The Sword Demon Regresses Chapter 125

Chapter 125

The Asura Squad, running alongside Youngho, kicked off the ground as forcefully as possible, accelerating to their utmost speed.

Every mber of the Asura Squad had reached the Master Level, so even their Lightness Skill remained extrely stable.

Youngho glanced at the Asura Squad following behind him and spoke.

“Pick up the speed a little more!”

“Yes!”

Matching Youngho’s pace, the Asura Squad moved even faster.

Youngho turned to Yeo Jeonghye, who was running at his side, and asked,

“How much farther?”

“Fortunately, since we’re moving quickly, we should arrive in half a shijin.”

At present, Youngho’s group was heading toward the Grave of the dicine Immortal.

Three hundred years ago, the physician who had been called the Divine Physician was none other than the dicine Immortal.

Divine Physician and dicine Immortal.

Simply put, he was presud to have reached a level that Hyeon-gang might attain if he devoted himself for another forty years.

This did not refer to martial cultivation, but to the realms of dical arts and Spirit Pill manufacturing.

Among the Spirit Pills created by the dicine Immortal, there was one considered the greatest: the Heaven-Shaking Pill.

Carrying the aning of a Spirit Pill that could shake the heavens, rumor claid that this Heaven-Shaking Pill possessed effects comparable to Clear Sky Stone Milk.

If it was said to rival Clear Sky Stone Milk—sothing completed over hundreds of years—then every Martial Artist would surely covet it.

Yet sothing even more terrifying lay beyond that. If only Spirit Pills were inside the grave, the matter might end with rely tens of thousands of sacrifices.

However, if the manufacturing thod for the Heaven-Shaking Pill lay within the dicine Immortal’s grave, then the balance between the Orthodox Sect, the Unorthodox Faction, and the Demonic Cult could very well collapse.

And Youngho, who had undergone Regression, knew that the manufacturing thod for the Heaven-Shaking Pill did indeed lie inside the grave.

Still, it was fortunate. If events unfolded according to the future he knew…

‘No.’

The present future had changed drastically. First of all, Kang Chowon was not soone who should have existed in the original tiline.

Yet thanks to Youngho, Kang Chowon had healed her Severed ridians and was now able to fully display her talent.

From that point onward, many futures must have twisted greatly.

By accepting Kang Chowon, he had trained the Asura Squad, and that very Asura Squad now wielded formidable influence within the Unorthodox Alliance.

He had encountered Horyeung, and had also prevented the Heretical Arts incident of Mad Face—an event that had never occurred before his Regression.

‘Have I twisted things too much?’

At this rate, it would not even be strange if the Heavenly Demon appeared at the Grave of the dicine Immortal.

‘That bastard is strangely obsessed with ….’

Still, if events followed the future he rembered, the Demonic Cult would have to endure a painful loss.

‘Well, they’ll deal with that themselves.’

Thus, under Yeo Jeonghye’s guidance, Youngho arrived safely at the place where Cheonung was waiting.

“Master.”

When Youngho deliberately released his presence, Cheonung spoke without even turning around.

“Youngho. Prepare to fight.”

At that, Youngho gave hand signals, instructing the Asura Squad to ready themselves for battle.

Looking at the Unorthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult facing off three zhang apart, Youngho asked,

“Shall I take the front?”

“I suppose you must. There’s no telling when those bastards might explode.”

Even so, this was the most peaceful era in the history of the Martial World.

A hundred years ago, they would have already drawn blades rather than rely standing in opposition.

Back then, the balance between the Orthodox Sect, the Unorthodox Faction, and the Demonic Cult had not been so perfectly aligned.

They all knew that if the Unorthodox Faction and the Demonic Cult clashed here, the Orthodox Sect would reap the greatest benefit. That was why only a tense standoff persisted.

Paradoxically, the reason neither side ran amok was because the powers of the Orthodox Sect, the Unorthodox Faction, and the Demonic Cult were all imnse.

To put it simply, it was like three mountain lords competing over the last remaining prey in the mountains.

Although the mountain lord representing the Orthodox Sect had yet to arrive, the other two already regarded each other as enemies.

Youngho clicked his tongue as he felt the killing intent emanating not only from the Demonic Cult but also from the Unorthodox mbers.

