Chapter 265

“Meeting a thought-form inside a demonic realm—now that’s a rare experience.

But a thought-form with a will of its own? That’s unexpected.”

—Heh heh, is that so?

“Yes. Records don’t mention a single case where a thought-form possessed clear self-awareness.

And this is already the second time I’ve seen it.

As the first wasn’t ordinary, neither are you.

Unfortunately, my breadth of knowledge isn’t that wide.”

Unhwi’s tone carried both respect and humility, and for a moment, the crystal seemed at a loss for words.

Then, just as before, it began to laugh.

—You’re an amusing one. A martial man with humility deserves proper courtesy. Very well. Listen closely.

I am the Third Successor of the Great Heaven Sect—Red Demon Grand Duke.

Unhwi’s brow furrowed sharply.

Normally he’d mask any expression, but this time he couldn’t.

Great Heaven Sect.

That was another name for the Thousand-Year Demon Cult.

Its followers often used the title “Great Heaven Sect” to glorify their order.

But that wasn’t the issue—the name Red Demon Grand Duke was.

He reacted to it instantly.

The cult’s lord had been Won Gukcheon.

He’d ruled for nine hundred and sixty years—often rounded up as a millennium.

Meaning: in those nine hundred and sixty years, as the cult evolved into the Thousand-Year Demon Cult, it had one lord.

So what of his successors?

As Jang Icheong had said, there had once been several candidates for the title of Heavenly Demon.

Successful or not, all who learned the Demon Blood Heavenly Steel Formula were granted the title Grand Duke.

It was both their epithet and their name.

One of them was the Red Demon Grand Duke.

Unhwi sighed inwardly.

—My name’s been given. Now, give me yours.

“Seol Unhwi.”

—...Seol?

“Yes. Written with the character for ‘snow.’”

—...A man of the Snow Palace, then?

“Yes.”

—So you’re a descendant of that cursed mongrel Seol Heun?

The tone flipped to hostility, but Unhwi didn’t bother responding.

He already had a fair idea of the situation.

Showing emotion here would be foolish.

—Why so quiet? I just insulted your ancestor. Have you abandoned righteousness?

Unhwi let out a short laugh.

—...You laugh?

“What does reacting to an insult against one’s ancestor have to do with righteousness?”

—...

“I’ve heard of you, Red Demon Grand Duke.

One of the Ten Demon Lords of the Thousand-Year Demon Cult, master who attained Solitary Dominion—an unparalleled figure in unifying the martial world, they say.”

—Oh? You know me better than expected. Then let’s move faster.

A surge of black smoke rose from the crystal, forming the shape of a man.

Tall, lean frame, long hair hanging loose—and eyes burning red like molten gems.

Unhwi’s voice stayed level.

“Let’s skip the flattery and get to the point.”

—Ho... I thought you were merely polite, but you’ve got a spine after all.

He ignored the jab.

“You said you’d take my body. By what method, exactly?”

The Red Demon Grand Duke grinned.

That much needed noting—

A normal man’s smile would lift his lips slightly. His stretched nearly to his eyes. Grotesque, almost wondrous.

—How? Simple. Like this!

The red shadow lunged toward him, and at the same time, the demonic miasma accumulated over seven centuries surged from all directions.

KWAANG—!

A deafening roar filled the chamber as Unhwi’s body was submerged in a sea of miasma.

The air grew heavy.

His body burned.

This was the essence of corruption—the very core of demonhood.

But Unhwi knew how to face this better than anyone.

First rule:

Do not lose composure.

Pain was nothing new. His life had been pain itself.

The Red Demon Grand Duke hesitated briefly before him, unnerved by the stillness that mirrored a perfectly calm lake. Then he clenched his teeth.

This was his chance. He couldn’t waste it.

Lightning-like, his consciousness dove into Unhwi’s mind.

It wasn’t mere intrusion—it was like a boulder dropping into a lake, trying to overturn the waters entirely.

The shadow vanished.

Only Unhwi remained, submerged in the sea of miasma.

Veins bulged across his forehead. Pain lanced through his skull like it would split apart.

Then—

—What... what kind of body is this?

The voice wasn’t echoing from the crystal anymore. It was inside Unhwi’s head.

The Red Demon Grand Duke sounded genuinely baffled.

—I thought you’d reached the Heaven-Earth Apex, yet your upper dantian is so incomplete. It’s as if...

He fell silent—then gasped.

—You... forced it open? And this ugly thing in between—linked to the lower dantian—another... dantian? Hoh...?

He gave a low, incredulous laugh.

