Chapter 201

A man, his black robe fluttering in the night breeze, gazed down at the world.

There were no guards around him. Not even the usual Demonic Cultists or jiangshi could be seen.

Only a deathlike silence lingered in the air around the man.

The moment he saw him, Jaseong realized it.

The incarnation of the ascended Heavenly Demons, the new Heavenly Demon who had thrown the Central Plains into terror—Cheon Gwang-hwi stood right before his eyes.

"So, you've finally come."

Cheon Gwang-hwi spoke as if he had been waiting for this moment.

His voice was not loud, yet it carried enough weight, imbued with such cultivated power, that it reverberated through the entire plaza.

"I have been waiting for you. The one now called the World's Greatest—the Evil Path Association Leader."

Cheon Gwang-hwi leaped lightly from the rooftop. His landing was as gentle as a feather, yet the moment he touched the ground, the earth trembled ever so slightly.

"So you knew of me?"

Jaseong asked coldly.

"But of course. The one who toppled the old True Person Cheongho of Mount Hua, and killed the Murim alliance leader Namgung Cheon-rui. How could I not know?"

Cheon Gwang-hwi looked Jaseong up and down, his eyes like those of a collector appraising a rare treasure—greedy, sticky.

"Hm... You're younger than I thought. To touch the threshold of the Profound Realm at such a young age, barely past twenty... Truly, a bizarre thing."

Cheon Gwang-hwi clicked his tongue.

"But your refined energy is truly extraordinary. The pure immortal energy I sense in your dantian... That is not something of humans."

A gleam of madness flashed in Cheon Gwang-hwi's eyes. He did not see Jaseong as an enemy.

He saw him as the final ingredient to complete himself.

"If I absorb your internal power and soul... then there will be none left in the world to oppose me. No, even the Heavenly Demons of the Celestial Realm will kneel beneath my feet!"

Heavenly Demon Great Star-Absorbing Art.

To Cheon Gwang-hwi, who had mastered this forbidden demonic art, Jaseong was the finest prey.

"Mansul, move back."

Jaseong spoke softly to Mansul perched on his shoulder. Mansul looked at Jaseong with worried eyes, then whimpered, "Kkii-ing," and took a few steps back.

However, all nine of the creature's tails stood bristling, ready to leap out at any moment.

Jaseong looked straight at Cheon Gwang-hwi.

Within his eyes, the azure light of the Samadhi Eyes flickered.

"Shall I tell you a story?"

"A story?"

"It's about something that happened long ago in Ansun's Red Light District."

"Red Light District?"

"There, martial experts of the Murim Alliance fought to root out the Demonic Cult remnants. In the clash between orthodox experts and demonic experts, countless innocents were caught in the crossfire and lost their lives."

"Hm. Doesn't sound very interesting. Things like that happen all the time in the Central Plains, do they not?"

"I'm not here to tell a fun story. I want you to know the reason you'll die today."

As he spoke, Jaseong drew the Wicked Flame Sword.

His eyes were filled with a long-restrained, popping fury.

"On the day of that bloodbath, my eldest brother and sister-in-law died. Even their unborn child."

"......"

"To this day, many innocents die like my brother and his wife did that day. All because of you demonic cultists' endless greed and madness. Just simple, ordinary people trying to live their lives."

Jaseong looked around.

Corpses piled like mountains.

Each was once someone's family, someone's beloved.

"Kukuku, so what?"

Cheon Gwang-hwi only burst into laughter, his expression one of utter incomprehension toward Jaseong's rage.

"That's the way the martial world is. The strong trample the weak, the weak become the prey of the strong. Your brother, your sister-in-law—they died simply because they were weak. It is the law of the world."

The law of the world.

At those words, a murderous intent exploded from Jaseong's body.

A golden ki surged up to envelop his whole form.

"If that's so, then your death today must be the law of the world as well. You're clearly weaker than me."

Black flames blazed in Jaseong's eyes.

The demonic ki of the Wicked Flame Sword, the immortal energy of the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula, and the Samadhi Eyes' power fused, giving birth to that fire.

"Today, I will eradicate all you Demonic Cult bastards. I'll wipe out the very name of the Demonic Cult from this land."

Jaseong's icy voice shook all of Baima Monastery.

At his presence, stones lifted from the ground and the very air seemed to vibrate as if it would tear.

At that moment, Cheon Gwang-hwi's expression stiffened.

Jaseong's energy was far more intense than he had expected.

But the arrogant smile soon returned to his lips.

"How impudent. Ten of the Ten Great Experts once joined forces to fell my master—the previous Heavenly Demon. And now, you alone dare to face me?"

A tremendous demonic ki erupted from Cheon Gwang-hwi's body.

Black energy engulfed the sky, blotting out the sun. In an instant, baima Monastery was shrouded in pitch-black darkness.

"Let me show you. What the true power of demon is."

The ki of the two absolute masters collided.

Golden immortal energy and black demonic ki entwined in the air, creating a colossal vortex.

The air screamed, and space itself was distorted.

This was the moment when the final battle, with the fate of the jianghu on the line, began.

* * *

Cheon Gwang-hwi moved first.

The black demonic ki bursting from his whole body set the atmosphere trembling.

Hundreds of swords scattered nearby—remnants left behind by dead orthodox warriors and demonic cultists—rose into the air.

"Heavenly Demon Divine Art: Full Mastery! Heavenly Demon Sword Control, Rule of Ten Thousand Demons!"

At Cheon Gwang-hwi's shout, the hundreds of swords floating in the air all turned their points toward Jaseong.

It wasn't just the Flying Sword Art.

Each blade was imbued with enhanced energy, shrieking like a living monster.

Shushushushuk!

A rain of swords poured down.

The black steel storm blotted out the sky, pulverizing the ground where Jaseong stood.

