How could the Heavenly Demon Eye appear in a human?No way—Had the Heavenly Demon come here?If so, everything made sense.Even that colossal surge of magi he’d felt moments ago.Ultan misunderstood.He dropped flat, face to the ground.“I—I pay homage to the Heavenly Demon!”“I’m not the Heavenly Demon. I’m the one who came to catch him.”At Woo Jin’s words, Ultan’s head snapped up.Was that true?He studied Woo Jin, uncertain.“Ah. You mistook me because of the magi.”Woo Jin instantly drew back the magi and replaced it with qi steeped in demon-subduing force.“Ghk!”At the Anti-Demon Qi, pain ripped through Ultan as if his whole body were being torn to shreds.That settled it.The being before him was not the Heavenly Demon.As Ultan writhed, Woo Jin asked,“Where’s the new rift?”Ultan clenched his teeth.“I don’t know.”Woo Jin searched his face at that answer.The demon-subduing qi swelled.“Do you really not know?”“Ghk! I—I ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) don’t!”“Really?”“Grrrk!”With the pain mounting, Ultan ground out,“I—I don’t! And even if I did… you think I’d tell you!”Woo Jin felt it.Ultan was telling the truth.He truly didn’t know.“Hm. So living in the Demon Realm doesn’t mean you know everything.”Woo Jin withdrew the qi.Ultan said,“You’d best worry more about getting back than about finding other rifts.”“What do you mean?”“The rift you came through. My boys are there right now to shut it completely. Heh heh. If you’re late, you won’t be going home.”Woo Jin grinned.“If I can’t go back, I’ll hunt Demonkin here and take my time finding a new rift. Sound about right?”A chill ran over Ultan’s skin.He really had the power and means to do exactly that.“You think even the Heavenly Demon could stop me?”“You do not know the Heavenly Demon. He is beyond what the likes of you can measure.”“Is that so?”“You are strong—that is true—but you cannot reach him.”“What are you talking about? I haven’t even shown my real power yet.”“What?”He hadn’t shown his real power?Then what had he shown before?“What you saw was a taste.”This monster—Leaving him here would be a disaster.Ultan blurted,“I—it shouldn’t be closed yet. If you hurry, you can make it before the rift seals.”“So there is a method to close it.”“Y-yes.”That was interesting.“Good. I’ll go back this time. In exchange, you’ll tell me how to shut a rift.”Woo Jin wasn’t eager to linger here either.“I—I understand.” ****Woo Jin’s party reached the rift.Around it, unfamiliar sigils had been scrawled outward like a spiderweb.Woo Jin swiftly memorized them.Light pulsed from the lines—the closure had already begun.As if to confirm it, the rift itself began to make noise.ZZZRRT—.The gap narrowed bit by bit.Ultan glanced at the comrades who’d come to close it.They all lay sprawled on the ground, unconscious.They weren’t weak, either.He’d flattened them in a single exchange.Woo Jin smiled.“Be grateful I didn’t kill them.”“Th-thank you.”“I left them alive to show you how frightening humans can be. From now on, they’ll remember—and be careful.”True enough.Ultan, for one, had had his fill of humans.“These sigils—this is what closes a rift, right?”“Y-yes.”“And that booklet has the details, doesn’t it?”“Th-that is…”Woo Jin stretched out a hand and the booklet flew into his grasp.Ultan let it be.A human wouldn’t be able to read that book anyway.“Hm.”Woo Jin flipped through it for a moment, then shut it and stepped up to Ultan with a blank notebook in hand.He’d brought it to record Demon Realm information.“I’ll say words. You write them in your script.”“…What?”What was he up to?Woo Jin gave him a few hundred vocabulary words, and Ultan wrote them out honestly.What was hard about jotting down some words?Meanwhile, the rift kept shrinking.“Y-young lord, the rift’s getting smaller. W-we must hurry.”Cheon Ho Seong’s voice was urgent.“You go first.”“We cannot go before you. Impossible.”“Are we taking the Flame Tiger too?”Woo Jin looked to the Flame Tiger.It stared back at him with pleading eyes.Woo Jin snorted a laugh.“We’re taking him.”As if it understood, the Flame Tiger wagged its tail, delighted.“Get him through before the rift narrows further. I’ll ask a few more things and follow.”“Young lord…”“That’s an order.”At “order,” there was nothing more to say.“…Understood.”At last, leaving Woo Jin behind, Cheon Ho Seong, Ma Ryang, and Jeok Seong entered the rift with the Flame Tiger.Once they were through, the rift began to close even faster.Woo Jin, unbothered, kept asking for words.Ultan, on the other hand, grew anxious.What if the rift sealed and this human stayed?So he scribbled as fast as Woo Jin prompted.“That’s enough. This will do to learn your language.”…Huh?So that was the point of the words?“The Heavenly Demon will cross into the Human Realm soon. Are you coming too?”Ultan shook his head.Why go to a place with a monster like that waiting?“Do your best not to. If you do, there’s a chance I won’t recognize you and kill you.”Another chill.Ultan nodded to Woo Jin’s voice dripping with killing intent.ZZZRRT—.The rift was closing rapidly.Ultan blurted,“H-hurry. T-the rift will shut any moment.”Please go.That’s what it sounded like.Woo Jin smiled.