Chapter 314: What Kind of Life Have You Lived?

TL: FoodieMonster007

Geom Mugeuk saw a new side of the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader today. He saw the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's world, the one within the illusion.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader once spoke within the Spacetime Manipulation Technique.

"Sometimes, when I'm here, I get confused about whether this is the real world or that is. It must be because I want to stay in the space I've created, right?"

Geom Mugeuk now understood the true meaning behind those words.

It was not a simple desire to stay, like the one Geom Mugeuk felt on the sandy beach. Why would the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, so powerful in this world, want to return to the outside?

"Cult Leader."

"What is it?"

"Please forgive me, even if I have done things wrong."

"Then there would be too much to forgive. Why? Are you scared? Afraid you'll be sucked into a place like that and disappear?"

"I don't even want to imagine it."

"I'm the one who doesn't want to imagine it. The thought of you tearing through that thing and coming out."

"You overestimate me! I'd rather you curse at me like you usually do."

Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader conversed while watching Hwan Yeo and Gwisuk. Even as they joked, they never lowered their guard.

As a martial artist, Geom Mugeuk offered sincere respect.

"You're magnificent, Cult Leader."

Acknowledgement always felt good, but it felt even better coming from Geom Mugeuk.

"Thank you."

Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader exchanged a look. Facing their enemies, the two felt an unusually deep connection.

Meanwhile, Hwan Yeo and Gwisuk had not given up, despite the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's overwhelming illusion. They still had techniques left.

"This time, it's my turn."

As Geom Mugeuk stepped forward, Hwan Yeo did the same.

While Gwisuk mastered ghost arts and commanded the dead, Hwan Yeo mastered soul-capturing arts.

"Young Cult Leader, I tried to avoid touching you if possible."

Her goal had been to quietly plant her people in the Demonic Cult. If she had known it would come to this, she would have targeted Geom Mugeuk instead.

"Touching a Demon Supreme is the same as touching me," Geom Mugeuk replied coldly.

The moment he spoke, a dark red light poured from Hwan Yeo's slitted eyes.

SWOOOOOSH.

The light shot instantly into Geom Mugeuk's eyes.

Instantly, both of them stopped moving. They stood frozen with their eyes open, as if time had stopped.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader and Gwisuk watched quietly. Reckless interference during a soul-capturing art could endanger both caster and target.

"You must have known she'd use a soul-capturing art on the Young Cult Leader, right?"

"I knew."

"Why didn't you stop her? Aren't you worried now that the Young Cult Leader has been hit by the soul-capturing art?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader replied leisurely to Gwisuk.

"Not just me. Even if all eight Demon Supremes of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were here, they'd all say the same thing."

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader added, staring quietly at Geom Mugeuk, "You don't know because you haven't experienced it."

Hwan Yeo did not choose an aggressive soul-capturing art that would make Geom Mugeuk kill himself or the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader. She instinctively felt such a method would fail.

Instead, she chose the Inner Demons Devouring Art.

This soul-capturing art peered into an opponent's mind, finding their weaknesses through their inner demons. It was an ultimate secret art, sometimes delving into a subconscious even the target did not know existed.

It was a lost illusion art of the Blood Cult. Only Hwan Yeo could perform it in the murim, and it would be lost forever if she died.

WHOOSH.

Hwan Yeo found herself standing in a raging blizzard on a snowfield.

This is his mind.

The empty space held only Geom Mugeuk's footprints. She slowly followed them.

When Hwan Yeo cast the Inner Demons Devouring Art, the scene varied with each person. Some showed their proudest moments, while others revealed shameful, lifelong secrets. Still others showed their deepest regrets or most precious treasures.

It did not matter what she found. She would turn the opponent's joy, pain, and secrets into inner demons and shake him to his core. She would amplify the fear of losing joy until it drove him mad. She would nurture his pain until it grew so large he took his own life. She would make the fear of his secret being revealed so great he could never sleep.

This was the Inner Demons Devouring Art.

Hwan Yeo could not use it often, as each use consumed a vast amount of her innate qi. Peering into another's mind was a dangerous and difficult task.

Hwan Yeo wondered what she would find at the end of the footprints. What would Geom Mugeuk look like? What was his secret?

