“So, what happened to the Supreme Heavenly Demon?”
“He’s been resting because he’s tired after coming out into the world after such a long time.”
“Is that really true!?”
“I don’t lie with my own mouth.”
Qing said confidently, puffing out her chest.
She was indeed honest only with her mouth.
Deception and lies were not the same.
She never explicitly denied that the Cripple was the culprit.
Ji Seung-ju didn’t hide his skeptical gaze.
She was a woman whom he simply couldn’t trust, with all her antics from being an assassin to pretending to be a Cripple (to Ji Seung-ju, she looked just like a Cripple).
Plus, the moment the Supreme Heavenly Demon acted strangely, she kept cursing at women, so there was no need for deep thought to figure out who the real culprits were.
“Do you have any evidence?”
“Haha. Your eyes look pretty nasty. Are you really doubting Lady Seomun Qing, the honored disciple of Ahura Mazda?”
“It’s Ahura Mazda.”
“Same difference. Evidence? Sure. Just a moment. Hmm. Yes. I will do just that.”
Qing muttered, nodding her head as if conversing with someone within her.
It was then that Ji Seung-ju felt a mix of confusion.
“Alright. Listen. This is the word of your Supreme Being.”
As Qing spread her palm, the Heavenly Demon Soul began to rise, emitting a strangely wilted glow.
The posture of the followers, who had been hesitating, immediately straightened, and they all fixed their gazes on her.
“The Supreme Being says!”
Qing clenched her fist.
—Kyaaa!
A horrific scream echoed from the Heavenly Demon Soul.
It was the lament of the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
The pain that twists the soul is the worst, indescribable in terms of this world.
If a living person experienced it, they would probably die immediately from the shock.
But the already dead had lost the right to escape death.
Of course, Qing had never experienced such pain, so she didn’t know.
However, if the Heavenly Demon could scream in such a desperate manner, shedding all dignity and pride, it wasn’t normal.
It was a nice bit of poetic justice.
As Qing relaxed her hand, what remained was a crunchy and crumbling triangular prism.
The noble glow was nowhere to be seen, now flickering weakly like a sad firefly.
Qing said with a triumphant smile.
“You idiots can’t comprehend the voice of the Supreme Being, so I’ll explain it to you directly. Today, this humble Heavenly Demon has committed a grave sin by daring to go against the great Lady Seomun Qing.”
Qing once again clenched her fist.
—Kyaaa! Kyaaa! Kyaaa! Ugh, ugh!
Using the method of the hungry ghost, the rhythm seemed to match.
Perhaps the Heavenly Demon had a knack for music.
“So, you all better not go against Lady Seomun Qing and serve her well. Thus speaks the Heavenly Demon.”
Qing then clenched her fist again, and with a crack!!, the Heavenly Demon Soul shattered into pieces.
“End of story. Did you hear that? It’s like this. Of course, I can’t interpret the screams, so I just guessed what it might have said. What do you think? Am I on the mark?”
It was a wail as if a soul was being ripped apart.
At that dreadful sound, no follower dared to step forward.
“I can just summon it and ask. Yarp, Heavenly Demon Summon!”
A triangular prism rose again above Qing’s palm.
“Aah…”
Ji Seung-ju lamented.
The Heavenly Demon, the soul of the great leader, was completely dominated and toyed with.
“Stop, please!”
“Sure.”
Qing instantly clenched her fist and crushed the Heavenly Demon Soul.
With a brief scream, the Heavenly Demon Soul disappeared.
She knew how to take it out but didn’t know how to put it back.
Though it only hurt the Heavenly Demon, there was no issue with that.
“Aren’t Demon Cultists supposed to be strong? Seems like it’s normal for the strong to devour their superiors and take their place in Hwanhui Palace. So now, am I the Heavenly Demon?”
Qing was just digging for more.
However, Ji Seung-ju’s gaze didn’t fade; instead, it lit up with intrigue.
“Does that mean you’ve inherited everything from that person?!”
“What, like this?”
Qing summoned Pachen Magi.
