“Ugh, ugh…!”
The woman running stumbled and fell. The young man running ahead turned to see and rushed to her side.
“Are you okay? Let’s rest for a bit!”
“Ugh…! Ugh..! But!”
“Calm down. Getting frantic won’t change anything.”
The woman caught her breath and turned her head.
Kyaaaaaaak!
Bam!
The sounds of battle echoed from a distance. It had been over a day since they first heard that noise.
With the undeniable evidence that the guy was still fighting, the woman grew anxious.
She knew she needed a break, but with that noise ringing in her ears, how could she possibly relax?
“Let’s go.”
“But I need to rest a bit more!”
“We’re almost at the target point! We can rest while searching!”
“…Fine.”
The woman and the young man moved again. They arrived at a mountain where only traces of destruction from the Black Dragon’s rampage remained.
“Haa, haa… Damn.. where do we even start looking?”
“Let’s search this way first!”
As the young man dashed off, a question blossomed in the woman’s mind.
Can we really find the ‘Celestial Weapon’ here?
She recalled the events from two days ago.
[Is there a way to fight together?]
[What do you mean?]
[Didn’t you say you needed a weapon? A pretty strong one, to boot.]
The young man swallowed hard and continued.
[The nearby village wanted to summon practitioners to deal with the Black Dragon. I know it sounds strange since you can fight the Black Dragon now… but back then, expecting the practitioners to defeat the Black Dragon was a fool’s errand. Yet, that village chose that route.]
[Can you cut to the chase?]
[That village has something called a Celestial Weapon.]
…Celestial Weapon? Confusion flickered across the faces of the villagers.
[It’s said to be a treasure bestowed from the heavens. That village believed that if they gave the Celestial Weapon to a practitioner, they could defeat the Black Dragon. It must be a formidable weapon, to be of great help in the fight against the Black Dragon.]
[That’s nonsense.]
The priest retorted.
[Even if such a weapon exists, the village has been destroyed for quite some time. If it were a treasure, the survivors might have fled with it. How can we find a weapon that might not even exist? It’s a suicide mission!]
[So, we should search scattered around.]
The young man calmly countered.
[If that practitioner had the Celestial Weapon, it would likely remain close to where they fought the Black Dragon. And if they requested the weapon in exchange for driving off the Black Dragon, it would be hidden in the village. If any survivors fled, they might be in another village.]
[What a ridiculous plan! Are you out of your mind to risk your life for that?]
The priest scoffed.
[I’m willing to do it.]
The woman stepped forward. The priest merely gave a crooked smile.
While the guy wasted time, he could just escape safely—who would risk uncertain danger?
[I’ll help too.]
[I will join as well.]
However,
Many villagers expressed their willingness to participate.
[Are you all out of your minds?]
[It’s not like it’s going to be that dangerous! We’re just crossing mountains and knocking on doors in other villages.]
[I’m tired of being scared and doing nothing.]
[If we succeed, we can live comfortably, so it’s worth a shot.]
[No, no…]
Ignoring the priest’s shock, the villagers began discussions. They confirmed the location of the practitioner based on everyone’s accounts and decided on where to search.
As a result, the places assigned to the young man and woman were suspected battle grounds between a practitioner from a distant village and the Black Dragon.
Knowing they had to find a weapon among the debris that the Black Dragon had churned up left the woman’s heart heavy with despair.
Kyaaaaaa!
But with the Black Dragon’s roar echoing from above, the woman regained her focus.
‘I must find it!’
Evidence that the guy was still fighting.
At the sound, the woman composed herself and began to rummage through the rubble.
How long had she been digging through the debris?
She suddenly spotted something shiny beneath a fallen log. Instinctively, she reached out and touched the object. It was a silver body, cold and solid to the touch.
“I found it!”
The young man rushed over, and together, they cleared the remaining debris and dirt to reveal the ‘Celestial Weapon.’
“This is…”
“Absolutely!”
The shape of the weapon was unmistakable, and it had an extraordinary presence. The two, who had been grinning from ear to ear, suddenly turned their heads at the sound of the Black Dragon’s roar.
“Let’s go!”
“Right!”
