

The meaning of her words became clear in the next instant—

Jeong Yeon-shin’s starlit sword formations, the ones suspended in the sky, began to fall like meteor showers.

KWAHHHHHHH—!

She cast the Absorbing Star technique not on corpses—but on the night sky.

Star Absorption. Drinking the stars.

Her thoughts were on a different plane.

She sucked in the starlight bursts of emitted force that Jeong Yeon-shin had left suspended above.

Then, using Yozu Northern Sea’s Great Transference, she assimilated it all into her body in a flash.

She didn’t seem like a demon. She felt more like a god of martial arts.

FWOOOSH!

Massive pillars of light began piercing the night sky one by one, stabbing down to the earth, shredding the darkness like a lie.

“Quite... flavorful.”

The Heavenly Demon stood bathed in the flood of golden sunlight.

“Though your life is poor and empty, I do enjoy the impression of the reed field. It carries a noble tone.”

Her lips, redder in the sunlight, curled into a satisfied smile.

The brilliant light flowed through her hair like a divine cascade.

A beauty that could entrance all beings.

The way she summoned daylight felt unnaturally fitting—the eerie mystique of a demon who brushed the sky itself.

“You’ve become more useful than expected. I owe you thanks.”

With those words, she vanished dreamlike on the spot.

Only a vast silence remained over the mountain slope.

Utterly free.

She left and appeared at will, her actions unpredictable, her intentions unknowable.

If chaos ever took human form, it would be the Heavenly Demon.

Jeong Yeon-shin stood frozen until then.

Finally, he slowly unsheathed his sword.

Only then did Dan Jeong-jeong come to her senses and cry out, looking like her soul had fled her body.

“Lord Jeong! Why... why did you just stand and watch...?!”

“Lord Jeong! Why... why did you just stand and watch...?!”

The former Spear King, Ak Bi-gang, criticized Jeong Yeon-shin in a firm voice.

“While rumors swirl of the Northern Warlord marching south, trees with legs go berserk, and the madness and power of the martial clans grow stronger by the day...Now even the First Heavenly Demon appears? The Central Plains are finished. You’ve been made a pawn by the greatest demon of all time.”

“You don’t mention the Grand Alliance or the Four-Saint Martial Alliance. Is it because you were once a mere subordinate to the Grand Alliance’s supreme masters?”

“......”

Jeong Yeon-shin coolly probed him, but Ak Bi-gang just clenched the wrinkles by his eyes, his face pale.

At the same time, the head of the Gaebong Clan showed a peculiar expression.

“I heard the cry of the Demon Cult Leader just now, talking about wisdom of the past.

You also spoke to the Reborn Radiant Star about the Gate and the famine.

If it’s the First Heavenly Demon... someone who renders all mysteries of time meaningless...

Then I can guess your plan.

You’re intending some kind of three-way duel. A discussion through blades.”

The elder continued with unprecedented courtesy. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“But that... would require acknowledgment from none other than the greatest demon in all history...”

He trailed off.

Jeong Yeon-shin was already at the spot where the Heavenly Demon had vanished into the void.

He drew his sword across the stone, as though seeking a thread—

Each movement of the blade was precise, delicate, like carving a path.

“...?”

By the fourth slash—

Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly disappeared, as if slipping into the void left by the pale cut.

His field of vision changed in the blink of an eye.

It was a spacious cave.

Hundreds of spans in diameter, its walls embedded with glowing night pearls.

At the center of that faint white glow, two people were visible.

So Cheonmujuk, on one knee.

And the Heavenly Demon, looking down at her with a detached expression.

“...!”

He had never seen So Cheonmujuk in such a low posture.

But it didn’t seem she had knelt by choice.

The entire cave was blackened and scorched.

Even her usual scarf and white robe were torn to shreds and stained.

A being once flawless—now reduced to ruin.

Having manifested the sect’s founding ancestor, her internal force could not possibly remain intact.

She was in the same state as Jeong Yeon-shin.

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon suddenly looked up.

“You followed? Impressive.”

“I thought you were on the same side.”

The moment Jeong Yeon-shin’s voice dropped, So Cheonmujuk’s shoulders gave a slight tremble.

It was only natural.

She was the Demon Cult Leader.

There was no one she’d want to see her like this.

A faint smile touched the Heavenly Demon’s lips.

“I cannot acknowledge... this So Cheonmujuk as my heir.”

“......”

“I read Baek Mi-ryeo’s memories in this body. It seems you and I have ties. So you should understand how I feel. I’m deeply disappointed.”

“I understand.”

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly nodded.