Deep in the valley of Mount Goomang in Gansu Province, a colossal statue of a Demon God was carved between the cliffs.
Past the secret passage beneath the statue lay a concealed location — the Central Plains branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The cult mbers had vacated their main altar in the Great Desert and, until the Heavenly Demon Fortress in Xinjiang was complete, were using this place as a temporary base.
Following flickering torches through a maze-like corridor led to a vast cavern.
Inside the cavern, many palace halls had been built directly into the rock.
The largest of them was the Audience Hall of the Cult Leader.
At the head seat, the current Cult Leader, Daihagan, sat resting his chin on one hand with an expression full of irritation.
To his left and right sat the high-ranking leaders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, their expressions grim.
“So... you failed again?”
The low, ominous voice echoed through the sinister hall, carrying such force that it pressed upon everyone present.
A man lay prostrate on the floor before him.
“M-my apologies!”
“Apologies?”
Srrrng—
The sword at the Cult Leader’s side floated into the air, slid from its scabbard, and slowly flew toward the subordinate.
Ssek—
“Ugh!”
Without hesitation, the Cult Leader severed one of his arms.
“If you’ve done sothing worth apologizing for, you take the punishnt. I’ll take one arm for now.”
The subordinate endured the pain and lowered his head to the ground again.
“Now then, tell how you failed.”
“We succeeded in infiltrating the Ei Sect and capturing the Phoenix Constitution.”
“Oh? So it wasn’t a complete failure. Then why call it a failure? If you caught her, bringing her back should have been the end of it.”
“T-that is... after we seized her, we were discovered by the Ei disciples, and there was a battle.”
“I don’t enjoy hearing you lost to Ei.”
The blade began spinning slowly above the man’s head, as if ready to strike at once.
“N-no! There’s no way we would lose to Ei!”
“Is that so? Then there must have been another reason.”
“Yes! The p-phoenix’s energy awakened... and annihilated everyone.”
“Annihilated? What exactly did it do?”
“It turned all of our n to ash before we could react.”
“What was the level of those you sent?”
“All were in the Transformation Realm.”
At that, the Cult Leader’s expression grew intrigued.
“Oh... so it truly is the power of the Four Divine Beasts?”
Murmurs filled the hall.
If it could instantly turn Transformation Realm experts to ash, it was an absurdly powerful force.
“As expected, it is indeed a being that will beco an obstacle to the Heavenly Demon’s path.”
This was the reason they had sought out the Four Divine Constitutions, and having finally found one, they had attempted to capture it.
“Hmm... I should have had her killed outright. Then at least she would have been eliminated before awakening.”
The desire to bring her back and make her part of the cult’s power had only complicated matters.
The Cult Leader sighed and pressed his forehead.
At that mont, one of the senior mbers rose from his seat.
“Cult Leader! Please leave it to . I will resolve your concern.”
The Cult Leader looked up at him.
“Corpse Demon Emperor, you will try?”
“Yes! If I mobilize my jiangshi, I will not need to use demonic energy, and there will be no risk of revealing our identity.”
“...Hmm.”
“Please grant permission.”
Seeing his confidence, the Cult Leader nodded.
“Fine. Go and try.”
“Yes! I will remove the Phoenix Constitution without fail!”
“And while you are there, lay waste to the Ei Sect as well. They are one of the sects we will have to erase once he descends into the world anyway. Weakening them in advance will do no harm.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Pleased with his resolve, the Cult Leader turned to the strategist.
“Have you found the other Four Divine Constitutions?”
The strategist shook his head.
“My apologies. We have not yet found them.”
“If they were so easily found, they would not be called bodies bestowed by Heaven.”
“Finding the Phoenix Constitution alone was already a miracle.”
The Cult Leader nodded, then, as if rembering sothing, asked,
“And the search for the bloodline of the Martial God Heaven Master we lost years ago?”
The strategist bowed his head again.
“My apologies... Recently, we caught so who had fled and tore them apart for answers, but they all gave the sa answer — that he fell from a cliff.”
“And the body?”
“They said it was never found.”
“Then he is alive.”
“I believe so as well and am searching.”
“No — search with everything you have. If we can find that bloodline, it will give us the one opening we need against the Martial God Heaven Master.”
“Will that iron-blooded warrior really waver over a bloodline he does not even know exists?”
“No one can predict people. Even a beast cherishes its own young. If it is his own grandson, whose existence he has never known, there is no way he would not waver.”
“Understood. I will use every resource to find the Martial God Heaven Master’s bloodline.”
