By Zephyria 
HF 75
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* * *
Cheon Mu-gyeong entered the Demon-Taming Cave around the age of twelve.
Mu-gyeong himself could not remember how he had come to regain consciousness inside the cave. He had simply fallen asleep the night before, only to wake up in the Demon-Taming Cave, a place filled with kidnapped children and orphans.
However, Mu-gyeong could piece together the sequence of events. It was because his mother had died a month prior.
Mu-gyeong’s mother had been a dancer belonging to the Bihwa Pavilion, which was responsible for the Demon Sect’s banquets. She had caught the Cult Leader’s eye once and slept with him, which led to her pregnancy.
Solely for the reason that she bore the Cult Leader’s child, a residence was provided for her near the Heavenly Demon Hall. However, while the location was close, it was an extremely secluded spot, and she was forbidden from meeting other men. Women who conceived the Cult Leader’s children were required to live looking only toward him until the day they died.
Since it had been a mere one-night diversion, the Cult Leader paid no particular interest in her.
Being an orphan, his mother had no powerful backing. She and Mu-gyeong were constantly under threat of assassination by the faction of the First Young Master, Cheon Beom-yeong, the son of the legal wife. Eventually, his mother quietly passed away one day after drinking iron guanyin tea served by a maid.
Because everyone believed without a doubt that it was a poisoning, the cult immediately launched an investigation. However, within a day, it was revealed to be the maid’s independent action, and the case concluded with her head being displayed on a pike. Naturally, there was no one who did not know that the legal wife was the mastermind.
Mu-gyeong had already been outside the cult’s interest, but after that, he fell completely into the status of a nuisance. Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—a few demonic masters who recognized Mu-gyeong’s talent favored him, the most prominent being Do-gyeon.
If Do-gyeon, the highest-ranking person in the sect excluding the Cult Leader, had not taken an interest in Mu-gyeong, he might never have entered the Demon-Taming Cave. Driven mad by Do-gyeon’s favoritism, Cheon Beom-yeong and his biological mother could not leave Mu-gyeong alone.
News of Mu-gyeong’s disappearance reached others long after he had been trapped in the Demon-Taming Cave. Since he had vanished from within the sect, the most likely place was the cave.
Do-gyeon raised his voice, insisting that the Demon-Taming Cave be opened immediately to retrieve Young Master Mu-gyeong. However, the Cult Leader dismissed him flatly, citing the rule that entry and exit were permitted only once a year.
There was only one way for Mu-gyeong to leave the Demon-Taming Cave: he had to pass through five stages of trials and open the cave door opposite the entrance by himself.
The Demon-Taming Cave, said to have been created by the First Heavenly Demon for closed-door cultivation, was overrun with beasts that had become no different from monsters due to exposure to demonic energy. The cave itself was like a maze, and it was common for people to die before even beginning the trials.
Those who argued for Mu-gyeong’s survival predicted that, given his clear talent, he would pass the trials and emerge within five months at most. However, not only five months, but a year passed without Mu-gyeong leaving the cave, and everyone concluded that he must have died.
It took two years for Mu-gyeong to emerge from the Demon-Taming Cave.
“If he had come out early, he would have only been tormented by Cheon Beom-yeong,” Do-gyeon muttered bitterly, looking at the mountain of corpses.
Knowing the Mu-gyeong he knew, Do-gyeon believed he could have overcome the trials of the cave in less than a month. The fact that he stayed there for two years was likely a deliberate choice to build his strength.
The year after Mu-gyeong was trapped, when the Demon-Taming Cave opened again, Do-gyeon had entered to search for him.
He had ventured into the cave, a place even seasoned masters were reluctant to enter, but no trace of Mu-gyeong was found. He had no choice but to conclude that Mu-gyeong was among those whose bone fragments didn’t even remain after death.
However, the Mu-gyeong who emerged from the Demon-Taming Cave had already mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art up to the fourth movement: Wrath. The current guardians suspected that the First Heavenly Demon’s original manuscript was with Mu-gyeong, but Do-gyeon disagreed.
The First Heavenly Demon, who had not even taken a disciple, would not have kindly written down a manual for the rising generation. Therefore, Mu-gyeong must have encountered the records of the Heavenly Demon left in a manner other than a manual within the cave.
Do-gyeon was intensely curious about how the Heavenly Demon Divine Art had been left behind, but he did not do anything as foolish as asking the Cult Leader. He had no intention of vying for the Cult Leader’s position or becoming the Heavenly Demon.
After leaving the cave, Mu-gyeong lived as a hidden dragon and achieved mastery up to the fifth movement: Freedom.
It was expected that he gained enlightenment for the sixth movement: Golden Body during the process of subjugating the Fire Dragon. This referred to the pinnacle of powerful external arts—a state of immunity to all poisons and a body that could not be pierced by any famous sword or treasure blade. That was likely how he survived the lava to slay the Fire Dragon.
“How could a sparrow become a phoenix?”
Tsk, tsk. Do-gyeon clicked his tongue and set fire to the mountain of corpses. The Cult Leader had previously eliminated five Blood Demon Valleys in total. However, the rats of the Blood Cult had scattered in all directions like insects drawn to light, hiding throughout the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. This place was also a site where the blood demons had caused a commotion.
