Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 291

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 291

All movement stopped simultaneously, except for the bubbling of the liquid boiling inside the cauldron.

The old man who looked like skin stretched over a skeleton, the man who was adding firewood, and everyone else moving within the cavern turned their heads toward the underground iron door.

A vibration that arose for a moment then subsided.

The old man’s expression immediately turned cold, and even without orders being given, the people in the cavern stopped what they were doing and picked up their respective weapons.

Sharp sword aura and killing intent mixed together, concentrating on the iron door.

Just when the waiting was starting to feel tedious.

Click.

Creeeeak.

The iron door opened with a sound that matched the eerie atmosphere.

“Huh?”

Jin Yalim, who was leading, expressed bewilderment at the energy focused on him.

The moment his eyes met with those in the space beyond the iron door.

Swish!

An attack flew at him before anyone could say anything.

“Hup!”

What the hell is this as soon as I open the door!

Though it was sudden, he instinctively deflected the attack.

Clang!

The sound of metal rang through the cavern.

Despite wrapping himself in Gang Qi due to the sudden attack, his hand that blocked it throbbed, making his face naturally scrunch up.

The problem was that several more attacks flew at him in succession right after deflecting the first one.

“These bastards!”

He was already full of irritation because of Zhuge Munhyeon, and now attacks were flying at him without any questions or answers, so there was no way he could be in a good mood.

‘Damn it, am I some neighborhood mutt? This guy and that guy, why is everyone making a fuss over just me!’

Gang Qi energy gathered around Jin Yalim’s ten fingers as his accumulated grievances exploded.

Whooooom!

Beast claws that could tear even steel, Blood Wolf Claw.

I’m a Gang Qi master!

I’m not someone who should be treated like this!

I’ll tear them all apart and completely destroy this kind of space…

“Go easy, or it’ll collapse.”

At the moment the attacks were flying.

Damn it, Zhuge Munhyeon’s low voice from behind stuck right into his ear.

Ah, that damn bastard.

The violent aura that had filled the cavern like a whirlwind rapidly diminished.

However, instead of diminishing, it condensed thinly and became sharper.

“Aaaaah!”

With an angry shout and putting forth all his strength, the Gang Qi that had become thin as thread overlapped and overlapped again, transforming into a dense net that spread out in front.

Slash slash slash!

The flying attacks were cut away as if dissolving upon touching the Gang Qi net, and countless diagonal marks were left on the floor and walls.

The attackers had no choice but to retreat in surprise.

It seemed like a barrier had been spread for a moment, and if they approached, they too would be sliced to pieces.

Those who retreated couldn’t hide their bewildered expressions.

No follow-up attacks came.

“Huff, huff… These damn bastards, how dare they look at me…”

As a momentary lull settled in, Jin Yalim, who had drawn out tremendous energy, breathed roughly.

It was understandable.

Sharpening one’s power was much more difficult than exploding with it.

“Well done, that’s what’s called Gang Net.”

“Gang Net?”

“That’s right, if you refine it a bit more it becomes a membrane, and when you become more familiar with it and add more power, it becomes a thick wall. This is the next realm you should advance to. When that time comes, you’ll be able to handle Gang Qi as you wish. You’ll also be able to cover as much space as you want with Gang Qi. Well, it’ll still be quite a while before you reach that level.”

“Huff, huff… Huh?”

Jin Yalim, who had been heaving his chest and catching his breath until then, blinked his eyes.

The energy he had explosively drawn up in that moment.

He had no choice but to condense it at Zhuge Munhyeon’s single word, and he had put forth all his strength to vent his anger.

In other words, it was a coincidental achievement born purely from overlapping circumstances.

But the moment he saw Zhuge Munhyeon’s face wearing a comfortable smile.

‘…Was it really a coincidence?’

His heart pounded for no reason.

“Step aside for now. That guy seems to be the leader.”

“Ah… Yes.”

The respectful speech at that moment was sincere.

Because it seemed like he had somehow made him grow by one stage…

‘Ugh, damn it, I almost felt respect for him.’

