WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 143: Three-Eyed Monster 2
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“Black Ghost is waiting outside Lesser Heaven Pavilion.”
One of the attendants kneeling outside the door whispered. Biyeon nodded without much surprise.
During the year Biyeon had spent at Extreme Demon Fortress in Seonryeong, Black Ghost and the Rakshasa Witch had been her opponents.
Of the two, the Rakshasa Witch had held a seat among the Seven Evils for over a decade and possessed an exceptionally cruel temperament. Biyeon had no wish to become close to her. Black Ghost, however, was easier to deal with.
“Young Cult Leader.”
Of course, being easy to deal with did not mean they were close like friends.
The red-eyed woman with long black hair gave Biyeon a slight nod. It was a casual, disrespectful greeting for the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult, but she was no ordinary demonic cultivator.
Black Ghost was a great demonic master who had risen to a seat among the Seven Evils in a cult where reverence for strength and the law of the jungle were taken for granted.
The arrogance of a strong person who neither used honorifics nor bowed her head, even before the Young Cult Leader. Black Ghost, in particular, was the newest of the Seven Evils, having seized her seat only recently.
The demonic cultivator who had held that seat before Black Ghost was the master of Joy Palace, the Yin Soul Lust Demon.
He was trash among trash. He molested and raped ordinary cult members regardless of gender, bought or abducted humans from outside the Cult’s territory, and trained them at Joy Palace.
To Biyeon, he had been a lust-crazed bastard who deserved to die. But the Yin Soul Lust Demon had also been an experienced demonic master, skillfully wielding the immense inner power he had built through the Absorbing Star Great Art, combined with Intent brimming with desire.
Three years ago, Black Ghost killed the Yin Soul Lust Demon. The Heavenly Demon immediately summoned Black Ghost to Ascension Pavilion, and Black Ghost emerged alive to be acknowledged as one of the new Seven Evils.
One rumour that followed the suddenly appeared Black Ghost was that she was a Demihuman who had crossed over from an island in the Central Sea, rather than a native of the mainland.
It was not entirely baseless. Black Ghost truly had many features unlike those of a human.
Two horns rising from her head. Scales partly covering her neck and forearms. She had no tail, but perhaps there might be one beneath that skirt if someone lifted it....
“One of the Seven Evils came all this way for such a trivial errand?”
“The Cult Leader ordered this lady to visit Ascension Pavilion with the Young Cult Leader.”
“With you?”
“Hmph. Did you think this lady came here personally merely to pass along the Cult Leader’s words?”
Black Ghost snorted and turned around.
“This lady does not know why the Cult Leader ordered me to go to Ascension Pavilion with you. Does the Young Cult Leader have any idea?”
“No.”
Biyeon answered as she followed Black Ghost, who had begun walking ahead.
“It has already been a week since I returned to Sinjeong, but this is the first time Master has summoned me.”
“Hmph.... The same goes for this lady. It is probably the same for that old hag, the Rakshasa Witch.”
“I heard he ordered that no one be allowed into Ascension Pavilion beginning ten days ago. He is probably focused on his martial arts....”
“No one? Heh. Even so, the Corpse Immortal must be in Ascension Pavilion, must she not?”
“She is special.”
Biyeon’s voice grew a little quieter when she spoke of the Corpse Immortal. She was the Heavenly Demon’s disciple, but she was not the person most special to him.
For many years, the Rudella Mage Tower had remained in Sinjeong as an ally of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
The Mage Tower Masters and Heavenly Demons of previous generations had been allies who maintained an appropriate distance and hierarchy. But the current Mage Tower Master, the Corpse Immortal, and the current Heavenly Demon were more than allies in a hierarchical relationship. They were exceptionally close, almost as though they were one body.
Only Biyeon and the Corpse Immortal could enter Ascension Pavilion without first seeking permission from the Heavenly Demon Cult.
But the Corpse Immortal alone could remain in Ascension Pavilion and never leave the Heavenly Demon’s side, even during his meditation, training, or closed-door cultivation.
“Is the Corpse Immortal the Cult Leader’s beloved concubine?”
Black Ghost chuckled and turned to look at Biyeon. Both her mischievous expression and her words were irreverent.
“Do not look at this lady like that. Are you not curious too, Young Cult Leader? Even in this lady’s eyes, the Cult Leader and the Corpse Immortal are far too attached.”
