Chapter 631: I’ll Give You a Chance

Even two of the world’s greatest sorcerers found themselves at a loss for words in the face of the bizarre supernatural phenomenon unfolding before them.

DRIP...

The Divine Azure Dragon Sword hung in midair, its point facing down. Vivid blood trickled along the sword’s blade as though it had been driven deep into something invisible. The sword shuddered as if it were alive. Superimposed over the sword, they could see the Dark Heaven Goddess writhing in agony.

““Master!””

Artist Pung Wol rushed over to examine the sword, while a distraught Jongri Mok cast a spell to stop the bleeding.

Nonetheless, the blood streaming down the blade did not disappear. Finally, the two sorcerers realized that the blood was not real, but an illusion conjured by the Dark Heaven Goddess’s mind.

VWOOONG!

Divine energy radiated from the sword, and a translucent Dark Heaven Goddess took shape above it.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and forced a strained smile. [...Chunsam, is that you? And Mok, you’re here as well.]

Artist Pung Wol let out a long sigh of relief. He had always hated his real name, but right now, he was so grateful for it that it brought tears to his eyes. “Yes, Master! It’s me, Chunsam. You can call me Chunsam as much as you like, so please stop scaring me half to death.”

[What nonsense are you spouting?! Anyone listening would think your master had died!]

“How can you say that after discarding your physical body and becoming a floating spirit? Do you have any idea how your disciples feel seeing you like this?”

[What does a mere shell matter? Since my allotted lifespan has not yet run out, I still have quite a bit of time left in this world.]

“Geez, must you always put it like this...?”

“Master!” Jongri Mok interrupted the conversation. “I sense a sinister energy clinging to your soul. Weren’t you unconscious because your sorcerous energy was weakened?”

His expression was grave, and the worry in his eyes mirrored Artist Pung Wol’s. The energy emanating from the Dark Heaven Goddess was so faint that it was hard to believe she was the world’s greatest sorcerer.

Even worse, her soul, which should have been the most divine in the world, was tainted by something foul. This seemed far too strange to be merely the aftermath of a battle against heaven-defying power.

[...When I drove out the heaven-defying power, I caught a glimpse of the Blood Demon’s mental world,] the Dark Heaven Goddess explained. [That place was a vast hell built by the greatest madman of all time.]

When the Blood Demon attempted to take over Baek Suryong’s body at the Ak Clan, she managed to glimpse his inner world. However, she did not stop there. Before her sorcerous energy ran dry and she sank into a deep sleep, she used what little energy she had left to plunge deeper into the demon’s mind.

After that, she wandered it for a long time, searching for his true purpose, his plans, and some way to stop them.

Artist Pung Wol swallowed hard. “So? Did you find a way?”

The Dark Heaven Goddess shook her head, her face heavy with exhaustion. [...In the end, I could not.]

Her two disciples let out sighs of dismay.

[However... I received help I never expected. Without it, I could not have answered your call.]

“Help? From whom?”

The Dark Heaven Goddess did not answer. Instead, she gazed up at the sky. Countless rays of starlight streamed upon them in this celestial world born of sorcery. She studied the heavens with mystical eyes, like an astrologer reading fortunes in the stars.

[The heaven-defying power scattered across the world is finally gathering in one place. And it’s right here...]

Her voice trembled as she recalled her mission. She had to stop the heaven-defying power from spreading across the world, set the twisted Heavenly Fate right, and prevent the world from spiraling into oblivion.

She turned to her disciples with a steely expression. [Before we discuss the Blood Demon, another demon who seeks to destroy the heavens is approaching. We must stop him.]

“What should we do?”

SSSHHH...

The Dark Heaven Goddess’s soul blurred and seeped back into the Divine Azure Dragon Sword. At that same moment, the magical space around them began to collapse.

[Take me to Baek Suryong.]

Baek Suryong was born with a destiny that even eyes capable of reading heavenly secrets could not decipher. Ironically, he, who also wielded heaven-defying power, was the only one who could stand against it.

At the very least, from what she had seen and endured in the Blood Demon’s mind, she could guess at the future awaiting him.

Please... I hope you make the right choice.

Even she, the world’s greatest sorcerer, did not know what the correct answer was. Nevertheless, she prayed that Baek Suryong would make a decision he would not regret.

The Kunlun Sect Leader looked around and burst into dazed laughter. “Puhahaha...”

The ground was littered with the corpses of Kunlun’s prized first-generation disciples and elders, who had devoted decades of their lives to martial arts. Even the secular martial artists who had accompanied them to serve the main sect were dead.

Ju Ilcheon approached the Night Emperor. “As you commanded, Supreme Lord, we let one insect go.”

“You killed every last one of them!”

The Kunlun Sect Leader glared at his enemies with bloodshot eyes. Blood gushed from the stumps where his limbs had been ripped off. Still, a martial artist’s stubborn resilience kept him from dying quickly.

“As expected of a Sect Leader. He’s a hard one to kill.”

“Not that it matters. He won’t last more than a few minutes.”

“Of all the insects crawling around the murim, the Nine Sects really are the most stubborn.”

“You vile Blood Cultists!” the Kunlun Sect Leader screamed, coughing up blood.

The ambush occurred as the sect was heading home from the Heavenly Martial Festival, which it no longer had any reason to attend. Several martial masters clad in the Blood Cult’s distinctive red robes had appeared out of nowhere, surrounded by a red mist. With terrifying demonic arts, they slaughtered the Kunlun disciples.

Now, they stood atop the fallen, cackling maniacally.

At first, he had seen the sect’s early departure as an opportunity. He had even dreamed of crushing the Blood Cult’s vanguard before anyone else could, claiming all the glory for himself and spreading Kunlun’s name across the land.