As Seo-jun stepped into the city, a faint demonic energy brushed against his skin.
It wasn’t something intentionally spread. It seemed that since most people in Tian Shan used demonic energy, the natural qi in the area had adapted to a similar nature.
Feeling strangely lighter, Seo-jun walked forward in good spirits.
“P-please, spare my life...!”
Hmm... What’s this? Déjà vu?
Seo-jun turned toward the commotion. Inside a tavern-like building, a woman was emanating a threatening aura.
A man who appeared to be the tavern owner was kneeling before her. The surrounding people quietly averted their gazes and continued their tasks.
They seemed mildly afraid, but that was all. It was as if this kind of scene wasn’t unusual.
“I can’t believe you dared to serve this. Even pigs wouldn’t eat such garbage. And you had the nerve to serve this to a person?”
“I-I’m sorry...! I think the ingredients may have spoiled a little...!”
“Enough. My taste has already been ruined. You’ll pay with your life.”
So this was the martial arts version of a troublesome customer.
Or was it? If the ingredients were truly spoiled, maybe he deserved a little beating.
Seo-jun decided to observe for now instead of interfering.
One shouldn’t meddle with the natural order. If you kill the fox just because it’s eating a rabbit, you’ll only disturb the balance.
“P-please, forgive me just this once...!”
The tavern owner bowed his head and begged. The woman didn’t seem inclined to forgive him. She raised her hand.
“D-dad...!”
At that moment, a small girl ran in on her short legs and immediately prostrated herself.
“P-please, forgive him....”
Mimicking her father, the girl clasped her hands and pleaded. The woman looked down at the child and her expression hardened.
“You’re all so pathetic.”
Dark demonic energy gathered in the woman’s hand. She swung it down—
Thud!
The woman collapsed. There wasn’t a single wound on her, but she lay motionless.
As the people murmured in shock, Seo-jun stepped into the tavern.
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“Well, well.”
He hadn’t planned to interfere, but why did they always provoke trouble by threatening children?
Seo-jun poked the stiff-faced child’s cheek.
‘Chun-bong was this small once too.’
He gently patted the girl’s head. Her face turned pale, and he stopped before she fainted.
“You there.”
The tavern owner immediately bowed until his forehead touched the ground.
“Yes!”
“...Never mind. Carry on.”
Seo-jun grabbed the woman by the back of her collar and lifted her. Her limp limbs dangled, and the tavern owner pressed his forehead even harder against the floor.
“Grow up strong and healthy, kid.”
With the woman in hand, Seo-jun disappeared.
“Who was that guy? I’ve never seen him before.”
“Don’t poke your nose into things. Just eat your food.”
“No thanks. I can’t eat this—it tastes awful.”
The tavern bustled for a while after that.
*****
“You bastard...! I almost died because of you!”
“Ugh...! I-I’m sorry...! But I checked it properly—!”
“What? Are you saying this is my fault? The ingredients I checked less than a month ago spoiled?”
“Ingredients naturally spoil in a month....”
“This bastard dares to argue...!”
Whack! Smack! A stick pummeled the man’s entire body. He curled up, shouting desperately.
“I-I’m sorry...! Please, just spare my life...!”
Surprisingly, the one hitting him was the tavern owner, and the one being beaten seemed to be a young worker.
Perched on a nearby roof, Seo-jun clicked his tongue.
“Is begging for your life some kind of trend in this region?”
He hadn’t been here long, but he’d already heard it several times.
He tapped the cheek of the limp woman lying beside him. Her eyelids twitched, and soon she opened her eyes.
The woman groaned, clutching her head, but when she saw Seo-jun looking down at her, her eyes widened.
“Who are y—”
Seo-jun casually released a bit of his demonic energy, and the woman immediately lowered her gaze.
“Who are you...?”
An unexpected reaction. Most demonic practitioners would have attacked right away.
“Who are you, then?”
“I’m a messenger of the cult.”
Her voice steadied as she sat up and continued.
“I’ve come to deliver the cult’s orders to the administrator of Ae Chuhyeon, so you cannot harm me.”
“Orders? What orders?”
“If I reveal it to outsiders...”
“I’m the administrator now, so it’s fine.”
“What? But the administrator of Ae Chu—”
“I’m the administrator now.”
“...Y-yes.”
Seo-jun received the cult’s orders. He raised an eyebrow as he listened.
“Increase the population of Ae Chuhyeon? Raise the birthrate?”
“Y-yes?”
“Why?”
“Well, with a larger population, the number of talents would increase, and those talents would provide more nourishment.”
Something about this conversation felt strangely off. Maybe it was because this person was from a distant region.
Seo-jun decided to continue the questioning.
Q. What does population growth have to do with nourishment?
A. Practitioners of devouring techniques or yin-harvesting arts benefit from a larger population.
Q. What are devouring techniques?
A. Techniques like Heart Devouring or Eye Devouring that consume human organs to gain power.
Q. Why eat that stuff?
A. I don’t know. I didn’t learn those techniques, but apparently, they’re very effective.
Q. Then why didn’t you learn them?
A. The martial arts bestowed upon me didn’t belong to that category.
Scratching his chin, Seo-jun asked,
“Then what kind of martial arts did you learn?”
“The Reversal Heaven Arts.”
Now that he thought about it, martial arts techniques probably had different classifications too. Just as orthodox techniques had their types, demonic techniques likely had their own categories.
Q. What kinds of demonic techniques exist?
A. A lot.
Q. That’s not what I asked.
A. ...Currently, there are seven dominant types—Reversal Blood, Reversal Taiji, Reversal Principle, Reversal Heaven, Devouring, Mutation, and Ecstasy. Most modern practitioners study one of these.