“Use the sa thod as before. I grant you permission.”
“Yes!”
****
Night fell over Mount Ei.
The Ei Sect’s nuns were patrolling the mountain, speaking to one another with unease.
“Doesn’t it feel especially eerie tonight?”
“You feel it too? I thought so. Sothing feels wrong.”
“Maybe it’s just the red moon making it feel that way.”
Looking up, they saw the moon stained red, and an even greater sense of foreboding settled over them.
“We should keep our guard tight. Those people from before might co back.”
The nuns nodded and began scanning the area more carefully.
Just then, one of them stopped walking.
“What is it?”
“I think I hear sothing strange...”
“Sothing strange?”
Everyone listened closely.
Chwa-cha-cha-cha—
Sothing was moving through the brush.
And it was not just one or two.
They felt it instantly — sothing dangerous was approaching.
One nun pulled out her whistle to signal an alarm, but before she could blow it, sothing flew through the air and knocked it from her mouth.
“Kyaa!”
Looking around, she saw a shadow floating in midair, blocking the moonlight.
A chill ran through all of them.
From the shadow’s face, yellow teeth glead.
“Kukuku... quick to notice, aren’t you? No matter. Let’s see if you can stop . Kukuku.”
The figure vanished, and in the next instant, black shapes burst out of the forest.
The nuns slashed at them imdiately.
Kak-kak-kang!
They clearly struck them, but the sound was like tal clashing.
“Danger!”
Another nun leapt in, shoving aside a black figure that had been about to strike her frozen companion.
Puhk!
Ku-dang-tang-tang!
“What are you standing there for? Focus!”
“Ah! S-sorry!”
“They’re coming again!”
The shadows rushed forward again, but their bodies repelled the blades like stone.
“They’re like rocks!”
“They’re not human!”
Looking closely, the nuns saw pale, bloodless faces, corpse makeup, and burial shrouds.
“Jiangshi!”
“What?”
“They’re jiangshi!”
“J-jiangshi?! Why are those cursed things here?”
“They’re coming!”
“What do we do?”
“Hold them until others arrive!”
They tightened their grip on their swords.
“Don’t let them get up the mountain! People will die!”
They t the charge with determination.
“We can’t destroy them, but we can block them!”
“Be careful! Their claws have corpse poison — one scratch and it’s over!”
“They’re not that fast. We’ll be fine.”
Before the words had even left her mouth, the jiangshi’s movents quickened.
“They’re faster!”
“I told you to keep your mouth shut! Now you’ve provoked them!”
“S-sorry!”
“It’s not your fault! Just focus on blocking them!”
“They’re coming!”
“Block!”
Kak-kak-kang!
“Khuhk!”
“They’re strong!”
Chwaak!
“Kyaa!”
“Hye-hwa!”
One nun was wounded, but there was no ti to help her.
“Our sword-qi can’t cut them!”
“Then what? We can’t project sword force!”
“They’re getting stronger!”
No matter how much they struck, the jiangshi were unscathed, and the nuns were tiring fast.
Then a flash tore past them, cutting the jiangshi down.
“What are these things?”
“Are you all unhard?”
It was Seonghwa Jinni, an elder of the Ei Sect, returning from a month-long trip.
“Elder! They’re jiangshi!”
“What?”
She examined the figures. There was no life force.
“They’re dealt with. You’re safe now.”
But one nun pointed with a trembling hand.
“T-they’re getting back up.”
“What?”
The severed jiangshi were rising, their bodies slowly repairing.
“Damn it!”
Red sword-qi surged along her blade.
“Fine! I’ll hack you to pieces so you can’t regenerate!”
Just as she swung—
Tuk—
“...Huh?”
A hand burst from the ground and grabbed her ankle.
“Kyaa!”
She cut it off, but it still clung.
More arms shot from the ground, seizing her legs.
“Let go!”
She slashed them away, but the jiangshi closed in, attacking relentlessly despite her strikes.
The tips of their claws began to glow.
“No...! J-jiangshi using energy projection?!”
Jwaaak!
The strike tore into her chest, leaving a deep wound.
“Khuhk!”
“Elder!”
Through the pain, she saw the jiangshi regenerating again.
“M-monsters... Khhhk!”
The wound was rotting quickly. She sealed her acupoints to slow it.
At least there were only three—
—or so she thought.
Sha-sha-sha-shak—
Uji-geun—
Chwa-cha-cha-cha—
Sounds of movent ca from every direction.
“What... is this?”
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