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Chapter 208: Demonic Power (Continuation)

The demonic power!

It was a gift from the Heavenly Demon, along with the Demon Energy that manifests within the Demon Beasts.

It was the fastest way to touch another world, often referred to as a new strength that transcends realms.

Demon Energy, much like Blood Qi, enhances the physical body and martial arts techniques, but depending on one’s realm, it could also drive one to madness.

I’ve seen many who were consumed by Demon Energy, turning into grotesque monsters.

Demonic Power is somewhat different.

It can either become a wholly new strength for the receiver or evolve in conjunction with the power they possess.

The Demonic Absorption Technique I received is, as mentioned before, a completely new power granted by the Heavenly Demon.

It allows one to absorb demon energy from the demon beasts’ demonic stones.

Thanks to this, while using fire techniques, I resolved the issue of my energy output and simultaneously, the demon energy I gained affected my inner strength, enhancing my flames.

What I gained was a merging of demon energy and Black Flame.

Though it meant I had to live my life with the crappiest nickname—

‘Whoever came up with that name, if I find them, I’ll genuinely kill them!’

Anyway, Demonic Power complements the issues and shortcomings of a martial artist, helping one reach the desired path or goal faster.

It’s power endowed by the Heavenly Demon that sets a quick course and pushes you forward—how could a martial artist longing for greater heights not be tempted?

Many who fell into the path of demons did so not just due to the overwhelming strength of the Heavenly Demon but because there were plenty who could not overcome their limits.

In their yearning for power, they could not resist the allure.

Knowing the process and outcome, I was acutely aware of the power and fortune shining upon me from the Gungju.

Demonic Power.

That was certainly Demonic Power.

The suffocating, vile energy.

The ominously thick Black Fog exuding from the Gungju was undeniably composed of demon energy.

Having met the warriors of the Black Night Palace several times in this life, I knew they held some form of demon energy, even if it was clouded.

But they lacked the title of Demon.

Their energy was not fully integrated into their bodies just yet.

However, the Gungju is different.

‘That guy is a true demon.’

The Gungju was a real demon.

In terms of martial arts usage, his demon energy outweighed his own energy without a doubt.

Only a demon could emit such dense demon energy.

‘I’ve heard that the Gungju’s martial arts resemble the Black Fog.’

I had only heard whispers about it before; seeing it firsthand was a first.

‘I’m certain.’

There was no mistaking it regarding demon energy.

He was undeniably a demon.

The fact that the Gungju is already a demon indicates that the Black Night Palace is certainly intertwined with the Demonic Sect or Heavenly Demon.

‘Does this mean the Heavenly Demon is somewhere in this world?’

Part of me had expected this conversation.

Though the initial appearance of the Heavenly Demon was said to tear through the void via the Demonic Gate, I had a lingering thought that perhaps he could be anywhere in this world.

‘Could the Heavenly Demon possibly be in this palace?’

I prayed it wasn’t so.

If the Heavenly Demon I knew was indeed somewhere in this vicinity, it would mean death for everyone.

At least, the Heavenly Demon I knew was that kind of existence.

Along with the secrets of the Black Night Palace and my meeting with the Blood Demon, I suspected this too wouldn’t end well.

‘Damn it.’

Reflecting on my ghastly predictions, unease began to settle within me.

How could life be this wretched?

‘But at least the Gungju appearing means that Gu Huibi is okay, right?’

The reason I intentionally made noise by breaking down a wall and releasing energy was that the once-dormant Orb of Heavenly Road suddenly activated.

At some point, what had stopped working began to show me visions once again.

What I saw was the moment when the Gungju and Gu Huibi were conversing in the prison.

However, from my perspective, the situation was not good.

‘If I had been even a second late…’

The Gungju would have undoubtedly killed Gu Huibi.

I could see the fleeting emotion in the Gungju’s eyes, hinting at a moment of hesitation as he pondered about Gu Huibi.

‘Damn it.’

With no time to think of alternatives, I decided to act immediately.

Thanks to that, my alertness skyrocketed.

‘But that doesn’t mean there were no other options left.’

If this hadn’t worked, it would have been the end for me either way.

I tightened my grip on the arm of Nangong Bia.

Understanding my intentions instantly, she quickly concealed her presence.

Seeing that made me silently exhale.

‘This is no easy task, despite how simple it seems.’

It was absurd.

When I thought I could create an energy barrier as a last resort, she actually completed it right away.

