The Heavenly Demon Wants a Quiet Life

Chapter 118

"This must be the place."

Byeok Taesan murmured to himself while gazing down at the massive estate from a rather high hill.

The estate stood somewhat removed from the town of Yichang, nestled in isolation.

From the hilltop, one could clearly see into the estate's interior, yet oddly enough, there wasn’t a single soul in sight.

No, not a single person could be seen.

"A formation, perhaps."

It didn’t make sense for such a large estate to be devoid of people.

Moreover, it was remarkably well-maintained, with no sign of neglect or dirt anywhere.

The estate’s true nature seemed concealed by the effects of a formation.

It wasn’t merely a guess based on appearances. The subtle power unique to formations was faintly emanating from it.

He was certain it would become more evident upon closer inspection.

The estate’s layout was strikingly simple. There were no towering pavilions, expansive training grounds, or large ponds.

The interior of the estate was divided by walls, with a single small building situated in the inner courtyard.

However, that small building was unlikely to represent the estate’s true essence.

Byeok Taesan descended the hill and began walking slowly toward the estate.

His senses extended outward, probing around the perimeter of the estate.

It was truly an exceptional formation.

Byeok Taesan’s senses kept being repelled, unable to penetrate the formation’s boundary.

It seemed he would need to enter the estate to properly verify what lay inside.

Without hesitation, Byeok Taesan approached the estate. Before long, he arrived at the main gate.

Even at this close distance, his senses still couldn’t reach into the interior of the estate.

All he could perceive was the outermost boundary of the property.

The outer area was completely deserted.

The estate was already secluded, standing alone in a barren landscape. It was no surprise that no one approached or passed by the area.

Byeok Taesan understood that discovering this estate in the first place was no easy task.

Its existence was also obscured by the formation covering the surroundings.

Only someone with exceptionally sharp senses, like Byeok Taesan, could locate it.

Perhaps because of their confidence in the formation, there wasn’t even a guard stationed at the gate.

Naturally, the gate was locked.

Byeok Taesan lightly pushed against the gate with his hand.

The latch on the gate clicked softly and slid loose, allowing the door to open smoothly.

Beyond the open door lay pitch-black darkness.

It was as though a curtain of darkness obscured the entrance.

Byeok Taesan marveled at the formation’s ability to block his senses so completely.

But he wasn’t afraid.

He reached out to touch the darkness. A peculiar flow of energy could be felt.

When he extended his hand fully into the darkness, his senses began to expand outward from his hand.

Byeok Taesan stepped boldly into the darkness.

The interior of the estate bore no resemblance to what he had seen from the hilltop.

Numerous pavilions filled the estate, each enclosed by low walls.

While the formation still restricted his senses inside, its effect was significantly weaker now, no longer capable of suppressing his awareness.

Once inside, the resistance against his senses was notably diminished.

Of course, this was only possible because it was Byeok Taesan. Anyone else would have found the restriction stifling.

Byeok Taesan strode further into the estate.

Yet all the pavilions were empty. There wasn’t a single person to be found.

He tilted his head in puzzlement.

This defied common sense.

How much money, time, and effort must have been invested to construct such a grand estate?

On top of that, the formation installed here was of extraordinary quality.

Though it couldn’t compare to the Heaven-Sealing Array, it was difficult to think of any formation superior to this one except for the Heaven-Sealing Array itself.

To think that the formation could even block Byeok Taesan’s senses—it wasn’t something easily achieved.

And yet, here it was, perfectly functional, but completely abandoned.

Byeok Taesan pondered this as he ventured deeper inside.

The deeper he went, the stronger the scent of blood became.

But it wasn’t just any blood scent.

This was the smell of blood infused with spiritual energy.

Anyone other than Byeok Taesan would have been unable to detect it.

It wasn’t a scent discernible through the nose. One needed a perception beyond the physical senses to detect it.

"How Vicious."

Byeok Taesan muttered as he shook his head.

To produce a scent this strong, how much blood must have been drained?

For spiritual energy to carry the scent of blood, it meant that the essence of blood had been extracted and infused into the energy.

The sheer potency of the scent suggested an unimaginable number of people had been drained of their blood.

"And yet, there’s no one here emitting this scent."

That meant this was merely the lingering trace.

How vicious it was.

Byeok Taesan continued to advance further into the estate. However, no matter how far he went, there was no trace of any living presence.

The massive manor stood utterly deserted.

Where had everyone gone?

