AR Chapter 46

I stood with my eyes closed in the middle of the training ground.

Through the duels with the Sword Supreme, the Soaring Heaven Sword Arts had surpassed the wall of ten-star mastery and entered a new realm.

Until now, when I recalled the Soaring Heaven Sword Arts, it was tightly structured from beginning to end without a single error, but now it felt as if something tightly bound had been loosened. As doubts arose about the previously perfect techniques, certainty disappeared.

I slowly drew the Dark Demonic Sword and began to perform the techniques of the Soaring Heaven Sword Arts. However, my existing skills hadn’t disappeared or diminished.

Brilliant sword light filled the training ground. What would this magnificent martial art look like when it achieves twelve-star mastery?

Ultimately, I’m aiming for twelve-star mastery of the Nine Transformations Demonic Technique.

That’s why I expected that this experience of achieving twelve-star mastery in the Soaring Heaven Sword Arts would be of great help in achieving twelve-star mastery of the Nine Transformations Demonic Technique later.

Just as I finished one round of training, Seo Daeryong came rushing to report.

“An incident has occurred.”

“What kind of incident?”

“I think you need to see it for yourself, Pavilion Master.”

The place Seo Daeryong guided me to was a nearby mountain.

Enforcement martial artists were already there, controlling the area.

Special Investigator Gok Myeong, who had arrived at the scene earlier, reported with a serious expression.

“About a dozen bodies have been discovered, buried not long ago.”

The problem was that they were not ordinary.

“The hearts of all the corpses are missing.”

The moment I heard that the hearts were missing, I recalled a certain great technique.

The Heart and Soul Grand Technique^[1].

It was known to be a truly cruel technique that absorbs life energy from human hearts. It was a technique that involved extracting the hearts of living people.

And there was one person in the cult who might use this technique.

The Soul-Seizing Demon.

When I returned to retrieve Secret Demonic Soul, there had been a brief rumor that the Soul-Seizing Demon was gathering ghost energy using the Heart and Soul Grand Technique.

But it was just a rumor, and the truth was never revealed. I was also solely focused on rushing to Secret Demonic Soul at the time, so I didn’t have the leisure to investigate it.

‘Could that rumor have been true?’

I frowned involuntarily at the thought of extracting hearts from living people. But what really angered me was something else.

Seo Daeryong carefully reported.

“However, upon examining the bodies, they seem to be people who haven’t practiced martial arts.”

“Ordinary people?”

“Yes. They’re a mix of men and women, and…”

Seo Daeryong sighed and added.

“Among the bodies… there’s also a child.”

At that moment, my heart turned cold. This is what I hate the most.

Martial artists harming people who haven’t practiced martial arts, even children. This is such an unreasonable, one-sided violence.

Among martial artists, whether it’s ambushes or group attacks, it’s a chaotic situation entered by people prepared for the harsh martial world.

In fact, I’m not that righteous of a person, but for some reason, I can’t tolerate this kind of thing.

Are these bodies truly victims of the Heart and Soul Grand Technique?

When I returned to our cult to find Secret Demonic Soul, I heard rumors that the Soul-Seizing Demon was using the Heart and Soul Grand Technique, which means he’s been practicing this technique for decades. There must have been thousands, or even more victims.

If that’s the case… Suddenly, I recalled the face of the old man who sent me back. Revenge is good, and my life is important, but.

‘I understand. If nothing else, I’ll stop this first.’

At that moment, another investigator came to report.

“Look at this.”

What he brought was a fan. When I opened the fan, there were unintelligible words and bizarre drawings on it.

“It’s a ghost fan used by Demonic Sorcerers.”

It was a fan used by the disciples of the Soul-Seizing Demon for their demonic arts.

“Where was it found?”

“It was with the bodies.”

This was the moment when it became even more certain that it was the Soul-Seizing Demon’s doing.

But on the other hand, I had doubts.

The person in charge of disposing of the bodies dropped a fan and left?

“Where is the herb gatherer who discovered the bodies now?”

“We’ve kept him waiting over there.”

“Let’s go.”

