Chapter 182

Chapter 182
## Chapter 182: Advancement (1)

“Argh!”

Paeng Man-ho let out a final, agonizing gasp as his legs gave way.

A thick layer of white frost had coated his entire frame, and the crimson lifeblood leaking from his gashed skin had turned to solid ice in a heartbeat.

“My Lord.”

Mo Gong-jeong, the Chief Elder of the North Sea Ice Palace, strolled forward with a calm demeanor. He looked down at the pathetic sight of the fallen Paeng Man-ho and spoke.

“The resistance has been neutralized.”

“Excellent work. Things are settled on this end as well.”

Buk Ri-hwang gave a curt nod, his gaze fixed on Paeng Man-ho, who was desperately gasping for air.

“How pityable. Had you simply agreed to our terms at the outset, this misery could have been avoided.”

“S-silence! I would choose the grave a thousand times over bowing to your kind.”

“Men who value their reputation above their pulse… you are exactly as I predicted.”

“Do not mistake this for a total victory. My household may have crumbled under your boots, but the martial world of the Central Plains is far more formidable than you realize. Our brothers will seek retribution.”

Instead of being rattled by Paeng Man-ho’s vitriol, a serene smirk spread across Buk Ri-hwang’s face.

“Is that so? I suspect they won’t have the spare breath for it.”

Buk Ri-hwang leaned in with a mocking grin.

“Even when the Heavenly Demon Cult began their recent stirrings, the Murim Alliance remained stagnant. They were far too preoccupied squabbling over their own borders. And then there is this new Righteous Heaven Alliance? Their internal power struggles are only set to intensify. Toss the Heavenly Demon Cult into that mix, and who is going to bother looking for the remnants of the broken Paeng Clan?”

“……”

Paeng Man-ho found no words to hurl back.

“Furthermore, that entity you loathe so deeply is beginning to stir once more.”

At the mention of “that entity,” Paeng Man-ho’s pupils began to tremble uncontrollably.

“It—it cannot be!”

“To be honest, we had little motivation to strike. You looked down on our frozen, desolate territory, but to us, it is our most cherished sanctuary. Nonetheless, we are not without a desire for more fertile soil. We simply lacked the opening to move outward.”

“You… you are acting on the directives of the… Blood Slaughter Cult?!”

Paeng Man-ho’s voice was a mere whisper of its former self.

“A few months back, a youth arrived at our gates. He claimed the title of leader of the Blood Slaughter Cult. An intriguing individual, and exceptionally capable.”

Buk Ri-hwang’s expression darkened slightly as he recalled his brief exchange with the leader of the Blood Slaughter Cult.

The terms of their agreement had been acceptable. The result of their personal test of strength, however, was less so.

“His proposal was quite compelling. No one can say for sure what the coming days hold, but for the moment…”

“That is enough.”

Mo Gong-jeong reached out, touching his companion’s arm and shaking his head. It was only then that Buk Ri-hwang saw that Paeng Man-ho had breathed his last. He let out a dry, mirthless laugh.

“Confound it. Just the memory of that youth makes me lose my focus.”

“It is a testament to his overwhelming power.”

Mo Gong-jeong spoke with a tone of shared understanding. In their seven decades of companionship, he had never seen his friend look so defeated.

“Indeed. He is frighteningly gifted.”

Buk Ri-hwang found his hand tightening into a white-knuckled fist.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Sima Geon, representing the Divine Demon Clan, and the figurehead of the Blood Slaughter Cult—Yajeol Jae, once the master of Golden Arm Manor who had vanished into obscurity two decades prior—stood poised five jang apart.

The observers watching from the periphery were thick with apprehension. In contrast, those who served Yajeol Jae remained eerily stoic.

While five jang was a significant gap, for warriors of the caliber of Sima Geon and Yajeol Jae, it was practically point-blank range.

The sheer pressure of their internal energies was suffocating.

A localized gale began to whip around the two combatants.

Yajeol Jae initiated the strike.

The moment Sima Geon detected a faint shift in the man’s posture, a bolt of blinding light sliced through the air.

It was the Radiant Flash, the legendary art of the Blood Sea Demon Lord.

Sima Geon met the assault with the pinnacle of the Single Heaven Nine Forms: the Extreme Fury Radiant Sound.

It was a collision of absolute velocity against absolute velocity.

To the untrained eye, it seemed as if they had merely traded a few quick swings. In truth, within that single breath and across those five jang, dozens of lethal clashes had occurred.

The air hissed with the sound of steel, followed by the rhythmic clanging of blades. Their garments and skin were marked with surgical precision.

“That was not the Radiant Flash. What technique was that?”

