“What?”
The Demon-Brain Divine Demon shuddered.
“N-no. That can't be. Surely not...”
He told himself his senses must be mistaken.
He had assumed everything was going smoothly and turned his attention to other matters for a while.
Then every connection to the demonic-beast production site had suddenly gone dead.
“Don't tell me... It's been discovered?”
Impossible.
The place was hidden with the utmost care.
Layer upon layer of magical formations concealed it, and demons of the Demon-Slayer and Calamity Demon classes stood guard.
As if that weren't enough, he had even stationed a Fell Demon-class demon there.
He wanted to believe nothing had happened, but the crystal orb that had been displaying the production site now showed nothing at all.
No.
Not that place.
He absolutely could not afford to lose that place.
The Demon-Brain Divine Demon immediately dispatched a reconnaissance demonic beast.
He drove it toward the site at full speed, unconcerned with whether it collapsed from exhaustion.
All he needed was a glimpse of what had happened.
But what he saw through the eyes of the swiftly flying beast left him stunned.
“W-what? Wh-where's the mountain?”
The mountain that should have been there had vanished without a trace.
All that remained was a deep crater.
Looking around, he could see signs that some tremendous force had blasted the entire mountain away.
The shock wave had torn apart the slopes of the surrounding mountains. Beyond them, trees lay uprooted or snapped in two.
“Wh-what in the world...”
An entire mountain had disappeared.
What kind of monster could have done that?
And it hadn't merely vanished. An enormous crater had been gouged deep into the ground where the mountain once stood.
As far as he knew, only one being possessed that kind of power.
The Lord of Heaven...
Could there be a martial artist in the Central Plains who rivaled the Lord of Heaven?
Then someone came to mind.
Jeok Wigang.
Why had he thought of that man at this particular moment?
Somehow, he had a feeling Wigang might be capable of such a feat.
“So we're fated to be enemies.”
He was convinced.
BANG—
CRACK— CRASH—
The desk beneath the Demon-Brain Divine Demon's hand shattered into pieces and collapsed onto the floor.
“Damn it...”
He had put so much effort into creating those demonic beasts.
And they weren't ordinary beasts.
They were the highest-grade demonic beasts.
He had intended to unleash them when the Lord of Heaven eventually descended upon the Central Plains, plunging the world into chaos to please his master.
That had been the plan.
But now the gift he had spent so long preparing for the Lord of Heaven had come to nothing.
“Jeok Wigang... JEOK WIGANG!”
His voice shook with fury.
“Haa...”
The Demon-Brain Divine Demon steadied his breathing.
Once he had calmed himself, he spoke in a low voice.
“I suppose it's only fair to repay you in kind.”
He turned to the documents before him.
“So these are all I have left.”
He had brought quite a few with him.
At first, he had even thought he'd brought too many.
He hadn't expected to need them all.
Yet most had since fallen to Jeok Wigang, leaving only a handful.
He shook his head.
With a monster like Jeok Wigang around, numbers were meaningless.
Whether he had many or few made no difference.
No matter their class, none of his demons seemed capable of standing against that monster.
He would have to devise a strategy that caused Wigang as much trouble as possible while avoiding direct confrontation.
His gaze turned cold as he studied a map of the Central Plains.
Marked upon it were the locations of sects and organizations that White Horse Heaven's demons had already seized or infiltrated.
The Nine Sects and One Gang.
The Five Great Families.
Mid-tier sects.
Unorthodox factions.
Even merchant alliances.
The map of the Central Plains was covered in dots.
“Let's see just how much of the Central Plains you can protect.”
The Lord of Heaven had ordered him to wait until his arrival.
What he was about to do would violate that command.
Nevertheless, the Demon-Brain Divine Demon believed it was the right course of action for his master—and the only way to restore White Horse Heaven's honor.
He waved his hand.
The fragments of the shattered desk began gathering, piece by piece, until the desk stood perfectly restored, as though nothing had happened.
