Chapter 102 : Revolving Wheel Demon Art - How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives

Chapter 102: Revolving Wheel Demon Art

Yul Han, who had been staring intently at the Cult Leader, nodded his head.

“Yes. I was worried.”

“Was it strong?”

“If it had not been a Ghost Demon who obtained the Thousand-Year Ice Essence, the Living Zombie would not have been eliminated so easily. It was that threatening.”

“I suppose so. They were the ones who left records of driving the Hundred Paths, Tibet, and even the Northern Sea to the brink of ruin.”

“It is not only the past. Because of this incident, far too many died in vain. As I looked upon their miserable corpses, I wished such a thing would never occur within our Bright Cult.”

“So you think they have not been completely wiped out.”

“I never even met the Man-Sa Calamity Emperor that Senior Brother spoke of. Nor was I able to confirm what became of Monk Eightfold Confusion. I fear he may have become the Blood Corpse that Senior Brother mentioned.”

In other words, he believed they might have survived somewhere and were biding their time.

The Cult Leader nodded at those words and looked at Yul Han.

“Wherever your will lies, mine lies there as well. So do not worry too much. When the time comes to face them, this Senior Brother will stand beside you.”

Those were the words spoken by my Master of the Righteous Will Sect, who had died. And now the Cult Leader—who had driven that very Master to his death—was saying the same thing.

What unsettled me was that his words felt as reassuring as when I had first heard them from my Master.

‘Haah…… Master. Do not forgive this sin.’

Forcing down my tangled emotions, I managed a faint smile.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

At my words, the Cult Leader smiled softly and patted my shoulder.

Standing side by side, we looked down upon the Bright Cult, which was filled with the shouts of those immersed in training.

While a fervor for training swept through the Bright Cult, the Martial Alliance was thrown into turmoil over an untimely Kongtong Successor Cultivation Plan.

In the past, the sects of the Hundred Paths would have flatly refused any demand to present their secret manuals. Yet now they had taken their seats at the table of discussion.

That alone showed how keenly they felt the crisis.

After all, they were clearly being pushed back by the Bright Cult, and on top of that, the Living Zombies had appeared, inflicting damage upon countless sects.

At any moment, they might be swept away like the Kongtong Sect. At any moment, they might have to seal their gates like the Tang Clan. Such a reality had arrived.

Excluding the Kongtong Sect, which had suffered devastation tantamount to annihilation, the remaining eight of the Nine Sects and four of the Six Great Clans—excluding the Tang Clan, which had sealed its gates—gathered and put their heads together.

The lengthy discussion gained momentum when the proposal from the Jegal Clan was raised.

“You mean to say that the scholars of the Jegal Clan will examine the compatibility of our martial arts?”

At the question of the Shaolin Divine Monk, the head of the Jegal Clan nodded.

“Correct. Creating entirely new martial arts at this point would be difficult. And even if we did, there is no guarantee they would surpass what already exists.”

“So I understand the idea of raising a Kongtong Successor using existing martial arts. But what do you mean by matching compatibility?”

“To be frank, Mount Hua’s swordsmanship is the most lethal. However, the internal energy of Shaolin supports it most efficiently. For Lightness Skill, Mount Dian’s is the swiftest. And if one loses his weapon, Wudang’s palm techniques are excellent for self-defense.”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

The Shaolin Divine Monk’s displeasure was evident at the comparison of each sect’s arts, but the Jegal Clan Head answered calmly.

“I mean to match them according to compatibility. Of course, simply gathering the most efficient techniques will not ensure harmony. They must be arts that can be used together in practice.”

“So you intend to find a Shaolin internal art that can support Mount Hua’s swordsmanship, and upon that foundation, select a Mount Dian movement art that can operate with it—is that it?”

“Precisely. And not ordinary techniques, but the Sacred Treasures each sect regards as its greatest inheritance.”

The moment he said that, a negative current rippled through those gathered. He was, after all, asking them to reveal their most precious treasures.

Anticipating such a reaction, the Jegal Clan Head hurried on.

“Let us be honest. Do the Hundred Paths lack martial artists? Do we lack clans? There is only one thing we lack—supreme masters of the highest level. That is what we seek to remedy. Ordinary techniques are of no use in this matter.”

The Shaolin Divine Monk asked,

“You intend for this Kongtong Successor to face Emperor Salyejin?”

“Yes. We shall gather the strongest ultimate techniques from each sect and cultivate absolute masters of the Hundred Paths. If we succeed, there will be no reason to fear Emperor Salyejin.”

Murmurs spread among the representatives.

It was tempting—but the burden of exposing their sects’ secret manuals remained heavy.

The Jegal Clan Head pressed the advantage.

“I am not asking for blind disclosure. The Jegal Clan will guarantee secrecy.”

“What do you mean?”

“The scholars of the Jegal Clan who participate in this plan will all take their own lives once the task is complete. There will be no danger of the secret manuals revealed for compatibility being leaked beyond this endeavor.”

Even the Shaolin Divine Monk looked stunned.

“You would bear such loss, even if dozens of scholars are involved?”

“If we lack such resolve, how could we possibly overcome this crisis?”

Many nodded at that answer.

