Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1357

The moment the Reverse Heaven Divine Art was completed, a shift occurred that was felt by all. Experts sensed it through their heightened awareness, novices through their instincts, and even ordinary villagers near Mount Tai knew it instinctively.

Something had changed.

An indescribable force was emanating from the heart of Mount Tai. Those who felt this energy were filled with terror.

“Retreat! Fall back!” Jin Yang commanded, and the Black Imperial Castle warriors hastily retreated.

Hundreds had already fallen in the battle against the Dharma Protectors. The sudden arrival of the Mount Heaven troops forced them to change their formation.

‘Those bastards!’ Gang Ryang’s eyes darted around.

The Dharma Protectors, who had been fighting like madmen, now stood still, staring at Mount Tai. But their condition was strange. Their eyes trembled, their faces were filled with joy. They raised their arms and prayed towards Mount Tai, as if they didn’t care if they were killed by a sword at that very moment.

And it wasn’t just them.

The Mount Heaven troops, who had been charging forward, also gradually slowed down and turned towards Mount Tai. They made the same movements and expressions as the Dharma Protectors.

Gang Ryang thought they looked like dolls.

Dolls that could only make one expression.

And it was similar on their side as well.

‘This is absurd.’ An unknown fear clouded Gang Ryang’s face as he looked at Mount Tai.

‘What is this energy?’

A demonic energy was spreading like dark clouds.

Gang Ryang had seen many demons and experienced unimaginable demonic arts, but he had never encountered a demonic energy that evoked such primal fear.

“Gang Ryang!” Jin Yang, feeling the same fear, was more aware of the gravity of the situation.

“Retreat! We need to get out of Shandong altogether!”

“……?!”

“What are you looking at! Move quickly!”

Gang Ryang realized his mistake. For some reason, he couldn’t take his eyes off Mount Tai.

‘It’s like I’m being bewitched.’

Gang Ryang shouted, “Black Imperial Castle troops, retreat to the southwest! Now!”

Only then did the Black Imperial Castle warriors, regaining their senses, retreat in an orderly manner according to Gang Ryang’s instructions.

Even though they were moving so openly, the Dharma Protectors didn’t stop them. It seemed like they couldn’t even think of stopping them.

At that moment, Jin Yang flew towards the Mount Heaven troops.

Gang Ryang was startled.

“Brother!”

“Go first!”

“You crazy bastard! What are you doing!”

“Just go!”

Wondering what was going on, Gang Ryang looked at where Jin Yang was heading, and saw the Righteous Army.

The Righteous Army soldiers were also staring at Mount Tai from their horses. Some were clutching their heads and shaking them madly, but most were half out of their minds.

‘Damn it!’ Gang Ryang gritted his teeth.

He wanted to go himself instead of Jin Yang, but he couldn’t because he was already leading the Black Imperial Castle soldiers.

“Let’s go!” Having sent Gang Ryang away, Jin Yang ignited his fire energy.

‘This is terrible!’

The Righteous Army and the Mount Heaven troops were closer to Mount Tai.

‘The density of demonic energy is increasing exponentially.’

The closer he got to Mount Tai, the harder it became to breathe. The moment he accepted this energy, he too would lose his mind like them.

Jin Yang shouted, “Righteous Army!!”

A roar filled with powerful inner energy.

Yeo Guk was startled and looked at Jin Yang.

“Retreat! Retreat! You’ll be devoured!”

It was then.

Boom!

A dark gray light shot into the sky and exploded, spreading out widely. It was a bow shot that belied the name of the Formless Bullet [a technique that makes the arrow seem invisible]. Muk Bi had arrived.

“Righteous Army, retreat to the southwest! Now!” Her booming voice was much more intense and clear than Jin Yang’s.

Only then did the entire Righteous Army regain their senses. Muk Bi’s inner energy, which was creating waves, and the spiritual power within it, far surpassed Jin Yang’s.

“Retreat!”

