Bubble.
Inside the house, Eugene was stirring a bucket of clean water with a spatula, into which he had added valerian. There was plenty of valerian just outside his hut, so he had easily gathered it from there.
“Now I need to add honey and fairy wings…”
Creak.
“Speak of the devil,” Eugene smiled as he saw Taeje enter through the door.
Just like a tiger that appears when you mention it, Taeje moved like the proverbial white tiger.
“Hmm?”
Eugene tilted his head as he noticed the slightly sullen look on Taeje’s face as he handed over the items.
“Are you pouting because I sent you on an errand?”
Surely a divine beast wouldn’t be upset over something so trivial.
“Because of you, I…”
“…Never mind.”
Taeje grumbled at Eugene, then shook his head and retreated to a corner. He was angry at being treated like a flea-ridden germ carrier because of Eugene, but it wasn’t entirely Eugene’s fault, so venting his anger would have been pointless.
“How dull.”
Creak.
Eugene added the fairy wings and honey to the bubbling mixture in the bucket and stirred it vigorously again with the spatula.
Whisk.
“…Come down…”
Eugene gritted his teeth at Taeje, who had jumped up onto his head. How dare he climb onto someone’s head?
“You can’t see from below.”
“You little…”
“Uh-oh, it’s burning.”
Whisk, whisk.
Eugene, about to lose his temper, hastily started stirring the spatula again at Taeje’s words. To achieve the desired consistency, the mixture needed to be quickly heated over a strong flame; if it burned or stuck to the bucket, the result would be far from perfect.
“Is this an elixir? It looks like food waste to me.”
“You little… If you’re going to be a nuisance, get down.”
Eugene snapped irritably at Taeje. Why did he have to compare it to food waste, of all things?
“This is just the beginning.”
Gulp.
After stirring the mixture for a long time, Eugene smiled as he observed the thickening liquid in the bucket. After considerable heating, the liquid had reduced to a mere half-cup quantity.
“Is it done now?”
“No.”
There was still more to do. The half-cup of liquid needed to be mixed with troll’s blood.
Squeeze.
Trickle.
As Eugene tightly squeezed the troll’s heart that Taeje had brought, the blood flowed out in a stream.
“The heart has served its purpose.”
“Huh? Just for this?”
“It’s not just for this.”
The heart is the source of life for all creatures. Moreover, trolls, despite possessing magic, did not use it and stored it in their hearts. Since trolls primarily rely on strength for combat and hunting, the magic they accumulate naturally gathers in their hearts, especially in the blood contained within.
Swoosh, swoosh.
As Eugene mixed the troll’s blood into the potion he had made, he noticed the sticky liquid gradually solidifying.
Tap, tap.
Thud.
After the liquid in the cup solidified, Eugene struck the cup, dropping the contents onto the table. The substance, now somewhat firm, resembled a pudding-like food.
“It’s finally done.”
Press, press.
Eugene pressed the increasingly firm substance into a round shape with his hands, completing the elixir that would enhance his internal energy.
“So, did it need to be round?”
“It’s just easier to consume this way.”
“And for an elixir, it’s quite large…”
Taeje narrowed his eyes as he observed the elixir made by Eugene. Usually, elixirs were small pill-sized objects, but the one Eugene made was roughly the size of a child’s fist.
“This is the best I can do with what’s available now.”
Eugene smiled awkwardly, trying to laugh it off.
“Given the ingredients I can obtain right now, this is the best I can do. Making it smaller than this would lose the elixir’s efficacy, and making it bigger won’t increase its potency.”
Crunch.
Eugene took a big bite of the elixir he made.
“Oh…”
As expected, the taste was terrible. Although the honey masked any fishiness and added sweetness, an odd flavor followed the initial sweetness. Moreover, the texture was like chewing on dirt.
“Tasty?”
Eugene briefly considered putting some in Taeje’s mouth in response to his question. If there had been enough, he might have shoved some into Taeje’s mouth.
Gulp.
Sigh…
Having finished the elixir, Eugene set Taeje down from his head and immediately sat in a cross-legged position to begin his breathing exercises.
Hum.
‘Sigh… only one star gained…?’
Eugene felt disappointed as he assessed the total internal energy accumulated in his dantian. Even though he had hastily made the elixir, he had hoped it would enhance his power by two stars, reaching four stars, but he had to be content with just one, making it three stars.
Normally, it would take a martial artist six to seven years to reach this level, but Eugene achieved it in just a day and a half and still wasn’t satisfied. This was understandable, considering Eugene had once reached the profound realm (玄境).
Swish.
Pshh.
When Eugene slowly opened his eyes, the mist that had formed around him suddenly dispersed in all directions.
“Finally reached three stars?”
“Only three stars.”
“Greed leads to trouble.”
Taeje shook his head at Eugene’s ambition while licking his front paw.
“If other martial artists saw your power, they’d call it demonic arts… Huh?”
Taeje suddenly felt something strange in his words and stood up abruptly.
“Why does your energy not feel like demonic energy?”
Demonic arts, unlike other forms of energy, are centered around demonic energy (魔氣). There are no exceptions. Demonic energy is created when the energies of yin and yang collide, causing internal energy to reverse. Thus, demonic arts are based on this energy, characterized by emitting unique demonic energy.
