I walked an unfamiliar path, following my father.
The rear of the Heavenly Demon Hall was a path I had never once walked before. Even when I returned to the cult before my regression to gather materials for the great art, I had never come to this place.
When we reached a beautifully tended garden, my father informed me that a formation was laid here.
“Step exactly where I step and follow me.”
The formation spread across the garden was the Nine Springs Evil Spirit Maze Formation. It was a dreadful death formation in which, if one failed to find the correct life gate, one would be chased by evil spirits until the moment of death.
I carefully followed behind, stepping precisely where my father had stepped.
Once we passed through the Nine Springs Evil Spirit Maze Formation, the view before us changed completely. In the place where there had been nothing as we walked through the garden, there now stood a massive building rising like a castle.
More secret than any other place within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—this was the Nine Calamities Demon Palace.
My father placed his palm on a small plate beside the door. When he infused internal energy into it, the enormous doors began to open slowly. This was a place that only those who had learned the Nine Calamities Demonic Art could enter.
I stepped into a new world.
The moment I entered, a single sight overwhelmed me.
Directly ahead, a gigantic stone statue in the form of the Heavenly Demon Soul sat in place. It looked as though my father himself were seated upon the grand preceptor’s chair.
And that Heavenly Demon Soul was extending its hand forward. I could instinctively tell. The place atop that palm was the seat meant for the Heavenly Demon.
The moment I saw the Heavenly Demon Soul, a thrilling shudder ran through my entire body. I wanted to climb onto that outstretched hand and stand tall. I was seized by the desire to meet my own Heavenly Demon Soul as soon as possible. Truly, on this day of all days, it was not easy to regain my composure.
Then my father spoke a single sentence that made my heart tremble even more.
“I, too, received the Nine Calamities Demonic Art from my father here.”
Perhaps he was remembering that day, for a memory of the past brushed across my father’s eyes.
‘What kind of person was Grandfather to you, Father?’
My father had never once spoken to me about my grandfather.
‘I have gained so many things to tell my own children about you, Father.’
I slowly looked around.
In that vast place, the past and the present coexisted.
The murals painted on one wall depicted the Demonic Cult at its very beginning. It was frightening, grotesque, and primal, and the paintings and stone statues were so vivid that they seemed as though they might leap out and move at any moment.
Beside them was another depiction of the Demonic Cult. As the years passed, the Demonic Cult had changed. The demonic humans and demons alike were portrayed differently.
“The Nine Calamities Demonic Art has been passed down through countless ages, changing and improving little by little, and at times being lost before being carried on again.”
The Nine Calamities Demonic Art was also recorded in detail upon the walls.
There were records from when the Nine Calamities Demonic Art was first born, and detailed accounts of the era when it consisted of nine techniques.
There was also a time when it was divided into the Nine Calamities Demon Sword Art, the Nine Calamities Demon Saber Art, and the Nine Calamities Demon Fist Art, becoming demonic arts of seven techniques each in the first and second halves. There was even a time when it was lost and buried in darkness.
Every step of the process up until the present, when it had once more become nine techniques, was recorded in detail on the walls.
“The Nine Calamities Demonic Art has continued to change.”
“It could not have been otherwise. In every era, fools and geniuses must have continued to appear.”
As he said that, my father’s gaze returned to the stone statue of the Heavenly Demon Soul.
“Amid all those changes, the only thing that never changed was the Heavenly Demon Soul.”
The techniques changed according to the era, but the Heavenly Demon Soul did not.
It was the ultimate existence that could be summoned only when one achieved great completion of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.
Before coming here, I had already seen the mental image of the Heavenly Demon Soul several times. In the cave of the Lord of All Things, I had felt as though the Heavenly Demon Soul was staring at me, and I had seen it while enduring the domineering aura of the Martial Alliance Leader.
I could not forget the look in the Heavenly Demon Soul’s eyes as it gazed at me then. A gaze that seemed to find me laughable, seemed to long for me, and seemed to pity me all at once.
“Have you summoned the Heavenly Demon Soul?”
At my question, my father nodded.
It meant he had achieved great completion of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art and could summon the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Father, did you lose to Hwa Mugi even after summoning the Heavenly Demon Soul? Or did you fight without summoning it? Just what kind of battle took place that day?
Even in this moment, it was difficult to imagine defeat from my father’s profile, which looked so unshakably firm. I did not know whether I would one day learn what happened that day or remain ignorant forever, but one thing was certain.
That would never happen again.
“If I achieve great completion of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, would both you and I be able to summon the Heavenly Demon Soul separately?”