“All I know is that they are old friends.”
“Heh heh, what friendship can there be between a man and a woman? It cannot be so. That is the way of the world.”
Her teasing words were too vulgar to deserve an answer.
Biyeon no longer responded. Black Ghost strode forward, swinging her arms beneath her broad sleeves as she cackled.
“If the Cult Leader and the Corpse Immortal have a child, the Young Cult Leader’s position will become truly awkward. Their child would surely be born with heaven-given talent. To preserve your position, you would have to sincerely compete with a newborn.”
“....”
“Ah, this lady does not mean that the Young Cult Leader lacks talent. You are exceptional enough to inherit the Cult Leader’s true teachings. But being the Young Cult Leader does not automatically make you the next Heavenly Demon. You must continue striving without becoming complacent.”
Self-affirmation.... Biyeon let outside words enter one ear and leave through the other, apart from praise.
While she ignored Black Ghost’s endless chatter, they reached the Divine Demon Hall. They had come by the Cult Leader’s command, and the visitors were Black Ghost and the Young Cult Leader, so the doors opened immediately.
“This lady does not know why he summoned only the two of us.”
Once they entered the Divine Demon Hall, even Black Ghost could no longer cackle. She glanced at Biyeon and whispered.
“You said this was your first meeting since you returned. Is he going to ask about the accomplishments of the Young Cult Leader and the demonic cultivators of Extreme Demon Fortress?”
“If that were the reason, he would have summoned the Rakshasa Witch as well.”
“Hmph.... That old hag tried dozens of times to kill the young ones because they did not meet her standards. They would have been better off without her.”
Biyeon could not help agreeing to some extent. Along with the Three-Eyed Monster, the Rakshasa Witch was called a Mad Demon because of her brutal temperament.
“You must be expecting praise, yes?”
Black Ghost grinned and slowed her steps. The distance between her and the Young Cult Leader naturally narrowed.
“Of course she deserves praise. Reaching the sixth tier at twenty-four? It is an astonishing accomplishment.”
“It is nothing astonishing.”
Biyeon answered with an impassive face and voice, concealing her inward pride.
“Phewww....”
At the wide lake behind the Divine Demon Hall, Black Ghost let out a long breath, composed her expression, and smoothed her clothing.
She had become one of the Seven Evils three years ago, then been sent to Extreme Demon Fortress in Seonryeong not long afterward.
As a result, she had met the Cult Leader fewer than five times. The other Seven Evils might feel differently, but to Black Ghost, the Cult Leader was still a distant and difficult figure, awkward to face.
[What this lady said as a joke is a secret from the Cult Leader.]
[What did you say?]
[That thing about the Corpse Immortal being the Cult Leader’s beloved concubine. It was just a joke. It truly had no meaning.]
Still not worth answering. Biyeon gave Black Ghost a contemptuous look, then walked toward the lake without hesitation.
The instant she extended her foot toward the lake’s surface, gently rippling in the wind.
The world flipped upside down.
The rippling lake expanded into a vast night sky, filled with countless stars and a brilliant moon. Below the slowly falling Biyeon stretched a tranquil sea without even the smallest ripple.
Biyeon raised her head and looked ahead. The moon was far more consumed than when she had seen it a year ago.
That moon, once surely full, grew thinner each time she visited Ascension Pavilion as the darkness of night gradually devoured it.
Ascension Pavilion.
This was a separate space created by the Heavenly Demon’s Intent. The tranquil sea beneath her feet. The darkening night sky. The stars losing their light, and the moon being consumed by night. All of it was the Heavenly Demon’s Mental Image.
Would the Heavenly Demon attain divine status only when that moon was completely swallowed by darkness? She had asked that question many times, but her master had never given her a clear answer.
Beneath the waning, thin moon floated a pure white pavilion. The Heavenly Demon’s eyes, seated atop the pavilion’s roof, turned toward Biyeon and Black Ghost, and the two immediately fell to their knees and bowed their heads.
“Heavenly Demon Ascends, Divine Demon Returns, Ten Thousand Gods Perish, One Alone Reigns!”
Remembering the doctrine late, Black Ghost raised both arms and shouted. An irritated sigh leaked from the grey clouds drifting near the pavilion’s roof.
Herein Rudella, the Corpse Immortal. She neither removed the cloak wrapped around her body nor bothered to voice her irritation. Instead, she flew toward the rear of the pavilion as if it were a bother.