She walked, following the footprints in the snow. She did not know how long she walked. No matter how far she went, Geom Mugeuk never appeared. This had never happened before. Usually, something appeared after a short time.

Hwan Yeo quickened her pace. The blizzard intensified, making it difficult to walk.

No matter how far she walked, only the footprints stretched on. Geom Mugeuk was nowhere to be seen.

Is something wrong?

No. Standing alone in the empty space, she understood.

This was Geom Mugeuk's life.

A lonely life, walking an endless road through a blizzard.

The wind carrying the blizzard also carried his emotions. Hardship, desperation, desolation. The silent footprints contained everything.

What kind of life have you lived?

Unable to consume any more innate qi, Hwan Yeo stopped the Inner Demons Devouring Art.

Hwan Yeo and Geom Mugeuk regained their senses simultaneously.

She stared at Geom Mugeuk, dazed.

"What are you? You're the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, aren't you? You're so young. So what was that?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader and Gwisuk were both curious about what she had seen.

"You're in a position that all the demonics in the world envy… so why are you so lonely?"

Geom Mugeuk did not answer.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader looked at Geom Mugeuk. The mind Hwan Yeo saw was endlessly lonely, yet this was the same Young Cult Leader who always teased and joked with him.

While the others were silent, Hwan Yeo kept speaking.

"I know you've made all the Demon Supremes your people, so why on earth are you alone?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, who had been listening, spoke.

"It seems you have a dark hole in your heart too."

This was the same hole the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had mentioned before, the one that inevitably forms in the hearts of illusion art practitioners.

"Why wouldn't I have one?"

"Your hole must be different from ours. It's probably the kind of hole one would want to enter with a torch, just to see."

"You'll be disappointed."

"I'm going in to make fun of you. It's fine."

Geom Mugeuk gave the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader a faint smile, then looked at Hwan Yeo.

"When you were looking at me, I was looking at you too. I saw that dark hole in your heart."

Hwan Yeo startled.

What does he mean?

As she wondered, Geom Mugeuk spoke an unexpected name.

"I saw your younger brother."

Hwan Yeo froze. Geom Mugeuk had mentioned someone he could never have known. Shocked, she looked at Gwisuk, wondering if he had told Geom Mugeuk about her brother, but that was impossible.

Did he really see my mind? How?

In truth, Geom Mugeuk had not seen her mind. He only spoke as if he had because he already knew about her brother. Now that the topic was raised, he might get some clues.

"He's a younger brother who looks just like you."

All strength drained from Hwan Yeo's body.

He really saw.

She had never dreamed someone would look into her mind, and it was not the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader, but Geom Mugeuk.

Is the Nine Calamities Demonic Art really that formidable?

"You hate your younger brother, don't you?"

Hwan Yeo's pupils trembled.

In her life before regression, Hwan Yeo had done many things for the Illusion King, but he always took the glory. The fact that he had a twin sister was revealed much later.

She was not truly devoted to her younger brother. She knew unavoidable circumstances had made her the darkness and the Illusion King the light.

Geom Mugeuk could clearly feel the love-hate relationship in her reaction.

"Because of you, Young Cult Leader, I'm going to hate him even more."

This job is ruined. Even if I'm lucky enough to survive, the important tasks will go to my younger brother as punishment for this failure.

Just then, Gwisuk sent a telepathic message.

[Get out of here first.]

[Gwisuk, you can't face them alone.]

Gwisuk judged her presence would not change the outcome. He had to at least save her.

[When you get out, ask your younger brother for help.]

Before Hwan Yeo could reply, her figure vanished in a flash.

Hwan Yeo had not left on her own. Gwisuk had forcibly sent her away.

Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader were not flustered by her disappearance.

"Do you know how to break this place?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader answered Geom Mugeuk's calm question.

"What great method could there be? If the cook dies and the owner dies, the restaurant closes."

Gwisuk's expression stiffened. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader knew the exact method. If the cooks and Gwisuk himself died, this place would disappear.

It was the first crushing defeat of his life. Strangely, he felt at ease. If he had to lose, then losing to the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader meant his death would not be in vain.

"However, I won't go alone."

Gwisuk's aura changed. Killing intent and malice surged from him as his appearance shifted. His eyes and ears grew long and slitted, just like Hwan Yeo's had. A pale blue ghost fire ignited around his body.

