Ambassador Jaemin and his escorts left without issue once their deal was done.

  Sebastian filled Marion in and initial plans were made for how to

  go about orchestrating a change of leadership within the Jeoksa Family.

  It was a long term project, not something that would be handled in a

  day, or even a single year. The elder himself had never truly

  contemplated becoming patriarch beyond the occasional daydream, and he

  needed time to make his own plans as well.

  Sebastian returned to his temple shortly after Elder Jaemin left.

  Since he trusted Marion and the others to handle the

  cult, he could focus on his own work. His current priority was to

  develop Techniques.

  Most of his time was spent meditating on the mat in the central room of the temple of the Heavenly Demon.

  Initially he focused on simple Offensive Techniques, as

  those were the easiest to conceptualize. Several ideas floated around in

  his head, and they gradually took shape within the visualized world in

  his mind during his meditation.

  The first was a Palm Technique.

  Because he didn’t just need Techniques for himself but

  for the rest of the cult, he created simple and fairly weak Techniques

  to begin with and then gradually worked on improving them.

  Once his mental construction of the Technique had reached

  as far as it would within the confides of his mind, Sebastian moved

  outside to test his thoughts in the real world.

  The temple of the Heavenly Demon had seen some

  improvements. The main building remained mostly the same, but the

  outside had been cleaned up. A training space had been constructed

  behind the temple. It was kept simple. Just a flat, tiled, stone

  platform, reminiscent of his old training grounds in the courtyard of

  his house in Celder, except this was flush with the ground, and larger.

  He stood on the tiled stone, facing a boulder the size of

  a small building a few meters away. The strong winds didn’t affect him,

  he stood straight with his hands behind his back. Held down under the

  weight of his mere presence, his robes merely fluttered softly in the

  wind where a normal mortal would struggle to even stand.

  Attempt number one was a simple thrust with his palm to project an essence manifestation of his palm onto the boulder.

  THUD

  With his current power, even such a simple attack left an

  imprint of his palm on the surface of the rock. It was only a few

  millimeters deep, though.

  Just throwing essence around does

  damage to the boulder, dealing with mortals or even weaker warriors now

  would be as easy as flicking my wrist, he thought. A sliver of pride at his progress welled up, but he focused on the matter at hand. It’s not gonna do much to anyone of a decent level though, the attack needs a proper intent for that.

  Even after all this time, the entire

  concept of Intent seems too vague and all-encompassing. Is there a

  limit to what intent I use? I already know that the stronger the intent

  is, the stronger the attack will be, but I don’t actually know the rules for

  forming that intent.

  He mentally shrugged. Let’s just try some things and see how it goes.

  For his next attempt, he added a single intent to his attack, not to destroy the boulder but to push it back.

  With a thrust of his palm toward the boulder, a palm of

  essence flew in a straight line and struck the rock. Unlike his first

  attempt, it left no mark on the surface at all. The boulder itself,

  however, moved a few centimeters back.

  Several tons of rock scraped against the ground of the

  mountaintop. The grating screech reached his ears even through the

  powerful winds.

  Analyzing

  Analysis complete

  New technique created: Unnamed technique

  Please provide a name for the technique

  Interesting. Is it because the

  Cultivation System is now more separated from the Leveling System that just about

  any attack using a distinct intent will create a technique? When it comes to Skills, there are

  already so many that creating a new one is easier said than done. Will

  every change in intent register as a new technique?

  Changing his intent from pushing to destroying, he tried again. BAM

  Much like the first attempt, the attack left an imprint of a palm on

  the surface of the rock. This time, however, it was about twice as deep.

  Analyzing

  Analysis complete

  New technique created: Unnamed technique

  Please provide a name for the technique

  Huh, it does. Shame I don't get any rewards for creating these. I would have loved to abuse this. But then why didn’t it

  create a Technique when I used the gravity of my Soul Seed? Does the

  [System] consider it as just wielding the natural properties of the Soul

  Seed, the same way that it no longer considers my spiritual sense to be a Technique? I guess. And here I’m creating something new, something

  unique based on my own intent rather than any inherent properties. Hmm... Just

  pushing an intent to destroy makes the attack stronger, but not by very

  much.

