205 – Divinity (1)

“Amitabha.”

The Buddhist Star sighed as they followed the traces of Hong Bin, leaving the Tomb of the Martial Gods behind. 

Next to him, the swordsman also sighed, “Where on earth is he hiding?”

“I don’t think he ever learned martial arts, but he sure prepared well for his escape.”

Indeed, Prime Minister Hong Bin had prepared very thoroughly for his escape. That way, in case something like this happened, he could immediately extract himself from danger.

His preparations were so thorough that even the Buddhist Star and Sword Stars were unable to follow his trail, as it cut off in the middle. 

“Hmm.”

Even if you hadn’t learned martial arts, if you rose to a position of royalty, you could prepare this much with just authority alone. 

It showed how refined status was compared to strength. 

The Sword Star tried to find more traces of Hong Bin with his eyes, but sighed after a few moments. 

“Hah…”

“Amitabha.”

“Looks like he prepared well. Since he joined the Cult of the Inverted Sky, I assume he would be smart enough to stay low until this all rolls over.”

The preparation of the inherently corrupt officials was usually this thorough. 

“How about we stop pursuing him and return to the Imperial Palace to finish off the rest?”

The Sword Star nodded his head. 

No, he was about to nod. 

If it weren’t for the gray energy suddenly watering the sky, he would have done so. 

Kukuku-

The Twin Stars turned their heads in unison. 

Heaven went colorless. 

The sunset sky turned gray. 

All the gloom in the world seemed to rise up and flood the sky. 

Such deep hopelessness that it was impossible to drown out. 

It was an attack called Despair.

“What the…!”

“What in the world…”

The Twin Stars were both surprised by the sight. 

The source of such despair flowed from the imperial court. 

It seemed to be from the Palace of Supreme Harmony, in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace. 

If it was the throne room, wasn’t that where the Inverted Sky Lord was?

What in the world was going on over there for such despair to be pouring out? 

The Twin Stars frowned and trembled, almost subconsciously. 

The Buddhist Star could not hide his tremor as he prayed. “Ah, Amitabha.”

The swordsman grabbed his blade and said, “Hmph. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m definitely going back to the Imperial Palace.”

As soon as the swordsman said that, the pair turned and began to head back towards the palace. 

***

Where the gray despair flowed from, two huge hands scrambled for Woon-seong. 

Woon-seong barely dodged and avoided the hands. 

He slipped through the man’s fingers, rolling across the floor to avoid the offensive. 

Every time the palms cut through the air, they would scratch the ground. 

Kuang-

The ground split apart, fissuring like during an earthquake. 

A crevice appeared in the spot where Woon-seong had just been. If he hadn’t somersaulted and dodged, he would have been split just like the ground. 

It gave him goosebumps. 

There was no shame in avoiding an offensive by rolling around. 

No, Woon-seong didn’t even think about things like that. 

Woon-seong’s robes were already soaked in sweat. 

At the same time, laughter bubbled from within him. 

What a big difference. 

It wasn’t like the Inverted Sky Lord was using sorcery or martial skills. He was simply spreading his energy to swell his hands, then grabbing for Woon-seong. 

They were light movements, like swatting at a fly. 

However, there was no way for Woon-seong to resist even those casual movements. 

A storm raged from those fingertips and all Woon-seong could do in front of the ruthless offensive was dodge with all his might. 

The existence of the Inverted Sky Lord was just that overwhelming. 

Woon-seong grit his teeth. 

What does that say about all of my efforts so far?

He had lived one life as a disciple of the Spearmaster Nok Yu-on. 

And at the last moment, he had lost his life in vain, unable to remove the sins framed on his master. 

And then what?

After that, he was brought back to life by a strange force. 

Not as a disciple of Spearmaster Nok Yu-on, but as Hyuk Woon-seong of the Cave of Latent Demons. 

He thought opportunity had come once again. 

He thought that the Heavens had once again given him a chance to take revenge. 

So he worked tirelessly. 

He trained in the Cave of Latent Demons with all of his strength and graduated from the Cave of Latent Demons with greater achievements than anyone else. 

And then what?

In order to gain access to the power of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, he built a foundation for his rise as a Demon. 

He increased his skills and accumulated achievements. And finally, he was able to ascend to the position of Young Leader. 

But wait a minute. 

The group that had harmed Spearmaster Nok Yu-on, his former master, was the same one that caused him to lose the Moon Cleaving Heavenly Demon. 

And so Cheon Hwi added to Woon-seong sadness, for despite starting off as hoping to merely use him, Woon-seong had been touched by the man’s true heart. 

And that was why he pledged vengeance without expressing his sorrows. 

He had allied with the Orthodox Murim and the Twin Stars, even King Jinseong was a partner — and now Woon-seong was here. 

In the process, the truth of Master Nok Yu-on’s sacrifice had even been brought to light. 

And now, with just his last step for vengeance left, Woon-seong seemed to be facing a wall he couldn’t resist. 

He felt crappy. 

The decades of hard work he had put into reaching this point were being denied all at once — useless.  

“Hmm, you aren’t getting caught.”

Woon-seong could hear the Inverted Sky Lord. 

Whether he could understand Woon-seong’s thoughts or not, the Inverted Sky Lord moved his hands to grab Woon-seong, to grab the artifact of the Spear Master Sect hanging around his neck. 

Light movements, like catching a fly. 

Did he come all the way here just to fight against movements like this?

For decades, he had tried so hard just to face this situation!