Most of the burning corpses were either unable to learn martial arts or were only at the level of low-ranking warriors. Seeing how they had turned into mummies, it was certain they had fallen victim to the Blood Soul Essence Absorption Art, a dark art that consumes human blood and vital essence.
“That idiot.”
Do-gyeon did not hesitate to speak harshly of Cheon Beom-yeong, who was likely hiding like a snake somewhere again. Unaware that he was being played by Hyeol-jon, he had committed such acts to raise his level of internal energy through dark arts; as a member of the Divine Cult, he absolutely had to be executed.
Regardless of how much mastery he achieved through the Blood Soul Essence Absorption Art, Cheon Beom-yeong had likely already fallen into the role of a puppet for the Blood Cult.
“A sparrow trying to become a phoenix only ends up as a bird in a cage.”
Since the Blood Soul Essence Absorption Art was essentially a dark art that sucked in the souls of others, the resentment of the dead eroded the practitioner’s mind. Unless one drank the Blood-Clearing Wine, which was passed down only to Hyeol-jon within the Blood Cult, they would eventually become a madman. Thus, Cheon Beom-yeong could never leave the Blood Cult.
Watching the blazing flames, Do-gyeon thought of Mu-gyeong.
He had heard that Mu-gyeong headed toward the North Sea with Wi Ho-yeon, and he felt a lingering anxiety about whether the journey would proceed without issue. Of all things, he had hidden his true self using a human-skin mask and the bone-shrinking technique…
He wondered how long Mu-gyeong could last with that temperament. The Cult Leader’s physical body was like fire, but his nature was not. Rather, once he ignited, he was a fire demon that could defy even a typhoon, unpredictable in where he would strike.
Still, Wi Ho-yeon must be something special. Just as Do-gyeon let out a raspy laugh, he quickly drew his sword, sensing killing intent approaching from the flames. Five strands of blood silk(1) flew toward Do-gyeon from within the fire.
As Do-gyeon swung his sword, blood splattered in all directions from the severed silk.
The one who emerged through the flames from among the corpses had tendons bulging as if they were about to burst, and more than half of his body had melted away from burns. Blood streamed from bulbous lumps protruding all over his body.
It was an utterly grotesque sight. The creature, charging with a shriek, formed hundreds of bullets from the spilled blood.
Dead Snake Blood Art!
It was a martial art of the Blood Cult that had once caused great damage to the Demon Sect. The bullets flew simultaneously toward Do-gyeon, and from ten fingers, blood silk that moved as freely as whips was launched. It was blood silk so sharp and hard that a mere graze would cut, and a direct hit would punch a hole through the body.
Do-gyeon summoned all his demonic art to move and evade the blood bullets. He had boasted that his lightfoot technique could rival the Cult Leader’s, and indeed, his form became nearly invisible. When all the blood bullets slammed into the ground, Do-gyeon swung his sword infused with demonic energy.
It was the Ink Night Shadow Sword, where demonic energy scattered like red smoke to obscure the opponent’s vision. Since the sword could fly from anywhere, opponents usually focused on defense, but this blood monster seemed to possess no reason.
The moment Do-gyeon, having sliced through the fog and cut the neck of the charging creature, attempted to approach the strange blood monster—Thump! The sound of something exploding repeatedly echoed from behind him.
Dozens of blood monsters had risen like jiangshi from the flames that were burning the corpses. In a place that had been silent when it was a mountain of corpses, the fire seemed to bring the dead back to life.
Do-gyeon let out a hollow laugh as he watched the blood silk and blood bullets raining down from all sides.
Corpses reviving from flames; the Blood Cult’s goal was far too obvious.
These blood monsters were created solely to deal with Cheon Mu-gyeong.
* * *
Ho-yeon had been unconscious for several days. He had fainted before, but this time was different.
Cheon Mu-gyeong took the horse that had belonged to Urkan as his own, placing Ho-yeon in front and holding the reins with one arm. His other arm was wrapped around Ho-yeon’s waist.
Normally, he would have ridden at a gallop, but since Ho-yeon was asleep as if unconscious, Mu-gyeong drove the horse at a moderate trot. Ho-yeon was in a state where he could not protect himself with internal energy. If Mu-gyeong had carried him over his shoulder using a lightfoot technique, the recoil from the speed could have damaged his internal organs or broken his ribs.
He checked Ho-yeon’s condition several times; the qi and blood flowing through his body were as wretched as a floor dried up by drought. His pulse was also infinitely slow. And what of the dantian containing internal energy? It seemed as if it were blocked by a massive stone gate.
It was as if he had sealed his own dantian to prevent it from being forcibly taken.
Mu-gyeong drove the horse toward an abandoned and unused nomad’s tent. After descending from the horse while holding Ho-yeon, he drove his sword deep into the ground and tied the horse’s reins to it.
Inside the tent, covered with coarse sheepskin, there was nothing but a beast-hide rug and a brazier. Mu-gyeong slowly laid Ho-yeon on the rug. Then, he leaned down and placed his ear close to Ho-yeon’s heart.
Originally, the sound of his heart beating—as restless as his constant chattering—could be heard clearly just by standing beside him. But now, it was distant, as if submerged in deep icy water.
Near Ho-yeon’s heart, Cheon Mu-gyeong sneered.
You’re running away like this?
However, his jaw remained frozen as hard as a crack in stone.
Footnote:
A blood art that infuses internal power into blood.