CHAPTER 324: THE DEMON DECLARES HIMSELF

Mo Tianheng stepped out from the great hall.

His steps were calm, but his presence felt heavy.

The guards near the entrance stood straight. Elders nearby looked up in confusion.

Everyone expected the new Young Master to be announced.

But instead...

"I have something to tell all of you," Mo Tianheng said, his voice echoing across the courtyard.

"From this day forward, I am no longer just the Young Master."

He raised his head.

His black robes fluttered slightly from the pressure of his aura.

"I am now... the Heavenly Demon."

The crowd froze. For a moment, no one said a word.

Then murmurs broke out. The guards looked at each other.

Some elders stepped forward with stiff expressions.

One of them frowned. "Young Master, are you... Serious?"

Mo Tianheng gave a small smile. "Of course."

Another elder spoke.

"But the previous Heavenly Demon... he was alive this morning. He only named you Young Master, not heir."

Mo Tianheng nodded slowly. "Yes."

"But before his end, he told me this. ’Anyone who truly masters the Heavenly Demon Art will become the true heir.’"

He stepped down the stairs calmly. "He was old, tired. He passed on everything to me. Cultivation, power, name."

A different elder narrowed his eyes. "You expect us to believe that?"

Mo Tianheng turned toward him. His eyes glowed faintly.

"I don’t expect it. I command it."

The pressure in the air shifted.

Many guards dropped to one knee without knowing why.

Some gasped. Even the elders stepped back.

Mo Tianheng’s aura flared for a moment, revealing the black and red mist of [Heavenly Demonic Qi].

"I will not waste time explaining again. The Heavenly Demon Sect will rise stronger than ever," he said.

"Under me."

He raised his hand and pointed at the courtyard full of guards and servants.

"As a gift to all of you... I will personally train those who are loyal."

He clenched his fist.

"And as punishment... I will erase those who mocked me, tortured me, or held the weak in chains."

More murmurs spread.

He turned to the crowd. "Bring all the slaves, all the children who were brought here to suffer. I want to see them."

By the end of the day, hundreds were gathered.

They were skinny, tired, and their eyes were empty.

Most of them were just kids from other villages, taken by force, beaten, and used as training tools.

Mo Tianheng stood before them.

"I was once like you," he said.

Some looked up in surprise.

"I was thrown into a pit. Starved. Beaten. Left to die."

He raised his hand. [Heavenly Demonic Qi] swirled like smoke.

"But now I have the power. And I will give it to you."

He stepped forward and placed his hand on a young boy’s head.

Black energy flowed gently, not harming him but strengthening him.

The boy gasped and looked up in awe.

More cheers rose. Some cried.

The people who were once slaves... now had a chance to become strong.

---

But not everyone was happy.

In the shadows, some elders gathered. "This boy is dangerous. He’ll destroy our traditions!"

"He dares to change the sect name. He dares to free slaves."

They planned a rebellion.

But Mo Tianheng already knew.

When the attack came, he was ready.

The rebels were ambushed.

Mo Tianheng himself walked into their meeting and burned them with [Heavenly Demon Fire].

"I warned you," he said, stepping over their ashes. "The past is dead. So are you."

---

From that day on, the sect was no longer the same.

Mo Tianheng stood at the top of the stairs in front of the great hall.

His eyes were cold, and his voice was sharp.

"Find them all," he said.

"Every elder. Every guard. The ones who tortured the weak. The ones who laughed at pain. Bring them to me."

His new loyal followers moved quickly. They knew not to question him.

One by one, the cruel elders and guards were dragged forward.

Some screamed. Some begged.

Some tried to fight back, but it was no use. The new Heavenly Demon had already taken control.

Mo Tianheng looked down at them.

"You trained children like animals," he said. "Now, it’s your turn."

He turned to the former slaves, those who had survived the pit, the hunger, the beatings.

"Teach them everything they taught you," he said. "No mercy."

---

And so, the roles were reversed.

The once-mighty guards were stripped of their pride and status.

The elders who once looked down on the weak were now crawling in the dirt.

They were forced to do the same torture-training they once ordered.

Climbing cliffs until their fingers bled.

Swimming upstream through frozen rivers until their bodies went numb.

Holding burning hot needles between their fingers for hours to build endurance.

Running barefoot over broken glass and hot coals.

Training without sleep. Eating only scraps.

Some were tied upside down for a full day and beaten if they lost consciousness.

Others were forced into dark pits where they had to fight for food, just like they had made the children do before.

"If you survive," said Mo Tianheng calmly, "you can join the new sect. If not... then you were never worthy."

---

Days passed.

One by one, the elders began to die.

Some collapsed during cliff climbs and were left to fall.

Some drowned in the rivers, their limbs too weak to swim.

Some cried and begged for forgiveness, but there was none.

Eventually, none remained.

Mo Tianheng stood before the training yard, now silent except for the wind.

He looked around at the bodies.

"They tortured us... and yet, they were this weak," he said quietly.

He clenched his fists.

"These were the ones who judged us... trained us... punished us."

His eyes narrowed.

"But they couldn’t even survive their own methods."

He turned to his followers, the survivors. The young ones who had once been slaves.

They stood taller now. Muscles hardened. Eyes sharper. Their backs were straight, their auras firm.

What remained were the strong.

The ones who had lived through hell and refused to die.

Mo Tianheng sighed softly.

"Maybe it’s better this way," he said. "Let the old die with their cruelty."

He looked up at the black sky.

"This is the Heavenly Demon Sect now," he said. "And no one will break us again."

The wind carried his words across the mountains.

A new era had begun.