A child.

That kid was grappling with the Heavenly Demon.

Not only had the baby fat not melted away from her face—she was still just a little girl with all the innocence of youth—yet here she was, holding her own against the Cult Leader of the Divine Cult, and not just any leader, but the Heavenly Demon fallen into qi deviation.

Clang, clang!

The sharp clash of blades rang out explosively. The sword strikes rebounded, whipping up gusts of wind. The flames that had been spreading like tumors across the area flickered and trembled.

“Stop!”

“…….”

Clang!

“I said stop!”

Despite Biyeon’s shouts falling on deaf ears, the Heavenly Demon unleashed another barrage of sword winds.

Biyeon staggered back. Even as she retreated, she kept glancing over her shoulder to secure her escape route.

It was a clear sign that, to her, this situation wasn’t quite do-or-die.

And she was doing all this barehanded, parrying the Heavenly Demon’s strikes.

Mind sword.

“……Hah.”

The elder sighed, his mustache fluttering at the corners of his mouth. It was the elder who had just been standing in opposition to the Heavenly Demon moments ago.

The mind sword can only manifest when one’s mind is as clear as a mirror!

That was why the mind sword was so rare. Shaping the sword of the heart with internal energy required an unshakeable mindset above all else.

As such, the mind sword was often dismissed as mere theory. Even in the cult, users appeared only very, very rarely…

But the mind sword is merely an indicator of one’s realm.

In the heat of real combat, where blood, iron, and flesh sprayed everywhere, who could possibly maintain a state of perfect emptiness?

It was impossible.

For ordinary humans, at least.

“If it’s possible…”

The elder felt a chill as if his blood had frozen solid.

A god.

He hastily shook his head, banishing the single word that had flashed in his mind.

Forgetting even his enmity toward the Heavenly Demon, he focused entirely on the fight between the two. It was certain—nothing was in Biyeon’s hands. She was deflecting the Heavenly Demon’s onslaught barehanded. And her movements were speeding up. The girl, who had been on the defensive under the relentless attacks, had begun attempting counterattacks from some point.

“Elder, what in the world is that child…?”

As the elder watched, the disciples who had fought alongside him against the Heavenly Demon asked in shrill voices. They were all in a wretched state.

“She’s a child the Cult Leader picked up herself a few years ago.”

The elder wet his lips with his tongue and answered.

“The Cult Leader? Herself?”

A mix of emotions crossed the disciples’ faces.

“Don’t feel slighted.”

The elder explained as if reading their thoughts.

“The Cult Leader didn’t keep it particularly secret, and only elder-rank knew in the cult. Remember that abandoned shed in the back mountains? She was holed up there, just killing time.”

“…Yes.”

“She didn’t receive any special teachings or anything. I guarantee it. Even if the Cult Leader ended up like this, she is someone with a clear sense of public and private.”

Her sense of public and private was so clear that heart demons devoured her…

The elder muttered bitterly. The last part went unheard amid the surrounding noise. And it was quite a chaotic mess besides.

The Heavenly Demon Hall, once their home, lay half in ruins; the deranged Cult Leader was staging a massacre; and suddenly, this little girl appeared, clashing fiercely with the Heavenly Demon.

No wonder it’s complicated.

The elder added with a sigh.

“That’s the mind sword.”

“M-mind sword? You mean…?”

“Even you lot, who’ve trained for years, know this. That’s a realm you can’t reach just by being taught.”

Exactly as he said.

“Then how could she learn the mind sword at that age?”

“You’re still so young.”

The elder said with a lament. Before continuing, he looked up at the sky. The moon hung indifferently in the night sky, as serene as ever.

Even as thousands, tens of thousands of believers were thrust into the streets overnight, the heavens remained unchanged, utterly unconcerned.

The elder’s mouth felt parched. Every Jianghu wanderer harbored ambitions for greatness.

The strong were those who could unfurl their banners as they were. The weak, conversely, were those who recognized their own limits.

At that point, Jianghu folk faced a fork in the road.

Those who accepted it.

Those who rebelled.

The Orthodox Sects were mostly the former—pathetic types content to be old monks polishing their Dao rather than breaking limits with dirty tricks.

And everyone here, including the elder, belonged to the latter: those who denied reality and sought to shatter their vessels. It might seem belligerent at first glance, but the elder had realized something with age.

In truth, rebelling meant acknowledging their vessel the moment they touched demonic arts. Think about it—if demonic training truly shattered limits, wouldn’t every demon lord be the world’s greatest?

“…Genius is bestowed by the heavens. Depending on how much heavenly favor one receives… the realms one can achieve are already predetermined…”

And proof stood right there.

The Heavenly Demon. To the elder, she was an insurmountable Mount Tai.

No amount of thrashing to surpass her worked. Even monopolizing forbidden martial arts and famed elixirs, he could never catch up—not even close enough to touch her chest.

The Heavenly Demon. Her very existence proved that the universe’s arrangements were not equal. That had been true until just moments ago. Until an even greater “absurdity” appeared.

Whoosh!

The wind whipped at their robes. The disciples planted their swords into the flagstone cracks to brace themselves. They raised their eyes against the demonic gale.

The battle between the Heavenly Demon and the girl intensified. What had seemed an impossible win for the girl early on was now evenly matched. The two women dominated the vast cavern, clashing and separating repeatedly, stirring up sword winds.

