CHAPTER 398: THE DIVINE DEMON DESCENDS (1)

They were completely surrounded from front and back.

The phrase “stuck between a rock and a hard place” perfectly described this situation.

The carriage carrying the wounded was shattered into pieces and became unusable.

The Demon Cult members running from the opposite side were somewhat manageable.

They were not even elite warriors from the main division, just Rectification Gang fighters stationed on the opposite side.

But it was enough to tie down Yi-gang and his group.

The real problem was those coming from the direction of Sky Shattering Island.

The Demon Cult’s renowned True Demon Palace Lord personally stepped forward.

Accompanied by dozens of Sky Sealing Blood Wolf Squad members, each a peak master.

Even if Yi-gang and his group were unharmed, they could not face such opponents.

True Demon Palace Lord Yo Dae-soon himself had reached the realm of Unrestrained Demon realm over ten years ago.

“You-!”

His lightness skill was by no means light.

The pounding footsteps of the fiercely charging Yo Dae-soon shook the Divine Demon Bridge.

In response, Yi-gang and his group’s hearts pounded.

Desperate and critical, like standing atop a hundred-foot pole.

They pondered what to do.

Should they break through the front?

Or should they defend the rear?

Or perhaps throw themselves into the raging river?

Among the confused group, only Yi-gang knew where to go.

Yi-gang spoke to Dam Hyun, who was groaning and rising from the shattered coachman’s seat.

“Ugh, my waist. Yeah.”

“Can you take my younger brother and the kids back to the Central Plains?”

Dam Hyun stared at Yi-gang with a sullen expression.

“What about you?”

He only looked toward Yo Dae-soon running from afar.

Dam Hyun glanced briefly and sighed.

“No matter how skilled a hunter, when a wild boar charges, you dodge instead of confronting it.”

However, sometimes you cannot avoid confrontation even if you know it’s unwise.

If Yi-gang dodges, those behind him will be trampled instead.

“Come back. If you don’t, Master will try to kill me.”

Saying so, Dam Hyun drew his ceremonial dagger and passed by Yi-gang.

“Break through the path!”

He shouted and charged forward.

Dam Hyun’s shout became a signal.

Everyone except Yi-gang ran forward.

They judged it best to break through the blockers and cross the Divine Demon Bridge.

And only Yi-gang remained at the rear.

Yo Dae-soon and the Sky Sealing Blood Wolf Squad were almost upon them.

Unlike before, the True Demon Palace Lord seemed unwilling to hold back his power.

Having fully unleashed the Great Blood Demonic Skill, he looked like a fierce Yaksha1.

In fact, crossing the Divine Demon Bridge wouldn’t end the problem.

The Demon Cult would send pursuers.

What were the chances that a group with wounded members would evade the pursuers?

Therefore, Yi-gang had two goals here.

He must stop the approaching absolute masters and their subordinates.

And also, to hinder the pursuit…

「Destroy the bridge. Since I built it, I can take it down.」

They must sever the Divine Demon Bridge.

None of this was something Yi-gang could do at this moment.

「Now is the time to borrow power from me than rather than relying on that Taoist.」

Zhang Sanfeng silently agreed with the Heavenly Demon’s words.

So Yi-gang made a decision.

He would attempt possession, something he hadn’t tried since the Imperial Palace.

“Die!”

At the moment Yo Dae-soon approached right before him.

The Heavenly Demon’s soul possessed Yi-gang’s body.

Though death approached him, Yi-gang remained dazed.

Soon, when he raised his head, his eyes had turned red.

“…Ah, it’s been a while.”

Yi-gang possessed the Heavenly Demon Plaque.

The Heavenly Demon Plaque has a unique function.

The Demon Cult’s demons undergo a great ritual, so it works uniquely only for them.

If one who can wield the Heavenly Demon Plaque shouts “Divine Demon Advent,” the demons who underwent the great ritual must respond with “unrivaled in the world.”

