Chapter 356
Heavenly Demon
Just before the qi wave could reach him.
As the fierce qi wave began to emanate from the body of the Bright Left Envoy, Ou-yang Pae was already aware of the situation.
No, he felt a sense of unease the moment the Bright Right Envoy's eyes briefly blurred.
Grab.
When the Bright Right Envoy sacrificed himself to grab Ou-yang Pae's sword and left arm, the suspicion turned into certainty.
Having read the opponent's intention, there was no reason for him to be surprised.
At least, for someone like Ou-yang Pae, it was a matter of course.
Swish!
As the qi wave flew from behind, Ou-yang Pae released the sword he was holding with his right hand without any hesitation.
But his left hand was still caught by the Bright Right Envoy.
To be safe, the qi wave of the Bright Left Envoy was flying over a wide range.
Knowing exactly what technique the opponent was using, Ou-yang Pae's choice was simple.
Swish!
Ou-yang Pae slightly bent his knees and used his internal energy to leap into the air.
At the same time, he swung his now-free right hand.
Slash!
The gray lightning enveloping Ou-yang Pae's hand cut off the arm of the Bright Right Envoy that was holding his left hand.
Freed in an instant, Ou-yang Pae soared and spun in the air like a somersault.
Boom!!!
Right after Ou-yang Pae launched himself, the qi wave of the Bright Left Envoy swept the area.
From his vantage point in the air, Ou-yang Pae saw the ground being torn apart and overturned by the direct hit of the qi wave, and the body of the Bright Right Envoy being torn to pieces.
‘This can’t be…’
Seeing his well-planned move fail, the Bright Left Envoy's face showed a moment of bewilderment.
But there was no time to stay shocked.
Now airborne, it was impossible to dodge, and without his sword, it was a perfect opportunity.
“Hyaaah!!”
The Bright Left Envoy quickly gathered his internal energy and unleashed another desperate attack toward the airborne Ou-yang Pae.
But Ou-yang Pae, as if there was no need to dodge, calmly extended his palm.
Following the essence of the Primordial Chaos Divine Art, two streams of internal energy emerged from his danjeon and flowed through his body in opposite directions.
The two opposing energies converged in the palms of Ou-yang Pae's hands.
Screeech!!
With a noise like thousands of birds crying out at once, gray lightning burst forth.
Boom!!!
The two men's attacks clashed, causing a thunderous explosion and violent waves of qi that shook the area, but Ou-yang Pae appeared unscathed.
As if nothing had happened, Ou-yang Pae calmly descended from the air, prompting the Bright Left Envoy to shout urgently.
“Kill him!!”
The Bright Left Envoy knew. Having lost the Bright Right Envoy due to a reckless decision, he couldn't handle that guy alone.
But that was the worst move possible.
Clang!
No sooner had the Bright Left Envoy given his urgent command than some demon cultists drew their weapons and moved toward Ou-yang Pae.
And the first to react to that impure movement was the Sword Demon.
A sword that no one knew when he had drawn was already in his hand.
Slash!
With a delayed slicing sound, the bodies of several demon cultists were cut apart.
“How dare you desecrate the sacred life-and-death duel!!”
At the sight of the Sword Demon shouting in anger, the Hwan-ma almost let out a laugh.
‘He’s talking big with eyes so eager for joy.’
The Sword Demon had been itching to wield his sword while watching the life-and-death duel between the Bright Right and Left Envoys and Ou-yang Pae.
How could he not be delighted to finally swing his sword freely?
But the Hwan-ma also found himself wielding his weapon, his hands moving of their own accord.
Slash!
“Anyone who interferes with the heavenly ritual will not be spared by me, Hwan-ma!”
Inspired by the initial attacks of the two leaders, the sword and whip clan members attacked those who followed the Bright Left Envoy's command.
Of course, those who followed the Bright Left Envoy didn't just stand still.
“Move aside!!”
Leading the charge was the Great Elder, head of the Elders' Council, and others who had become leaders after Byeok Ga-wan turned traitor, including the new Bright Thunder King, several elders, and the leader of the martial force unit.
“Why are you just standing there!!”
The Great Elder, who had just cut down a swordsman of the sword clan, shouted in anger.
Although the Bright Left Envoy had given the order, the cultists were standing indecisively.
It was natural. Rank-wise, it was right to follow the Great Elder or the Bright Left Envoy, but the “heavenly ritual” was a sacred ceremony as the Sword Demon had said.
