Chapter 69

“Huff, huff…”

It felt like my lungs were about to burst.

My breath was stuck up in my throat, and my whole body was drenched in sweat.

The reason for that was the Heavenly Demon.

“We… we’re here.”

The moment we reached the entrance to Demon Valley, I flopped down on my back.

The Heavenly Demon looked down at me and asked indifferently.

“Why are you lying down?”

“Huff, huff… You really… have to ask…?”

My words trailed off.

I was so out of breath I could not answer all the way.

Of course, being the Heavenly Demon, he had thoroughly trained me even on the way here.

He would suddenly speed up, then slow down, then stop out of nowhere, over and over.

He said if I couldn’t keep up, he would increase the intensity of training starting tomorrow, so I had no choice but to force myself to match his pace.

“Ah, wait, let’s go together!”

While I was catching my breath, the Heavenly Demon tried to head into Demon Valley alone.

I barely managed to push myself up and follow.

And, since there was something I had been wondering about for some time, I asked him.

“Um, Master. Won’t you tell me what kind of relationship you have with the Valley Lord?”

“Not a good one.”

“A bit more detail, please.”

The Heavenly Demon silently looked at me.

His eyes seemed to say, “Why do you keep asking,” so I made an excuse.

“Well, I’m wondering if the Demon Valley Lord will even be willing to cooperate.”

The reason we had come here was Perfect Demonic Qi.

Since the Valley Lord was the one who discovered Perfect Demonic Qi, he might know a way to solve the problem of Perfect Demonic Qi clashing with the Chaotic Demonic Qi Jade.

For that, we needed the Demon Valley Lord’s sincere help, but the problem was there was no way he would give it.

He hated the Heavenly Demon with a vicious, burning hatred.

“That is not something you need to worry about.”

The Heavenly Demon dismissed it in his flat tone.

I didn’t know what past lay between the two, but it clearly was not a simple one.

I let out a sigh inwardly.

‘Are we really doing the right thing?’

We stepped into Demon Valley.

It was when I was wondering how far we had walked.

A thunderous roar rang out. I had more or less expected it.

“Seol Yu-wooooon—!”

I reflexively covered both ears.

My eardrums had almost burst.

Kwaang!

A meteor-like mass flew in from afar and crashed down.

The ground caved in deeply, and spiderweb-like cracks spread in all directions.

At the center stood the Demon Valley Lord.

He glared at the Heavenly Demon, radiating terrifying killing intent.

Just being close to him made my skin feel as if it were being torn, and perhaps because of that even the Heavenly Demon’s Qi flow seemed to blur for a brief instant.

That oppressive presence he exuded just by existing was overwhelming.

‘Incredible.’

I already knew the Demon Valley Lord was a transcendently strong master.

But I had not realized he was strong enough to affect even the Heavenly Demon’s Qi flow, if only for a moment.

You would need to be one of the Ten Great Masters under Heaven to pull that off. It seemed the Demon Valley Lord belonged among them.

But his opponent was the Heavenly Demon.

Even though he was not releasing killing intent or releasing his energy like the Demon Valley Lord, the Heavenly Demon’s presence quickly pushed back that killing intent.

Truly, it was the majesty befitting the greatest under heaven.

“You dare come crawling to me of your own accord!”

The Valley Lord’s shout roared through Demon Valley as if to bring it crashing down.

“Have you forgotten our vow that no one would visit me?! I said if anyone came, I would take their life. Did you come here because you wish to die as well?”

…

The Heavenly Demon didn’t reply, as if answering was not worth the effort.

“Then are you here to take my life?”

The Heavenly Demon remained silent again.

Growing frustrated, the Valley Lord asked once more.

“What in the hell have you come here for?!”

“Because of Su-gyeong.”

“Su-gyeong?”

The Valley Lord furrowed his brow.

He looked as though he had never heard those two syllables in his life.

I quietly raised my hand.

“That’s my name. I told you the first time I came here, remember?”

“Hmph! Why would I bother remembering the name of a brat like you?”

A brief pang of hurt bubbled up.

We had met several times already and he still didn’t know my name.

Well, I suppose that made sense, since he only ever called me “you” or “brat.”