This mysterious function might be very useful in this Demon Cult.

Because demons who underwent the great ritual cannot help but be distracted even briefly by the phrase “Divine Demon Advent.”

But he had never used the Heavenly Demon Plaque here before.

Previously, it was to avoid revealing it, but even in life-threatening escapes, he did not use it.

There was no other reason.

Because two spirits were trapped in the Heavenly Demon Plaque, and as the Heavenly Demon’s soul fragments gradually completed, the old spell on the plaque was damaged.

Therefore, the Heavenly Demon Plaque was not very useful.

However, it bought precious time in this desperate moment.

The most faithful True Demon Palace Lord Yo Dae-soon recognized it.

The sect’s most important relic lost long ago.

That the Heavenly Demon Plaque proving the Heavenly Demon’s identity hung at Yi-gang’s waist.

Yo Dae-soon flinched and stopped because of that.

Yi-gang quickly took out a black orb from his bosom and swallowed it.

It was a countermeasure for possession.

Yo Dae-soon had no way of knowing it was an elixier prepared using more than half of their gold in Sky Shattering Island.

“Th-the, the Heavenly Demon Plaque…!”

Though Yo Dae-soon muttered in dismay, Yi-gang remained still.

Yi-gang, who had been bowing his head deeply, raised it.

Then he muttered while looking at Sky Shattering Island behind Yo Dae-soon.

What nonsense was that?

Yo Dae-soon swung his fist covered in blood like a claw.

The technique was Blood-Shearing Fist.

The blood hardened sharper than metal, protruding sharply with bright red energy.

Yo Dae-soon was sure that fist would corner Yi-gang.

He did not hold back in his hand.

But Yi-gang, who was clearly a swordsman, did not draw his sword.

He simply raised his hand to block.

His forearm should have been torn off, but it was not.

He gently pushed aside the fiercely attacking claw.

His slow hand caused the True Demon Palace Lord’s ultimate strike to miss.

The energy in the fist smashed an entire pillar of the Divine Demon Bridge beside Yi-gang.

A perfect gentleness overcoming hardness.

Yo Dae-soon felt a chill down his spine.

“Taijiquan…?”

He recalled the Taoist soft fist.

The Heavenly Demon, possessing Yi-gang’s body, displayed Taijiquan.

“Zhao Gwaaung! My Secret Art!”

He had realized the essence of the Taijiquan through repeated battles with Zhang Sanfeng.

But only the Heavenly Demon and Yi-gang’s consciousness could hear Zhang Sanfeng’s shout.

“As expected, a completely feeble martial art.”

When the Heavenly Demon muttered that, Yo Dae-soon’s red face turned even redder.

He mistakenly thought it was an insult toward himself.

“Despicable bastard!”

Yo Dae-soon charged again.

The Heavenly Demon stood still and stomped once.

The shock was enough to shake the Divine Demon Bridge.

Even the absolute master Yo Dae-soon lost balance and staggered.

The Heavenly Demon took another step.

This time toward the charging Sky Sealing Blood Wolf Squad.

His body stretched as if using a space-folding technique.

The warriors of the Blood Wolf Squad emitted sword energy and thrust their blades.

The Heavenly Demon’s foot touched the ground again.

Dozens of warriors were instantly flung in all directions.

It seemed more than just physical impact; some spat blood as if internally injured.

And another step.

With each step, it felt as if heaven and earth trembled.

This was the Heavenly Demon’s stride.

The Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step.

“There is no time.”

The Heavenly Demon’s thought was conveyed to Yi-gang.

「You must allow the group to escape.」

‘If possession continues, you will surely die.’

Though the Heavenly Demon asked if Yi-gang could sacrifice his life, he said so.

‘Even if you have undergone body transformation, your body cannot endure my demonic arts.’

It was true.

He had only taken three steps of the Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step.

But Yi-gang’s soles were already torn to shreds.

「Drive away that True Demon Palace Lord and destroy the bridge.」

“I will.”