That was more than he expected. Seo-jun didn’t really feel like learning more. He hated studying.
“Hmph.”
Seo-jun placed his hand near the woman’s chest. She froze in shock.
“Channel your qi.”
“...Yes.”
Demonic energy surged wildly within the woman’s body. Seo-jun calmly traced its flow and the sensations it evoked.
‘Interesting.’
The Reversal Heaven technique encompassed a vast concept. Seo-jun himself often considered the Reversal Taiji technique to be a subset of it.
And generally, the broader the principle a martial art covered, the harder it was to master.
The Reversal Heaven technique was one such art. For most people, even entering its foundation would have been impossible.
Especially since the woman’s martial art reversed the flow of qi, making it even more complex.
He hadn’t realized earlier, but she must have been quite talented.
‘Now that I think about it, do most demonic techniques reverse the qi flow? Or is any technique with reversed flow simply labeled demonic?’
Seo-jun pondered briefly before dismissing the thought.
“Do most demonic techniques have a reversed qi flow?”
“Almost all of them do, but...”
Her eyes seemed to ask, Why are you even asking that?
Seo-jun ignored her gaze, exercising the privilege of the strong.
“Let’s go.”
“Excuse me? Go where...?”
“Where else? Wherever you were heading.”
*****
Seo-jun had the woman lead the way.
It didn’t make sense for someone claiming to be the administrator not to know the path to the branch office, but the woman didn’t object.
The building they arrived at was quite impressive. Apparently, the Demonic Cult’s architectural style wasn’t too different from others.
“Come out.”
BOOM—!!
Seo-jun kicked the door, shattering it. The woman looked dumbfounded.
“What’s the matter?”
“...Nothing.”
Hearing the noise, demonic practitioners began pouring out. There weren’t many—barely a dozen or so.
“Hah, the so-called administrator can’t even be bothered to come out immediately.”
Sensing through his qi, Seo-jun confirmed that the administrator was still inside.
Releasing his demonic energy, Seo-jun’s eyes turned crimson as his lips moved.
“Bow down.”
Thud—!
The practitioners all fell to their knees, heads pressed to the ground. It wasn’t voluntary. Seo-jun’s words carried an irresistible force.
The woman trembled.
“The Minor Heavenly Demon...?”
“No.”
“Y-yes! My mistake!”
Seo-jun walked past the bowing practitioners and headed inside. It was then that the administrator, sensing trouble, burst out.
“What’s going on—! Huh?!”
Quick-witted, the administrator dropped to the ground the moment he saw Seo-jun.
“Are you from the cult headquarters?!”
Seo-jun ignored him. Something else caught his attention.
“What’s that...?”
“A demonic hound. It’s well-trained.”
It looked somewhat like a dog but was clearly a demonic beast.
When Seo-jun looked at it, the hound wagged its tail and panted as it approached.
“Oh.”
He patted its head, and the hound immediately rolled over, showing its belly.
“It really is well-trained.”
As Seo-jun scratched its belly, he noticed the woman’s odd expression.
“This demonic hound...?”
She stared back and forth between Seo-jun and the hound before hastily bowing.
“You’re incredible! Handling that vicious beast like a mere pet!”
“Vicious?”
This thing?
Seo-jun looked down at the hound. It wagged its tail and panted, its eyes sparkling.
It did have a slight demonic taint and a blade-like tip on its tail, but its behavior wasn’t much different from a retriever.
“Alright, buddy. Go play over there.”
Woof! The hound nodded and ran off, tail wagging.
Seo-jun withdrew his suppressive force and asked,
“You’re the administrator?”
“Yes! That’s me!”
“Let’s go. I have questions.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Ah...!”
The priestess opened her eyes wide. She shed tears of joy before abruptly rising and moving.
Following the pull of her senses, she soon spotted a man. When he saw her, he bowed.
“Good news, Priestess?”
“I’ve received a revelation.”
The man’s eyes widened. A revelation! When the priestess spoke of revelations, it meant the voice of Mara.
“Sword Demon, listen well.”
The man—Sword Demon—immediately prostrated himself before her.
“The seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons has returned to its rightful place.”
Her eyes gleamed. The holy flame within them read the heavenly signs.
‘Even Mara does not know his exact location.’
It couldn’t be helped. Mara resided in the celestial realm. However, Mara had declared that the seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons had stepped foot in Tian Shan.
“Send orders to all cultists immediately. Bring any rising demonic practitioner to the cult.”
“Understood.”
“Also, keep two of the Seven Demons ready to move at all times. If anyone defies the cult’s orders or tries to escape, I’ll personally deal with it.”
“As you command.”
The priestess looked down at the prostrated Sword Demon.
‘He arrived later than expected. Did he face hardships on his journey, or...?’
She spoke again.
“Withdraw all forces attacking Kunlun.”
“Should we halt all preparations?”
“Yes. There’s no longer any need for war.”
“Understood.”
“Move quickly.”
“Yes, Priestess!”
As the Sword Demon departed, the priestess bit her lip.
‘I hope the disturbance in the heavens has nothing to do with him....’
The seed of the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons was destined to return to the cult. It was fate. Some even called it an instinct unique to the seed.
But if he had already achieved the Reversal Heaven state, there was a chance he might defy fate and act unpredictably.
Though Mara didn’t view such actions unfavorably, it was troublesome for a mortal like the priestess.
‘Please, just stay quiet....’
The priestess prayed.