The mountainside was in ruins.

Torn limbs lay scattered everywhere.

Fragments of colorful garments left dark crimson stains all around the massive crater.

It was impossible to tell whether the crumbling masses were human flesh or clumps of earth.

“......”

This was the northern landscape.

It /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the Demonic Realm had overlapped with the Central Plains.

And there were only two people standing at the very spot where Mun Gok’s fist had landed.

“A fight you're protecting?”

Gun Wi-hu, Lord of Simmuryun.

“So you really are a member of the Six-Origin Star Corps...”

It was Jeon Baek, the one-armed Evil Cult Practitioner whom Gun Wi-hu had saved in a brief instant.

Wooooong—

Around the two of them, the reverberating force of martial energy warped the air like mist.

It was the aftershock of Gun Wi-hu having torn apart the ripple from Mun Gok’s pressure strike—proof of how fast the disarmed invincible warrior’s grappling strike had been.

A dry gulp passed down Jeon Baek’s throat.

Standing on splinters of shattered trees, he shouted loudly.

“Please, Six-Origin Star warrior...! Listen to me, just for a moment!”

But Mun Gok didn’t even glance at him.

With the composed gaze of a scholar from the Hanlin Academy, he looked on with quiet interest—focused solely on Gun Wi-hu.

“There’s no reason nor need for you to cross fists with the Commander this early! You’re here to find the legacy of the First Heavenly Demon, are you not? That’s why you brought even your remnants—!”

Bang!

Suddenly, a gust from Gun Wi-hu’s flicked sleeve blasted Jeon Baek down the mountainside.

Gun Wi-hu didn’t even bother to look back.

“Those born close to the brush always think avoiding great conflict is a virtue. Their master’s honor is the first thing they throw aside.”

“I hold honor and dignity in very high regard, actually.”

Mun Gok replied, but Gun Wi-hu only glanced at him momentarily and said nothing.

Mun Gok smiled faintly.

“I felt the ripple of your transmission just now. I see now that you intended to strike two birds with one stone—getting your subordinates out safely, and spreading the news of the current war outside.”

Perhaps to divert from the insight of this monster, Gun Wi-hu suddenly spoke thunderous words.

“The War God roams the Central Plains like his own domain. Are you on your way to join him?”

“...Hm?”

For the first time, Mun Gok’s expression shifted.

The face of a tactician hearing something unexpected.

“The War God...?”

[Feigning ignorance, are you.]

Gun Wi-hu’s voice echoed.

The powerful will behind it burned with a deepening hatred.

[The Divine Sword Corps was utterly defeated in the north, and through the breached Great Wall, the cripple has marched south. No doubt you plan to join the War God as an occupying force, leading these surrendered prisoners.]

The white-furred cloak draped around Gun Wi-hu fluttered gently.

His feet lifted a fraction into the air with a light leap skill, and even as the ground beneath him cracked into a perfect circle with a heavy sound, his body floated with graceful dignity.

It was the prelude to Empty Moon Martial Movement.

[The times are shifting. Lord Yong Hui-myeong is not the only one who despises stagnation.]

“Unlike when you hid behind Emperor Geonreung to inspect the Demonic Realm, you seem quite bothersome now.”

Praising his advancement for a moment, Mun Gok then turned into a streak of crimson light—instantly appearing before Gun Wi-hu.

Nine-Vessel Demonic Power Step.

Like a meteor, his fist came crashing down upon Gun Wi-hu’s crown.

KWAHHHHHHH!

Another crater exploded, sending a monstrous shockwave outward.

Gun Wi-hu barely dodged the giant’s punch, white breath spilling from his lips.

[It’s only a matter of time before the Divine Sword Corps’ defeat becomes known. And it won’t stop there—they surrendered to the North. The morale of the Central Plains will plummet, and the world will turn on the now-collapsed Ipwang Fortress. All part of your scheme, no doubt.]

“It seems all Central Plains martial artists are destined to misunderstand things as you do.”

[What are you implying.]

“The truth is that the Demonic Realm was subjugated by the Divine Sword Corps.

