The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign

The orthodox sects, which taught martial arts and nurtured disciples systematically, had produced outstanding figures for generations. 

However, the demonic factions, which were solely driven by profit and power, had always been scattered and disorganized. 

Occasionally, there were some masters who dominated the world, but in terms of influence, they were inevitably behind the orthodox sects.

To address this, the Ten Sects of the Demonic Path, known as the sky of the demonic path, came together to form a coalition of the demonic martial world. 

This was called the Demon Palace. 

Modeled after the orthodox martial alliance, this Demon Palace was also known as the Demon Martial Alliance. It became the central point for all the demonic sects in the world.

Around noon, a long line of people stretched out at the entrance of the Demon Palace. 

Since every visitor had to sign a guest book upon entry, the line showed no signs of shortening.

“Ah! They’ve gathered like clouds.”

Mo Gwang, one of the gatekeepers guarding the entrance of the Demon Palace, muttered with a deep sigh.

His companion, Jang Sam, shook his head.

“Of course. If you have talent, they teach you demonic martial arts regardless of your faction. Who would be foolish enough to miss such an opportunity?”

“Damn it. If only I were younger, I would have applied to be one of the Ten Demon Successors.”

The Ten Demon Successors plan.

Recently, as the demonic factions flourished, the orthodox martial alliance began nurturing eighteen co-successors known as Great Righteous Masters. 

In response, the Demon Palace announced the Ten Demon Successors plan.

— “We will select ten geniuses, regardless of faction, and teach them the martial arts of the Ten Sects of the Demonic Path!”

As news of the Ten Demon Successors plan spread, the demonic martial world was instantly ablaze with excitement.

— “Let’s go to the Demon Palace!”

The Ten Sects of the Demonic Path were known as the ten pillars supporting the demonic factions. They promised the chance to freely learn martial arts that could shake the heavens and earth. 

Even the disciples of the demonic factions and the sons of the various families who had never thought highly of the Demon Palace were flocking to it.

As a result, the gatekeepers of the Demon Palace were stuck on duty until their shift changed.

“Today’s going to end like this too.”

Watching the sun slowly set, Mo Gwang murmured, and his colleague Jang Sam nodded.

“Maybe it’ll be a bit quieter starting tomorrow.”

However, in the distance, a small figure walked slowly. Its silhouette cast a shadow against the sunset. 

It was a skinny boy carrying a bundle.

“Huh?”

Mo Gwang rubbed his eyes as he stared at the boy. 

With disheveled hair, the boy wore clothes that were torn like rags. His shoes were nearly worn out, and his soles were stained with blood. 

He was wearing a funeral robe, the kind that undertakers wear during rituals, and on his back was a bamboo box used for carrying funeral items and a sword.

“Did someone die?”

“No one’s dead, you fool. The Ten Demon Successors competition hasn’t even started yet.”

Mo Gwang rebuked.

“And who would use such a young undertaker in a place like the Demon Palace?”

“Right?”

Jang Sam stood next to him and opened his mouth with a bewildered expression.

“But what’s with that appearance? He looks like a living corpse.”

The boy’s disheveled hair nearly covered his eyes, and his lips were so chapped that blood was dripping from them. 

Walking non-stop for three or four months would result in such an appearance.

Thud! Thud!

The boy walked slowly and finally reached the front gate.

Swish.

Fu Eunseol. The boy clenched his fist tightly and looked up at the grand gate of the Demon Palace.

‘Grandfather.’

His dim eyes were now burning with a crimson glow.

‘This is just the beginning.’

* * *

After burying his grandfather in a sunny spot, Fu Eunseol tidied up inside the Peaceful Funeral Home. 

Since his grandfather had lived a modest life, there wasn’t much left except for Zhanyang’s robe and sword, and a bamboo box that could hold various ritual tools.

“Hm?”

While packing his grandfather’s only keepsakes—the robe and sword—Fu Eunseol noticed a small box placed neatly next to them and blinked.

“What’s this?”

When he opened the box, he found a robe that fit him perfectly and a pair of small swords.

“……”

Zhanyang had already bought the robe and swords in advance. Most likely, in preparation for Fu Eunseol’s upcoming birthday.

— “Happy birthday.”

As he looked at the short note in the box, Fu Eunseol began to sob again.

“Grandfather.”

Hugging the box tightly, Fu Eunseol wept silently. 

The kindest grandfather in the world. 

The grandfather who filled this cold world with warmth. 

His most beloved grandfather, Zhanyang, was no longer in this world.

“Revenge… I must have revenge!”

With the box held tightly in his arms, Fu Eunseol’s eyes turned blood-red. 

Fu Eunseol, who had once possessed a childlike innocence, had now transformed. 

After his grandfather was brutally murdered, that pure innocence turned into vengeance and madness. 

After finishing all the preparations, he donned the robe left by his grandfather and carried the bamboo box on his back.

“I need to master martial arts.”

The fiend who killed his grandfather was undoubtedly a master of the demonic path. 

If so, he must go where the practitioners of the demonic path gather. 

And he must learn martial arts that could defeat the demonic techniques. 

The answer was already clear to him.

“The Demon Palace.”

The Demon Palace was the treasure trove of demonic martial arts and the place where demonic masters gathered. 

Moreover, the Demon Palace was currently conducting the Ten Demon Successors competition. It attracted the best talents under the age of eighteen. 

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

* * *

“What brings you here?”

At the low voice, Fu Eunseol was jolted out of his thoughts.

“I’ve come to participate in the Ten Demon Successors competition.”

Mo Gwang, who was looking down at Fu Eunseol in his robe, sighed and pointed at the guest book.

