༺ Demonic Arts (1) ༻

The Palace Lord was taken aback by the sight before him.

The Sword Phoenix, who should’ve perished long ago, was instead seated comfortably in the room with His Heaven, nestled on her lap.

‘…What is this?’

His eyes trembled in disbelief.

This was something that shouldn’t have happened, ever.

He couldn’t afford to let his plan get derailed.

He had been striving to perfect His Heaven.

And now that he was closer to his goal than ever, he couldn’t afford to fail.

His Heaven needed to be perfect.

His Heaven needed to look down on anyone and everyone.

An absolute existence.

‘But, what am I seeing…?’

The sight of His Heaven, appearing as an ordinary child and calmly reading a book in the arms of a woman, was utterly inconceivable.

How could an entity, so superior that one couldn’t even dare to compare them to a mere human, display such a demeanor to a human?

‘I must eliminate her.’

He resolved, as black fog began to emanate from his body.

The fog morphed into a sharp awl, before aiming at Gu Huibi.

Defenseless without her Qi, she would perish instantly if the attack struck her head.

The Palace Lord, aware of this, prepared to launch his attack.

“…!”

However, his Qi suddenly crumbled—

Not by his will, but because the Qi recognized its true master.

From afar, the Palace Lord noticed His Heaven’s gaze fixed on him.

In response, he bowed his head.

Step.

The soft sound of footsteps gradually came closer.

As he kept his head lowered, a white foot came into his view.

“Don’t.”

Such words came from the small and soft voice of His Heaven, uttering words he hadn’t heard in decades.

The Palace Lord suppressed his emotions.

This was a first-time occurrence, and he didn’t know what consequences there could be for talking back.

‘Everything will end if I make a single mistake.’

This meant that the power currently maintaining his life might as well vanish in an instant, his very life was at stake.

The Palace Lord understood,

No, it might be more accurate to say that the Palace Lord was the only one who truly understood the immense power and potential residing within His Heaven’s small form.

Only him.

“…I apologize.”

After a moment of silence, His Heaven responded.

“Book.”

It was a familiar response, yet the Palace Lord felt a change.

“…I will prepare it right away.”

His Heaven nodded and turned back to return to Gu Huibi.

“Oh Heaven.”

But the Palace Lord stopped them.

“…?”

“Are you satisfied with what I prepared?”

He asked, referring to Gu Huibi.

Not only from the information on her, but just by observing her with his own eyes, the Palace Lord could be sure that Gu Huibi possessed the most complete ‘flame’.

It wasn’t the Tiger Warrior—previously the Flaming Demon—Gu Cheolun…

Nor was it the True Dragon who would become the Young Lord.

Her flame was the most pure and perfect.

‘I wasn’t wrong.’

There were other clans besides the Gu Clan that practiced Flame Arts…

And even some demons wielded flames.

Among all the flames in the world, Gu Huibi’s flame was the most unique.

This was written in the ancient book possessed by His Heaven. Even though he hadn’t intended to read it, he became certain after doing so.

Her flame was precisely what His Heaven needed most.

And His Heaven was more than capable of consuming such power.

‘Perhaps My Heaven is reluctant to absorb her?’

That didn’t seem likely.

Up until now, the Palace Lord had offered numerous energies to His Heaven and they had absorbed all those energies without wasting any, seemingly relishing the process.

So, it probably wasn’t because of His Heaven’s reluctance.

‘Regardless, I must ensure that My Heaven accepts her.’

To achieve that, he needed flames.

Flames were necessary for all the Qi to mix together.

And according to the ‘Ancient Book’, now was the time.

For this purpose, the Palace Lord had refrained from offering His Heaven any special Qi for the past year.

‘But why…!’

He couldn’t understand.

Why wasn’t His Heaven absorbing Gu Huibi’s Qi?

The power to absorb Qi and make it its own was His Heaven’s greatest authority.

His Heaven tilted their head, seemingly not understanding the Palace Lord’s words.

Those violet eyes, brighter than usual, were focused on Gu Huibi.

After blinking once, those very eyes widened slightly, as if His Heaven had grasped what the Palace Lord was saying.

Heaven responded briefly.

“I can’t. Eat more.”

They seemed to need time to find the right words to express their state, causing them to go silent.

Hearing His Heaven’s response, the Palace Lord instantly lifted his head, which had been bowed to the ground.

After all, such a thing should never have happened.

“…What do you mean by that?”