And as a prisoner of Geomcheon Seomye, I now travel with them.”

[What...?]

His confusion was swallowed by yet another silent punch from Mun Gok.

***

Jungyang Pavilion, Jongnam Sect.

A place from which one could, if desired, overlook the entire flow of the Jinryeong Mountains.

It was a shrine that held the memorial tablets of the sect’s ancestors, but today their presence lingered only as faint traces of incense.

The walls had long been covered in withered vines.

At its center sat a mysterious woman clad in a faded robe.

Her hair, golden like molten sunlight, brushed the floor, and her long leaf-like ears stood just a little higher than before.

She parted her lips.

“The clan’s crisis has arrived, so now we’re to receive the power of the Thousand-Year Tree?

Is the same thing happening across all regions of the Central Plains right now...?”

“......”

Silence flowed from the walls.

Silken vines curled around her, forming a mandala-like circle.

And alongside them came whispers, strange like the spring wind.

After a pause, the woman spoke again.

“...To forcibly strengthen one’s upper dantian with such absurd power—this strays from the path of martial arts.

Surely one would lose their sanity and become nothing more than a puppet obeying your will.”

Sshhh—

As the indoor breeze brushed the vines, the woman shook her head.

“I understand.

Jongnam and Mount Hua alone cannot handle the martial artists converging on Jinryeong.

No one knows what kind of strange effects the legacy of the First Heavenly Demon might bring...

But what matters to me is not the clan.

It’s the disciples of Jongnam Sect.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Would the elder of a clan that stood on the brink of annihilation now entrust her mind to the Thousand-Year Tree?

I think not.”

“......”

A few vines raised their heads like tiny serpents.

A few more crept toward the sword beside her.

Yeo Il-shin, Grand Elder of Jongnam Sect—called the Oak Sword—parted her lips once more.

“My Baihui point has long been entangled with your vines.

I know resisting you here is difficult.

But remember this—someone will eventually learn the truth of this, and someday, they may come to pass judgment on you.”

FWHAAA!

In an instant, bluish vines erupted from all directions and wrapped around Yeo Il-shin.

Her body was already motionless, like the root of a tree.

“Grand Elder...?!”

Just then, the disciples of Jongnam Sect knocked on the doors of Jungyang Pavilion.

From beneath Yeo Il-shin’s eyelids, a bright blue light leaked out, casting a cold glow around her.

***

It was an indigo-blue night.

A twilight so dreamlike it felt unreal.

Dan Jeong-jeong, lady-in-waiting to the Lord of Ipwang Fortress, was from Pyeong-eum County in Jinan, and at that moment, as she leaned against a rock in rags to rest, she found the starry night that had quietly descended over the mountain range to be strange.

‘It must be because of the legacy of the First Heavenly Demon...’

The supreme demonic martial lineage of past and present, said to seduce anyone.

Anyone with even the faintest knowledge of the martial world couldn’t help but think of the power of the Heavenly Demon.

Dan Jeong-jeong knew well how bizarre the sacred artifacts derived from the gods of the Great Masters could be.

She’d once been entrusted with delivering the authentic scroll of Jeong Ga-dong’s cultivation technique to her lord.

That was long before the fall of Ipwang Fortress.

‘It’s been a long time, but still.’

Slide.

She suddenly pushed herself off the rock.

Her hand was already drawing a sword from her waist—one without even a scabbard.

Three martial artists were looking down at her from atop the rock, each with bloodstained weapons hanging loosely.

“You’re alone, it seems. Did you lose your group here?”

“Hmph, even a girl this young is chasing after the Heavenly Demon’s legacy? She can’t even be of age yet.”

“Hyungnims, I heard the acting leader of the Divine Sword Corps was around that age, too. The world’s gone mad—who cares about age anymore? Kill her if you must, or extract any info if she’s got any.”

Dan Jeong-jeong silently flipped up onto the rock.

After exchanging precisely thirty-seven bouts with them, she killed all three.

Her worn Ipwang Sword, chipped in places, was now stained with fresh blood.

It had happened again and again.

The Jinryeong Mountains had already become a hellscape.

