Chapter 290: The Demon Who Ruled Beyond the Heavens

At the highest point of Heavenly Demon Mountain, above the walls, halls, pavilions, and even the energy formations protecting the sect, a woman sat alone upon a smooth rock, as though that place were merely another ordinary seat in her daily routine.

Cold winds blew at that altitude, but they neither moved her body nor disturbed her posture. They merely played with the long black hair cascading down her back like a dark veil, contrasting with her extremely fair skin, almost too pale to appear human. Her eyes were black, deep, and tranquil, carrying the weight of someone who had lived far too long to be easily surprised by anything. Although she appeared to be a young woman, refined by the metamorphosis of cultivation that had surpassed mortal limits, the truth was quite different. Seo Baek Hyang was not much younger than the current Heavenly Demon, and for someone like her, time had long since lost the meaning it held for the rest of the world.

She wore a dark hanfu, elegant and understated, with long sleeves and heavy, flowing fabric, as though the clothing itself had been made to complement the dangerous serenity surrounding her. There were no extravagant ornaments, no flashy jewelry, and no need to display her status. Her presence alone made any kind of decoration unnecessary.

Seo Baek Hyang raised her gaze slightly toward the sea of clouds covering much of the mountainous region below her and let out a soft, long, unhurried sigh.

"So my daughter has finally lost enough of her innocence for me to hear her moaning all the way up here at the very summit," she said in a calm, almost weary tone, as though commenting on something bothersome but not entirely unexpected. Even so, a faint trace of irony passed through her voice, because no matter how ancient and powerful she was, there were certain things no mother could escape.

The woman speaking in such a manner was not just some ordinary cultivator observing the clouds.

She was Seo Baek Hyang.

In the past, she had been the Heavenly Demon. More than that, she had been the absolute leader of the Demonic Cult before its current leader assumed the position. Her name still commanded respect and unease even among powerful figures, and her title as a cultivator was not something bestowed lightly. Seo Baek Hyang was known as "The Demon Who Ruled Beyond the Heavens," an existence that had surpassed the Human Transcendence Realm and could no longer be measured by the ordinary standards of cultivators.

But her beginnings had been anything but grand.

As a child, she had been abandoned in the middle of a snowstorm. Whether it had been intentional or born of desperation, no one ever knew for certain, and over time, even she showed no genuine interest in finding out. The fact was simple. A little girl had been left to die in a world too cold to forgive weakness. Seo Baek Hyang survived for ten days by consuming nothing but snow, sustained by an almost absurd determination, until a stranger found her. It was that man who gave her the name Baek Hyang, meaning scent of snow, perhaps because of the condition in which he found her, or perhaps because of the silent impression the child left upon him.

Afterward, she was taken to the headquarters of the Demonic Cult.

There, among orphans, disciples, and future monsters shaped by a cruel system, Seo Baek Hyang grew faster than anyone had anticipated. Not merely in strength, but in understanding. Among all the children gathered in that place, she was the only one who clearly recognized the hidden motives of the adults caring for them. She saw the selfishness, manipulation, hypocrisy, and benevolence disguised as a tool of control. She kept everything to herself. Observed. Learned. And when she grew powerful enough to no longer fear anyone, she began eliminating every demonic cultivator who opposed her beliefs.

She did not argue.

She did not threaten.

She exterminated.

That was how she rose to power. That was how the title of Formless Demonic Empress was born, because no one ever survived a battle against her long enough to properly explain what they had witnessed. Seo Baek Hyang refined methods, established foundations, and opened paths that completely transformed the standards of strength within the Cult. Many of the body refinement methods that became treasures of the sect generations later had originated from her hands. Among those methods were the very foundations of refinement that Rakshasa had used to shape her own body to an absurd level. Those same foundations had also been taught, later on, to the man who would become the current Heavenly Demon, her husband.

And above all else, Seo Baek Hyang was Yu Seol-Ha’s mother.

The mother of the Genesis-Class Vampire.

The mother of the woman the world had come to call Rakshasa.

She remained seated for a few more moments, observing the mass of clouds concealing the lower mountains, distant pavilions, and nearly the entire remaining territory of the Cult. Her face, serene until then, took on a quieter, more introspective expression.

"I thought her puberty would take longer," she murmured, now in a much less ironic tone, her eyes still fixed on the horizon. Her voice was low, but it carried an ancient weight. "After the childhood little Yu Seol-Ha had, I truly imagined certain parts of her would take longer to awaken."

There was a brief pause.

The wind blew more strongly around the peak, stirring the dark hem of her hanfu.

Seo Baek Hyang closed her eyes for a moment before continuing.

"To save that child, I had to condemn her to the immortality of a vampire," she said without seeking absolution, merely as someone accepting the truth of an irreversible decision. "Even though I’m immortal myself, I know very well that immortality is not a blessing."

Her gaze grew more distant.

Immortality meant far too much time to carry regrets, far too much time to witness changes, losses, distortions, and repetitions. It meant watching the world move forward while certain pains remained untouched. Seo Baek Hyang knew that better than almost anyone. Even so, when faced with the choice between losing her daughter and condemning her to an eternity that might never be kind to her, she had made her decision without hesitation.

She raised her eyes once more toward the white vastness before her.

The clouds covered everything like a heavy mantle. To others, the sight might have seemed beautiful. To Seo Baek Hyang, at that moment, they were merely something in the way.

With a simple movement, she reached for her sword.

The blade left its sheath without unnecessary noise. There was no explosion of energy, no terrifying aura, and no theatrical display of power. Seo Baek Hyang merely swung her sword once, with the same natural ease as someone drawing aside a curtain.

That was enough.

The clouds covering the entire region split apart and vanished all at once, as though they had received an absolute command from the heavens themselves. The horizon opened completely, revealing mountains, forests, rock formations, and the vast expanse of the world below Heavenly Demon Mountain. Sunlight fell more clearly upon the landscape, and the air seemed broader, sharper, as though that effortless strike had swept away the very obstruction from the scenery.

Seo Baek Hyang slowly lowered her sword and rested it beside her.

"At least this world is still beautiful," she remarked softly, contemplating the vast expanse now completely exposed before her.