“That is so. It is said that the Heavenly Demon Soul differs slightly depending on the one who summons it. The Heavenly Demon Soul I summon and the Heavenly Demon Soul you summon will be different.”
A Heavenly Demon Soul different from my father’s. Imagining those two Heavenly Demon Souls standing tall and facing each other made me look forward to that moment beyond measure.
“My Heavenly Demon Soul… may be rather talkative.”
A faint smile formed at the corner of my father’s mouth. For him, that reaction was practically roaring with laughter.
“I do not know if I will be able to see it in my lifetime.”
It was a teasing remark, but it also contained the meaning that achieving great completion of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art was just that difficult.
My father lightly launched himself into the air and landed atop the palm of the Heavenly Demon Soul statue.
“Come up here.”
As though I had been waiting, I also launched myself up and stood there.
I reached out and touched the statue’s hand. The feel of cold stone.
At the center of the palm was engraved the symbol of the Heavenly Demon Soul, and it was shaped so that a person could sit there. It seemed my father, too, had received the Nine Calamities Demonic Art here.
My father looked at me and asked again.
“Are you ready?”
I looked at my father and answered.
“I wish to feel the true touch of the Heavenly Demon Soul.”
Then my father’s dignified aura filled the entire hall.
At last, from my father’s mouth came the words I had so desperately longed to hear.
“From this moment, I will transmit the Nine Calamities Demonic Art to you.”
Before a great destiny, my body trembled of its own accord. My heart, which had sunk into calm, began to pound once more.
I sat there with my back straight, in proper posture.
I breathed thinly and long, yet steadily. My breath and consciousness became one, and at last I was ready to accept my fate.
The place atop this palm was no ordinary location. I did not know by what principle, but the movement of internal energy and demonic energy was far smoother here.
“A technique is merely a process aimed at the single result of slaughter, and a movement that optimizes that process. Your achievement will depend on how well you understand this.”
Beginning with the profound principles of martial learning, my father started to recite the oral formula of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.
With my eyes closed, I began to memorize the formula of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.
It was more difficult than any martial art I had encountered until now. In most cases, I could at least roughly understand upon hearing it, but the Nine Calamities Demonic Art was composed of entirely new concepts.
I only memorized what my father was saying. Understanding and interpreting its meaning would come later. I focused my entire mind and memorized.
“…Shengjue must be cold, and Shuifen must be hot. If Xiawan is the leaf, Jianli must become the root, and only when chaos becomes order, and thunderous noise becomes silence, shall Zhongwan turn to life and Juque to death. When Zhongting is clear and still, Tanzhong shall…”
Unfathomable formulas continued endlessly. After a long while, the final formula of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art concluded like this.
“…Standing alone and towering above this world, that is the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.”
When my father’s recitation ended, an exclamation escaped me before I knew it. How much I understood or failed to understand was a matter for later. Instinctively, I knew. I knew just how extraordinary the Nine Calamities Demonic Art was. The majesty and dignity of an absolute demonic art became an overwhelming emotion that wrapped around my entire body.
“How much have you memorized?”
“I have memorized the formula itself in its entirety.”
My father was different from usual. Normally, he would have said, Then let us go, and risen from his seat. But my father repeated the formula.
“Now, listen again.”
At least in this moment of teaching the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, he was more serious than ever before. Since the Nine Calamities Demonic Art was transmitted directly rather than through a secret manual as a matter of principle, even a single misremembered or misinterpreted character could endanger one’s life.
After transmitting the formula by repeating it three times, my father told me to recite it.
I began to chant the formula of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.
When I recited it accurately from beginning to end, my father wore a satisfied expression.
“It is correct.”
I performed a deep bow to my father.
“I am truly so happy. Thank you, Father.”
Emotion welled up within me, and no other words came to mind. I was simply joyful and grateful.
I thought the transmission of the martial art would end like this. I have taught you, so now learn it on your own.
But it did not.
My father transmitted several key principles and essentials of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art to me. He did not teach me the whole of it, but precisely pointed out only the specific parts where I might become confused.
“Have you memorized all of this as well?”
“Yes, I have memorized it.”
“I am telling you this so that you do not wander the path needlessly.”
“Thank you, Father.”
My father sat down on the tip of one of the Heavenly Demon Soul’s fingers. I also sat beside him.
“My father lectured me on the entire essence of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. From the beginning of the formula to the end. He taught me how to interpret it and in what manner I should train. Even so, it took me a very long time to achieve great completion.”
My father’s gaze turned toward me.
“I will not teach you the entire essence.”
I was not particularly surprised, as it was like my father. But the reason he intended to do so was truly astonishing.
“You, too, must know that even the same martial art can differ greatly depending on how it is interpreted.”
