Trait Hoarder-Chapter 271

Heavenly Demon Cult – Part 2

Sword Star.

What an utterly pompous name.

The Great Elder genuinely thought so.

[We’ve found the Heavenly Demon’s Vessel!]

It had all started when the Blood King came bursting in, shouting those words.

[Senior Brother! Where’s Senior Brother? I must see him right now!]

[Invincible Blood King, please, calm yourself…]

[Great Elder! Do I look calm to you? Huh? Do I look calm? I said it’s the Heavenly Demon’s Vessel!]

The Great Elder wasn’t impressed by what he heard.

What? The Black Tiger Swordmaster?

Some guy from a tiny, backwater country way out East, a mere Level 6 Superhuman?

And he was the Heavenly Demon’s Vessel?

Ridiculous.

If a Heavenly Demon’s Vessel were to appear, of course it would’ve been born within the Cult. Why would it show up in some unheard-of nation?

Just like the current Heavenly Demon had been born within the Cult.

Besides, how long had it even been since the Second Heavenly Demon rose to power, and now a third Vessel appears?

It took an eternity for the Second to emerge after the First vanished.

The Blood King had obviously been duped.

That’s what the Great Elder believed.

[I’m telling you, it’s real!]

[Junior Brother, stop spouting nonsense. Are you really going to disturb Master’s meditation over this?]

[Can’t you feel that aura? It’s clear Master is at a critical turning point.]

[That turning point’s been going on for 22—no, 23 years! Aren’t you and Senior Sister even a little curious about Master’s condition?]

[Have you forgotten Master’s command to not let anyone disturb him?]

[It’s the Heavenly Demon’s Vessel! Our Cult’s ultimate wish has come true again—are you just going to let it go?]

That man’s appearance had sparked a fight between the three disciples.

They’d never gotten along to begin with, and this just lit the fuse.

Tianshan shook with unrest. Landslides and floods ravaged the nearby areas, leaving countless displaced.

“Hmph.”

Was that why?

The Great Elder sneered while watching the CCTV feed.

Beside him, the commander of one of the combat units bent in a deep bow.

“He must have a death wish. To challenge the Heavenly Demon’s Three Gates without knowing his place.”

“He’ll probably get through the First Gate. He is a Transcendent, after all.”

“What did the Blood King even see in him to call him the Heavenly Demon’s Vessel? I may be a simple soldier, but he looks like a total novice compared to you, Great Elder.”

“Haha. At least your eyes work properly.”

This was the real reason.

The Great Elder had seen Warrior Kim, the Black Tiger of the East, with his own eyes.

And he didn’t look all that impressive.

Sure, he rode around on a tamed Ancient Dragon, and the power from their bond was interesting… but that was it.

Even if his body crackled with lightning and he moved fast, the Great Elder was confident he could overwhelm him with pure martial skill.

“I’ll bet anything—he won’t even come close to matching your record. He’ll take, what, three times longer?”

“Haha. Not three times. Maybe… two and a half.”

“I can already picture him crying and begging to give up at the Second Gate.”

“And that’s when he’ll feel the true greatness of our Cult. Hmph. Leaking footage of that to the press would be deliciously entertaining.”

Thunk!

The door made of Eternal Cold Iron slammed shut.

The First Gate was now completely sealed off from the outside world.

The only connections left were the CCTV feed and a lever inside that could be pulled to forfeit.

Pulling that lever meant surrender.

Shhhh. Thud thud thud!

Gray smoke poured from the ceiling.

The walls opened, and dolls made of Eternal Cold Iron stepped forward.

Magic and sorcery circles activated simultaneously.

Illusions layered themselves over the dolls, ghostly shadows rising around them.

The commander standing nearby shook his head.

“That place… it was brutal. I really thought I’d die in there.”

“You did well. You endured and made it through. That’s no easy feat, especially at Level 7.”

“I still brag about it to this day. But I could never compare to you, Great Elder. Lord Asura Blade Demon.”

“Hahaha.”

The Great Elder glanced at one corner of the CCTV feed.

The entrance to the First Gate.

A large plaque hung proudly above it.

[Asura Hall]

At the First Gate, the challenger had to face dolls of Eternal Cold Iron mixed with illusion magic.

Each one wielded top-tier martial arts.

