Chapter 515: The Reason He Called Them Out

TL: FoodieMonster007

After that day, he and the Cult Leader had actually become more distant.

He had expected they would meet more frequently and become closer after sharing that experience, but reality proved otherwise.

That was likely the cause. The sight of each other's faces was a constant reminder of that day, something both he and Geom Woojin may have subconsciously tried to evade.

A practical reason was also added to this.

Geom Woojin became incredibly busy afterward. He was officially named the successor of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and it was difficult to see him while he was occupied with learning the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.

Are we really going to drift apart like this?

While having such thoughts one day, Geom Woojin came to visit the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

The moment he saw him, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon could sense it. He knew Geom Woojin felt the same way he did. He knew that Geom Woojin had missed him. Even back then, Geom Woojin's emotions were still plain to see on his face.

However, the way they addressed each other had formally changed. Geom Woojin was now the Young Cult Leader, and he had ascended to the rank of Demon Supreme.

"Have you been well, Young Cult Leader?"

"I've been well, thanks to your concern, Demon Supreme."

They could no longer speak to each other as 'hyung' and 'dongsaeng'. That incident had become a turning point in their relationship.

Geom Woojin presented a box he had carried with him.

"What's this, Young Cult Leader?"

"It's a gift for the Demon Supreme."

When he opened the box, he found a single, bluish-hued pill inside. To his astonishment, it was an Azure Jade Divine Pill.

"It's my gift to you, Demon Supreme."

Miracle herbs like the Azure Jade Divine Pill were essential for him, having become a Demon Supreme at such a young age.

"I'm fine. Please, you take it, Young Cult Leader."

In that moment, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon saw it. He saw the look in Geom Woojin's eyes as he gazed at him. It might have been a misunderstanding, but at that time, Geom Woojin's eyes seemed to be saying this.

Hyung, take it.

He remembered that day as likely the last time he saw such a look in his eyes, as hyung and dongsaeng.

In the end, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon never took the Azure Jade Divine Pill. He felt that if he simply accepted and consumed it, everything that had happened with Geom Woojin that day would be finished. Just like that.

As much as he wished to forget that day, it was perhaps also a day he never wanted to forget. It was the day he helped the Second Young Lord become the Young Cult Leader.

So he held onto the Azure Jade Divine Pill all this time, eventually passing it to Geom Mugeuk. It felt as if it had reached Geom Mugeuk through fate.

Later, while Geom Woojin was fighting across the Central Plains alongside the Fist Demon, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon wished he could have been there with them.

He was only human, so how could he not have felt that way?

He never, however, expressed these feelings to Geom Woojin.

Still, his affection for the Cult Leader had never once changed.

And now, in this very moment.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon felt regret. This was a regret he had come to understand and feel as he built a deep relationship with Geom Mugeuk.

He should have talked with Geom Woojin.

Just as Geom Mugeuk came to him to discuss everything from trivial matters to all sorts of things, he should have told Geom Woojin everything as well.

They should have deliberately shared the weight of that day, over and over. Instead of burying such a profound wound in their hearts, the two of them, at the very least, should have spoken about it.

If Geom Woojin had not considered it, he, as the hyung, should have guided him.

If he had done so, his relationship with Geom Woojin would be different. The wound in his own heart would have faded more as well.

Returning to reality, the two men, Geom Woojin and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, stared at one another.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon decided he must tell Geom Woojin about the regret he had just remembered. He was resolved not to create another unspoken regret.

"Are you all right?"

"I apologize, Cult Leader. I acted on my own without informing you first."

"This wasn't an official matter, was it? I was just passing by on my own."

That part was also true. He had been returning to the Headquarters when he had his carriage turned around.

"I didn't know my Master was alive."

"We never found a body that day."

Gyo Cheon had fallen from the thousand-fathom cliff with his chest pierced. They had tried to recover his body later, but it had been carried away by the current and was never found. They assumed he had died from such a fatal injury, but here he was, alive.

As Gyo Cheon watched the two of them converse, his mood soured once more.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had his back turned completely toward him, speaking only to Geom Woojin. He felt utterly ignored.

He had been in a foul temper ever since encountering his disciple, and now he was being provoked to the very end. His disciple was always like this, but the one who truly angered him was Geom Woojin.