The return journey was not going to be easy for the exhausted duo, but their eyes sparkled with hope.
*
The man thought.
Had he ever fought this long?
His breath was ragged and his limbs felt as heavy as soaked cotton.
Kyaaaaaaaaa!!
Once again, he faced the fierce Black Dragon.
What a voice this guy had.
Though exhausted, the Black Dragon’s battle cry only seemed to intensify.
He bravely dodged the Black Dragon’s front paw. Although he evaded the attack, he kept his movements sharp, ready to dodge the tail strike that followed.
Boom!!
Countless evasions later, he was once again coated in dust and debris as he stifled a groan.
He avoided the tail but was still battered by the shrapnel from the ground where it struck.
Enduring pain, he thought of the villagers.
They believed him to be useless, unable to wield qi.
Yet those villagers chose instead to risk their lives searching for a weapon of the heavens that may or may not even exist.
He recalled their steadfast gazes.
Determination.
‘There was definitely a resolve to fight in their eyes.’
At that moment, he realized.
They were not so different from him. It was simply the magnitude of the power they wielded that varied; deep down, they too harbored a fierce fighting spirit.
And so, he resolved to preserve his strength, endure the pain, and wait.
For the Celestial Weapon they were bringing.
For the means to drop that arrogant Black thing from the skies.
“Master!!”
At that moment, his waiting bore fruit.
The young man and woman, drenched in sweat.
In their hands, they held the Celestial Weapon.
Had it finally come?
As that thought crossed his mind, he reached out toward the duo.
The woman relinquished her trembling grip on the weapon, which was drawn toward his hand. Grasping the weapon, he gazed down at it.
It was crude.
Just a hunk of metal with a handle crudely attached.
Yet, from this flawed weapon, he felt its conviction and longing.
A metal that did not melt in fire, said to be the hardest in the world—literally a treasure from the heavens, divine iron.
How much effort and time must have been spent just to drill a hole and attach a handle?
As he grasped the handle, he felt it.
The villagers’ determination to win against the Black Dragon from that distant village.
Vzzzzzzzzz!
The weapon, born from the will of the people, shimmered with light. The woman thought as she witnessed the scene.
The light gathered around the man’s sword and fists was nothing compared to this powerful brilliance.
Perhaps sensing an anomaly, the Black Dragon gave up its descent and started to take heed.
“Are you not going to come?”
Kyaaaaaaaaa!!
As if it understood his words, the furious Black Dragon roared, yet still, it did not abandon its advantage.
After all, man had no wings.
Realizing this, the man nodded.
“In that case, I will go.”
He leaped into the air. The Black Dragon laughed derisively at the sight. What could a wingless human accomplish by jumping?
However.
The man’s foot reached out as if stepping on the very air itself.
He surged up once more.
With each leap into the air, he rapidly closed the gap between him and the Black Dragon.
Kyaaaaaaaaa!!
The Black Dragon that had been soaring leisurely flapped its wings with haste, climbing to higher heights.
Although the Black Dragon ascended quickly, the man’s speed outpaced it.
“Ah…”
The woman and the young man.
No, everyone from the village who had been running about in search of the Celestial Weapon watched in awe.
The Black Dragon that ruled the skies was fleeing from a rising star.
The man, the one who had created that miraculous scene, was lost in a whirlwind of thoughts.
The source of all his ideas was, indeed, the Celestial Weapon.
Beyond the heavens, beyond imagination.
A cosmos where even stars are mere specks of dust.
The flow of the cosmos, etched in divine iron, continued to resonate with the man’s vessel, expanding at this very moment.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
The Black Dragon unleashed a torrent of roars, flapping its wings with great urgency.
The man, engaged in battle with the Black Dragon for three days and nights, read the feelings of resentment and fury reflected in the creature’s eyes.
Gazing into the Black Dragon’s eyes, he unconsciously spoke.
“You may have reason to feel wronged.”
In that moment, he acknowledged the Black Dragon’s emotions.
After all, the power he wielded now was not something earned by his own strength.
But.
The villagers who shaped the Celestial Weapon.
Rather than seeking safety, they chose to scatter in search of that weapon.