‘Hurt feelings later, fix the situation first.’

I stepped closer to the Valley Lord and spoke.

“Valley Lord, please calm down first. The reason my master and I came to see you is—”

“Silence!”

The Valley Lord suddenly bellowed.

“The man who stole everything from me has appeared before my eyes. If you were in my place, could you stay calm?”

Hwoong—

A wave of energy burst out from the Valley Lord and swept through the surroundings.

His eyes were bloodshot. He was clearly in no state to hold a rational conversation.

The Heavenly Demon, on the other hand, reacted as if all he was hearing was a dog barking somewhere in the distance.

“You yap noisily. I am sure it is easier on your heart to blame others for your misfortune.”

“You are the one who made me like this!”

“The choice was yours.”

“What? You used me as a stepping stone to become a Little Demon and dare to spout such brazen nonsense?!”

What was that supposed to mean now?

The Heavenly Demon used the Demon Valley Lord as a stepping stone to become a Little Demon?

‘That’s absurd.’

The Heavenly Demon was not that kind of person.

Yet the Valley Lord did not seem like someone who would say something completely baseless either.

My curiosity about their history only grew, but before I could ask, the Demon Valley Lord shouted loudly.

“All of you, gather!”

Dududu—!

The ground shook.

Before long, a hundred or so freaks appeared on the low cliffs lining both sides of the path.

With eyes devoid of focus, they waited for the Valley Lord’s next command.

“Everyone may fear you, but I do not. I will bury you in this place!”

Did he actually trust these freaks?

The Valley Lord sounded completely confident.

‘Not a chance.’

The Heavenly Demon was not someone who could be taken down by sheer numbers.

Even if every single one of those freaks possessed skill beyond the peak, they still would not be able to lay a finger on the Heavenly Demon.

Yet, as if he had read my thoughts, the Valley Lord shouted.

“With ordinary methods, it would indeed be impossible! Crush him to death under your weight!”

The absurdity of it drew a hollow laugh out of me.

Not an attack, but to crush him to death?

How crude could you get?

The freaks leapt with tremendous force. They were like a swarm of locusts over a field of grain.

It was when they reached the air above the Heavenly Demon’s head.

“Thousand-Catty Drop!”

At the Valley Lord’s shout, the freaks came raining down.

Koong! Koong! Koong!

One layer, two layers, three… and more beyond that.

The freaks piled on top of one another like stones stacking up to form a cairn, layering over the Heavenly Demon.

His figure disappeared from sight beneath them in an instant.

“Wahahaha! How is that! Even you could not have seen this coming!”

The Valley Lord burst into wild laughter.

His laughter did not last long.

A darkness as black as pitch began to seep out through the gaps between the freaks.

“Mm?”

The moment the Valley Lord’s expression stiffened, there was a deafening Peoeong! and an explosion.

The freaks were flung off in all directions, then rained down like a sudden shower.

At the center of it all stood the Heavenly Demon.

His appearance was spotless, not a speck of dust on him.

‘As expected, they didn’t so much as brush a hair on him.’

Naturally.

Even if there had been not a hundred but a thousand freaks, they still could not have pierced the Heavenly Demon’s protective Qi.

“How dare you! While I have been confined in this prison, I have carved out a new realm. I will show it to you!”

Kwaang!

The Valley Lord stomped his right foot.

The ground around us split with jagged cracks, and boulders as big as a person rose into the air against gravity.

It was mid-air seizing.

The first time I had come to Demon Valley, he had tested me with dozens of small stones.

Those stones had now become boulders.

Was this the true power of Perfect Demonic Qi?

Shuuuk!

The mass of boulders roared toward the Heavenly Demon.

The Heavenly Demon lightly waved his right hand, and the trajectory of the boulders shifted, slamming into the ground instead.

“Don’t get cocky!”

The Valley Lord charged at the Heavenly Demon himself as well. The boulders and the Valley Lord attacked him at the same time.

Pabababat!

His arms and legs moved in a blur.

The Heavenly Demon brushed the boulders aside with his right hand and parried the Valley Lord’s fists and palms with his left.

My jaw dropped.

The Heavenly Demon was relaxed and overwhelming from beginning to end.

