Chapter 361

Step. Step.

There was not the slightest trace of urgency or hesitation in the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s stride.

Even when bits of rock fell from the ceiling overhead, announcing the beginning of the collapse, and even when pitch-black darkness blocked his path, that did not change.

The Four Great Demon Lords were beings entitled to walk that way.

There was only one thing that concerned him: the possibility that he might fail to carry out the exalted Lord of Heaven’s command.

Jin Taekyung. That child held me up for quite some time.

He had never imagined that Taekyung would delay him for so long.

As the thought of Jin Taekyung suddenly crossed his mind, the Western Heaven Demon Lord unconsciously rubbed his forehead.

Along with a throbbing pain, he felt the swollen lump there. It bothered him more than his torn palm or the blood running down his forearm.

A lump.

Jin Taekyung had been hanging there with all four limbs broken.

His internal energy had clearly been exhausted, and his Internal Injury was severe enough that it would not have been strange for an ordinary Peak master to have died already…

“To think I couldn’t completely block it even with Body-Protecting Qi.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord let out a hollow laugh.

Jin Taekyung had pierced his Body-Protecting Qi with a mere scrap of cloth and wounded him. By ordinary common sense, such a thing was utterly impossible.

Two words surfaced in the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s mind.

With everything he had.

Prepared to die.

Is this not supernatural powers in its truest form?

It was unbearably fascinating. At the same time, it sent a chill through his chest.

In terms of martial arts realm, Cheongpung, who had already reached the Supreme Peak realm, was unquestionably ahead.

But there was another reason Jin Taekyung felt dangerous.

He is strong simply because he is human.

Martial arts that were impossible to believe belonged to a Peak master. And a level of tenacity beyond imagination.

If Jin Taekyung’s strength had not run out just then, the Western Heaven Demon Lord would have ended his life without hesitation.

But now, everything was proceeding smoothly toward its conclusion.

“Is this the place?”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord stopped before a firmly shut iron door. In this place, where most of the underground prison consisted of barred cells, the enormous iron door to the treatment room stood out immediately.

Of course, even without that, it could not have escaped the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s Qi Sense.

No mistake.

Without hesitation, the Western Heaven Demon Lord brought down a hand blade.

The Force infused into the edge of his hand easily cut through the iron door, made of steel a handspan thick, along with its locking mechanism.

Shhk! Boom!

The iron door, split in half, collapsed with a thunderous crash.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord strode into the treatment room. When he spotted someone, he smiled faintly.

“Are you the Divine Physician?”

Beside a bed made of Cold-Ice Stone, an old man sitting in a chair opened his closed eyes.

A calm voice slipped between his lips.

“That is merely a false title bestowed upon me by the people of this world.”

“I have heard plenty of rumors about you. They say no one knows your name or age—not even whether you are a man or a woman. I have wanted to meet you at least once.”

“And now that you have seen me, what do you think?”

“You look more or less as I imagined. You even look more like an immortal than those Daoist bastards who pretend to be lofty like celestial beings above the clouds.”

The Divine Physician sighed.

“I wish that were true. If this old man were an immortal, I would also possess the power to drive away fiends.”

“Do I look like a fiend?”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord spread both arms wide and spun around in place.

With his ordinary face and build, he would have looked like any unremarkable middle-aged man if not for his long robe, torn to shreds and soaked in blood.

“When the Lord of Heaven descends from the heavens to the mortal realm, four loyal servants stand beneath His almighty power.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord continued in a gentle voice.

“I am neither a fiend nor an immortal. I am merely one servant who follows His command.”

“……!”

The sincerity contained in those words made the Divine Physician’s eyelids tremble.

Lord of Heaven? Servant? Whatever he meant, the man before him was unquestionably insane.

“What nonsense! If you are not a fiend despite slaughtering people without hesitation, then what are you?”

“It is unfortunate. But what can I do? Erasing those who oppose His will is also my duty.”

“Y-you are…”

The Divine Physician was rendered speechless when the Western Heaven Demon Lord let out a small sigh.

The thick scent of blood soaked into every word he spoke and every small movement he made, enough to make nausea rise in the Divine Physician’s throat.

“Get out.”

“Hm? What did you say?”