Then he said the most astonishing thing he had said since I met him.
“I want to see the Nine Calamities Demonic Art as interpreted by you.”
“!”
I was startled. Truly startled.
And I could understand. Those words just now meant that my father acknowledged me as a martial artist, one standing before another martial artist. No, it was more than that.
“Show me your Nine Calamities Demonic Art.”
He was saying that he wanted to see a Nine Calamities Demonic Art even more outstanding than the one he had learned. My proud father was saying that now.
“And so, engrave your history in this place!”
My heart surged. In this moment, the joy of being acknowledged by my father was greater than the joy of receiving the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. The tears that had not come then were now about to fall.
Before hearing my answer, my father rose from his seat.
“Let us go.”
It was the moment he returned to being my usual taciturn father.
I did not say that I would show him.
Because I truly would.
Thank you, Father.
I really think I have returned well.
* * *
After leaving the Heavenly Demon Divine Palace, I climbed to the summit of Great Heavenly Mountain.
Standing there alone, I recited the formula of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art again and again. I strove to engrave it into my mind forever.
My life depended on this. Everyone’s lives depended on this.
And I reflected again and again on the key principles and insights my father had taught me. Had I not known these principles, I would have needed far more time to learn the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.
Forgetting even hunger, I immersed myself there solely in the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. My mind was clear and clean, and I felt joy.
There was no me, and no father. In the end, even the Nine Calamities Demonic Art disappeared. In a true state of selflessness, I perfectly engraved the Nine Calamities Demonic Art within me.
* * *
The first place I went after descending Great Heavenly Mountain was the Pungryu Tavern.
When I entered, Jo Chunbae ran out and welcomed me.
“Young Cult Leader! Truly, congratulations! When I heard the news that you had become the Young Cult Leader, I wanted to go into the cult and pay my respects to you.”
Truly, he looked as though he wanted to embrace me.
So I suddenly embraced him. Jo Chunbae was so startled he looked as if he might faint.
“You must not do this to someone as lowly as me.”
“This is the last time you will say such things as ‘lowly.’ It is rude to say such things to a friend, isn’t it?”
At the word friend, Jo Chunbae cried, “Good heavens,” and waved his hands in refusal. What more needed to be said? Jo Chunbae’s wrinkled face was filled with emotion.
“There has never been anyone like you before, Young Cult Leader, and there never will be again.”
“Show me that emotion through your cooking! I’m starving to death!”
I went up to the second floor.
I looked at the wall where Demon Buddha and the Poison King had left their marks before, and beside it, one more person had left something behind.
Blood Heaven, sharing a drink with his disciple before departing.
Astonishingly, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had come with Seo Daeryong and left those words.
It was impressive enough that they had come to drink together, but in the writing he left behind, he had even mentioned his disciple. Thinking of the two of them, I smiled pleasantly.
A little later, Jo Chunbae came up carrying wine and side dishes.
Looking at the words newly left on the wall by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, he said,
“Senior Blade Demon came by recently and left that for us. It is all thanks to you, Young Cult Leader.”
“It may have been thanks to me at first, but now it is because of our tavern master’s wine and cooking. Do you know how picky those people are?”
As I said that, I tugged at Jo Chunbae’s sleeve.
“Have a drink with me.”
“Yes, I shall offer you a congratulatory cup.”
“Do you know that? This is the first congratulatory cup I’ve received.”
“Good heavens! Should someone as low—no, should I be the one to offer you the first cup?”
“That’s what I’m saying. I thought of the tavern master first, before all the Demon Venerables. Why do you suppose that was?”
Jo Chunbae answered wittily.
“Could it be because you were hungry?”
“To be honest, I did go without food for a few days.”
We laughed together.
I was different from before.
I had gone from Second Young Master to Young Cult Leader, and I had even learned the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.
But I would live an unchanged life.
I would live a life where I shared cups of wine with Jo Chunbae like this.
The Ten-Star Great Completion of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art could likely be achieved in the training hall.
But I do not think the Twelve-Star Great Completion can be achieved in the training hall. I believe the path to the Twelve Stars can be found at a drinking table with Jo Chunbae, in a single line carved on the wall by the Extreme Evil Young Demon, and on a moonlit mountain path walked with Ian.
My absolute principle regarding martial learning, unchanged as ever.
Only when the person changes can the martial art change.
And I know something else as well.
That the demonic path that does not break the table is ten times harder than the demonic path that does. Jo Chunbae is the milestone of the demonic path I must protect. When laughter disappears from his face, my demonic path will be walking the wrong road.
And so, this is enough for my celebration. A grand one, with just the two of us.
“Now, let us have a drink, tavern master!”