Chapter 11

“Before we begin, I will ask you this. Do you know that elixirs won’t help you much?”

I nodded at the Heavenly Demon’s question.

“I know.”

The greatest obstacle in cultivating the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art was lack of internal energy.

The Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art was designed to store Pure Demonic Qi and Chaotic Demonic Qi in a one-to-nine ratio.

Of these, the Chaotic Demonic Qi congealed in the dantian as a bead and could not be used until full maturation.

It was the same even with elixirs.

If you gained ten years of cultivation, you could use only one year of it. The remaining nine you could not.

That was what the Heavenly Demon was asking about.

‘But it’s plenty for me.’

I had six months’ worth of Pure Demonic Qi, and the Yin-Soul Pellet held roughly ten to fifteen years of energy.

Even a year of Pure Demonic Qi would be rain in a drought for me.

This was why I asked the Heavenly Demon for help.

He could maximize the amount of Pure Demonic Qi that could be extracted.

‘If I can get a year and a half, that’d be great.’

“Take the Yin-Soul Pellet.”

The Heavenly Demon sat behind me as I crossed my legs.

Without hesitation, I swallowed the Yin-Soul Pellet.

A deep chill surged in and the hairs all over my body stood on end at once.

Such was the characteristic of a yin-aspected elixir.

This was only because the Yin-Soul Pellet was low-grade. A high or supreme grade would have turned me into ice and killed me on the spot.

No matter how fine the elixir, without the capacity to digest it, it was calamity.

The Yin-Soul Pellet slid down my throat.

The moment it reached my stomach, it split with a crackle into hundreds of fine icy threads.

‘Ngk.’

A groan nearly slipped out.

The icy threads began to spread into the minor meridians all over my body.

‘What are you waiting for.’

I spoke inwardly to the Heavenly Demon.

If I kept shivering from the cold, the yield would be paltry.

He needed to step in before that happened.

Perhaps he heard my heart’s voice.

Suddenly, a warm current flowed in.

It was the Heavenly Demon’s True Qi.

His True Qi wrapped each and every icy thread spreading through me without missing a single one.

For a moment I nearly forgot the situation, shuddering in awe.

I had felt it at the Heretical Alliance’s Nanzhou branch too, but this control over True Qi was simply inhuman.

How was this even possible?

Then, his True Qi began melting the icy threads.

As the ice melted, the energy hidden within revealed itself.

That energy seeped into the meridians at each point where it had paused.

[Begin circulating.]

The Heavenly Demon’s transmitted voice rang through my mind.

I immediately circulated the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art, and my dantian drew in the energy from the meridians all at once.

The hundreds of streams competing to flood into the dantian was quite a sight.

‘On my own, more than half this energy would have just evaporated.’

I carefully stored the gathered energy in my dantian.

The portion converting into Pure Demonic Qi steadily increased.

Six months, one year, a year and a half.

It was the best result I had hoped for.

But it didn’t stop there.

Two years, two and a half, and then—

‘Three years?!’

I nearly fainted from shock.

The internal energy far exceeded my projected maximum.

All told, I now held three and a half years of Pure Demonic Qi.

Which meant we had drawn thirty years’ worth of energy from a pellet capped at fifteen.

Once again I felt the Heavenly Demon’s wall.

Even for him—how was this possible?

‘Wait.’

A good idea flashed through me.

To raise one’s attainment in the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art, two conditions were required.

One had to open a new pathway to lead to the next stage, and the other was to have enough Pure Demonic Qi to bore through it.

I now had both.

I already knew the breakthrough route for this stage, and my pure qi had just swelled.

But that wasn’t the important part right now.

What mattered was that the Heavenly Demon’s True Qi was still inside me.

Then what I had to do was simple.

‘To exploit(?) the Heavenly Demon one more time.’

I would have him show me again the pathway he’d revealed when I first began training the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art.

That route was far more precise and efficient than the one I had found.

If I could pull this off, I’d gain enormously.

First, I could ascend to the second stage far more perfectly than attempting it alone later.

Second, by experiencing his genius again, I might think a little more like the Heavenly Demon next time.

‘Will it work?’

When it came to it, I hesitated.

I still couldn’t transmit my voice.

I couldn’t explain my intent in words.

I could only signal by moving my qi, but would he pick up on that?

‘Let’s do it before it’s too late..’

Just then, the Heavenly Demon’s True Qi was ebbing away like a receding tide.

Before it vanished, I caught its trailing end with my Pure Demonic Qi.

It was a risky attempt.

My Qi could be dragged along with his, leading to Qi Deviation and ruin.

But I trusted the Heavenly Demon.

He wouldn’t let that happen.

[What are you doing?]

His transmitted voice came.

I pleaded inwardly.

Please understand my intent.

Let my Qi move freely—and follow wherever it leads.

Perhaps my heart reached him.

His True Qi pushed mine ahead.

Elated, I guided my Qi along the acupoint route to enter the second stage of the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art.

But his True Qi did not move.

He had sensed that I had meant to use him.

