Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 225
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 225. The Attitude Toward the Divine (5)
All the shocks I had endured facing Moyong Bi, even combined into a single moment, could not compare to the impact of this instant.
So Gwang forced himself to maintain composure as he asked.
“Black Death? What is that?”
“Your voice is trembling.”
A sharp, hissing breath.
An ominous Killing Intent erupted from Neung Hyeong’s body.
Despite having mastered the Divine Art of Bul Moon, his Killing Intent was merciless. Rather, because it clashed so violently with the Divine Art, it radiated an even more alien and terrifying aura.
“Who is this god you serve?”
“…?!”
“Certainly not one who would turn this world into paradise. If you truly served such a god, you would not commit such atrocities even if you died and were reborn.”
An outsider might have marveled at how the former leader of Sacred Blood Palace could speak such words, but Moyong Bi, who knew his past, recognized that he was speaking from genuine rage.
“It seems you too live as nothing more than a cog in some machine.”
“Who are you?”
“That is what fanaticism truly is. Being swayed by the honeyed words of a few, made to act without even understanding what you do. How weak and foolish fragile humans become before faith.”
“Who are you?!”
Anger began to seep through So Gwang’s voice, which had maintained composure until now.
As his opponent grew angry, Neung Hyeong seemed to recover his composure, his expression becoming noticeably more at ease.
“And you are the most pathetic of all. Looking at your eyes, you harbor no true faith in your god. You simply live as you have always lived, no different from an inanimate object wearing a human face.”
So Gwang’s face grew increasingly flushed.
“Silence! How dare an outsider presume to speak carelessly of the Home School’s faith…!”
“I could remain silent before a sane person, but before someone like you, it is difficult to do so.”
Though Neung Hyeong had recovered some composure, it was clear he remained agitated.
Moyong Bi glanced at Neung Hyeong and abandoned any attempt to restrain him. There were moments when one could not intervene, no matter the concern—and this was precisely such a moment.
“Your god, if you must know, is utterly contemptible.”
A roaring cry tore forth.
Intense Killing Intent writhed from So Gwang’s body.
Neung Hyeong tilted his chin as he spoke.
“Before a god, all should be equal. Making a concession, one might show deference before the god’s representatives or children. But the rest? Why should hierarchy exist at all?”
“You bastard…!”
“See? You don’t even understand why you’re angry. You don’t believe in your god, yet you’ve been brainwashed into believing, and now you rage for a god you don’t even serve.”
“Silence!”
“Open your ears and listen!”
Neung Hyeong’s voice rang out with a fury that seemed to have no single target, mingled with sorrow and overwhelming Internal Energy.
So Gwang was taken aback by that crushing voice. It felt as though the sound itself had become a massive dark cloud, swallowing his entire body.
“I must exist for a god to exist! How can I offer prayers when my own existence is incomplete? Have you ever, even once, achieved spiritual communion with the god you so desperately desired?!”
“P-please, stop!”
“Of course you haven’t! No, you haven’t even made the effort! You are nothing but a means to fill the bellies of that pathetic sect! Not a believer or disciple, but merely a tool to satiate the greed of corrupt humans!”
“What do you know?!”
“Then what do you know of yourself?!”
So Gwang’s face drained of all color.
What do you know of me? That simple yet profound question struck like a hammer against my skull—intense and devastating.
“If you truly believed in the Divine, you would understand that everything you do makes no sense! Why do you carry that thing on your shoulders? Have you ever actually thought about anything?!”
“You, you bastard.”
“Even if I’m being generous and the Divine wanted this, have you ever once genuinely tried to understand that Divine? Have you ever awakened to what the Divine desires, to the Divine’s will?!”
“That is not something a layperson like me can comprehend!”
“Not just laypeople—all of humanity must understand! Only then can one truly believe in the Divine! Among those who genuinely seek to experience the Divine, where is hierarchy, where is race, where is the distinction between man and woman?!”
Neung Hyeong’s relentless words were more overwhelming than a hundred attacks, more oppressive than an army of thousands.
“If your superiors truly believed in the Divine and sought to follow its teachings, they should instead strive to help even one more person understand those teachings.”
“…!”
“Whether the Divine exists or not, if one hoards knowledge only for oneself and exploits it without passing it to future generations, then one has no justification.”
Moyong Bi whistled silently to himself.
‘This bastard speaks well.’
These were certainly not words prepared in advance.
Neung Hyeong genuinely pitied So Gwang. No—he pitied all those who had died by Moyong Bi’s hand in this place.
That sincerity produced these words. That is why Neung Hyeong’s speech carried such power.
Neung Hyeong exhaled deeply.
“They say nothing in this world is meaningless, yet if I merely turn my head, worlds I don’t know await me—so why do I cling stubbornly to a single path, enslaved by inertia? I cannot fathom it.”
Those words were a sneer directed not at So Gwang, but at my own past.
I could have been different, yet I was not. In this second life, I have confronted that regret and begun to change.
I am changing—so why do they refuse to change?
As I speak, I come to understand something.
I have become different.
I am beginning to grasp the true meaning of that responsibility Moyong Bi spoke of.
Moreover, if those I pity refuse to change, I now possess the conviction to stop their foolish rush—even if it means delivering death.
Uuuuoooong!
The golden radiance emanating from Neung Hyeong’s body deepened beyond what it had been before.
Deep, yet simultaneously luminous and clear. It was as though, having gained conviction in myself, I could now understand the “difference” in others—as though I had become truly human.
“I do not know the Divine. I cannot devote myself to or serve an existence I do not know. I have not experienced it. That is what it means to be human.”
“….”
“But if someone were to ask me why I deny the Divine when it surely exists, I would answer thus.”
