Published at 9th of August 2022 9:02 am

Chapter 76: The Divine Shaped Flame (2)

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“Huff. Huff.”

Woon-seong gasped for air as he leaned on his spear for support. His clothing was torn to rags and his shoulders sagged with exhaustion. The throwing knives previously strapped to his belt were also scattered everywhere.

The deepest wounds were on his things and chest.

My thigh was stabbed three times and my chest has a wound so deep that my bones are showing.

If everything hadn’t been an illusion, it would definitely have been fatal.

Of course, even within the illusion, Woon-seong was the one standing and the Plum Blossom Sword Saint was lying on the ground before him.

The Sage of the Bright Rock is definitely a level higher than Jwa Do-gyul.

Woon-seong shook his head, straightening his back to examine the corpse. It was an illusion made from the Leader’s memories, but everything was very realistic..

It took me five hundred seconds to defeat this man. I even had to sacrifice a number of hits to win… I can safely say that this fight was similar to that of fighting one of the weaker Ten Demonic Masters.

It looks like I caught up to my former master.

Woon-seong thought for a moment, then shook his head looking weary.

No… not quite yet. Considering I only barely defeated the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, I’m still a quarter of a step behind my former master.

Woon-seong looked back down at the corpse at his feet.

Compared to Jwa Do-gyul, who was a straight out hypocrite… The Plum Blossom Sword Saint, who showed a sad face without a sense of tolerance from his sword, pisses me off more.

Woon-seong grit his teeth and waved his hand, erasing the corpse from existence. Disengaging Polymorphic Combat Illusion.

Immediately, the scene changed as the illusion collapsed. The wounds on his body disappeared, though the weariness remained.

“Phew.”

Woon-seong sighed as the pain from the illusionary wounds also disappeared. Thanks to that, he took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling very much alive. With some time, his breathing also stabilized.

Now, it’s time to review.

Woon-seong sat down in the middle of the Third Gate and began to circulate his qi.

On top of the qi and lessons the Unrecorded left, I now have the First and Second Connection of the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon down. And with those connections, I can generate qi from my core, distribute it to my limbs, and circulate it through my body. My qi starts circulating, from small to large, one at a time, and then…

Woon-seong circulated his qi, repeating the same movements over and over. Once, twice, three times… Soon, his consciousness sank into the depths.

‘Mind Split Double Will’.

Just like the name suggested, the mind was split into two. The divided mind could not proceed to do two different things simultaneously, saving time.

One mind will cultivate, while the other one will continue to review and thoroughly analyze my last fight. And after I recreate the fight again and again…

Slowly, what Woon-seong had been lacking became apparent..

I should’ve done it a bit more gently at this point… So this is the ‘Plum Blossom Sword’ style. It strikes like fierce waves— silently yet ferociously… Simply being smooth and gentle is not enough. I need to have strength within it that can win the fierce waves…

Each of these is too trivial to be considered insight, but these small pieces of enlightenment pile up to become something larger.

As he learned these small things, the changes in his experience affected the other side of his mind too.

Like a swarm of bees, there was movement from the qi in Woon-seong’s core. Slowly and surely, his energy was beginning to move into the small flame essence that sat within his core, feeding and strengthening it.

Hmm?

Woon-seong’s eyebrows furrowed and his consciousness sank further, gathering at his core to sense what was happening.

The ‘Heavenward Soul Earthen Body’ is reacting to the qi from my core…! Wait, the flame essence is also reacting?!

It seemed that in response to the enlightenment from the fight just now, the flame essence planted within him had reacted and like a flower emerging from its seed, energy was flowing out.

With that energy came pain, coursing through his body.

“Urgh.”

Woon-seong’s chest tightened with pain and he quickly endured the pain, trying to control the energy. Yet, the more he tried to control it, the more the energy acted up. Instead of retreating back into the flame essence, it mixed and melted with his original qi.

With a puff, a huge flame rose from Woon-seong’s back.

The Divine Shaped Flame!

Woon-seong realized what it was almost immediately as he stared in shock at his back, where the fire curled around him like large wings.

Normally, I would’ve been happy about this, but there’s an unexpected problem.

The reason why Woon-seong wanted to manifest the Divine Shaped Flame so much was in order to prevent the worst case scenario: Joo Moon-baek obtaining the Divine Shaped Flame and becoming the Heavenly Demon.

I finally obtained the Divine Shaped Flame that I wanted so much, but I didn’t expect it to be this uncontrollable. Simply manifesting it has only put me in danger… The fire is spreading without control!

There was a fact that Woon-seong did not know. In order to control the Divine Flame, one must learn the third and final connection of the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon!

But Chun Hwi had collapsed before he could pass on the final verse to his apprentice. Thanks to that, Woon-seong had no way to control the flame at the moment.

As if the Divine Flame knew that, it rampaged like a horse gone wild. Starting from his back, the fire wrapped around Woon-seong’s body.

“Urgh.”

An out-of-control flame rushed around, spreading as if it wanted to burn and consume Woon-seong.

This could no longer be considered as the Divine Shaped Flame — it was akin to a rabid dog that was crazy enough to bite its owner.

If Chun Hwi had been present and seen this situation, he would have quickly controlled the situation. But the only one who could help Woon-seong, the Heavenly Demon, was not there.

“Shhh.”

Woon-seong bit his lips so hard that his eyes turned white. I need to focus! Blood gushed from his lips. Thanks to the pain, his mind cleared, but his situation had yet to improve.

Now, instead of only raging on the outside of his body, the flame was actually traveling through the inside too!

The pain seemed to burn from within his blood.

