The golden swords covered Black Widow in holes. By the time he had helplessly fallen to the ground, he already looked like a beehive.

In less than eight minutes, Mu-Gun had defeated Black Widow.

Mu-Gun’s power was certainly the main reason behind his victory, especially since eradicating Demon Gods had given him even more divinity. However, the weakening of Black Widow’s demonic divinity, as a result of his Demon God Cave being forcibly opened, also played a part.

After eradicating Black Widow, Mu-Gun extracted and destroyed his Demonic Divinity Bead. Afterward, he checked on the spirits that were fighting the demonic beasts.

Due to their overwhelming power, the spirits seemed to be making quick work of their opponents. Just a few moments after Mu-Gun’s victory, they had also wiped out the demonic beasts. With all of their foes vanquished, Mu-Gun his spirits to the Spirit Realm.

Black Widow’s cave opening earlier than the rest was no coincidence. Mu-Gun deduced that it had been forcibly unlocked to stop him from destroying the other caves. If his assumption was correct, then the others would likely undergo the same procedure too.

Mu-Gun managed to minimize the damages today since they only had to deal with one cave. However, if multiple were unlocked at the same time, the Central Plains would be in grave danger.

Although the Central Plains Murim Alliance’s martial arts masters were preparing for the time the caves opened, it would still be difficult for them to stop the Demon Gods and demonic beasts by themselves. Their mobility was also a big problem. After all, they could not possibly move as quickly as Mu-Gun.

They could certainly respond to any caves that would open near them, but if even just one opened where it would take them a long time to reach, the demonic beasts would have already dealt enormous damages and casualties by the time they arrived.

Mu-Gun ultimately had to take care of everything alone. However, even he would require a bit of time to deal with the demonic beasts if they managed to scatter throughout the Central Plains. That would give the other caves enough time to open properly and cause irreversible destruction.

“I know what they are after now,” Mu-Gun murmured.

The group behind the caves was likely trying to use the other Demon Gods to make time for the Demon God of their choosing to descend in a complete state. Unfortunately, despite having unearthed their plan, he still could not come up with a countermeasure for it.

He considered slaying only the Demon Gods, ignoring the demonic beasts that would come out of the caves, but that would plunge the world into heavy losses.

“If the Dragons were here, I wouldn’t have had anything to worry about,” Mu-Gun said.

If the Dragons who fought alongside him in Avalon were around, he could leave the demonic beasts to them and focus on finding and sealing the caves.

“No, it does not have to be the Dragons. It would already be great if the other Gods’ incarnations could provide support.”

Mu-Gun hoped that the Light God and Fire God’s incarnations, who were said to have fought and saved the world in the past alongside the Thunder God’s incarnation, would join him in this battle. He wanted to ask the Thunder God about it, but the Thunder God had been silent despite the severity of the situation.

Feeling as if something was amiss, he wondered, “Is he turning a blind eye to all this because he has faith in me?”

If so, then he would love nothing more than to shout at him to send support.

“This is not the time for this.”

Mu-Gun smiled bitterly. He shouldn’t be wasting time resenting the Thunder God. Needing to take down as many caves as he could before more of them were unlocked, he immediately headed to the ones that the spirits had already found.

* * *

One after another, Mu-Gun slew the Demon Gods and destroyed their caves. Although it had only been a few days, the Demon Gods had still gotten noticeably stronger. However, Mu-Gun was growing much faster than they did. Defeating fifteen Demon Gods had rewarded him with an enormous amount of divinity.

Since his return to the Central Plains, he had already more than doubled his divinity. As a result, he was able to kill the increasingly powerful Demon Gods without much difficulty.Refusing to rest, Mu-Gun immediately set out to find more Demon God Caves. Within the next five days, he destroyed six caves, and the spirits discovered seven more. After instructing the spirits to locate the last four missing caves, he immediately made his way to his next target.