“See you next time.”Leaving those words behind, he stepped into the rift—It sealed shut the moment he passed.Only then did Ultan breathe out in relief.A little later and Woo Jin would have been stuck here.The thought alone made him shudder.He muttered,“See you next time? Am I insane?”Never again.Who said humans were easy?They were terrifying.“This really is a nice place to live. Whew.”Ultan looked over his unconscious companions.He’d talk the castellan into settling here for good. No matter what. ****The one to greet Yeon Woo Jin upon his return to Martial Deity Heaven was Sama Cheon.“You’re safe.”“I’m back.”After giving Woo Jin a once-over, Sama Cheon turned his gaze toward where the rift had been.“The rift’s gone completely. Did something happen?”“We met the Demonkin who live there.”“Hoh… And?”“They erased the rift. I almost didn’t make it back.”“Why would they close it?”“I’m not sure. They must have had their reasons.”Sama Cheon looked again and asked,“And that? You said you were going to raise it?”“Ah. A pet from the Demon Realm.”“You’re calling that a pet? It’s bigger than an ox.”“Yes.”“Heh… Ordinary folk would have their knees buckle just seeing it. You’d better train it well.”“That’s the plan. With the Little Heavenly Lord contest coming up, I’ll work it over in the meantime.”At the words “Little Heavenly Lord contest,” Sama Cheon spoke dryly,“Is it even a contest? It’ll be you anyway.”“We still have to hold it. You worked hard to set it up.”“Well, I did knock myself out preparing it. If you’d shown up a little sooner, I could’ve skipped the trouble.”Woo Jin apologized.“Sorry, Master.”“Enough. It wasn’t your fault. Your grandfather hid you too well. Let’s drop that. Tell me what happened in the Demon Realm.”“In that case, shall this disciple finally pour his master a drink?”Sama Cheon grinned.“Hahaha. Unlike your grandfather, you do know a thing or two.”“Shall we?”“Let’s. Hahaha.” ****Sama Cheon toyed curiously with the boarhide Woo Jin had brought from the Demon Realm.“Hoh… So this repels qi?”“Yes. Want to see?”Woo Jin breathed qi into a chopstick and touched it to the hide.TING—.The hide bounced it off.“Truly curious.”“If we make protective gear from it, it’ll be useful.”“Indeed. You could fight someone a stage above your own level.”“I’m going to suit up our kids.”Sama Cheon laughed.“Lucky brats. Their master spoils them rotten.”“I’ll make you a set too, Master.”“Forget it, boy. Who am I going to fight? Put it on the kids who guard me.”“Wear it anyway. Just in case.”“All right, all right. I’ll wear it.”Sama Cheon smiled, pleased.GLUG—.As Woo Jin poured, Sama Cheon said,“Woo Jin.”“Yes, Master.”“I’m truly grateful you’re here. Without you, Martial Deity Heaven would’ve gone through hell over the Little Heavenly Lord selection. Do you think the others would accept it if one of the candidates were chosen? No. They wouldn’t. They’d try every trick to drag him down.”He was right.From what Woo Jin knew, the candidates were similar in ability.Even after becoming Little Heavenly Lord, it wouldn’t end.He would have to fend off constant attacks to keep the seat.Yeon Cheon Baek would even egg that on.If you couldn’t survive that, you had no right to be Little Heavenly Lord—that’s how he’d see it.But if Yeon Woo Jin became Little Heavenly Lord?None of that would happen.Before an overwhelming existence, such games meant nothing.Truthfully, what worried Sama Cheon most wasn’t the contest.It was what came after the selection.He feared Martial Deity Heaven would fracture.Yeon Cheon Baek wouldn’t care at all.The headache would be his.He’d even thought of retiring once the selection ended.Not that Yeon Cheon Baek would have allowed it.All those worries had been wiped away because of Yeon Woo Jin.From here on, Martial Deity Heaven would remain the guardian of balance in the Central Plains.Stronger than ever before.In his heart of hearts, he wanted to skip the contest and enthrone Woo Jin as Little Heavenly Lord immediately.He was too perfect for anyone to object.He still insisted on the contest to showcase Woo Jin’s ability through it.So no one could say a word.He would make it plain:Only those with this level of talent could rise to the seat of Heaven Lord.Sllurp—.Heart racing, Sama Cheon drained his cup.Yeon Woo Jin was about to reveal himself to the world in earnest.What would Martial Deity Heaven think of him?How much of its subordinate forces could he bring under his own banner?He was curious.Though there was little to be curious about.The entire Central Plains had already heard of Woo Jin’s exploits.He had, for all practical purposes, unified it.With that kind of presence, how could he not take hold of Martial Deity Heaven?Once the sects under MDH saw his appeal, they would swear fealty.One item in the contest plan was to bring independent sects under the MDH umbrella.But with Woo Jin already holding most of the Central Plains, it no longer mattered.In essence, the Little Heavenly Lord was already decided; the “contest” was a formality.With the warmth of the drink spreading, his mood lifted.Now he looked forward to it.The Little Heavenly Lord contest.Before long, the Five Guardian Clans would realize it:The true master of Martial Deity Heaven had already been chosen.

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