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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Secret Vault
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Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
The forbidden repository accessible only to the Heavenly Demon himself or demons who had rendered monumental service to the cult.
Rumors swirled that it housed every divine weapon, elixir, and secret art under heaven, making the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault a realm unto itself—not just for demonic cultivators, but for all martial artists of the world.
Nestled deep within Snow Dissolving Peak, it was divided into four main sections.
First floor: The Armory.
Second basement: The Elixir Vault.
Third basement: The Martial Arts Repository.
And the deepest level: The Heavenly Demon Grotto.
Even rendering significant service barely granted access to the Armory, Elixir Vault, or Martial Arts Repository.
They brimmed with priceless treasures, peerless elixirs, and supreme manuals that would widen the eyes of any wandering martial artist.
Yet none could compare to the lowest level, the Heavenly Demon Grotto.
The criteria for entry there were entirely different.
Heavenly Demon Grotto.
The deepest sanctum of the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault, accessible solely to the leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Within that vast cavern stood just nineteen martial arts manuals, arranged in a single row.
These were the signature ultimate techniques of past Heavenly Demons, secret arts each had recorded before their death.
Those encountering the sight for the first time invariably succumbed to excitement, eagerly flipping open the manuals.
But they soon clicked their tongues and snapped them shut.
The reason for their surrender was simple.
'Utterly inscrutable.'
A Heavenly Demon was a position ascended only by the foremost prodigies of their era, peerless geniuses across history, barring extraordinary circumstances.
Thus, their understanding of martial arts was unmatched, often laced with arrogance.
No wonder they wouldn't painstakingly record their arts for posterity, even when earnestly requested.
No one expected illustrations.
Yet they scrawled essential formulas in illegible scrawl with a single stroke, piling on cryptic explanations only they themselves could grasp. Reading the manuals cover to cover offered little clarity.
Even those who barely deciphered the text could never fully plumb the ocean-deep profundities of each art.
"Well, none of that concerned me anyway."
In his previous life, Hyeok Mulin had no other options.
His sole privilege was unrestricted access to the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault. He'd spent most of his time in the Heavenly Demon Grotto, striving to comprehend the arts of his predecessors.
He hadn't fully mastered any, but he'd grasped many to a considerable depth.
"And among them, what I need most right now is..."
Hyeok Mulin's gaze fell to his hand.
Pure Soul Divine Demon Art
The manual was thick with dust, as if untouched for centuries.
"Even I overlooked it at first."
Forgetting its worn state, it was far too thin.
Compared to the others, it was less than a third as thick.
Could such a slender volume contain the secrets of a supreme art?
Doubts were natural.
Moreover, it was the only one among the nineteen Heavenly Demon manuals to record a core heart art.
A heart art formed the foundation of one's cultivation. Barring rare exceptions, one stuck with the heart art learned in youth until death.
Activating two or more heart arts invited unknown repercussions. Heavenly Demons at the pinnacle had no reason to risk it for a new one.
'And crucially, the identity of the Heavenly Demon who created this heart art was unknown.'
It was the sole manual with a heart art, so curiosity led to a search for its author.
Scouring the Heavenly Demon Secret Record and cult chronicles yielded nothing.
No record of his ascension path, Seven Great Demon Clans origin, or techniques employed.
The only details: Eleventh Heavenly Demon, abdicated after a mere three days as Cult Leader.
Suicide? Assassination? Abdication? Seclusion? Even the circumstances were lost.
'Once I confirmed that, even I lost interest.'
Why risk a heart art from an obscure figure?
Yet sensing his end nearing, Hyeok Mulin grasped at this straw and opened the manual.
The moment he fully grasped the formula on the first page, he fell into a trance right there.
Three Days Heavenly Demon.
He was a true genius—not the casual praise for the talented, but one of history's rarest.
Pure Soul Divine Demon Art.
Its meaning was straightforward.
Purify away the demon.
Then refine the body to contain ultimate demon essence.
"This must be the heart art only I, of all in the cult, can master."
According to its teachings, one must expel all demonic qi from the body.
Not merely expend it, but utterly discard it without remnant. Emptied from the dantian, it could never be refilled.
Discard a lifetime's accumulation of demonic qi.
Simple in words, but could any demon cultivate pull it off?
Barring Hyeok Mulin on death's door, none sane would.
Yet on the brink, having comprehended it, Hyeok Mulin knew.
Ultimate Demon Essence.
