Chronicles of the Demonic Cult Conversion Chapter 52
One hour passed.
“Has everyone chosen?”
“Sir!”
The Blood Wolves shouted in response to Yi Mu-baek’s question.
“Good. The responsibility for the choice you make today lies entirely with you. I trust you have made a choice you will not regret.”
“Sir!”
“Now then, sit in the lotus position and prepare to circulate the heart art. The instructors will stand guard for you, and if necessary, they will guide your true qi.”
At Yi Mu-baek’s command, the Blood Wolves all sat in the lotus position at once and began to circulate their qi according to the heart art they had chosen.
Among the roughly one hundred and fifty members, about one hundred and twenty Blood Wolves chose the Reverse Heaven Heart Art.
Just as their initial reaction had shown, about eighty percent of the Blood Wolves chose the existing Reverse Heaven Heart Art.
Conversely, about thirty Blood Wolves chose the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi created by Jin Yeong-in.
Most of them were Blood Wolves belonging to the group led by Jin Yeong-in, and the reason they chose the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi was solely their trust in the brother they believed in and followed.
Having shared joys and sorrows with Jin Yeong-in for the past hundred days, they trusted the leadership and outstanding qualities he had shown and chose the as-yet-unverified heart art.
‘Sheesh, these foolish bastards.’
Jin Yeong-in found the Blood Wolves who chose the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi endearing and let out a snort.
Though he inwardly thought them foolish, Jin Yeong-in was grateful to the Blood Wolves who had believed in him.
If one learned a heart art incorrectly, their entire life could be ruined.
Yet, they chose an unheard-of heart art out of loyalty alone…….
‘Yes, you will never regret it.’
Jin Yeong-in was confident that the Blood Wolves who chose the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi would achieve the Small Heavenly Cycle without any trouble.
If it were a martial art dealing with the principles of advanced martial arts, even Jin Yeong-in would not dare to create one rashly, but a heart art that deals with demonic qi was a different story.
At least, as much as he prided himself that this Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi was a perfect heart art, he was confident in the result.
It was around when an hour had passed.
“Cough!”
“Heok, heok heok!”
“Keoheok!”
Some of the Blood Wolves circulating the Reverse Heaven Heart Art suddenly began to have difficulty breathing, cough, or vomit blood and collapse.
At that, the movements of the instructors became frantic.
“Get a grip and breathe! Quickly!”
“Focus! I will help you!”
The instructors were so busy sticking to the Blood Wolves suffering from the side effects of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art and guiding their true qi that they had no time to breathe.
As the Reverse Heaven Heart Art had such severe side effects, groans echoed from here and there, and they were running around so much that even ten bodies would not have been enough.
In the midst of that, during the recent attack by the Demonic Devil Cult, many instructors had been seriously injured or killed, so the manpower was absurdly insufficient.
It was fortunate that the martial artists brought by the Great Guardian Yi Gyu were helping the instructors; if not, it seemed certain that this would have been the cohort with the most casualties in the history of the Blood Wolf Corps.
But despite such efforts, not a few ended up meeting their end.
“……Keok!”
A Blood Wolf let out a single scream and collapsed limply.
From the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears of the Blood Wolf, who was limp and no longer moving, crimson blood and whitish brain matter burst out like a fountain.
Instant death.
As the demonic qi flowed backward and concussed the brain, he had passed away after what is commonly called bleeding from the seven orifices.
“Damn it. He was a pretty good kid.”
“May you go to a good place.”
The instructors felt regretful as they moved the dead Blood Wolves.
Although they had treated the Blood Wolves like rats and sometimes even harassed them for the past hundred days, that was just to instill discipline to cultivate martial artists and not their true feelings.
But the instructors were not allowed the time to pray for the souls of the dead Blood Wolves.
“Keeeeeeeeuk!”
“Hee hee! Hee hee hee!”