Amid his hunt, he received urgent reports from the spirits about six caves being unlocked at the same time. According to them, the caves were located at Xianxia Ridge of Zhejiang Province, Mount Jiuhua of Fujian Province, Mount Yuhua and Mount Baiyun of Jiangxi Province, Mount Dabie of Henan Province, and Mount Nankun of Guangdong Province.

Mu-Gun was unaware of it, but the Eternal Heavenly Demon Sect’s original plan was to open ten Demon God Caves at the same time. However, he managed to destroy four of those caves before they could finish their preparations.

Nevertheless, it would still be difficult for him to stop so many demonic beast invasions alone. Although he was powerful enough to eventually wipe out the six Demon Gods and their minions, the Central Plains would have already suffered enormous damage by the time he was done.

At that moment, Mu-Gun’s eyes gleamed. “Wait. Can’t I just create a Spirit King?”

He could certainly turn his highest-ranked spirits into a Spirit King if he granted the divinity of the four Spirit Kings, which he had absorbed, to them. However, that would decrease his divinity by a third of its current amount.

Using the power of the Demon Gods that he had already defeated as basis, Mu-Gun carefully considered if that amount of divinity would be enough to defeat the remaining Demon Gods. Eventually, he concluded that he would still have the upper hand against them.

This plan would naturally put him in danger if he were to fight the Demon Gods at their full power. However, if he could kill even more of their kind before that time came, he would be able to regain the amount of divinity that he would lose. Moreover, if push came to shove, he could simply merge with the Spirit Kings again, thereby reclaiming his divinity.

Finding no other reason to hesitate, Mu-Gun summoned his four highest-ranked spirits, each possessing different elements and the strongest energy among their kind. He then imbued them with the divinity that he had absorbed from the Spirit Kings.

Deeply impressed by Mu-Gun’s decision, the spirits gladly accepted his offer, allowing them to be reborn as new Spirit Kings.

Afterward, Mu-Gun handed over the control of the spirits to the new Spirit Kings and sent them to stop the Demon Gods and demonic beasts that had come out of the caves. The Fire Spirit King headed to the cave in Mount Jiuhua, the Ice Spirit King to the cave in Mount Yuhua, and the Earth Spirit King to the cave in Mount Baiyun.

The Wind Spirit King was assigned to the cave in Xianxia Ridge. However, instead of heading straight to his target, he accompanied Mu-Gun to Shaoxing first.

While creating the Spirit Kings, Mu-Gun had come up with a way to use the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters. Like his two wives, Namgung Hyun-Ah and Dan Seol-Young, the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters would be able to quickly cross far distances by riding on the wind spirits. Hence, he paired the wind spirits with their martial artists and instructed them to work together.

Considering Mu-Gun had already helped the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters reach the Absolute Realm and its six venerable elders the Supreme Realm, it would be foolish to just waste the potential of the forces he had worked so hard to create. With the wind spirits’ help, the martial artists he had trained would be free from their lack of mobility, allowing him to use them as much as he needed.

Upon arriving in Shaoxing, Mu-Gun immediately met up with Cheon-Sang and told him that caves connected to the Hell Realm had been unlocked. He then proposed to mobilize the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters against the Demon Gods and demonic beasts invading the Central Plains.

“I know we have to stop them, but the closest cave to us is the one at Xianxia Ridge, which is more than fifteen days away. I’m worried about the amount of damage the Demon Gods and the demonic beasts would be able to do in that period.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I can get our people to Xianxia Ridge within half a day.”

“Really?”

“Do you remember the spirits I told you last time?”

“Of course I do.”

“Among them are wind spirits. With their help, we will be able to move as fast as the wind.”

“Is that even possible?” Cheon-Sang wondered.

“Yes. I used them on my trip with my wives,” Mu-Gun replied.

“That would allow us to stop the demonic beasts before they could cause any serious damage. Still, I doubt we are strong enough to stop the Demon Gods.”“You don’t have to worry about that either. The Wind Spirit King will handle them.”

“Who?”

“As its name suggests, the Wind Spirit King is one of the spirits’ kings. It possesses enough divinity to take down a Demon God.”

