novelraw Chapter 225
Chapter 225
Chapter 225: Ice White Demon Lord Seori (4)
“‘The Heavenly Demon came from the Ice Palace?’”
Sewoon’s pupils quietly wavered.
However, it was not as though he had never harbored a similar suspicion himself.
Until the Heavenly Demon’s emergence, there had been no records of the Demonic Cult possessing Yin-Cold Qi Arts so earth-shaking in scale.
Where the Heavenly Demon’s Yin-Cold Qi Arts had originated from, and what had inspired them, had long been a subject of curiosity among countless martial artists.
After all, there had to be a source martial art that had influenced it.
And within the history of the martial world, the place most renowned for exceptional Yin-Cold Qi Arts was naturally the North Sea Ice Palace.
Still, at most, Sewoon had only suspected that the Heavenly Demon might have had some sort of connection with the North Sea Ice Palace.
He had never imagined that the Heavenly Demon truly carried the blood of the North Sea Ice Palace, as Seori claimed.
“‘If what Seori says is true, the entire martial world would be thrown into upheaval.’”
Yet he did not allow those thoughts to show on his face.
Instead, he stared at her with eyes full of suspicion and spoke in a low, cold voice.
“So you’re spouting such absurd nonsense because you can already see your own end and are desperately trying to survive?”
But Seori let out a quiet chuckle.
“For someone criticizing me, you’re quite the actor yourself, Husband. Still, no matter how hard you try, you can’t erase the unusual light in your eyes—so stop there.”
Her smile was deeply alluring.
“Well, since the story needs a proper conclusion, I’ll continue.”
“…What?”
“None of the Ice Palace would have known this, but before those Blood Cult bastards attacked me—”
What followed was something Sewoon had never anticipated.
“I discovered traces of the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon.”
“!!”
Traces of the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon?
Sewoon’s body stiffened ever so slightly.
Seori did not miss that reaction and maintained her composed smile.
“I first detected traces of the Demonic Cult a few months ago, in Zhongmo County of Kaifeng.”
“…!!”
…Zhongmo County of Kaifeng?
He was taken aback.
It was a familiar place.
Naturally so.
That place was—
“‘Where I led the Jecheon Unit and wiped out Pa-eum Bima and the Blood Cult forces.’”
Zhongmo County had been the site where the Blood Cult had secretly produced Gu Poison.
Then why was that place being mentioned by Seori?
And to claim that traces of the Demonic Cult had been found there?
Doubt surfaced in Sewoon’s mind.
“‘She might have mistaken the traces of my battle with the Jecheon Unit as those of the Demonic Cult… but that seems unlikely.’”
Holding his tongue, Sewoon focused on Seori’s continuing words.
“There was something strange about it.”
“…Something strange?”
“Yes. The ones who fought the Blood Cult weren’t the Demonic Cult. Instead, the Demonic Cult erased the traces of battle left behind by an unidentified individual.”
“…!”
It was completely unexpected.
The Demonic Cult had erased his traces?
Why would they do that?
“And I began to wonder. Why would the Demonic Cult, after breaking more than a century of silence, go so far as to conceal someone else’s battle traces?”
“…!”
“There’s only one answer. The mysterious ‘being’ who fought the Blood Cult was someone extremely important to the Demonic Cult.”
“!!”
“That would be the reincarnated Heavenly Demon.”
Sewoon’s eyes trembled as though an earthquake had struck within them.
Seeing his reaction, Seori wore a triumphant expression.
She believed Sewoon was shocked by the truth she had uncovered.
But—
“‘…The Demonic Cult is tracking me.’”
The conclusions she and Sewoon reached were completely different.
Naturally, the reincarnated Heavenly Demon she spoke of did not exist.
The one who had fought Pa-eum Bima was Sewoon himself.
Then why had the Demonic Cult concealed Sewoon’s battle traces?
To Sewoon, the reason was obvious.
“‘So the Blood Cult wouldn’t be able to hunt me down for revenge… so that they could capture me themselves.’”
And the reason the Demonic Cult had discovered that location and begun following his trail—
Sewoon’s gaze shifted to his own hand.
“‘It must be because of this Ice Wheel Thread.’”
Saaaa—
From a single strand of the Heavenly Net, Yin-Cold Qi surged violently.
The foundation of the Ice Wheel Thread was the Winter Locking Wheel that had slept within the Murim Alliance’s armory.
And the material used to forge the Winter Locking Wheel was the Silver Moon Great Axe left behind by the Heavenly Demon.
He did not know the exact principle, but the Demonic Cult must possess something capable of tracking the power of their master.
“‘This cannot be considered a good sign.’”
Sewoon’s thoughts grew increasingly tangled.
To the Demonic Cult’s believers, the Silver Moon Great Axe was no mere weapon.
It was their master’s divine relic—and his sole legacy.
And if they were to discover that Sewoon had ‘damaged’ it and turned it into his own weapon…
“‘They’d go completely berserk and come after my life.’”
As if an impending great war with the Blood Cult were not enough, the worst-case scenario might force him to confront the Demonic Cult as well.
Just imagining it made his head feel hot.
But—
“Those are words I simply can’t bring myself to believe.”
He could not reveal any of that on the surface.
By now, Sewoon had returned to his usual emotionless expression.
“It was interesting, if only briefly, but it still doesn’t give me a reason to spare your life.”
“Hm, but I’m not quite finished yet, you know?”
“…What?”
Seori narrowed her eyes and whispered.
Her voice echoed softly through the room.
As Sewoon hesitated, Seori slowly raised her body, as though savoring every reaction.
Then she slipped her hand into her bosom and pulled something out.
Thud.
With a faint rustling sound, her fingertips touched the table.
What lay spread out was a single sheet of parchment.
