CHAPTER 392: INFILTRATING THE DEMON CULT (4)

Dam Hyun thrust a small sword between the paper door.

After tearing the paper apart, he slipped his hand in and unlocked the latch inside.

The paper door flung open.

Inside was an ordinary attic.

Dust had thickly settled as if no one had entered or exited it.

Dam Hyun lightened his body, so even when he moved, no creaking sounds came from the wood.

‘Is it below here?’

He thought the fragment of the Heavenly Demon’s soul would appear right after opening the paper door, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

There was a side door in the attic leading downward.

But Dam Hyun had no intention of going down there.

He could feel life energy down below.

The breathing he heard was regular and long.

Not a supreme master, but at least at the peak level.

Dam Hyun infused energy into the small sword and stabbed it into the floor.

Soon, a small gap as thick as the sword appeared.

Dam Hyun pressed his eye to the gap and observed the situation downstairs.

No one was on guard inside. It was a sealed room, and the guards seemed to be outside the door.

Satisfied with the situation, Dam Hyun smiled.

Then the question was how to enter downstairs silently…

‘I just need to pierce through.’

He measured the thickness of the ceiling by piercing it with the small sword.

His small sword was a ceremonial one made of obsidian.

Though it lacked the durability to imbue it with sword aura, Dam Hyun, not being a Transcendent master, didn’t need that.

‘Cheongho.’

Cheongho poked its head out from Dam Hyun’s bosom.

Dam Hyun had once entertained an interesting idea alone.

What if, like Yi-gang, he infused Cheongho’s lightning into a weapon?

Crackle-

Cheongho infused his power into the obsidian small sword.

The obsidian, instead of releasing the lightning, suppressed it inside.

The lightning, lost without a path, raged inside, emitting intense heat.

Eventually, the obsidian turned dark red.

Obsidian doesn’t melt even in lava. It was so hot that the entire attic felt scorching.

Dam Hyun plunged it deeply into the floor.

Sizzle!

The sword slid in like piercing soft tofu.

A small but bright red flame rose on the wood as if to burn the entire attic, but Dam Hyun covered it with his bare hand.

Then, as if by magic, the fire went out.

It didn’t take long before a round hole big enough for a person appeared in the ceiling.

“Keup.”

Perhaps because he inhaled some smoke.

Dam Hyun barely suppressed a cough.

He descended through the open hole to the lower floor.

Composing himself, Dam Hyun examined the scene before him.

‘…This is impressive.’

Inside was an environment that greatly piqued Dam Hyun’s curiosity.

‘How did they get a crystal this size?’

There was a cylinder carved from crystal, containing a faintly reddish liquid.

Floating inside was uniquely a single shoe.

Only the left shoe remained; it was a woman’s, worn and rotten from hundreds of years ago.

It was clear that a fragment of the Heavenly Demon’s soul was contained in that shoe.

As proof, a very pure demonic energy was sensed.

‘Extracting demonic energy from a soul fragment? Interesting attempt.’

Whoever it was, they were certainly very clever.

The liquid containing the demonic energy seemed to flow downward through attached tubes.

What they intended was unknown, but…

Dam Hyun smirked.

Because of the item containing the Heavenly Demon’s soul fragment.

Most soul fragments discovered so far were embedded in items used by the Heavenly Demon.

Like all spells or magic, there is no meaningless element.

Dam Hyun took out the Heavenly Demon Plaque and murmured near his ear.

‘What is this shoe?’

Why was his soul fragment contained in a single woman’s shoe?

‘Perhaps he had a cross-dressing hobby?’

Dam Hyun joked with the Heavenly Demon without fear.

But the Heavenly Demon did not answer.

「Priest Dam.」

Instead, the answer came from Zhang Sanfeng.

「Stop joking and prepare to take it quickly.」

Dam Hyun showed a disappointed expression.

Then he pondered how to retrieve the shoe before him.

Interest returned to his face.

‘They’ve set up proper defenses here.’

Touching the crystal tube carelessly would have been disastrous.

Various mechanical devices and formation arrays protected it.

The designer must have been very cautious.

‘Time…’

Dam Hyun took out a pocket watch from his bosom.

An item from the Western Regions, winding it gave an accurate current time.

‘Is it time to start the rescue?’

If so, Dam Hyun had little time left.

Could he disable the devices and pocket the single shoe?

‘It’s worth a try.’

Dam Hyun smiled and loosened his hands.

Underground of High Spirit Palace.

The experimental site and brain prison where Demon Brain conducts the Grand Ritual.

Ha-jun was walking down the corridor there.

“Be respectful in front of the Palace Master.”

The man in white, Protector Il, warned Ha-jun and his group.

“If you’re lucky, you might survive. If even one of you withstand the Grand Ritual that is.”

Protector Il gave them hope.

If one succeeds, the rest could live too.

The young disciples of Kunlun seemed to find some hope in those words.

But Ha-jun and Peng Mu-ah were indifferent.

They had no reason to believe it.

Would those who achieved their goal really spare the rest?

Could one imagine them releasing the shackles to live happily with their families again?

They would surely kill to prevent any future trouble.

When Ha-jun and Peng Mu-ah reacted coldly, Protector Il sneered at them.

They finally reached the place where Demon Brain was.

“Palace Master, we’ve brought them.”

The usually arrogant Protector Il bowed respectfully before Demon Brain.

At that voice, Demon Brain, who was turned away, turned around.

Several Kunlun disciples gasped.

“So there are two special-grade ones.”

The High Spirit Palace Master, Twin-Headed Demon Brain, with a metallic voice, looked terrifying.

