The next morning.
I and the Black Cat headed towards the depths of the Heavenly Demon Sect with Wi Seoryeon.
Gradually, the security became stricter until finally, there wasn’t a soul in sight in the hidden chamber of the hidden chamber.
Such a hidden chamber of the Heavenly Demon Sect was a small dojo built within a cave.
An ordinary dojo with just a floor laid down, lacking even the most common pillar or piece of furniture.
There were already two people standing in that dojo.
Jeong Cheol and Wi Ji-cheon, who held the Secret Manual.
Jeong Cheol should have noticed our presence, but whether he was completely focused or intentionally ignoring us, he stood there with his back turned, not moving an inch.
“I will begin the inheritance of the Heavenly Demon Arts.”
As always, Wi Ji-cheon, whose emotions were impossible to read, calmly spoke.
“The only thing the inheritor must do is to overcome the Black Dragon that dwells within the principles of the Heavenly Demon Arts and seize the truth of the stars.”
Having said this, Wi Ji-cheon began to write something on the cover of the Secret Manual.
I couldn’t tell what he was writing just by looking, but the characters Wi Ji-cheon wrote were predictable to anyone.
Heavenly Demon Arts.
As Wi Ji-cheon’s brush moved, a dark energy began to rise from the Secret Manual.
With brushstrokes that could be called the final touch—no, it should be called the Black Dragon’s final touch—Wi Ji-cheon’s movements eventually completed the Secret Manual of the Heavenly Demon Arts, and a book fully containing the principles of the Heavenly Demon Arts was born, alongside the curse inherent in those principles.
Tsuzuzuzuzu!!
It felt as if the Secret Manual was igniting, a powerful Black Dragon Qi erupted from the vicinity of the Secret Manual.
Having already subdued the Black Dragon, Heavenly Demon Wi Ji-cheon, without any change in expression, placed the Secret Manual in front of Jeong Cheol.
Wi Ji-cheon stood there waiting for Jeong Cheol to unfold the Secret Manual.
Jeong Cheol looked down at the Secret Manual as Wi Ji-cheon looked down at him, creating a peculiar standoff.
It was Jeong Cheol who broke the standoff.
“Do you think I will fail?”
“The likelihood is not high.”
Wi Ji-cheon replied, as calmly as ever.
“You have heard how harsh the ritual for selecting the Heavenly Demon is, haven’t you? Even after rigorous training, only a handful of candidates truly inherit the Heavenly Demon Arts. Your chances of suddenly succeeding in this challenge are low.”
“Heh heh, I’ve heard that boring line countless times.”
Jeong Cheol burst out laughing.
“It cannot be done. It’s impossible. It’s a delusional dream. I’ve heard that over and over again to get this far, while flattening the noses of those who said so.”
Jeong Cheol shifted his gaze from the rising Black Dragon Qi in the Secret Manual to Wi Ji-cheon.
“I ask again. Do you wish for me to fail, Heavenly Demon?”
“No.”
Wi Ji-cheon glanced briefly in my direction and spoke.
“I may be sorry for the waiting guest, but I hope you succeed.”
Did he say something completely unexpected?
Jeong Cheol was left speechless, and Wi Ji-cheon continued.
“As I said earlier, your chances of success are low. If you were another candidate competing against Wi Seoryeon, you would have been eliminated. However, even so, if you ask whether this inheritance itself is meaningless, it is not.”
If you can overcome the Black Dragon.
If you can achieve the result of inheritance.
“There is potential in every path, and it is unknown what achievement can be attained by following that path. I hope you succeed and open up another branch of possibility for me and the Sect.”
Regardless of what kind of character Jeong Cheol is or what path he has walked, Wi Ji-cheon expressed that he would accept him.
So, to Jeong Cheol, Wi Ji-cheon’s words must have sounded like this.
Survival of the fittest.
Given that he has become the inheritor of the Heavenly Demon Arts, succeeding in the inheritance must be the right path.
Jeong Cheol’s gaze shifted back to the Secret Manual of the Heavenly Demon Arts.
Had his last determination been solidified through the conversation with Wi Ji-cheon?
“I will seize it once again.”
Jeong Cheol murmured as he reached out towards the Secret Manual.
As soon as his hand touched the Secret Manual, the Black Dragon Qi wrapped around him as if waiting for this moment. The moment he opened the Secret Manual, the Black Dragon Qi climbed up his arm.
Seeing this, Wi Ji-cheon left the dojo and closed the wide-open door.
I watched Jeong Cheol enveloped in Black Dragon Qi until the gap in the door was entirely closed.
“Thank you for your hard work, Father.”
“You’ve done what you had to do.”
Even after performing the significant ritual of inheriting the Heavenly Demon Arts, Wi Ji-cheon maintained his calm expression.
“Now, we just wait.”
Wi Seoryeon showed a strange expression in response to Wi Ji-cheon’s words.
“This feels odd. I never thought we would welcome the inheritor of the Heavenly Demon Arts like this. Especially not with…”
With that trailing off, Wi Seoryeon glanced at me and the Black Cat.
After all.
Would there be another inheritance like this?
An outsider not even part of the Heavenly Demon Sect inheriting the Heavenly Demon Arts while the rival at the inheritance site waits for failure.
This must become one of the rarest inheritance ceremonies in the long history of the Demon Sect.