A sheet of paper floated above it.
A brush rose into the air and began writing of its own accord.
What it wrote was an order.
An order to commence operations.
“Go on, then... Try and stop me.”
Instead of taking the Divine Physician of Clear Life to Heavenly Martial Castle, Jeok Wigang had brought him to the True Martial Sect.
Now that he had destroyed every demonic beast at the production site, the Demon-Brain Divine Demon was bound to retaliate somehow.
The people Wigang cherished most.
His family.
The Demon-Brain Divine Demon likely knew about them, and Wigang was certain they would be his first targets.
“Well, well! Who do we have here? If it isn't the Lord of Heavenly Martial Castle himself!”
“Father.”
Jeok Rihyeon approached with a mischievous grin.
“With all those important duties to attend to, what brings Your Lordship here?”
“Everything all right?”
“Trouble? Of course not. Isn't this the safest place in the entire Central Plains right now?”
His father had a point.
If they were dealing with ordinary enemies, that is.
Unfortunately, their enemies were anything but ordinary.
“What's got you looking so serious? More importantly, who's this gentleman beside you?”
“Oh! Let me introduce you. This is the Divine Physician of Clear Life.”
“What?!”
Jeok Rihyeon visibly started at the introduction, then hurriedly offered a martial salute.
“It's an honor to meet the renowned Divine Physician of Clear Life in person.”
“Please, my reputation is greatly exaggerated. I'm almost embarrassed by such a warm welcome.”
“Nonsense! You're more than deserving of a warm welcome. But may I ask how you came to know our Wigang?”
Wigang answered his father's question.
“I've taken him as my master.”
“Have you, now? So you're my son's master! Come, come inside. I'd be honored to offer my son's master some hospitality today.”
“Thank you, but I'd like to have a look around the village first.”
“The village? Whatever for?”
“Force of habit.”
“Are you hoping to find anyone who might be ill?”
“That too. I thought I'd take the opportunity to get a feel for the village while I'm at it.”
“Haha! Of course. I'll have someone accompany you.”
“That really isn't necessary.”
“Please. Allow me to be of some help.”
Jeok Rihyeon's earnest insistence drew a hearty laugh from the Divine Physician of Clear Life.
“Very well, then. I'll take you up on your offer.”
“Please, don't speak as though you're imposing! Think of this place as your own home. Whenever you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. If it's within my power, I'll see to it.”
“I'm grateful enough for the offer.”
Jeok Rihyeon immediately assigned a subordinate who knew the village inside and out to assist the Divine Physician of Clear Life.
Once the physician had left, Rihyeon turned back to his son.
“Now, tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“Why you looked so troubled earlier.”
“Ah...”
Should he tell him?
Wigang hesitated.
Then again, his father would need to know sooner or later if he was going to prepare for what might come.
Wigang told Jeok Rihyeon everything that had happened before his arrival.
“Demonic beasts...” Rihyeon murmured. “If those things had been unleashed on the Central Plains, the resulting chaos would have been terrible.”
“And it isn't just the demonic beasts. The Calamity Demon-class demons were powerful enough to rival Grandfather, and the Fell Demon-class ones were so strong that even Grandfather would struggle against them. There are still enemies like that out there, and I'm certain they'll come after this place.”
Jeok Rihyeon smiled.
“Father, this is serious.”
“Calamity Demon, Fell Demon—what do I have to worry about when I've got you?”
“Father...”
“Don't worry. I'll find some way to stay alive until you get here. Then you'll come and save me, won't you?”
“Of course I will. I'll also need to reinforce the formations here. We need to prepare for Calamity Demon- and Fell Demon-class enemies.”
“Do that. But more importantly... what about the rest of the Central Plains? If I were the Demon-Brain Divine Demon, I'd assume you would be concentrating on protecting this place and strike somewhere else instead.”
