Chapter 532: Curse of the Dragon’s Blood.

The Blood Demon is a disaster.

Such a being possessed the power to freely wield subjugated spirits.

It meant that even binding spirits by infusing them with energy was meaningless before the Blood Demon.

If the Blood Demon was like that, I thought it wasn’t particularly strange.

Because it’s a disaster.

As that bastard was an inhuman existence, I figured it wasn’t that strange for him to possess such power.

The problem was that I could do the same thing.

Possessing power like a disaster. That alone made various thoughts flood my mind.

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped me involuntarily.

“The Blood Demon did that too.”

[…Yes.]

It meant that just as I used Gui Jeong and Noe Ah, the Blood Demon did the same.

Then.

“Why are you telling me this now?”

[…]

“It seems like information you already knew… didn’t you?”

[…That is also correct.]

If Shin Noyya knew after seeing me change like this when Gui Jeong came to me.

He could have told me sooner.

Noyya was telling me this information only now.

So what could be the reason?

Especially after stopping Namgung Myung just as he was about to speak. Why tell me this separately like this.

[That…]

“You didn’t trust me?”

[…!]

“Is that why you didn’t tell me?”

Although I swallowed my surprise inwardly at my own gruff voice.

If Noyya hadn’t said anything, I thought that would be the only reason.

Because he didn’t trust me.

I didn’t think it was because there would be problems if I truly turned out to be a disaster.

It was solely because…

“You were afraid I wouldn’t be able to overcome it?”

[…]

Because he was afraid I would be overwhelmed by the information and collapse.

It must have been Noyya’s silence, thinking of me unable to overcome it.

[…You brat….]

“I understand your intention, Noyya.”

I wondered why that ill-tempered old man was acting so considerately.

Damn it, but that made it even harder for me.

“I don’t crumble from things like this.”

It was something I had already been thinking about for a long time.

Separate from reacting sensitively and finding it shitty. It meant I wouldn’t collapse from mere trifles like this.

I had come too far to collapse because of this.

I had gained too many things to protect, and the path ahead was still long.

I couldn’t possibly collapse here.

“…Even if I really am the disaster, I have no intention of collapsing here.”

From the changes in my body, to being able to do what the Blood Demon did.

Even if I truly am the disaster, just like that Yeon guy said.

“…I won’t collapse.”

It wasn’t just words for Noyya, but also words I repeated to myself.

That I couldn’t collapse here.

I had no intention of stopping.

Therefore, I thought Noyya’s concern, however welcome, was meaningless.

It’s easier if I just hear it.

Only by hearing it could I prepare.

[…The reason I didn’t tell you wasn’t because I didn’t trust you.]

Noyya then began his belated explanation.

[With you swamped with work and busy stabilizing your body and energy, how could I possibly tell you about something like this?]

I can understand the reason when I hear it, but…

Still, if it was related to the Blood Demon, he should have told me.

Because the explanation he’s giving now seems like nothing but an excuse to me.

“Then why are you telling me now?”

[…I was planning to tell you a bit later, but that damned bastard brought it up so tactlessly, I had no choice.]

He said it was unavoidable because Namgung Myung suddenly started talking about the Blood Demon.

That’s what Noyya was saying.

“Whatever the reason, it means that in your eyes too, there’s a connection, right?”

[…]

Noyya didn’t deny this point.

If I see it that way, Noyya must see it even more so.

How could he deny it?

‘Is this problem caused by absorbing blood energy?’

At first, I thought so, but now I was considering it might not be the case.

When I consumed so much energy that my vessel was about to break.

I thought this change occurred because I fought and absorbed the blood energy within my body.

But then again.

‘Father’s words linger.’

The words my father spoke lingered.

I mean, my father, who recalled my mother upon seeing my changed appearance.

‘…Mother was like that too, then.’

It was around the time I couldn’t properly define my own body.

If Mother also looked similar to me.

My current appearance, rather than being a result of rebuilding my vessel and absorbing the Blood Demon’s blood energy.

Couldn’t it be seen as a change caused by Mother’s bloodline?

‘Because they said Mother was a disaster too.’

If that’s the case, what about Gu Ryeong-hwa?

‘Does that mean that child could also become like this?’

I recall my younger sister, who must be getting roughed up at Hwasan.

