Chapter 335 – The Wheel of Blood Begins to Turn (1)

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“Sovereign of Ten Thousand Demons?”

 

Ko Cheon-ryul’s eyes widened.

 

Many martial artists existed in the world, but none used such words. Not even demonic martial artists used them. But one exception existed.

 

“Could it possibly be… the Cult Leader of the Demon Cult?”

 

Ko Cheon-ryul’s voice naturally trembled. His trembling spread like a plague throughout Crazy Dragon Stronghold in an instant.

 

“The Demon Cult’s Cult Leader?”

 

“Impossible!”

 

Fear intensified on people’s faces.

 

The Demon Cult was an eternal object of fear for martial artists. Each time the Demon Cult revealed itself, the world was engulfed in extreme chaos and terror. In the martial world’s reality, merely hearing the word Demon Cult made people shudder. Let alone the Cult Leader of the Demon Cult?

 

For decades, the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader had never once revealed himself to the martial world. So people were forgetting about the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader. No, they were deliberately trying not to remember.

 

The revelation itself that the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader had appeared was a catastrophe to the world.

 

Ko Cheon-ryul gathered his courage and asked once more:

 

“Are you truly the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader?”

 

“Yes. I am Cheok Gwan-hyeol, the Cult Leader of the Divine Cult.”

 

“……”

 

Ko Cheon-ryul was momentarily at a loss for words.

 

As his suspicion became reality, his mind reeled. Of all places, why did the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader have to appear at Crazy Dragon Stronghold where he was the master? It felt like a nightmare.

 

Ko Cheon-ryul clenched his fists and spoke:

 

“What brings the supreme one of the Demon Cult to such a lowly mountain stronghold of the greenwood bandits?”

 

His palms were already damp with sweat. In his entire life, he had never felt such tension before.

 

Cheok Gwan-hyeol answered:

 

“You shall become evidence.”

 

“Evidence? Evidence of what?”

 

“The first proof that this Cheok Gwan-hyeol has revealed himself to the world. I shall erase you from this world to announce to all the Central Plains that I have emerged.”

 

Uuuung!

 

At the killing intent in his voice, Nine Flower Mountain resonated.

 

“Keuk!”

 

“Kek!”

 

Dozens of bandits with weaker internal energy couldn’t withstand the killing intent in Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s voice and vomited blood from the seven orifices, collapsing.

 

“Kreeeek!”

 

Ko Cheon-ryul’s eyes widened. Both his eyes were bloodshot with burst blood vessels.

 

With just one shout, Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s meridians shook and his vital channels boiled madly. Only because Ko Cheon-ryul’s internal energy was profound could he endure it. Many bandits were vomiting blood from internal injuries.

 

Ko Cheon-ryul’s body trembled like an aspen tree.

 

“Is it… the Heart Killing Realm?”

 

The legendary realm where one could kill with mere intention alone. Such a legendary realm that existed only in oral traditions was unfolding before his eyes.

 

“Be proud to become stepping stones toward a glorious new era. I shall ascend the tower built from your corpses and usher in a new age.”

 

“Kreuk!”

 

“Please!”

 

The bandits barely enduring collapsed one by one. In an instant, over two hundred bandits vomited blood and died.

 

“This can’t be!”

 

Veins bulged grotesquely across Ko Cheon-ryul’s face.

 

Unbearable fear was seeping into his mind. He wanted to kneel. He wanted to surrender everything right now. But he was the master of Crazy Dragon Stronghold.

 

He couldn’t surrender everything without any resistance.

 

“Don’t mock me. I am Ko Cheon-ryul, one destined to become the overlord of the Green Forest!”

 

Swish!

 

Blade energy erupted from his saber.

 

Ko Cheon-ryul had reached the realm of extreme mastery, targeting the position of grand stronghold master of the Eighteen Bandit Strongholds. Until now, he had hidden his achievements due to worldly concerns, but with his life hanging by a thread, there was no point in holding back.

 

He unleashed his full power into creating blade energy.

 

An enormous saber energy that stretched over twenty chi in length. Its power was correspondingly tremendous. Strong enough not to fall short compared to any supreme master in the world.

 

Swish-ang!

 

The blade energy tore through space.

 

Its target was Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s neck shrouded in darkness.

 

No matter how supreme a master reached, if their head was severed, they could not survive. Even if that target was the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader.

