Sword God Reborn

Chapter 291 : Dark Heaven Formation

What are the elements that always appear in a war?

"Hmm. Well, there are many, aren't there?"

It was such a broad question that Neung-heo couldn't easily come up with an answer.

To be precise, he didn't know what answer Cheon Mubaeck was thinking of.

Then, he finally thought of one and carefully raised his thumb and wiggled it.

"This? The head first?"

Cheon Mubaeck nodded as if he were quite impressed.

"That's right. Assassination of key figures is indispensable."

"So you're saying you're going to catch Cheongwangma now?"

"Yes."

"Then what about those guys?"

Neung-heo said in a worried tone.

They were the hundreds of orthodox martial artists who had gathered following Cheon Mubaeck, and on the other side, the demonic people who were positioned as a heterogeneous existence.

"The orthodox people will be fine even if you're not here, my lord, but those demonic people... can we trust the Ghost Demon?"

"Trust? What kind of trust relationship is there between that guy and us?"

Cheon Mubaeck's voice was cold. In the first place, Cheon Mubaeck rarely trusted anyone.

Even if he did trust someone, there had to be a good reason for it.

The Ghost Demon was not a trustworthy comrade right now.

He was the leader of the Dark Sect and a cunning old man full of ambition.

"The number of demonic people you've gathered one by one is quite large, isn't it, my lord? There are about eighty of them, including Hyeokryeon Cheongang. They're all skilled guys."

"That's right. That's why the Ghost Demon can't move."

"What?"

"Who is the person who saved and gathered all of them?"

"......!"

"Well, it's not like the demonic people will be impressed and pledge their loyalty just because they were saved. But those guys are different from the original demonic people, aren't they?"

Neung-heo, who had been observing them for a while, nodded.

"That's right. As you said, my lord, they're closer to the martial path than the demonic path."

"You wouldn't understand, but real martial artists are guys who are crazy in one way or another. By common sense, it's normal for them to follow the will of the Ghost Demon, who is the same demonic person, but those guys are not. Do you think I subdued them by just shouting at them?"

"You subdued them by beating them up."

"Do you want to be subdued today too?"

"Ahem. My words came out wrong. This mouth of mine is moving on its own. Weren't they all impressed by your sword, my lord, and came to admire the realm you showed them from the bottom of their hearts?"

"Yes. I only saved those kinds of guys."

Guys who were not engrossed in the religion of the demonic path, but who only delved deeply into martial arts.

Cheon Mubaeck had only saved guys like Hyeokryeon Cheongang.

And so, there was an advantage that even Cheon Mubaeck had not thought of.

"And they're all not from the Seven Demonic Sect. Even the Sword Sect was greatly persecuted and was not treated well, so the rest are obvious. Aren't they to the extent that they even call themselves of a lowly origin?"

In the first place, most of them were people who were dissatisfied with the composition and society of the demonic path.

Of course, since it was a world of the strong, they could make a name for themselves even if they were not from the Seven Demonic Sect, but a place where people lived was all the same. How could they have lived, receiving good treatment?

To such people, what Cheon Mubaeck had presented was no different from a well to a thirsty person.

Because it was to completely change the demonic path. Moreover, the reason they followed the Heavenly Demon was because of the enormous martial prowess he possessed, not because they were engrossed in the religion.

So it was a natural flow for them to be impressed by the martial power and the infinitely high realm that Cheon Mubaeck had shown and to follow him.

In other words.

"They will follow me, not the Ghost Demon."

"......!"

"Do you think the Ghost Demon doesn't know that?"

As Cheon Mubaeck smiled faintly, Neung-heo shook his head.

"Well. The only one he can see as his side is the Seven-Star."

"That Seven-Star guy is also quick-witted, isn't he? He saw the way the situation was going and stuck to Jang No."

Cheon Mubaeck had called Jang No here a while ago.

The Sword Sect demonic people, including Jang No, had infiltrated the Blood Demon Valley, and were now scattered here and there, secretly active in the demonic path.

Jang No had also been doing that, and had come running at Cheon Mubaeck's call.

"So, please lead the demonic people well while I'm away, Jang No."