  He tried countless permutations of different intents and different paths of essence circulations.

  Although it had been something Sebastian was familiar

  with ever since he began learning his first Techniques, essence

  circulation was still a mystery. For reasons he had yet to decipher, the

  flow, and the pattern of that flow of essence had an effect on the end

  result.

  At times he manipulated his essence to essentially cut

  off certain paths within his meridian system to better emulate the other

  meridian structures in the methods of the cult.

  He created a few different Palm Techniques for each of the methods currently in use among the demonic cultivators.

  A basic Palm Technique was created which could be used regardless of cultivation method, [Demonic Palm Strike].

  Then, for the [Aberrant Demon Path], an advanced version

  was also created using a more sophisticated intent, which also made use

  of the more extreme nature of the cultivation method’s meridian

  structure. He called it [Defiant Demon Palm].

  The [Demonic Oasis Art] had more advanced meridian

  structures which allowed for even more complex techniques. [Corruption

  Palm] and [Demonic Restraint Palm] were the most successful Techniques

  he created. The former sent shock waves of impure essence through their

  opponents, disrupting their flow of internal essence while the second

  served to restrict their movements.

  With a handful of Palm Techniques done, he moved on to

  Fist Techniques, and then Kicking Techniques, and Movement Techniques,

  and various Weapon Techniques.

  It was entrancing.

  Inspiration flowed through him, and Sebastian spent months on end training and creating countless Techniques.

  Those worth keeping, and teaching the members of his

  cult, were written down to be copied and stored in the library which

  would finish construction within a few weeks. Building a vast collection

  of different Techniques was vital for the continued growth of the cult.

  Another benefit to his dedicated work with developing

  Techniques was that he noticed that his Soul Seed had grown because of

  it. Not by much, but it was certainly noticeable.

  Sebastian wasn’t the only one working on new Techniques.

  He encouraged the demonic cultivators who had graduated to develop Techniques of their own.

  Any he deemed worthy would be added to the cult’s

  collection. All of the demonic cultivators were former mortals of the

  Red Sea, though, and they had very little experience with combat. They had

  learned a little from Safi, Gawen, and Eduard but mostly made it up as

  they went.

  As such, the Techniques they created generally weren’t very good, but there was the occasional gem.

  The biggest success came from a group who weren’t

  interested in combat or martial arts and instead turned to Víctor to

  work with magic.

  On Sebastian’s request, Víctor had formed a magic academy

  in the city where he recruited hundreds of students each year, rivaling

  the growth of the Cave of Latent Demons. Over the years, the magic

  academy had grown to become one of the greatest establishments in the

  city. Magic was something that could earn people levels through achievement, after all, which meant that people of the Red Sea could finally level up in spite of there not being any monsters to hunt.

  There were thousands of applicants every year desperate

  to join and ascend to a new status, but they only had the resources and

  the personnel to accept a fraction of them. With every graduation

  ceremony, however, the academy grew and could accept more, but a strict

  test was still necessary to only accept the most talented of applicants.

  A group of demonic cultivators reached out to Víctor a

  few years ago, and they started researching how to convert Magic

  Skills—known as spells—to Magical Techniques suitable for cultivators.

  It was hard work, but they succeeded.

  What’s more, once they cracked the code, they realized that cultivators were even better suited for magic than regular mages.

  Because magic was done through manipulating your internal

  essence, shaping and reconstructing it with your intent before

  projecting it into the world, cultivators had a clear advantage. They

  had access to their spirit body.

  Sebastian was told, on his very first day in this world,

  that the latest research suggested the existence of a spirit, but the

  people of this world still didn’t know much about it at all.

  Back in Luxendorf, Bishop had voiced ideas regarding the

  true nature of internal essence and energies. Collectively, the people

  of this world were getting closer to the truth, but cultivators could

  already touch that truth. Cultivation was done by accessing the Spirit

  Realm through meditation and carefully constructed breathing techniques.