It felt like the shattered remains of Ipwang Fortress itself.

The scent of iron in the dirt, the stench of half-rotten corpses, and the smell of blood blown in from the border between winter and spring.

Her mind was growing foggy. She was beginning to need the sound of her own voice.

“I’m walking the right path. This is the right way.”

She wasn’t wandering aimlessly.

She was following the subtle earth flow—like the current of an underground spring.

Her martial cultivation still fell short of the White Rank of Ipwang, but her upper dantian’s spiritual sensitivity was above average.

It was due to frequently coming into contact with the branches of the Thousand-Year Tree, having always stayed near her lord.

Perhaps that was why she’d been seeing mirages often lately.

The moment she stepped into Jinryeong, she’d seen an illusory image of Baek Mi-ryeo of Ma Gwang-ik.

At night, she saw the acting leader of the Divine Sword Corps.

Whether it was the power of her upper dantian or an illusion cast by the First Heavenly Demon’s lingering will, she couldn’t be sure.

After all, those two were the ones who had once brought judgment upon the crimes of the Hwangbo branch family in her hometown.

And even now—

A youth of unparalleled beauty suddenly appeared on the mountain path beneath the stars.

“...It’s been a while.”

“Lord Jeong...?”

“What are you doing here?”

His jet-black eyes appeared first.

Soft starlight traced the line of his nose and jaw, flowing down to his faded violet robe.

Dan Jeong-jeong thought—indeed, the Heavenly Demon’s tomb was terrifying.

“If the sacred relic left by the First Heavenly Demon could benefit the Fortress, I thought it worth seeking.

But I suppose the Heavenly Demon truly is the Heavenly Demon.

He shows you what you truly wish to see.”

At her murmur, the young man responded.

“What you wish to see?”

“Anyone from Ipwang would say the same, wouldn’t they?

Lord Ma, Lord Yong, Lord Jeong... and the Fortress Lord. We want to see them.

If only that day... if only the violet was there that day...”

Maybe it was the dark night air drawing out the solitude of Ipwang Fortress from her heart.

Dan Jeong-jeong, facing what was surely a hallucination born of demonic energy, began to babble.

“That day?”

“The day the fortress fell.

It wasn’t that long ago...”

“Prepare your story properly next time.”

The youth vanished like a wisp of ghostly light. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Utterly gone without a trace.

But Dan Jeong-jeong didn’t mind.

That may have been a hallucination conjured by a muddled mind, but the enemies now swarming the mountains like constellations were real.

Even if the Divine Sword Corps were to descend here, they would have to overcome countless tribulations.

The Central Plains had gathered here en masse.

Dan Jeong-jeong had to face people trying to kill her every time she crossed a ridge—

Or struggle to dodge the debris of collapsing cliffs caused by clashes between martial masters beyond her reckoning.

Crack! Crash! Boom!

Peaks shattered like brittle candy, and translucent shockwaves from clashing martial powers swept across the land like typhoons.

The powerful were starving.

The world had gone mad.

―Those who hear this broadcasted voice, retreat at once! The legacy of the First Heavenly Demon shall be recovered by our Explosive Army, to restore peace to the martial world...!

“Ilwonmun? Aren’t you the solitary transmission lineage that never meddles in worldly affairs?”

“Step back! Our clan’s Formless Poison is invincible!”

[Where is the Master of the Cult of Radiance?

This King Hwang of the Hong family has the right to face you.

If you do not appear, I will kill every last tomb raider you’ve gathered.]

Kill them all.

That, perhaps, was exactly what the Supreme Leader of the Cult of Radiance intended.

From the surrounding peaks—stretching for hundreds of jang—countless people were killing and being killed.

That madness might just feed even the demonic nature of the First Heavenly Demon.

The legacy had not even yet been revealed, yet so many were already desperate to eliminate their rivals.

And yet, somehow—

The peaks surrounding the vast mountain range began to fade, one by one.

Until finally, everything fell silent.

“...?”

All noise died out in an instant.

No movements.

No signs.

As if the calm starlight had swallowed the entire Central Plains.