Anyway, it seemed like my gaze was successfully averted.

But now, the real problem arose.

‘This is too exhausting.’

With my neck pulled taut, my alertness must have been peaked.

Moreover, I couldn’t guarantee that the Gungju wouldn’t reconsider ending Gu Huibi’s life.

‘If he had intended to kill her from the start, why bother abducting her?’

First, I needed to grasp his intentions.

No matter how I thought about it, not knowing why Gu Huibi was taken was troubling.

This was a scenario that never happened in my previous life and I had no proper understanding of the Black Night Palace’s objectives either.

‘Infiltration is far too dangerous.’

In a situation like this, even the renowned King of Demons, a famed assassin, would likely hesitate to slip in unnoticed.

The inside of the formation was completely different from the outside.

Firstly, the fog that concealed the area was absent.

As a result, if I moved carelessly, they’d rapidly catch on.

Let alone, the terrain was different.

‘How did they do this?’

It not only blocked the outside from seeing in, but it also created a completely different world.

I had never seen anything like this before…

‘Actually, I have.’

As I spoke, a memory surfaced.

I recalled seeing a formation similar to this absurd one when I had been searching for the Biwaegun of the Geumcheon Clan in Sichuan.

‘Could this be a coincidence?’

It was too ambiguous to be called a coincidence.

Yet, it also seemed too coincidental to be purely random.

‘There’s a high possibility this is the work of Taeeolgui.’

The old man, filled with the mushrooms of the Demonic Sect, who had been in charge of their organization.

If it was that man, it’s possible he could create something like this.

After all, the traps I had encountered in the Hwasan Sect were also creations of Taeeolgui, so I could assume he would be here in the Black Night Palace.

‘I can’t just barge in recklessly.’

No matter how much my realm has advanced, recalling my fierce clash with Elder Lee, it wouldn’t be easy to face the Gungju one-on-one.

‘That’s why I’m hiding like this.’

Moreover, I had no idea how many warriors were currently in the Black Night Palace.

Just rushing in through the front door and wreaking havoc was something I could have done in my previous life.

Now, I lacked the strength to do so by a long shot.

Knowing this, it was clear that I had to wait for the right timing.

That proper moment to slip through the narrow gap.

And that moment was—

‘Just a little longer.’

I thought to myself that it truly wouldn’t be long now.

Time passed.

Night turned to day.

In the prison where Gu Huibi was, only silence flowed.

With a brief noise, the Gungju disappeared, and then never appeared again.

Should I be thankful for that?

Gu Huibi remained gazing outside the prison bars with wide eyes.

The old man’s snoring filled my ears without rest.

But now, I had reached a point where I didn’t even care about it.

What mattered more to Gu Huibi was assessing the current situation.

The Gungju had clearly shown up on the front line, having brought her along because he needed her.

‘But why earlier?’

Gu Huibi was fully aware that she had nearly lost her life moments ago.

The Gungju had certainly tried to kill her.

This was no misunderstanding.

‘Something doesn’t add up.’

It all began the moment he saw the child.

The atmosphere around the Gungju changed drastically.

The child—right, the child is the problem here.

‘Was I too close for comfort?’

Was it the reason that sparked the Gungju’s displeasure?

Gu Huibi wondered if that could be the case.

In less than a day’s time, had their conversation with the child caused this?

‘What does that even imply?’

She didn’t know, but Gu Huibi suspected that the Gungju’s intention to kill her had something to do with this.

Was it misplaced paternal love? That didn’t seem right either.

After all, their relationship wasn’t that sort.

If asked why she treated the child that way, it was simply because he was ‘the child’ to her.

She knew well the emotions held within that child’s eyes.

Memories from childhood, running about with Gu Yangcheong, Gu Yeonseo, and Gu Ryeonghwa reminded her of her own was reflected in her eyes through the mother of Gu Yangcheong.

That was why it felt even more poignant.

The child’s dry eyes back then had clearly yearned for affection.

Whatever the Gungju desired was uncertain, but for Gu Huibi, she simply couldn’t overlook it.

Time was short; there hadn’t even been proper conversation, but that was beside the point.

‘What on earth could that child be?’

The child was clearly anything but ordinary from the moment she laid eyes on him.

The instinctively warm gaze that seemed to pierce through everyone and the inexplicable atmosphere radiating from him were unmistakable.

Furthermore, Gu Huibi knew one more being with that same vibe.

Not to mention, their resemblance was startlingly uncanny.

Could this really be just a coincidence?