“Sign the guest book.”

Fu Eunseol picked up the brush and wrote only his name. 

Mo Gwang then spoke.

“Write down your sect as well.”

‘Sects…’

He didn’t belong to a sect; he had never even formally learned martial arts.

After hesitating for a moment, Fu Eunseol picked up the brush again, and in a single stroke, he wrote.

— Zhanyang Sect, Fu Eunseol.

Looking at the guest book, Mo Gwang and Jang Sam exchanged a wry smile.

— Another disciple sent from some minor sect.

Since the announcement of the Ten Demon Successors plan, not only had the prominent demonic sects sent disciples to the Demon Palace, but even the disciples of third-rate sects from remote areas had rushed to participate.

Despite this, the Demon Palace wasn’t filled to capacity because of this very reason.

“Then read this and stamp your seal.”

Mo Gwang handed a sheet of paper placed next to the guest book.

When Fu Eunseol took the paper, it read.

— … In order to prevent any disputes, all the bodies of those who apply for the Ten Demon Successors shall belong to this palace. Therefore, even if one loses their life… [rest omitted].

In short, once one applied for the Ten Demon Successors, it was a waiver of bodily rights, whether one died during training or was beaten to death by the instructors. 

It was a kind of agreement preventing any complaints.

‘No one will sign this.’

Mo Gwang sneered while watching Fu Eunseol.

Many wanderers had come to the Demon Palace, but they all turned away after reading the agreement. 

Only those who were insane or obsessed with martial arts would ever sign a waiver relinquishing their bodily rights.

Crunch.

However, without hesitation, Fu Eunseol bit his finger, drew blood, and stamped his seal.

‘A m-madman!’

Meeting Fu Eunseol’s cold, unwavering gaze, Mo Gwang felt a chill run down his spine.

“Can I enter now?”

“Y-yes. Go on in.”

Fu Eunseol entered the hall and took a deep breath.

‘This is the Demon Palace.’

He had imagined the place, where demonic masters gathered, to be like a den of demons, a hall of evil spirits. 

However, the interior was grand and majestic, and it exuded an air of solemnity. It was almost like a temple.

Murmur! Murmur!

After walking for a while, he heard the sounds of many people. 

Following the sound, he found a large training ground. There, a sea of people was lined up, and at the end of the training ground stood a high platform.

“……”

On the platform stood an elderly man with a muscular build. His hair flew like a lion’s mane, and behind him, a refined middle-aged man stood tall.

Jiiing.

At that moment, a low sound echoed from a bell installed on the training ground. 

As the noisy chatter that had filled the training ground began to subside, the muscular old man spoke calmly.

“I am Hyeok Ryeon-eung, the Chief Instructor.”

At that moment, there was a stir inside the training grounds.

Hyeok Ryeon-eung, the Golden Arm, Blood Eye.

He was the guardian lord of the Demon Palace, and to ensure the successful operation of the Ten Demon Successors, he had lowered his status to become the Chief Instructor. 

This alone showed how much the Demon Palace valued the Ten Demon Successors plan.

“This place is to select the greatest talents of the demonic path.”

Although Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s voice was not loud, it was imbued with deep inner power, allowing all the participants to hear him clearly.

“In other words, only those who pass all the tests set by the Palace can officially become candidates for the Ten Demon Successors.”

After scanning the participants who filled the training ground, he spoke again.

“From now on, the masters of the Medicine King Hall will inspect your bones and muscles.”

As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of healers appeared from behind the platform.

“And only those chosen by them can become the Ten Demon Successors.”

At those words, the training ground stirred once more. 

Especially, the sons and daughters of the renowned demonic families began to openly protest.

— “Inspecting our bones and muscles as a test? Does that even make sense?”

— “We’d rather have a martial arts competition!”

Despite the rising noise, the healers from the Medicine King Hall began selecting children with good bone structure. 

Before long, a skinny healer approached Fu Eunseol.

“…!”

The healer flinched upon seeing Fu Eunseol wearing a funeral robe.

“Are you a disciple of the Zhang Sang Sect?”

The healer furrowed his brow and then sharply examined Fu Eunseol’s body. He touched his shoulders, back, and legs.

“No good.”

The healer muttered quietly and moved past Fu Eunseol.

‘As expected.’

Fu Eunseol narrowed his eyes. All he had learned until now was how to clean corpses. It would be strange to be judged as having bones suitable for martial arts.

‘But this can’t be the end.’

Fu Eunseol was confident that this wasn’t the end of the admission process. 

If that were the case, there would have been no need to gather participants here with guest books and waivers.

“The first round is over!”

As those selected by the healers moved, a deathly silence fell over the training ground. 

Out of what appeared to be a thousand-square-foot training area, less than two hundred had been chosen.

“How is this fair?”

At that moment, a boy standing at the front of the training ground shouted, his voice full of frustration.

“If you’re choosing the Ten Demon Successors by merely inspecting bones and muscles, you should send the healers from the Medicine King Hall to each sect. Why hold a competition at all?”

The boy’s argument made sense.

“There are two reasons,” Hyeok Ryeon-eung said calmly, looking down at the boy.

“First of all, the most important thing in learning martial arts is one’s bone structure. This competition was held not just to find disciples from the great sects but to find talents who do not belong to any sect.”

“But…”

“The second reason is to select those who, even if their bone structure is not ideal, have the potential to master martial arts.”

At that moment, the expressions of the boys and girls on the training ground brightened. 

So there was a second chance after all?

“Now, we will begin the second test.”

Hyeok Ryeon-eung looked at the participants below the training ground and smiled broadly.

“From now on, you will fight. And survive.”