Shouldn't he have greeted his master the moment he saw him? The way they spoke only to each other felt more insulting than any curse.

In the end, he could no longer contain his anger and shouted.

"Geom Woojin!"

His voice echoed like thunder.

Only then did Geom Woojin's gaze shift to Gyo Cheon.

The instant his eyes met Geom Woojin's, Gyo Cheon was consumed by a passion even greater than what he had felt upon seeing the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

His death, in the end, was because of that Cult Leader.

It was because he had chosen the First Young Lord over him.

His anger, however, quickly transformed into delight.

"We finally meet!"

He had been waiting for this very day. Seeing him now, Gyo Cheon's heart pounded with excitement. He let out a bizarre laugh, all by himself.

He appeared to be a complete madman, yet Geom Woojin simply wore an indifferent expression, offering no reaction.

Seeing that lack of response, Gyo Cheon laughed even louder.

A thought suddenly struck the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

The three of us who could never move on have met again because we failed to properly mourn that day.

Yes, that was it. Himself, the Cult Leader, and his master laughing like a lunatic over there. None of them had ever properly mourned. Not the death of the First Young Lord, nor the fate that drove them into conflict.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon spoke to his master.

"The Cult Leader is here, so come down now."

It was a command, warning him not to dare look down on him.

Naturally, the corner of Gyo Cheon's eye twitched. He couldn't ask, 'The Cult Leader over your Master?' He had, after all, proudly announced that he had excommunicated him.

Then, Geom Woojin spoke.

"It's fine."

It was not because he was a man who was going to die anyway. Geom Woojin had a different reason for it being fine.

"This journey is one of stepping down from the grand master's chair. There's no need to be attached to positions."

In the past, he would have wondered what on earth that meant, but now he understood immediately. He knew Geom Mugeuk must have said that to the Cult Leader. It truly sounded like something Geom Mugeuk would say.

Geom Woojin looked at Gyo Cheon once more and said.

"So this is what it feels like to look up."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon laughed at Geom Woojin's words. He never thought he would hear such a joke from the Cult Leader in his entire life.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked Gyo Cheon.

"Wasn't your plan to drag the Cult Leader into this? Well, now show us what you've prepared."

Gyo Cheon sneered with mockery.

"Just a moment ago, you were hiding like a coward behind that pathetic sword, not even daring to show your face, and now you're so bold."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon laughed, accepting the taunt.

"Because the one person the Demon Supremes can truly rely on has arrived."

A faint smile also touched Geom Woojin's lips.

The atmosphere had eased with the Cult Leader's arrival, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon did not relax his inner tension. His Master surely had a hidden card.

However, he did not send a telepathic message warning the Cult Leader to be careful.

The Cult Leader was not a perfect man, so he could make mistakes and misjudge situations. That was why he had the Head Strategist and the Demon Supremes to assist him.

However, there are exceptional times when the Cult Leader becomes perfect. In those moments, he doesn't need to listen to anyone's advice. Because the Cult Leader knows best.

The moment of life and death.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon believes that in the heart of a battlefield, the Cult Leader becomes perfect.

And the place where they now stood was a battlefield.

Gyo Cheon could not gauge Geom Woojin's skill. Normally, he should have felt an overwhelming presence, like the one from the previous Cult Leader. But Geom Woojin's aura was not easily read. That meant one thing.

He's stronger than I expected.

He had conducted extensive research on the Demonic Cult Leader and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. A great deal of time and money had been spent, particularly to ascertain the level of their martial arts.

But seeing them in person, they were beyond what his investigation had revealed. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was stronger than he had thought, and so was Geom Woojin.

Why has everyone gotten so much stronger?

He knew the Young Cult Leader had brought a new wind to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but he could not have imagined it would make them this powerful.

Finally, Geom Woojin spoke his first words to Gyo Cheon.

"Will you step forward yourself?"

He did not ask how he was, nor did he make any other small talk.

Gyo Cheon's expression hardened instantly. His first words to him were merely, 'Will you fight me yourself?'

"You're looking down on me."

Gyo Cheon showed his displeasure, but Geom Woojin said nothing more.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon could understand the Cult Leader's heart.

In the past, he had helped the First Young Lord in an attempt to kill Geom Woojin. And now, he had caused the annihilation of a sect, dragging the Cult's reputation through the mud.