Hidden within this trial was a single martial art: Asura Invincible Sword.

It was the Great Elder’s signature ultimate technique.

In the last ten cycles of the heavenly stems—six hundred years—the only person to ever master Asura Hall’s Asura Invincible Sword was the Great Elder himself.

That’s why he so proudly called himself the Asura Blade Demon.

Whoosh!

The warrior in the CCTV swung his sword.

The commander clapped.

“Oh ho! Looks like he’s starting!”

“Hmph. Let’s see how far—wait, what?”

Something impossible happened.

A sword swing that looked casual.

But the result was anything but.

It slithered like a viper and tore like a tiger. The dolls collapsed one after another.

The pale shadows?

The illusions created by magic and sorcery?

Useless.

A single swing made them vanish completely, with no chance of reforming.

Normally, unless you struck their bean-sized weak point, both doll and illusion would get back up again and again.

“…My god!”

The commander let out a scream of disbelief.

“He’s already taken out half the dolls—half the illusions too!”

“How long!? How long has it been!?”

“Not even a minute! It’s been 15 seconds since he started!”

“That’s impossible!”

Actually, it wasn’t.

What the Great Elder and commander didn’t know—

Was that Warrior Kim had swapped out his traits just before entering.

[Martial Swordsmanship of Mars][Master of the Blade][Combat Veteran]

[Bright Eyes][Killing Blow][Grand Assault]

Warrior Kim was utterly unstoppable.

He even acquired a new trait mid-fight:

Acquired the trait: [Asura Invincible Sword]

But after a single swing with it, he swapped it out.

To the Great Elder, Asura Invincible Sword was a sacred legacy.

But compared to Mars Swordsmanship, it was just a pale imitation.

There was no chance Warrior Kim would ever use it in actual combat.

“Hah… Ha… Hahahaha…”

The Great Elder shot to his feet—then collapsed back down, powerless.

Bright green text flashed on one side of the screen.

[Clear!]

And right next to it, a few digits lit up.

[00:00:33]

Thirty-three seconds!

Was this real?

Could this possibly be real?

Even the Great Elder himself took seven, maybe eight minutes to clear that stage.

And that was considered fast.

According to the First Heavenly Demon, who built Asura Hall, clearing it within one da-gyeong (approximately fifteen minutes) was the mark of a true master of the Asura Sword.

But thirty-three seconds?

Not even five minutes. Not even one.

Just thirty-three seconds?

“Uhhuhuhuh…”

All he could do was let out a hollow laugh.

The commander glanced at him nervously and asked.

“We’ve received a request to open the Second Gate. Should we proceed?”

“He wants to attempt it immediately?”

“Yes, sir. That’s what he said.”

“Heh… Fine. Open it. Let’s see how far he gets.”

The door slid open.

Warrior Kim could be seen walking toward the Second Gate.

[Thousand Calamities Hall]

This one would be difficult.

The Great Elder thought to himself.

Only those with a mind, body, and mana resistance nearing indestructibility could pass through Thousand Calamities Hall.

Even the Great Elder himself had been thrown out several times.

No matter how much inner energy one poured out, enduring all six types of mana-based onslaught—flame, frost, lightning, earth, holy, and dark—was near impossible.

Only three Superhumans had ever succeeded.

The Divine Commander, the Demon Lord, and the Blood King.

Even then, only the Divine Commander passed the second half. The Demon Lord and the Blood King gave up in the first half.

That’s why the Divine Commander had become the Head Disciple.

Fine.

If he clears Thousand Calamities Hall, I’ll recognize him.

Not like he could possibly get through the Third Gate anyway.

Fwooooosh!

Flames poured down.

It was molten fire hot enough to melt steel.

Warrior Kim walked straight into it without even blinking.

“Wh… what the…”

The commander pointed, fingers trembling like broken gears.

“He’s not using any defensive aura!”

“What? Then how is he withstanding that magical flame?”

“I’m telling you, he isn’t using it!”

“Huh?”

The Great Elder focused his mind.

He tossed away all thoughts of underestimation and opened his spiritual eye.

In an instant, the space and walls disappeared.

Only Warrior Kim’s presence flared vividly before him.

He felt it.

Mana circuits shifting, breaking apart and reconstructing freely.

When the fire hit, a circuit adapted to flames emerged.

