Chapter 136: Divine Demon Physique (2)

‘Create the Heavenly Demon of a new era…?’

A chill crept over me.

It felt like a forbidden taboo was being touched—something that should never be tampered with.

But I couldn’t stop myself from reading.

“What are you doing, Jin Yeomyung? What’s with that blank booklet?”

“…Blank booklet?”

I doubted my ears at Ma Chulsoo’s words.

[“With our own hands, we were to create the Heavenly Demon of a new era.”]

The passage I had just read was still vividly visible to my eyes.

“Ma Chulsoo.”

“What?”

“You… can’t see the writing?”

“……?”

Ma Chulsoo looked at the restored record book I had opened and tilted his head.

“It’s completely blank. Are you messing with me?”

“…….”

At that moment, I realized this book wasn’t ordinary.

A spell!

It must have been treated with a spell that only revealed the text under certain conditions!

‘This book was clearly placed here with intent.’

Who could it be? Who orchestrated things so I would read this?

The Heavenly Demon Pavilion was the first to come to mind, but I couldn’t be certain.

‘For now, I need to keep reading.’

While Ma Chulsoo continued digging through the Martial Arts Repository, I resumed reading the contents of the record.

[“But even after several years, the research showed no progress. Physicians and qi-gong experts from the Central Plains were either invited or kidnapped for consultation, but we couldn’t even come close to creating the Divine Demon Physique, let alone a prototype.”]

Of course.

If it were that easy, the Heavenly Demon Cult would’ve unified the Central Plains long ago.

[“That’s not to say there were no results at all. We did manage to develop treatments for partial meridian blockage and incurable diseases. But after five years of research, I fell into despair.”]

‘Treatments for meridian blockages and incurable illnesses?’

Wasn’t that quite impressive in its own right?

Whoever the author was, I could tell they were a pretty damn unlucky genius.

[“Then one day, the Cult Leader suddenly gave me a stack of ten books. They weren’t just about the human body—they covered various fields, and I was horrified the moment I opened them. The knowledge they contained was so transcendent it was impossible to realize it in our current era.”]

“……!”

[“The books contained not only anatomical knowledge, but also astronomy, sorcery, qi-gong, and foreign arts. The knowledge within was so unfamiliar I even suspected a quack had written them.”]

[“The Cult Leader said he paid a great price to acquire them. When I asked what they were, he told me they were knowledge from the mythological era—an unbelievable claim. But I had no choice but to believe him. The knowledge in those books was that unreal.”]

A chill ran down my spine.

Knowledge from the mythological era.

The moment I read those words, one particular group naturally came to mind.

And that guess—

Was confirmed by what followed.

[“From that point on, our research advanced at a rapid pace. Though we were still far from creating the Divine Demon Physique, we had at least grasped the basic direction to take.”]

[“The books the Cult Leader provided contained methods for awakening the body by injecting a special power forged through foreign arts. The foreign arts required the body parts of spiritual beasts from the mythological era as ingredients, but obviously, we didn’t have access to such things. Do they even exist in the first place?”]

After reading up to this part, I let out a quiet sigh.

“The Awakened Bodies!”

That absurdly powerful technique used by the Heaven-Defying Society to grant its members unimaginable strength.

It didn’t yield great results unless one had a deep lineage tied to the mythological era like the Ten Heavenly Lords, but regardless, it was a cheat technique that could shatter the world’s balance.

[“Somehow, the Cult Leader managed to obtain the true relic of the First Heavenly Demon and gave it to us. From that, we gleaned a clue, and full-scale human experimentation began.”]

[“Five more years passed. After tens of thousands of sacrifices, we finally completed a rudimentary version of the technique. All that remained was to refine it to the level worthy of being called the Divine Demon Physique. Ten years in total—we found hope, but that hope soon hit a wall.”]

[“Every single martial artist who received the technique self-destructed, unable to withstand it.”]

Despair was clearly conveyed in the author’s words.

[“Even those we had carefully selected couldn’t endure the technique and died. The relic’s supply was also limited, so we had no choice but to shift our focus from human experimentation to refining the technique itself.”]

[“Twelve years into our research, the Young Cult Leader was chosen. This particular Young Cult Leader possessed talents that defied imagination, so the Cult Leader and the Cheon Clan had high hopes. There were even whispers that the next Heavenly Demon might finally be born.”]

‘No way…’

Judging from the time this book was written, it was obvious who the “Young Cult Leader” referred to here was.

[“We were afraid. If the Young Cult Leader really became the next Heavenly Demon, our research would be rendered obsolete.”]

The author’s prediction was spot on.

Because that very Young Cult Leader… was now known as the Heavenly Demon in this era.

And then—

I doubted my own eyes at the next part.

[“Fortunately, the Young Cult Leader was a total troublemaker and lunatic. Despite being a once-in-a-century genius, they caused chaos wherever they went, giving the Cult Leader endless headaches. Thanks to that, we were somewhat relieved and could continue our research.”]

‘A t-troublemaker… a lunatic?’

[“After fifteen years of research, we reached a conclusion. To withstand this technique, one needed a special bloodline. A bloodline with inherent talent for sorcery—not martial arts—was required.”]

[“But even with such a bloodline, it was impossible to bestow the technique on a child or infant. Ultimately, the best way was to start from the fetal stage, guiding the physical development naturally while in the womb. That offered the greatest chance of stability and success.”]

In that moment—

For some reason I couldn’t explain, my chest went cold and heavy.

[“When we reached this conclusion, the Cult Leader seemed to be in deep contemplation. He asked us what the requirements for the bloodline were, and upon hearing our answer, he decided to arrange a political marriage between the Young Cult Leader and an external force that met the criteria.”]