This reversal of energy through the principle of mutual opposition makes it highly unstable, but the intense and explosive collision of energies allows for a peculiar amplification of power in a short time. However, there was no such demonic energy coming from Eugene.
“Why…?”
Despite mastering the legendary demonic art, Heaven’s Killing God Technique (天殺神功), Eugene’s energy did not feel demonic.
“Why? Because the Heaven’s Killing God Technique isn’t demonic arts.”
Taeje’s eyes widened in shock at Eugene’s words.
“Heaven’s Killing God Technique isn’t demonic arts?”
“How can a divine beast be so dull… The name itself is Heaven’s Killing God Technique (神功), not demonic arts (魔功). Tsk tsk.”
Eugene clicked his tongue nonchalantly as he looked at the dumbfounded Taeje.
“Then why is it known as demonic arts?”
“That’s because the one who used the Heaven’s Killing God Technique, Galtian, wielded it as the Heavenly Demon.”
“Huh…”
Taeje let out a hollow laugh at Eugene’s explanation. The information he knew, no, what all the Four Guardian Beasts knew, was incorrect. He had never thought to question why a demonic art was named a godly technique.
Since the Four Guardian Beasts rarely ventured into the world and had never directly experienced the Heaven’s Killing God Technique, they couldn’t tell if it emitted demonic energy or not. They simply assumed that it was named as such and considered it a demonic art.
“Who created the Heaven’s Killing God Technique?”
“…Are you seriously asking me that? You, a divine beast?”
Eugene looked at Taeje with an incredulous expression. A divine beast that had lived twice as long as he had was asking him such a question.
“The Purple Haze Divine Technique (紫霞神功) of the Mount Hua Sect was once considered demonic arts too. It’s probably a similar case.”
“Isn’t that different? The Purple Haze Divine Technique truly was a demonic art.”
The Purple Haze Divine Technique of the Mount Hua Sect was once a demonic art. However, the Mount Hua Sect removed all demonic energy from the technique, transforming it into the current Purple Haze Divine Technique, which became the sect’s signature martial art.
“So, it is different. Your Heaven’s Killing God Technique wasn’t demonic arts to begin with.”
“Well… that’s true.”
“Aren’t you resentful? That your proud martial art was treated as demonic arts?”
“What can I do? The world already called me the Heavenly Demon.”
As Eugene continued to speak nonchalantly, Taeje began to feel unnecessarily guilty. After all, wasn’t he the same as everyone else? Every time he heard stories about the Heavenly Demon at Mount Kunlun, he would curse the Heavenly Demon himself.
“The story the Heavenly Demon told me was true after all…”
Taeje recalled the story Eugene had shared with him. At the time, no one believed the reason Eugene had become the Heavenly Demon. But now, knowing that the Heaven’s Killing God Technique wasn’t a demonic art, he believed that the Heavenly Demon had no real connection to the demonic sect and didn’t become the Heavenly Demon by choice.
Those who practice demonic arts can never learn orthodox martial arts. The reversal of energy inherent in demonic arts engulfs the body, making it impossible to practice any other martial arts. Therefore, it was clear that Eugene’s martial arts were not demonic arts.
‘Still, naming a technique ‘Heaven’s Killing God Technique’ when it’s not demonic… Who came up with that?’
Thinking about the name of the martial art, Taeje looked at Eugene.
“What are you staring at?”
“Just thinking how frustrated you must have been.”
“Oh, are you feeling sorry for me? Then, why don’t you go back home and get something useful…”
“Shut up.”
Taeje scolded himself for briefly feeling pity for Eugene. How could he be so shameless? His actions, disregarding only his personality, were just like those of an evil sect member, making it clear he was indeed the Heavenly Demon.
***
Heaven’s Killing God Technique: First Form, Earth Shaking Kick.
Thud.
Rumble.
“Sigh…”
Eugene let out a deep breath as he watched the ground before him overturn and a tree fall.
“It’s still not satisfactory.”
Ideally, his Earth Shaking Kick should have uprooted hundreds of trees in an instant. But now, it was only one tree. Even that was achieved by maximizing his energy. If he used the technique lightly, he couldn’t even uproot a single tree. In battle, he couldn’t afford to expend all his energy in one attack.
“Nothing impressive.”
“Why do you come over here just to annoy me?”
Eugene frowned at Taeje, who was sprawled on a rock nearby. He was already frustrated, and Taeje was making it worse by poking at him.
“If I moved my paw once, this area would become a barren field.”
Tsk.
Taeje licked his front paw, smirking and boasting about his power. Eugene narrowed his eyes at Taeje.
‘Say that after returning to your original form. Saying such things while licking your paw in a cat’s form doesn’t inspire confidence or convey any majesty as a divine beast.’
At that moment.
“Hmm?”
“What is it?”
“Someone’s at the house.”
Before leaving the hut, Eugene had set up a barrier. Now, someone had entered it.
“Someone at the hut, aside from the times they give out food?”
There was still plenty of food left, so it had to be for another reason.
“Let’s go back.”
Eugene quickly put Taeje into his bag and headed swiftly towards the hut.
Cliche Novel 