novelraw Chapter 263 : Irresistible Advance (3)
Chapter 263 : Irresistible Advance (3)
Chapter 263: Irresistible Advance (3)
A brief rewind in time.
Before the Demonic Cult set out on its march.
The cold stench of the underground stabbed into the nose.
From the damp floor rose the reek of rotting mold, and the only thing breaking the stillness was the incessant sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling.
The underground prison of the Demonic Cult.
Deep within it—at the very lowest level, inside a chamber sealed with thick iron bars—the Poison Demon was imprisoned.
His condition did not look good.
Hideous wounds that had not properly healed and had festered covered his entire body, and a large portion of his internal energy had been completely sealed through acupoint sealing.
But……
“Gueegh!”
“T-This, the head guard has been poisoned! Everyone, fall back!!”
The Demonic Cult guards watching over him were frozen in terror at the tightly shut entrance to the prison.
Ssssss!
Kwaaaarrr!
This was because the dense poisonous qi erupting from the Poison Demon’s physical body was dominating not only his cell, but the entire space itself.
The poisonous qi moved like living clouds of mist, preventing anyone from daring to approach.
“Just wait a little longer. I will kill every last one of you.”
The Poison Demon muttered.
Madness and killing intent were mixed into his voice.
The guards could not even muster the courage to draw near.
Although he had been confined here due to the injuries he suffered in battle with Sewoon, his overwhelming presence remained unchanged.
Tap. Thud.
At that moment, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the corridor.
“E-Elder……!”
The guards hurriedly composed themselves and showed proper respect.
The one who revealed himself was none other than Cold Heaven Radiance.
“Everyone, move up to the surface.”
“Y-Yes!”
Without batting an eye at the poisonous qi the Poison Demon was emitting, he stepped forward to the iron bars.
“Withdraw your poisonous qi.”
Cold Heaven Radiance ordered him while staring with icy eyes.
“Heh heh, so you’re wondering if you brought me in for nothing since your underlings keep dying?”
Yelü Sheng’s voice was filled with mockery.
Even though he knew that Cold Heaven Radiance could take his life the moment he wished, given that his martial arts were sealed, he did not submit.
Poison Demon Yelü Sheng had always been that kind of existence.
Cold Heaven Radiance stared at him with eyes that had gone completely cold, then took something out from his robe.
“I will convey the Cult Leader’s words.”
“Go shove them up yo—”
“I will tell you the method to surpass the extreme of the Manifestation Realm.”
“……!!”
In that instant, it seemed as though a sharp light burst forth from Yelü Sheng’s eyes, which were clearly empty.
‘What?’
During the battle with the Demonic Cult warriors, he had not been able to reveal his full strength.
Because of his injuries, he could only use power around the threshold stage of the Manifestation Realm.
At this point, there was only one person who could have realized that he had reached the extreme of the Manifestation Realm.
A single face flashed through Yelü Sheng’s mind.
‘That brat…… became the master of the Demonic Cult……?’
Tang Sewoon.
That was right.
The story was that his own disciple, Tang Sewoon, had become the master of the Demonic Cult.
Ssssss!
Tssss!
The poisonous mist Yelü Sheng had been emitting slowly began to clear away.
It was opening a path for Cold Heaven Radiance to approach.
“Bring it.”
Yelü Sheng muttered in a low voice.
At the commanding tone, Cold Heaven Radiance frowned deeply.
He wanted to rush forward and snap the bastard’s neck right then and there, but he could not disobey the command of his lord, who was as the heavens themselves.
He slowly stepped forward and pushed the letter Tang Sewoon had sent through the iron bars.
Ssssss!
Yelü Sheng employed psychokinesis.
Guided by qi, the letter moved as if it were alive and came to rest in Yelü Sheng’s grasp.
Yelü Sheng had lost his eyes and was a blind man, but it did not matter in the slightest.
Uwoooong!!
The contents of the letter, engraved with martial intent, were etched into his mind with vivid clarity.
The opening line of the letter was four characters.
