Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1241

‘Not good.’

The Blood Demon Great Master, carried on the back of a Spirit Gu Master, felt extreme fatigue.

‘My stamina has returned, but the demonic energy keeps leaking out. It can’t be helped, I suppose.’

The Blood Demon Great Master looked around.

The Spirit Gu Masters, led by Ho Yeon-Hap, were escorting him as they ran.

They were exceptional individuals. Not only their achieved cultivation levels, but they had also mastered all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge besides martial arts. Even if you brought in a decent formation expert, they would be less skilled than these guys. It was clear how much effort the Demonic Sound Sect had put into raising them.

But their limits were clear.

‘Perhaps it’s time to rest.’

Since heading west, they had been traversing the rugged mountains of Sichuan, which were nothing short of treacherous.

Even for the Spirit Gu Masters, it was no easy task. They had been constantly using their movement techniques without proper meals. It was something that was not easy to do unless one was at the level of Limitless Supreme [a very high level of martial arts mastery].

The reason was clear.

‘I’m using the power of the Blood God Energy to move these guys, but now I’m reaching my limit. Both I and these guys need to rest.’

He had been constantly distributing the surging demonic energy to them. That was why he felt extreme fatigue even though his body had returned to normal.

The Blood Demon Great Master, who had been looking ahead, pointed somewhere with his hand.

“That place, the left foothills of the basin, will be good. The yin energy [negative or dark energy] is strong, perfect for recovery. We will rest there for one shichen [approximately two hours].”

“Understood!”

Ho Yeon-Hap and the Spirit Gu Masters absolutely obeyed the Blood Demon Great Master’s orders.

Their reddish eyes were not normal. They had been almost turned into puppets, eroded by the Blood Demon Great Master’s innate demonic energy.

Even a master at the Limitless level could not be free from the invasion of demonic energy if they were constantly exposed to it. It was inevitable that Ho Yeon-Hap and the Spirit Gu Masters, who were top-tier experts, had become puppets.

Whoosh.

They tore through the wind, reaching their destination in an instant.

The Blood Demon Great Master sat in the place with the strongest yin energy and absorbed it.

Some of the Spirit Gu Masters went hunting, while the rest sat in a circle around the Blood Demon Great Master and began to recover. It was as if they regarded the Blood Demon Great Master as an inviolable being.

“We have brought back the prey.”

“Bring it here.”

In that short time, they had managed to catch various wild animals.

Among them, they dragged a young deer. Its leg was broken, so it was in pain, but it was not dead.

The Blood Demon Great Master closed his eyes and chanted a spell.

Tsutsutsutsu.

The swirling yin energy seeped into the deer’s body.

The deer twitched several times and then slumped. It was not dead, but it seemed to have lost its energy.

The Blood Demon Great Master ripped open the deer’s belly without hesitation. Surprisingly, he pierced the deer’s belly skin with his bare hands, without a single dagger.

He reached into the belly and pulled out the intestines, then took out the still-beating heart and liver.

Crunch, crunch.

The Blood Demon Great Master ate the heart and liver, dripping with blood, on the spot.

Not only that.

All the Spirit Gu Masters, including Ho Yeon-Hap, took the hearts or livers of their prey in the same way.

It was right not to make a fire since they were being chased, but their actions did not seem to be solely to avoid being discovered by the enemy.

Trickle.

Their faces were all covered in blood. Among them, the Blood Demon Great Master had the most blood on him.

After a while.

Woo woo woo!

A flush began to return to the Blood Demon Great Master’s face.

The blood on his face and neck was gradually disappearing as if it was being absorbed into his skin.

“Hoo.”

A slight sense of satisfaction was contained in his light sigh.

‘Not bad.’

The secret art of Taking Heart and Nurturing Demons was the highest-grade recovery technique, but it could not give him the best effect in his current state.

Still, it was not bad. His condition was so terrible that he could accumulate some demonic energy just by eating the hearts of wild animals.

The Blood Demon Great Master looked at his disciples.

They were mindlessly tearing apart the raw flesh of their prey. They seemed to enjoy the taste of blood itself, and their faces even showed a look of ecstasy.

A reddish light appeared in the Blood Demon Great Master’s eyes.

‘The best thing is to take the hearts of people.’

Among them, young children under the age of sixteen for boys and fourteen for girls were the best.

And even more effective than those children was eating the heart of a master who had mastered the Sama Gong [a powerful martial arts technique].

Of course, any other master who had trained their inner energy would be of great help in recovery. However, to maximize efficiency, it was best to take the heart of one of his disciples.

‘Not yet.’

If he told them to offer their hearts, they would open their chests with their own hands and offer them. That was how far the puppetization had progressed.

But.

‘You never know what might happen. These guys are powerful, but the ones chasing us are not ordinary either. Depending on the situation, I might have to sacrifice each of them as offerings….’

The Blood Demon Great Master, who had been looking at his disciples with eyes full of demonic energy, suddenly hardened his face.

‘It’s truly miserable.’

He had managed to get this far somehow.

He should be grateful for that, but as he regained some of his energy, he felt a surge of anger.

‘I am the sacred high priest of the Blood Sect, the de facto ruler, so how could I…!’

He didn’t even know where it had gone wrong.

Even with the ability of a divine-level technique, he was only using these kinds of guys. Meanwhile, top masters who were hard to beat even in his proper state were chasing him.

‘After I rebuild the Blood Sect, I will definitely turn this land into a sea of blood. Even if the Sect Leader tells me to stop, I will never stop.’

It was then.

-Can you really do that?

A voice full of divine energy echoed in his mind.

The Blood Demon Great Master shouted without realizing it.

“Shut up!”