—You’ve actually manifested the theoretical Tri-Profound Unification Doctrine.

Unhwi’s brow creased.

“Tri-Profound... Unification Doctrine? What’s that?”

—Don’t play dumb. You think I don’t know the theory created by that lunatic Baek Dochun? I’m the Red Demon Grand Duke!

Unhwi thought, bitterly amused.

So many strange experiences since leaving Snow Mountain.

He knew much—too much—about the Thousand-Year Demon Cult and the Cataclysm of the Thousand Years. Knowledge he’d never wanted but couldn’t avoid.

But the name Baek Dochun—he’d never once heard it.

Completely new.

He hadn’t known there’d ever been a man by that name within the Demon Cult.

And now, this spirit claimed that Baek Dochun had written the theory of Tri-Profound Unification, and that Unhwi’s Triple Profound Ice-Fire Formula was the same.

He said nothing, but inwardly, Unhwi was deeply unsettled.

He forced the thought aside, focusing his mind—but the Red Demon Grand Duke went on.

—Unbelievable. Someone actually performed that theory... and succeeded? Even Baek Dochun declared it was mere theory! He said whoever achieved it would become the next master of the Great Heaven Sect! This makes no sense. A brat like you succeeded? Impossible. Who are you? Who helped—

He stopped.

A silence of realization.

—Don’t tell me... that mad old bastard is still alive?

Unhwi spoke.

“That ‘mad old bastard’ who made the theory—who is he?”

—Stop pretending! The Vice Lord of the Great Heaven Sect—Baek Dochun! It’s his theory!

Mad old man.

Vice Lord of the Thousand-Year Demon Cult.

Baek Dochun.

Unhwi’s mind tangled.

No one had ever asked who the Vice Lord was.

That was how the world worked—whatever the deputy accomplished, the glory went to the lord; and if he ever outshone him, he died.

That’s why the word vice existed. To serve, not to stand above.

“I’m afraid I don’t know this Baek Dochun.”

—...What?

“I’ve never heard of any ‘Tri-Profound Unification Doctrine.’ The structure I created linking three dantian is called the Triple Profound Ice-Fire Formula. I developed it myself.”

—Ha! You must take me for an idiot. Even if you were a once-in-a-millennium genius, creating a new cultivation system at your age is impossible! No—more than impossible! Running three dantian at once defies nature itself. Unless you’ve already surpassed Martial Divinity, it cannot be done. You’re lying through your teeth!

KWAANG—!!

Miasma pounded his body like hammers.

—Arrogant brat! Think you can deceive me? Alone, you say? Ridiculous! Enough talk. I’ll take your body and leave this place. Then I’ll find Baek Dochun myself. I have questions for him!

“...Ugh...”

—On second thought, this works perfectly. Once I take your body, I’ll possess a vessel that’s already realized the Tri-Profound Unification—even if incomplete. Heh heh heh... I’ll become the new Heavenly Demon. Ha ha ha ha ha!

With that ghastly laughter, his consciousness surged, pressing harder into Unhwi’s mind.

—Give it to me. Hand it over! That body is mine! Hahahaha!

Then—

A stab of fierce pain shot from Unhwi’s flank.

“Kh...!”

The wound from Jang Icheong’s strike. The spot his sword had pierced still held traces of miasma—and the Red Demon Grand Duke attacked it directly.

—Heh heh heh. Foolish wretch. You crawl in here with that tattered body? Arrogant brat. How can a so-called descendant of the Thousand-Year Demon Cult not cultivate demonic qi? Your body bears more scars from fighting cultists than joining them... You’re a lunatic, clearly.

Even as he jeered, his consciousness poured into the wound.

Unhwi drove his Heavenly Flow Qi to its limit.

He’d once dispersed miasma in Bright Spirit Domain, but this was different.

This was malice steeped for centuries—miasma with will, its flow terrifyingly precise.

There was only one choice: to fight head-on.

Unhwi’s Heavenly Flow Qi took on demonic qualities, and when it met the Red Demon Grand Duke’s essence, the clash rang like a thunderclap.

KUUUUUUNG—!!

Energy storms blasted in all directions. The cavern shook wildly; demon-eye stones fell from the ceiling.

But neither man flinched. Neither cared.

They had one task each, and for masters of their level, even the end of the world couldn’t divert their gaze.

Both were indisputably masters.

—As long as you bear a miasma-tainted wound, you’ll never defeat me!

Unhwi’s body began to convulse; black blood spilled from his side.

But he didn’t yield.

Instead, a faint smile touched his lips.

“Then how about... this?”

—...What?