Kugoong! Kwakwakwa-kwang!

The earth split, and the main halls of Baima Monastery collapsed helplessly.

The plaza before the Main Hall caved in like a gigantic crater in an instant, dust billowing and obscuring all sight.

But—

"You're too slow."

Jaseong's voice came from behind Cheon Gwang-hwi.

A chill ran down Cheon Gwang-hwi's neck.

He spun reflexively, striking out with his fist.

"Heavenly Demon Divine Fist!"

This was not merely a punch.

It compressed and detonated space itself—a destructive strike that made heaven and earth tremble.

A black force fist shot toward Jaseong's face like a cannon shell.

Jaseong didn't dodge.

He raised his Wicked Flame Sword.

'Celestial Gate Opening Art, Twelfth Gate—Death Gate, open.'

Kwaaa!

A golden ki exploded from Jaseong's body.

A realm beyond human limits—the domain of gods.

That power flowed into the Wicked Flame Sword.

Kaang!

Sword and fist collided.

The resulting shockwave pulverized everything within a ten-zhang radius around them.

Chwaruruk!

Cheon Gwang-hwi staggered back, his fist trembling ever so slightly.

Jaseong, too, was pushed back—the magnitude of Cheon Gwang-hwi's cultivated power was truly extraordinary.

"Not bad. But this is only the beginning!"

Cheon Gwang-hwi charged again, opening his palm this time.

"Heavenly Demon Divine Palm!"

From his palm, dark crimson bands of power fired forth like cannons.

Each strike radiated such heat and force that it seemed capable of melting stone.

In response, Jaseong exhibited the Heaven Evading Flash Sword.

'Heaven Evading Flash Sword, Sixth Stroke—Ten Thousand Thunders.'

Bzzt! Bzzt!

Jaseong's sword became a lightning bolt, intercepting the palm energy.

Golden flashes and dark crimson palm force clashed in the air like a fireworks display.

Kwagg! Kwaaang!

Cheon Gwang-hwi did not pause.

As soon as his palm technique was blocked, he switched immediately to hand techniques.

"Heavenly Demon Extinction Hand!"

His blade-like hand, imbued with azure demonic power, slashed at Jaseong's neck.

It was a light, casual motion, as if swatting at a fly, yet the arc was sharp enough to rip through space.

Even a graze could decapitate.

Jaseong leaned back at the last moment to avoid it.

But Cheon Gwang-hwi's assault didn't let up.

With a finger snap, invisible force bullets shot out like bullets.

"Heavenly Demon Bullet Finger!"

Pishuk! Pishuk!

The energy grazed Jaseong's shoulder and thigh, boring holes in the boulders behind him.

'... Sword, fist, palm, and finger arts. He truly has mastered every martial technique.'

Just as Jaseong assessed.

The martial arts of a Heavenly Demon who had reached the Profound Realm were ever-changing and destructive.

Fist, palm, hand, finger.

All were perfect assassinations with not a thing lacking.

'This won't do. I must create an opening.'

Jaseong made his decision and began to retreat, steadying his breath.

He drew innate true ki from the depths of his dantian.

'Heaven Evading Clone Step.'

Shushushushuk!

Jaseong's body faded and instantly split into seven.

These were not illusions.

Astonishingly, every one was a solid clone.

Each clone took a different stance, surrounding Cheon Gwang-hwi.

"Ho... A clone technique? That's a feat only Celestial Realm immortals should be able to perform. Where, precisely, did you learn it?"

Cheon Gwang-hwi's lips curled with interest, yet his eyes remained arrogant.

In that moment, all eight Jaseongs charged at once.

'Heaven Evading Flash Sword, Third Stroke—Hundred Descending Calamities!'

Eight Wicked Flame Swords struck down like lightning.

Hundreds of sword light beams bombarded Cheon Gwang-hwi—a perfect concerted assault with no escape.

But Cheon Gwang-hwi did not evade.

He spun in place, stretching out both hands.

"Heavenly Demon Rule!"

Kwaaa!

A black dome of enhanced energy burst from his body.

Jaseong's sword attacks bounced off the barrier.

Then Cheon Gwang-hwi's counterattack began.

"Annoying! I'll wipe them all out!"

Cheon Gwang-hwi flicked his fingers.

Pishuk!

The leftmost Jaseong clone's forehead was punctured and it vanished like smoke.

"One."

Cheon Gwang-hwi threw a punch.

Kwaang!

The charging clone from the front exploded as it was struck in the chest.

"Two."

Cheon Gwang-hwi moved like a man dancing.

With each gesture—hand, foot—Jaseong's clones were destroyed without mercy.

"Three, four, five...."

In an instant, five clones vanished.

Only two remained: the real Jaseong and the last clone.

Cheon Gwang-hwi grinned, glancing between the two.

"Which one is real? Well, it hardly matters. I'll just kill them both."

He brought his hands together.

Between his palms, a black sphere formed.

Compressed demonic ki warped the air.

"Heavenly Demon World Annihilation!"

He hurled the sphere.

It grew as it flew, aiming to swallow both Jaseongs at once.

Jaseong thrust his last clone forward.

As the clone raised its sword to block the sphere, Jaseong withdrew and made his final preparations.

Kwaaang!

The clone vanished without trace, but that fleeting moment was enough for Jaseong.

Jaseong closed his eyes.

A hundred years spent in the Room of Time.

The one truth realized within that solitude and despair:

'The Twelfth Gate is not the end. It is merely the shell defining the limits of humanity.'

Jaseong gazed inward.

Beyond the twelve wide-open gates, hidden within pitch-black darkness, was the final gate.

A gate that exists, yet does not exist.

The gate that had led him to the enlightenment of the Profound Realm.

'Thirteenth Gate... Gate of God, open.'