Could Gu Ryeong-hwa also become like this?

I hoped that wasn’t the case, and I also thought it wasn’t.

This appearance was ultimately a problem caused by eating and consuming so much in this life.

Normally, the vessel wouldn’t break unless a considerable amount of energy was accumulated.

This was a problem caused by this crazy body consuming various energies. However, there was one question.

‘I thought my ability to consume various energies was due to the power of the Demonic Path Heavenly Absorption technique.’

Lately, I’ve often had the thought that perhaps it wasn’t that at all from the beginning.

Of course, I thought it was the power of the Demonic Path Heavenly Absorption technique. How could I think of anything else?

But.

What if my body could naturally do that?

I wondered if I had been thinking incorrectly from the start.

‘…Because I never thought about consuming other energies in my past life.’

What crazy bastard would even think of containing other energies?

It was something you’d only do if you wanted to commit suicide.

Different cultivation techniques, unable to acknowledge each other, would clash and explode if contained within one body.

It means your body would explode and kill you due to the backlash of energies.

That was why demonic cultivation was called an immense ability.

Any cultivation technique could permeate the body together.

The authority granted by the Heavenly Demon was also great, and the value of the power called demonic energy was truly astonishing.

That’s why power-crazed individuals used to enter the Demonic Cult directly.

‘If this isn’t the power of authority…’

My ability to contain various energies.

What if it wasn’t the power of demonic cultivation, but my body itself was capable of it from the start?

‘…’

If it was possible not because of authority, but because I am Mother’s child…

‘Gu Ryeong-hwa might be able to do it too.’

That child might be able to do it.

If that’s truly the case, it’s a damn shitty situation.

If that happens, it feels like all the processes are telling me something.

‘I was destined to become a disaster from the very beginning. Something like that.’

There were many ways to confirm this.

Finding Gu Ryeong-hwa and implanting other energies to see if they could be maintained simultaneously within the body.

That would be the fastest method, but…

‘How could I possibly do that bullshit?’

If it doesn’t work, Gu Ryeong-hwa’s body could explode.

I couldn’t do such a thing to that child just to check this.

‘I’d rather just conclude that I am the disaster.’

That would be the better option. As I thought that…

-The world does not make the same mistake.

Suddenly, Yeon Ilcheon’s words to me flashed through my mind.

At the time the master of this world disappeared, the Blood Demon’s intended actions failed.

So, first, they blocked the potential of the warriors who resisted, lowering their power.

In the meantime, the world sent Mother to finish the job, but ultimately, that too failed.

That’s what I was thinking.

‘Perhaps.’

Perhaps it wasn’t that at all from the beginning.

If the world is moving towards a single possibility by opening countless other realms.

I wondered if what he desired was perhaps something else.

Then what is he desiring?

‘Does he truly want me to become the disaster?’

Judging by the current situation, that seemed the most probable.

Regardless of why he wants me to be a disaster.

I had now become something other than human, and all the arrows were pointing in one direction.

The world wants me to become the disaster.

Just as I thought that was the most fitting narrative.

‘Then what about the Heavenly Demon,’

A contradiction arose simultaneously.

If so, what is the Heavenly Demon?

What was the reason the Heavenly Demon made me regress?

And who is she, really?

Also.

‘How did the world not take away all possibilities?’

If, according to the information Tang Jemun gave Noyya, the limits of martial artists were lowered.

Why did they only lower them instead of taking ‘everything’ away?

No matter how much I thought about it, this was unknowable.

‘What are they thinking?’

Paths continue to appear before me.

Whether it’s by my will or not.

There are an immense number of paths, paths without end in sight, yet…

For some reason, I felt that the end of all those paths pointed towards a single destination.

‘The problem is that the destination is unclear.’

Damn it…

Ultimately, the first thing I had to do to find this out was decided.

‘I need to meet Mother.’

Meeting Mother, who is somewhere in the Demonic Realm.

Only then, I felt, could I understand.

The truth behind what I am currently experiencing.

Just as I finally managed to organize my thoughts.

[You brat.]

“…Yes.”

[You will not be the disaster.]

“Haha.”

I let out a dry laugh at Shin Noyya’s sudden remark.

“After coming this far, you think I’m not the disaster?”