Yajeol Jae returned his blade to its scabbard, his eyes narrow with suspicion.

As far as his knowledge of martial history went, no blade was swifter than the Blood Sea Demon Lord’s Radiant Flash—especially after he had spent years honing it to even greater speeds. Yet, Sima Geon’s blade had matched him blow for blow.

Sima Geon remained silent, taking a moment to assess his own condition.

His robes had been reduced to ribbons in a matter of seconds.

A chilling grin formed on his mouth.

“You have certainly evolved the arts of the Blood Sea Demon Lord.”

Yajeol Jae’s temper flared at Sima Geon’s patronizing remark, which offered no clarification.

“Pompous brat.”

Yajeol Jae launched himself at Sima Geon, his sword becoming a blur of motion.

He unleashed the ultimate move of the Lightning Thunder Blood Sword: Blazing Radiance.

Intense crimson embers flared from his steel, consuming the immediate vicinity.

The second Yajeol Jae lunged, Sima Geon identified the exact nature of the strike.

The Heavenly Demon Sword carved a diagonal path, initiating a complex, shifting pattern.

The Heavenly Net Starlight.

K-boom!

A thunderous impact followed, as wild flames surged in every direction. However, not a single spark managed to bypass the defensive veil of the Heavenly Demon Sword; they were all redirected into the air.

Visible shaken by how easily his strike was parried, Yajeol Jae doubled down with a relentless stream of blows.

These were the hallmark techniques of the Blood Sea Demon Lord, moves Sima Geon was intimately familiar with. Yet, their current potency was vastly superior to the originals.

Realizing that the standard arts of the Three Demon Lords might not suffice, Sima Geon shifted his strategy to the Single Heaven Nine Forms.

Crash! Boom!

The earth trembled and roared as the shockwaves from their meeting blades pulverized the landscape.

The spectators were forced to retreat in haste, their eyes struggling to keep pace with the movement.

The fight was a brutal, uncompromising stalemate.

Unlike Cheol Woo and Neung Sohwa, who could follow the flow of the duel to some degree, the others were paralyzed by the sheer scale of the battle, able only to watch in stunned silence.

‘Up until this point, only the North Heaven Sword Demon could hold his own against the master. Even then, there was a visible disparity. But this opponent…’

Cheol Woo watched Yajeol Jae’s frantic swordplay with a mix of adrenaline and growing alarm.

He had sensed it earlier when he had tried to intercept a blow, but this enemy was more dangerous than anyone he had ever encountered.

A dark thought began to take root.

‘No, that is impossible!’

Cheol Woo quickly dismissed the fear.

Even if the world collapsed, Sima Geon would not falter.

‘Show him your true strength, Master!’

While Cheol Woo offered silent encouragement, Neung Sohwa watched the fray with a different intensity. Her concern for Sima Geon was deep, but she had become completely absorbed in the mechanics of the fight.

As Yajeol Jae lunged, she visualized herself in Sima Geon’s shoes; as Sima Geon countered, she imagined she was Yajeol Jae parrying. She was conducting a mental duel in tandem with the physical one.

The more violent the struggle became, the more her face betrayed her concentration.

She attempted to mentally apply her Celestial Flow Swordsmanship to their exchanges, but found it nearly impossible. Sweat poured down her face, her clothing drenched.

The combat seemed to stretch into eternity.

Neither warrior could claim dominance; the deadlock was absolute.

Neither man gave an inch of ground, even as their conditions deteriorated.

Their attire was in shreds, and their skin was mapped with various lacerations. Blood soaked the earth beneath them, turning the dirt into a dark mud.

‘Who is this person?!’

Yajeol Jae was internally reeling at the fact that Sima Geon remained as immovable as a peak, regardless of the ferocity of his strikes.

As the seconds ticked by, he began to feel his own resolve fracturing.

He remembered Sima Geon’s earlier claim: that the Three Demon Lords had labored together to transcend the techniques of the Heavenly Demon.

The truth of it was now clear. The arts Sima Geon was using weren’t just the Three Demon Lords’ legacy—they were refined tools specifically designed to overcome the Heavenly Demon.

‘If I don’t change tactics, I will fall.’

Sensing the mounting pressure from Sima Geon’s increasingly precise strikes, Yajeol Jae reached a desperate conclusion.

He would use the art he had developed during his years of isolation—a technique designed for total metamorphosis. However, it was still a work in progress.

Employing it now was a massive risk. But with Sima Geon’s current momentum, he had no other cards to play.

Gritting his teeth, hellish, dark flames erupted from Yajeol Jae’s blade.

“This ends now!”

His sword moved with a speed that defied logic.