‘……!!’
For the first time, Yelü Sheng was shocked.
Resolving Grudges with a Cup of Wine.
Tang Sewoon was telling him that.
Lift a cup of wine and dissolve resentment.
That was the meaning of those words.
In the end, it meant to forget their long-standing enmity and begin anew.
From the very first line, it was something completely unexpected, and there was something else that further deepened his bewilderment and confusion.
‘He crossed the wall of the Life and Death Realm……?’
To pull off something like this was an area absolutely impossible to reach with only the power of the Manifestation Realm.
Yelü Sheng realized that his disciple had once again surpassed him and advanced into the Life and Death Realm.
Into the mind of the deeply contemplative Yelü Sheng, the message Sewoon had left him began to engrave itself once more.
-Follow the three proposals I present.
-Then I will grant you enlightenment that leads to the threshold of the Life and Death Realm.
-If you will comply, infuse the letter with your martial intent.
There was only one reason Sewoon made this choice.
At the point when the final war with the Blood Cult was beginning, the existence most capable of being pushed to the threshold of the Life and Death Realm as quickly as possible was none other than Poison Demon Yelü Sheng.
Through his father Tang Muyeol, Sewoon had cast aside the desire for vengeance from before his regression and awakened to a greater cause—one that sought to save more people. With that resolve, he decided to even embrace and make use of the Poison Demon, his irreconcilable mortal enemy.
“K-Kekek. Kekekek! Kehahahaha!!”
Yelü Sheng’s madness-filled laughter shook the underground prison.
That laughter was filled with pure joy.
“You’ve already advanced all the way to the Life and Death Realm! There’s no clearer case of the disciple surpassing the master!!”
Yelü Sheng was a madman.
Within him, there was nothing but an all-consuming thirst for power.
He did not rage at the fact that Sewoon had gone ahead of him.
Rather, he rejoiced at the realization that he could obtain even greater power from him.
“Very well. I’ll gladly dance to your little performance!”
Swaaaaah!!
Without the slightest hesitation, Yelü Sheng began infusing the letter with his martial intent.
A dazzling radiance burst forth from the letter.
Kwaaaarrr!!
The light erupting from the letter began forcibly pouring itself into Yelü Sheng’s body.
Just as the Heavenly Demon had once embedded memories and martial intent into the traps of the ice cavern, Sewoon had embedded his enlightenment regarding Poison Arts into the letter.
“K–Kraaaaaaah!!”
An excruciating pain, as though his entire body were being torn apart, exploded outward.
It was a violent surge caused by the collision between the newly injected power and his existing internal energy.
Even Cold Heaven Radiance recoiled a step backward, startled by the overwhelming aura.
“Kahahahahaha!!”
Yet the screams soon turned into laughter.
Even amid the agony, Yelü Sheng burst into madness-filled laughter, willingly accepting every ounce of the power.
Krak!
Krrrk!
Even as his physical body swelled and his bones twisted under unbearable pain, his gaze burned with ferocious ecstasy.
Thus, Yelü Sheng accepted the first proposal left behind by Sewoon.
‘W-What in the world is this…?!’
Mutilated-Limb Twin Blades, the leader of the Sea Sand Gang, could not hide his shock.
The scene unfolding before his eyes completely denied his common sense and experience.
The sudden appearance and overwhelming might of Poison Demon Yelü Sheng were the reason.
‘H-He’s this strong?!’
Poison Demon Yelü Sheng was displaying power far greater than even the rumors circulating through the martial world.
Though tales about him had always been plentiful, no one had truly known the extent of his martial might.
But the figure of Yelü Sheng before them now—
“K–Kraaaagh!”
“R-Run! That thing’s a monster!!”
The assassins of Deathshroud and the warriors of the Sea Sand Gang scattered in all directions, seized by terror.
On their faces remained not even a trace of fighting spirit—only a desperate, primal yearning to survive.
Kwaaaarrr!!
Each time Poison Demon unleashed that unknown poisonous qi stained with pitch-black darkness, his subordinates died off like flies.
