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Translator: uly
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Bonds in Demon Valley
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I circulated the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art. I channeled my scant handful of internal energy into my hand.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
First Form.
Ghost Hand One Demon.
---Paang!!
The falling leaf split in two. I was immensely satisfied with this feat, one I could never have achieved barehanded.
The pain enveloping my body had eased a bit as well. Before, it had thrashed my entire frame so fiercely I couldn't sleep. Now, it felt like a constant ache settled across my whole body.
The situation had changed. Where once I'd had to settle for moss, now I could eat something a little more valuable.
My target was a snake slithering between strangely shaped trees-the same one I'd tried and failed to catch before.
I waited for my meager internal energy to recover. When the moment came, I lashed out with lightning speed.
---Shaaak!
The first strike missed. The snake lunged and bit my neck. I grabbed it and slammed it to the ground, but the poison surged through me immediately.
It had been the same last time. After the bite came excruciating agony. It wasn't enough to kill, but the poison's aftertaste dragged up cursed memories until it finally left my system.
"Son."
I turned. In the darkness, my father crouched, beckoning me.
I approached him. I tore through his wavering form and answered the voices coming from all directions.
"Shut up."
I wasn't who I used to be. Not Red Cloud...
You're a ghost. Even if you're alive, I'll treat you as one.
"Didn't you say you were going to eat?"
A new voice. I spotted the hallucination of the Heavenly Demon peeking from behind a tree.
"Or you'll end up eating moss again?"
The world rippled. I couldn't keep my balance and slapped a hand against a tree.
Where had the missed snake gone? Which way did it flee?
I strained my ears, but it was hard to hear. Snake slithering was quiet to begin with.
But I focused.
"That's right. Just like that."
"..."
"Focus and focus again. You have to climb up, don't you?"
The hallucination didn't just feed me poison endlessly.
Sometimes, it activated my goals like this.
"This lady awaits you. From a dizzying height you can't even gaze upon."
Would she have said that? I didn't know.
But I had one thing to do.
Climb up there, inch by agonizing inch.
The underbrush rustled. I unleashed Ghost Hand One Demon with my last bit of internal energy.
Something caught at my fingertips. This time, I snapped its neck before it could bite.
The captured snake went limp. The Heavenly Demon's hallucination let out a small laugh.
"You could make a living as a hunter."
"...What I catch is always for the sword."
I chased her image again. But she was gone.
Was the poison fading? Heavenly Tribulation stirred, drawing the infiltrated venom out through my skin.
I put the snake's head in my mouth. Meat for the first time in two months.
It wasn't that delicious.
But better than moss.
"...Wait for me, Heavenly Demon Cheon So-so."
I muttered to the now-invisible Cheon So-so.
"I'm chasing you. Always."
...
After the snake, I caught some nameless beast. The squirrel-like one was vicious, leaving me with quite a few wounds.
Poison seeped into the claw marks too. But Heavenly Tribulation drew it out on its own. The injuries healed at a rapid pace.
Minus the pain, it was close to a panacea-this bizarre substance.
Every night, I felt my skeleton twisting bit by bit. It seemed Heavenly Tribulation, having taken root wildly, was now reshaping my body to its taste.
Suitable for martial arts.
Ready to learn anything.
But instinctively, I realized: even if Heavenly Tribulation altered my skeleton, it wouldn't grant me true talent.
Innate martial artists were smart to begin with. They had sharp senses or could see what others couldn't, or so I'd heard.
What about me? I could hear the sword, but only feel it with my hands. I had internal energy, but just a handful.
Straightening my frame wouldn't be enough.
I had to work harder.
I cut back on sleep. I pushed myself to train the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art in every spare moment.
My internal energy built up bit by bit. Astonishingly, the lifeforms eaten in this Demon Valley were like minor spirit pills.
Blood, flesh, bones.
Each carried potent demonic qi. Of course, absorbing it meant taking in the poison too and writhing in pain-but that didn't apply to me.
Heavenly Tribulation filtered the poison. All I had to do was eat, tear, and stack up the demonic qi. Not all of it turned into pure internal energy, though.
p>It was impure demonic qi. Compared to orthodox internal energy, its quality was utterly inferior-I could only overpower with quantity.