  Learning how to manipulate your internal essence was

  difficult when you couldn’t sense it, and there was barely any

  information out in the world on what that internal essence even was.

  Mages had long since developed very strict methods for

  gaining a measure of control and then using the guidance of the [System]

  once they unlock their first Magical Skill.

  For cultivators, among the first things they had to do was manipulate their internal essence to sculpt their meridian systems.

  They couldn’t just gain the regular Skills, however.

  Sebastian’s breakthrough to [Nascent Soul] had not just affected himself

  but all cultivators. Cultivation was now a true path, and once you

  tread that path you could no longer gain System Skills.

  It took a couple of years, but they managed to translate a lot of the Magic Skills into Magic Techniques.

  One difference between System magic and cultivation

  magic, however, was that—unlike System mages—for cultivators it wasn’t a

  viable strategy to just gain a long list of various Magic Techniques.

  Their cultivation didn’t benefit as much from

  achievements, and they couldn’t just rely on the [System] to execute the

  Techniques for them. They had to control each and every Technique with

  only a minimal guidance from the [System].

  That meant that they couldn’t waste time learning a ton

  of different Techniques, it was more beneficial to learn and master a

  few select Magic Techniques instead.

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  Like Sebastian, they all tried their best to innovate and

  create new forms of magic. Sebastian had deemed their work important

  enough that he shared many of the secrets of cultivation with Víctor.

  Víctor gained many levels by innovating his own magic

  from the inspiration, and for participating in the development of the

  Techniques. Although he couldn’t become a cultivator, that didn’t stop

  him from learning how to reach his spirit body. It opened an entirely

  new world of possibilities, and the [System] rewarded him accordingly.

  The top graduate of the second generation from

  the Cave of Latent Demons was a man called Jum. He was a fairly short young man, with short

  hair. From an early age, he had helped his family with managing the

  accounts of the family’s restaurant, and he thoroughly enjoyed digging into the roots of things, to calculate and problem-solve. He took to cultivation immediately.

  He had spent several years training in magic since he

  graduated, and he finally saw success in his work. Not only had he

  learned many valuable spells, his greatest achievement was the creation

  of an entirely new form of magic.

  By imbuing certain objects, he could make them influence

  the natural essence around them. By channeling that natural essence

  through a network of these objects, he could cause all kinds of effects.

  Once he had finalized his work, he brought them to the Heavenly Demon.

  Sebastian took one look at the young man’s work and was

  stunned. Its potential was extraordinary. He was struck by hundreds, if

  not thousands, of ideas for various applications for the cult.

  Jum was promoted to Demonic General on the spot, the

  third after Haru and Chul. This new form of magic didn’t have a name yet. Jum wanted the Heavenly Demon to bestow a name upon his creation.

  Sebastian knew its name the moment he saw it, Formation Arts.

  With the creation of Formation Arts, he also established a

  new subdivision of the cult, Formation Hall, and Jum was given a new

  title, Formation Hall Master.

  While the cult continued to develop, Jeoksa Jaemin had held up his promise of sending resources.

  Over the next year, several deliveries were made to

  the cult which contained various ingredients, books, and instructional

  guides for different Skills.

  He was not patriarch yet, and so he couldn’t send

  anything truly valuable, but as External Elder of the Jeoksa Family, in

  charge of foreign affairs and diplomacy, he had connections to several

  merchant companies and access to large amounts of cheaper resources.

  Sebastian gladly accepted the Skill books, even if they were for cheap and generic Skills.

  They had to be converted to work properly with each cultivation method, but it was worth the effort.

  By combining the work he had done with developing

  Techniques for the cult, and the information contained within the

  various books sent by Elder Jaemin, Sebastian began compiling and

  developing a cohesive martial art for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

  He didn’t do it all alone, however.

  All the officers of the cult consulted and contributed to its development.

  Safi and Gawen had the most traditional education in

  Sword Style Skills, and they helped a great deal in connecting the

  various Techniques and create a flow in the martial art.