‘Since you’ve noticed, just be cool and let me use you, please.’

I said so again inwardly and boldly moved my Qi.

But his True Qi remained immovable.

This won’t do.

‘Uh, Master?’

Flustered, I stopped my Qi short.

Only then did his True Qi stir.

In that instant, I realized.

He had been toying with me out of pique.

As I thought—this fellow can’t be taken lightly—his voice transmission came.

[Move your Qi as you desire.]

I moved my Qi through the Qihai, Yinjiao, and Shenque points in order.

He stayed still for a while, then only when my Qi reached the Zhongting point did he move his True Qi.

He wrapped my Qi and began guiding it along a path different from the one I knew.

He had done this last time as well.

Rather than laying the path from the start, he corrected the route I’d roughly set into a better one.

‘Good!’

Thus we followed the prescribed steps.

The bead of Chaotic Demonic Qi vibrated. After tracing a complex route, the returning Pure Demonic Qi in the dantian was absorbed and exhaled again.

A rumble rolled inside my dantian.

I had stepped on to the second stage of the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art!

Regrettably, no fortuitous event like last time occurred.

But compared to when I achieved the second stage in my past life, I was clearly far better off.

The walls of the dantian thickened, and the Pure Demonic Qi became more refined.

I thus gained greater resistance to internal injuries and finer control over my internal energy.

It was a splendid reward for a warrior who lives lifelong without internal energy.

‘If only I could keep going like this to the ninth stage.’

Sadly, there was a limit to my Heavenly Demon pass.

Beyond the third stage, it becomes a battle purely with oneself—no outsider can help with that.

“Hoooo.”

Letting out a long breath, I withdrew from circulation.

When I looked back, the Heavenly Demon was glaring at me with an especially cold expression.

Feigning ignorance, I spoke evenly.

“Wow, what was that just now?”

“That is what I wish to ask. You… what are you, exactly?”

His question brimmed with deep doubt.

“Me? Your disciple. Master’s disciple.”

“You maneuvered me into helping you enter the second stage. How did you arrive at that judgment?”

His gaze sharpened.

It was only natural he found my conduct suspicious.

I had only begun practicing the Nine Heavens Demon-Ascension Art a month ago, yet had already ascended to the second stage.

And on top of that, I had the idea to use my teacher in the process?

I did it, yet it made no sense.

So I had no proper reply.

I couldn’t very well say I’d come back from the future.

‘Time to fake being a genius again.’

I answered as naturally as I could.

“It just felt like that’s what I should do.”

“It felt like you should?”

His expression shifted subtly.

But it soon returned to normal, though in that split-second I sensed a strange emotion.

Relief? Expectation?

I wasn’t sure.

It was something other than a teacher’s simple joy at a disciple’s growth.

Something deeper, more particular.

But for now, there was no way to know what it was.

He wouldn’t tell me even if I asked.

“…In any case, it went well, right? I feel stronger.”

“Yes. The Yin-Soul Pellet you robbed from So-rang worked as it should.”

“Heuk. Since when did you know?”

“Before you returned.”

As expected of the Heavenly Demon.

He’s not to be taken lightly.

“But I have to set one thing straight. I didn’t rob it—it was given to me.”

“I would not have accepted it.”

He sent a faintly reproachful look.

He didn’t say it aloud, but I knew what he meant.

Accepting something invites a corresponding obligation.

Like promising Wi So-rang to fight her again.

If I could, I would have told him this:

‘I would have liked that too—if not for you.’

I must gain strength greater than his before he becomes a demon.

For that, what wouldn’t I do?

Unaware of this, he tossed out a line.

“You must feel reassured.”

“About what?”

“You are strong enough to attend the banquet, are you not?”

“……”

I was at a loss for words.

Was he joking?

With the sort of people gathering there—how could this be reassuring?

The corner of his mouth twitched as he went on.

“How will you deal with it?”

“I’ll manage somehow. I’ve picked up quite a bit from here and there, you know.”

A fair bit of that was from you.

“So you do not intend to take it lying down. It seems you are fated to bring turmoil with you.”

“Thanks to a splendid master who doesn’t protect his disciple.”

“I will say one thing. Do not bare your fangs until you have the strength.”

It was advice unbecoming of the Heavenly Demon.

I asked him back.

“Did you live that way, Master?”

“……”

Of course not.

The countless scars on the torso I saw not long ago proved it.

And had he lived that way, he wouldn’t be the Heavenly Demon.

“Anyway, thanks for the concern. I’ll go have some fun.”

“Very well.”

“I’ll be off.”

I bowed to him and left the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.

When I returned to Silver Cloud Pavilion, a warrior sent by the Elder Council Lord was waiting.

He said the banquet would be held in about two hours and asked that I attend.

What a hasty old man.

‘Time to get ready to head out, then.’

I knew well why he was hosting the banquet.

But he wasn’t the only one with an agenda.

I intended to make good use of that occasion.

It was a place where I could obtain what I needed.

In many ways, the story would unfold differently than in my previous life.