“I said get out. No one is permitted to enter during treatment. Especially a fiend like you.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord stared at the Divine Physician’s stiffened face, then laughed aloud.

“I thought you were an inflexible physician, but you tell jokes as well. Divine Physician, the treatment is already over.”

“It is not over.”

With an amused expression, the Western Heaven Demon Lord moved forward. In the direction of his steps lay Jeok Cheongang, lying motionless as though dead.

“I believe the patient should be moved somewhere else.”

“Before that… you should ask the physician’s permission.”

The Divine Physician rose from his seat, his face rigid.

At that very moment—

Pa-pa-pat!

Dozens of rays of light shot out from within his billowing sleeves. Needles of various sizes flew in straight lines, while others traced arcs toward the lethal acupoint behind the neck.

Yet the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s smile only deepened as he watched the rays shoot toward him.

“How interesting.”

Tudududuk!

He made no movement whatsoever.

The powerful Body-Protecting Qi surrounding his entire body simply did its job.

Dozens of needles struck the Body-Protecting Qi and trembled violently.

“And unfortunate.”

Crack.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord clenched and then opened his hand. Invisible energy, following its master’s will, snatched up the needles and crushed them.

The Divine Physician might have learned martial arts, but the gap between him and the Western Heaven Demon Lord was as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.

“I will say it again. The treatment is over.”

“……!”

Along with the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s quiet voice, the Divine Physician’s body rose into the air.

The art of Seizing an Object Through Empty Space—a feat only someone with terrifying internal energy could perform.

Flung through the air as though something had struck him, the Divine Physician turned deathly pale as the Western Heaven Demon Lord caught him by the throat.

“F-fiend…”

“That hardly seems like something a physician who unleashed a killing move without hesitation should say. Wait, wouldn’t that make you a fiend too?”

“If I think of the blood that will stain your hands, I will gladly become one!”

Whoosh. Thunk.

The Divine Physician’s palm strike, thrust out with a shout that brought up blood, was blocked with ease.

Crack-crack.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord applied force and broke the old physician’s hand. A strange glint passed through his eyes.

“The Tang Family Head was right. You had it.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s gaze settled on the Divine Physician’s hand.

Around his wrinkled finger was something that did not suit a physician in the slightest.

“So this is the Myriad-Poison Ring…”

The ring gave off a soft glow, while its jewel looked as though it had trapped light and darkness together within it.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord gazed at the objective of this mission with a rapturous expression, as though he had been bewitched. He carefully removed the Myriad-Poison Ring from the Divine Physician’s hand and slipped it onto his own.

“The Lord of Heaven will be pleased.”

The Divine Physician, who had watched everything unfold, let out a suppressed groan.

“W-what are you planning to do?”

“Do not worry about it. Your role ends here anyway.”

Whoosh! Thud!

A palm strike that shot forward like a blade pierced the Divine Physician’s abdomen.

Along with the pain of his lower dantian being crushed, the Divine Physician was flung far away and vomited blood.

“Bweeeeegh!”

“It seems I no longer need the physician’s permission. Wouldn’t you agree?”

The Divine Physician despaired, and the Western Heaven Demon Lord laughed heartily.

Everything was over. He had finally obtained the Myriad-Poison Ring the Lord of Heaven desired, and he had erased the three sects that held sway over the world from this land.

There was now nothing left that could stand in his way. It was time to end everything and return.

“Come. We should go together. There is someone who wants to see you.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord whispered toward Jeok Cheongang, who slept peacefully atop the Cold-Ice Stone, then used Seizing an Object Through Empty Space to pull his body toward him.

Or rather, he was about to pull him closer when—

Woooooong.

“……!”

A low, small sound, like the buzzing of bees.

Only the Western Heaven Demon Lord could have noticed it. It was a tremor in the air, a faint vibration that slowly drew nearer.

Could the collapse have already begun?

The Western Heaven Demon Lord turned his head toward the source of the sound.

Outside the treatment room, where the iron door had disappeared, a faint light flickered within the pitch-black darkness.

“What is that…”

He deliberately furrowed his brow.

Then, in the next moment, the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes widened.

Woooooong! Rumble-rumble-rumble!

The vibration grew stronger. Wind and air tore apart.