The disciples were not surprised at all. It was as if they knew that the words were not directed at them in the first place.

A terrifying murderous intent poured out of the Blood Demon Great Master’s eyes.

“Are you still not dead! Give up now! You can never be resurrected!”

-I didn’t wish for resurrection. Rather, I wished to die. Both you and I did.

“What do you know about me!”

-You are me.

At that moment, the Blood Demon Great Master’s fist trembled.

Being able to read the heavenly secrets meant that the Baihui [a key acupuncture point on the head], the passage of heavenly energy, was excessively open.

That was also not a power allowed to humans. Tongcheon Jin-in [a powerful immortal] also knew this, but the heavenly energy became an unstoppable flood, pouring into his upper dantian [an energy center in the body] like a raging wave.

The excessively accumulated heavenly energy could not be controlled by a human’s upper dantian. Eventually, the uncontrolled heavenly energy was discharged out of the body, leaving behind impure traces, and gradually caused the owner’s soul to leave the body.

It was neither enlightenment and entering Nirvana, nor throwing oneself into the Tao and becoming a divine immortal.

It was being possessed by a ghost and forcibly losing one’s soul, the so-called state of being possessed by a ghost.

Tongcheon Jin-in’s vessel was like the greatest feast in the world, coveted by all the ghosts who were close to infinity.

And it was….

‘Me?’

At that moment, the Blood Demon Great Master’s eyes went blank.

If I am me, then who am I?

Am I the Blood Demon Great Master, or Tongcheon Jin-in?

A hearty laugh echoed in his mind.

-You are dying as you. You are going back to being a ghost. You can’t escape that fate easily.

“Shut up!”

-If you die and yet do not die… you will also be sucked dry of your soul and annihilated by ‘him’.

The Blood Demon Great Master’s eyes trembled.

He knew exactly who ‘he’ was.

“……Sa Moon-Hyang.”

At that moment, the actions of the disciples, who had been focused on tearing apart their prey, stopped.

The Blood Demon Great Master swallowed involuntarily. The fact that the disciples had reacted to the three syllables of the name Sa Moon-Hyang meant that they were not yet completely puppets.

After a while.

“Chomp, chomp.”

“Munch, munch.”

The disciples buried their faces in their prey again and continued eating.

The Blood Demon Great Master’s eyes deepened.

‘Truly amazing.’

Sa Moon-Hyang was a monster who had transcended time in a different way from himself.

Was that why? His accumulated knowledge and martial prowess, as well as his technique abilities, were all flawless. He had surpassed the level of being proficient in various fields and had reached the highest level in any field.

Normally, being exposed to the Blood God Energy to this extent would have made them completely his hands and feet. Yet, the Spirit Gu Masters still had loyalty to Sa Moon-Hyang in their hearts.

Even if he had not forced their loyalty with techniques, if it was to this extent, there was a risk that even the Blood God Energy would not work if he actually used techniques.

‘Even you, you will never be able to devour me.’

That was obvious. If Sa Moon-Hyang wanted to chew on his soul, he would need his permission.

Of course, the Blood Demon Great Master had no reason to allow that.

“……I have no choice.”

Due to Tongcheon’s words, which were like thoughts in his mind, the Blood Demon Great Master decided to take a gamble.

“I am the one and only high priest of the Blood Sect. I have not endured all these years just to run away in this pathetic state.”

The Blood Demon Great Master made up his mind.

‘If I die because of this… it can’t be helped. I’ll just have to cling to someone who has received the impurity of heavenly energy again.’

Because of the times, there were many impure people. Even now, he could feel a subtle impurity in the area facing the eastern sea far away.

Death? It was fine.

‘I can’t live enduring this humiliation any longer!’

The Blood Demon Great Master pointed at three disciples.

“You, you, and you. Come before me.”

The designated disciples immediately put down their prey and knelt before the Blood Demon Great Master. Meanwhile, the other disciples were still engrossed in their meal.

A vicious blood light emanated from the Blood Demon Great Master’s eyes.

“I will use the Soul Summoning Technique by using Taking Heart and Nurturing Demons.”

It was called a Soul Summoning Technique, but with this level of demonic energy, he could only send a request for help.

But they would respond. If they made a mistake, the sect would collapse. To them, the bait of the Blood Sect’s high priest would be too tempting.

‘Young Sect Leader Cheon. I am here. If you want me, lead the remaining masters here and rescue me.’

The corners of the Blood Demon Great Master’s mouth curled up.

“Offer your hearts.”

The disciples ripped open their sternums without hesitation.

Crack!

The bones broke, and their throbbing hearts were revealed.

At that moment, the Blood Demon Great Master heard Tongcheon Jin-in’s laughter echoing in his mind.

That ominous laughter was like that of a mischievous child.

* * *

“Is it there?”

“Yes, it is.”

Tang Gwan and Ha Eun-Gyo, who had moved to southern Sichuan in an instant.

The two were looking at the same place and feeling something similar.

“It’s ominous. I don’t feel any presence, but the yin energy is unusually strong.”

“Senior, please move directly to the west. Be careful not to be discovered by anyone.”

“What about you?”

“I have to drive the prey.”

“Prey… If you’re going to do a drive hunt, wouldn’t it be better for me to drive them?”

“No. There’s no need for that.”

Tang Gwan gave a cold smile.

“It’s just a measure for the off chance. If I can catch them, I will catch them as much as possible.”

“I see.”

Whether it was madness or evil, it didn’t matter. If they had embraced the demonic path, they were no different from enemies.

Swoosh.

Four elite units of the Tang family, moving like snakes, emitted a ghostly light.

“From now on, we will drive out all the demons that have taken root in Sichuan.”