Chapter 170
The Loyal Heart Alliance returned to Shaoxing after organizing the Lee Familys territory. Baek Cheon-Sang personally greeted them and even held a grandiose banquet to appreciate their contributions.
Winning the battle against the Lee Family, which colluded with the Nine Celestial Demons Sect, gave the Alliances martial artists confidence and increased their pride and loyalty to the Loyal Heart Alliance as high as could be now.
Improving morale was as important as developing their martial prowess. Loyalty to their organization and confidence in their skills would not simply lead to psychological improvements but also an improvement in their forces strength. Loyal members would not hesitate to fight with all their might and sacrifice their lives for the organization, allowing them to exert much more power than those who only cared about themselves and prioritized their survival.
Gaining confidence in their skills would also eliminate any hesitation toward their own martial arts, enabling them to fully demonstrate their capabilities. Loyalty and confidence would not miraculously cause them to go beyond their current capabilities, but it would at least allow them to fight to the best of their abilities. Considering far more martial artists couldnt do that in actual combat than those who could, it was a very important factor. Their battle against the Lee Family was certainly very beneficial for the Loyal Heart Alliances overall growth.
The fact that the Loyal Heart Alliance invaded the Lee Family and wiped them out would soon spread all over murim, especially since they informed the Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families about it themselves.
The two factions found nothing wrong with the Loyal Heart Alliances claim that the Lee Family had ties with the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. After all, there was no clearer evidence than the fact that the Asura Divine Demon and the Asura Cults Demonic Monarchs were in their headquarters.
The Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families rejoiced when they heard that Mu-Gun had killed the Asura Divine Demon. The death of one of the Nine Great Demon Kings gave them a tremendous advantage in their future battles with the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. The other forces of murim also praised Mu-Gun for defeating the Asura Divine Demon. They even gave him the new title of Golden Shield Thunder God, replacing Golden Shield Sword Dragon. Although Mu-Gun couldnt really care less about it, his presence in murim grew quite a lot.
Paying little attention to murims reaction to his recent feat, Mu-Gun focused on strengthening the Baek Sword Sect and the Loyal Heart Alliance. There were two ways to improve their combat forces: recruit new members or enhance the skills of their current members. He decided to do the latter for now.
The Baek Sword Sect did not have to make any changes to their current training regimen, so the White Dragon Corps and the White Tiger Corps just kept boosting their skills through constant sparring sessions and improved their internal energy by consuming Hundred Herb Pills.
At the same time, with the exception of the Wuyi Sword Sect, the Loyal Heart Alliance began conducting regular sparring sessions between the twelve clans elite martial artists. It was also decided that the clan that would show the best performance during the sparring sessions would be rewarded with Hundred Herb Pills. Hence, the martial artists of the twelve clans devoted themselves to martial arts training not only out of pride but also for the reward.
The Loyal Heart Alliances sparring competition was scheduled to be held once a month. Based on the bracket, each clan would have to win twice to advance, and only three could reach the finals. Those three clans would then fight in rotation, and whichever got the best results would win.
The competition had one special rule: the clans had to send out a new fighter in every match. This was to prevent the sparring competition from being dominated by a small group of outstanding martial artists and ensure as many members as possible could participate. That was also why joining the competition two months in a row was not allowed.
As the twelve clans devoted themselves to training for the sparring competition, Mu-Gun decided to begin training the second generation of their reserve forces. Hence, he recruited one hundred thirty orphans from Jiangsu Province, Zhejiang Province, and Fujian Province through the Heavenly Secret Hall and sent them to the Sea Dragon Archipelago. He then instructed the first-generation reserve forces, who had been training on the Sea Dragon Archipelago for nearly a year now, to pair up with the second-generation reserve forces and to take good care of them.
As the Loyal Heart Alliances status and reputation grew, the number of martial artists coming to Shaoxing to join them reached hundreds. It was a significant increase, but the Loyal Heart Alliance couldnt help but agonize over it. It would be great to recruit more martial artists, but they could not just let anyone join their ranks since that would only result in a heavier financial burden, not an increase in quality. Furthermore, it would also pose problems in security, considering they could unknowingly recruit an enemy spy.
Still, they could not let that stop them from recruiting talented people either. Hence, Baek Cheon-Sang and the Alliances Council had a discussion about it. They eventually decided to hold an evaluation and limit their recruitment to martial artists in the First-Rate Realm or higher. Most of the martial artists who visited Shaoxing to join the Loyal Heart Alliance were Second-Rate or Third-Rate, and fewer than fifty were above the First-Rate Realm. Nevertheless, the Loyal Heart Alliance selected only those who could immediately become elite martial artists.
In addition to the evaluation, they also had the Heavenly Secret Hall conduct a background check on the new prospects to determine if any of them were spies from the Nine Celestial Demons Sect. Of course, not even the Heavenly Secret Hall could obtain information on all the new prospects, but it could at least serve as a layer of safety net.
Just like how the Baek Sword Sect conducted recruitment, the evaluation was divided into two partsphysical strength evaluation and martial arts evaluation. First, The applicants without any foundations were filtered out through the physical strength evaluation. Of the five hundred people who applied, the screening eliminated about three hundred.
The standards for the physical strength evaluation set by the Loyal Heart Alliance were at a level that even Second-Rate Realm martial artists could sufficiently pass. It would be pointless for those who could not even pass a test at that level to proceed with the martial arts evaluation. The applicants went on to the second round, namely the martial arts evaluation, after passing the physical strength evaluation in the first round.
The martial arts evaluation was carried out through a spar against the thirteen clans successors, who had First-Rate-Realm martial arts and were now members of the Latent Dragon Squadron.
