Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon Chapter 51: Metamorphosis (2)

A partial success.

How unexpected.

Woon-seong had used all of his strength to smash the walls, but that had only been enough to free one of the veins!

The small walls that blocked the rest of said half collapsed one by one.

The resulting impurities oozed out of his pores, leaving Woon-seong with drops of black sweat on his skin.

Suddenly, his body turned hot. The black drops of sweat changed color as they hardened, baking against his body like clay. Like a snake shedding its skin, this layer cracked and peeled away from Woon-seongs body, revealing clear skin and shining hair underneath.

Woon-seongs body twitched intermittently as the change continued, his body temperature rising and cooling.

For how long did that continue?

There was no one to keep track of ti.

Drip.

Drip, drop.

A few drops of water dripped off the wall and onto the face of the young man, who lay there like a corpse.

Color returned to his whole body in the instant of a heartbeat.

Woon-seong began to twitch.

Mmmmm

A groan ca out. Woon-seong, who had been unconscious for a long ti began to wake slowly.

As if trying to wake him up faster, the White Night Spear trembled and humd.

At the sound, Woon-seong sat upright.

Whatdid sothing happen?

The awakened youth slowly leaned forward and instinctively grabbed for the White Night Spear. With that, the trembling of the spear subsided.

Despite being unconscious for an unknown period of ti, his last mory was quite vivid.

I was definitely trying to open the Twin Veins of Control.

Woon-seong shifted his energy, feeling the different sources and following the course they took.

Hmm.

However, there was still a wall blocking one of the veins.

Half success.

Smiling bitterly, Woon-seong confird once more. It did not go as planned, since he wanted to open both at once.

But he hadnt been able to, so there was nothing he could do. What a sha.

He shook his head and stored that thought in the back of his mind. Surely, there would be other opportunities. Even at the current rate of growth, his progress was incomparably fast.

This is already much better than my past life.

Furthermore, his goal was to control the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.

There was still a long way to go.

Still, Woon-seong was confident he was steadily getting closer to it.

Woon-seongs eyes suddenly burned with hatred as the faces of his enemies flashed through his mind.

Jwa Do-gyul

That was the na of an enemy that must be torn to pieces.

Phew.

He cald his boiling fury and slowly exhaled.

At the sa ti, Woon-seong looked around slowly. How long had he been unconscious? For one day, a week, or a month? The weather was clearly cooler than before, so it was definitely not a day or two.

Has the Banquet of the Heavenly Mountain and Divine Fla finished?!

That thought startled him so much he sprang from the ground and broke into a sprint, dashing towards the exit like a mad man.

Then he stopped moving just as fast, skidding to a stop in shock.

His body was light, too light.

Woon-seong looked down at his arms and legs, only to see that the bracers were still there. However, his movents were very natural, as if there were no extra weights attached at all. Not only that, even though he hadnt eaten for days, his muscles were filled with vigor.

Then his eye twitched.

He finally noticed his clothes, which were now black.

He hadnt changed for a long ti. Also, they slled like old clothes, a bit rotten. There was the sll from dirt, but also sweat and contamination.

Wait a minute No way

In a hurry, Woon-seong sent another surge of energy through his limbs. Just a mont ago, he had only focused on the opening of the Twin Veins.

He had indeed missed sothing.

He could feel the qi flow all the way down to his fingertips.

All of his bodys ridians had opened up!

There could only be one explanation.

Body modification!

Every martial artists dream, body modification was like a rebirth. A martial artist who climbed to the top could gain a whole new core, propelling them even higher. There was also another part: the renewal of the skeleton and cleansing of the bones. Like a newborn baby, the new body would be energy-pure and free from mortal impurities.

Woon-seong hadnt even imagined this would happen, but it had.

Still, his happiness was bittersweet.

Like how I only opened up half of the veins, it looks like I only achieved body modification halfway too.

Body modification was achieved, but unfortunately, it was not complete either.

Except, it wasnt even part of the original plan, more like an extra surprise.

Since Woon-seong had failed to open both veins of control, but had cleansed his body of impurities, he could consider this a mis-matched success.

He once again assessed his body. Not only had he gotten a little taller, but his muscles had beco denser. Thanks to that, he could lift heavier things faster and easier. The reason his body felt so light was that the iron bracers on his arms werent heavy enough anymore.