[“But the crazy Young Cult Leader ran away, claiming they would choose their own partner! Naturally, the Cult Leader and we were shocked. Half of the Thirty-Four Demon Squads were dispatched from Ten Thousand Mountain to find them. The areas around Shaanxi and Gansu were turned upside down, and we nearly went to war with the Orthodox Faction—but in the end, the Young Cult Leader wasn’t found.”]

“…….”

Uh… what?

[“A year later, the Young Cult Leader returned. But… but!”]

Suddenly, the writing exuded a fury that was nearly tangible.

[“That madman didn’t return alone—he came back with the Saintess of the Blood Cult, claiming she was his bride! From what I heard, he stormed the Blood Cult on his own and turned it upside down. Naturally, the Cult’s leadership went wild, and we had emergency meetings almost daily.”]

Rip!

Reading up to this part, I couldn’t close my gaping mouth in shock.

[“But to our surprise, the Young Cult Leader’s madness turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The Saintess of the Blood Cult—her bloodline matched our criteria perfectly.”]

[“In the end, it was decided that the Divine Demonic Technique would be used on the child born to the Young Cult Leader. Though the Young Cult Leader opposed it, he couldn’t go against the Cult Leader’s will. Failure meant death for all of us, so we desperately refined the technique in pursuit of success.”]

[One year later, the Saintess of the Blood Cult successfully conceived, and we performed the grand technique on her body.]

[The result was a half-success. The child was born safely, but her latent potential didn’t even come close to the level we had hoped for. Of course, she was certain to become an extraordinary talent—but had everything gone as planned, that level wouldn’t have even qualified as ‘extraordinary.’]

[The Saintess of the Blood Cult named the child Yujeong. We didn’t care what the name was, but the fact that the experiment had failed was devastating.]

‘Yujeong… Cheon Yujeong?!’

[We poured every resource and effort into it, but we couldn’t find any new materials or ways to improve the process. Damn it, the calculations were perfect!]

At this point, the sentences in the record began to grow shorter.

[To make matters worse, it was revealed three years ago that the Young Cult Leader had succeeded in mastering the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art.]

[The Young Cult Leader had already broken through to the Extreme Demon Realm. In essence, the next Heavenly Demon had been born.]

[We trembled in fear of death. We never knew when the Cult Leader might dispose of us.]

[And then, a young man who introduced himself as Grand Heavenly Lord came to visit me.]

‘Grand Heavenly Lord?!’

A name I had heard from Yoo So.

The current head of the Ten Heavenly Generals—and the de facto leader of the Heaven-Defying Society!

[He was like a mystical being who shouldn’t exist in this world. The moment he stepped even slightly away, his presence seemed to blur—a strange man. From the first impression alone, it was clear he wasn’t a member of the cult.]

[He praised our achievements and proposed a deal.]

[He said he would help us complete the grand technique in secret, without the Cult Leader’s knowledge. The method he offered was to create a perfect life through artificial insemination, rather than through natural development in a womb.]

Perhaps because hope had reappeared, the author’s writing became longer again.

[For reasons unknown, the Saintess of the Blood Cult had already sided with this Grand Heavenly Lord. Though the birth of the next Heavenly Demon was already guaranteed, we still cooperated with the Grand Heavenly Lord’s plan in hopes of seeing the fruits of our decades-long efforts. If we got caught, it would mean death, but I accepted that and dove into the plan.]

[The plan progressed swiftly. Despite clearly not being a cultist, Grand Heavenly Lord procured whatever was necessary for the grand technique. Thanks to him, we encountered no obstacles in completing the second version of the technique.]

[I cautiously asked Grand Heavenly Lord what his true objective was. Surprisingly, he answered without hesitation—he said he wanted to see not the Heavenly Demon (Cheonma, 天魔), but the Heavenly Evil (Cheonak, 天惡).]

‘Heavenly Evil?’

I had heard of that as well.

It was the final goal of the Heaven-Defying Society.

Whether it referred to a person or a phenomenon, I still didn’t know…

[The Saintess of the Blood Cult gave the unborn child the name Yura (有羅).]

[And so, ten months passed.]

[The grand technique succeeded.]

* * *

Ilro spoke to Cheon Yura as she stepped out of the Heavenly Thunder Corps barracks.

“There’s something I’ve been curious about.”

“Please, speak, Ilro.”

Though Cheon Yura usually maintained a high-handed attitude with everyone,

She behaved more like a granddaughter in front of Ilro and the Grand Elder.

They had earned that right.

“Why haven’t you gone to retrieve the boy from the Jin Clan yet?”

“Ah, you mean that?”

Considering she had declared she would take back what was hers, her inaction seemed puzzling.

Cheon Yura chuckled softly.

It was a smile so rare that anyone familiar with her would’ve gaped in shock upon seeing it.

“I want to give it to him as a gift.”

“To whom? And what exactly?”

Ilro had already grasped the situation upon hearing the word ‘gift,’ but still asked out of courtesy.

“I heard Cheon Yujeong offered him the position of second-in-command in the cult.”

“Is that so? Quite a bold offer.”

And he rejected it.

That had been the turning point that prompted Cheon Yura to finally confront her feelings.

“Then don’t you think I should at least give him something on the level of the Heavenly Thunder Corps?”

“…Hoo!”

Ilro’s mouth fell open in disbelief at the audacity of her statement.

At that moment, Cheon Yura abruptly turned her gaze somewhere and spoke coldly.

“Isn’t that right, Cheon Yujeong?”

“…….”

As if in response to her words—

Cheon Yujeong revealed herself, having just undone the Vanishing Mark Stealth Technique.

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