Chapter 2120 – 2120. The Ascent To Guangming
With Ban Oh and Mountain King dead, there was no one left to stop me. I killed off the rest of the riffraff as well. Although I had allowed Mountain King to land a blow, I wasn’t seriously injured enough to die. I did cough up blood three times, but I was fine. Now, all that was left was to reach the summit of Mount Domyung.
We approached the entrance to the summit.
Only three could ascend to the summit. There were four of us gathered here. But it was no problem. The Ghost Soul Black Water that Seong Ji-gon was holding was missing limbs and was out of his mind. We could just restrain him at the entrance and go up to the summit.
The five-colored clouds that had been blocking the summit were now so faint that it was hard to distinguish the colors.
“Ryeong-ah. What do you want that brought you to Mount Domyung? With the power you have and the strength of the Sima Clan, you can get almost anything.”
Sima Ryeong looked around once and then looked up at the sky.
“Great Hero, are you aware of the Ascension?”
“Ascension. I think I’ve heard of it.”
I looked at Seong Ji-gon. Seong Ji-gon shook his head as if he didn’t know either.
“Ascension. To rise to the heavens. Many people, including myself, thought it was another name for becoming an immortal. However, after looking through ancient texts, I found out that becoming an immortal and ascension are different concepts. I want to know what ascension is and how to achieve it.”
“For you, a former imperial priest, to not know this information means it’s not something easily found.”
“I don’t know everything about the imperial palace. I have no way of knowing information that His Majesty the Emperor has forbidden.”
“Is ascension information that the Emperor has forbidden?”
“Judging by the fact that I couldn’t find it, it must be. If not, the information may have been restricted even before His Majesty founded the nation….”
A story from before the founding of the nation.
That’s probably a story from over a thousand years ago. For me, it’s a distant and uninteresting history lesson. I just nodded in agreement.
Before the five-colored clouds that were blocking the path completely disappeared, those who had been hiding jumped out.
They were the ones wearing White Tiger masks.
I frowned. I hadn’t noticed them hiding at all. It meant that their stealth skills were top-notch. Or maybe there was another secret to their stealth.
I was instantly annoyed. I thought it was over, but suddenly something else had come up.
“What are you guys now?”
Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Sword, Demonic Wind.
I swung my sword. The qi turned into a black wind and flew towards the guys wearing the White Tiger masks. The Demonic Wind, which could cut through anything it touched. It was impossible for those guys, who were at best at the level of the Five Qi Upper Stage, to easily block the Demonic Wind.
A golden light flickered in front of them.
The black wind touched the golden light. The direction of the black wind was forcibly changed, and it fell to the ground and disappeared. As if it was suppressed by an invisible force.
I felt an unpleasant energy.
I glared behind the guys wearing the White Tiger masks. The golden energy flickered and took on a shape.
It was Great Master Myunghon, sitting cross-legged in the air. A golden halo was shining brilliantly behind his head. His figure was like a Buddha statue.
I gritted my teeth. Just looking at him made me feel annoyed. It wasn’t exactly a mental attack or anything. It was like feeling disgusted when seeing a cockroach. To be precise, it was similar to my demonic energy reacting against Great Master Myunghon’s energy.
“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t get involved in this?”
“That was supposed to be the case, and that was what I intended. However, after seeing you, I changed my mind. Mara, you are extremely dangerous. You possess pure evil, the end of which is unknown, and you have even obtained peerless divine skills. Furthermore, you have received the power of the Heavenly Star, the best of all stars. I can see it. The world will groan because of you…!”
“He really thinks he’s a Buddha.”
I activated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and released demonic energy. My internal injuries worsened. It didn’t matter. I had a full recovery left.
Golden light emanated from Great Master Myunghon and resisted the demonic energy. It was an annoying energy, as expected.
“Mara, you must die here.”
“Are you planning to kill me using those three masked guys? No, are they just meat shields?”
“They are the White Tiger Clan. They are people who have been dedicated to the world since ancient times. Even now, they are working to protect the world.”
“White Tiger Clan? Ah, I remember. Do you know that the Azure Dragon Clan betrayed you?”
“Mara, don’t try to deceive me with lies. The Azure Dragon Clan betrayed us? They are the ones who sacrificed themselves for the world. The blessing of the Azure Dragon protects them. There is no betrayal or corruption.”
Unlike Great Master Myunghon’s firm words, the eyes of the guys wearing the White Tiger masks, the only part of them that was visible, were shaking like crazy. They knew about the betrayal of the Azure Dragon Clan.
Sima Ryeong whispered to me.
“…Great Hero. Great Master Myunghon has mastered the Buddha Light Subduing Demon Divine Art, one of the Shaolin’s secret techniques. As far as I know, it is the highest-ranking martial art among the Buddhist techniques that are the opposite of demonic arts. I’ve heard that the previous Heavenly Demon was killed by the Buddha Light Subduing Demon Divine Art.”
“Oh, really? That’s possible. There were quite a few idiots among the past Heavenly Demons. But I’m different from those guys.”
I grabbed my sword and walked towards them. The guys wearing the White Tiger masks tensed up and drew their swords.