A trail of fire followed the steel, appearing to split the very horizon.

‘He’s mad!’

Sima Geon instantly recognized the lethal nature of the coming blow.

Innovation is difficult. But refining existing greatness into something entirely new is perhaps even harder. Yet, Yajeol Jae had succeeded.

He had pushed the Blood Sea Demon Lord’s legacy into a new dimension, condensing the forty-nine variations of the Lightning Thunder Blood Sword into seven concentrated strikes.

It was a fusion of the Radiant Flash with the core of the Wild Radiance and Blazing Radiance.

It appeared as though a massive, roaring comet was crashing toward him.

The world seemed to dissolve into an ocean of fire—a terrifying mental projection.

Sima Geon’s expression turned grim.

His logical mind urged him to retreat, but his warrior’s spirit refused. Besides, there was no room to evade.

In that split second, Sima Geon called upon the final form of the Single Heaven Nine Forms: Blazing Fire Annihilation.

A brilliant crimson sword aura, mirroring the heat of Yajeol Jae’s own flames, burst from the Heavenly Demon Sword.

The two forces met with a cataclysmic impact.

A pained sound escaped Sima Geon as he felt the sheer weight of the force.

A trickle of blood escaped his lips.

Believing he had weathered the worst of the collision, Sima Geon shifted his weight and lashed out.

The Flower Dance Overlap.

The Heavenly Demon Sword created a multitude of deceptive trajectories.

Each movement spawned more, surrounding Yajeol Jae from every conceivable angle.

Yajeol Jae’s face tightened with a flicker of realization.

The air was saturated with sword aura, waves of energy crashing in from all directions—a crushing pressure that threatened to shred his being.

‘Hah! Unbelievable.’

He had emerged from his long seclusion with his ego soaring. He believed himself to be without a peer.

That delusion was shattered in a single exchange.

Facing Sima Geon’s overwhelming assault, Yajeol Jae felt the cold touch of death. Yet, his instincts took command.

The flames from his sword grew even larger and more concentrated.

The fire consumed the blade, then wrapped around his entire body.

The constricting sword auras met the massive wall of fire, creating a final, blinding conflagration.

The battlefield was white-out by the combination of aura and flame.

Energies collided and shattered in an instant, a thousand variations playing out in a heartbeat.

The resulting shockwave spiraled outward like a desert storm, obliterating everything it touched.

The ground fractured as if an earthquake had struck, sending pillars of debris into the sky.

Many of those watching ducked in fear. Several coughed up blood from the sheer pressure and slumped to the ground.

As the dust began to settle, both men let out heavy, ragged groans.

Their silhouettes slowly became visible through the haze.

Having expended everything they had, both were in a state of total exhaustion.

Sima Geon was down on one knee, using the Heavenly Demon Sword to keep himself upright. He was covered in blood, his breathing coming in shallow hitches. Not far away, Yajeol Jae stood on trembling legs, dark blood leaking from his nose and mouth.

Sima Geon forced himself to stand, pointing his sword forward. At the sight, Yajeol Jae clenched his jaw in frustration.

He might have been able to manage a few more desperate swings. However, the internal damage from the clash was catastrophic—likely a fatal blow that would require months of recovery.

The issue was that he couldn’t tell how much Sima Geon had left. The man was clearly wounded, yet his aura remained sharp and lethal.

In a fraction of a second, he weighed his options.

The Heavenly Demon Sword began to rise. He was out of time.

“Gu Yang-gyeong!”

At Yajeol Jae’s command, Gu Yang-gyeong blurred forward from the rear, grabbing his master. Without a moment’s hesitation, he turned to flee.

“We shall settle this another day.”

It was an admission of a temporary loss, fueled by a promise of future vengeance.

Sima Geon stood his ground, lacking the remaining energy to give chase. Neung Sohwa, however, was not finished.

The moment Gu Yang-gyeong interfered, she had already leaped forward, closing the distance to intercept the retreating Yajeol Jae.

Soldiers serving Gu Yang-gyeong threw themselves into her path.

Neung Sohwa gave a cold, dismissive smirk and swept her sword. Their forms disintegrated instantly.

Surprised by the reaction, she activated her protective aura and spun her blade like a gale, knocking away the flying debris of bone and tissue.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Blood Slaughter Cult fighters charged her like suicidal insects, giving their lives to slow her down.

By the time Neung Sohwa had cleared the path, Gu Yang-gyeong and Yajeol Jae had disappeared, leaving no trail to follow.

“……”

The area was littered with mangled remains, the ground painted in a gruesome shade of red. Having repelled the suicide squad, Neung Sohwa stood in the silence for a long time, unmoving.