Chapter 475

Chapter 475 – The Wheel of Blood Moves Again (4)

"The Divine Cult has moved."

"Mm!"

"The Black and White Lions, the Three Great Army Commanders, the Seven Great Demons, nearly everyone was mobilized without exception."

"As expected."

"The Cult Leader seems firmly determined to completely eradicate the Orthodox Faction this time."

Myeong-cheon's expression was dark as he reported to Geom Yul-cheon.

Myeong-cheon was like the brains of the Divine Demon Alliance. He had organized the Divine Demon Alliance with his outstanding intellect and insight, and had led it until now. Of course, without the great pillar that was Geom Yul-cheon, all of it would have been impossible, but still, the fact that he played a major role was undeniable.

Geom Yul-cheon patted Myeong-cheon's shoulder.

"It was expected anyway."

"But I really did not think they would scrape together their forces to this extent for deployment."

"The Cult Leader must know it too. Now is the perfect opportunity to completely crush the Orthodox Faction's sprouts."

Geom Yul-cheon answered calmly.

If he were in the Cult Leader's position, he would probably have done the same.

Opportunity is like a loach; you must grab it tightly once it enters your hand, otherwise it slips away and becomes hard to catch again.

Geom Yul-cheon evaluated Cult Leader Cheok Gwan-hyeol highly.

The Cheok Gwan-hyeol he knew was a gambler.

This could be easily seen from his moves after his defeat in the First Orthodox-Demon War. With fiery leadership, he had raised the defeated Demon Cult into an armed group with the strongest power in a short time. Though many unjust matters and unexpected victims emerged in the process, he pushed forward as he wanted without blinking once.

Many who rebelled appeared, and those who actually resisted appeared. But Cheok Gwan-hyeol suppressed them with overwhelming force, killing countless people as examples. After that, no one dared to attempt resistance against Cheok Gwan-hyeol.

At that time, Cheok Gwan-hyeol's age was merely in his early twenties. At that young age, he completely seized the Demon Cult and started to operate it according to his will. The result was the Demon Cult's current appearance.

The Demon Cult was having its greatest peak period in history. It was an achievement no past Cult Leader had accomplished. Naturally, Cheok Gwan-hyeol's prestige also reached its peak.

No one could dare to object to Cheok Gwan-hyeol's commands. When he gave commands, the cultists who would sacrifice their lives themselves numbered over thousands.

Cheok Gwan-hyeol radiated his presence as the Demon Cult's one and only absolute being.

The problem was that Cheok Gwan-hyeol had lately devoted himself to seclusion, occasionally showing symptoms of madness. Each time, countless cultists died.

Fortunately, Sang Han-cheon managed the situation well so it became almost unknown externally, but this matter made Cheok Gwan-hyeol an object of terror even within the Demon Cult.

The one replacing Cheok Gwan-hyeol, who had entered a long seclusion to treat his madness symptoms, was precisely Military Strategist Sang Han-cheon.

Sang Han-cheon exercised unlimited power backed by the Cult Leader's favor. Even the Four Great Army Commanders and the Seven Great Demons had to be swayed by Sang Han-cheon's commands, needless to say of the other martial artists.

Sang Han-cheon tried controlling subordinate martial artists by putting forward strict discipline. Sang Han-cheon's thought was that there could be no exceptions to keeping the Cult's laws. So he punished those violating discipline even more decisively.

Everyone acknowledged Sang Han-cheon's achievements. Without him, the Demon Cult could not have enjoyed such prestige. But that did not mean they naturally accepted his exercising unlimited authority like the Cult Leader.

Though they could not rebel openly, quite many had dissatisfaction with Sang Han-cheon's conduct. Myeong-cheon contacted those with especially severe dissatisfaction, pulling them into the Divine Demon Alliance.

Thanks to that, he could clearly know the Demon Cult's internal situation like reading his palm.

Geom Yul-cheon spoke.

"First, Myeong-cheon, you must strengthen the connection links with them more. We must utilize them when the opportunity comes."

"I know."

"Good! It will be hard, but suffer just a bit more."

"Yes!"

Myeong-cheon answered strongly.

Geom Yul-cheon left him behind and went outside.

As soon as he opened the door, a cold wind wrapped around his entire body and passed through.

Suddenly his eyes shone. Because he discovered Eum Yu-kyung standing alone outside the great hall.