This manor was the place Go Jun-kwang would visit whenever he needed to report something, receive instructions, or make a request.

The memory, buried in Go Jun-kwang’s soul and released through the Soul Augmenting Demonic Art, was but a fragment of his experience.

The most vivid impression left in Go Jun-kwang’s recollection was a long, dark hallway and a large room at its end, its walls entirely lined with black gourds.

Byeok Taesan was searching for a hall that could accommodate a hallway of that length.

Most of the halls were not particularly large, making such a corridor unlikely.

Byeok Taesan headed toward the area thick with the scent of blood.

Could the one he sought be there?

Eventually, he arrived before a massive hall.

As he entered the hall, he spotted the long corridor from Go Jun-kwang’s memory.

It was dark and damp, an oppressive atmosphere hanging heavy over it.

The entire manor was blanketed with an array that dulled sensory perception, but this hall was far worse.

At the end of the corridor, there seemed to be a large room, though its exact location couldn’t be discerned with mere senses.

Byeok Taesan’s lips curled into a slight smile.

“Interesting.”

He stepped into the corridor, striding confidently forward.

When he reached the room at the end of the hallway, a man stood inside.

Byeok Taesan barely glanced at the man and instead surveyed the room.

Shelves covered every wall, and atop the shelves were rows of gourds.

After a quick scan of the gourds that filled the walls, Byeok Taesan frowned.

“Wood?”

All the gourds were carved from wood.

But in Go Jun-kwang’s memory, they had been black.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

Turning his attention to the man standing in the center of the room, Byeok Taesan observed him.

A young man, likely in his mid-twenties.

What stood out most were his eyes.

They were crimson, lacking pupils, resembling polished red glass embedded in his sockets. The effect was ominous and grotesque.

“The scent of blood is overwhelming.”

The room reeked of blood.

However, it was merely a lingering scent. The one who had shed the blood was not present.

The man remained silent, standing still even as Byeok Taesan spoke.

After scrutinizing him for a moment, Byeok Taesan tilted his head slightly.

“He’s definitely alive, but…”

The man was undoubtedly alive. Yet, he didn’t seem like someone merely living a normal life.

He wasn’t a half-Jiangshi. Nor was he like the Mad Blood Trio Demons, who attached others’ souls to themselves.

Unlike such beings, his soul was perfectly settled.

The body and soul belonged to the same person.

Still, there was something off. A profound sense of wrongness hung about him, though Byeok Taesan couldn’t immediately discern its cause.

Curiosity gleamed in Byeok Taesan’s eyes.

“Say something. What are you?”

The man’s crimson eyes rotated. Though it wasn’t visible, it was clear he had turned his gaze toward Byeok Taesan.

Slowly, the man opened his mouth.

“Who are you to ask?”

Byeok Taesan’s eyes widened in surprise. This was unexpected. Had the man remained silent, Byeok Taesan might not have realized it.

Ignoring the question, Byeok Taesan sharpened his senses to the utmost and extended them as far as they would reach.

It was unlikely such a massive array had been built merely to distort sensory perception.

This array’s true purpose was something entirely different.

The distortion of senses was merely a side effect.

Though he couldn’t precisely determine the array’s workings, he could roughly gauge how it manipulated energy and its intended effects.

“I asked you, who are you?”

The man spoke again. A strong scent of blood erupted from his body.

“You’re not asking because you don’t know.”

“I know you’re Byeok Taesan. But that’s not all there is to you, is it?”

“Then let me know your name.”

“Hyeok Ryeon Bi Gwang.”

“Hyeok Ryeon?”

Byeok Taesan furrowed his brows, a faint irritation tickling his mind.

Just then, the flow of energy throughout the area abruptly changed. The flow of spiritual energy shifted as well.

The array began to operate in a manner different from before.

Byeok Taesan, analyzing the swirling energy around him, immediately discerned the array’s intent.

It was the flow unique to illusion arrays.

Knowing that made it easy to counter.

Byeok Taesan twisted the energy flowing around him at key points. With that simple action, the overall flow was disrupted, and the energy began to surge chaotically.

It wasn’t something just anyone could do, but if someone could, it was a simple method to halt the activation of any formation.

Perhaps only about ten people across the entire martial world could pull this off.

Among them, those capable of achieving this perfectly, anytime and anywhere, could be counted on the fingers of one hand—and Byeok Taesan was undoubtedly one of them.

A bluish mist began to spread across the ground.