Neung Hyeong’s face filled with sorrow.
“To humanity, created so foolishly that they cannot even sense the Divine’s existence, saying ‘I will not bless you for not following me’ is no different from a parent locking their child in solitary confinement for life and then scolding them for not seeing the natural world.”
“…!”
“I do not curse a clay figurine crudely molded from mud, asking why it does not speak or walk.”
So Gwang’s face, which had been drained white, was now stained with a color beyond description.
“Your entire sect is heretical—all of you failed to properly guide someone who has neither pursued understanding of the Divine nor achieved self-reflection.”
So Gwang, who had been watching Neung Hyeong while swallowing hard, suddenly realized his own hands were trembling violently.
Neung Hyeong’s eyes, which had been regarding him with a troubled expression, suddenly blazed like fire.
“That is why you committed such madness—purifying the sect by slaughtering your own followers.”
In that instant, Moyong Bi’s eyebrows twitched.
So Gwang was shocked once more.
“You! How do you know of the Five Purifications of the Mun School?!”
“There are no secrets in this world. One day, you too will come to understand that the god your sect believes in does not exist.”
“…You couldn’t possibly…?!”
So Gwang stepped back and asked in a confused voice.
“Could you be a descendant of the Sacred Blood?”
“Aren’t you the ones who captured and imprisoned all the descendants of the Sacred Blood?”
“Nonsense! The descendants of the Sacred Blood are nothing but slaves…!”
“Slaves?”
Whoooosh!
Neung Hyeong began to display true Aura.
The ferocious Energy Waves pouring in all directions sent even the decaying corpses reeling backward.
“So you’ve been treating them as slaves.”
“Reveal yourself! Who are you? Are you truly a descendant of the Sacred Blood…?”
Boom!
A tremendous force of power shot toward So Gwang.
It was Neung Hyeong’s White Lotus Diamond Palm, unleashed without restraint. It was no exaggeration to say it was the most formidable display of Diamond Palm shown thus far.
Crash!
The Empty Air where the explosion echoed warped grotesquely.
Neung Hyeong’s face twisted like that distorted Empty Air.
“Divine Mirror Demon Formation!!”
Crack!
Neung Hyeong charged forward recklessly, swinging both fists like a madman.
The Barley Diamond Divine Fist, one of the ten supreme fist techniques of Esoteric Buddhism, exploded, borrowing the enlightenment of the Demon Immortal.
Boom! Crash! Crash!
The invisible wall rippled and gradually loosened.
Neung Hyeong did not stop. He poured out his Martial Power at maximum output, determined to shatter this wall immediately.
“Enough!”
Boom!
With one final strike, Neung Hyeong completely shattered the formation and gazed ahead, breathing heavily.
So Gwang had vanished without a trace. It was a Stealth Technique that left no evidence—Super First-Rate Martial Arts.
Moyong Bi sighed and spoke.
“You foolish bastard. Why announce it like that? That you’ve come back to life.”
“…Damn it.”
Intoxicated by the moment, I had spoken far more than was necessary.
Of course, I harbored no regrets, but I knew all too well that it hadn’t been the right move.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s done. I couldn’t have stopped you anyway. Now we just need to figure out what to do next.”
Had it been before I withdrew the Exploding Blood Corruption Technique, I would have cursed him out thoroughly, but things were different now. Somehow, the bond between us had grown quite strong.
“You’re going back to the Main Family House right now.”
“What about you?”
“I need to chase down whoever disappeared.”
Neung Hyeong’s eyebrows twitched.
“Can you sense that bastard’s presence?”
“I can’t sense him directly. But I can feel the lingering traces of Demonic Energy he left behind. He seems to be in a panic.”
“Then let’s go together. It’s too dangerous.”
Moyong Bi snorted and kicked Neung Hyeong’s rear end.
“Your existence is the real danger here. What else are you planning to teach that bastard?”
“Damn it, don’t interfere.”
“Get home quickly. Guo Lao is there, but you never know what might happen.”
“Understood.”
After sending Neung Hyeong back, Moyong Bi immediately tracked the traces of Demonic Energy that So Gwang had left behind.
But in the end, I couldn’t find So Gwang. At some point, the trail vanished completely—as if he’d sunk beneath the earth itself, leaving not even a footprint behind.
Having abandoned the pursuit, I gazed up at the cool moonlight.
“…Well, at least we finally have a point of contact.”
* * *
The next day.
“Let’s hurry with the move.”
Moyong Su Jeong’s face remained rigid.
“The move is one thing, but are you sure you’re alright?”
“If I weren’t fine, I’d be crying and making a fuss about it, so don’t worry. Right now, that’s not what matters.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have questioned why that wasn’t important, but my younger brother’s atmosphere was far too grave for me to say such a thing.
“Haven’t you inspected enough by now? Don’t waste time being overly cautious—let’s move quickly.”
“Why so suddenly? Give me a reason.”
“This place could become dangerous.”
“Dangerous?!”
“Because of some mad bastard.”
“…Are you talking about the Neng Great Master?”
“I’ll explain the details later. For now, let’s push forward immediately.”
Moyong Bi asked Seok Woong.
“Have you memorized all the mechanism manuals and Formation Technique texts we brought from the Secret Cache?”
“Of course.”
“You’ll need to set them up throughout the new residence as quickly as possible.”
“Young Master, I’m ashamed to admit it, but I alone cannot accomplish all of that, and it would take well over a year.”
“I’m aware. That’s why we need an expert.”
Shortly after, Sama Hyeon entered the Family Head’s Office.
“You called for me, Grand Young Master?”
“Activate the Huabei Branch’s intelligence network to its fullest capacity and contact the Jegal Clan. Do it immediately.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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