Geom Mugeuk was certain that few masters of ghost arts were as strong as Gwisuk.

Geom Mugeuk took a step back.

"Fortunately, it's your turn to fight, Cult Leader."

"Isn't it your turn?"

"Didn't I just deal with the soul-capturing art?"

"You were just on the receiving end. You didn't fight, did you?"

"There was a tremendous battle in my mind."

The conversation ended.

Gwisuk charged them, thrusting a palm that burned with ghost fire.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader did not evade, meeting the palm strike with his own.

"……"

The palms collided with a loud roar, and both men flew back.

Gwisuk was pushed back much farther. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader blew on the ghost fire that had transferred to his hand, extinguishing it.

Gwisuk despaired when he saw that. The inextinguishable ghost fire had been put out. This meant he could never defeat the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader in a direct fight. He felt a clear skill gap that he could never overcome.

In the end, that's the only way.

The ghost fire around Gwisuk's body burned even more fiercely, looking as if it would incinerate him at any moment.

Blood droplets burst from his skin. Hundreds, then thousands of droplets shot out, filling the air. These were not ordinary blood. They were imbued with resentful ghostly qi and contained the final essence of the illusion master Gwisuk. It was a suicide technique that poured out all his innate qi.

"It will definitely pierce one person's protective enhanced qi. Cult Leader, choose. Will you stand in front of the Young Cult Leader, or behind him?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader did not hesitate.

He moved to stand proudly before Geom Mugeuk.

"Because this is my world."

But Geom Mugeuk would not let the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader stand in front of him.

He was already unleashing his own final move.

"I'm sorry, but it's my turn."

The Nine Calamities Demonic Art Second Technique, the Great Annihilation Stance.

The evil spirit that appeared before Geom Mugeuk split into four.

"……"

With an ear-splitting explosion, the blood droplets launched. Thousands of them burst in all directions, leaving no room to escape.

Simultaneously, the four evil spirits surged forward, sweeping everything away.

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!

The blood droplets flew toward the evil spirits.

PAKPAKPAKPAKPAKPAK!

Gwisuk had been confident the droplets would pierce protective enhanced qi, but they could not penetrate the evil spirits. The four spirits became a shield for Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader as they charged toward Gwisuk.

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAK!

The room was stained entirely with blood, but the path of the Great Annihilation Stance remained clean.

Where the evil spirits had passed, only a pool of blood that was once Gwisuk remained.

Watching this, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader repeated Geom Mugeuk's earlier words.

"If I've done anything wrong, please overlook it."

Hwan Yeo staggered through the space she had created. It was the same place where she had her earlier nightmare. This moment felt even more like one.

She held out her hand, and a bell descended from the squirming, living ceiling.

DING DING DING!

She rang it urgently.

It was a signal for her brother's side to receive a call. Just as a sound would play in the garden scenery when a call came, this sent a signal to the other side.

After ringing the bell, Hwan Yeo went to the wall to wait.

Hurry! Quickly!

As she waited for the communications person to arrive, she sensed a presence behind her and spun around.

She startled violently. Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader stood before her.

She was no longer surprised that they had breached her space. She could tell that Gwisuk had already been defeated.

When Gwisuk forcibly sent her away, she expected him to use a suicide technique, yet the two of them were perfectly fine.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader's gaze shifted to the wall behind her, and his expression grew cold.

"Is that the Infinite Length Wall? Thousands of lives must have been sacrificed to make that."

Truly, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader knew everything about illusion arts.

"If you come any closer, I'll kill myself!"

She knew they could not kill her because of the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader replied coldly.

"……"

"!"

"I can just find a new disciple."

Since her opponent reacted this way, she could not easily kill herself.

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader strode to the Infinite Length Wall as if he already knew how to use it. He stuck his head inside, looked around for a moment, then pulled it out.

He then rushed to Hwan Yeo, suppressed her inner arts, and grabbed her by the neck.

"Do you want to die!"

Geom Mugeuk had never seen him so enraged.

He looked ready to snap Hwan Yeo's neck and kill her.

Geom Mugeuk calmly grabbed his arm and asked quietly, "What's wrong, Cult Leader?"

"Do you know where that other side is?"

The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader named an unexpected place.

"It's the Heavenly Wind Cult."