Chapter 49

Chapter 49:

"Okay, 1, 2, 3, and…."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Cheon Mujin's anguished scream echoed with such intensity that it reverberated through the air. The earth quivered beneath the weight of his despair, and the clouds scattered, yielding to the sheer force of his lament. His cry seemed to unleash a cataclysm, akin to the detonation of a nuclear bomb, resonating with devastating power.

The remaining cultists, having just concluded their battles, were abruptly seized by the profound agony embedded in Cheon Mujin's voice. Dread tightened its grip as they felt the reverberations of his suffering.

"That's… the first elder's voice!"

"The lord!"

"Something must've happened!!" Panic propelled the cultists toward the origin of the heart-wrenching sound. Anxiety and foreboding surged within them. If the first elder wailed in such torment, calamity must surely have befallen them.

"Please! Please! My lord, please be safe!" The Great Guardian's murmurs and pleas filled the air, laden with deep concern.

"Faster!!" He urged them to hasten. Upon reaching the scene, they were met with a chilling sight—a lifeless body, a grotesque wound oozing crimson on the verdant field.

Dread and despair clutched their hearts. The blood-stained black robe was unmistakable—the Lord's attire. They sprinted toward the corpse, their eyes beholding the pallid face of their fallen leader, Cheon Yujong.

"No…. This can't be happening…" Right Guardian Lee uttered in disbelief, struggling to reconcile with the harsh reality.

Great Guardian Marakyum, his hands and feet trembling, approached the cold body, kneeling beside it. As he confirmed the identity, a slow, suffocating despair constricted his heart like a serpent tightening its coils.

"No! Nooo!! NOOOOO!!" A cry of unadulterated despair erupted from him.

Cheon Mujin, unable to contain his anger, walked towards the corpse of the unarmed master, battering it with his fist pure of anger. Each of his punches caved the latter's body but he didn't stop even when the unarmed master's corpse was battered.

The elders, too, succumbed to the encroaching hopelessness induced by this nightmarish event. They all knelt, heads bowed, and commenced a macabre ritual of self-flagellation.

"Lord! Please forgive us!"

"Lord! Please forgive us!"

"Lord! Please forgive us!"

"Lord! Please forgive us!"

"Lord! Please forgive us!"

Their foreheads met the unforgiving ground in a relentless rhythm, crimson streams marking their plea for forgiveness. With the lord's demise, the ominous question loomed—what fate now awaited the Cult? The death of their leader cast a shadow over the uncertain destiny of the once-unified congregation.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows over the scene of mourning, an eerie silence enveloped the cultists. The air seemed heavy with the weight of an unknown future, and the once resolute congregation now stood fragmented, grappling with the harsh reality of their Lord's demise.

****

They lost Zhejiang, but what's more was they lost their pillar. On the way back to the Cult, they held Cheon Yujong's corpse in a parade-like manner. But the parade was not that of festivity but of grief and shame. Their inability to protect their lord cost them this damnation, so they have no choice but to reveal it to the world rather than conceal it.

On the entrance of the Cult, the cultists who were there to meet and celebrate the Lord's return were struck with grief. Some cried, some kneeled, some despaired, no one had a positive emotion pertaining to the lord's death.

"I'm too weak. I need to enclose myself in isolation training and get stronger for our Lord's revenge." That was the First Elder's word after the Lord's funeral, after that he closed himself into isolation training.

The Cult took a drastic change. After Cheon Yujong's death, Cheon Yeowun took the throne.

After they returned Cheon Yeowun managed to get the support of three council elders, which qualified him for the Vice-Lord position.

There are two ways to become a Vice-Lord, first is to be personally appointed by the Lord and second is to get the support of three council elders and get an approval from the Lord.

Since Cheon Yujong died there was no one to appoint the Vice-Lord selection but the elders. And since Cheon Mujin disappeared after the funeral there was no one to run the Cult except Cheon Yeowun.

They didn't wait to get Cheon Mujin's opinion since Cheon Mujin failed to protect the Lord even though he was by his side. On this expedition's loss they blamed Cheon Mujin the most, thus they didn't wait for his opinion on this matter.

Cheon Yeowun passed the sixth test too like Cheon Mujin and he was also powerful. So with that Cheon Yeowun became the Lord of the Cult leaving Cheon Mujin behind to grieve his failure.

Not many know this but Cheon Yeowun was actually devastated about his father's demise. After Cheon Mujin revealed the truth about his father secretly protecting him from the Six Clan he grew some love and connection for him, and when they came back the Great Guardian confirmed it that Cheon Yujong was indeed working behind the scene to help him, meaning the latter did love Cheon Yeowun he just can't show it in front of the others since the Six Clan would target him more.

After hearing his father's death Cheon Yeowun was devastated, years and years of feeling abandoned and discarded. He finally learned the truth that somebody loves him dearly but he learned it only after that person died so it's pointless.

Pain and regret griefed his heart as he bitterly took the throne.

****

One Month Later.

"My Lord, the envoys of the Wulin Alliance have arrived." Great Guardian Marakyum said to Cheon Yeowun respectfully. Cheon Yeowun nodded back at him and stood up from his seat.

Then a servant came in and prepared a bath for him. Cheon Yeowun took a short but relaxing bath before drying himself with force qi then donning his black robe.

"Take me to them." Cheon Yeowun said to Great Guardian Marakyum. The latter nodded respectfully before escorting him to the main hall where the envoys of the Wulin Alliance awaited.

In the main hall of the main palace of the Sky Demon Cult, a group of very prestigious envoys gathered around waiting for the Lord of the Demon Cult to receive them.

A minute later a silhouette emerged revealing Cheon Yeowun's regal appearance. The envoys were shocked, they did hear that the previous lord died and was replaced by one of his son but they didn't expect him to be "that" young.

From his skin and posture alone he looks no day older than twenty.

'I didn't think the new lord would be this young,' they all thought simultaneously but no one dared to voice out their opinion since they came here to ask for an alliance. Not the other way around. So it's best to keep good behavior since they are also at their house and they are the guests.