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The soldiers regained their senses, but the warhorses were still staggering. If they hadn’t been warhorses linked to their masters’ inner energy, they would have collapsed long ago.

Muk Bi’s eyes blazed.

“The martial arts you have learned are the orthodox divine arts of the martial world! Don’t be bewitched by demonic energy!” It was a dignified general’s roar. Her voice had a great dignity and a clarity that shook people’s minds.

And the minds of the soldiers who heard that voice gradually regained their vitality. The warhorses connected to them also gradually began to gain strength.

Thus, the Righteous Army also began to retreat. Jin Yang stood at the front of the Righteous Army and led the way to where the Black Imperial Castle troops were headed.

Muk Bi, who was at the rear, glanced at the Mount Heaven troops.

‘I wish I could kill them all.’

If she unleashed the Heaven Piercing Bow with her overflowing power, she could kill a third of them.

But she couldn’t.

‘I can’t touch that guy.’

The presence of another Four Heavenly Kings [a high-ranking position in the Demonic Cult], Dan Hyang, who had come with the Mount Heaven troops, prevented her from acting rashly.

Dan Hyang, like the other cultists, was also intoxicated with joy and gesturing towards Mount Tai, but his eyes were normal. If Muk Bi attacked, he would come to catch her immediately.

‘Damn it.’

It was a shame, but there was nothing she could do. Right now, protecting her allies’ strength was more important than killing the enemy.

‘I wonder what happened to the Tang Clan Head.’

The moment worry clouded Muk Bi’s face.

‘……?!’

She saw someone staggering away from where Namgoong Seung’s body was.

Whoosh!

She flew with the Dragon Flight Step [a movement technique] and approached Tang Gwan in an instant.

“Clan Head!”

“Cough! Y-you were alive.”

“I will escort you. Let’s go quickly.”

Tang Gwan glanced back.

Namgoong Seung’s body was there. As if all the life force had been drained from his body, his sunken corpse looked like it had been there for half a day.

“Sword.”

“Yes?”

Tang Gwan pointed to the sword that had fallen to one side.

It was Namgoong Seung’s sword that had been sent flying by the Sword Control Technique [a technique to control swords with inner energy].

Muk Bi immediately picked up the sword and tied it to her waist.

“I think I’ll need to borrow your legs.”

“Don’t worry.”

Muk Bi, who quickly picked up Tang Gwan, kicked off the ground. Even with a person on her back, her movement technique was surprisingly fast.

Tang Gwan’s eyes blurred.

‘A retreat, huh?’

A warrior of the Sichuan Tang Clan, who would never retreat even if it meant death, even the Clan Head, was turning his back and fleeing.

It wasn’t a tactical retreat, nor was it a retreat because he didn’t want to fight.

He was retreating because he couldn’t stand against the overwhelming power. If it had been him before he reformed the clan, he would have bitten his tongue and died on the spot.

‘Father, I’m sorry.’

He had come here for his father’s revenge, for the revenge of the people of Sichuan. Yet, he was being carried away on the back of a junior in such a pathetic state.

The indescribable misery seemed to worsen his internal injuries.

And a helplessness greater than that misery tormented him.

‘It’s an energy that shouldn’t exist in this world. If that cult leader, or anyone from the Demonic Cult, were to wield this energy at will……’

He saw the enemies in the distance. He could also hear their voices.

All of them were reaching out towards Mount Tai, shouting something, the chilling chants of fanatics.

‘The Central Plains will be destroyed.’

Tang Gwan’s eyes slowly closed.

* * *

“Wait!” Yeon Wi, who had been hurrying, stopped abruptly.

His pale complexion was like he had applied powder. His eyes were as deep and intense as ever, but he couldn’t hide his wavering heart.

“Father?”

“Do you feel it?”

“Yes?”

“……Well, you wouldn’t feel it.”

He had reached the foot of Shandong with extreme speed. But the distance to Mount Tai was still quite far.

As the second son who had not yet reached the realm of a half-immortal, it would not be easy for him to feel it.