But the herb gatherer had disappeared somewhere.

“It seems he ran away out of fear. We’ll search for him immediately.”

I had a feeling that we wouldn’t be able to find him.

Somehow, this whole affair doesn’t feel natural.

Even in our cult, it’s impossible to openly practice a technique that involves extracting hearts from living people. Therefore, the Soul-Seizing Demon would have been extremely thorough in handling matters related to this technique, wouldn’t he?

Yet the bodies were discovered by an herb gatherer, and a fan was left behind? That’s unlikely. Someone must have found out where the bodies were buried and made sure they were discovered.

“Now that evidence has been found, we should go to the Western Illusion Array to investigate the owner of this fan, right?”

Seo Daeryong was clearly frightened.

“Are you afraid?”

“Yes. In our cult, I fear the Soul-Seizing Demon the most.”

“Why?”

“If I fall victim to the Demonic Sorcerers, they’ll steal my soul. Rather than being controlled like a jiangshi and dying miserably, I’d prefer to die cleanly by the sword.”

“What should we do? You’ll have to come with me to the Western Illusion Array tomorrow.”

“I’ll quit the Underworld Pavilion as of today. Ah, I really don’t want to go.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll bring the enforcement martial artists too. Select a few with strong martial arts.”

Seo Daeryong cried out.

“Those people would kill me out of madness!”

Someone had deliberately manipulated things to inform me that the Soul-Seizing Demon was practicing the Heart and Soul Grand Technique. Whether it’s true or not remains to be seen, but I thought of one person behind this manipulation.

‘Sa Woo-jong.’

Sa Woo-jong, the right-hand man of the One-Flower Sword Supreme.

There was a decisive reason why I suspected him.

It was because of his memorable final moments that I recalled when I first saw him.

Surprisingly, he tried to kill the One-Flower Sword Supreme while under the influence of Heart and Soul Grand Techniques and was killed instead. How could I forget the incident where the most loyal subordinate tried to kill his master while under demonic arts?

After his death, it was revealed. That he had loved the Sword Supreme as a woman. And who cast the Heart and Soul Grand Technique on him was never discovered. People gossiped about it as a tragedy of love and then forgot about it.

Another reason why I think it’s Sa Woo-jong.

Coincidentally, I recently had three days of duels with the One-Flower Sword Supreme. That must have stimulated Sa Woo-jong in some way.

‘It’s a ploy to either have me die fighting the Soul-Seizing Demon or to keep me from paying attention to the Sword Supreme while dealing with him.’

I don’t know how he found out about the body disposal site or how he obtained the fan, but he effectively pushed me towards the Soul-Seizing Demon. This incident was something that I, as the Underworld Pavilion Master, couldn’t ignore.

But Sa Woo-jong probably doesn’t realize.

That by pushing the Soul-Seizing Demon, he has also entered the stage himself.

***

The next day, I headed to the Western Illusion Array with Seo Daeryong and the enforcement martial artists.

Since we had sent word in advance, a Demonic Sorcerer was waiting to guide us at the Western Illusion Array.

“My name is Yeo Cham^[2]. Please follow me.”

We followed Yeo Cham.

After walking for a while, as we entered a garden, I stopped in my tracks.

“Wait. I sense ghost energy?”

I stopped my subordinates and looked around. The ghost energy was coming from ghost flowers planted in the garden.

“It’s because of the scent these flowers emit.”

Yeo Cham was surprised. It’s probably because only a master with truly sensitive perception could detect the ghost energy of the ghost flowers.

“If someone who isn’t a Demonic Sorcerer is exposed to the ghost energy of the ghost flowers, they won’t be able to use their inner force smoothly for a while, and they’ll be more susceptible to Heart and Soul Grand Techniques. They might experience side effects like hallucinations, and in the worst case, they might fall into heart demons. I don’t want my subordinates to suffer such a fate.”

As I raised the Dark Demonic Sword, about to unleash sword energy, Yeo Cham shouted:

“Please wait a moment. I can suppress the scent of the ghost flowers for a very short time.”