Pure output would be lower than orthodox energy. Even at peak, I'd have to avoid head-on clashes with sword qi of the same realm.
But over time, their energy would run out first. That much was certain.
"Number 20. Number 30. Survival confirmed."
Number 20 didn't exchange a single word with me. It suited me fine, so I never initiated talk.
We were a team, yet strangers. After roll call, we'd split off to our spots and only regroup at the next check-in.
I switched from four-legged squirrels to larger two-legged birds. They were harder to catch and fiercer, but worth it.
Everything edible here had poison and internal energy in proportion to its size.
The nastier, the stronger the power. Simple principle.
I liked this place. No warm meals or comfy beds...
But I never had those to begin with.
Demon Valley felt more familiar than my gatekeeper post. Enduring was something I'd always done.
"...Hey."
In the middle of training, someone spoke up. A man in a black hood marked "Number 17" asked in a trembling voice.
"What... do you eat here?"
Ah.
A newbie.
The previous one must've died. I stared at him blankly.
What had I done on my first day? Everyone treated me like an enemy, I remembered.
...But.
I wasn't keen on it.
Not wanting to become like them, I kindly told him: hunt beasts-no, I didn't give him any, but I taught him about moss and water.
He bowed in thanks. Three days later, I ran into him again, groaning in pain. He gasped when he saw me.
"How the hell do you eat that moss...?!"
I'd told him it was poisonous. But his reaction suggested the agony was worse than expected.
I couldn't quite understand, but kindly advised: endure it, and it'll be fine.
A week later, I met his pale, nodding face deep in the forest just before venturing farther. He timidly offered something.
"Thanks from before."
A snake in his hand-headless, still warm from the fresh kill.
The first warmth handed to me.
I accepted it silently. He beamed and gave his name.
"Seong Ja-myeong."
"Sorry, I can't reveal mine."
"That's fine. I just wanted to tell you."
Seong Ja-myeong didn't fit the cult. He gave back as much as he received and reached out to newbies first.
"What goes around comes around. And above all... I don't want to become a beast."
He had backbone. Gentle yet steadfast. I rather liked him. Rare even in orthodox sects, so he caught my eye.
A good man. We hunted together often. Now we took down small four-legged horned beasts beyond birds-of course, only young ones, but enough for two.
"Why'd you come here, Third Brother?"
"To climb higher."
"Seeing the end of the sword... Heh. The dream of every warrior."
Nicknaming Number 30 as Third Brother on his own whim.
But he was affable, with a handsome smile. Devouring meat barefaced after doffing his hood oozed boldness.
"Still, half comes out as shit."
"What kinda talk at dinner."
"Haha, what's wrong with it? Eating and shitting's the spice of life."
Even feeling close, he kept formal speech. Sometimes a sad look crossed his face.
"I have siblings to support, Third Brother."
"One?"
"Three."
"One body's not enough."
"Exactly. Came here to grind it into shape. How far in Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art have you seen?"
"Haven't mastered the start."
"Same here. Looking at us... we're kinda alike, huh."
Seong Ja-myeong grinned.
"Similar in many ways. Even outside, we might've bonded."
"...Pfft."
His honesty appealed too. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve.
"What's wrong with being inside?"
"Puhahaha. Demon Valley ain't all bad."
Seong Ja-myeong was funny. He knew boundaries yet felt approachable.
"Third Brother doesn't use a sword?"
"Never learned."
"Really? I could teach you if you want."
"Body's not ready yet... a bit early."
"Ah. Self-studying Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art? Up to which form?"
"Still first form."
"Ghost Hand One Demon. Simple yet complex. My knowledge is shallow, but you might pick something up... wanna see?"
"...Gladly."
No hesitation helping others. Through his Ghost Hand One Demon, I advanced a step.
The first form's frame solidified. I repaid Seong Ja-myeong with a snake.
He roared with laughter.
"Third Brother's consistent, huh."
A good man.
So when I found him half a corpse, I couldn't say a word.
"...Haha."
His abdomen, sprawled in the underbrush, bore clear sword marks anyone could see. Spilled guts were too mangled to stuff back, and he barely breathed, propped against a tree.
"Third Brother."
He said.
"Sorry for the ugly sight."
"..."
I knelt before him.