  Marion had spent several decades fighting in

  life-and-death situations. Her insight aided in the practical element of

  the martial art, which Sebastian prioritized over fancy flourishes.

  Haru was the strongest demonic cultivator, and while she

  didn’t give much input for the actual combat aspects—since her fighting

  experience was limited to street fights growing up and the missions she

  had led against gangs since she graduated—she did help with how their

  impure demonic essence resonated with the Techniques and their flow.

  The biggest contributor, however, was Chul. As the

  Demonic General in charge of the Cave of Latent Demons, he spent most of

  his time training not only young demonic cultivators but also himself.

  Like Haru, he didn’t have much traditional education or experience when

  it came to martial arts, but he absorbed all the Techniques Sebastian

  created, and the Skill books delivered to the cult.

  Chul often sparred with Gawen, and he also—on

  occasion—sparred with Sebastian. Over the years, he had built a solid

  foundation. Developing a general martial art for the cult meant he could

  expand on the combat training in the Cave of Latent Demons. It was the

  natural next step of the cult’s growth.

  Eventually, the [System] acknowledged the new cult’s martial art.

  Analyzing

  Analysis complete

  New martial art created: Unnamed martial art

  Please provide a name for the martial art

  Sebastian had discussed the name with the others while

  they worked on it. He had full creative control, of course, and could

  decide on the name without their input, but he wanted it to be their

  legacy as much as his own.

  In the end, the name they agreed on was fairly simple.

  New martial art created: Demonic Martial Form

  With the martial art created, every single demonic cultivator who had graduated from the Cave of Latent Demons began training.

  The goal was for everyone to learn the martial art and to

  gradually work on both improving the base and developing new Techniques

  which could be added on to it.

  The Cave of Latent Demons also incorporated it into the

  disciples’ training regiments. To give them the time to do both martial

  arts training and cultivation, the time spent in the caves was extended

  from six years to eight years. Some raised that as an issue, but in the

  Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, strength was what mattered most of all.

  Entering the Cave of Latent Demons at 18 meant that they

  would be 26 by the time they graduated. Some entered the caves older

  while others were a little younger. Graduating when you were closer to

  thirty years old wasn’t that big of a deal, but it certainly wasn’t

  optimal.

  The psychological issue was greater, and it was one of

  the reasons why Sebastian had wanted to focus recruitment on those

  slightly older.

  Even so, being locked in a cave for so many years was

  straining for most of them. Demonic General Chul and his instructors

  made efforts to instill a strong sense of faith in all of them.

  Sebastian’s old values from his past life clashed with the practices,

  but he recognized it as a necessary evil.

  It was extremely effective.

  They ensured that all of the graduates, without exception, worshipped the Heavenly Demon as their one true god.

  That faith and worship helped them through the

  psychological and emotional struggle of tireless training and isolation

  underground.

  POV Marion Macias

  Marion sat behind her desk in the main administrative office in the palace.

  The cult wasn’t rich, in money or much of anything else, so

  it was modestly decorated. Compared to most buildings in Mujin,

  however, it was quite lavish. It was as close to the bottom line that

  Advisor Kwan would allow for the building and office housing the Vice

  Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

  She had built the cult and the city into what it was today, a

  venerable metropolis. The oasis of the Red Sea. Where the Heavenly Demon

  had earned the people’s awe and worship, Marion had earned their

  admiration and respect.

  The cult wasn’t easy to manage. Advisor Kwan had done his

  best in the past, when Mujin was much smaller, but even so, there wasn’t

  much of a foundation to build on.

  Still, it was enjoyable.

  After a lifetime of fighting enemies and leading allies

  as a mercenary, the challenge of governing what was essentially a

  country was fun. It was really fun. And she was good at it, to the point

  where she almost regretted not doing work like this sooner.

  A gentle knock on the door called for her attention. By

  now she knew exactly who it was, there was only one person who knocked

  so gently and so precisely. She couldn’t help but smile, only for a

  moment though.

  “Come in, Advisor Kwan.”

