Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

“As you all know, we punished the wicked devil’s followers who were hiding in Zhongyuan not long ago.”

Technically, this war had been started by the Martial Alliance. 

If they hadn’t moved and attacked the demonic branches, this Orthodox-Demonic war might have been postponed for several years. 

Nevertheless, Jwa Do-gyul did not talk about ‘the first shot’. 

For their cause, the Martial Alliance wrapped up their actions as justifiable punishment for the followers of the Demonic Cult. 

They were demons; that was the reason. 

If they said that it was the Martial Alliance who had started the war here, justification would go over to the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.

Jwa Do-gyul was also aware of this fact, so he did not tell the sect leaders the truth. 

Instead, they were more likely to respond to his words denouncing the Demonic Cult. 

“The filthy demons!”

“We must drive them all out of this land. Let them know the fear of the righteous and chivalrous!”

Those who did not know the truth?

Those who did not know the truth bandwagoned together, knowing nothing of the reactions of those who did know the truth.

“Yes, yes!”

As all of their opinions converged, Jwa Do-gyul smiled. He raised his hand. 

As if it were a sign, those who had been talking went quiet. 

Jwa Do-gyul nodded. “This old man agrees with you. Everyone here has the same opinion, don’t they?”

Jwa Do-gyul glanced around the platform. He then looked at each person one by one. 

“Of the 570 factions who have joined the Martial Alliance, 500 of them have gathered today for our cause.”

500 sect leaders.

If you combined the sect members under their command, that would be a large and united army. Even when compared to the army of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, it would not be small. 

Among the four Demonic Armys, the Southern and Northern Armies hadn’t yet advanced, but that didn’t matter. 

The victory of Orthodox Murim wasn’t what Jwa Do-gyul was after anyways. 

It will be time after the blood has flowed and the seeds of Zhongyuan have died out in this land. 

At that time, the Cult of the Inverted Sky would appear. 

That was the moment Jwa Do-gyul was waiting for. 

Without even knowing this, the sect leaders of Murim raised they’re energy, as if responding to Jwa Do-gyul. 

Seeing their momentum, Jwa D-gyul slowly unsheathed the sword strapped to his waist.

Whoo-hoo!

The sword in his hand began to vibrate, and a white light wrapped around his blade. 

Huai—

It was a brilliant and shining sword.

Sword aura wrapped around the sword, pulsating with energy. 

Jwa Do-gyul raised the sword high into the sky. 

“On this day, this Lord makes a declaration to the Heavens and earth!”

Roar! Roar!

His voice echoed across the area.

It was as if the spirits of the Heavens and earth were responding to his call. 

“May all those Demonic cultists be defeated at the hands of cloud-like heroes of Murim who have come here with a just cause!”

Standing underneath the platform, the sect leaders shouted, echoing his call. 

“Waaaahhhh!”

“Waaaahhhh!”

And, as if responding, the martial artists who had not been allowed into the meeting also shouted. 

“Waaaahhhhhhhh!”

It was the moment the Martial Alliance officially called for war.

“Waaaahhhh!”

It was not easy for the cheers and rising excitement to die down. 

The shouts continued even after Jwa Do-gyul had descended from the platform. 

There was overwhelming applause. 

Jwa Do-gyul walked down from the platform, glancing back with a cold smile. “You are all fools.”

Peng Ah-hu, an elder of the Alliance who was walking behind him, concluded, “Those who are Orthodox are all those who tremble with hypocrisy, but act magnanimous and majestic.”

Jwa Do-gyul nodded at Peng Ah-hu’s words. 

If it were someone else, they would never be having this conversation. 

Outwardly, Jwa Do-gyul was known to be the kind, compassionate, and judicious Lord of the Martial Alliance. 

The only exception to this farce was an elder of the Martial Alliance and the Peng Clan, Peng Ah-hu. 

He was a member of the Cult of the Inverted Sky, just like Jwa Do-gyul. 

“Phew, didn’t it go well?”

Agreeing with that, Peng Ah-hu smiled brightly. However, the smile was brief. He frowned and spoke in a gloomy tone: “Some of the Taoist factions and Five Great Sword Sects were absent.”

His words were enough to make Jwa Do-gyul’s expression harden. 

“Hmm.” Jwa Do-gyul paused, then murmured, “Clearly, almost half of the Taoist sects did not attend. The same is true of two of the Great Five Sword Sects.”

Peng Ah-hu nervously muttered, “I wonder if they have noticed.”