It was laced with toxins inducing hallucinations, making it easier for anyone to fall prey to illusions.

Naturally, it had no effect on Byeok Taesan, who had mastered the Soul Augmenting Demonic Art.

He confirmed the chaotic flow of energy in all directions and then looked at the man standing before him.

The man spoke in a regretful tone.

"I had hoped for a deeper conversation, but alas."

Saying such words with an utterly emotionless face only added to the eerie atmosphere.

At that moment, Hyeok Ryeon Bi Gwang was controlling the man from afar.

Even if the formation had fully activated moments ago, it would not have created the situation Hyeok Ryeon Bi Gwang desired.

But Byeok Taesan didn’t bother pointing that out.

"So, are you planning to keep hiding like that?"

"I’ll decide after watching a little more."

As the man spoke, a connection tethering him to something abruptly snapped.

Byeok Taesan clearly caught the moment of severance.

The man’s eyes whirled unnaturally, and a deep, blood-colored pupil emerged in the center of the now-red eyes.

"At least this is better than before."

Without pupils, the man had looked utterly bizarre. Now, he merely appeared like someone with a unique gaze.

"Grrr…"

The man growled like a beast.

"Well, I suppose an ordinary person couldn’t have endured that connection."

Allowing another’s spirit to enter one’s body was an exceedingly dangerous act.

It seemed the man had shattered his rationality to endure the burden.

The man began to move slowly.

Though he resembled a beast, his movements were not wild. They were controlled, deliberate.

His reasoning was destroyed, but the martial techniques ingrained into his instincts remained intact.

Byeok Taesan found it worthwhile to observe this phenomenon.

Such minor details could accumulate to forge the strength needed to break through barriers.

The man raised his palm toward Byeok Taesan. Surrounding energy quickly gathered into his palm.

It was one of the formation’s effects.

Already formidable, the man’s strength multiplied under the formation’s assistance, becoming even more troublesome to handle.

Byeok Taesan’s lips curled into a slight smirk.

"Let’s see if this will be entertaining."

In an instant, the energy concentrated in the man’s palm transformed into countless blades of qi, which were hurled forward.

Each blade, compressed with immense energy, flew as if encircling Byeok Taesan.

Byeok Taesan walked calmly.

He could distinctly sense the blades—one narrowly skimming past his ear, another grazing his neck, some slicing vertically between his arm and torso, and one passing by his leg.

Merely by slightly swaying his body while walking, the incoming blades seemed to swerve away on their own.

Had the opponent been a normal person, they might have been shocked enough to falter.

But this opponent was closer to a beast than a human.

"Graaaaaah!"

The man roared like a wild animal and charged.

His energy condensed further, coalescing into a visible force that wrapped around his body.

The man reached Byeok Taesan in an instant, launching punches and kicks in a relentless barrage.

The attacks were not random. They were precise, calculated moves that accounted for potential evasions and blocks, chaining each move seamlessly into the next.

Any ordinary opponent would have been ensnared, inevitably cornered.

But his opponent was Byeok Taesan.

Byeok Taesan’s smirk deepened. While deflecting and parrying the man’s strikes, he began laying his own groundwork.

He could have crushed the man instantly with raw power, but there was a certain satisfaction in testing techniques and engaging in a calculated exchange.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

Punches and kicks tangled in a blur of motion.

Yet, not a single attack met squarely.

Each time a punch or kick clashed with his own, Byeok Taesan subtly twisted, diverting the force and disrupting the opponent’s precision.

By slightly skewing the trajectory of the man’s strikes, Byeok Taesan gradually created cracks in his opponent’s calculations.

Inevitably, the man revealed a critical flaw.

All of his energy concentrated into his fist. Determining he had no way out, the man opted for a mutual destruction move.

Byeok Taesan’s smile widened in satisfaction.

He raised his own fist to meet the man’s.

There was no need to entertain the attack, but having dominated the battle of wits, Byeok Taesan decided to conclude with overwhelming force.

To experience two kinds of combat in one fight—how could he not be pleased?

Boom!

The moment Byeok Taesan’s fist collided with the man’s, the concentrated energy in the man’s fist imploded, reversing and consuming him instead.

Splatter!

The man’s body disintegrated, reduced to blood and gore, scattering across the ground.

Byeok Taesan stood still, glancing down briefly at the bloody remnants before raising his head to look somewhere in the distance.

It was the direction where the severed connection had disappeared just before the man’s transformation.

Byeok Taesan’s eyes gleamed sharply.