It was truly a hair-trigger situation. Though they were nothing more than wolves, those wolves sustained their respective factions. He would have to start reining them in soon.

At that mont, Youngho felt it.

Kuuuuung—!

An overwhelming presence, an intense aura that could not possibly belong to the sa species as man.

It felt as though he were directly facing sothing beyond the heavens.

Forcing his stiff neck to turn, Youngho searched for the source of that energy.

There stood the Heavenly Demon, smiling as though unable to contain his joy.

The instant Youngho recognized him, he imdiately opened the Fla Venerable Opens the Gate.

Though he maintained his composure, it felt as if a seventh sense beyond his six instincts was warning him.

‘Fast!’

Even with his dynamic vision heightened by the opened Fla Venerable Opens the Gate, the Heavenly Demon’s movent could only be described as a flash of lightning.

In that fleeting instant, Youngho drew his sword and swung it straight at the Heavenly Demon.

The graceful blade swept from left to right, closing to within an inch of the Heavenly Demon’s neck—

Thud.

Youngho’s sword stopped.

More precisely, the Heavenly Demon had seized the arm with which Youngho wielded his sword.

Having grasped the situation, Cheonung belatedly charged at the Heavenly Demon.

Youngho blasted out a palm strike, pushing the Heavenly Demon back. It was an attack far too feeble to truly repel such a being.

But Youngho had no other option. Had his sword been caught, he could have simply released it—but what the Heavenly Demon had seized was his right arm.

‘Should I cut it off?’

It was a thought that would have chilled anyone who heard it.

Then, with a satisfied smile, the Heavenly Demon released Youngho’s arm.

With nothing more than a slight step to the side, he lightly avoided both Cheonung’s sword and Youngho’s palm strike.

Youngho and Cheonung sharpened every sense to its limit, glaring at the Heavenly Demon with murderous expressions.

Though their actions were filled with unmistakable hostility, the Heavenly Demon only nodded, seeming all the more pleased.

“You’ve grown stronger.”

At those few words from the Heavenly Demon, not a single person gathered there could speak.

Clearly, no aura emanated from the figure before them. And yet, a strange feeling seized them.

The Unorthodox mbers looked at their trembling hands and let out scoffs.

Fear—yes, this was fear.

A calamity akin to a natural disaster that human strength could never hope to overco.

That was the Heavenly Demon, Cheon Sangmu.

Under the oppressive might of a being who seed like an emperor reigning over the world, the Unorthodox mbers grew so tense they nearly forgot to breathe, while the Demonic Cultists prostrated themselves, chanting incantations.

Yet the Heavenly Demon’s gaze was fixed on only one man.

Youngho, eting that gaze head-on, spoke.

“What wind blew you all the way here? The Monster of Cheonsan is famous for being slow to move his backside, but lately I’m starting to think that rumor’s a lie.”

“Do you feel it?”

At those words from the Heavenly Demon, Youngho’s mouth shut as though sealed by a lie. It was sothing that had never happened before.

Youngho always traded playful banter, no matter how dire the situation—even if his life was at stake, even in the most desperate circumstances.

But now he was different. So different that it felt alien. The mbers of the Asura Squad could not hide their confusion at this unfamiliar side of him.

Taking Youngho’s silence as affirmation, the Heavenly Demon began to laugh.

“Ha, haha! Hahahahahahat!”

Clutching his stomach as he laughed, the Heavenly Demon looked utterly delighted. What amused him so greatly? What thrilled him so much?

After laughing like a madman for quite so ti, the Heavenly Demon finally spoke.

“It’s you! My destined rival! I’m certain of it!”

He bared his white teeth in a wide grin. In contrast, Youngho bit down hard on his own lip.

The tallic taste of blood filled his mouth, yet he could only stare helplessly at the Heavenly Demon.

Even so, firm resolve remained in Youngho’s eyes. That unyielding determination—not to give up—once again stirred the Heavenly Demon’s heart.

“Magnificent! Had I not existed, you would have been called not rely sothing like Sword Ghost, but Sword God, or perhaps Martial God.”

At those words, the previously silent Unorthodox mbers began transmitting voices among themselves.

—Martial God? I didn’t mishear that, did I?

—I heard Sword God as well.

—What does that an? If he hadn’t existed, he would’ve been called by such a title?