When frost pierced in, a frost-specialized circuit formed.

The same for lightning, earth, holy, and dark.

Even in the second half of the trial, it was the same.

He was seamlessly switching in and out mana circuits, responding to each attribute with perfect counter-types.

It was a blow to the head—shocking and familiar.

He’d seen this before, countless times, over decades.

He couldn’t help but shout with everything he had.

“Heavenly Demon’s Vessel!” 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

‘Too damn easy.’

That’s what I thought as I walked through the Thousand Calamities Hall.

[Magic Resistance][Magic Resistance][Dark Resistance]

[Vajra Body][Fortress][Discipline]

Every one of them granted resistance to magic.

And there was more.

The adaptation ability of Star Spawn.

The protective trait of the World Tree’s Heart.

Even the Black Tiger’s training suit—my chu-rining—had magic resistance woven into it.

Thanks to all that, attacks that would have normal Level 8 Superhumans screaming in agony felt more like elemental spa therapy to me.

Bwooooom!

The entire hall shook.

The ceiling cracked open, releasing torrents of corrupted mana.

The second half of Thousand Calamities Hall.

But to me, it was just boring.

[Indomitable][Indomitable][Contamination Resistance]

[Vajra Body][Resolve][Endurance]

From here on out, it was all status-effect based, so I swapped accordingly.

The sticky, corrosive mana tried to invade my cells.

It clawed and twisted, attempting to mutate my genes.

But all I did was yawn wide.

The corrupted mana morphed into poisonous agents, curses and plagues were thrown at me in waves—it didn’t matter.

[Congratulations! You have cleared Thousand Calamities Hall!]

[New record for fastest completion!]

[Would you like to challenge Supreme Hall immediately?]

[You may also choose to rest.]

“I’ll challenge it now.”

Rumble…

The door opened.

And above it, I saw the plaque.

[Supreme Hall]

Interesting.

First was Asura Hall. Then Thousand Calamities Hall.

Now it’s Supreme Hall?

Heaven, Calamity, Supremacy.

Heavenly Calamity Supreme.

Maybe the First Heavenly Demon knew of the Heavenly-Calamity-Supreme doctrine.

Makes sense. Compared to the difficulty of the Second Gate, the First was just a warm-up.

The Second could only be passed by either omnipotents or pure magic tanks.

Maybe someone with a Level 8 SSR-grade Warrior character could manage it, but it’d be tough.

Step. Step.

I walked inside.

Supreme Hall wasn’t very big.

Smaller than both Asura and Thousand Calamities Hall, in fact.

And there was only one thing in it.

Standing in the center: a single Eternal Cold Iron doll.

Creak. Creak creak.

The doll slowly raised its head.

Then it lifted a corroded iron sword and aimed it at me.

“Hoo…”

I took a breath and drew the Black Tiger Sword.

The final gate of the Heavenly Demon’s Three Trials—Supreme Hall.

Clearing it was simple.

You had to perfectly mimic the Heavenly Demon Arts performed by the Eternal Cold Iron doll.

That was the problem.

In the game, only the Heavenly Demon could clear this stage.

The Divine Commander?

Even with him at Level 9 and plastered with support traits, it was barely possible.

No other character could clear it.

Anyone else stuck here would waste time until the Mental Breakdown debuff kicked in.

‘There’s a chance.’

I calmed myself.

My only hope lay in the [World] trait.

In theory, if I could copy and use the Heavenly Demon Arts through [World] trait, I could clear it.

I wouldn’t be able to acquire the Heavenly Demon Arts themselves, of course.

Creak… creak creak.

The doll entered a preparatory stance.

Then it struck.

With overwhelming force, a black sword aura crashed down like a thunderbolt.

I barely dodged in time.

If that had hit me square, it would’ve been bad—even for me.

Creeeeak…

“Another one?”

Its movements were stiff.

Strangely slow and big—easy to avoid.

Of course, that’s only if you’re already Level 8.

The Great Elder would’ve died if he’d taken the Heavenly Demon Arts head-on—the techniques flew at the speed of light. Anyone under Level 7 wouldn’t even have had the chance to dodge.

No. No.

Dodging isn’t the point here.

The real challenge is replicating the Heavenly Demon Arts.