To be exact, it was the leftovers of Pachen Magi.
Most of the Pachen Magi was tightly compressed, trapped in a corner of her Dantian, while only a tiny part had ventured out to newly join Qing’s True Energy Union.
Qing’s hands turned completely black with Demon Energy.
Normally, when True Energy was emitted, it should faintly glow and be see-through.
But Pachen Magi didn’t glow; instead, it devoured light and was painted with the color of pitch-black emptiness.
Moreover, that wasn’t all.
From Qing’s dark hands, countless eyes sprouted.
Looking at the energy in her hands, with the most destructive properties under the sky, Qing thought.
What the heck is this? It’s disgusting and hideous.
Qing dismissed the True Energy.
In trying to please her new master, Pachen Magi returned to her Dantian looking glum, having been insulted for being unsightly.
“Pachen Magi! You really are!”
“What? Didn’t the title just escalate dramatically?”
If you say “you,” it’s a casual sentence.
But if you say “you,” it elevates to the highest level of respect, an extreme honorific.
The implication made the followers murmur.
Qing frowned.
“I’m not thinking of becoming the head of the Demon Cult, not at all. Well, depending on the conditions, it could change.”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t we supposed to live like decent people?”
Qing recalled her life in the Demon Cult.
It was merely a city of hungry ghosts devouring each other.
Everyone but her was an enemy; she could never let her guard down for a second, and even if they wore smiles during conversations, it was merely a simulation of relationships.
Nobody could be kind in such an environment.
Human kindness comes from the storehouse.
If they were merely guarding their own storehouses with bloodshot eyes, who could bestow any kindness inside?
“The power structure is over. There’s no such thing. Originally, strong people were supposed to listen. Enough with the slanders about the Central Plain. Let’s get along. How about we send letters around suggesting peace? I’ll live like a human, so let’s avoid butchering each other in sight.”
Qing thought about Gyeon Pohee, or rather, Seomun Hee, her clumsy and not-so-nice junior sister, now becoming her sister Ho.
How many Seomun Hees had existed in the Demon Cult, and how many had perished? If things continued this way, how many more would come into existence?
Thus, a breeding ground for villains should not exist in this world.
It would be troublesome to wipe them all out, and there might even be idiots who became villains just by their environment.
Difficult tasks could be passed on to others.
After all, isn’t there someone handy enough?
“That’s not possible! It would shake the foundation of the Divine Sect.”
“Do you even have a future? If I just kill you all and return to the Central Plain, wouldn’t the Demon Cult fall apart too?”
That remark once again silenced the tomb.
The realm of the Supreme Heavenly Demon was presumed to dwell in life and death, indicating he must be at least at the realm of leaving the Demon Cult.
Even if leaving the Demon Cult and the realm of the efficient were at the same height, it would still genuinely be a step up.
To put it in modern terms, it’s a tier five.
It wasn’t a question of whether to accept a new Heavenly Demon or not.
The question was whether they lived or died.
It was, in truth, a bluff.
Qing, lacking true power, was swaggering.
She needed to do this to survive.
And to have a few words to say in passing.
Although her body had been reassembled into a plump, state-of-the-art model thanks to the Heavenly Demon Parasite, her enlightenment still remained stuck at the late peak.
Why!
Heavens!!!
Why!!!
Haven’t I reached the Supreme Martial Artist yet!?
If Heaven could hear, it would be a ridiculous cry.
What have you even accomplished, huh?
Out of the thirty-seven techniques of the Heavenly Demon, except for three, all were locked, and she was just occupying the Martial Arts Inventory.
Heavenly Demon Divine Skills and Heavenly Demon Emperor’s Trajectory.
Those were the techniques the Heavenly Demon had used with Qing’s body.
Had she known this would happen, she would have tried to use a little more of this and that.
But well, since they weren’t lost but merely locked, it was a different story once her realm increased.
Having retrieved three purple skills for free, she should feel grateful rather than regretful.
Besides, with her innate nature, she didn’t particularly have the mindset of lamenting loss.