“Raise your heads and stand.”
The voice settled down with heavy weight. Biyeon and Black Ghost swallowed and raised their heads. In this space of Intent, where the night sky and sea had been manifested, the Heavenly Demon’s eyes were the blackest thing of all.
“I hear you have reached the sixth tier.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke. It had been a year since Biyeon last saw her master, but he still appeared lofty and dignified. Biyeon swallowed and nodded.
“You heard first?”
“When I opened the doors after keeping them shut for ten days, many reports had piled up. One of them was about you.”
The Heavenly Demon’s pitch-black eyes turned toward Biyeon. Her shoulders trembled slightly beneath the gaze that seemed to strike down like lightning from the sky.
“Show me.”
“Yes.”
They were not alone. Black Ghost stood right beside them. But neither master nor disciple cared. The flames of the Divine Art could not be understood merely by watching them.
Biyeon steadied her breathing and raised her right hand.
Pitch-black force aura covered Biyeon’s hand. It resembled not a flame but a mass of blackness, eroding the surrounding scenery as it swayed with a crackle, crackle.
“Hmm.”
The Heavenly Demon rested his chin on the back of his hand. A red point flashed within his narrowed black eyes.
He observed how his disciple’s Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art eroded and warped the surrounding space, as well as the precision of the Intent controlling that process.
Everything in this Ascension Pavilion was manifested through the Heavenly Demon’s Intent. Though the Heavenly Demon permitted it, his disciple’s Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art was exercising its own dominion of Intent even within this space.
Hummmmm....
The Heavenly Demon’s Intent moved. That alone made Black Ghost feel chills spread across her entire body.
A space made purely of Intent was akin to the ultimate destination of a martial artist’s Conceptual Apotheosis or a mage’s Ideal Heaven-Reversal.
The astonishing fact was that the Heavenly Demon maintained this Ascension Pavilion at all times.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Heavenly Demon possessed power like a god here. Once Black Ghost entered Ascension Pavilion, her life and death rested at the Heavenly Demon’s fingertips.
If the Heavenly Demon decided to kill her, Black Ghost would have no choice but to struggle desperately before dying miserably.
“Urgh....”
The Intent that had Black Ghost tense focused upon Biyeon. The darkness Biyeon had kindled could no longer erode its surroundings. Instead, it began to be devoured.
Biyeon resisted desperately. Gritting her teeth, she operated the Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art at full force and poured in her Intent.
But it was impossible for Biyeon’s Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art to oppose her master’s and erode it in return.
In the end, all Biyeon could do was cling to even the smallest point, so that her own colour would not be completely devoured.
The Heavenly Demon’s surging Intent vanished in an instant. Biyeon staggered as she let out the breath that had been trapped inside her, then finally collapsed where she stood.
“Excellent.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke as he looked down at his fallen disciple.
“Even I did not achieve that much at your age.”
Only a few seconds had passed, but sweat drenched her entire body. Her head, where the Upper Dantian rested, spun and throbbed. Her heart in the middle dantian pounded wildly, and her lower dantian felt hollow and sore.
Still, her master’s words brought Biyeon joy. The self-affirmations she had repeated to herself in private had become reality.
“The Young Cult Leader was by far the best at Extreme Demon Fortress as well.”
Black Ghost stammered out the words.
“It is only natural, since she is the Young Cult Leader, but even if the heirs of every renowned demonic martial house were gathered together, they would not amount to even one of her toenails. Before the Young Cult Leader came, Black Dragon was the best at Black Demon Castle, but he could not even last ten moves against her.”
“Black Dragon? Hontian Asura’s son?”
The Heavenly Demon tilted his head slightly. His manner showed that the title Black Dragon meant nothing to him. Black Ghost nodded vigorously.
“That is correct. The Young Cult Leader is the greatest rising talent in the Cult, the greatest in the world, no, the greatest rising talent of all time. Heh, with a disciple so outstanding, her master, the Cult Leader, must be truly pleased....”
“She is not the greatest in the world.”
The Heavenly Demon shook his head. Biyeon’s heart sank at those words, and Black Ghost’s eyes widened. She had been working hard to praise the Young Cult Leader. How could the Heavenly Demon say that?
“Much less the greatest of all time.”
At those following words, Biyeon bit down hard on her lips beneath her mask. Her self-affirmations, repeated so many times, were crumbling apart before her master....