“Now, I can’t ea…”

They began, but stopped mid-sentence.

Judging by the shape of their lips, they appeared too lazy to respond.

However, the Palace Lord was still reeling from the shock.

He had to think about the meaning of His Heaven’s words.

‘Can’t eat anymore?’

His Heaven was incapable of lying.

They would instead choose to ignore rather than lie.

So, what did their words mean just now?

Did that mean that His Heaven was no longer able to consume others’ power?

‘But, why all of sudden…?’

The last time His Heaven had consumed someone else’s Qi was around the same time last year.

The Palace Lord remembered his Heaven absorbing all of its Qi back then.

Furthermore, the one being absorbed was another one of the Four Emperors and Five Kings.

The Warlord of Dual Blades, Hyuk Uhchoon.

He lacked martial power compared to the other Four Emperors and Five Kings, but compared to someone like Gu Huibi, a mere young prodigy, the difference was like night and day.

His Heaven, who had so easily absorbed someone like Hyuk Uhchoon, couldn’t absorb Gu Huibi’s measly power? That was impossible!

‘Did something happen? Perhaps a problem?’

If so, what had happened within the span of a year?

Crack.

The Palace Lord quietly ground his teeth.

A new problem had occurred in this already crucial situation.

A crack had appeared.

And from that crack, an unease was slowly leaking.

‘This is not ideal.’

The Palace, which he had painstakingly built over decades, formed an indiscernible crack, so he was far from being pleased.

The Palace Lord didn’t say anything further, and slowly stood up.

“I will be taking my leave now.”

His Heaven showed no reaction to his words.

The Palace Lord made a gesture, causing Gu Huibi’s body to be lifted up in the air and fly towards him.

“Ugh…!”

Gu Huibi let out a grunt as she was lifted up.

Just as she was about to fly away, Heaven’s hand grabbed her.

“Where?”

They asked Gu Huibi, tilting their head, but Gu Huibi was in no state to respond.

She had so much she wanted to say since earlier, but the overwhelming aura let out by the Palace Lord, left her breathless and unable to speak.

She was even more surprised by the child’s nonchalant demeanor.

‘…I knew that it wasn’t an ordinary child.’

She could guess that just by sensing the unique aura emanating from the child, let alone the situation.

The child effortlessly held onto her body, even as the Palace Lord used his Qi to draw her towards him.

The child even seemed unfazed by the Lord’s Qi.

It was as if they couldn’t even feel it.

But if this situation were to continue for a long time, then it would become a problem for her.

In the end, Gu Huibi mustered the strength to speak amidst this overpowering pressure.

“Let’s… see each other next time.”

It was a vague sentence, yet, even that short sentence was difficult for her to say.

Her body couldn’t use any Inner Qi, after all.

Thankfully, it seemed to have worked, as the child let go of Gu Huibi.

Gu Huibi was then flown towards the Palace Lord, who respectfully bowed to the child, closed the door and left the room.

Slam!

The door closed and a loud sound echoed in the room.

The child that was left alone, mumbled to itself, staring at the door.

“Again?”

The child kept thinking about Gu Huibi’s words, wanting to understand their meaning.

But the child couldn’t understand.

They closed their eyes once again.

Extinguishing the violet flame in their hand, they slowly returned to the darkness.

Only after that, was the child able to feel comfort again.

******************

Slam!

“Ugh!”

Gu Huibi’s was thrown onto a wide floor, causing her to roll a few times.

She found herself back in the jail where she had been held for the past few days.

Struggling to her feet after the rough landing, she spoke.

“Your treatment seems a bit harsh. Is that perhaps not what you wanted?”

The impact might have sprained her arm.

The Palace Lord frowned at her words.

“What I wanted?”

“Didn’t you want me to babysit the child? I thought you brought me here to play with the child.”

Gu Huibi’s words, laced with sarcasm, made the Palace Lord frown even more.

Observing his reaction, Gu Huibi thought to herself.

‘Seems like it didn’t go according to his plan.’

She was certain of it.

Initially, she had assumed the child to be the Palace Lord’s offspring.

However, his attitude towards the child suggested otherwise.

It made her wonder about the nature of their relationship.

But, rather than that…

‘What is that child?’

Gu Huibi was curious.

Judging by the Palace Lord’s actions, it seemed he had brought her here because it was necessary for the child.

But since things hadn’t gone according to the Palace Lord’s plan, she wasn’t able to know clearly.