That was the limit Yi-gang could endure the backlash of possession.

It was a way to help the group escape and leave Yi-gang with minimal strength to exit Sky Shattering Island himself.

The Heavenly Demon continued advancing opposite Ha-jun’s group.

Each time, a loud roar echoed and the charging warriors lost balance and fell.

Only the supreme masters and True Demon Palace Lord Yo Dae-soon could stand against the Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step.

They too realized what Yi-gang and the Heavenly Demon intended.

“Damn it, stop him!”

Too much time had passed.

After over three hundred years, most could not recall the supreme technique Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step before such divine footsteps.

Only Yo Dae-soon recognized it immediately.

“The Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step, the Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step!”

His pupils trembled.

Yo Dae-soon was greatly shocked that the Heavenly Demon’s martial art had reappeared.

But that did not slow his movements.

The demon Yo Dae-soon, at the realm of Unrestrained Demon, still unleashed his ultimate strike as he charged.

As the successor of the Great Blood Demonic Art received from the Heavenly Demon, he elevated it to the Twelve Star realm.

The blood vomited by his fallen subordinates surged toward him as if alive.

The claw on his hand grew even larger.

This time, it would not be so easy to deflect.

Yo Dae-soon opened his eyes wide.

“Try to block this too!”

Those words came naturally from his mouth.

An unknown opponent wielding the Heavenly Demon’s martial art.

A faint hope glimmered in Yo Dae-soon’s eyes.

Even he did not understand the meaning of that hope.

And Yi-gang, or rather the Heavenly Demon, faced Yo Dae-soon directly.

This time, he did not respond with Taijiquan.

Instead, he smiled faintly upon seeing Yo Dae-soon’s Great Blood Demonic Art.

“So there has been some progress after all.”

Then the Heavenly Demon used his hands for the first time instead of feet.

His right hand multiplied into two, four, then eight.

This was another supreme technique the Heavenly Demon possessed, Asura Sky-Shattering Dance.

The eight arms, whether afterimages or real, caught Yo Dae-soon’s hands.

The blood claws covering Yo Dae-soon’s hands exploded with a pop.

The blood, hardened beyond metal, turned back into liquid and dripped onto the floor.

“However, that too was given by me.”

At those words, Yo Dae-soon opened his eyes wide.

From his agape mouth came only a sigh mixed with confusion.

“Heavenly Demon…”

It was the moment he recalled the name he prayed to daily.

The Heavenly Demon slightly twitched his eyebrows.

Then he smiled faintly as if realizing something.

“So it was you. The guy who’s always babbling…”

Then the Heavenly Demon’s eight right hands struck Yo Dae-soon’s open chest.

Smack!

Yo Dae-soon was flung without resistance and plunged into the river.

The Unrestrained Demon realmed True Demon Palace Lord was neutralized too easily.

Both the Demon Cult members and Ha-jun’s group stared blankly at the Heavenly Demonwho accomplished this feat.

The Heavenly Demon looked down at Yi-gang’s right arm.

‘It seems I got too excited.’

The right arm was badly wounded from the backlash of Asura Sky-Shattering Dance.

The Heavenly Demon realized it was now the limit.

If possession continued any longer, Yi-gang would not be able to endure it.

So he took the final step.

He stomped the ground in place.

And the accumulated shock on the Divine Demon Bridge surged at once.

Crackling sounds!

Cracks appeared continuously.

Not only the wooden bridge.

Even the stone pillars embedded three hundred years ago cracked simultaneously.

And the collapse began.

Centered where the Heavenly Demon stood, the sixty meter long Divine Demon Bridge bridge collapsed instantly.

Dozens of Demon Cult members nearby were swept away.

Yi-gang’s body, freed from possession, also collapsed with the falling debris.

“No!”

Ha-jun screamed upon seeing it.

1. TL/N: demons or fierce nature spirits that entered Chinese culture through the influence of Buddhism ️