Soon well have to increase the weight.

Progress, no matter how small, was always sothing to be happy about.

Woon-seongs mind soon got recalibrated and he headed towards the top of the Valley of Thousand Spirits. Every ti he tapped his foot, he would fly forward hundreds of ters. With a small smile on his lips, he leapt up the walls, movent as light as the wind.

Body modification was really an unexpected outco. Paired with the Heavenward Soul Earthen Body, his heightened senses made up for the unopened vein.

He could feel the wind, the movent of an insect climbing the cliff, the shaking of a blade of grass growing between the crevices. Everything around him was captured clearly, almost as if he were seeing them with his own eyes.

What was that?

Woon-seong also felt a group of shadows as well. He tilted his head and spread his senses out even farther. There were people at the top of the cliff, around the entrance into the Valley of Thousand Spirits.

Pinpointing their location, Woon-seong focused his senses on that area. Soon, their movent was clearer to him and he confird their number and placent.

At least one behind the shadows of the trees, one under the rocks, and another one underground.

Woon-seong still had his eyes closed, but he was sure that this was definitely an ambush. He had no idea who they were, but they were obviously waiting for soone to co out of the Valley of the Thousand Spirits.

Are they here after ?

The more he thought about it, the more likely this was. He was the only one left in the Valley of Thousand Spirits. Who else, if not him?

Why?

Why were they targeting him though? There were so Demonic Generals and Great Demons who held grudges against him. Especially among the Great Demons, there were those who did not want him in their ranks. Could one of them have sent assassins?

He didnt dwell on his questions for very long. Suddenly, like the new sun rising, his feet landed on the top of the cliff. From his vantage point, he could see the area that stretched around the cliff.

He could also sense the assassins hiding even clearer.

Hey, you all, who sent you?

Woon-seongs qi exploded outwards, bursting towards those hidden. A rain of five throwing knives flew like lightning, straight through the heads of so of the assassins.

Fubuck-

Like the sound of a waterlon erupting, the knives split and burst their heads. The one underground, protected by dirt, was no exception.

But Woon-seong did not relax. Instead, he wielded his spear.

Did I miss two?

The number of knives thrown was five, three of them hit their targets. That ant there were two left.

Whee-

Woon-seong disappeared from where he was originally standing. Monts later, he reappeared in front of one assassin.

Shit!

Intimidation Qi covered the others mind and body for a single second, which was enough for the White Night Spear to crush his chest. With a crack, his ribs were broken and his heart pierced.

Phew!

Blood spewed out like a fountain, but Woon-seong paid no mind. He focused on the last survivor, who had managed to run quite far already. It was clear that this last one had sensed that the mission would end in a failure and bolted.

Woon-seong raised his spear. Would it work? His body moved before he could finish his thoughts. His ankles, waist, and shoulders twisted in sequence. As the force was drawn from his waist and into his wrist, the White Night Spear left his hand.

Lightning Stitching Art, White Night Spear style!

Whoo-hoo!

The air screeched as the spear tore through the air, slamming into and through the body of the last assassin. The mans legs were torn off and his upper body smashed into the trunk of a tree, skewered by the spear.

Cough!

Woon-seong could have caused an instantaneous death, but he wanted to keep at least one of them alive long enough to answer his questions. No matter how talented you were, you wouldnt live very long without legs.

He sighed a little as he looked at the human-tree kebab. Well then, lets find out who ordered it.

Woon-seong didnt intend to forgive whoever it was. It wasnt like him to spare those who bared their fangs at him. His eyes glead, horrifying like that of a demon.

But he would not find out who was behind it.

By the ti he approached, the assassin had already killed himself. The others face was pale and bleeding from his eyes and ears, his brain had likely lted too.

Nasty bastards.

The assassin had ingested poison. Even an excellent assassin should have needed so decision-making ti, which would have given Woon-seong a few monts. But there was no hesitation.

Tch.

At that mont, the sound of shouting drifted from the peaks farther away.

Wahhhhhhhh!

It announced the beginning of the Banquet of the Heavenly Mountain and Divine Fla.

TN: It will be clarified in the coming chapters, but the assassins are known as the Blood Slaying Five Shadows. Woon-seong, of course, does not know this.