No.

Woon-seong gripped the White Night Spear. 

He could see the palm coming.

The huge palms were coming at him from the left and right, as if trying to clap him between the palms. 

Woon-seong grit his teeth. 

I will not fall like this.

Even if his muscles tore and his bones broke, he would land the hit. 

The plum tree withers in place of the peach tree, or maybe cut one’s own flesh in order to cut the other’s bones [1].

No

It would more appropriate to say that those two phrases meant the same thing. 

In order to avenge his two masters, Hyuk Woon-seong was prepared to lay down his life. 

Hadn’t he decided to live for revenge in the first place?

Yeah. It was a waste of my life.

As he prepared to die for his vengeance, Woon-seong regretted that he had accumulated so much. 

Leader of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon. 

The status of the head of the force which occupied half of the world. 

Everything he had attained so far!

Woon-seong set them all down. 

Then, he confirmed everything one by one. 

He took a step. 

It was a very light step. 

With that step, Woon-seong penetrated through the palms that came towards him.

He took a second step. 

These two steps contained everything. 

The Heavenward Soul Earthen Body, the Dark Flower Red Soul. 

The Tempered Orthodox Qi, the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon. 

The Divine Spear of the Ending Night, the Art of Six Seals and Destruction. 

The Flow of the Divine Dragon, a skill he had completed successfully. 

He pushed them all into the White Night Spear. 

The techniques sleeping within Woon-seong’s mind shook. 

An enormous amount of martial knowledge flooded in from the recesses of his memory. 

Woon-seong did not leave anything out. 

Without any filtration, he shoved all of his strength into the spear. 

The techniques and skills that could not be united were forcibly mixed together.

Repulsion and attraction occurred simultaneously. 

These swirled and wove together into a group of nine-hundred and ninety-nine techniques!

Woon-seong’s body was like a storm. 

“One Thousand Absolute Routes!”

Along with the shout, energy poured from Woon-seong’s body. 

999 strokes slammed into the palms coming towards him. 

Kuakuakua-

Holding out his hands, the Inverted Sky Lord looked surprised by the huge repulsive force approaching. 

“Huh?”

He was surprised by the unexpected counterattack. 

Woon-seong did not miss the gap. 

Woon-seong collected all of the remaining power in his body and smashed into the turbulence created by ‘One Thousand Absolute Routes’. 

Kuakuakua-

What was a violent rainstorm became a galactic storm.

As the river of stars flowed, they battered against the Inverted Sky Lord’s palms, finally piercing through them.

Boom!

Not slowing down, the river of stars slammed into the Inverted Sky Lord’s body.

With the White Night Spear in hand, Woon-seong did not miss this scene. 

The Inverted Sky Lord was clearly caught up in ‘One Thousand Absolute Routes’.

That was what Woon-seong thought. 

At that moment!

Fwoom!

Gray energy spilled through the thousand strokes of stardust. 

Hopelessness. 

Despair from the devil named the Inverted Sky Lord pushed the stream of stars apart. 

No, it was not just pushing. It was causing the galaxy to shatter and crumble. 

The power in those thousand strokes dissipated. 

Then the Inverted Sky Lord walked out intact. 

“Heeheehee.”

He smiled brightly, “That was fun. Anything else?”

That counterattack was an ant’s counterattack, at best. And ants could not fell an elephant, no matter how much they resisted. 

The Inverted Sky Lord’s bright laughter seemed to break Woon-seong’s will. 

“Heeheeheeheeheeheeheehee.”

***

The Buddhist and Sword Star ran without rest. 

Of course, their destination was where that gray light of despair had originated. 

They felt like they had to go there. 

They felt like they had to see what was going on there. 

So they rushed there and they could finally see what was happening in the midst of despair. 

That terrible sight…

“Heeheeheehee, heeheeheeheehee.”

A young man glowing in white was bursting with laughter, seeming very lively. 

Ashen despair poured from his body. 

No one needed to say it, for it was obvious he was the Inverted Sky Lord. 

And as he smiled and laughed, he clutched someone in bloodied robes within his grasp. 

The Inverted Sky Lord spoke in a child’s voice:

“Why no more? You don’t want to show me something more interesting?”

His voice turned into that of a middle-aged man.

“Is that really all? Then, I’m disappointed…”

Right after that, it became that of an angered woman.

“Why don’t you try a little harder?! This is your last chance, isn’t it?!”

Nevertheless, the man in his hands was limp as a doll, showing no sign of movement. He was still breathing, but was as unresponsive as a corpse.

“Well, there’s poison in your body. Even if I leave you alone, you’ll die soon. No more fun.”

The Inverted Sky Lord huffed at the man, then tossed him aside. 

As the identity of the unresponsive man was revealed, the Buddhist Star subconsciously prayed.  

“Amitabha.”

The Inverted Sky Lord responded to the sound, head snapping towards the sky. He then smiled brightly, pupils spinning widely and glaring red. 

“Hmn?”

His voice changed again. It was the voice of a child, like earlier. 

“Is there a new toy again?”

The man tossed onto the ground… 

He was the Leader of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, the Semi-Divine Being named Hyuk Woon-seong. 

[1] two four character idioms used: (1) the plum tree withers in place of the peach tree (李代桃畺) = to substitute one thing for another; (2) to cut one’s own flesh in order to cut the other’s bones (肉斬骨端) = to pay a small price in exchange for victory 

TN: Oh how I want to stall at this cliffhanger