Just like the current Heavenly Demon spent three years watching the doll and practically reinventing the Heavenly Demon Arts, you couldn’t clear Supreme Hall unless you could imitate them.

[World][Bright Eyes][Sixth Sense]

[Magic Brain][Rapture][Training]

I focused on the doll.

What mattered wasn’t its movements.

It was the internal mana circuit.

I had to watch the flow of mana. Its pulsations.

The radiant, explosive essence of the Heavenly Demon’s energy.

The fleeting flickers of that overwhelming power.

‘The World trait needs to evolve more.’

The World Trait had taken root in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, sprouting its first buds.

But it wasn’t enough.

To copy an external trait, I had to make physical contact.

With the Heavenly Demon Arts? With the Heavenly Demon’s Qi?

Touch it directly?

What, did I want to lose my hand?

Sure, I could regenerate it using my immortality traits, but that was basically suicide.

While focusing on the doll, I turned inward.

Bright Eyes and Sixth Sense guided me through the external world.

Magic Brain and Rapture connected me to the internal one.

Training supported me.

This should work.

As long as I followed through—

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

“Gah!”

It wasn’t easy.

I narrowly avoided getting cut multiple times by the Heavenly Demon’s Qi.

Actually, I got stabbed once in the waist and once in the thigh.

If I hadn’t immediately used the Immortality of the Golden Fleece and activated an Ambrosia Magic Chip, I would’ve taken fatal damage.

I could’ve used a resurrection item or an elixir, but that would’ve broken my focus.

‘Stay focused.’

Swish! Swaaash!

Simple sword strikes.

But each one was lethal.

I kept watching the doll.

Stared into its eyes, set with enchanted jewels.

How much time had passed?

Those repetitive movements started to look different.

The delicate, intricate control of mana beneath them came into view.

Mana lights flashed like spider webs—or like semiconductor circuits. Like glowing electrical grids.

I was starting to get it.

Before I even realized, my hand moved on its own.

Mimicking the doll.

I raised my sword just like it.

And guided by the World Trait, which had begun to transform, I brought it down.

Fwoooosh!

A blinding flash erupted.

A black light, darker than any abyss.

It burst from both the Eternal Cold Iron sword and the Black Tiger Sword, streaking toward one another.

And in midair, they clashed.

Ziiing…

There was no explosion.

Instead, space itself distorted.

The world wrinkled and crumpled like crushed paper.

If anything had been there—it would’ve been obliterated.

“Incredible.”

I lowered my sword and checked the World Trait embedded in my chest.

It had sprouted leaves.

The roots had thickened. The bud had grown tall and now bloomed into a healthy, twin-leaf sprout.

That leaf had copied and manifested the Heavenly Demon Arts.

‘Shame.’

I didn’t manage to implant it.

When I tried to embed it into my mana circuit, it fizzled out.

Just like in Gwangju, it was locked behind a Level 9 restriction.

Well, I could always come back once I hit Level 9.

“Haap!”

Creeeak!

Now I moved in sync with the Eternal Cold Iron doll.

I replicated the Heavenly Demon’s Shattering Sword, the Heavenly Demon’s Iron Wall, the Heavenly Demon’s Inner Arts, and the Heavenly Demon’s Dominion Step.

It was easy.

The Heavenly Demon Arts followed my will like an obedient puppy.

It was frustrating I couldn’t register it as my own trait.

With enough time, I could probably reinvent the Heavenly Demon Arts the same way the Heavenly Demon did…

But I didn’t have that time.

Seven hundred twenty hours—roughly one month.

Within that time, I had to either bring the Divine Commander here or steal the Heavenly Demon’s relic and break through the black dome.

Thunk!

The Black Tiger Sword pierced through the Eternal Cold Iron doll.

[Clear!]

A cheerful green hologram floated up.

[Second successful clear in Cult history!]

[Fastest clear of all time!]

[A new Heavenly Demon has risen!]

[May the Third Heavenly Demon rule in eternal supremacy!]

…Huh?

What the hell?

Rumble!

The door opened.

Sunlight poured into the dim stone chamber.

The cultists were lined up.

The ones who’d tried to stop me at the front gate—the ones riding wyverns.

And the Great Elder, his white hair billowing.

They all dropped into full prostration before me and shouted.

“Heavenly Demon Reigns! Ten Thousand Demons Submit!”