Respect for that bastard?

That’s ridiculous.

Jin Yalim stepped aside and vigorously shook his head, trying to deny his own feelings.

And.

“To think something like a bag of bones is alive and moving.”

Zhuge Munhyeon stepped forward and looked at the frail old man before turning his gaze to the surroundings.

A large cauldron placed over blazing flames.

Firewood piled up all over the walls.

Dried medicinal herbs and talismans stuck here and there.

And even incomprehensible characters carved all over the cavern floor.

Though he didn’t know exactly what they meant, these were things he had seen familiarly long ago.

There was only one group that used such characters.

Zhuge Munhyeon’s frowning face immediately turned cold.

“You bastard, what’s your relationship with the Blood Sect?”

“…”

“Since there’s no way I could have arrived at Tianshan in just a day and a half from Henan, this place must be Henan or a region slightly away from Henan… So why do you know the damn Blood Sect’s sorcery?”

The moment he asked with eyes filled with cold chill, the frail old man’s eyes widened as he stared piercingly at Zhuge Munhyeon.

He knows about the Blood Sect…?

A Central Plains person?

And one who only looks to be around twenty at that?

Impossible.

He should have said Demonic Sect instead.

It had been long since the Blood Sect had withdrawn from the world.

Above all, Central Plains people didn’t distinguish between the Demonic Sect and Blood Sect.

No, even the Demonic Sect no longer distinguished them. The new master had embraced those who had been rejected and treated them with tolerance.

But he clearly distinguished them?

The old man was far more shocked than when he learned they were Gang Qi martial artists.

“…Who are you?”

The old man’s voice trembled finely as he asked back.

His eyes seemed extremely curious about how he knew about the Blood Sect.

But Zhuge Munhyeon frowned and spoke again.

“I asked first, old man. Are you so old that you can’t distinguish the order of conversation?”

“…”

“It looks a bit different, but this is definitely Blood Sect sorcery. And this is probably… a human sacrifice method that uses living people as offerings to create something, right?”

The old man’s eyes grew even wider.

His naturally gaunt body made his eyes look like they were about to pop out.

But it was Jin Yalim behind him who cried out in shock before the old man.

Not just about the Blood Sect.

“U-using people as sacrifices?”

“That’s right.”

“No, how could such a thing…”

“Exactly. If I hadn’t seen this space myself, I never would have imagined it either.”

“…”

“Those bastards… they must have bought the people you kidnapped and boiled them in that cauldron.”

“What?”

Jin Yalim looked at the cauldron with wide eyes.

Bubble bubble.

Inside the open cauldron, a foul-smelling liquid was boiling.

And looking closely…

“Bones?”

Jin Yalim, finally realizing what was protruding from the surface of the liquid, felt nausea rising and clenched his mouth shut while grimacing.

There is a punishment called boiling execution.

It’s a cruel punishment where criminals are put into boiling water or oil to die.

But it’s so brutal that it’s rarely carried out.

Yet they were using such a method to create something?

“Now do you understand how evil the deeds you participated in were?”

“I, I…”

“Don’t say you didn’t know. The moment you kidnapped someone, you contributed to this in some way.”

The bandits’ kidnapping.

That was an individual matter for each mountain inn.

As the chief, what mattered more to him was the tribute money they regularly offered.

However, he had only come to Daebyeolsan after receiving orders to investigate because the tribute money coming from various places had increased excessively recently.

He never imagined such inhumane acts were taking place.

Of course, kidnapping itself was wrong to begin with, but at least they should have maintained some boundaries…

While Jin Yalim grimaced and was lost in deep thought, unable to say anything, the old man glared at Zhuge Munhyeon with bloodshot eyes and asked in a murderous voice.

“You bastard, what is your identity? How did you recognize this as Blood Sect sorcery?”

“Well… I read it in a book.”

“What?”

“I’m from a scholarly family, so I read many books.”

“…”

At Zhuge Munhyeon’s answer, the old man wrinkled his nose and his eyes trembled.

Read about Blood Sect sorcery in a book?

