The midday sun grew scorching.
Goodness.
Sumr had arrived before I knew it, yet nothing had happened at the Heavenly Demon Church.
In fact, the events were happening elsewhere—at a place known as Murim, or the Jianghu.
To cut to the chase, Omyoungseong had finally beco a Harvester.
However, he didn’t beco one by holding out till the very end. After doing sothing at the place where the monks were, my progress in the process of transformation nearly halted. The unknown technique was terrifying.
But even there, people live.
Incidents happen.
A competition was held where the swordsn of the Five Great Swordsn sects rged, and Omyoungseong participated. He was one of those swordsn, after all.
But calling them swordsn makes the faded mories shine brightly. Wait, is there sothing wrong with calling a sword faction a swordsman group?
In the end, they're just thugs, right?
They gathered to choose the strongest among them and beco the leader in a simple power struggle to fight against a larger faction.
He entered the competition.
Once there.
When he was defeated, the monks had stopped , but I was able to move again.
And before long, he was attacked by a man nad Yoo Jo-young, who had been his forr master. At that ti, he couldn’t defeat Yoo Jo-young and was critically injured, collapsing.
But when Yoo Jo-young tried to kill his lover, the daughter of Guseongyong, who had died here about a year ago, he called for .
He didn’t specifically call , but he spoke toward the terrifying power, preparing to use it, regardless of the cost.
Words have power.
So, through the connection, I recited the contract, and he agreed.
Yes.
He was revived, with all his wounds regenerating, and imdiately used my power to kill Yoo Jo-young.
Sohow, the faded mory handed a summary, different from what he knew.
No, why don’t they understand that the real world and the story are different?
Even if it's similar, everything is different when the nas are different, right?
Anyway, things unfolded interestingly.
Those monks who had once supported him now labeled him as a demon, and the Five Swordsn sect, which Yoo Jo-young had rged, branded him a criminal.
Yes.
A bloody cycle of death began.
He fled with Guseongyong’s daughter, Goomilmil. They were lovers.
But wherever he went, people shouted that he was a public enemy of Murim, and swordsn attacked him. At first, Omyoungseong, trying to control his strength, didn’t kill people, but eventually, he killed soone.
Because Goomilmil was in danger.
Once was difficult, but after that, it beca easier.
Whenever soone blocked his path, he imdiately cut them down.
Now, he walked a road of blood and corpses. Furthermore, Goomilmil, beside him, persuaded him that what he was doing was only natural, breaking his heart.
As expected of soone born from the Heavenly Demon Church, no matter how many good deeds he did, he couldn’t shatter the deep-rooted notions he had.
He might have said those words to soothe his heart, but if he truly wanted to return Omyoungseong to his original self, then he should have been punished there.
So, Omyoungseong changed.
To survive.
At first, he killed enemies who tried to kill him.
But over ti, his heart grew numb. And as ti passed, he began killing anyone who simply blocked his way.
He no longer distinguished between friends and foes, no longer trying to avoid with words. Now, he would imdiately strike anyone who showed the slightest hostility.
Day after day, constantly being pursued by those trying to kill him, it wasn’t strange that his heart was withering away.
It seed like the plan was originally to try to push him into dying, but he soon started drawing my power from the lower dantian to use it.
As long as he clung to life, he would never run out of strength.
He couldn’t be stopped with force.
Thus, the wheel of hatred that had started rolling began to accelerate.
I thought about staying a bit longer at the Heavenly Demon Church, hoping to shake things up here, and the road stained with blood appeared.
mbers of the Five Swordsn sect ca to kill, monks ca to kill, and eventually, the whole world beca his enemy.
They dragged out rivers of blood, slowly making their way here.
Though they didn’t co directly, geographically, they knew this place, even if it wasn’t yet within the hands of the righteous Murim factions.
To be precise, it was a place that Goomilmil knew.
And the Heavenly Demon knew that.
The Heavenly Demon Church, Guseongyong’s downfall, perhaps due to their ongoing attempts to control the Jianghu, had ways of acquiring information.
The Heavenly Demon, who had only been recognized for his strength, had, within the year since, been steadily performing the duties of the church leader, with his people, including the head of the church, worshiping him as their leader.
So, if information like this was available, it ca without any special hindrances.
The man with purple hair staining the Murim with blood.
A strong figure who defeated all opponents with endless strength.
People imdiately thought of the Martial God. Entering the Jianghu under the na Heavenly Demon, and leaving under the na Martial God, the legendary figure in Murim.
This story naturally made its way to the Heavenly Demon Church.
