Chapter 285 - A Hero and a Demon

Two eras into the past, tens of thousands of years ago, on the continent of Ying Chu. In a time long before it became the domain of the Sun God.

A blizzard raged like a hurricane on a mountain range covered in snow.

In the eye of that storm a fountain of blood splattered against the snow and grey rock as a monstrous, ten foot tall man collapsed down to one knee. His four arms bulged with enormous muscles, two of them holding a massive, wicked looking halberd, one grasping a black sword that emitted a smoky, powerful aura. The fourth had been severed at the elbow and was gushing with thick red blood.

His black robes were ripped and tattered into rags. His entire upper body was bare and covered with intricate, powerful tattoos that glowed with a mystical silver light.

On the mountain and hovering in the air around him a host of over one hundred Exalted looked down on him, their eyes and bodies aglow with power as they reached the climax of this battle.

This army of Exalted elites had gathered from the kingdoms of the four great continents with the sole purpose of defeating Jun Yi Kong, ambushing him on Ying Zhen Mountain. Their old feuds and hostilities had been set aside. Enemies fought along enemies, united against this unkillable Demon King.

“Jun Yi Kong! For your crimes against the natural order of the world, for your acts against Heaven, you are sentenced to death!” Their leader, a man with fierce eyes in golden armour floated forward. His heroic voice drowned out the howling storm as it echoed across the mountain.

“Crimes?” The monstrous man sneered through bloodied teeth. Waves of vapour and steam rose out of his body as he stood up, his fourth arm had already healed as if it had never been injured. “My only crime was becoming strong enough to threaten your power over this world.”

“Power begets corruption. We are all subject to the Divine Mandates.” A beautiful woman with white silk robes stated, “Jun Yi Kong, will you take responsibility for the disaster that your greed will bring upon everyone?”

“You can be subjects if you like.” Jun Yi Kong glared up at his attackers with a dominating posture, “I’ll be the King.”

“Useless.” The beautiful woman snorted in contempt as she flicked her wrists. Lights sparked in the heavens, six shining swords made of pure light flew down to deliver the killing blow to Jun Yi Kong. He moved to dodge, but they pierced through him in an instant severing three of his arms and legs. The wicked halberd clattered to the ground in two halves, the ground was stained with red. Where the swords touched, an inextinguishable white fire blazed to life.

Ghostly chains materialized around Jun Yi Kong and the air around him shimmered with a repressive energy as two other figures acted. The whole mountainside shook as the host of immortals activated their killing moves across the four planes of existence.

Jun Yi Kong let out bloodthirsty laugh as he refused to collapse, propping himself up on his remaining limbs. This was short lived as his body was mutilated and cut into a thousand pieces, falling into lumps of flesh on the mountain side.

However, the Exalted immediately realized that something was wrong as the blizzard around them suddenly picked up in intensity. Jun Yi Kong’s laughter did not stop but grew in intensity, booming across the mountain.

“Demon!” Someone exclaimed in shock.

The gold armoured leader looked around in surprise as he felt a killing intent descend across them.

“How is this—“

In the next instant the entire side of the mountain exploded, engulfing all the Exalted in a rage of white hot energy.

Earthquakes tore through the island, shattering the land as giant chasms opened up across Ying Chu. Entire plates of land heaved and fell, forming a dramatic vista of exposed cliffs and sharp mountains.

Earth and rock evaporated in the massive column of energy, cutting a crescent shape into the mountain.

The Exalted army had survived, using their various powers to block or escape the massive explosion without casualties. Their figures were tiny against the sheer, curved cliffs of the mountain behind them as they floated back to the epicentre of the explosion with mixed looks of shock and relief.

“Did we succeed?” An Exalted asked, “Is Jun Yi Kong finally dead?”

The storm had scattered from the explosion. An endless blue sky devoid of clouds stretched out in all directions. The sun shone down, warming everyone’s faces.

Everyone looked at the leader as he stretched out his arms. His expression remained grim as he shook his head, “No. His soul is still alive.”

Golden threads shimmered in the depths of his eyes as he suddenly took off toward the cliffs. The host of Exalted followed behind with worried looks.

This was incomprehensible— how could someone live without even one of their planar bodies intact? But at the same time nobody doubted the leader’s words.

The unkillable demon king had been a plague on the world for centuries. This was not the first time Jun Yi Kong had been defeated or thought to be dead, only to resurface later and continue to wreak havoc.

They had thought that dealing the killing blow at the same time across all the planes would have resulted in success. Seeing that it still had not killed Jun Yi Kong their hearts were heavy.

The leader landed on a small rock outcrop, using his powers to examine the area with a frown, “His four planar bodies have been destroyed, but they will reform in time. He expended a tremendous amount of power to try to kill us, thankfully we were prepared. His energy is still lingering in this area. Before it escapes we must seal him away.”