What nonsense lies…

“But thinking about it, my question itself was wrong. Indeed, there’s no way others would know Blood Sect sorcery. And there’s no way it would spread to the Central Plains. You guys… are from the Blood Sect, aren’t you?”

“…”

“But how did you bastards crawl into the Central Plains? Even if the master changed, there should have been no way to break the prohibition of the Dragon Transformation Pool, right? Did Tianshan collapse or something?”

“Y-you even know about the Dragon Transformation Pool?”

The old man’s expression went beyond surprise to shock.

Dragon Transformation Pool.

It refers to the lava region located deep in Tianshan.

When he became the Heavenly Demon, it was Zhuge Munhyeon who imprisoned them in the Dragon Transformation Pool.

Because their methods didn’t suit the Demonic Path.

Jiangshi that revive the dead.

Corpse poison created by rotting corpses.

None of it was normal.

They were involved in most of the things the world criticized the Demonic Path for being evil.

But how had they appeared in the world again?

And why had they hidden in the Central Plains?

And what exactly were they trying to create using the kidnapped people?

His face couldn’t help but grimace.

Damn this Central Plains.

He just wanted to achieve ascension to immortality, so why were there so many problems everywhere?

It was already annoying that the descendants of the Demonic Path were running wild after losing their identity, and now even the Blood Sect had infiltrated the Central Plains to plot schemes.

He had planned to focus on cultivating the righteous path once the Zhuge clan rose to supremacy over all under heaven…

Feeling irritated, Zhuge Munhyeon asked the old man.

“Is it perhaps for revenge against the Demonic Path?”

“What?”

“Is that why you kidnapped people? To turn them into jiangshi like before and use them to build power to destroy the Demonic Path?”

Though Zhuge Munhyeon asked repeatedly, the old man just stared without answering.

But after a moment, a smile suddenly appeared on his lips, which had been full of confusion.

“You bastard, you call it the Demonic Path?”

“What?”

“Not the Demonic Sect, but the Demonic Path… How very interesting. Truly interesting. To think there’s still someone who calls it that. And in the Central Plains, no less.”

Was it because of his appearance?

The old man’s eyes changed completely as he let out a ghostly laugh.

“Hehe, right. What’s the point of questions and answers? We’re not the type to give each other the answers we need anyway… So I’ll have to read your memories.”

“Read memories?”

“I must capture you and find out how you know such things.”

When Zhuge Munhyeon looked at him with frost-like eyes at the old man’s words, the old man’s subordinates flinched and stepped back.

“You’re relying on such pathetic things?”

“Of course not. How could such worthless beings be a match for a Gang realm martial artist?”

“…?”

The old man, unfazed by Zhuge Munhyeon’s threat, pulled out a small golden bell from his bosom.

Clang!

An incongruously clear sound rang out.

“O souls that wander the gaps, unable to belong to heaven and earth, bind the three souls and seven spirits, steal the heart-soul, and submit to my command.”

“…!”

As an eerie incantation that made one doubt whether it truly came from a human throat echoed, a strange feeling instantly filled the surroundings.

“Wh-what?”

It was the Blood Sect’s ghost summoning technique.

A method that captures the souls of wandering ghosts and injects them into the living, instantly turning nearby people into living jiangshi.

But how was this possible?

Could it be cast immediately without any preparation process?

As the old man’s incantation shook the spirits, Zhuge Munhyeon urgently employed Embryonic Breathing and saw pale shadows being sucked into the bodies of those around the old man.

Their souls were being devoured.

“Uuugh.”

“…”

You fool! Are you bewitched too?

Even Jin Yalim beside him was getting a dazed look in his eyes.

How could someone who claimed to have reached the Gang realm have such a weak mental state?

“Snap out of it!”

When Zhuge Munhyeon burst out with spirit energy, Jin Yalim, whose pupils had been losing focus, suddenly came to his senses.

And.

Grrrr…

Gray pupils.

Those emanating gui energy approached slowly, looking at Zhuge Munhyeon and Jin Yalim as if they were prey.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————