He took out a small cylinder from his breast and placed it in the middle of the garden. Smoke rose from the cylinder, and the surrounding ghost energy was drawn to it.

“Quick, let’s pass through now!”

I quickly passed through with my subordinates.

“If I hadn’t said anything, we would have entered while exposed to the ghost energy.”

“I’m sorry.”

Yeo Cham bowed his head at my reprimand. Knowing that he was also in a position to receive orders, I didn’t press further.

At that moment, Seo Daeryong spoke softly behind me.

“Thank you for considering us, Pavilion Master.”

When I looked back, not only Seo Daeryong but also the enforcement martial artists were grateful. If it weren’t for me, they all would have been affected by the ghost energy.

“Don’t let your guard down, everyone.”

“Yes!”

Ghost energy emanated from statues and towers all around.

As soon as I noticed, Yeo Cham suppressed the ghost energy on his own.

I could understand why Seo Daeryong feared the Soul-Seizing Demon. This was like walking to our deaths.

That’s how we were able to enter the center of the Western Illusion Array.

The houses built there had a peculiar appearance. Most of them looked like snail shells, made up of overlapping circles – truly buildings I had never seen anywhere in the Central Plains.

Seo Daeryong, for whom this was the first visit, initially marveled at the exotic appearance. But soon after, he complained of feeling unwell. Just looking at the buildings here made one’s head spin.

I told Seo Daeryong and the enforcement martial artists to walk with their eyes closed. They walked behind me in a line, eyes closed, with their hands on each other’s shoulders.

Among the strange buildings was a cone-shaped structure. This was where the Soul-Seizing Demon resided.

His room was the epitome of dizziness. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered with swirling patterns. It was truly painful just to be in this room.

The Soul-Seizing Demon was sitting in the center of that room.

Soul-Seizing Demon Ya So^[3].

As I had felt in the past, he really looked ordinary. He had a face that made you think you could bring ten similar-looking people from Demon Family Village right now. Such ordinariness amidst this dizziness?

He seemed like a figure symbolizing that all those who bewitch people look this ordinary.

“I pay my respects to the Demon Supreme.”

I greeted him politely with a formal bow.

Before my regression, I had no particular connection with him. Even when I returned to our cult to search for the Great Regression Technique’s materials, I had no significant interaction with him. However, one thing is clear. He was the one who survived the longest among the Eight Demon Supremes.

“Welcome, Second Young Master.”

His voice seemed to scatter from all directions. It sounded like it was coming from the left, then from the right.

“What brings you to this corner of the world?”

This time it sounded like a whisper from behind.

By confusing the mind like this, in a sense, the Heart and Soul Grand Technique had already begun.

“I’ve come to investigate an incident.”

At this, the Soul-Seizing Demon stared at me intently.

Suddenly, the black pupils of his eyes grew larger. Looking into his completely blackened eyes made me feel dazed. My subordinates were probably not in their right minds by now.

“Not bad at all.”

His voice echoed like in a cave, as if it were a thought in my mind.

“I’m often told I have a strong will.”

Of course, that was part of it, but it was mainly thanks to the Heavenly Demonic Defense Art. The Heavenly Demonic Defense Art activated on its own to prevent the ghost energy from invading my mind and heart. Of course, since my achievement wasn’t deep yet, the situation would be different if the Soul-Seizing Demon used his full power.

Before it could escalate into an unnecessary battle of wills, I quickly stated the purpose of my visit today.

“About a dozen unusual corpses were discovered, and an item belonging to a Demonic Sorcerer was found at the site.”

“What kind of item?”

I showed him the fan.

It seemed each ghost fan had its own owner. As soon as he saw the ghost fan, the Soul-Seizing Demon called for someone.

“Call Neung Hyu^[4].”

A question that would normally be asked was omitted. I had deliberately emphasized that the corpses were unusual, but the Soul-Seizing Demon didn’t ask what was unusual about them. Which means:

‘He already knows what kind of corpses they are.’

1. 심혼대법(心魂大法)[↩]
2. 여참(呂參)[↩]
3. 야소(夜素)[↩]
4. 능휴(凌携)[↩]