“Cult Leader, why would you say that? The Young Cult Leader’s achievement has never existed anywhere in the world....”
“Because it is not unprecedented.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke.
“Among the reports I heard today were stories from the outside world. Do you know the Three Heroes said to have been taught by the Calamity Star?”
“I do know them. The Sword Dragon, grandson of the Sword Emperor... Dark Blossom, daughter of the Poison King. And Cloud Dragon, was it?”
“I hear Cloud Dragon has definitely reached the sixth tier. The other two are at the very peak of the fifth tier, perhaps even the sixth tier.”
Cloud Dragon was twenty-three this year, one year younger than Biyeon...!
If they had been the same age, that would have been one thing. But the fact that someone younger than her had reached the sixth tier was enough to cast Biyeon’s self-love, built upon calling herself the strongest, into the abyss.
“What... do you mean...?”
Black Ghost cried out in shock on behalf of Biyeon, who was too stunned to continue speaking.
“...I will strive... even harder.”
Biyeon, whose legs had given out and left her sitting earlier, unsteadily rose to her feet and bowed. Her listless voice made Black Ghost’s heart ache, and she gave an awkward cough.
“The Three Heroes reaching the sixth tier is certainly surprising, but not every sixth-tier cultivator is the same. If they truly fought, Cloud Dragon would not be able to handle the Young Cult Leader. It might not end within ten moves, but it would be decided within thirty... no, fifty moves.”
She likely meant it as encouragement, but Biyeon’s shattered self-love could no longer produce positive thoughts. Instead, only negative thoughts rose up.
Fifty moves? Was that really so...? She recalled Cloud Dragon’s skill at the heretic gathering hall in Panteleon.
She was not confident.
“That is why I summoned you.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke.
“The Young Cult Leader will make preparations, leave Sinjeong, and see the world.”
“Yes...?”
Her heart was unsettled and depressed, so Biyeon failed to acknowledge her master’s order at once and asked him to repeat it. But the Heavenly Demon did not rebuke her and continued.
“You will make no further progress in the Divine Art by remaining within the Cult. Go out into the world. See the world, and learn from it. Then find Cloud Dragon and challenge him to a duel.”
“...!”
“Hmm... Are you ordering her to kill Cloud Dragon?”
At Black Ghost’s question, the Heavenly Demon answered with a faint smile.
“The Young Cult Leader will decide that. A life-or-death duel is acceptable, and so is a martial match. Test yourself against Cloud Dragon. You will surely gain something from it.”
“Heh, it seems you believe Cloud Dragon will be a worthy rival for the Young Cult Leader. I understand your intent. As you say, there is no one in the current Cult who can inspire the Young Cult Leader’s competitive spirit.”
There were many demonic cultivators stronger than the Young Cult Leader. The Seven Evils, of course, and the demonic cultivators watching those seven positions and waiting for an opportunity to take them. But they were still too much for the Young Cult Leader to handle.
There were many demonic cultivators of the same level as her as well. But all of them were older than the Young Cult Leader and not the kind of opponents who could inspire her competitive spirit.
But what about Cloud Dragon? He had met the Young Cult Leader in Panteleon a year ago, and he had inspired her competitive spirit ever since.
“But, Cult Leader, why did you summon me? If this is all, there is no reason for me to be here....”
“Black Ghost, you will accompany the Young Cult Leader.”
“What...?!”
Black Ghost’s face twisted in shock.
“It has not even been ten days since I returned after being stuck in Seonryeong for three years! And the Young Cult Leader is not a child, nor is she weak. Why must I accompany her?”
“You need not protect her. Even if the Young Cult Leader becomes embroiled in an incident and dies, I will not hold you accountable.”
“Even so...!”
Black Ghost tried to protest again, but a cold gaze began pressing down on her. She hunched her shoulders and quietly lowered her head.
“I was... considering travelling anyway.”
“Master’s intention in ordering me to duel Cloud Dragon.”
Biyeon, who had barely calmed her heart, spoke.
“Is it because Cloud Dragon was taught by the Calamity Star?”
In the past, Biyeon had visited the Sacred Domain of the Sect of Order with her master and learned that the Calamity Star was his martial aunt. Now, she could not help thinking that his relationship with the Calamity Star was why her master cared about Cloud Dragon.
“That is correct.”
The Heavenly Demon smiled without denying it.
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