It was none other than the Heavenly Demon who acknowledged Youngho. That Youngho’s worth was not so insignificant as to rit only the epithet Mad Black Sword Ghost, but rather sothing far greater.

Still wearing an intrigued expression, the Heavenly Demon looked at Youngho and said,

“Since I crossed the Wall of the Transformation Realm, you are the first to sense my energy.”

For an instant, those gathered could not comprehend his words.

He had crossed the Wall of the Transformation Realm? Impossible. No—was such a thing even conceivable?

In the history of the Martial World, not a single person had pioneered a realm beyond the Transformation Realm.

Yet he claid to have surpassed it?

Especially those Martial Artists who knew how monstrous the martial might of those in the Transformation Realm truly was found the Heavenly Demon’s words more terrifying than any threat.

It would have been less dreadful to have one’s weakness seized and be blackmailed instead.

“I acknowledge you. In truth, purely in terms of talent, you do not fall short of .”

He spoke on—saying he had not been certain at first, that he was truly surprised—continuing to address Youngho.

It was so much talk that one could scarcely believe this was the sa Heavenly Demon who had once been solemn and imposing.

Yet none of it reached Youngho’s ears. Not the Heavenly Demon’s voice, not the murmurs around him, not even the incantations of the Demonic Cultists.

He could only tremble before this despairing gap.

If Youngho truly possessed talent comparable to the Heavenly Demon’s, he would not have worn such a dark expression.

His explosive growth had rely been built upon the enlightennt he had gained before his Regression.

Until now, he had simply retraced a path he had already walked, making his ascent comparatively easy. But the realm the Heavenly Demon had reached demanded enlightennt on an entirely different level.

Quite literally, a gap in realms.

An overwhelming disparity in skill.

Yet it was sothing he would have to face one day. No—it was sothing he should even welco.

After all, he had sensed the energy the Heavenly Demon was concealing with his own power.

‘I can’t give up over sothing like this.’

Before the Heavenly Demon had even finished speaking, Youngho organized his thoughts and looked at him once more.

At that mont, the Heavenly Demon spoke in a slightly lowered voice.

“I am not a patient man. I am not the sort to leisurely wait until you beco my equal and engage in a life-and-death duel.”

“…So?”

“Five years.”

The Heavenly Demon raised all five fingers.

“I will grant you exactly five years. Until then, cultivate the strength to stand against .”

Five years. A considerable span of ti—if one’s opponent were not the Heavenly Demon.

No matter how fiercely Youngho trained, the Heavenly Demon would not simply sit idle. The gap might even widen further.

Even so, Youngho had no choice. It was not because of so lofty justification of saving the world.

It was simply because in the world the Demonic Cult would create, there was no place for the people he held dear.

Youngho revealed a chillingly cold, expressionless face.

“And when that ti cos, will the Demonic Cult move as well?”

“It will be the ti when we begin our full-scale invasion of the Central Plains.”

Once again, events diverged greatly from before his Regression.

Originally, there should have been another twenty years before the Demonic Cult stirred.

‘The work of the Demon Brain, no doubt.’

This was not a move to minimize allied casualties by producing Jiangshi.

This ant that even if casualties increased sowhat, they intended to seize the Central Plains as swiftly as possible.

A sound judgnt. The Demon Brain was truly the Demon Brain. The mont he understood the existence of Youngho, he acted without hesitation.

Youngho could no longer be ignored—even by the Heavenly Demon himself.

Youngho was the only one capable of gauging the Heavenly Demon’s strength. And he was certain of one thing.

Aside from the Heavenly Demon, there was not a single person under heaven whose martial might surpassed his own.

A half-baked provocation would only ignite the opponent’s competitive spirit.

Youngho spoke with a trace of bravado.

“Wait for . Five years is more than enough ti for a beast to reach full maturity.”

With a satisfied smile, the Heavenly Demon returned to his main forces.

Youngho stared at his retreating figure for a long while before letting out a deep sigh.

“Master, have you set up the tents?”

“Of course.”

“There is sothing I wish to tell you. It must be known only to you.”

“Follow .”

Cheonung began walking, deliberately ignoring the shadow that had fallen over Youngho’s face.

And Youngho followed slowly behind him, his steps heavy.