More than one or two Blood Wolves were beginning to show madness as their demonic qi surged, and among them were those who seemed to have gone completely mad, foaming at the mouth, drooling, and spouting nonsense.
The worst among them were the Blood Wolves whose skin was turning a dark blue and horns were beginning to sprout from their foreheads.
Demonification.
A fate and a curse that those who learned demonic arts could not escape.
A fate worse than death, where one had to live as a demon forever due to the side effects of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art.
‘What a mess.’
Jin Yeong-in looked at the scene unfolding before his eyes and shook his head.
The left side.
The place where the Blood Wolves who chose the Reverse Heaven Heart Art were situated.
It was a scene of pandemonium, with the Blood Wolves suffering from the side effects of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art and the instructors struggling desperately to alleviate it in any way possible.
* * *
“…….”
The Blood Wolf Corps Leader, Yi Mu-baek, was silently engrossed in caring for the Blood Wolves suffering from the side effects.
Strictly speaking, there was no reason for Yi Mu-baek to step in.
He was the Blood Wolf Corps Leader who was in overall charge of the Blood Wolf Corps, not an instructor, so it would not have been a problem even if he had stood with his arms crossed and just watched the situation.
Nevertheless, Yi Mu-baek had not once failed to step in for the past several decades.
Although he was the Yi Mu-baek who pushed the Blood Wolves around like dogs for a hundred days, that, like the instructors, was just to cultivate martial artists in a short period.
To him, the Blood Wolves were like his own children and were no different from disciples.
He too was human, so as he spent a hundred days with the Blood Wolves, his heart would go out to them even if he did not try to give them his affection.
For such an Yi Mu-baek, the final process of the Blood Wolf Corps was a truly difficult day.
Why?
Because due to the side effects of the Reverse Heaven Heart Art, he had to send away more than half of the Blood Wolves he had grown fond of over a hundred days.
The number of martial artists Yi Mu-baek had cultivated in the past would easily exceed tens of thousands, but the number of Blood Wolves he had to let go was also in the tens of thousands.
‘Until when must I lose these budding youths so futilely?’
That was a long-held regret that Yi Mu-baek had harbored in his heart while serving in the Blood Wolf Corps.
But today was different from the past.
‘Th-that’s!’
Yi Mu-baek’s eyes widened as he saw the thirty Blood Wolves sitting in the lotus position far away.
That was where the Blood Wolves who had chosen the newly introduced heart art, the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi, were situated, and the atmosphere was completely different from the side of Jin Yeong-in who chose the Reverse Heaven Heart Art.
Among the roughly thirty Blood Wolves, no one had died.
Not even a single person had demonified.
It seemed that three or four of them were showing slight symptoms of Qi deviation, but the symptoms did not seem serious.
‘Can the heart art that Jin Yeong-in kid created truly replace the Reverse Heaven Heart Art?’
Looking at the situation, there was no doubt that it was stable.
But the important thing was, no matter what anyone said, the effectiveness of the heart art, its power.
No matter how stable it was, if progress was slow, it could not be called a demonic art.
If slow progress did not matter, they could have just learned a righteous art; there would be no reason to take the risk and learn a demonic art.
The reason the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult insisted on demonic arts was that the founding ancestor, the first Heavenly Demon, was the creator of demonic arts, and there was also a religious aspect, but there was another real reason.
Due to its geographical and geopolitical characteristics, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was bound to have many hostile surrounding forces, and its front lines were very long and divided into several.
For that reason, the military groups of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were engaged in large and small battles almost every day with the hostile forces located in the four directions of east, west, south, and north.
In other words, it was no exaggeration to say that the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was in a state of war all year round.
They had no choice but to cultivate martial artists as quickly as possible and deploy them to each front line.
‘Simply being stable is not enough to replace the Reverse Heaven Heart Art…….’
It was when Yi Mu-baek was thinking that.
Swoooosh!
Just then, as if the Blood Wolves who had chosen the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi were beginning to achieve the Small Heavenly Cycle, they started to emit demonic qi one by one.