And so, the conclusion came swiftly.

Eight of the Nine Sects and four of the Six Great Clans agreed to submit their secret manuals.

Thirty scholars of the Jegal Clan would be deployed to analyze compatibility and select the most suitable arts.

When the selection was complete, they would all commit suicide.

The chosen manuals, selected at such grave sacrifice, would then be revealed to two representatives sent by each sect for training.

The Martial Alliance would oversee the entire process.

Soon, each sect began selecting both the ultimate techniques to submit and the masters to dispatch.

As the techniques would inevitably be compared against others, none submitted mere token arts. They chose what any observer would recognize as their true strongest inheritances.

They also selected the masters who would learn them.

Strangely, though there had been no prior coordination, every sect adopted the same format.

Of the two representatives, one was a talented young rising star. The other was the sect’s strongest master.

The reason was simple.

They could not afford to wait.

The Bloodshed triggered by the Living Zombies had vanished without explanation. That meant it could erupt again at any moment.

Moreover, the blade of Emperor Salyejin might descend upon them not tomorrow—but this very afternoon.

Their sense of crisis was that acute.

Thus, only one young successor was chosen for the future.

The other was a supreme master who possessed far greater understanding of martial arts and had already attained enlightenment in his own techniques, so that maximum results could be achieved in the shortest possible time.

When the representatives gathered at the Martial Alliance, each bearing their sect’s ultimate arts, they could only smile bitterly upon realizing that every sect had thought the same.

Thus, the Martial Alliance’s Kongtong Successor Cultivation Plan set sail.

Though the Bright Cult was wholly consumed by training, its agreement with the Golden Flower Manor was still being honored.

In recent days, the elder-level masters—the Blood Sword Unit Commander and the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords—had already undergone the trial.

Fortunately, the Blood Sword Unit Commander passed, but the Lord of the Ten Thousand Swords failed. During the crossing of the Heavenly Mountains, a merchant had fallen from a cliff and died.

After that, numerous masters of the Bright Cult competed for the vacant elder seats.

Even amid the fervor of training, challengers continued to appear for one reason alone.

If one became an elder, one would be permitted to cultivate the Half-Moon Asura Slash.

There was not a single martial artist in the Bright Cult who did not covet the martial art that had turned the Kongtong Sect into a sea of blood.

As a result, two new elders had taken their seats, while more than six had already failed.

Yet the applicants did not diminish.

Among them, the one selected for the trial now stood before me.

And yet……

“You?”

I could not hide my surprise. The one who had stepped forward to take the elder examination was Pageuk—the Warrior Chief of the Lu Tribe who had followed me.

Startled, I looked at him, and the Discipline Court Head who had brought him forward quickly explained,

“It has been verified that the martial art he practices is the peerless Revolving Wheel Demon Art, once lost within the Bright Cult.”

“How could a martial art of the Bright Cult exist beyond the Heavenly Mountains?”

It was Iron Demon, standing beside me, who answered.

“If it is the Revolving Wheel Demon Art, it is possible. My late Master once told me that there was a time when someone who was not a successor of the Four Sacred Arts of the Heavenly Demon ascended to the position of Cult Leader.”

From among those training with us at the Vice Cult Leader’s Pavilion, a voice burst out—it was Ghost Demon.

“Ah! The Revolving Wheel Demon Emperor.”

“That’s right. The art he cultivated was the Revolving Wheel Demon Art.”

Ghost Demon added,

“I have heard the tale as well. The descendant of the Revolving Wheel Demon Emperor, the Fourth Cult Leader, later knelt before the orthodox successor who had mastered the Four Sacred Arts of the Heavenly Demon. He lost the duel, yet for some reason refused to accept the outcome.”

“Yes. I heard he left a curse behind and departed the Bright Cult for the Heavenly Mountains. It seems he crossed them entirely.”

At that, I finally understood the Lu Tribe’s hostility toward those who lived beyond the Heavenly Mountains.

They had been descendants of the one driven out.

In any case, I understood that Pageuk was of a branch of the Bright Cult.

“But that does not mean he may challenge for an elder seat.”

At my question, the Discipline Court Head replied,

“Pageuk requested verification from the Cult Leader, and in the presence of the elders, the Cult Leader confirmed it. On the spot, Pageuk petitioned to return to the Bright Cult.”

Which meant—

“You knew you were of a branch of the Bright Cult?”

Pageuk shook his head.

“I did not. I merely said I wished to learn the Bright Cult’s martial arts as well, and then……”

His Central Plains speech had improved, but lengthy explanations were still difficult. Seeing him trail off awkwardly, the Discipline Court Head continued,

“When the Cult Leader said that one who had not cultivated a Demon Art lacked qualification, Pageuk insisted that his martial art was also a Demon Art. That is how the matter began.”

In other words, in the process of proving it was a Demon Art, it was revealed to be the Revolving Wheel Demon Art.

Whatever the reason, qualification had been granted to Pageuk. What mattered was what he desired.

“Very well. Since the Cult Leader and the Council of Elders have acknowledged it, you may take the trial. But the squad-level martial artists who will undergo it with you—?”

Before I could finish speaking, a group of martial artists stepped forward.