Wi Seoryeon seemed concerned about that aspect, but Wi Ji-cheon brushed it off casually.
“What does form matter? What is important is the essence.”
“…That’s true.”
As Wi Seoryeon nodded with an unclear expression, it happened.
Whaaaa!!
A massive Black Dragon Qi began to rampage from the dojo.
The doors and windows of the dojo rattled violently as if they were going to fall apart at any moment, and through the gaps, dark mist-like Black Dragon Qi poured out.
“Quite a commotion. Was it like this back then?”
“It was. I heard that it was so, too.”
The constant rattling of the windows and the shaking of the doors indirectly indicated the intensity of the Black Dragon Qi swirling around Jeong Cheol.
How long had I been watching that rattling?
As I gazed at it, Wi Ji-cheon murmured.
“It will come to a conclusion.”
“Uaaaaaaah!”
Boom!
With Jeong Cheol’s scream and the explosion from within, all the doors and windows of the dojo blew apart.
The insides of the dojo were fully revealed.
At the center of the dojo, Jeong Cheol lay collapsed and writhing.
“Ugh…”
Seeing Jeong Cheol’s condition, the Black Cat let out a groan.
His appearance, half-burned by dark flames, was undoubtedly horrific. It was hard to believe he had inherited the Heavenly Demon Arts.
“It’s a failure.”
Wi Ji-cheon’s pronouncement followed. Usually unreadable in his emotions, now I sensed a slight hint of regret.
“Now it is your turn.”
Wi Ji-cheon and Wi Seoryeon stepped back as if to clear the way for me.
I slowly walked towards the dojo. My gaze met Jeong Cheol’s, who was half-enshrouded in the Black Dragon Qi.
“You bastard!”
Jeong Cheol’s rage surged forth with the energy of the Black Dragon, pouring down towards me.
Rather than Jeong Cheol controlling the Black Dragon Qi, it seemed more like the Black Dragon Qi, eager for a taste of flesh, targeted both Jeong Cheol and me.
I spun the brain wheel and raised the Qi to fend off the sharp teeth of the Black Dragon Qi as I advanced.
Though the Black Dragon Qi dug into my body, it was a necessary ordeal to approach Jeong Cheol.
Jeong Cheol, dying, glared at me with poisoned eyes, gritting out accusations.
“You! If it weren’t for you! Everything would have gone smoothly!”
“…Smoothly, you say.”
Was it really so?
Certainly, when I played the game “Martial World,” Jeong Cheol probably reached Hyeong-gyeong and became the leader of the Sacheon Outcasts.
Would Jeong Cheol have been able to become a master of Hyeong-gyeong, the leader of the Sacheon Outcasts, and the third force of Sacheon if I hadn’t been there?
In the past, I might have thought so.
“No matter if I were absent from this world, you would not have succeeded.”
But now, it’s different.
“If you wanted that, you shouldn’t have run away.”
Amidst the time of attacking the Otokmun while becoming a member of the Yongji Maeng, I met Jeong Cheol within the Array Formation. And thanks to the Unknown Elder, I survived.
Having felt threatened by the Unknown Elder, Jeong Cheol dismantled the Sadoryeon and vanished under the false pretense of poisoning.
What happened afterward?
He once again leveraged the reputation he had built as a member of the Sacheon Outcasts, declaring his full support for the Moyong Clan.
“In order to rise to great heights, you must protect something and build upon it.”
In the battle made possible by that declaration, what choice did Jeong Cheol make?
In the moment of utmost collision, he chose to let go of his strength instead of pouring everything into the clash.
He abandoned all he had built in martial arts to obtain the Heavenly Demon Arts.
Ultimately, Jeong Cheol chased only profit without preserving anything.
It was indeed a choice befitting an outcast, and that’s why it was a choice doomed to fail.
Was there a mindset left for Jeong Cheol to rise above at the moment he could not even believe in the martial arts he had spent a lifetime building?
The answer lay before my eyes.
Even as I voiced my version of the answer, Jeong Cheol continued to gaze at me with poisoned eyes, while the Black Dragon Qi gnawed at me, I ignited my aura.
Jeong Cheol said I was lucky.
That was literally true.
I reached this height without realizing that I needed to protect and build something.
That was indeed the real fortune.
As my reverse-held sword fell, the aura sang through the blade and pierced through Jeong Cheol’s body.
Jeong Cheol’s eyes widened.
I did not evade his gaze; I met it head-on.
It had been a long journey.
Putting a period at the end of this long journey, I did not want to avoid the outcome.
Jeong Cheol’s body slackened.
The last forces within Jeong Cheol’s tightly clenched fist released, and in a final struggle, the Black Dragon Qi rampaged. In an instant, Jeong Cheol’s body turned black and vanished.
Sssss.
As Jeong Cheol’s body gradually shrank, it ultimately disappeared.
Simultaneously, the Black Dragon Qi that had burrowed into my body started to dissipate.
As if confirming that the existence of Jeong Cheol had vanished from this world.
I sheathed my sword, which bore not a drop of blood.
Clack.
Hearing the sound of the sword and sheath fitting together, I thought.
The long journey had reached its conclusion.
“That’s it…”
From starting as one unable to even draw a blade to reaching Hwa-gyeong.
A lengthy journey traversing Seojang, Yunnan, Cheonghae, Xin Gang, Sacheon, and Shanxi.
That journey found its end within the heart of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