Eum Yu-kyung's figure standing loftily under the shattered moonlight was like Chang'e descended from the Moon Palace.

"Yu-kyung."

"Ah!"

At Geom Yul-cheon's voice calling her, Eum Yu-kyung turned around. She briefly showed a surprised expression and then soon smiled widely.

"Did your talk with Myeong-cheon go well?"

When Geom Yul-cheon silently nodded, she approached. Her figure walking while receiving the moonlight was dazzlingly beautiful.

Suddenly he felt apologetic.

Because if not for him, she would still be living a glamorous life as the Divine Cult's Holy Maiden.

"Do you not regret it?"

"What?"

"Being with me. If not for me only…"

"Do not say such things. Because I absolutely do not regret being with you."

Eum Yu-kyung smiled and shook her head.

Seeing her smile, he felt strangely reassured.

Because Eum Yu-kyung was there, he could come this far. Without her, he absolutely could not have dared to walk that rough, hard road.

"Thank you."

"Rather, I am grateful to be with you. Thank you, Yul-cheon. For stepping forward for the Divine Cult. If not for me, you would have lived a free life as a wanderer."

Geom Yul-cheon was not originally a person with great desires. Though he had a passion for martial arts, he was a natural martial artist with almost no desire for power. That he came to immerse himself in such a muddy swamp was precisely because of her.

So she felt apologetic and grateful.

For dragging him into such a rough, harsh world.

"Now the moment of conclusion is not far. We will definitely normalize the Divine Cult."

"Yul-cheon!"

"After normalizing everything, I will compete with him for true supremacy. That moment will probably become my life's greatest challenge."

Geom Yul-cheon looked up at the sky, holding Eum Yu-kyung in his arms.

***

The old man stood alone on the mountain peak. Though the whole world lay beneath his feet, his gaze aimed not at below but at the sky.

The cloudless blue sky appeared so clear it even looked icy. The old man's eyes contained the blue sky as it was.

The old man could not tear his gaze from the blue sky, and he looked for quite a while. If someone had not called him, he would not have torn his gaze from the sky until sunset.

"Lord!"

A voice carefully called him.

Only then did the old man tear his gaze from the blue sky with a regretful expression and turn around.

A man with features blurred as if foggy stood bowing and looking at the old man.

Suddenly a smile appeared on the old man's lips.

"Gwi-sa."

"Were you looking again?"

"Once I look, I cannot tear my eyes away; it is a big problem. So, what is it?"

"Finally, the Demon Cult has started moving again."

"Is that so? It is quite later than expected."

"My apologies."

"How is that your fault? Since smart people exist on that side too, being cautious is normal. Especially Sang Han-cheon, that child is a possessor of sharp insight. If wielding freely were possible, he would have done so already."

A smile floated on the old man's lips.

Gwi-sa bowed his head even deeper upon seeing such an old man.

The old man possessed quite many identities. In the Demon Cult, he was called by the alias Blood Elder; in the Heavenly Evil Cult, he was called the Cult Leader. Once he had also been active as a member of the Four Spirit Lords, and besides that, he had roamed the world with countless names and identities.

All for just one purpose.

He was so persistent he would invest his whole life to obtain the one thing he wanted. But he showed transcendent aspects toward other matters.

The old man looked at the sky again and muttered.

"Finally, I have barely met the basic conditions. It truly took long."

"Congratulations, Lord."

"Because of this old man's stubbornness, you and other friends suffered much."

"Not at all."

"As promised, once this matter ends, you will all be free. Do whatever you want, and live as you please."

"Following the Lord is my only pleasure. Please do not say such things."

"I am grateful for the words at least."

The smile on the old man's lips deepened.

Then hesitation appeared on Gwi-sa's face. The old man did not miss such a change.

"Why so? It seems you have other things to say."

"Actually…"

"Speak."

"Though I cannot be certain since I did not see it directly with my eyes, it seems one of our side's people is beside the child called Dam Ho."

"What do you mean? One of our people is beside that child."

For the first time, an interested expression appeared on the old man's face. Then Gwi-sa carefully continued speaking.

"Do you know I imprisoned Fist Demon in the Avici Hell?"

"Yes! I heard the story. I heard you mobilized all soul magicians, I believe."

"Correct. That Fist Demon, whom I imprisoned with such difficulty, escaped the Avici Hell. You do not know how shocked I was then."

"You must have been. Since escaping from there with human power is nearly impossible."