Wigang looked as though he'd been struck.
He had been so preoccupied with the possibility of his family being in danger that he hadn't considered anything else.
“Shouldn't you send the sect leaders training so diligently at the training ground back to their respective sects? Their people will need their leaders if they're going to prepare for an attack.”
“You're right. I wasn't thinking far enough ahead.”
Wigang's expression grew grave.
What if the very thing he feared came to pass?
What if the enemy began moving in several places simultaneously?
He was only one person.
Could he possibly stop them all?
“Wigang.”
“Yes?”
“Aren't you underestimating the strength of the Central Plains?”
“These enemies are powerful.”
“I know. But the Central Plains aren't so easily overcome, either. No matter how strong they are, we can stand against them if we join forces. We have formations, don't we? If we can bring everyone's strength together, perhaps we can hold out against them even if we can't defeat them.”
His father could say that because he hadn't truly experienced what those enemies were capable of.
There would be a limit to how long anyone could hold out against them.
And it wasn't as though Wigang could travel around the entire Central Plains installing formations at every sect.
The greatest problem was the demons already hiding within those organizations.
Once they began making their moves, the trouble wouldn't come from outside.
Infighting would erupt from within, quickly throwing the sects into chaos.
At that point, formations would be useless.
After all, the infiltrators would hardly leave intact any formations that might hinder their plans.
He needed another approach.
But what?
“Don't try to shoulder everything yourself. Let's bring your grandfather into this and think it through together.”
“All right.”
“Hmm. That certainly is a headache. We have no idea where they've hidden themselves or how they've infiltrated these organizations.”
After listening to Wigang's entire account, Jeok Mugun muttered with a grave expression.
Jeok Rihyeon looked equally troubled as he spoke.
“If they infiltrated the sects long ago, they may already hold positions of considerable influence. They might even have established factions of their own, ready to stir up internal conflict the moment they receive their orders.”
“And the sects outside the Five Great Families and the Nine Sects and One Gang may already be entirely under their control,” Jeok Mugun added. “What do you intend to do?”
Wigang fell into deep thought at his grandfather's question.
The other two remained silent, giving him time to organize his thoughts.
How much time had passed?
Finally, Wigang spoke.
“One thing we know for certain is that we can trust the sect leaders who are here.”
“That's true.”
“Then we just need to give them the strength they need.”
Jeok Mugun looked troubled.
“We've been doing our best, but strength isn't something you gain overnight. Of course, they've all grown stronger since they first came here. Some have even advanced to higher realms. But that alone isn't enough.”
“I know. It's far too late to rely on ordinary training now... But I intend to try everything I can.”
“Don't tell me... You're planning to put all of them through Bone-and-Body Rebirth?”
Wigang nodded.
“I'll perform Bone-and-Body Rebirth while drawing out their latent potential at the same time. If that still isn't enough, I'll engrave energy-amplifying formations onto their weapons to make them stronger.”
Bone-and-Body Rebirth was something a martial artist could normally achieve only after experiencing an extraordinary combination of fortuitous encounters.
The fact that Wigang spoke of performing it so casually was absurd enough.
Yet he was going a step further, proposing to amplify their energy as well.
The Bone-and-Body Rebirth Wigang intended to perform was based on a modified spell from a book of magic.
It was a form of transformation magic that reconstructed the physical body.
By adapting it, he could reshape a person's body into one ideally suited to martial arts.
The original spell was said to be the magic that dragons, beings of divine nature, used when assuming human form.
Casting it required an enormous amount of magical power.
There was also magic capable of drawing out a person's latent potential.
But combining those two spells was an entirely different matter.
Only Jeok Wigang possessed the ability to unite them.
It was something unprecedented in the entire history of magic.
“Even if you manage to make the sect leaders and promising young disciples here that strong, what do you intend to do about the mid-tier sects and unorthodox factions that aren't here?”
“I've prepared something for them.”

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