And then—

KRAAAAAA!

A huge light shot forward, erasing the space before it.

No—a spear wreathed in blue flames.

At the name that flashed through the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s mind, he burst out laughing.

“Supernatural powers! Truly, this is supernatural powers!”

Along with his skyward laughter, a vast darkness rose and shot forward.

White Flame, engulfed in blue fire, collided with the darkness.

KABOOOOOM!

Amid the thunderous roar that shook the underground prison, a voice rang out.

“The sickroom is off-limits unless you’re family or a Disciple. You fucking bastard.”

Step. Step.

I pushed through the cloud of dust and moved forward.

The rocks pouring from the ceiling like a rain shower could not stop my steps. Neither could the pitch-black darkness blocking my vision.

I simply continued toward the one person somewhere beyond it.

What a monster. I never expected him to die from something like this.

I could not see him, but I could feel him. The immense energy coiled within the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s body.

But it did not frighten me as much as before.

I calmly clenched my fist. The powerful internal energy overflowing from my entire body felt almost tangible in my hand.

Heavenly Power Demon.

The clash between me and the Western Heaven Demon Lord had been a new opportunity for him.

The rocks that fell when the ceiling collapsed had broken his restraints, and the old man called a fiend had been able to leave the underground prison for the first time in decades.

And the Heavenly Power Demon’s first words to me had been completely unexpected.

You killed all the other prisoners.

Cough. So?

You bastard. Why did you leave me alive?

Did that bother you so much?

Answer the question. I can cut off your breath right now.

Wait a little longer. It’ll cut itself off.

You bastard!

It had been a conversation between two idiots.

One man with all four limbs crushed. One whose Sinews and Meridians had already been severed.

But the Heavenly Power Demon had one advantage over me.

At least his internal energy was intact.

I had already been dying, and I was afraid of the approaching death.

I wanted to continue one last conversation with the person watching me die.

I didn’t want to kill you.

Why not?

Because at least the person I knew wasn’t a fiend.

……!

I think a good person from the Demonic Cult is better than a bad person from the orthodox faction. If I killed someone like that, I felt like I’d become the same kind of fiend.

In truth, I had hesitated again and again. If I killed the Heavenly Power Demon, I could gain a massive amount of EXP and level up several times.

And after much deliberation, I chose to give it up.

Looking back, it had probably been for the best. The Western Heaven Demon Lord was not someone I could defeat by leveling up once or twice.

Rather than dying with an unpleasant feeling in my chest, I thought it was better to leave this world feeling relieved.

Well… this isn’t so bad either.

The Heavenly Power Demon had stared at me with a complicated gaze for quite some time before making me an offer.

An offer I couldn’t possibly refuse.

I remembered the Heavenly Power Demon’s final words and swept my hand through the air.

A tremendous blast of wind scattered the dust cloud, revealing his figure.

“Hyung’s here.”

“Kha! Hahahaha!”

I looked over the shoulder of the Western Heaven Demon Lord, who was bent forward like a shrimp and roaring with laughter.

A dozen meters behind him, someone stood unsteadily in the treatment room with its door gone.

The Divine Physician. His face deathly pale, he nodded.

It meant that Jeok Cheongang was safe.

Thank goodness. I’m not too late.

Just as I let out a sigh of relief, the Western Heaven Demon Lord finally stopped laughing and raised his head.

“You have changed so much that I hardly recognize you.”

“I received a gift. From someone I never expected.”

“A gift?”

“Yeah. I received internal energy.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord let out an exclamation.

“Transmitting Internal Energy Across the Body!”

“Some people call it that.”

“Did you use that power you mentioned? The one like the Essence-Siphoning Great Technique?”

“No.”

“You had a fortuitous encounter. Ha-ha!”

“It wasn’t free. I was asked to do one thing.”

“A favor?”

“Yeah.”

I quietly nodded. I remembered the Heavenly Power Demon’s words as he transferred his internal energy to me.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord…

“He asked me to kill you.”

Tudududuk. Grab.

When I reached out, White Flame was pulled free from deep within the wall and caught in my hand.

The fire dragon, swollen by three jiazi of internal energy, spread its wings.

“You’re dead.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord smiled broadly.