Their hopes, efforts, and fighting spirit were what had paved this path to the heavens for him.
And so he charged ahead relentlessly, rising higher than the Black Dragon itself.
“At last, I stand above you!”
Kyaaaaaaaaaak!!!
The Black Dragon, now in a position to look up at a mere human, roared with a ferocity greater than ever.
The man gazed at the furious Black Dragon, lifting the Celestial Weapon in silence.
It was time to put an end to it all.
All the energy in the world began to twist and whirl around the man’s weapon, wrapping him in a radiant glow.
At long last, it surged toward the Black Dragon.
Light exploded forth.
“Ah…”
The young man and woman, standing closest to this grand event, could only gape at the spectacle.
Amidst starlight, the Black Dragon was falling from the sky.
The tyrant, who had rampaged and brought devastation as if the world belonged to him, cried out in fury, his once terrifying figure now trembling.
The beast fought desperately to resist but shuddered as it clashed with the man and the Celestial Weapon.
Each impact rocked its body, bending its head back and snapping its wings.
The young man and woman witnessed it clearly.
The scene where the man wielding the weapon struck the Black Dragon between its eyes.
That attack would be the decisive blow.
Boom!!
The massive body of the Black Dragon crashed to the ground. Using its form as a shield, the man staggered and regained his footing.
“…I’m so tired of this.”
Even the man could not remain unscathed. No matter how enlightened he was, three days and nights of fighting had left him with wounds and fatigue that could not simply heal.
Above him loomed the enraged body of the Black Dragon, drenched in venom.
He raised his weary head.
In that moment of life or death, he understood.
The current Black Dragon lacked the strength to bite him.
Fwaaaaaa!!!
That’s why the Black Dragon unleashed a torrent of venom, pouring out its lifeblood.
Crimson liquid cascaded down like a waterfall, squeezing every drop of life from its heart and body.
It was a horrific sight, causing the young man and woman to scream.
For the man was drenched in that very blood.
Wasn’t that the toxic blood that left grotesque scars on his arm with just a brush?
He could vanish in an instant, reduced to a handful of venom.
Yet.
What happened next left both the young man and the man in shock.
The Black Dragon’s sanguine blood, pouring like a waterfall, was being absorbed into the man’s body.
And it didn’t stop there.
The blood flowing from every inch of the Black Dragon’s form turned into a dark energy and clung to him.
-Gu-ru-ru-ru!
A low growl echoed in the man’s mind. At that moment, he instinctively recognized that the Black Dragon’s energy was permeating through his body.
As he realized that fact, he began to hear the Black Dragon’s growl differently.
I resent you.
I hate humanity.
I deny the will of the heavens.
Those were the last words as the Black Dragon’s essence coiled within him—the Black Dragon Qi (黑龍氣).
Having exhausted all power to fend off the changes coursing through him, the man couldn’t help but smile wryly.
‘Is this a curse?’
From now on, he would have to live controlling the Black Dragon Qi that would only yearn to devour humans.
And not just that.
The Black Dragon’s venom had tainted his very essence.
Those who learned this new power from him would never escape the influence of the Black Dragon Qi.
As he contemplated this internal change, he opened his eyes.
What he believed was just a moment had evidently taken considerable time.
The villagers had gathered around him.
“Master…! Your hair…!”
“Your eyes…!”
Looking at the weapon’s face, he saw his own reflection. The unrefined surface didn’t accurately reflect his image, yet the changes in him were clear to see.
His eyes had turned blood-red, and his hair was darker than anything else.
He glanced at the villagers who were reluctant to approach.
With his body enveloped in the Black Dragon Qi that could turn him into a monster ready to attack, how could they easily draw near?
Qi and essence.
To the villagers, the man must have seemed like a dark omen.
“Master..! What on earth has happened?”
“It seems the Black Dragon has cast its shadow on me.”
The villagers sighed in despair.
“We’ve clearly become something monstrous.”
They could not deny that statement. Although they knew he was not truly such a being, the overwhelming might of the Black Dragon Qi encapsulating him was too much to contest.
Breathing deeply, the man lifted the weapon and slung it across his shoulder.
