Chapter 32: Day 32

“Ugh…”

Cheon Seo Ah groaned, her eyes fluttering open. With the Ninefold Demonic Mask’s help, she had escaped Elder Bloodfiend, but the cost was steep.

She was still within the Central Mountain Range, but far from the Blood King Sect’s territory.

Close, but far enough. She breathed a sigh of relief, then gritted her teeth.

“I will kill him.”

She added Elder Bloodfiend to her mental list of those who would pay.

She should have known better than to trust a Demonic Beast, even a powerful one.

They were all treacherous.

As she pushed herself up, a faint whimper reached her ears.

Whimper…

She turned towards the sound, and there was Baekho, his white fur stained crimson with blood, his body covered in terrible wounds.

She could barely tell if he was a white tiger or a blood tiger.

Cheon Seo Ah, despite her exhaustion, went to him and stroked his head.

“You escaped too.”

A hint of sadness colored her voice. Baekho whimpered again, a mournful sound.

Cheon Seo Ah looked at him, her heart heavy.

His wounds were too severe.

He might have escaped the Blood King Sect’s territory, but he wouldn’t last much longer.

He would die a slow, agonizing death. So, she spoke softly.

“I’ll avenge you.”

He was her first spirit beast, but she had no way to heal him.

The only kindness she could offer was a swift end to his suffering.

Baekho seemed to understand.

Or perhaps he simply knew that there was no hope left.

Resignation filled his eyes, an acceptance of his fate.

“I’m sorry.”

With an apology, Cheon Seo Ah struck, her hand a blur, swiftly extracting his heart and core.

The light faded from Baekho’s eyes, but there was no resentment, only gratitude.

Cheon Seo Ah, her heart heavy, turned and walked away, a vow echoing in her mind.

“I will have my revenge.”

Even if it took a hundred, two hundred years. As a Golden Core cultivator, barely past childhood, she had time.

#

“Sigh…”

Cheon Seo Ah exhaled, her breath still carrying a faint toxicity.

Since escaping, she had been wandering the outer regions of the Central Mountain Range, devouring the souls of countless beasts, occasionally raiding small villages. Finally…

“I’ve recovered somewhat.”

She had paid the Ninefold Demonic Mask fifty years of her lifespan and Demonic Qi equivalent to one hundred and twenty years of cultivation for her escape.

Though she couldn’t regain the lost lifespan, she had replenished her Demonic Qi, consuming nearly three hundred ordinary people in the process.

Well, those meaningless bugs, living their meaningless lives, should be grateful…

“To serve as nourishment for my recovery.”

Yes, they should.

Her satisfaction was short-lived.

Her expression hardened. She had recovered some of her strength, but it wasn’t enough.

She couldn’t kill Elder Bloodfiend in her current state.

If she attacked the Blood King Sect now, she wouldn’t even reach him, likely torn apart by the sect’s other Demonic Beasts.

She needed to become stronger.

But how? Why had she sought the Blood King Sect in the first place? For new, more powerful Demonic Arts.

Adapting the techniques from the White Snake Gate was inefficient, their power reduced to a fraction of their original strength.

Even her modified Six Flicking Fingers Sword Art required twelve demonic sword lights to match the original six.

As she pondered this, wandering the mountains, hunting beasts, raiding villages, consuming hearts and souls, a thought occurred to her.

“Should I attack another Demonic Sect outside the Central Mountain Range?”

It wouldn’t be a true Demonic Sect like the Blood King Sect, but they might still possess some useful techniques.

Just as she considered this…

“Hmm…?”

She arrived at a sheer cliff, its face almost vertical.

Something was amiss with the flow of spiritual energy here. It felt unnatural, manipulated. She examined the cliff face, then her eyes lit up.

“A Hidden Dimension!”

A dungeon, a hidden space, potentially containing powerful techniques or treasures.

Most were worthless, but she clung to the hope that this one might be different.

What if it had been created by a Demonic Beast? What if it contained Demonic Arts or treasures?

“I can become stronger.”

Strong enough to have her revenge.

Focusing her Demonic Qi, she examined the cliff face, searching for irregularities in the natural flow of spiritual energy.

She found them.

Seven spirit stones embedded in the cliff face, the core of the barrier concealing the Hidden Dimension. Without hesitation, she flicked her fingers.

Twang-!

Twelve black sword lights shot towards the spirit stones. Or rather, they tried to. Just as they were about to strike…

“What the—!”

A black barrier erupted from the spirit stones, swallowing the sword lights and flinging them back.

Cheon Seo Ah leaped back, the reflected sword lights slamming into the ground where she’d been standing.

“So, you won’t let me in so easily.”

She grinned at the fading black barrier. Her modified Six Flicking Fingers Sword Art, its true name…

Six Flicking Fingers Sword Art, Modified.

Twelve Demonic Fingers Sword Art.

…was a technique she favored for its familiarity, its decent power for a Golden Core technique, and its stealth. But it wasn’t her strongest.

“Sigh…”

She took a deep breath, drawing upon her Demonic Qi. A dark green, toxic aura shimmered around her, transforming the surrounding area into a lifeless wasteland. She paid it no mind. Her focus was singular.

‘Break it.’

She would shatter the barrier concealing the Hidden Dimension. As her Demonic Qi surged, the seven spirit stones glowed, and the black barrier reappeared. Cheon Seo Ah grinned.

“Let’s see you stop this.”

Ninefold Hell Body Explosion Art, Chain Demonic Poisonous Orb.

The technique that had obliterated the snake-human.

But now, fueled by her toxic Demonic Qi, it was far more potent. Dozens of dark green orbs of Demonic Qi hurtled towards the barrier.

Boom!

A chain of explosions rocked the area, a cloud of toxic smoke billowing outwards.
*