After a few days, Jiwon and General Shin traveled and settled in a ruined village near Mount Hua.
"My lord, do you have any plans for the future?" General Shin asked.
"I want to rest and gather my strength first. Please don't disturb me, General." Jiwon was still thinking about how to make it look like he had received power from the first Heavenly Demon.
"Understood. I'll wait for your decision." General Shin left the half-ruined house.
"I still don't understand how to use this constellation's power, and I can't feel anything." Jiwon thought hard about how to use the power.
Suddenly, he remembered the constellation's words that he could gather qi without a dantian or qi core.
Jiwon began to focus, feeling the qi around him, then absorbing it. A moment later, he felt an incredible sensation. His entire body was filled with qi; his body had become a vessel for it, unlike a dantian where it could only be gathered within. And Jiwon didn't need meridians—paths to channel qi from the dantian to specific body parts to strengthen them. Because qi was already spread throughout his entire body, it would be incredibly easy for him to master various skills without fear of running out of qi.
But Jiwon was wrong. Releasing a large amount of qi wasn't easy, and when he tried…
BOOOM!
It was excessive for a light punch, as it was enough to destroy the entire village and split a mountain. Instantly, Jiwon lost consciousness and fainted. General Shin, panicked and shocked, rushed to him.
When Jiwon woke up, he found himself in a warm cave, with a fire burning in front of him. General Shin was observing something at the cave's mouth, his facial expression incredibly serious.
"General Shin, what's wrong?" Jiwon asked, a little worried.
But General Shin didn't answer. When Jiwon saw what he was looking at, he was completely shocked. The village where the Mount Hua sect was located had been completely annihilated. Not a single trace remained, and the ground had become a massive hole with no visible end.
"Is this the work of the 20th Heavenly Demon?" Jiwon asked.
"No. He only burned this village down. This could be the doing of the invading Demon King Dexed's forces."
Suddenly, dozens of poisonous fire arrows rained down on Jiwon and General Shin from behind the hill where their cave was located.
WHOOSH!
Demonic Breath Technique—a technique of exhaling a breath that can send hundreds of soldiers flying and collapse buildings—blew the arrows away from them. After performing the technique, General Shin ran toward where the arrows came from.
Two swordsmen leaped toward General Shin and slashed their swords with full speed and force.
SWISH! SWISH!
General Shin dodged both of them and punched one of the swordsmen, who quickly protected his body with his sword.
BOOM! CLANG!
The sword vibrated violently, sending the swordsman flying back seven meters from where he had parried the punch. Without a moment's pause, General Shin punched the other swordsman with qi gathered in his hand.
BOOM! CRACK!
The punch shattered the sword that blocked it and left a massive hole in the swordsman's stomach. Without waiting, General Shin went for the remaining swordsman, but it turned out there were not just two of them; eight of their comrades arrived. The nine swordsmen attacked General Shin simultaneously and in a coordinated fashion, overwhelming him.
BOOM!
General Shin managed to knock down one more swordsman.
WHOOSH!
A sword slash almost decapitated General Shin, but he stopped it with his palm.
HISS!
General Shin controlled his breathing and unleashed a punch.
BOOM!
His punch knocked down two swordsmen at once.
SLASH!
General Shin's back was wounded by a slash from one of the swordsmen.
"AARGH!" General Shin felt annoyed. "YOU DAMN ANTS!" he yelled.
But before General Shin could attack again, Jiwon joined the fray.
TAP! TAP! TAP!
Jiwon quickly tapped all the remaining swordsmen on the back of their necks, paralyzing them instantly without them being able to fight back.
"Ah, it's been a while since I've fought. That was quite tiring." Jiwon's breath was ragged.
"That was amazing, my lord." General Shin was quite surprised by Jiwon's ability.
"I have decided what I will do next. From now on, I will become an enemy of both continents, and I will unite them. But for those who do not submit to me, I will annihilate them." Jiwon was determined to change his life and not follow his destiny to become a Heavenly Demon.
"Your goal is very ambitious, my lord. I will follow you until you succeed in making it a reality." General Shin looked excited.
Huh? Jiwon was a little confused and found it strange that General Shin seemed so compliant. Would General Shin really abandon the Demonic Sect, which had now become an empire? Especially since the Demonic Cult had raised him since he was a child.
"Are you sure?" Jiwon felt something was off.
"Yes, I am determined to follow you," General Shin stated firmly.
"We will start by uniting the forces from the remnants of the sects and clans."
Jiwon approached one of the swordsmen who was still helpless, grabbed his head, and lifted it.
"This is your last chance. If you want to see your people prosper again, your only choice is to join my army," Jiwon said with full confidence.
"Will you fulfill your promise?" the swordsman doubted Jiwon.
"You have no right to ask that. If you don't accept my offer, I will destroy all of the Mount Hua sect's hiding places." Jiwon was not playing around.
"A-alright, we will submit to your command." Simultaneously, the other swordsmen nodded as well.
"General Shin, you go on ahead to the Mount Hua sect's hiding place and find out about the demon king's army's invasion."
"What about you, my lord?"
"I want to do something on this mountain."
After General Shin healed the swordsmen's paralysis, they left for the Mount Hua sect's hiding place, and Jiwon stayed on Mount Hua alone.
After trying to gather so much qi, Jiwon realized that his weakness was his body, which was not yet strong enough to contain the flow of qi that gathered within it. Jiwon began to train his body in an extreme manner. There was nothing left to worry about; he only needed to become stronger. For months, Jiwon trained his body by lifting huge rocks on Mount Hua, focusing not only on physical training but also on filling his entire being with qi and condensing it throughout his body.
But the constellation's power truly puzzled Jiwon. How was it possible that he could gather qi without a dantian? What kind of power was this "Zero Alpha" constellation's power, really?