Soon the Great Demons left the meeting room one by one. In the end, only Kwak Soo-mil was left, smiling to himself.

“Heh, heh.”

Tak, tak, tak, tak!

He tapped the table with his fingertips, as was a habit of his. 

“Five pills…It was a promise made in public. They will have to keep their promises.”

What made Kwak Soo-mil so happy was that these pills would soon be in his hands. In order to save face, all the other Great Demons would undoubtedly fulfill their end of the deal.

Next, it would be time for his side of the deal. Absorbing all the medicinal qi, he would trample upon the Charred Dragon Unit and their captain.

He smiled just thinking about it, his teeth like fangs. It was a wicked smile.

In conclusion, Kwak Soo-mil did not intend to keep his promise.

To be precise, he would probably fulfill half of it. 

I will trample upon the captain, that brat. But not the Charred Dragon Unit. 

In exchange for the five pills, Hyuk Woon-seong  would be defeated. 

That was the least he could do. 

He did not intend to face the whole Charred Dragon Unit — it was beneath him.

The reason he asked for five pills was not to deal with them. No, I am going to challenge for a higher rank.

In a society where the strong prevailed, Kwak Soo-mil had successfully maintained his rank in the Cult for over a decade. 

In other words, his cultivation had stagnated for more than a decade. Even while others moved up and down the ranks, he remained as Rank 10. 

Others laughed at him, saying that he had reached his limit and had seen the end of his potential.

Now was the chance to change their thoughts! He would rise and prove them all wrong. 

Using these five pills as a foundation, he would beat the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit without a problem.

The kid hadn’t been bad last time, but even with the two pills of ‘Demonic Medicine of Blood Kalpa’, they wouldn’t be equals. Especially now that he would take five similar pills. 

Defeating him will be easier than breaking a baby’s neck. I’ll challenge for a higher position.

Greed for status and power burned from the corners of his mind. The position he wanted was not just this pile of crap. 

He didn’t even want to be the strongest Great Demon.

Deceiving people of the same rank as himself… 

He didn’t want to hear complaints from them, so he just needed the strength to shut them up. 

A Demonic King. 

If he became one, no one would dare to complain even if he didn’t keep his promise. 

It was not an easy position to achieve, which was why it was so appealing. 

An attractive position, attained by betraying the aspirations of the other Great Demons. 

Was that any better than bullying the Charred Dragon Unit?

It would be better to die if he didn’t successfully become a Demonic King. 

Kwak Soo-mil closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, his eyes blazed with fighting spirit. 

For that, I need you to die as the scapegoat, Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit.

Afterall, that was the bare minimum required of him by the promise.

His laughter was eerie as it echoed in the now empty meeting room. 

Hehehehehehe-

Ahahahaha… 

“It’s a treacherous result for what you promised. Don’t you think?”

The man in black, sitting across from Joo Moon-baek, twitched in his seat.

He wanted to say something. But in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to. The man in front of him was the Vice Leader of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon…

This was supposed to be a negotiation by people of similar status, but the man in black clearly had lower strength and status. 

There would be nothing gained from aggravating Joo Moon-baek. 

Thus, the man in black held back from speaking his mind. 

“I never knew that brat, the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit would be so powerful.”

“My dear, according to the reports, he’s even stronger than you. Calling him a brat is a bit harsh.”

“Hmm.”

Joo Moon-baek continued on, “Thanks to you, the plot to expose the Leader’s incompetence has failed.”

“But, we have a number of other plans in progress too.”

The other ones were not as straightforward, but no one went in with only one plan.

However, Joo Moon-baek shook his head. “It looks like the Heavenly Brain Tower has found out. We called back all of our men yesterday.” 

The man in black had no choice but to question again. “Then what should we do?”

“Hmm, you’re the one who failed, and I’m the one who’s going to clean up after you,” Joo Moon-baek e scoffed. “I won’t be showing any movement for a while.”

“For a while?”

“The Leader has stimulated the Great Demons in a recent assembly. I assume the Leader is trying to seek out some rebels because he’s aware of something. You should be well aware it’s best not to act during a time like this.”

“Hmm.” The man in black agreed reluctantly.

Apparently, the image of the Heavenly Demon yesterday was different from the usual ‘Benevolent Tyrant’. 

A benevolent tyrant, they said. An outstanding ruler who showed both benevolence and tyranny. To those within his fence, he showed his benevolence. To those outside of it, he would become an unforgiving tyrant. 