Since before she even left, she was the type who thought, “What can I do if I lose something?” and pondered what to eat for dinner instead.
Or rather, it was a resignation honed like a dirt spoon.
“Why not create a country or something? Or an alliance of religious sects. If you’ve got power, you won’t get beaten up outside, right?”
“That’s something you can easily say.”
“That’s for the smart ones to handle.”
Ji Seung-ju fell silent at that remark.
You think you’re lucky?
A smart little one and weak, so I’m letting it slide.
Thinking back, she would retaliate fiercely but hadn’t really hurt anyone that much.
However, there were those she couldn’t let go.
Qing gazed down at Gyeon Pohee, the Former Natural Being.
Struck by a double-edged sword, she looked dazed, having lost all her inner strength along with the mental shock.
The moment Qing’s gaze turned fierce.
“Wait! Please stop!”
“What? Why? I’m just trying to enjoy a bit of revenge.”
“That person is still the heir of the first Heavenly Demon. As you said, they’re a necessary religious center to reorganize the Divine Sect, so please have mercy.”
“Tsk.”
Qing clicked her tongue.
It was a bit too much to interfere after delegating the work.
Out of curiosity, Qing asked,
“Then, can I make him a eunuch?”
“Whether it’s that seed or matters, the important thing is that. Rather, go ahead and chop off the arm or leg.”
“Now, that’s the best thing I’ve heard so far.”
Qing chuckled and squatted before the Supreme Being.
Her white, slender palm gently caressed his cheek.
When the focus in the Supreme Being’s last remaining eye slowly turned—
Qing’s thumb plunged into the socket of his eye.
“Argh!”
With it being gouged while alive, a scream was unavoidable.
But that was just the beginning; Qing firmly held his eye socket with her thumb and palm.
With his head immobilized, his body merely trembled in pain, flailing about.
A regular person without internal strength couldn’t strike or scratch her; it was just meaningless flailing against Qing, who had dramatically increased her abilities.
Qing finally wore a satisfied smile.
The sensation of piercing through a soft yet solid eyeball, mixed with warm and thin fluids, sent a long-overdue shiver of excitement up her spine.
“Are you out of your mind? Should I poke the other eye socket too?”
“Ah, it hurts. You… it’s too painful. Mommy, it hurts…”
“Tsk. You ought to use honorifics. From now on, address every person in existence respectfully. Since you’ve lived your life without manners, it only makes sense to start now to balance things out.”
Qing said with a bright smile.
The Supreme Being shook in pain but looked up at Qing’s face. Her beautiful smile was reflected in his last remaining eye.
“Alright, alright.”
“Good. That’s nice.”
Qing’s thumb pulled out from the Supreme Being’s eyelid.
The contents of that unknown eyeball rolled out in a stream.
“Ugh, ugh…”
The Supreme Being gritted his teeth and endured the pain.
Qing tilted her head, pondering.
What is this? Why is he managing to hold back the screams? Is it less painful?
Should I have just pulled the whole eyeball out?
However, the Supreme Being’s state was already in ruins.
Seeing visions from the formation surfaced in her memory, causing her excitement to plummet.
Now, they were just commonfolk who didn’t even know martial arts.
Qing rubbed her sticky thumb over the Supreme Being’s head.
Wiping away any strange substance, front, back, sided, upwards, she commented.
“Consider this your pardon for attempting to burst your eyeball. From now on, you better stay nice. Otherwise, we could run into each other again, and I’ll be sure to smile at you in a rather unfriendly way. You understand what I mean?”
If you don’t act nice, I’ll make sure to greet you with a sinister smile.
Qing delivered a chilling warning in her sweet voice.
The Supreme Being, dazed, nodded.
With that, Qing finished organizing her animosity.
The poor guy was in a complete daze now.
Just because she punctured one eye. What a lackluster occurrence.
Regardless, having executed her revenge thoroughly, she felt she had done her part.
Qing turned on her heels and headed towards the tomb exit.
“Alright then, you all handle the rest.”
Qing waved back, disappearing into the stairway leading out.
The nightmare of being kidnapped had finally come to an end.