If he was the open sea, the Valley Lord was no more than a little fishing boat bobbing on its surface.

I was probably the only one who truly knew how strong the Heavenly Demon was.

Just remembering how he had cut off the limbs of the Ten Great Masters under Heaven and lorded over them still made my spine tingle.

Peopeopeong!

The speed of the two men increased even further.

I could no longer follow their movements with my eyes.

Only the deafening booms and shockwaves rocking Demon Valley told me they were still fighting.

Kkwarreung!

At last, the cliff itself collapsed.

With my exhausted body, I moved like mad just to survive.

My vision warped and space seemed to twist, but I barely managed to escape dozens of jang away.

“Guh!”

At that moment, the battle ended.

The Valley Lord, who had been knocked over thirty meters away, dropped to his knees and coughed up blood.

The Heavenly Demon, on the other hand, was completely unscathed.

Well, the obsessively white clothes he wore were a bit dirtied, but he didn’t look tired at all.

The Valley Lord cried out in despair.

“Why can I not reach you?! You damn brat who used to be a snot-nosed kid, how did you become this strong?! I have not been idle for a single moment and even realized Perfect Demonic Qi!”

The Valley Lord’s wail echoed through Demon Valley.

Sadly for him, to handle the Heavenly Demon as he was now, you would need at least five of the Ten Great Masters under Heaven.

And ten years from now, it would not matter even if the entire Murim came at him.

‘So what happens now?’

The Valley Lord was not someone who would submit to force.

We needed to stir his motivation the way I had thought earlier, but there was no sign of that happening.

And it was not like the Heavenly Demon was the type who was gentle or skilled enough with words to persuade someone.

‘Is it time for me to step in?’

How could I persuade the Valley Lord?

I went over a few possible lines in my head as I walked toward him.

But right then, the Heavenly Demon spoke.

I stopped in my tracks at once.

I was curious what the Heavenly Demon would say.

I figured he would say something like, “For this and that reason, help my disciple.”

“So this is all your twenty-seven years are worth.”

Heuk, I involuntarily sucked in a breath.

He was trashing him this hard? Even for the Heavenly Demon, couldn’t he at least speak a little more gently at a time like this?

“This is your limit. Even if you gritted your teeth and trained for several hundred more years, it would be the same.”

The Heavenly Demon went even further.

‘If it continues on like this…?’

Sure enough, the Valley Lord glared at the Heavenly Demon, his eyes twitching.

And then.

“My twenty-seven years…! Uuuhuhuk.”

He burst into tears.

It was a sight I could never have imagined.

The Valley Lord sobbed so pitifully it almost made my heart ache, but the Heavenly Demon, being the cold-blooded man he was, did not show the slightest emotional ripple.

He asked.

“With what intent did you teach Perfect Demonic Qi to Su-gyeong?”

“To win the bet!”

“You continued to instruct him afterward.”

“I wanted to teach you a lesson! I was going to steal your disciple and take my revenge!”

The Valley Lord shouted, his voice twisted with rage.

The Heavenly Demon watched him silently, then spoke.

“You meddled as you pleased, so take responsibility to the end. If not for you, I would not have come here at all.”

“You think I will listen to you?”

“Will you let Perfect Demonic Qi end up half-baked like you?”

“…!”

At those words, the Valley Lord’s eyes shook violently.

“With Su-gyeong’s talent, he can carry it through to the end.”

“Master…”

“Though that will only be possible if you are still alive by then.”

The Valley Lord’s gaze went distant.

The Valley Lord had said this once before.

That he absolutely had to see the end of Perfect Demonic Qi. And that I might be a fitting timber to accomplish that.

It might have been my imagination, but his obsession with seeing the end of Perfect Demonic Qi seemed stronger than his grudge against the Heavenly Demon.

If my guess was right, maybe the words I wanted to hear would come out of the Valley Lord’s mouth.

‘Or maybe not.’

He had just had his entire life basically denied and trampled by the Heavenly Demon. Would he really feel like cooperating?

And then there was the tangled history between the two of them.

And yet…

“…What is it you want from me?”

My eyes widened at the Valley Lord’s words.

This is actually working?