Despite his hunched back and distorted features, a human face was attached to the swollen shoulder’s tumor.

The faint-hearted trembled with fear.

However, Ha-jun paid no mind to Demon Brain’s appearance.

What he was looking at was the person at Demon Brain’s feet.

A young man with black marks spreading over his body.

Lying on the cold stone floor like cargo was…

“…Noh Shik.”

Ha-jun muttered involuntarily.

All eyes in the hall turned to Ha-jun.

Demon Brain also glared at Ha-jun.

Then Ha-jun turned and spoke to Demon Brain.

“Did you kill him?”

With that one word, explosive killing intent burst forth.

Clang clang clang!

Protector Il and other warriors drew their swords simultaneously, aiming at Ha-jun.

“Stop. Don’t make a fuss.”

It was Demon Brain who stopped them.

“You have a seal on your dantian, yet such strong will. Not bad at all.”

Ha-jun’s killing intent was piercing, but Demon Brain smiled without flinching.

“Had you been born on Sky Shattering Island, you would have been great. Your eyes are full of ferocity. It seems you were born under the Heavenly Killer Star.”

“The Baek Family raised a tiger cub as a wolf cub.”

For some reason, he seemed to like Ha-jun.

He kicked Noh Shik lying on the floor.

Noh Shik’s body twitched and moved.

“He’s still alive. If you endure the Grand Ritual, I will spare this one. That is my promise as the High Spirit Palace Master.”

Protector Il was greatly surprised by those words.

Because it was the first time Demon Brain showed mercy to anyone.

Of course, Ha-jun felt no gratitude.

“Begin. Start with the lowest quality ones.”

The lowest quality ones meant those of the lowest rank.

Demon Brain regarded the young people they brought as nothing more than test subjects.

“Ah, ugh.”

The youngest disciple who received the order was seized by Protector Il.

The warriors forcibly stripped the young disciple’s upper garment.

And at the moment they pressed a sharp stake-like object to his back.

“Wait, leave him and take me first!”

That shout came from Peng Mu-ah.

But the one who stepped forward was Ha-jun.

He blocked Peng Mu-ah who was about to step forward.

“I will undergo the Grand Ritual first.”

Ha-jun said this while staring at Demon Brain standing above.

A whip immediately flew toward him.

“Arrogant brat!”

Ha-jun did not dodge at all, and the warrior’s whip slapped his face.

Blood burst along the cut on his face.

The one who reacted was none other than Demon Brain.

“You are more arrogant.”

Demon Brain just raised his finger.

From his blackened, shriveled index finger, bright red spiritual power emitted.

It pierced the right arm of the warrior who wielded the whip.

“Didn’t you hear the order to be careful when handling special-grade specimens?”

“S-sorry.”

The warrior knelt and apologized without even trying to stop the bleeding.

“Good, no more time to waste. Begin with him first.”

Demon Brain stared at Ha-jun with satisfaction.

Protector Il and the warriors stripped Ha-jun’s upper garment.

His well-trained back was revealed.

They forcibly dragged Ha-jun onto the altar.

Then they chained his ankles to the altar.

They removed the restraints on his arms and tied both arms to pillars beside him.

In other words, his arms were spread and immobilized.

Demon Brain watched from above as if enjoying the scene.

Protector Il approached closely behind Ha-jun.

“You brought this upon yourself.”

“I was curious about your expression.”

Then Ha-jun felt intense pain in his back.

The man in white drove a stake-like object into Ha-jun’s Mingmen acupoint.

“Kuh!”

No matter how strong-willed, the pain of having the spine pierced was unbearable.

The sharp tip of the stake reached the nerve bundles between the vertebrae.

Pain spread like electric currents throughout his body.

Ha-jun’s body twitched violently like a broken fish.

Demon Brain commanded.

“Inject.”

From the stake flowed something cold yet hot.

That sensation spread throughout Ha-jun’s body.

“Release the seal.”

Ha-jun soon realized the seal on his dantian was lifted.

However, he could not summon his internal power.

A turbulent current flowed through his body’s meridians.

One cannot sail against the wind in a stormy sea.

Next, Demon Brain descended directly in front of Ha-jun.

He floated down slowly like a feather.

“I will touch your acupoints in the order of the true scripture. Remember it well if you want to live.”

Demon Brain’s fingertips glowed as he tapped Ha-jun’s entire body.

Pat pat pat pat-

Red marks remained on those acupoints.

Even if Ha-jun tried not to remember, the True Qi moved along that sequence.

‘Reverse meridians…!’

The path differed from the normal one.

That meant, it was a reverse meridian art, which is also known as demonic arts.

“Injecting the Heavenly Demon’s energy.”

Demon Brain raised his head and said so.

Though Ha-jun didn’t know, the stake in his Mingmen acupoint was connected to a tube made from a deer’s artery.

It descended from the ceiling and connected to the top-level mechanism.

What it injected was the purest demonic energy in the world.

The Heavenly Demon’s demonic energy was injected into Ha-jun.

Drip-

Blood dripped from Ha-jun’s nose.

His eyes rolled white, and his whole body trembled.

It looked like he could die any moment.

Peng Mu-ah, watching, went wild, and several warriors restrained her.

But Demon Brain kept silent and calmed them down.

Black demonic energy began to invade along Ha-jun’s meridians.

Though a gruesome sight, Demon Brain’s face was full of joy.

“Has there ever been one who accepted demonic energy this fast…?”

Among countless Grand Ritual experiments, he was the best specimen.

Ha-jun struggled, neither succumbing to nor yielding the Heavenly Demon energy.

Demon Brain’s eyes shone with ecstasy.