 

“Die!”

 

Ko Cheon-ryul poured everything into this strike. He extracted every last drop of internal energy and poured it into his saber.

 

It was the ultimate technique of the Bloody Wheel Saber Method: Bloody Wheel Demon Dazzle Kill.

 

The enormous blade energy approached, yet Cheok Gwan-hyeol remained motionless. As if he had abandoned resistance.

 

From this sight, Ko Cheon-ryul saw a glimmer of hope. Perhaps he could kill the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader. Perhaps he could enjoy the glory of having slain the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader.

 

Thunk!

 

At that moment, a fragment of the darkness surrounding Cheok Gwan-hyeol shot out. The darkness not only split Ko Cheon-ryul’s saber cleanly in half but cut through his neck as well.

 

Thud! Clatter!

 

His severed head rolled helplessly across the ground. Ko Cheon-ryul’s eyes blinked. Until the very end, he had not realized his death.

 

‘What?’

 

The world grew hazy, then complete darkness descended.

 

Perfect darkness.

 

That was the final fate of Ko Cheon-ryul, who had dreamed of becoming the next ruler of the Green Forest.

 

“Uuuuh!”

 

“Stronghold Master!”

 

At the incredible sight, Vice Stronghold Master Yeo Sang-moon and the bandits trembled violently.

 

Who could have imagined that Ko Cheon-ryul, one of the Green Forest’s supreme masters, would die so pathetically without inflicting a single wound on Cheok Gwan-hyeol?

 

The sight unfolding before their eyes was fear itself.

 

Suddenly, the darkness surrounding Cheok Gwan-hyeol surged violently.

 

The darkness enveloping his body was precisely a collection of demonic energy. The demonic energy was so powerful that it overflowed externally rather than being contained within.

 

Heavenly Encompassing Demonic Method.

 

The legendary demonic technique said to be capable of encompassing even the heavens was appearing in the world for the first time through his body.

 

Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s gaze turned toward the surviving bandits.

 

“Be grateful for the honor of becoming my evidence. That alone gives your existence sufficient value as you pass through this world.”

 

Swoosh-crack!

 

At that moment, the darkness enveloping his body spread out in all directions.

 

The Heavenly Encompassing Demonic Method was activated. The darkness composed of demonic energy instantly swallowed all the bandits within twenty chi radius.

 

Crack crack!

 

“Kyaaaah!”

 

“Save me!”

 

The bandits swallowed by the darkness had their bodies twisted grotesquely under catastrophic pressure. Broken bones pierced through skin and launched outward. Organs burst from the tremendous compression.

 

The darkness was filled with screams. But their shrieks didn’t escape outward.

 

Crack! Crack crack!

 

Instead, a bone-chilling noise consumed everything. And shortly after, the darkness began to recede. The darkness rapidly was sucked back into Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s pores.

 

As the darkness lifted, a horrific scene was revealed. All four hundred and twenty bandits of Crazy Dragon Stronghold lay on the ground in tragic forms. Not a single one was breathing.

 

Nine Flower Mountain had transformed into a land of death in an instant.

 

“Krehehe!”

 

A bizarre groan flowed from between Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s lips.

 

Finally, most of the darkness disappeared into Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s body, leaving only faint demonic energy swirling around him.

 

Only then did Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s face become visible.

 

An angular face with thick eyebrows like caterpillars, large bulging red eyes, and a blunt nose and thick lips emanated tremendous oppressive force. This was the true appearance of Cheok Gwan-hyeol, the supreme leader of the Demon Cult.

 

In Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s pupils swirled wild demonic energy and madness. The madness that seemed ready to devour the world was precisely the manifestation of madness itself.

 

Previously, when his cultivation had reached its peak, he had been ambushed by Wind Moon Emperor Dan Gong-wol. Fortunately, he had defeated Dan Gong-wol, but in the process, Cheok Gwan-hyeol had suffered severe damage to his meridians.

 

Damage received at the peak of cultivation had triggered madness. Once this madness erupted, it required seeing blood of countless people to subside. Even after his internal injuries had healed, the madness occasionally erupted.

 

In reality, if he had focused, he could have somewhat suppressed the madness. But Cheok Gwan-hyeol didn’t do that. Instead, he enjoyed it. The lingering sensation after the explosion of madness was incomparable to any other pleasure.