I suspected Shin Noyya probably knew I wasn’t the disaster either.

Perhaps he was regretting meeting me, thinking, ‘What rotten luck that the successor I met is the disaster?’

‘Ah, I don’t think that’s it.’

Knowing Noyya’s personality, I thought he probably wouldn’t think that, but…

Wouldn’t his mind be just as complicated as mine?

As I thought that and tried to smile…

[Didn’t I tell you last time?]

Noyya said.

[That you just need to believe in yourself.]

“…!”

[Listen, brat, even if you truly are the disaster, if you yourself think you aren’t, then you aren’t.]

“That sounds like just denying reality.”

[So what if it is? I say you’re not. Then that’s that.]

It was such an easy answer.

No matter what others say, if I say I’m not, then I’m not.

It explained how Noyya had managed to live while upholding his beliefs, but…

Could I do that?

[You can.]

The answer came firmly, as if Noyya were speaking for me.

[You can do it.]

Those words felt particularly heavy.

Was it because of the weight of his belief? Or perhaps the guilt I felt from having seen even a glimpse of Noyya’s life?

“How can you be so sure I can do it?”

[Is there any reason not to know? You’re that kind of guy.]

“…”

When someone else offered the confidence I couldn’t even give myself, various emotions brushed past me.

Perhaps Noyya knew from the very beginning.

Noyya might have already known the fact that I could be the disaster.

‘Was he okay with that regardless?’

If I say I’m not, then I’m not.

He probably judged that I would think I wasn’t the one. Was that it?

If that’s the case…

“You’re really petty.”

That’s a statement that leaves no other choice.

Because there’s nothing more disgusting than deceiving someone who believes in you.

As I said that with a hollow laugh, Noyya spoke gruffly.

[If you don’t like it, then become the disaster.]

“…What?”

[If you don’t like it, then you have to do that, what else can you do?]

Noyya always goes off track like this just when things were going well.

He never ended things on a serious note.

I knew this was Noyya’s consideration.

Since I knew that well, there was nothing more I could do.

“…I’ll try something, at least. Don’t put too much faith in me.”

[I wasn’t putting much faith in you in the first place, so don’t worry. Would I trust you if there was anyone else trustworthy?]

This old man…? He always talks like that.

“Seriously, you should be thankful I’m a ghost…”

[I could say the same to you, you punk. If we’d met in person, you wouldn’t have even been able to talk to me.]

It seemed likely that would be the case, but I decided not to dwell on that fact. So what?

What am I supposed to do? I can’t meet him now.

What if…

‘Even if I really am the disaster. I’ll just have to play dumb and see what happens.’

I had no intention of being put in such a fucked up situation.

No, it seems I already am, but I’m confident in ditching my responsibilities.

What if I’m forced to do something I hate?

‘My temper is foul, so if you push me like that, I’ll bite back. Know that.’

I muttered words inwardly, unsure who they were directed at.

If anyone could hear, it was meant as a ‘get lost’.

My head feels exhausted.

After thinking so much, are my body and mind finally reaching their limit?

“…I’ve been cutting back on sleep for a few days.”

If this much fatigue accumulated even with my body in the Martial Realm (Hwajing), it was a pretty serious condition.

Yeah, enough thinking and whatnot, let’s get some sleep.

I circulated my internal energy.

Thinking I’d get a good sleep for at least a couple of hours, I intended to force myself to sleep.

Closing my eyes and losing consciousness like that.

Exactly two hours later, when I opened my eyes.

“Waaak! Shit!”

The sight that greeted me the moment I opened my eyes made me gasp in horror.

Because inside the dimly lit room, there was someone else besides me.

I thought it might be an assassin, and it was.

The one who came looking for me was an assassin.

Moreover, he was the most famous assassin in the Central Plains.

“…”

“…W-what are you doing there?”

I asked him, looking at him.

I couldn’t not ask.

How could I not ask?

The assassin in the room was the master of the Iron Night Assassins, known as the number one assassin corps in the Central Plains.

The King of the Night, who could kill anyone in the Central Plains.

The Dark King (暗王) was kneeling before me.

“…Hmm.”

In response to my question, the Dark King tilted his head slightly and said this.

“Now I feel a bit more comfortable.”

“…?”

It was an incomprehensible statement.