Aside from that, there were rumors about a blind man becoming the leader of the Five Swordsn, a sect whose mbers had been killed off, and a nearby faction being wiped out by monsters.
But the main focus was always on Omyoungseong.
And within the Heavenly Demon Church, they began to deliberate on what to do with him.
But unlike that, life went on here.
So-oh had beco quite sharp with his sword. Of course, he had grown a bit, too.
I had grown as well. I was already slightly taller than the average woman, but now I was catching up to the height of a man. And since the diet had improved, I had gained a lot of weight.
When I was treated like ingredients, almost living on a broth with minimal nutrition, it was natural for to gain weight when I ate proper food.
At this rate, I might end up with quite a feminine figure.
Anyway.
Late afternoon.
The Heavenly Demon ca to sit beside on the porch, having given So-oh a task to do. And suddenly, she ntioned the na of soone currently very famous outside.
"Do you know Omyoungseong?"
I turned my head to look at her. I knew why she suddenly asked. I thought for a mont about how to respond, but I decided to do as I always had.
"Yes. I know. He’s the man who used Absorption Great Art on Eun-Chun and took part of ."
I told her the truth.
As soon as I said it, the Heavenly Demon’s face showed realization. She must have wanted to ask how I had made the contract. It's a situation that would raise suspicions, right?
Once I know what sothing is, it doesn’t take long to erase any doubts.
So, I gave her a reason she could understand.
"How do you know his na?"
But the Heavenly Demon asked a question I hadn’t expected.
Oh?
Why is she asking that suddenly? Of course, I must have been introduced... Ah.
I never received an introduction to their nas!
Hmm. While not lying, I had to hide how I knew so much. I can read the mories of those I contract with, and I can see things through the eyes of the Harvesters. I can't reveal that.
Okay.
Let’s talk as if I could only know the na.
"Why is it strange to know the na of soone I’ve contracted with?"
Logically, when making a contract, you exchange nas. Of course, there are those who deceive, but you can just push that off by saying it’s an unknown monster.
I looked at the Heavenly Demon with that mindset.
"Do you know my na as well?"
"Jeongha. Or should I say the surna Im?"
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes widened.
Faded mories in her eyes, which are said to be of the Demon Race, glowed clearly.
"You’ve never said that surna."
"No. I haven’t. But I know."
I know it because I possess your mory. The mont I touch the light, I acquire the mories. So, when a Harvester dies and I take the warmth, I don’t acquire new mories.
Because from the mont they beco a Harvester, I experience everything they see, hear, and feel.
So, while I know what they thought before becoming a Harvester, I don’t know what they think afterward.
That’s one of my weaknesses.
Physical reactions. In technical terms, I can use cold reading to infer what soone is thinking!
"So, you knew Omyoungseong’s na as well."
"Yes."
I even know that he’s on his way here. Of course, the route is not direct, and sotis he crosses mountain ranges or deep forests, but...
Like air flowing from a high-density area to a low one, he’s slowly coming toward a place with fewer pursuers.
I answered that and fell silent, offering her a chance to ask more if she wished. But the Heavenly Demon didn’t ask.
"Master! I’ve done everything you asked!"
"Do it 40 tis like you did yesterday."
"Eek!"
So-oh scread and ran off again.
He's full of energy now, even though it’s sumr. Maybe it’s because of the Heavenly Demon’s special lessons, or perhaps the power of the Heavenly Demon Technique. He’s quite resistant to heat and cold.
I suspect he’s using Qi, a separate energy source, to regulate his body temperature.
As for ?
I just live with whatever the temperature is, whether it’s hot or cold.
My body suffers, but my mind isn’t troubled by it.
If my body breaks, I regenerate.
I sat watching So-oh moving away when the Heavenly Demon spoke again.
"You don’t ask. Aren’t you curious why I ntioned the na Omyoungseong?"
Well, maybe I know more about it than the Heavenly Demon. I swallowed that thought.
I thought that if I kept talking, I might make a mistake, so I decided to change the topic.
"Heavenly Demon, I plan to leave here in a few years."
I even hinted that I wasn’t particularly interested in the Heavenly Demon Church. Although, in reality, I am very interested!
"Leave?"
"There’s no one here looking for . I want to share myself, but there’s no one. Shouldn’t I go outside?"
Whether the Heavenly Demon provides followers for , or tells to leave, it benefits . The worst case would be a seal, but I know she won’t make that choice.
I’ve beco fond of her.
The Heavenly Demon gave a look like a student faced with a difficult question. Watching that, I silently urged her to answer.
What will you choose?
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