Given an order that violated such a sacred ritual, they didn’t know whose command to follow.
“Why would you follow the words of a traitor!”
At that moment, the Sword Demon lunged at the Great Elder, swinging his sword.
Clang!
While the Sword Demon’s overwhelming swordsmanship was pushing the Great Elder back,
“Eradicate those who have desecrated the sacred life-and-death duel!”
This time, the traitors who had followed Ou-yang Pae joined the fight.
“Let us assist!”
As the Sword Demon fought the Great Elder, Geum Yang-hwi unleashed the Explosive Soul Demon Palm, sending fierce flames towards the Great Elder.
Slash!
But what he saw next left Geum Yang-hwi's eyes wide open in disbelief.
The Sword Demon had cut through the flames he had unleashed.
“This one is mine. Red Flame King.”
It seemed the Sword Demon was addressing Geum Yang-hwi by his old title, implying his suspicion had already been cleared.
“Heh...”
Geum Yang-hwi let out an incredulous laugh.
Seeing him eager to fight strong opponents, one could only wonder how he had restrained himself so far.
But now was not the time to be dazed.
In the end, the Great Elder yielded to the Sword Demon and moved to help elsewhere, while Geum Yang-hwi moved to assist other areas.
The sword and whip clan members, along with Ou-yang Pae's subordinates, clashed with the followers of the Bright Left Envoy.
Some, unable to decide what to do, stepped back and watched the battle.
“What are you doing!!”
Dao Demon, who had freed himself from Ou-yang Pae’s acupoint technique, shouted.
First Young Master Ilgongja and the Dao Sect martial artists, who had been watching the fight, looked at Dao Demon in surprise.
“Kill those traitors immediately!!”
Upon the leader's command, the Dao Sect martial artists, who had been bystanders, changed their stance.
They boldly charged at Ou-yang Pae's subordinates, swinging their swords.
Seeing this, Dao Demon quickly swung his sword and shouted.
“Not them!!!!”
With a shocked expression, Dao Demon shouted and sent his qi to block the weapons of the Dao Sect martial artists who were attacking Ou-yang Pae's subordinates.
As the Dao Sect martial artists and Ou-yang Pae's subordinates who were about to be attacked looked at Dao Demon with bewildered faces, he shouted again with a reddened face.
"Those who interrupted the sacred ritual are the traitors!"
His shout made the faces of those looking at him even more bewildered.
After all, the first person who interrupted the sacred ritual was none other than Dao Demon himself.
But Dao Demon had his own reasons.
He merely wanted to make Ilgongja the master of the Heavenly Demon Cult 'legitimately.'
That was why he tried to interrupt before the heavenly ritual began.
In Dao Demon’s view, the act of the Bright Left Envoy bringing his subordinates into the ritual when things were unfavorable made him the traitor.
From an outsider's perspective, Dao Demon and the Bright Left Envoy seemed no different, but Dao Demon thought otherwise.
However, feeling embarrassed by the stares of others, Dao Demon shouted once more with a face as red as it could be.
"What are you all doing!!!"
If they continued to look at Dao Demon, it seemed like the crazy boar would start a massacre, so the Dao Sect martial artists and Ou-yang Pae's subordinates had no choice but to look away.
With the Dao Sect siding with Ou-yang Pae and the Fist Clan joining in, the battle’s tide quickly turned one-sided.
Originally, the number of those who were loyal to the Bright Left and Right Envoys was only about one-tenth of the cult.
They had only been able to lead others through the authority and justification of the Bright Left and Right Envoys, or by exploiting conflicts among the Young Lords.
With their authority completely lost, there were few who would still follow them.
On the other hand, those who still followed him in such circumstances were essentially no different from 'traitors.'
They were either spies of Shinchun or minions under the Bright Left Envoy's sway.
Thanks to the foolish command of the Bright Left Envoy that betrayed the sacred ritual, even the spies and minions remaining in the demon cult were at risk of being wiped out.
As most of these traitors were being eliminated,
Boom!!!
A fierce explosion echoed, and a violent wave of qi swept the battlefield.
Naturally, the gazes of those on the battlefield turned to the source of the qi wave.
There, Ou-yang Pae had driven his palm into the heart of the Bright Left Envoy.
“Ugh…”
Kneeling and spitting blood, the Bright Left Envoy's figure was imprinted in everyone’s eyes.
Thud.