The ‘Heavenward Soul Earthen Body’ is helping to block some of the fire, but it’s nowhere near enough to suppress it… the Divine Shaped Flame is becoming more and more violent.

Had it not been for his completed martial body, Woon-seong would have been burnt to a crisp.

I have to control the Divine Shaped Flame somehow!

Woon-seong tried to control the turbulent energy with all of his might.

Instead of calming down, the fire actually raged further!

Hua—!

As it grew in size, the flames from Woon-seong’s body spread until the entire Third Gate was engulfed in flames.

Through the reflection of the room in Woon-seong’s eyes, the only thing that could be seen was a sea of flames. Staring into those eyes, it would seem like the fire emanated from his pupils.

Soon the flames billowed and reached the ceiling.

The White Dragon Spear, sitting in the corner, suddenly shone with a terrifying light.

As if drawn by something, it flew into the air.

Weng—!

“The White Night Spear…” Woon-seong unconsciously murmured as his spear appeared before him.

A mysterious wind pressure spread out from it and pushed the flame away from Woon-seong’s body.

Whoo—!

The spear trembled and there was a burst of light, once again pushing the flames away from Woon-seong.

The youth blinked blankly at the spear before him.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed once more.

The light seems to be gathering around the spear and is etching some text…!

Woon-seong slowly read the phrase that had appeared in a trance.

“Fire is the cleanser of the demonic. Control it with your deepest desire and rule over it. And then you shall achieve divine harmony.”

The tremble of the Divine Shaped Flame has reduced. The pain has also disappeared significantly. Does it want me to read the text continuously?

Woon-seong didn’t have much time to think it over as it was never easy to tame a wild horse. Almost as soon as he had finished the phrase, the flame once again started to run free.

Fire is the cleanser of the demonic. Control it with your deepest desire and rule over it. And then you shall achieve divine harmony. Fire is the cleanser of the demonic. Control it with your deepest desire and rule over it. And then you shall achieve divine harmony…

However, the more he repeated the phrase, the more that the flame seemed to listen to him.

And finally…

I succeeded in controlling the Divine Shaped Flame…!

With a calm murmur, the flame now danced across Woon-seong’s palm according to his will. Having succeeded, he quickly realized that almost all of his energy had been used up due to the turbulent flame. Quickly, he tried to reign in the fire.

Once again, it didn’t exactly move as he wished.

This time, however, there was no malicious intent.

With a small whoosh, the flame rose into the air. Once a safe distance away from his palm, the flame split into dozens of smaller flames, illuminating the room in a beautiful glow.

Like before, the fire was still grey. If you looked closely though, it now seemed to have a faint tongue of purple flame flickering through it.

Floating in the air, the new flame emanated an aura that was both eerie and majestic.

What Woon-seong now had was a complete Divine Shaped Flame under his control.

Having exhausted himself, Woon-seong collapsed onto the floor. As he lost consciousness, the voice of the Unrecorded resounded through his brain.

“Successor of our Sect. If you want support from the Cult, find the Unrecorded Demonic Group. They shall serve you like your own limbs… Find them and show them my Divine Flame as proof.”

Woon-seong woke up about half an hour after that.

“Knng.”

He blinked the weariness out of his eyes and struggled to sit up, examining his body. His clothing had mostly been burnt away, but he was physically fine.

I was knocked out…?

After the extreme pain of being burnt both inside and out, Woon-seong had lost consciousness the moment he was given relief.

Oh. That’s right. I lost consciousness while trying to control the Divine Shaped Flame through reading the text. But, I succeeded in controlling it!

The moment that it came to mind, Woon-seong called the Divine Flame to his palm, forming a small ball of fire.

Flickering, the grey flame covered his hand. Nevertheless, it was not hot to him at all.

At the same time, Woon-seong remembered how the flame had floated in the air. Following his instructions, the flame rose into the air, illuminating the Third Gate. Separating into smaller sparks, twenty smaller flames roamed the air according to his will.

Playing with it, Woon-seong found that he could also easily change the flame’s size and appearance.

An irresistible demonic force that oozes out of the flame. So I finally achieved the Divine Shaped Flame!

Woon-seong couldn’t help beaming. I haven’t felt this happy about achieving something for quite a while now!

Actually, in an uncharacteristic show of excitement, Woon-seong practically wanted to jump for joy.

But before that, he thought of something. Just before he passed out, a voice had spoken to him from the White Night Spear.

‘Find the Unrecorded Demonic Group’?

Woon-seong believed that it was the will of the Unrecorded.

The fact that he left his will in an inanimate object… That means that the Unrecorded achieved the realm of a divine being.

Instead of being terrified by this fact, Woon-seong couldn’t be any happier. Not only did this prove that humans could indeed reach that level of power, the man in question had been one of his predecessors.

So there was a person of the Spear Master Sect who achieved the realm of a divine being! I couldn’t be any prouder.

However, that wasn’t all he had learned.

And he wants me to find the Unrecorded Demonic Group. I was suspecting it myself, but it looks like the Unrecorded really is related to the Unrecorded Demonic Group.

Originally, Woon-seong had guessed that it might have just been a coincidence that the two shared a name. But, of course, he should have known that nothing was ever as simple as mere coincidence.

The Unrecorded Demonic Group. The ones who did not reveal themselves to others nor stay recorded in any official records of the Cult.

The Unrecorded.

Un-recorded.

Finding them without a clue won’t be easy. However, it won’t be that difficult either. Because they must be there…

Woon-seong’s lips curled into a smile as he thought of a place to go.

It really wouldn’t be too hard.

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