Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 498.6 – Side Story 8 Part 1

Heavenly Demonic Sword (1)

Just two months ago.

A Taoist in white robes was examining someone’s pulse and checking their condition.

That someone was the Grand Guardian Ma Ra-hyeon, who had removed his mask, revealing exotic features.

The Taoist, checking various acupoints on Ma Ra-hyeon’s head, shook his head and said,

[“It will be difficult indeed.”]

At these words, the Heavenly Demon, who was watching nearby, frowned.

The old man before him was a Taoist who had come with the Diviner Yeo Surin and was said to be an old acquaintance of the Pavilion Leader of the Harmonious Immortal Pavilion, the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal.

The Heavenly Demon had asked him to examine Ma Ra-hyeon, hoping he might help since he was skilled in artifacts and had deep knowledge in treating magical techniques.

However, contrary to expectations, the result was,

[“If the memories were simply forgotten or overwritten, they could be revived with Taoist techniques, but this is completely different.”]

[“What do you mean?”]

[“To put it simply, can you revive something that has been burned to ashes, Divine Cult Leader?”]

[“…”]

[“It’s the same principle. The Samadhi True Fire of the Kunlun Mirror are called the flames of oblivion because they completely burn away memories. Regrettably, even I can do nothing about this.”]

[“…So it’s impossible after all.”]

Complete loss of memory.

The Grand Guardian Ma Ra-hyeon had lost his memories.

At that time, the Heavenly Demon, concerned about the aftermath of the fight with the great spirit beast Hong Hae-a, had ordered Ma Ra-hyeon to leave the Celestial Mountain.

Indeed, Ma Ra-hyeon had quickly moved away upon receiving the Heavenly Demon’s order and had gone nearly 30 li away.

However, something unexpected happened.

The explosion of the Kunlun Mirror.

They thought it had been completely stopped by the sacrifice of the Hundred-Faced King, the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox, but that was a miscalculation.

In that brief moment when the Heavenly Demon was sealed in the killing stone.

The flames of oblivion caused by the explosion of the Kunlun Mirror instantly covered nearly 70% of the Central Plains.

It swept through all areas except the eastern part of Guangxi Province, Guangdong Province, Fujian Province, Zhejiang Province, and Hainan Island, causing everyone there to lose about two years of memories.

Coincidentally, this point was just before the Four Great Sects Battle occurred.

They realized this less than ten days after returning to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Fortunately, the main sect of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains was located between Guangxi and Guangdong provinces, and thanks to this, it escaped the aftermath of the explosion, so there was no memory loss among the cult members.

However,

[“This is quite troublesome.”]

[“To think they would react this way just because of lost memories…”]

With the loss of memories up to the Four Great Sects Battle, nearly 70% of the people in the Central Plains forgot about the Three Eyes and Imaemangyangs who tried to destroy the Central Plains with a great calamity, and even the imposing figure of Cult Leader Heavenly Demon who had received the title of the World’s Strongest.

Perhaps because of this aftermath?

Many righteous sects, including the Righteous Alliance, which had been suppressed until now, began to show ominous movements.

These were clearly movements of hostility and vigilance.

While the elders and executives found this quite annoying, the Heavenly Demon was just satisfied that his people were safe.

But not everyone had fully preserved their memories.

The Grand Guardian Ma Ra-hyeon was caught in this explosion.

As the Heavenly Demon patted Ma Ra-hyeon’s shoulder with a heavy hand, he clasped his hands in greeting and said,

[“It’s alright. Even if my memories from that time are gone, it doesn’t hinder me at all in serving my lord.”]

At first, he had struggled with the absence of memories.

However, as others filled in the gaps for him, the confusion was quickly resolved.

The process of establishing the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and the time spent preparing to avenge his father, Priest Mayera.

Finally, learning that he had avenged his father in the Celestial Mountains of Xinjiang, and in this process, received help from his lord, the Heavenly Demon, he shook off the lingering regrets that had troubled him.

‘He has already overcome it mentally.’

The Taoist smiled slightly at their appearance.

Then he coughed lightly and said,

[“Ahem. Surin.”]

At his call, the Diviner Yeo Surin clapped her hands and said to the Heavenly Demon,

[“Divine Cult Leader. Where is it?”]

At this question, the Heavenly Demon, who had his hand on Ma Ra-hyeon’s shoulder, turned his gaze somewhere.

It was towards a round table behind them.

There was something wrapped in thick cloth on the table, and when the Heavenly Demon made a gesture, it floated up and moved towards the Taoist.

Dung dung!

“Oh my.”

The Taoist let out a small exclamation.

When he first saw the Heavenly Demon, he couldn’t sense anything as he had completely concealed his energy.

But the moment the Heavenly Demon revealed his energy, he was inwardly quite shocked.

The energy revealed through the Void Seizing Technique was just a tiny fragment.

But the enormous true form of the energy visible through that gap.

Gooooooo!

The Taoist could see it.

‘Is this why that friend said so?’

He had met the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal, the Pavilion Leader of the Harmonious Immortal Pavilion, before coming here.

[“It’s been a long time, Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal.”]

[“You… It’s been a long time. You, who should be in Kunlun, have you come here because you’ve finally paid off all your karma?”]

Karma.

The Taoist had been paying for the karma of his past actions for a long time.

The Taoist smiled bitterly and replied,

[“I wish, but it’s not karma that can be easily washed away.”]

[“That’s what happens when you go against the heavenly secrets, no, the natural order. You brought into the world something that shouldn’t exist.”]

[“Hehehe. Let’s stop talking about that. This old man has come at the request of the Immortal Realm.”]

[“Immortal Realm? Don’t tell me…”]

[“They asked me to retrieve all the precious treasures that the Demon Immortal Hong Hae-a ran away with. Especially the Kunlun Mirror, as it’s an object that shouldn’t remain in the mortal world, they told me to bring it back without fail.”]