With his heart burst by Ou-yang Pae’s palm technique, the Bright Left Envoy collapsed to the ground.
Slash!
Immediately after, a sharp slicing sound resounded across the battlefield.
It wasn’t a sound created by Ou-yang Pae.
“Tsk. To be distracted at the last moment.”
As the Great Elder, shocked by the Bright Left Envoy's death, the Sword Demon decapitated him, creating the sound.
The deaths of the Bright Left Envoy and the Great Elder marked the turning point for the rebellion, which was swiftly suppressed.
Once all the fighting ended and silence briefly descended on the battlefield,
Thud. Thud.
Suddenly, Geum Yang-hwi and Byeok Ga-wan kneeled to the ground, performing a full bow to Ou-yang Pae and shouting.
“Heavenly Demon’s Advent!! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!!”
Their reverent bow to Ou-yang Pae, the master and leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult, was quickly followed by the subordinates of Ou-yang Pae, who had been fighting, bowing and shouting.
“Heavenly Demon’s Advent!! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!!”
The surrounding demon cultists, unsure of what to do, looked around in confusion.
They had fought against the Bright Left Envoy and his subordinates because they disrupted the sacred ritual, but they were unsure whether to recognize Ou-yang Pae as the Heavenly Demon.
At that moment, the Sword Demon, who had just sheathed his sword after beheading the Great Elder, bowed to Ou-yang Pae.
“Heavenly Demon’s Advent! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!”
Recognizing him, the sword clan members also kneeled and bowed to Ou-yang Pae.
Following them, Hwan-ma and his whip clan members also bowed to Ou-yang Pae.
Naturally, the rest of the cultists, one by one, kneeled and bowed to Ou-yang Pae.
“Heavenly Demon’s Advent! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!!”
Watching the scene for a moment, Dao Demon, with a slightly reddened face, also kneeled and bowed to Ou-yang Pae.
Eventually, with even Dao Demon and the Dao Sect joining in, all the demon cultists in the area were bowing to Ou-yang Pae.
Standing tall alone, Ou-yang Pae looked over the cultists bowing to him.
It was a moment filled with mixed emotions.
Moments of conflict when he chose the path of a traitor, memories of being chased by cultists in Nanzhao, the emotions of having to kill his manipulated subordinates by his own hands.
And the joy of finally overcoming adversity and successfully claiming the position of Heavenly Demon.
Having successfully reined in his complex emotions, Ou-yang Pae spoke in a solemn voice.
“Raise your heads, all of you.”
Though he was only in his mid-twenties, his voice carried a weight as if he had been born the 'Heavenly Demon' from the start.
As the cultists, still lying on the ground, raised only their heads, Ou-yang Pae spoke again.
“The former Bright Left Envoy, So-baek, was revealed to be a spy from Shinchun, who brainwashed the Bright Right Envoy with poison, turning him into a puppet. He audaciously ambushed the previous Heavenly Demon during his secluded cultivation, causing him to fall into Qi Deviation, and has been manipulating our cult ever since.”
The deeds of the Bright Left Envoy So-baek flowed from Ou-yang Pae's mouth, but unlike before, his words carried a different weight.
No longer the traitor Ou-yang Pae, but the Heavenly Demon speaking, his words were truth and law.
“When did the great Heavenly Demon Cult become a place manipulated by outsiders! Therefore, I will not forgive Shinchun, who dared to mock our cult! Also!! I will not forgive the martial artists of the Central Plains who took our land in the past!”
At his declaration, the demon cultists, with faces filled with emotion, once again bowed their heads to the ground and chanted, “Heavenly Demon’s Advent!! Ten Thousand Demons Bow!!”
“To this end, we must purify the cult and strengthen ourselves! Return to the pure doctrine of the cult and follow the law of strength! Ranks will be determined by 'martial strength,' and we will not engage in petty revenge. I permit any of the Young Lords to challenge me for the heavenly ritual at any time.”
At Ou-yang Pae's bold declaration, some cultists briefly glanced at Ilgongja and Igongja.
On the other hand, there were many who looked at Ou-yang Pae with faces filled with emotion.
Among them, the most representative figure was the Sword Demon.
‘He truly fits the title of Heavenly Demon.’
He didn't punish the two Young Lords who had tried to harm him since childhood, instead, he spared them and encouraged their challenges.
Martial arts thrive on competition. Killing or eliminating competitors shows a small-minded person, whereas his choice showed he was of a different caliber altogether.