The Cult Leader must be furious. Given the Cult Leader's personality, the only reason he wasn't killing him immediately was likely because of him. Because he was his master. It was to let him resolve his own lingering resentment.

"You're as arrogant now as you were when you were young."

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon could see that his master's memories were once again distorted.

The look in the Cult Leader's eyes when he looked at him in his youth was so very different from the look now. The years had devoured his master.

"Fine, I'll do as you wish."

Gyo Cheon clapped his hands.

A door then opened, and an old man entered. He was clearly old, but his body was solid and his back was ramrod straight. He had a well-defined, muscular body. If one covered his face and looked only at his physique, he could be mistaken for a man in his twenties or thirties.

Geom Woojin and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon did not recognize him, and for good reason.

The Black Emperor.

That was because he was not a master of the previous generation. He was a master from the generation before that, a figure from the unorthodox sects who had earned infamy in the murim for his cruel nature and outstanding martial arts. In his prime, his skills were so exceptional that he was called the greatest master of the unorthodox sects.

He committed countless massacres and became a public enemy of the murim, but in the end, they were unable to kill him.

Being well over a hundred years old, everyone had naturally assumed he was dead, yet here he was today.

From the same door he had come through, another person walked out.

It was a young woman wearing heavy makeup. Her red lips were so alluring they could tempt any man.

The Qilian Demoness.

Contrary to her youthful appearance, she too was a master from the generation before the last, a contemporary of the Black Emperor.

To describe her in a single word.

The queen of the demonesses.

For well over a hundred years, she had absorbed the inner arts of countless men, reaching a point where she was called not just a demoness, but a monster.

What distinguished her from other demonesses was the purpose of that essence and inner art. She absorbed inner arts not just to preserve her youth but to become stronger, and the result was her standing shoulder to shoulder with the Black Emperor.

Her martial arts skill was so formidable that even the Black Emperor did not dare to carelessly call her a demoness.

Gyo Cheon said proudly.

"They are Seniors to me as well."

The two old masters showed no fear, despite knowing their opponent was the Demonic Cult Leader. Of course, this did not mean they were careless. They stared at Geom Woojin with deep, cautious eyes.

They knew perfectly well the weight that the name 'the Heavenly Demon' carried in the murim.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon glanced at Geom Woojin. Geom Woojin observed the two with a blank face, making it impossible to discern what the Cult Leader was thinking from his expression.

He'll probably tell them to both come at him, won't he?

Given the Cult Leader's personality, he definitely would.

However, while the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's thought was close to the correct answer, he had not guessed it exactly.

Geom Woojin raised a hand toward one side.

It did not seem as though any palm technique was being unleashed.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar sound came from the wall.

PHWOOONG!

Immediately after, the entire wall where the two had emerged from the door was located crumbled into dust.

It did not shatter and send fragments flying. In an amazing display, the wall simply disintegrated into dust right where it stood.

A cloud of dust billowed up, revealing the space that had been behind the wall.

The sight was truly bizarre, yet fresh.

There were people waiting there. They were sitting in various positions, as if waiting for their turn. From within the dust cloud, fearsome glints shone from their eyes. Their gazes alone made it clear. An aura no less powerful than that of the Black Emperor and the Qilian Demoness emanated from them.

One could tell just by looking at the first person to be revealed.

The Crazy Slayer.

It was the Crazy Slayer, the mad master known for killing a thousand experts, a god of slaughter, the crazed butcher of the previous generation.

The Crazy Slayer looked their way, his eyes revealing a cold killing intent.

That was not all. The glinting eyes radiating from behind the Crazy Slayer belonged to people who were not at all inferior to the madman himself. There were more than ten of them. Some faces were familiar, while others were not.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon knew. These were the fruits of his master's decades-long quest for revenge.

The pressure they exuded filled the hall. Masters from the previous generation and the one before that.

Gyo Cheon stared at Geom Woojin, his expression screaming, 'What kind of crazy stunt is this?' It would have been better to ask one of the two who had already come out to go back inside.

Geom Woojin had summoned all of them to the battlefield. He must have read the auras emanating from behind the door. The reason he destroyed the wall was obvious.

Demonic qi began to rise from Geom Woojin's body, flickering around him like flames.

"All of you, come at me at once."