"Don't worry, Young Master."

Jang No still called Cheon Mubaeck 'Young Master'. Cheon Mubaeck also smiled, as he didn't dislike that title.

Was it because he had passed on the essence of the forgotten Heaven Shattering Sword Demon as it was?

Although Jang No could not yet reach the Ghost Demon, he was now exuding the presence of a sect leader.

To the extent that Hyeokryeon Cheongang, who had first seen Jang No, had challenged him, had been defeated, and had immediately knelt and had said he would enter the Sword Sect.

"Well, I don't think it will take that long."

Cheon Mubaeck guaranteed.

"Because he's in Shanxi Province."

He was right there.

* * *

"We have confirmed that a small number of demonic people have entered Shanxi Province, but their tracks have been lost since then."

Cheon Mubaeck, who had received the report from the Beggars' Sect, was sure.

That the small number of demonic people was surely Cheongwangma.

"Hey. No way. A guy who's no different from a vanguard leader is coming to Shanxi Province to catch you, my lord?"

"Because he's a madman."

"..."

"And that's what he originally did. To appear like a ghost in places where the demonic path was being pushed back in various parts of the Central Plains and to reverse the situation."

Cheon Mubaeck had diligently investigated the demonic path by mobilizing the information power of Haomun and the Beggars' Sect to the fullest. And that's not all. He had received information from the Sword Sect demonic people who had infiltrated the demonic path moment by moment.

And there was also the income he had obtained from the demonic people he had recruited, including the Ghost Demon.

He had analyzed them all, and had analyzed even a single word.

"Rather, it's a little late. He probably tried to come running as soon as he heard the news that I had appeared."

"If it's rather late, it means someone stopped him, right?"

"It seems a guy with a good head is assisting him."

Cheon Mubaeck grasped the blind spot in an instant.

"That's why his tracks were lost after he entered Shanxi Province."

As a result of analyzing it from various angles.

Cheongwangma was a type with a strong ability to adapt.

He had a strong impulsiveness to clash first, and his ability to flexibly cope with the situations that changed moment by moment was excellent. Not only did he have that much skill, but his senses were also extraordinary.

Such a guy had come to Shanxi Province and had suddenly disappeared.

Even though Cheon Mubaeck was right there.

"Is he hiding and planning how to strike you, my lord, and is watching the situation?"

"If a guy with a good head is attached to him."

"How can we find him if he's hiding openly?"

Even if it was limited to the territory of Shanxi Province, was the land of the Central Plains narrow?

Shanxi Province alone was a region where a large population lived, and the martial world was a place where it was hard to chase if you were determined to hide.

Since Haomun and the Beggars' Sect had both given up, how could Cheon Mubaeck find him?

"Neung-heo."

"Yes."

"I told you at the very beginning, right? The indispensable element in a war is the assassination of key figures."

"Yes."

"But do you know why there are not many records of the high-ranking officials of the demonic path being assassinated in the last Righteous-Demonic War?"

"Uh, because they couldn't find their location?"

"That's right. Then why couldn't they find their location? Because they were masters of hiding? Could the orthodox path, which had a dense human information network in the Central Plains, not even chase that one thing?"

"Umm..."

"It means they have a way to hide."

"A way?"

"Yes. In fact, you know my fighting style, right?"

"Well, it's to strike the head first."

"They were hit by that a lot in the beginning."

Cheon Mubaeck smiled as if he were amused. That's right. As the Azure Sky Sword God, in the early days of the Righteous-Demonic War, Cheon Mubaeck had not gone to the battlefield and had not struck down the demonic path on a large scale.

Why would he bother to strike down the demonic path rabble? It was a simple matter if he just found and disposed of the leader who was leading them.

And so, in the beginning, the heads of dozens of demonic cult elders had fallen like a shower at Cheon Mubaeck's blade.

"So they felt a sense of crisis. They were worried that their heads would fly off anytime, anywhere."

"So they prepared a countermeasure?"

"It's the Dark Heaven Formation. It's a formation that the brains of the demonic path had gathered and had created to hide themselves."

"Are you saying they're hiding in it?"