Jwa Do-gyul tilted his head in thought. “Well…”

In fact, it was a bit surprising that the Mount Hua Sect had not been present. Not to mention, the troops of the Demonic Cult were currently occupying Sichuan, weren’t they? 

The Mount Hua Sect was still motionless, even though it was obvious that Shaanxi Province would be attacked, since Gansu Province had been. 

In that regard, it was the same for the Taoist sects. 

Soon after, Jwa Do-gyul made a solemn expression. “We will soon find out what they have in mind.”

Peng Ah-hu’s expression shifted and he tilted his head. “What are you talking about?” 

At his question, Jwa Do-gyul nodded in satisfaction. “Shouldn’t there be sacrifices in order to speak to the emperor about grandeur?”

“Sacrifices…?”

“Hehe, you’ll see.”

***

Poison.

While the Martial Alliance called for war, Woon-seong was deep in thought. 

He wasn’t thinking about much. 

An unknown poison was in his body. He was thinking about how to overcome this poison.

How do I decipher the poison without the actual poison?

Ordinary poisons could be collected and drained from one place. Or they could be burned within the body by internal qi. 

But if that were possible, Master wouldn’t have fallen to this poison. 

Woon-seong smiled bitterly. 

Even now, the poison was persistently clinging to Woon-seong’s body. He had tried to rip it away, but it only stuck on stronger and did not give way. 

It wasn’t weak to fire either. He had tried to collect and burn the poison with Semi-Divine internal qi and the Divine Flame.

Even after all of that, the poison was still intact. 

Woon-seong, who had tried many different things, had to laugh.

Now, he no longer tried to stimulate it, just letting it sit. It was because the poison seemed to be having a seizure as he stimulated it. 

It was the Earthen Body. 

The Heavenward Soul Earthen Body was a body refining technique that burned the soul to change the Heavens, and converted the body to the earth. That was a power which allowed him to operate his innate essence qi and to heal rapidly.

But the Heavenward Soul Earthen Body was also useless against the poison.

In the end, I have no choice but to limit my usage of qi as much as possible.

Woon-seong shook his head. 

The enemies he was against were strong enough to swallow the Imperial Palace. Moreover, the emergence of those Semi-Divine puppet things continued to threaten him, forcing him to use his abilities.

Do I do nothing?

If he preserved his strength in order to live on, he would not be able to achieve revenge even in this second life. 

Woon-seong bit his lips so hard they began to bleed. 

The metallic and bitter tang of blood coated his tongue. 

Perhaps he should have been grateful for that.

Deep in thought, his chapped lips were now wet. 

At this time, another method came to mind. 

The poison requires the physical body.

So what if he changed bodies?

It was not a question of whether he could transfer his soul to another person’s body. He was just wondering what would happen if he could reforge his body once again. 

Body modification.

The phenomenon of emptying the body of all impurities and eliminating all unnecessary things. 

If he somehow caused such a phenomenon, he could probably blow out all the poison in his body. 

At this, laughter bubbled out. 

Woon-seong burst into a fit of laughter, not hiding any of its emptiness. 

“Whew.”

A sigh followed the laughing fit. 

The best way is always the most difficult.

Woon-seong had already achieved a martial body through body modification once. In other words, not only had his soul and internal qi crossed the threshold of humanity, so had his body. 

It’s already hard to do it once, but twice…

If he knew how to cross that wall, perhaps it would not be so difficult.

He did not know when he could experience another phantom metamorphosis or when he could surpass the limits of his body again. 

But. 

If this is the only way, I’ll do it.

A second body modification. 

If you run hard, you will reach it someday. 

Woon-seong clenched his fists. 

In order to push this body even harder…

Woon-seong’s gaze turned to the iron bracers curled around his wrists and ankles.

Even after reaching Semi-Divinity, he had continued increasing their weights. 

Just based on the sounds they made, they were terribly heavy.

Indeed, the iron rings on Woon-seong were unbelievably heavy for a person to carry. 

They were 75 kgs (165lbs) each, weighing just a bit less than an adult man.

Combining both his arms and legs, his body was imprisoned by a total weight of nearly 300 kgs. 

It was quite a frightening weight. 

But now I feel no discomfort moving with them on. 

That meant it was time to change the weight.

I should call someone and ask them to make new iron rings. 

Just as he was thinking that, there were voices from outside the tent. 

“May I come in?”

It was the Senior Strategist.