‘No.’

Gu Huibi shook her head.

There could be no way this was merely coincidence.

—Snore.

As the snoring from the old man resounded behind her, Gu Huibi’s expression soured.

“…Come on.”

She had meant to ask something, but the old man hadn’t shown any interest in waking up for hours.

She even tried to pinch his nose and give his face a gentle slap, but perhaps due to his physical condition, the old man only snorted.

Of course, who could say whether the old man knew that? It was just a hunch.

“Tsk.”

In frustration at the suffocating situation, she clicked her tongue unconsciously.

What was she meant to do?

She felt lost and helpless, trapped in the powerlessness of knowing nothing while being unable to do anything.

It just made her already heavy head feel heavier.

Still,

‘Pull yourself together.’

Gu Huibi steadied her unfocused gaze.

It wasn’t the time to fall apart; she needed to find a way out.

Thus, she decided to wake the old man who seemed to hold some vital knowledge.

Despite shaking him repeatedly, the old man wouldn’t awaken.

Gu Huibi was on the verge of deciding to smack him awake.

How could someone sleep for a whole day while snoring like that?

Ultimately, she resolved to wake the old man, even if it meant hitting him.

Preparing to raise her arm gently, she heard him speak.

“Is it day now?”

In that moment, the old man’s voice rang clear.

“…!”

Gu Huibi was startled by how deliberately the assumed-sleeping old man had spoken.

“Daytime…?”

“Yeah, what time is it now?”

Gu Huibi, doing her best to conceal her bewilderment, glanced towards the minute slot in the prison.

“It’s daytime. The sun is shining brightly…. Huh?”

As she unusually stammered, her gaze shifted to the gap.

It was certainly daytime, but something about it felt off.

Instead of the blue sky one would expect—

The sky appeared subtly reddened.

‘…What’s going on?’

At a glance, it seemed like the sunset had painted the sky, but that couldn’t be.

It was only noon; the sun wasn’t even that high yet.

“Right, right.”

Looking at it, the old man nodded.

Then, he rose from where he laid and spoke.

“It seems it’s finally here.”

With the old man’s words, Gu Huibi’s eyes trembled slightly.

Finally, she felt she understood what the sky meant.

The Gungju, who had been resting in silence, opened his eyes.

The intense purple light lingered.

With heavy eyelids, the Gungju slowly began to rise.

“Phew…”

He surely knew he couldn’t be oblivious to the dense energy filling the area.

“…I thought it might change a little, but it appears you remain unchanged.”

The Gungju’s steps led toward the difficult array.

Upon reaching it, the bright sky unfolded beyond the formation.

It was bright. So bright it almost seemed red.

Seeing that, the Gungju felt the cold sweat trailing down his back.

“I thought you were nothing but an old fool.”

The tiger that had retreated deep within the mountains, dreaming only of the day it would die,

I thought all its teeth had fallen out.

Hiding in its den, it just barely clung to life.

“Yet, despite the passing years, a great tiger remains a great tiger.”

Looking at the bright red sky, the Gungju understood.

That was a mere illusion created by an overwhelming energy.

The fire that rose from a single thought manifested as a will blazing upwards.

It was too horrifying a sight to consider it crafted by mere humans.

In other words, it meant that a single being’s strength was behind this.

Blazing flames!

The fog outside the formation was engulfed in fire.

The fog that had been impervious even to Gu Yangcheong’s energy was briefly dispelled by the flames.

The red flames, even redder than blood, surged forth relentlessly.

Before my eyes lay a scene resembling a tsunami—

A wave of pure fire.

Seeing this, the Gungju recalled a particular individual.

The one who had burned his enemies alive with a blank expression while cloaked in the blood-red beauty of his demon energy.

‘Flame Ghost.’

That was definitively the fire expelled by the Flame Ghost.

This implies that—

The Flame Ghost Gu Cheolun had appeared in this land.

His presence bore might as he boldly approached the enemy, demonstrating what kind of warrior Gu Cheolun was.

‘Yet, if that’s the case…’

The Gungju could not help but frown with another thought entering his mind.

It was a mystery how Gu Cheolun had found this place, but more concerning was another issue.

As the Gungju bounded over the formation and leapt into the void, he mused,

‘Who created these walls?’

The commotion that had occurred moments before.

If the Flame Ghost appeared outside the barrier like that, what sparked the earlier commotion?

Something had skewed the situation.

The Gungju sensed that things were going awry.

 

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