The Council unanimously approved Mu-Guns proposal to create the Latent Dragon Squadron because Mu-Gun planned to become its leader, which meant they could expect their clans successors to receive a lot of help from him in terms of martial arts. That would ultimately allow them to grow exponentially.
Among the successors, the Wind Saber Sects Tae Mu-Gang, Byeok Sword Manors Byeok Jin-Woon, Justice Martial Sects Jeong Ho-Gun, and Flying Lance Sects Jo Won-Yee were on the verge of reaching the Peak Realm. All of the successors were skilled enough to act as opponents of the new applicants during the martial arts evaluation.
For the sake of safety, it would have been best to let the most capable among the Latent Dragon Squadron take the role of sparring partners. However, Mu-Gun wanted the successors to use this opportunity to reflect on their own martial arts and grow even more powerful. That was also why the successors themselves insisted on taking charge of the martial arts evaluation. Aware of his intentions, the Councils delegates approved of his decision.
The successors fought seventeen to eighteen applicants each over the span of three days, passing only thirty-nine applicants. After a basic background check, the new recruits were assigned to Squad Thirteen of the Demon Slayer Battalion, which was under the direct command of the Loyal Heart Alliance. Except for the Wuyi Sword Sect, which had not sent any martial artists yet, the Loyal Heart Alliances clans each had their martial artists assigned to a Demon Slayer Battalion squad, creating a total of twelve squads. Since Squad Thirteen was still lacking in numbers, they would have to be supplemented in the future.
* * *
Seob Wi-Mun sat in the lotus position in the center of the Asura Cults secret cave, and a hundred demonic practitionersall elite Peak-Realm martial artistssat upright with determined expressions around him. Wi-Mun was about to sacrifice them during the Asura Essence Extraction to become the Immortal Asura.
The demonic practitioners around him werent forced to become sacrificial offerings. On the contrary, they actually volunteered, thinking their deaths would not be in vain if Wi-Mun could conquer murim by becoming the Celestial Demon of the Nine Heavens. Such was their blind loyalty to the Asura Cult.
All preparations are done. Heo Woon-Pil, who prepared the Asura Essence Extraction Art, said after doing a final check.
Are you all ready? Wi-Mun asked the one hundred demonic practitioners.
Yes, they answered. They remained fearless despite knowing that the Asura Essence Extraction Art would kill them.
The expression on their faces made Wi-Mun very emotional. He was very grateful for their loyalty and willingness to lay down their lives for the Asura Cult.
I am indebted to you all. I, Seob Wi-Mun, will never forget your sacrifices. I promise to fulfill the Asura Cults long-cherished desire so that your sacrifices will not be in vain.
Glory to the Asura Cult!
Glory to the Divine Demon!
The one hundred demonic practitioners prayed for the glory of Wi-Mun as he rose to the position of the Divine Demon, inheriting the Asura Cult and Seob Go-Wons goals.
Begin the Extraction Art! Wi-Mun ordered.
The demonic practitioners began to recite the Asura Essence Extraction Art mantra, creating what seemed like a sacred sight. Along with the scriptures of the mantra, their souls flowed in unison to Wi-Mun, who in turn immediately recited the mantra and began to absorb their souls. Due to their instincts, the souls struggled to occupy Wi-Muns consciousness and even attacked Wi-Muns soul.
At this rate, they would devour Wi-Muns soul. Despite the dangerous situation Wi-Mun was in, he remained calm and focused on reciting the Asura Essence Extraction Arts Demonic Soul Manipulation Mantra, which would put the souls he absorbed under his control.
The souls that were relentlessly trying to take control of Wi-Muns consciousness scattered in shock, and Wi-Mun took that opportunity to absorb them, causing his Asura qi to overflow. In an instant, his lower dantian was filled to the brim, his conception and governing vessels were forced open, and his Life and Death Gateway was pried open. Subsequently, his middle dantian opened, and the Asura qi that he initially failed to absorb was quickly sucked into it.
Not long after, Wi-Mun began to undergo metamorphosis.
The Asura qi he got from the souls permeated into his flesh and bones, allowing him to achieve the Adamant Vajra Body State and giving him an enormous amount of internal energy. At the same time, the bodies of the demonic practitioners began to dry up like mummies. Through their sacrifice, Wi-Mun was being reborn as a Supreme-Demonic-Realm master.
However, he was yet to accomplish the most important step: fully absorbing all one hundred souls. Absorbing a hundred souls destroyed ones mind, which was why the Asura Essence Extraction Arts success rate was extremely low. With the determination to revive the ruined Asura Cult, Wi-Mun solidified his willpower and maintained control over his mind while absorbing the souls.
Woon-Pil watched over Wi-Mun with a nervous expression. If Wi-Mun failed and his mind was destroyed, he would become a Soulless Being, a monster that destroyed everything in sight. That was why the Asura Essence Extraction Art was executed in a secret cave that was far from the Asura Cults headquarters.
Woon-Pil was also supposed to leave the case, considering he would be Wi-Muns first victim if the Asura Essence Extraction Art failed. However, he could not bring himself to leave Wi-Mun behind for his own sake. Instead, he chose to watch the ritual until the very end, determined to share his fate with Wi-Mun no matter what happened to him.
The Asura Essence Extraction Art took a minimum of three days before it could be completed. Through it all, Woon-Pil watched over Wi-Mun and prayed to the Demon God nonstop for the success of the Asura Essence Extraction Art.
Read 𝓁atest chapters at fr(e)ewebnov𝒆l.com Only