In silence, he began to walk away.
“Where are you going?”
“I must leave.”
He bore an energy that could only bring harm to people. Thus, he must distance himself from them at all costs.
However.
He soon found himself unable to take another step.
The young man and woman stood firmly in his path.
“Why do you seek to go like this?”
“If it’s due to the curse, we can still stand by your side. Let’s stick together.”
The man sighed deeply.
“I bear the curse of the Black Dragon. This beast, having corrupted my source of power, will leap at every chance to harm people, yet it will remain silent against celestial beings like the Black Dragon. I can no longer protect you.”
“Even so, we don’t care!”
The words of the young man and woman were echoed by nods of agreement from the villagers. The man looked at those villagers with heavy eyes.
They were not the only ones present.
Unfamiliar faces were there too. Those who had heard rumors while traveling from various villages or scouting from other villages to assess the situation with the fallen Black Dragon were also present.
He could see the feelings in their eyes.
Fear.
“I don’t think the surrounding villages will welcome me.”
“Even so, what of it!?”
The woman shouted in exasperation.
“You say you’ve turned into a demon? What demon worries for the people it would harm before keeping its distance?”
“Indeed! You are a celestial being!”
“…Even so, others won’t see me as human.”
“Will you fight alone yet again?”
The young man’s words caused the man’s gaze to waver.
“Did we not crush the Black Dragon together? Why then do you fear now?”
Fear.
The young man’s words continued.
“Didn’t we bring down the heavens? We defeated the Black Dragon; how can you now succumb before the curse it left behind?”
“Yes! His words are spot on! Let us combine our strength once more and confront this curse!”
The villagers closed in around the man and refused to step back. Finally, the man lowered his head in defeat.
“Thank you.”
The villagers erupted in cheers, and together with them, he returned to the village.
The onlookers from other villages remarked on this scene.
A village had emerged that worshipped a demon who toppled the heavens.
In the distant future.
This would be the genesis of what would be called the Heavenly Demon Sect.
*
“This story encompasses the very foundation of the current Heavenly Demon Sect.”
Jeong Cheol was left speechless, overwhelmed by the lengthy tale.
“Do you now understand why the Heavenly Demon and Celestial One are treated as equals? It is simply a matter of timing, for they have inherited the Heavenly Demon Arts and, in overcoming the Black Dragon’s curse, hold no difference from any Heavenly Demon.”
“Do you understand why the Heavenly Demon Library exists, overflowing with martial arts texts? Those who could not carelessly inherit the cursed Heavenly Demon Arts invented new martial arts for the benefit of others.”
“Do you understand why you are able to inherit the Heavenly Demon Arts? It could not have been an easy task to carry forth the legacy of the cursed Heavenly Demon Arts. Hence, the system exists to allow any possible candidate to challenge the inheritance.”
“Lastly, do you grasp what it means to inherit the Heavenly Demon Arts? It signifies the need to endure and conquer the lingering resentment left by the Black Dragon that once loomed over the world. This is the [Heavenly Demon Arts], the source of power that makes you stand out in the world.”
“Bear in mind all these meanings deep within your heart. Understand what it means to inherit the Heavenly Demon Arts and the challenges it entails.”
“To become a Heavenly Demon is what it entails.”
Jeong Cheol now saw Wi Ji-cheon in a different light.
He had never underestimated him, yet after hearing this story today, Wi Ji-cheon felt like a giant—no, a titan—several fold greater than he had ever perceived.
“Whether you become the man soaring with a weapon or a practitioner crushed under the Black Dragon’s claws, no one can foretell that outcome. How you embrace the meaning of the Heavenly Demon Arts and the attitude you take in facing it is entirely up to you, but I wish to impart one piece of advice.”
Jeong Cheol swallowed hard and asked.
“What is it?”
“Never, under any circumstances, show a disgraceful figure before the Black Dragon.”
At once, Jeong Cheol was overwhelmed by Wi Ji-cheon’s intimidating aura. With an expression that conveyed nothing, Wi Ji-cheon turned his body.
“The inheritance ceremony is tomorrow, so prepare yourself well.”