At these words from the Taoist, the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal shook his head as if he had guessed and clicked his tongue.

Then he shrugged and said,

[“As you can see, it’s not here.”]

[“Didn’t you retrieve them?”]

[“I intended to, as they’re dangerous objects, but I couldn’t.”]

[“Couldn’t?”]

At this question, the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal said something unexpected.

[“Someone from the mortal world took them.”]

[“The mortal world? How could you hand over such dangerous things?”]

[“They’re no longer dangerous. From what I heard from my disciple, all the precious treasures, including the Kunlun Mirror, have been destroyed and can no longer be used.”]

At these words, the Taoist’s eyes widened.

Destroyed the precious treasures?

That wasn’t something that could be destroyed by ordinary human power.

Being treasures born from immortal power, it was only possible for a very few among the ancient immortals who had reached the pinnacle of immortal techniques or other precious treasures.

But the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal didn’t find this strange at all.

Puzzled, the Taoist asked,

[“Who is the one who destroyed the precious treasures?”]

To this question, the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal replied in a meaningful voice,

[“My disciples unanimously call him this.”]

[“This?”]

[“The World’s Strongest.”]

At first, the Taoist didn’t easily believe those words.

But he couldn’t hide his surprise when he heard that this person had defeated the Great Strength King, the leader of the Six Demons, and even slain the god-like being from another world who had tried to cause the great calamity warned about in the heavenly secrets.

Being of divine rank meant literally being a transcendent being.

Such a being was defeated by a mere human?

‘So it was true.’

And seeing it in person now, it was indeed worthy of the name.

There was a reason why the Crimson-Eyed Old Immortal, who hadn’t met him directly, had praised him as an extraordinary person.

This man was truly a monster.

Even this faint fragment of energy that was revealed while being extremely suppressed was astonishing.

‘…Amazing. I thought there would never be a being greater than that child who was born from the gathering of all the energies of heaven and earth.’

This is the first time I’ve felt this way since that child.

Moreover, this person is escaping the influence of the natural order by extremely suppressing his power on his own.

It’s truly surprising that such a being existed in the mortal world.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demon unwrapped the package and showed the fragments of the broken Kunlun Mirror, saying,

[“Is this what you need?”]

[“Yes.”]

[“Take it. It’s useless anyway.”]

[“…”]

At these words from the Heavenly Demon, the Taoist looked at the fragments of the broken Kunlun Mirror with a dejected expression.

He had been hoping against hope, but indeed, there was no immortal power left in the Kunlun Mirror at all.

‘How ironic.’

Contrary to the concerns of the Immortal Realm, the Kunlun Mirror no longer had any influence on the mortal world.

This only caused trouble for its original owner.

He had thought that the Kunlun Mirror was connected to its original spirit.

Still, he should take it, shouldn’t he?

Suk!

The Taoist put his hands together to express gratitude to the Heavenly Demon.

After retrieving the Kunlun Mirror and preparing to leave quietly, the Taoist suddenly looked at the Heavenly Demon’s face, frowning, and said,

[“How strange.”]

[“What do you mean?”]

[“It’s truly bizarre. How is this possible?”]

[“…What are you trying to say?”]

As the Heavenly Demon raised one eyebrow and asked, the Taoist pondered for a moment before speaking.

[“As thanks for allowing me to retrieve the precious treasure safely, I’ll tell you this. Soon, an event that will change heaven and earth will occur.”]

[“An event that will change heaven and earth?”]

[“Yes. But I can’t understand it at all. How is it that this fate that will change heaven and earth doesn’t interfere with the flow of heavenly secrets? I don’t understand. Indeed.”]

There aren’t many who are born with a fate that can change heaven and earth.

Usually, if one is born with such a fate, it’s related to the heavenly secrets, so it’s something that absolutely shouldn’t be interfered with.

But the fate entangled with this person was completely ignoring that flow.

As if it were a natural occurrence.

It’s truly incomprehensible.

But if it doesn’t hinder the flow of heavenly secrets at all,

[“On the day heaven and earth change, the tangled thread of terrible karma that has been complicatedly entwined with the Divine Cult Leader will unravel.”]

[“Thread of terrible karma?”]

Kwadeuk!

At that moment, unable to control his strength, the wine cup in the Heavenly Demon’s hand shattered.

He could clearly sense it.

A gate connecting to that place had opened high in the sky.

Along with it, an enormously ominous energy that encompassed heaven and earth, all too familiar, was stimulating his spiritual perception.

‘So it was you.’

The being who had crossed over to the human realm by opening the gate tried to use its authority to check if there were any beings with demonic power remaining.

It wasn’t difficult to confirm the location if there was even a trace of demonic power.

‘If I spread the waves of demonic power from a high place, I should be able to find out.’

Ssssssss!

The being rose to a high place in the sky and spread demonic power that extended like a spider’s web.

Demonic power close to infinity spread in all directions.

‘Where are you?’

Whether it was him or the Golden Heavenly King, they couldn’t hide that resonance as long as he was searching directly.

But it hadn’t even been half a day since he spread the demonic power.

Hmchit!

A being suddenly appeared before his eyes.

It was a handsome human he had never seen before.

“Human?”

Just as he was wondering how such an underdeveloped being as a human could fly in the sky,

“I told you not to take an interest in this place.”

‘!?’

At these words, the being who had been spreading demonic power in all directions instantly stopped and tried to respond, but

Chok!

At that moment, the space in the area distorted, and the human’s form was sucked into the space, then a black dot pierced through his body.

Pussung!

It happened in an instant.

“Kuaaaaaaak!”

His form, with a hole pierced through his chest, flew for over a hundred jang.