"Yes. Even on the battlefield, they would hide in the formation. That's why the assassination of key figures was not easy from then on, and even though I stepped forward, the war did not end easily and had dragged on for a long time."

Although it was a truly audacious statement, Neung-heo nodded his head without realizing it.

Look at Cheon Mubaeck's performance here in Shanxi Province!

Wasn't he so exhilarating that he could bring down all the demonic people who had attacked a single castle by himself?

It was by no means arrogance or conceit.

Cheon Mubaeck was a man with the power to end a war alone.

"As it was created by the best brains of the demonic path, the Dark Heaven Formation was not easy to discover, nor was it easy to break. Even if you tried to break it, the demonic people would soon flock and attack, so there was not enough time."

But Cheon Mubaeck's voice was full of confidence. Neung-heo instinctively grasped it.

"You know how to break the Dark Heaven Formation, don't you?"

"By the time the war was ending, the analysis was all done and a way to break it had come out."

But there was a blind spot.

"But how do you know where they have set up the Dark Heaven Formation and are hiding?"

"This Dark Heaven Formation makes others perceive the surrounding space and terrain as completely distorted. How about it? Just by hearing it, doesn't it seem like an enormous amount of energy is needed?"

"Ah...! Then, to maintain the formation, an enormous amount of energy is needed."

"Yes. A place where the natural qi is richer than the surroundings. They will be there."

Cheon Mubaeck had already completely grasped the terrain of Shanxi Province. Where what was, and where the natural qi was abundant. In other words, where the optimal place for wall-facing training was, was thoroughly in his head.

"When did you figure that out?"

Cheon Mubaeck chuckled.

"If you live in the martial world for dozens, hundreds of times, you can even memorize the back alleys of the entire Central Plains."

Cheon Mubaeck could already see where Cheongwangma was hiding.

* * *

"So the Ghost Demon is alive, and the demonic people are gathering under him. Is that it?"

"Yes."

"Heo."

Cheongwangma let out a hollow laugh at the report of the demonic people who had fled to Shanxi Province.

When he had first heard that the Ghost Demon had survived and had gathered the scattered demonic people, he had rather been pleased.

In any case, it was an increase in their allies.

However.

"Why is he next to Cheon Mubaeck?"

"..."

"Don't tell me that great Ghost Demon has defected?"

Bigwang could not answer. All the circumstances pointed to it.

But how could he believe it?

He was one of the Seven Demonic Sect. The leader of one of the Seven Demonic Sect had gone over to the orthodox path. Did this make sense?

So Bigwang had first pressed down Cheongwangma, who had come to Shanxi Province to catch Cheon Mubaeck.

The situation was more serious.

To recruit the Ghost Demon and to treat him like a right-hand man?

What on earth had he used?

The ominous feeling that had been sprouting from the bottom of his heart felt as if it were getting bigger and bigger.

Cheongwangma ground his teeth.

"It's obvious. He's probably planning to join forces with the orthodox path, destroy our demonic path, and become the Heavenly Demon himself."

"...Unless the Ghost Demon is crazy."

"Bigwang. Do you think I'm the only madman? The demonic people, you see. The moment this demonic qi penetrates their brains, they become madmen."

Cheongwangma was sure, as if there was nothing to see.

"I will kill Cheon Mubaeck, and I will kill the Ghost Demon. The demonic people who have gone over to him must also all have their heads cut off."

"Sect Leader, please calm down for now. It seems we need to gather our forces."

"Hmm."

Even the great Cheongwangma groaned. Although he had come with only a small number, now that he had confirmed that the Ghost Demon had gone over to the other side, he thought that he should not move rashly.

However.

Kururururu.

"......!"

The space that shook for a moment.

Cheongwangma and Bigwang's faces hardened.

"Someone is trying to break the Dark Heaven Formation."

Cheongwangma's voice spread eerily.

Bigwang's face hardened.

Shanxi Province. The owner of a sense that could discover the Dark Heaven Formation. Then...

"Bigwang."

"Yes."

"Let's catch a big one today."

A demonic aura appeared on Cheongwangma's face.

(End of Chapter)