No matter who won or lost, it wouldn’t be surprising. Their eyes burned. Just tracking with their gaze overloaded them.

Thud!

The Heavenly Demon’s fist slammed into her chest.

Biyeon spat suppressed blood. Even a simple punch shattered ribs and churned organs. Just before the shock reached her dantian, she raised her abdominal pressure, halting it at her solar plexus.

Biyeon gripped her sword—the mind sword.

“I said… stop.”

She snarled it out. Though invisible, even the onlookers, and she herself, sensed the mind sword’s edge sharpen.

“Ha! You damn mom!”

She spat it all out, and it happened to be a mom insult.

Squelch!

The Heavenly Demon’s collarbone erupted in a fountain of blood the instant she let her guard down. Biyeon’s face darkened momentarily. She hadn’t meant to land such a decisive blow.

The mind sword wavered. Her shaken mind was reflected in it.

“…….”

But the Heavenly Demon’s resolve didn’t wane. If anything, it surged, like needles pricking her skin.

Crunch!

The Heavenly Demon spun in place. Drawing silver arcs in the air, she bore down on Biyeon relentlessly.

Slash!

Flesh parted. Not shallow. The Heavenly Demon’s blade was never shallow. It seemed the tip had dug into muscle and scraped bone.

Biyeon bit her lower lip hard, swallowing the pain. Her wide eyes glared at the Heavenly Demon.

A full demonic glare.

Not human eyes, but those of a wrathful asura.

Even Biyeon, ignorant of martial arts intricacies, vaguely knew what “qi deviation” was. To Jianghu folk, it was the greatest, and closest, enemy lurking.

The foe that struck when one’s spirit weakened.

Jianghu warriors built internal energy through training and elixirs. Paradoxically, those grueling efforts bred evil in the dantian.

Of course, Jianghu folk knew this, demon cultivators especially. But they willingly bore it to grow stronger.

“Acting all high and mighty.”

A chilling glint flashed in Biyeon’s cornea.

That was all it took.

Vrooooooom…

The air in the area grew heavy. Those barely holding on buckled under the atmospheric pressure. The precarious flames snuffed out as if doused with ice water.

From the darkness, Biyeon spoke again.

“In the end, you got devoured by your own demons?”

“…….”

No reply came.

The Heavenly Demon kicked off the ground in a frenzy. Thrusting her sword long, she lunged at Biyeon.

Screeeeech!

At point-blank, breaths mingling, Biyeon snapped her fingers.

Halt.

The Heavenly Demon stopped dead. Flailing as if blocked by something right before Biyeon’s nose. In that split second, the elder stared blankly. The disciples were equally dumbfounded.

Then.

Drip…

Only when the Heavenly Demon’s chest soaked red did the elder understand.

Infusing his eyes with energy, he saw—a sword protruding from her back.

“Cough!”

The Heavenly Demon spewed blood from all orifices. The black venom in her sclera slowly drained.

Yet she gripped the sword hilt, twisting her shoulders forward as if struggling.

“No.”

The blade tip trembled an inch from Biyeon’s eye. It couldn’t reach her.

“You’re.”

“…….”

“Weaker than me.”

The Heavenly Demon strained her shoulders in fury. Biyeon snapped her fingers again.

Splat!

With a bursting sound, the Formless Sword pierced her thigh. Blood pooled at her feet.

“Cult Leader!”

Unable to watch, one disciple lunged forward. Even after a night of slaughtering kin, she was still their spiritual pillar.

Kinslaying was commonplace in the Demonic Cult. And qi deviation was an inseparable companion for demon path walkers. Moreover… this disciple admired the Heavenly Demon.

Seeing the object of his affections mangled by some mysterious girl’s technique—any man with balls would do something.

“Stop.”

The elder extended his arm to block him.

“Elder! If this continues, the Cult Leader—!”

“Who is your top priority to serve—the Cult Leader, or the cult itself?”

The elder’s cold retort shook the disciple’s eyes. He pressed on.

“Answer.”

“…The cult.”

“Remember: everything we demon path walkers do is for the cult.”

“I know. But! If the current Cult Leader falls, the Orthodox Sects will threaten us!”

“That won’t happen.”

The elder dismissed it curtly.

“That girl is the cult’s new leader.”

“…Pardon?”

The elder wordlessly stepped toward the girl and Heavenly Demon. The closer he got, the stickier the ground felt underfoot.

Biyeon turned her lifeless eyes. After a suffocating silence,

Thud.

The elder knelt and performed the fist-palm salute.

He drew breath from his dantian and shouted.

It was directed not at the former Heavenly Demon, but at Biyeon.

The elder knocked his forehead against the ground repeatedly. Those hidden behind the debris of battle emerged one by one. And, as if by prior agreement, mimicked the elder exactly.

“The Divine Cult is Invincible!”

Thud.

“Ten Thousand Demons Submit!”

Thud.

“Divine Cult Reigns!”

Thud.

“Heavenly Demon Reincarnation!”

Mountains and heavens trembled.

The disciple who had tried to intervene looked around. The entire Demonic Cult formed ranks, prostrating before Biyeon in a surreal sight.

“May the Executor fulfill the Heavenly Demon Unification pledge!”

The elder led the chant.

“Guide us to that pledge, Executor!”

The entire Demonic Cult echoed after him.