 

This was why the bandits of Crazy Dragon Stronghold were completely annihilated.

 

Elephants trudge silently on their path. An elephant bears no responsibility for ants being crushed to death along its route.

 

Cheok Gwan-hyeol was the elephant, and the bandits were merely unfortunate ants in his path. And Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s advance was only just beginning.

 

***

 

Two rumors struck the world.

 

One started from the west, the other from the east.

 

The first rumor was the complete annihilation of Black Martial Hall, which had been vying for hegemony in Guizhou Province. Black Martial Hall, which had absorbed the White Merchant House and become the undisputed hegemon of Guizhou Province, was annihilated in a single day.

 

The one who destroyed Black Martial Hall was Mount Hua Fist Demon Dam-ho.

 

His warning to maintain the line quickly spread throughout the Central Plains through people’s mouths.

 

Some accepted Dam-ho’s warning with fear, while others received it with displeasure.

 

The former were mainly martial artists of minor sects, while the latter were from prestigious sects. Martial artists from prestigious families who had ruled as the privileged class of the Central Plains for ages believed Dam-ho’s warning was directed at them.

 

Just as they were about to express their displeasure, another shocking rumor struck the world like lightning.

 

The annihilation of Crazy Dragon Stronghold.

 

The complete destruction of over four hundred bandits of Crazy Dragon Stronghold, all found in tragic forms in a single day, was shocking enough to greatly impact the martial artists of the region.

 

The massacre starting from Crazy Dragon Stronghold continued northward.

 

The Mysterious Yin Gate, headquartered in northern Fujian Province, and the Zixilmu Family, a martial family based in western Jiangxi Province, were completely annihilated.

 

During the process, it was revealed that the culprit was a single person. And rumors spread from someone’s mouth that he was the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader.

 

The Demon Cult’s Cult Leader, who had been thoroughly concealed in darkness, had finally revealed himself to the world.

 

The Central Plains trembled.

 

The monster they had only vaguely feared turned out to be far more terrifying than their imagination.

 

It was obvious to even a three-year-old child that his destination was Yueyang.

 

Where the Martial Alliance had once stood, but where the Demon Cult was now constructing its main branch.

 

What the world didn’t know was that the moment Cheok Gwan-hyeol revealed himself, the Demon Cult’s main force, which had been holding its breath, secretly began to move. But the world still didn’t know this fact.

 

Hearing rumors that the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader was moving alone, five martial sects with roots in Jiangxi Province gathered.

 

The Chongyi Sect, Yudao House, Thousand Technique Hall, Fengxin Kim Family, and Gold Spear Sect.

 

They were all affiliated with the Martial Alliance and were renowned for their noble righteousness. Saddened by the Martial Alliance’s loss of its main headquarters and retreat to Shaolin, they gathered immediately upon receiving intelligence that the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader was moving alone.

 

It was an excellent opportunity to eliminate the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader who was disturbing the world.

 

They didn’t know when such an opportunity would come again if not now, so they hastily mobilized their elite forces. The number exceeded seven hundred. Having mobilized only elite forces rather than common rabble, they believed they had sufficient chances of victory.

 

The elite forces of the five sects ambushed simultaneously in a pathway the Demon Cult’s Cult Leader would pass. They believed they had sufficient chances of victory, but they learned at the cost of their lives just how mistaken they were.

 

The leaders of the five sects had their limbs torn off and became animal feed, while the martial artists they led were ground like batter in a mortar, their forms unrecognizable before death.

 

Of the martial artists who ambushed Cheok Gwan-hyeol, only one person survived. And not through their own ability but through Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s mercy.

 

Through the survivor’s account, terror of Cheok Gwan-hyeol spread like a plague throughout the Central Plains. In response, Shaolin Temple and the Martial Alliance began establishing countermeasures, while martial sects in Cheok Gwan-hyeol’s path chose to close their gates.

 

The great dark age of the martial world was beginning.

 

Everyone felt that the final war to determine the master of the Central Plains was imminent.

 

The winds of chaos and terror were engulfing the Central Plains.

 

People lost hope and trembled in fear.

 

Then someone mentioned Dam-ho.

 

“Still, we have the Fist Demon.”

 

“Then…”

 

“We must unite around the Fist Demon.”

 

People’s cries spread through the wind across the world.