It was a single map bearing countless traces of age.
At the center of a faintly visible region, a red X-shaped slash was engraved.
That sight closely resembled a certain object that stirred the entire martial world every time it was discovered.
“…This is.”
“Now then, this is the final piece of evidence I uncovered.”
Seori smiled quietly.
Her lips parted ever so slightly as she whispered.
“The Treasure Map to the place where the Heavenly Demon is waiting.”
“!!!”
Sewoon said nothing.
And yet—
From deep within his chest, a sharp, exhilarating tremor slowly began to rise.
A Treasure Map.
Simply put, it referred to a drawing or map that revealed the location of a hidden treasure.
However, among martial artists, a Treasure Map carried a different meaning.
The final chance at sudden wealth.
The last hope to overturn one’s life.
That was what it represented.
Each time a Treasure Map left behind by some existence surfaced in the martial world, countless martial artists—orthodox and unorthodox alike—spilled immense amounts of blood, either to obtain world-shaking martial arts or to gain financial power capable of overturning the order of the world.
And yet, throughout all of martial world history, an incomparable Treasure Map now lay before Sewoon’s eyes.
“‘A Treasure Map of the Heavenly Demon?’”
It was a map left behind by the master of the Demonic Cult—the one who had nearly unified the martial world for the first and last time.
Sewoon’s mind raced as he stared at the Treasure Map resting on the table.
Compared to the Demonic Cult’s traces supposedly found in Zhongmo County earlier, the importance of the object before him was overwhelmingly greater.
If this truly was an authentic artifact rather than a forgery, as Seori claimed—
“‘I could reduce the time needed to locate the Heavenly Demon’s legacy to an absurd degree.’”
The moment he faced that truth—
Like a predator that had discovered its prey, Sewoon’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“What do you mean by saying the Heavenly Demon is waiting?”
“Ah, I suppose I didn’t explain that. This Treasure Map clearly has an invitation imbued with the Heavenly Demon’s power.”
“And how would you know that? It could simply be a fabricated object.”
“You’re far too suspicious. This map contains traces of martial power that originated from the Ice Palace. After gaining the Perennial Ice Crystal Energy thanks to you, I can tell even more clearly.”
Without the slightest hesitation or stumble, Seori continued speaking.
Sewoon, who had been covertly sensing the rise and fall of her voice through the Soul-Returning Melody of the Pointing Finger, could tell that her words were true.
“The one who created this Treasure Map must be one of two possibilities. Either the previous Heavenly Demon—or the reincarnated Heavenly Demon.”
“-!!”
Since a reincarnated Heavenly Demon did not exist,
This meant the Treasure Map had been created by the previous Heavenly Demon—the former owner of the Silver Moon Great Axe.
“It was either the final invitation he made when leaving the martial world, or an invitation scattered by a reincarnated Heavenly Demon, aged deliberately by the passage of time.”
“Hmm.”
Sewoon let out a low hum without realizing it.
Then he slowly looked at the Treasure Map once more.
Ssss—
As Seori had said, focusing intently revealed that power originating from the Ice Palace truly lingered within it.
“‘…There is definitely an unknown aura left behind.’”
Like a force of nature, a calm yet unfamiliar energy slept within the Treasure Map.
Only then did Sewoon realize it—and he was shocked.
How was such a feat even possible?
“‘The extreme pinnacle of the Manifestation Realm. Even for me now, this is an impossible domain.’”
An onlooker might have wondered what was so astonishing about merely imbuing an object with energy.
But—
“‘What matters is that this was done on nothing more than ordinary paper—not a divine artifact or demonic weapon forged from supreme materials.’”
There were rare divine relics that contained energy in this way.
However, in all of history, engraving such a refined and complete strand of energy into a single sheet of ordinary paper was—without exaggeration—an impossible feat.
“And moreover…”
Swoosh.
As if drawn by something, Sewoon slowly extended his hand toward the Treasure Map.
The moment his fingers touched it—
Shraaa—
“…!”
“!!”
An auspicious energy flickered briefly, then vanished like a mirage.
Even Seori failed to hide her surprise at that reaction.
“…How in the world?”
She had never expected that Sewoon—who did not inherit the blood of the North Sea—could interact with the energy engraved in the Treasure Map.
Still, she could not reveal such a reaction to him and quickly composed her expression.
Sss—
At that moment, Sewoon withdrew the power of the Ice Wheel Thread that had manifested at his fingertips.
“‘This confirms it.’”
The Ice Wheel Thread, which had come into contact with the Treasure Map, was telling him the truth.
The energy left within this Treasure Map undoubtedly belonged to its original master.
Now then—
At last, Sewoon’s gaze turned toward Seori.
“I’ve decided.”
Sewoon dropped back into his chair and spoke.
Watching him, Seori wore a triumphant expression.
“It seems the Treasure Map is genuine.”
“Is that enough to pay for my life?”
But Sewoon’s answer differed from what she had expected.
“No. This alone isn’t enough.”
“…What?”
“I can believe the Treasure Map, but I can’t believe you.”
“?!”
To the bewildered Seori, Sewoon replied in a voice cold as ice.
Seori’s own expression hardened just as coldly as she spoke.
“If you thought you could kill me and simply take the Treasure Map, you’re mistaken. The place marked by the X-shaped slash is merely the starting point. Without my help, you’ll never be able to enter the interior.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“…?”
As Seori looked at him in confusion—
Swoosh.
Sewoon pulled something from his robes and placed it on the table as well.
At a glance, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary pill.
“Y-you…!!”
But Seori could see it clearly.
The horrific Gu Poison slumbering within that pill.
Sewoon spoke with eyes colder than ice.
“What are you waiting for? Eat it.”
For the first time, Seori’s expression collapsed completely.