“One day, perhaps we’ll discover a way to kill him once and for all.”

~

A cliffside monastery was built in the place of Jun Yi Kong’s defeat, cared for by monks who guarded the central chamber from the evil demon sealed within.

Hundreds of years later, an old man walked into the chamber. His skin was withered and spotted, his posture was bent from the centuries. Golden robes swished softly around his feet as he approached the obsidian statue of the four headed monster.

It had been sculpted not so much to be in Jun Yi Kong’s likeness, but as a representation of how his enemies viewed him.

This statue and the runed platform above it was the seal that held Jun Yi Kong’s soul, preventing him from coming back into the world. The one hundred fourty four statues around the chamber were imbued with sarira from each of the heroes that had participated in that final battle, using a technique that had extracted a portion of their powers to complete the seal.

The old man stood before the statue, leaning on a golden cane. His eyes, once fierce and noble were now blind and wrapped in cloth. He recalled the events of that day, how he successfully led the alliance of Exalted to defeat the Demon King. His name and renown had spread across the world. He had accomplished many more feats and led a full life.

But now he was at the end.

The old man reached out to the silver string spooled tightly within the statue. A soft, female voice responded to him.

“You’ve been gone for so long, my love.” She said tenderly, “I thought you’d never come back.”

Irritation darkened the old man’s face as he recognized the voice instantly. It was the voice of his lover, the beauty that had been at his side in that final battle who wielded the swords of light. Her statue was directly to the left of the door to the chamber, her sarira embedded into the stone. She had died in battle long ago, a fact which the demon was aware of.

“You still play at games, Demon? Some men meditate for centuries to find wisdom. Yet it seems these hundreds of years of solitude are wasted on you.”

“Come now, don’t be like that.” Jun Yi Kong retained the voice of the woman as he said playfully, “I spent those hundred years thinking about you.”

The old man snorted, his thin fingers clenching the grip of his cane, “Have you considered our deal since I last came?”

“Of course, my dear.”

“Then?”

“I will tell you what I told you last century, my love.” Jun Yi Kong replied, “Just like a fish cannot teach a man to breathe water, I cannot teach you the method to eternal life.”

“Jun Yi Kong, I am not playing around anymore.” The old man said quietly, “I have reached the end of my life. I can feel the strain of the final mandate in my soul. Even now, I am so brittle that I feel I might break just standing here talking to you.”

“You poor thing, you really couldn’t figure it out after all this time.” Jun Yi Kong said with mock sincerity, “Well, I will miss you then, just like all the others.”

“Jun Yi Kong!” The old man suddenly barked, trembling in rage, “You obstinate, evil devil! I offered you kindness and a way to atone for your sins and you spit in my face! Do you really want to be locked in here for eternity?”

“Kindness and atonement, old friend?” Jun Yi Kong finally reverted to his real voice as he chuckled darkly with a brooding timbre full of malice, “I prefer to call it… hmm… Selfishness.”

“Heh heh heh, what would the Heavens think if the wise and benevolent hero, who defeated the Demon King Jun Yi Kong, was pleading with that same demon for the method to eternal life? Oh, how deliciously ironic, that you now view your once greatest enemy as your only path to salvation.”

“I have done more good for this world than you could ever imagine, demon.” The old man hissed.

”Are you still without a disciple? Or have you been so selfish as to let the secrets of your path die out with you?” Jun Yi Kong mused, “Who is going to take over stewardship of my seal once you die? Or perhaps you are going to let me out?”

“Teach me the method to resist corruption and I will let you out.” The old man snarled, “Or perhaps you are thinking you will just wait for me to die, and then time or fortune will lead to the destruction of this seal.”

“But unfortunately, I won’t let you have that opportunity.”

A holy light shimmered around the old man’s body as he pulled out a globe made of gold from his pocket and activated one of his powers.

A shockwave burst out, engulfing the monastery in light. The entire mountain began shimmering in saturated blue and red colours as it slowly faded out of the physical world, leaving only an empty valley in its place.

The golden orb disintegrated into dust as the old man took out a golden needle from his robe and activated one more move.

Jun Yi Kong let out a grunt of pain and surprise, “What did you do?”

“I have hidden Ying Zhen away from the world and tied its existence to your soul.” The old man coughed as he spoke with a trembling voice, “You have… one more chance… to appease me… before I die.”

Seeing that Jun Yi Kong was silent, the old man let out a raspy hacking laugh, “Don’t worry, I won’t turn corrupt in here. I wouldn’t want to accidentally break something... important… keh keh keh.”

“Last… chance— No?” The old man whispered, “What a shame. Then, Demon King, I sentence you to rot… for eternity.”

At those final words, the old man disappeared from the monastery, never to return.