It held absolute worth.
Worth discarding a lifetime's qi and more.
"..."
Hyeok Mulin silently read the manual through.
Having understood it once before, it didn't take long.
Finishing, he returned it to its place and turned away.
With space aplenty, he found a spacious spot, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes, focusing his mind on his lower dantian.
Drawing a deep breath into his lungs, he slowly exhaled after a moment.
Demonic qi mingled in the expelled breath.
"Hoo..."
Not expending, but purging it.
Breathing leisurely, like opening a channel, he spent an hour fully expelling all qi from his dantian.
His body, now that of a complete mortal without a scrap of inner power, felt drastically heavier than before.
But he couldn't stop here.
Gathering the dispersed qi, Hyeok Mulin refined pure essence, excluding impurities, compressing it to the size of a rice grain.
Preparation complete, he surveyed his meridians and the eight extraordinary vessels, opening the Three Acupoints.
Sea of Qi, Central Dantian, and Hundred Convergences—he flung them wide, dispersing his mind to unblock stalled channels.
Cold sweat beaded as he recited the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art formula. Pulses twitched uncertainly.
Suddenly, all three seemed poised to open in unison, like a contrived ploy.
But it was a feint to fool heaven and earth.
Targeting one from the start, Hyeok Mulin focused wholly on Hundred Convergences, slamming in the compressed qi.
His skull split, a drill through his brain—the agony surged.
It descended, scorching his organs like fire.
Yet Hyeok Mulin trembled but held his posture firm.
Fortune favors the bold. Stopping now meant death in vain.
His task: Trust himself and pierce Hundred Convergences.
'Please... just once, break through!'
Gnashing his teeth, he poured everything in.
Then, black blood trickled from his nose.
Kwarung—!
Lightning crashed, shaking heaven and earth.
Perforation.
A pinhole finer than a needle's eye.
But it pierced.
Reverse-heaven energy pierced Heavenly Spirit Aperture, defying fate, descending.
Unlike heart arts building from lower dantian upward, this plunged past upper dantian to middle, then lower.
Settling formlessly, it melted into his dantian.
For an instant, pure black suffused Hyeok Mulin's body, thick haze rising.
"Hoo..."
Exhaling lightly, he slowly opened his eyes.
He felt it.
The Pure Soul Divine Demon Art igniting.
His body transformed into Ultimate Demon Physique.
Surveying himself, Hyeok Mulin satisfyingly curled his lips.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Leaving Snow Dissolving Peak, Hyeok Mulin headed straight for Heavenly Demon Palace.
Nearing the main palace, an elderly man entered his view.
Blood Hand Strange Demon Jang Wi.
Patriarch of the Shinwon Jang Clan, who had served Heavenly Demons for generations, and current Left Protector of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. He stood rigidly at the palace entrance.
Snow blanketed his robes—he'd waited long.
"..."
Hyeok Mulin gazed at him warmly for a moment, then stepped forward.
"How much time has passed?"
As Hyeok Mulin drew near, Jang Wi bowed his head.
"Fifteen days since your command, my lord."
Before entering the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
Hyeok Mulin had tasked Jang Wi: Visit Pure Heaven Pavilion daily and seek him if anything重大 arose.
His presence at the entrance meant...
"The Cheon Clan must have come calling."
"Yes. I notified you four days ago, my lord."
Jang Wi carefully drew a letter from his bosom.
Offering it with both hands, Hyeok Mulin took it, untied the string, and read silently.
Exactly as expected, it stirred no emotion.
As he scanned the lukewarm contents, he sensed Jang Wi's sidelong glance from beside him.
"Curious about the contents?"
Hyeok Mulin asked directly. Jang Wi hesitated, then replied cautiously.
"May I know?"
"Nothing much. They just want to show their faces in their own front yard."
"From Second Elder?"
"Yes."
Jang Wi nodded deeply.
"I'll prepare at once. It's been four days since the letter—delay further, and the Elder's mood..."
"No need."
Hyeok Mulin cut him off.
Samadhi true fire flared in his palm, reducing the letter to ash in an instant.
"...!"
Jang Wi's eyes widened at the unbelievable sight.
Hyeok Mulin brushed off the ash from his hand and turned.
"If it's important, he'll come himself."
Finishing, he strode past the entrance into Heavenly Demon Palace, utterly unmoved.
Witnessing the utterly unforeseen, Jang Wi could only stare blankly at the Heavenly Demon's retreating back.