“Little Heavenly Demon. Please yield Mount Domyung to us. As Great Master Myunghon said, we are working in the shadows for the peace of the world. All of this is for the peace of the world.”
“Peace of the world, my ass. It’s not you guys who are maintaining peace and order right now, it’s the Emperor. You guys should clean up the Azure Dragon Clan as soon as possible.”
“……Little Heavenly Demon, everyone knows that your condition is not good right now. Aren’t you forcing yourself to hold back the blood you’re coughing up?”
“Holding back blood? Ueeeeeek!”
I deliberately stimulated my acupoints and coughed up blood. Black, dead blood and clean, fresh blood mixed and fell to the ground.
“It’s true that that Buddha light or whatever is kind of shitty. Looking at that fake Buddha makes me feel like disgusting bugs are crawling around me.”
“Go away! Demon, you will eventually repent and shed tears before the Buddha!”
Great Master Myunghon shouted. I moved forward, taking the golden light emanating from him with my body.
I examined the appearance of the masked guys. There were almost no signs of battle. Maybe they had joined hands with Great Master Myunghon from the beginning. From Great Master Myunghon’s point of view, the most likely candidates were all either demons, monsters, bandits, or necromancers, none of which he would have liked.
“You bastards. You show up at the end and try to steal my prize? Absolutely not.”
Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heaven-Breaking Desolation.
I shatter my soul and burn the shattered soul as fuel.
My hair turned pure white, and a huge demonic energy erupted from my body. I was now a Heavenly Demon beyond the Heavenly Demon, a Super Heavenly Demon.
“This demon! He has sacrificed his soul to obtain the power of defying the heavens! But it will not go as you wish. White Tiger Clan! Use it!”
The guys wearing the White Tiger masks took out white tiger statues from their pockets and threw them to the ground. They turned into three sacred rocks and stuck to my body. They restrained my body. The demonic energy that had been pouring out like seawater was forcibly blocked.
“Great Hero!”
“Yujin-ah!”
Sima Ryeong and Seong Ji-gon were shocked. Before they could do anything, I said.
“I’ll take care of it, so stay still. This is nothing.”
As I moved forward, the guys wearing the White Tiger masks flinched.
“To move even after being restrained by three Spirit White Stones….”
“Oh, what should we do?”
“Great Master Myunghon!!”
Great Master Myunghon, who was floating behind them, stared at me with his eyes half-open. His right hand moved slowly. As his finger pointed down, a golden Buddha light descended from the sky and pressed down on my body.
“Demon Subduing Earth Touching Seal. No demon can overcome the Buddha light and will be subdued.”
It felt like my whole body was burning.
That was all.
I released all my power and moved forward.
My skin melted. Demonic energy stuck to my flesh and became my skin.
“Mara…!”
Great Master Myunghon’s benevolent face contorted. I could feel fear in his eyes.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Lord’s Step.
The guys wearing the White Tiger masks coughed up blood and collapsed. They trembled and then died. I didn’t even glance at the corpses and approached Great Master Myunghon.
“I’ve seen a Buddha before. I didn’t feel like fighting him. Even that Pāpīyas bowed his head as soon as he saw the Buddha.”
“You, Mara. What nonsense are you spouting!”
“You’re nothing compared to the real thing. You’re not even close to the Buddha’s feet. You’re a fake monk who doesn’t even know the word Nirvana.”
“You!!”
Great Master Myunghon extended his palm, which was filled with golden energy. It was the famous Tathagata Palm.
I also extended my palm. A palm filled with pitch-black demonic energy.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Palm.
Kwaaaaang!
Great Master Myunghon was the one who was pushed back by the explosion. The Buddha light lost its light, and half of his body disappeared. Great Master Myunghon couldn’t even stay in the air and fell to the ground with his eyes wide open.
“No, it can’t be! That I would be defeated by a Mara…!!”
“Die, monk.”
I cut off Great Master Myunghon’s head with the Hwaryeon Flying Knife. I used the power of the Heavenly Killing Star. A complete death. Even if he was a ghost belonging to Mount Domyung and not the real thing, he would never appear again. Great Master Myunghon’s body turned to ash and disappeared.
And I also faced death as the price of Heaven-Breaking Desolation.
[Death Resistance has been activated. You will not die for the next 15 seconds.]
[Using Full Recovery.]
My soul was shattered, I died, and then I was resurrected. Now, there was really nothing blocking us. The five-colored clouds had disappeared, and the path to the summit was open.
Sima Ryeong looked at the corpses of the guys wearing the White Tiger masks.
“Do you know them?”
“No. But I knew that their clan was working in the shadows for this world, so it feels strange to meet them here.”
“Working in the shadows, my ass. They’re just living as they please.”
“Their guardian deities are guardians who protect the human realm by contracting with the four gods. Why would such people come to Mount Domyung?”
“I don’t know. It’s probably not important? More importantly, let’s go to the summit. Once I get my reward, it’s over.”
After receiving the reward, I would immediately go to Mount Nakwol with Sima Ryeong, where Miryeong was.
