Chapter 195: The Truth
The Myriad Tribulation Flame.
The instant I heard that name, the hell I thought I had forgotten unfolded before my eyes once more.
Flames rising high enough to devour the entire sky.
Screams and cries of despair erupting from every direction.
The horrifying stench of burning flesh and bone.
The entire Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had been collapsing inside one enormous inferno.
Righteous faction.
Demonic Cult.
Shadow Corps Test Subjects.
No one escaped.
Every living being burned black within the flames.
And I had been there too.
At the very center of that hell.
My flesh burned.
My bones melted.
And in the end, even my soul was swallowed by the flames.
Wait.
There had been one man the flames of that hell had not consumed.
Moyong Cheonhwi.
The Myriad Tribulation Flame is supposed to destroy the great evil?
That didn't make sense.
If the great evil had already been inside Moyong Cheonhwi before my regression, then he should have been the first one to burn.
Yet while everyone else was reduced to ash without even leaving a recognizable form...
those flames had avoided Moyong Cheonhwi alone.
I barely swallowed the question rising into my throat and looked at the Primordial Heavenly Demon.
“Tell me. What exactly is the Myriad Tribulation Flame?”
“When the restriction placed upon the Sacred Flame is released, the tribulation fire sleeping within it awakens.”
I froze.
“The Sacred Flame?”
“The very flame the Divine Cult has protected for generations.”
My eyes narrowed.
“You mean the Sacred Flame of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?”
“Yes.”
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
The Sacred Flame.
The sacred fire guarded by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult for generations.
The foundation of the Divine Cult that Dokgo Jinak had valued above almost everything else.
And that fire was the source of the Myriad Tribulation Flame?
“The Sacred Flame I know and the Myriad Tribulation Flame are completely different.”
“The Sacred Flame is originally a flame of purification.”
The Primordial Heavenly Demon's voice grew heavier.
“But within it, I also sealed a restriction containing the tribulation fire.”
He continued,
“The moment that restriction is released, the Sacred Flame transforms into the Myriad Tribulation Flame and devours everything it touches.”
The final secret technique chosen by the Demonic Cult at the end.
The calamity that had burned the entire Heavenly Demon Divine Cult to the ground.
So that had been the result of releasing the restriction on the Sacred Flame.
“The Sacred Flame was left behind to destroy the great evil.”
The Primordial Heavenly Demon pointed toward the Heavenly Law Sword.
“But if the great evil has rooted itself within another person's body and energy, then even when the Myriad Tribulation Flame is released, the fire cannot reach its true source.”
Then—
“That is why I left the Heavenly Law Sword behind.”
His gaze settled on the blade.
“To expose the hidden root.”
That explained at least part of the contradiction.
Was it because the Heavenly Law Sword wasn't there?
Before my regression, the Myriad Tribulation Flame had burned everything.
But it had failed to reveal the root of the great evil.
That was why Moyong Cheonhwi had survived even within those flames.
Still...
there was another part I couldn't understand.
“Impurity once seeped into the Sacred Flame.”
The moment I said it, the Primordial Heavenly Demon's expression stiffened.
“It was probably energy that came from the great evil.”
I continued,
“That impurity didn't stop at the Sacred Flame. It even entered Dokgo Jinak's body and suppressed his consciousness.”
"..."
I stared at him.
“If the Sacred Flame was left behind to destroy the great evil, then how could the great evil's power seep into the Sacred Flame instead?”
The Primordial Heavenly Demon remained silent for a moment.
Then answered.
“Because their roots are the same.”
I frowned.
“The same root?”
“Both Origin Demonic Qi and the Sacred Flame originally came from me.”
His gaze dropped briefly to his own hand.
“Origin Demonic Qi was created by refining my killing intent and desire into power.”
Then—
“The Sacred Flame was created later by purifying my own power so that Origin Demonic Qi could be destroyed.”
I slowly understood.
“Then....”
“Their natures are completely opposite.”
He nodded.
“But in the end, both powers split from the same root.”
His eyes darkened.
“That is likely why Origin Demonic Qi, after becoming the great evil, was still capable of allowing its own power to seep into the Sacred Flame.”
That answered another question.
“Then because the great evil knew the Sacred Flame was dangerous to it, it moved against the flame first.”
“That is not all.”
The Primordial Heavenly Demon's gaze deepened.
“The great evil now calls itself the Primordial Heavenly Demon.”
His voice became heavy.
“Do you truly think something like that would be satisfied merely by destroying the Sacred Flame I left behind?”
I couldn't answer.
“The Sacred Flame also originated from my power.”
He continued,
“To the great evil, it is simultaneously a flame capable of burning it...”
Then—
“and another part of my power that it does not possess.”
Suddenly, I could see the shape of the great evil's desire.
“It doesn't want to destroy the Sacred Flame....”
“It wants to take it.”
The Primordial Heavenly Demon nodded slowly.
“If it claims even that flame as its own, it will no longer wish to remain merely a shadow that separated from me.”
"..."
“It will try to fill itself with every power I left behind...”
His gaze hardened.
“and complete itself as the true Primordial Heavenly Demon.”
At last, the reason the great evil had been targeting the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult became clear.
It had to destroy the Divine Cult.
Then seize the Sacred Flame.
Only then could it become what it believed to be the true Primordial Heavenly Demon.
That was the great evil's real objective.
The Primordial Heavenly Demon slowly approached me.
His eyes settled on the Heavenly Law Sword in my hand.
After staring at it for a moment, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“However, it seems the great evil failed to account for one thing.”
He looked from the Heavenly Law Sword to me.
“The Heavenly Law Sword, which slept for so many years, has awakened once again.”
A strange light appeared in his eyes.
“And this time...”
Then—
“it has finally awakened in the hands of someone capable of drawing out its full power.”
Someone capable of drawing out its full power....
Come to think of it, there had been more than one strange thing.
The Heavenly Law Sword had always resonated only in my hands.
When it faced the Sacred Flame.
When it severed the connections of Origin Demonic Qi.
Every time...
the same question had crossed my mind.
Why me?
As though reading that question from my face, the Primordial Heavenly Demon spoke.
“You inherited the enlightenment left behind by True Immortal Cheongun, Immortal Yeonha, and Dokgo Cheonyul.”
His gaze returned to the sword.
“The enlightenment you received from those three ultimately followed the same direction.”
Then—
“A path that reads the Flow of Origin Demonic Qi...”
“and cuts through it.”
The Heavenly Law Sword's previous reactions suddenly made a little more sense.
But the Primordial Heavenly Demon wasn't finished.
“And there is one more reason.”
I frowned.
“What?”
His eyes settled on me.
“Within you exists energy similar to mine.”
My brow furrowed before I could stop it.
Energy similar to his? What the hell does that mean?
But the Primordial Heavenly Demon didn't explain.
Instead, he turned his head toward the unseen world outside.
“The situation beyond this place is not good.”
He reached toward the Heavenly Law Sword.
Blue light flowed from his fingertips and wrapped around the hilt.
“Originally, this was a door you would have opened someday on your own.”
Then—
“I will simply bring that moment forward.”
WOOOOOOOOOM!
The sword's cry spread through the endless void.
Blue radiance bloomed from the hilt.
As the light spread...
the black rust covering it slowly began peeling away.
Hssssss....
One hidden stroke appeared.
Then another.
At first, they were no more than faint traces.
But when the blue light swept across the entire hilt...
the concealed characters finally revealed themselves.
天律斷邪 火歸其位.
I read them aloud.
“The Heavenly Law severs evil... and the flame returns to its place.”