‘What kind of absurd demonic energy is this?’

He had expected something terrible to happen. That’s why he had been rushing without rest.

But now, that ominous feeling had become a clear entity, covering the sky.

‘It’s terrifying. This is a power that is the exact opposite of the extreme good and the extreme immortal.’

No, it had even surpassed that.

This demon was the extreme demon and the demon slayer. It was a demonic energy that had reached its peak, and also a demon that had surpassed the demon.

‘This…… I can’t handle it.’

It wasn’t a matter of will or emotion.

It was a clear reality. Yeon Wi felt that indescribable demonic energy and was convinced that neither he nor anyone else in the world could stand against it.

‘But.’

However.

‘Is it even possible?’

Until that clear demon had revealed itself, Yeon Wi had thought that he must reach Mount Tai and crush the demon.

But it was different now.

In the first place, no one can eliminate that demonic energy. At least, it is absolutely impossible for anyone with a human body.

‘The Demonic Cult Leader. It’s the Demonic Cult Leader. He has performed a technique that tears the heavens and opens the demonic sky.’

Ziiing!

The Yeon Family Divine Pill [a special pill that enhances inner energy] rotated at high speed and captured the monstrous being that had reached the top of Mount Tai.

It wasn’t clearly visible. But he could tell what kind of expression he was making.

He was intoxicated with a languid joy.

His appearance, with his arms wide open and smiling at the sky, was so eerie that even Yeon Wi felt fear.

‘It’s a bead.’

Furthermore, Yeon Wi’s eyes captured it. A sinister bead embedded in the body of the Demonic Cult Leader, Sa Mun-Hyang.

It was a bead similar to the one he had personally destroyed in the Jiangxi Province war, but at the same time, it was a bead filled with a darkness so dense that it couldn’t even be compared to that one.

‘The bead has become one with him. Then it’s even more……’

Yeon Wi’s eyes regained their composure.

‘It will break.’

The Demonic Cult Leader’s power was immense. Even before creating that bead, there would have been no one in the world who could have defeated him.

But he was human.

Whether he had lived for a hundred years or a thousand years, he would not be able to properly handle the demonic energy of hell with a human body.

‘But I don’t know what he will do before he breaks. If he just waves his hand once, the entire area will turn into hell.’

He thought about it turning into hell, but he couldn’t even imagine what form that hell would take.

‘It’s like a strong child carrying a cannon. The fact that we have to stop him as soon as possible remains unchanged, though.’

A sense of helplessness washed over Yeon Wi’s face.

‘I don’t even know how to deal with him.’

He had seen the enemy’s appearance, he knew what the enemy had done, and he had felt how toxic the energy the enemy was emitting was.

But that was all. He had gained insight beyond the Heavenly Master, but there was nothing more he could do.

It was then.

“Ah, Father?!” Yeon Wi, whose concentration was broken by Yeon Ji-Pyeong’s voice, turned to look at him.

“Are you alright? You’re bleeding from your nose……!”

“Hmm?”

Yeon Wi wiped under his nose.

Thick blood stained his hand.

‘This is bad.’

It was a side effect of overusing the upper dantian’s ability [a part of the body where inner energy is stored].

The moment he realized that, his head throbbed. His inner energy was still full, but his legs suddenly lost strength.

Yeon Wi loosened his legs and said, “I need to change direction.”

“Yes?”

“You, run straight in that direction. If you run without rest at your speed, you will be able to meet your brother in about two days.”

“……?!”

“If you don’t know the direction in the middle, use the Beggar Clan. They will be near there too.”

“What about you, Father?”

Yeon Wi looked north again.

“I will go to Shandong.”

He couldn’t stop the spreading demonic energy, but he couldn’t leave the common people who would become victims of that demonic energy either.

“I will contact you separately when I’m done. Move right now.”

“Father…….”

“And.”

Yeon Wi said with a trustworthy smile, “When you meet your brother, tell him. Tell him not to worry because I will never do anything foolish. Tell him that we will see each other again soon.”