Cold sweat streamed down their backs.
‘…This can’t continue.’
Mutilated-Limb Twin Blades realized that if this went on, their entire force would be annihilated by Poison Demon.
Just as despair colored his gaze—
[Mutilated-Limb Twin Blades!! Are you just going to stand there and watch?! We must join forces!!]
At that moment, Heaven-Slaying Ghost, the master of Deathshroud, sent a transmission bordering on a scream.
His face was deathly pale, drained of all color.
The warriors of Deathshroud were faring no better than those of the Sea Sand Gang.
“Damn it…!”
Mutilated-Limb Twin Blades clenched his teeth.
He had no option to refuse Heaven-Slaying Ghost’s proposal.
He launched himself like a bolt of lightning and began a Combined Assault.
“All forces! Unleash a full-scale offensive on Poison Demon!!”
With the shouts of the two Evil Lords, countless remaining martial artists charged toward Poison Demon.
Martial techniques of every shape and hue, along with razor-sharp auras, poured forth from their hands like arrows.
Like a raging torrent rising across the sea, countless assaults crashed down upon Poison Demon all at once.
Chwaaaaah!
Swaeaeaeek!
The Sound of Rending Air erupted, as if the wind itself were being torn apart.
As attacks from thousands of warriors intertwined, the sky darkened as though it had been dyed black.
The faces of the commoners secretly peering up at the sky turned deathly pale.
‘Can a human really block that?!’
Even the Branch Leader of the Overlord of the Heavens Assembly let out a low groan, already sensing his end.
The only one who reacted differently was, as expected—
Uwoooong—!
Kwaaaarrrrung!
“Is your final struggle nothing more than a child’s parlor trick? How laughable.”
It was Poison Demon Yelü Sheng.
Kwaaaarrr!!
Chwaaaaah!
Suddenly, a massive vortex began to coil around Poison Demon Yelü Sheng.
“Die—!!”
“Drop dead!!”
Attacks composed of countless intertwined energies and forces poured toward his physical body.
Yet Poison Demon felt not the slightest fear.
He regarded all those attacks as mere toys and curled his lips into a chilling smile.
“Heh heh. The first proposal is absurdly easy. Easier than twisting a child’s wrist.”
There was neither pressure nor fear in Yelü Sheng’s voice.
Only the innocent delight of a child who had obtained a long-desired toy remained.
He stood still, calmly receiving their onslaught.
Swaaaaah!!
Like the eye of a colossal typhoon, devastating energy poured forth from Poison Demon’s entire body.
This was his new martial art—newly established and forged from enlightenment gained after receiving Sewoon’s gift.
A divine might that had surpassed the extreme of the Manifestation Realm and reached the very brink of the Threshold of the Life and Death Realm.
The result of grasping the first thread of enlightenment was now unfolding.
A ferocious storm made of poisonous qi descended upon the battlefield.
“K–Kraaaaagh!”
“What—what is this poisonous qi…?!”
“R-Run! That isn’t human!!”
Wherever the poisonous storm touched, the warriors of Deathshroud and the Sea Sand Gang met their ends without even managing to scream.
The martial arts they had trained and relied upon their entire lives were utterly useless before that poisonous qi.
Their physical bodies melted away like sandcastles, and their weapons and arms turned into puddles of molten metal.
Before Poison Arts that had reached an absolute realm, numerical superiority and troop strength offered no advantage whatsoever.
Tzzzzzt!
Sssss!
In an instant, the battlefield was dyed blood-red.
The enemies vanished—literally.
Thousands upon thousands of martial artists were annihilated without leaving behind even a strand of hair or a fragment of bone, utterly erased from existence.
Where the poisonous storm passed, only a barren land remained—devoid of all life.
Amid that horrific scene—
“Kahahaha!! Just wait a little longer, my disciple!!”
Poison Demon Yelü Sheng roared with laughter toward his disciple, utterly delighted.
His laughter echoed across the blood-dyed night sky.