Not even Spirit Kings could hold their ground against the Demon Gods if they fought in the Hell Realm. However, since the caves in question had been forced to open, the Demon Gods that would come out of them would be significantly less powerful than normal. In such a state, the Spirit Kings would be able to deal with them.

Mu-Gun had already verified that information himself at the cave located at Mount Tianzi.

“There should be no problem, then. I will gather the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters immediately and have them head to Xianxia Ridge.”

“Thank you,” Mu-Gun replied.

“Why thank me? Protecting the Central Plains isn’t your responsibility alone. We all share that duty. Anyway, who will stop the Demon Gods and demonic beasts that are pouring out from the other caves?”

“I have sent the other three Spirit Kings and spirits to the caves at Fujian Province and Jiangxi Province. They should be more than powerful enough to stop the Demon Gods and demonic beasts.”

“What about the remaining two caves? Are you planning to close them yourself?”

“No. I will be focusing on destroying the caves that have yet to be unlocked. The other two open caves will also be handled by the Spirit Kings. Unfortunately, that means the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters will have to work harder.”

“We will simply have to finish our battle and respond to the other areas as fast as we can.”

“Yes. Those two regions will likely suffer far more significant losses, but I still believe this is our best course of action right now,” Mu-Gun replied. “Stopping the other caves from opening up is far more crucial than closing the ones that already did.”

“I understand. We will spare no effort in stopping the Demon God and the demonic beasts, so don’t bother yourself with this. Focus on what you have to do,” Cheon-Sang said.

“Thank you. I will go now. We do not have much time.”

“Go. Be careful.”

“Will do. Please take care of yourself too, Father.”

After his meeting with Cheon-Sang, Mu-Gun immediately left Shaoxing and headed to one of the caves that the spirits had discovered. At the same time, Cheon-Sang immediately gathered the Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters. They then rode the wind spirits to Xianxia Ridge, allowing them to cut down the time they spent traveling.

The martial artists couldn’t help but find the existence of spirits both surprising and mysterious. Hence, as they became one with the spirits and took to the skies, they began to feel as if they had turned into celestial beings.

However, the excitement didn’t last long. They weren’t going on a field trip. They were on the way to carry out the crucial task of stopping the Demon Gods and demonic beasts that were trying to destroy the world.

Finally calming down, they began to prepare themselves for the incoming battle. Two hours later, they finally reached Mount Chang, which was located above Xianxia Ridge, and discovered that the Demon God and his demonic beasts had split into four groups and set out in different directions, destroying everything in their path.

The Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters began their operation by chasing after one of the groups. However, they were already too late.

By the time they arrived, Mount Chang had already been completely devastated by Demon God Serpent’s demonic beasts, which were half-snake, half-giant creatures. Their main weapons were their Demonic Fangs, which melted everything they touched, and their Demonic Snake Eyes, which prevented anyone in their sight from moving.

The martial arts masters and the wind spirits would have had trouble against them at their full potential. However, the Demon God Cave’s forced opening had reduced their power by nearly half. Although they were still a threat to most martial artists in their current state, the martial arts masters and the wind spirits before them were in the Absolute Realm or even higher. Moreover, Serpent’s demonic beasts had split into groups, giving the Loyal Heart Alliance the numerical advantage as well.

To top it all off, they also had the Wind Spirit King—an unstoppable being that only Serpent could put up a fight against—leading their charge. Faced with its overwhelming powers, the demonic beasts fell in droves. The martial arts masters and the wind spirits then capitalized on the momentum that it had given them, driving the demonic beasts into a corner.

The Baek Sword Sect’s six venerable elders and the highest-ranked spirits stood out the most in the battle. Due to their restricted abilities, Serpent’s demonic beasts were helplessly wiped out.

However, they weren’t the only demonic beasts around. There were still three groups left.

The Loyal Heart Alliance’s martial arts masters and the wind spirits took a short break to recover their strength. Afterward, they chased after the remaining demonic beasts.