"That is right. Because no one had escaped before. Is not that why we gave it the name Avici Hell?"

"Your words are getting long. So what do you want to say?"

"You will remember. The soul magician we sent into the Avici Hell before."

"Ho!"

For the first time, the old man showed curiosity. Then Gwi-sa made an even more apologetic face.

"According to recent findings, it seems the soul magician who entered the Avici Hell then is beside Dam Ho."

"They came out together?"

"That is right."

"That is quite amusing. Then it means he survived there continuously after that too?"

"Correct."

"Perhaps that child also saw beyond the wall. Is not that right?"

Gwi-sa could not answer. No, he could not. Because he could not be certain what that soul magician saw. But the old man seemed certain.

"Hehehe! Truly amusing. Amusing. That is why worldly matters are truly unknowable. Someone races their whole life trying to break down the wall, while someone saw beyond the wall regardless of their will."

The old man burst into hearty laughter.

Whooosh!

Instantly the area's atmosphere trembled uneasily. The atmosphere's trembling soon became a storm, and a knife-sharp wind whipped, making the mountains and vegetation tremble.

To the disaster-like scene that could not possibly be seen as a phenomenon created by a human, Gwi-sa was not surprised. Because to the old man he knew, this degree was natural.

When the old man stopped laughing, the wind that had whipped the mountain stopped as if it had not happened. But a smile still floated on his face.

"Gwi-sa."

"Yes!"

"I want to see that child."

"I will bring him."

"Bring him to the altar. I will be there."

"Understood."

At Gwi-sa's answer, the old man lightly waved his hand. It meant to withdraw.

Gwi-sa deeply bowed to the old man and then carefully withdrew.

Left alone, the old man looked at the sky again.

"Truly formidable. To send such a child into the world to check me."

Though he spoke so, the old man did not look worried at all.

Then.

"Hm?"

Suddenly a strange light appeared in the old man's eyes.

Because a tiny dot in that distant sky was rapidly enlarging.

"My! Many guests are visiting today."

The rapidly enlarging tiny dot was precisely a person.

Though it was an unbelievable matter, someone was flying through the sky and approaching the mountain peak where the old man was.

The qinggong art of Riding Wind Flight was passed down only in legend. It was a legendary realm of flying through empty air using a single breeze.

The old man smiled while watching the approaching flyer.

Lightly landing on the mountain peak was someone he knew well.

"Long time no see. Queen Mother of the West."

Landing with fluttering white clothes like a hermit was precisely the Western Queen Mother Yong Hwa-seol, a member of the Four Divine Emperors.

Yong Hwa-seol's face scattered coldness like the northern wind and snow. She glared at the old man with terrible eyes.

"Why did you do it?"

"What?"

"Did you have to? All I wanted was just his safety. So I gave up my intentions toward the martial world according to your will. Why did you do it?"

"I do not know what you are saying at all."

"I met Namgung In-hu."

"Hmm!"

The moment Namgung In-hu was mentioned, the old man's eyebrows frowned deeply. It was the moment displeased feelings were expressed for the first time.

"What became of him?"

"What do you think became of him?"

"Dead, probably. I asked a truly foolish question."

The old man let out a sigh. Yong Hwa-seol's eyes looking at him were full of deadly poison.

If eyes alone could tear a person to death, it would be precisely like her eyes. A storm of killing intent whipped in her pupils.

Looking at such a face of Yong Hwa-seol, the old man clicked his tongue.

"Tsk! You found out after all. That is why I told you so carefully."

"Why did you do it? Still, he was your friend."

"I still think of him as a friend."

"Liar! Though a friend, how could you do that to him…"

"You will not believe it, but that is what he himself wanted. I merely helped that friend's choice."

"I absolutely cannot forgive you. Even if he forgives you, I cannot forgive you."

Kuuuuu!

Instantly, a tremendous force rose from Yong Hwa-seol's entire body. Looking at such a Yong Hwa-seol, the old man quietly let out a sigh.

"Ha! Still, since we shared memories of the same era, I did not want to kill you."

"I have no memories to share with you. All that I experienced together with you is remembered only as a nightmare. Ho Cheon-myeong, now I will claim your life with my own hands."

"Tsk!"

The moment the old man Ho Cheon-myeong clicked his tongue, Yong Hwa-seol rushed in.

Kwaaargh!

At the two people's fight, the mountain cried out a scream-like wail.