For the Heavenly Demon to speak such insidious words at the assembly, it only meant that there were those among the Great Demons that he recognized as outside his fence. 

“I’ll start moving after seeing how the Heavenly Brain Tower reacts. We’ll pause everything we’ve been conspiring for a while.”

“I understand.” The man in black got up to leave.

“Oh, and I’ll punish the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit, who got in our way, through my own means.” While speaking, Joo Moon-baek smiled at the man in black. “I’m cleaning up your mess. You owe me this time.”

To the man dressed in black, it was a cruel, mocking smile. 

“It really is ‘Demonic Medicine of Blood Kalpa’!”

Gwan Tae-ryang shouted without concealing his excitement, basically salivating. In his hand were two red, gleaming pills. 

It was not just him. In the hands of all Charred Dragon Unit members were the same. No one could hide their expectations and stared at the pills in amazement. 

‘Demonic medicine of Blood Kalpa’, this was stronger than the ‘Ayu Kalpa’ pills they had consumed in the Cave some years ago. There were two of them too, adding up to be a total of 20 years’ worth of qi. 

This was a joy that they could not contain. No one here relied on medicine, but neither would they be offended if they found a way to increase their qi safely and quickly. 

“But where did Captain go?” Baek Woon-ji asked Gwan Tae-ryang, putting the pills away.

Gwan Tae-ryang thought about it, but he was still distracted. “I heard he went to train…”

“Training?”

Baek Woon-ji was shocked. Not even a day had passed since the Charred Dragon Unitreturned from the mission, but Woon-seong was running to train. This captain of hers was really flexing his toughness.

As if he had the same thoughts, Gwan Tae-ryang stuck his tongue out in concentration. “He’s definitely tough. To the degree that it only makes sense how strong he is.”

Looking at the current Woon-seong, no one could imagine that the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit had been Number 900 back in the Cave of Latent Demons. 

Baek Woon-ji clenched her fists. “We have to work hard too. To not be a burden to Captain.”

Gwan Tae-ryang nodded. “Of course.”

“By the way, where is Captain going for training?”

Gwan Tae-ryang scratched his cheek with a finger. He had definitely heard Woon-seong mention it while dropping off the pills, but he couldn’t remember it well. “Where was it? The Alley…Wait, no the Valley…” He paused, thinking long and hard. “Ah wait, I got it. I think he said it was the Valley of Thousand Spirits.”

Baek Woon-ji was glad she had put her pills away or she would have dropped them on the floor in shock. 

Hui-ying-

Winds that whipped at his clothes, sharp as a blade. 

As he walked, Woon-seong could see the cliffs carved into the sides of the valley. 

There was only one way down the Valley of Thousand Spirits: use whatever was left of the ladders. 

Of course, you could also try your luck by jumping down. Perhaps you wouldn’t careen down and impale yourself on a stalagmite.

The Valley of Thousand Spirits, the valley where a thousand spirits dwell. 

Woon-seong wasn’t even in the Valley yet, but he could already feel the dense forces from below. Hmph. How vile, the energy is stinging my skin… The pressure was crushing, making it hard to breathe. However, Woon-seong sighed lightly and the pressure around him disappeared. 

It would be hard for an ordinary human being to survive here, but Woon-seong had been trained to do more than just survive. 

Sure, there might be some mental pressure, but it was the best place for a martial artist. Excellent place to train.

Inside the Valley, he sensed some strong fluctuations of energy. Those must be the members of the 2nd Latent Demon Squad, who had been sent here for punishment about three months ago.

They’ve definitely gotten stronger than before.

Among them, he felt an especially strong presence. Naturally, it was the energy of Chun A-young. The blood of the Heavenly Demon. 

Couldn’t she just ignore the talent that came from her bloodline? 

A-young was much stronger than before.

“Not bad.”

But soon, Woon-seong lost interest. He couldn’t afford to waste his time being interested in other people’s growth. 

Hui-ying-

The corners of his clothes fluttered in the wind once more. 

He had four months here and two qi condensing pills. These were some excellent conditions. The only thing left to do was to become strong, strong enough that no one could ignore him!

If that’s going to happen, I better start as soon as possible.

With that thought, he threw himself down the cliff. 

In one hand, he gripped the White Night Spear. It shone brightly as his body was sucked down into the darkness.