  The door carefully opened and the Advisor shuffled in.

  “This lowly one greets the Vice Leader!”

  The old man was now even older. His grey hair had turned

  fully white and wrinkles covered most of his skin. In spite his

  advancing age, there was a vigor in him, one that wasn’t there before

  the cult was founded. He had traded in his simple brown robes for a dark

  blue inner robe with a thick belt and a black outer robe. Not only was

  it beautiful, it was more expensive than anything he had ever owned

  before. Even with his clearly elevated status, his manners toward the

  martial artists of the cult were unchanged. He maintained the same

  humility.

  “Advisor Kwan, as I keep saying, you don’t need to be quite so formal in your greetings. Not when it’s just us.”

  He inclined his head with his hands in front of him, fist

  into open palm. “Vice Leader, I could never! This lowly one is unworthy

  of such esteem.”

  Marion chuckled and shook her head in resignation.

  It took almost ten years to get this silly man off the ground when he greets us, I guess this is as far as we’re gonna get.

  “So, how are our farmers taking to the deliveries?” Marion asked.

  “They are optimistic!” Kwan said as he handed over some

  papers. “Some of the crops, fruits, and vegetables have already taken

  root. Our food supplies will most certainly diversify in the coming

  season. Others… well, they don’t take well to the soil of the Red Sea.”

  The advisor looked away as he hunched his shoulders slightly, clearly

  uncomfortable in delivering the news. As if he took the state of the Red

  Sea as his own shameful responsibility. “Even though our farmers have

  increased their levels, they still can’t make the soil suitable for some

  of seeds.”

  Marion let out a breath. “We expected as much, to have

  several of them succeed is already good. Speak to Principal Víctor and

  maybe even Formation Hall Master Jum about the possibility of using

  magic to improve the soil.”

  “It will be done!” Advisor Kwan said with a deep bow.

  “What of crime in the eastern section, are we getting a handle on it?”

  “Yes, Vice Leader!” Some vigor returned to the man as he

  got to deliver some better news. “A squad of guards raided the

  criminals’ base and arrested their leader, along with a few others. The

  rest dispersed.”

  “Excellent, that’s one less issue to deal with—“

  The door swung open. “Granny, are you here!?” Safi called

  out as she dashed in. “Oh, Advisor Kwan. Apologies, I didn’t know you

  were in here. I can come back later.”

  The old man nearly had a heart attack, not from the

  sudden intrusion but from the mere idea of being a burden to the young

  warrior and the Vice Leader. “This lowly one greets the Lady Anaya!” he

  greeted with just as much polite decorum as with Marion. “Certainly not,

  my lady! I will adjourn and return to finish my report later.”

  They both tried to convince him that it wasn’t necessary,

  but he simply shuffled out, backward while maintaining a respectful bow

  toward them.

  As soon as the door closed and the advisor was out of earshot, they broke out laughter.

  “It’s been over a decade!” Safi said. “You’d think he would get more comfortable with us eventually.”

  Marion sighed. “I was just thinking the same. I love the

  man, he’s invaluable, but I still can’t get used to it.” She shook her

  head. “Anyway, what brings you, Company Leader Safi?”

  “Well, Vice Leader Granny, I’ve just returned from a

  mission. The Fanged Horse Gang is no more! And… I missed you while I was

  gone, and I was hoping you were up for a walk in the garden?” Safi

  flashed an innocent smile.

  “I missed you too. Sure, there’s always time for work

  later, might as well enjoy myself when the opportunity presents itself.”

  She smiled and they walked out, toward the palace garden.

  “I’ll be honest, Granny. When Advisor

  Kwan showed us the plans for the new palace, I wasn’t sold on the idea

  that it needed a garden. 'Who’s gonna use it,’ I thought. Turns out,

  it’s my favorite place in the entire cult.” Safi smiled contently as she stopped and leaned on the handrail of the small bridge over the water stream.

  Around them were trees, blooming bushes, and vibrant flowers.