She thought of the child’s eyes which held a peculiar aura.

The child had a striking resemblance to someone Gu Huibi knew.

They even shared a similar aura.

She wondered if this could be really called a coincidence.

In the current situation, the Palace Lord only continued to stare at Gu Huibi.

“Why are you staring?”

She asked, but he gave no response.

Instead, he slowly raised his hand.

Just as Gu Huibi was about to notice the Palace Lord’s intent…

Slam!

A sound echoed from somewhere as dust began to fall from the ceiling.

Gu Huibi hadn’t really felt it, but the building seemed to have shaken a little.

“Hmm.”

Lowering his hand, the Palace Lord frowned slightly, seemingly sensing something that Gu Huibi, unable to use her Qi, could not.

He then turned around and began to walk towards the entrance, leaving Gu Huibi behind.

Back in her cell, as Elder Mook snored in the background, Gu Huibi became certain.

If it wasn’t for that sound just now, she would have died at the Palace Lord’s hand.

********************

On the first floor of the Palace, the Palace Lord went out to look for the one responsible for the sound, and the Qi he had felt earlier.

His senses were somewhat obscured by the formations cast around the Palace, but he was sure it was Fire Qi.

Furthermore, it felt extremely similar to the Fire Qi he had felt in the past.

A stinging sensation in his stomach reminded him of a dense scar left by the Fire Qi.

“I greet the Palace Lord…!”

Many bowed their heads as the Palace Lord appeared.

But his gaze was fixed on the wall.

“What happened?”

“…Well.”

A side of a wall was terribly damaged, as if a giant demon had charged at it, utterly destroying it.

And judging by the leftover flames, the Palace Lord immediately thought of someone—

The Flaming Demon, Gu Cheolun.

That Fusion Realm martial artist was definitely capable of leaving such a mark on the Black Palace.

The unique aura he felt from the flames, confirming the culprit’s identity.

“He came.”

It seemed that even the old tiger, worn out by time, cared for his own children.

He sent out a wave, extinguishing all the small flames, and wondered.

‘How was he able to find this location?’

Even if he had found the location, it meant that he had broken through the barrier of formations in a situation where he couldn’t even use Inner Qi.

‘Just how?’

The formations made by the Giant Oni were not to be underestimated.

Not only was the Palace hard to find due to the formations cast on it, but it was also so durable that even the Palace Lord couldn’t easily break it with his martial power.

Not even a successor of the destroyed Zhuge Clan, known for their expertise in formations, would be able to accomplish such a feat easily.

“Great Oni.”

“Yes, Lord…!”

“Did the barrier break?”

At the Palace Lord’s cold voice, the Great Oni spoke with his head bowed.

“N-No sir. I checked it just now, and it was perfectly intact.”

Then what was going on?

The Palace Lord stared at the wall, holding his breath.

Whatever it was, it was true that the Tiger of The Gu Clan was currently inside the Palace.

A black fog emanated from the Palace Lord’s shoulders.

His eyes, which had been closed, opened in an instant.

And when he spoke, his eyes shone with violet light.

“Find him. He is in here somewhere.”

As soon as the order was given, many members of the Palace disappeared to carry out their Lord’s command.

The Palace Lord didn’t know why the Flaming Demon had chosen such an option, but seeing as he was the ‘Flaming Demon’, there must have been a reason for it.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to him.

‘I’ll only have to ask him once we meet.’

The Palace Lord gradually spread his black fog further.

And from far away…

Someone watched him while hiding their presence.

The ones responsible for breaking the wall.

Gu Yangcheon and Namgung Bi-ah watched him from afar.

As they had hidden their presence in a forest, they weren’t caught.

But the mysterious Qi emanating from the Palace Lord’s body, made Namgung Bi-ah break out in cold sweat.

Even from a distance, it was a very chilling sensation.

‘…That’s… martial arts…?’

It felt inadequate to describe such a thing as martial art.

She was astounded that such a martial art could exist in the world.

As she calmed her racing heart, she glanced at Gu Yangcheon, who had a shocked expression similar to hers.

However, Gu Yangcheon’s shock was for a different reason.

The personalized martial art that he saw from the Palace Lord…

The black fog that grew and spread as if swallowing its surroundings…

Just from the nasty sensation of his body yearning for it, Gu Yangcheon recognized it.

How could he not?

‘Demonic Arts…?’

It was the power bestowed by the Heavenly Demon.

Demonic Arts.

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