“……!”
Yi Mu-baek was startled to see that sight.
Swoooosh!
From the Blood Wolves who had chosen the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi, a truly intense, denser, and thicker demonic qi than when one achieved the Small Heavenly Cycle with the Reverse Heaven Heart Art gushed out and began to encroach on the surroundings.
The demonic qi they emitted was so powerful that the surrounding weeds, leaves, and other vegetation turned black and withered.
‘I-it’s stronger than the Reverse Heaven Heart Art.’
Yi Mu-baek could not help but admit that the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi was also superior in terms of power.
Moreover, among the thirty-two Blood Wolves who had chosen the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi, only four had failed to achieve the Small Heavenly Cycle.
A staggering number, over eighty percent, had succeeded in their first Small Heavenly Cycle and were initiated into demonic arts.
‘T-this is a revolution.’
Yi Mu-baek finally sensed that a new era had dawned.
He was certain.
That as of today, the Reverse Heaven Heart Art, which had produced countless victims over the past several hundred years, would disappear into the annals of history.
* * *
After the Blood Wolves following Jin Yeong-in achieved the Small Heavenly Cycle, not a single person doubted the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi.
At least, the people present here did.
Having clearly seen with their own two eyes that the Post-Heaven Extreme Demonic True Qi was overwhelmingly superior to the Reverse Heaven Heart Art, it was impossible to deny that fact.
“How could such great fortune befall our cult.”
It had reached the point where even the Great Guardian Yi Gyu used such an expression, unable to contain his admiration.
“Little Brother, your defection was indeed like gaining a thousand troops and ten thousand horses for our cult.”
“You praise me too highly.”
“What do you mean, too highly? As the Great Guardian of our cult, I am truly grateful. Our cult owes you a great debt.”
“A debt, that is not fitting.”
“Hmm?”
“I am also a member of our cult, so what is there to be indebted about? I am merely contributing to my school.”
Hearing Jin Yeong-in’s answer, Yi Gyu was startled and said.
“Oh dear, it seems I have misspoken. I apologize. I did not say that thinking you were not a person of our cult. Do not take it to heart. No matter what anyone says, I, Yi Gyu, will call you a martial artist of our cult.”
“I am just happy that you think of me that way.”
Jin Yeong-in smiled brightly.
“By the way, I am truly envious.”
“Pardon?”
“Have you not left your name in history at such a young age? Your name will be on the lips of the cult members for generations to come, as long as our cult exists.”
“Not at all. What is so great that the Great Guardian would be envious?”
“That is not so.”
Yi Gyu gave a bitter smile.
“Why would a martial artist risk his life for honor? It is all because of the desire to leave behind a single line of their name.”
“Yes……?”
“You come with empty hands and go with empty hands. Is not a human being an existence that comes empty-handed and goes empty-handed? The only things a person can truly leave behind are their descendants who carry on their bloodline, and their name. Everyone dies when their time comes, but the names of those who have achieved great deeds remain even after thousands of years.”
“Ah.”
Jin Yeong-in nodded his head as if he understood the meaning of Yi Gyu’s words.
“A tiger leaves behind its skin when it dies, a man leaves behind his name. I will be remembered as one of countless Great Guardians and then forgotten at some point, but not you. Your name will proudly be recorded in the history books of our cult.”
“Will not the Great Guardian also have a chance to leave his name?”
“I hope so. But, why is your expression so dark?”
Yi Gyu tilted his head as if he did not understand.
And for good reason, as Jin Yeong-in’s face showed no sign of joy at all.
Even though the heart art he had created had received everyone’s recognition and his name would be recorded in the history books of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Jin Yeong-in’s expression was somewhat dark.
So, Yi Gyu could not help but find it strange.
“It is because they weigh on my mind.”
Jin Yeong-in pointed to those being dragged away somewhere by the instructors in the distance.
They were…… Blood Wolves who had turned into beings that could no longer be called human.