  The garden wasn’t very packed with greenery, there were

  many walkways of polished wood and ponds connected by a brook, flowing

  down the slight incline. The brook reached a larger pond, home to some

  fish bought from a traveling merchant. On the pond ahead of them stood a

  gazebo.

  Marion took a breath of the fresh air. “I know what you

  mean. The Red Sea isn’t a very homely place—even if it isn’t quite as

  barren as its outsider name would suggest—but this… this feels like

  home.” She too leaned on the handrail and looked out at the garden.

  Safi turned her eyes away from the beautiful garden to

  the sincere smile on her friend and mentor’s face. “Life in the Heavenly

  Demon Divine Cult isn’t the easiest, but it is nice,” she said. “I’m

  glad to see you so happy here. You always seemed so… distant, before.”

  A sigh escaped Marion’s lips. “I was. This is the first

  time since—“ She sighed again and looked over to meet Safi’s eyes. “I

  suppose I’ve never really talked about it. It’s been almost fifty years

  now since Jamie died. We had been together for most of our lives. After

  we married, we moved to a small hamlet outside Oldenfield and started a

  little shop.”

  “A shop?” Safi asked, eyes wide in surprise. “I always thought you were a warrior since childhood.”

  Marion chuckled. “No, quite the opposite. I never even

  touched a weapon until… later in life.” She paused for a moment. “I was

  away, in the town of Oldenfield to buy some hildeberries. They were

  Jamie’s favorite. When I returned, the hamlet was up in flames.

  Everything… Everyone was gone.” She paused to collect herself. “My world

  burned that day. There was nothing left of me after that. They say

  ‘time heals all wounds’, but at the time, every day was harder than the

  last. By chance, when I was at my lowest—at the brink of… I heard a

  rumor in town. The men who took everything from me had raided some

  merchant nearby. Turns out, the hamlet was just an audition, it got them

  accepted into some gang. Hearing that rumor. That they were still

  around, still doing what they did to me— to us… It— It made me happy.”

  She shook her head softly. “No, not happy, but it gave me hope, purpose.

  I started training that very day. I hunted and leveled. I spent every

  coin I had on equipment and tutoring. Five years later, I looked for

  them, and I found them. I burned their world to ash that day.” She

  paused and a long settled savagery could be seen in her eyes as she

  relived the memory. “I thought it would make me feel better, give me

  closure if nothing else. It didn’t. I couldn’t let go, couldn’t forget.

  So I joined the Wandering Wolves and dedicated whatever was left of me

  to killing bandits and criminals. I didn’t care about anyone or

  anything.”

  “So what changed?” Safi asked softly.

  “It was during the battle at the Profound Sky Sect,

  actually.” Marion’s expressions softened. “I watched as the Boss fought

  enemies stronger than him, and then I got a message. He faced near

  certain death and rather than focus entirely on the enemy in front of

  him, he told me to take you and Gawen and run. It wasn’t some big thing.

  Most people would probably do the same for those they care about, but

  something about it just brought me back. I couldn’t save Jamie, but

  maybe I could save you and Gawen for the Boss. And then, living here and

  building the cult, it finally happened.” She smiled brightly as she

  looked Safi in the eyes. “I still haven’t forgotten but, for the first

  time, I feel like I’m ready to let go.”

  Safi held back some tears. She didn’t know what to say so she just embraced her in a loving hug.

  They continued their talk for a while, about Safi’s life

  in Celder, and her missions for the cult, and about Marion’s life as a

  mercenary. Things they had talked about before but never quite in so

  much detail.

  After a couple of hours, they parted ways.

  Safi returned to her work while Marion stayed behind at the Garden.

  She stood on the bridge and looked out over the serene

  waters and the blooming flowers. Then the scene shifted. She frowned in

  confusion as the garden turned upside down, and then it faded to black

  as her eyes glazed over.

  Thud

  A man in red robes landed gracefully on the bridge and watched as Marion, Vice Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, fell, her head separated from her body.

  Seconds later, four other figures landed next to him.

  “You know what to do, spread out and kill them all. Just remember, the Heavenly Demon is mine.”

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