Reincarnation Sword God

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As I stepped into Dark Heaven Village, I suddenly felt ghosts seeping out from the dilapidated building here and there. This phenomenon hadn’t been present when Miho ruled the Dongning Prefecture, and as I glanced at them, Cheon Woo-jin spoke up.

“The evil spirits are starting to awaken in response to us. So, the weaker lingering spirits are panicking and fleeing.”

“Where do you think Myo Cheong is?”

“I’m not sure. She’s thoroughly concealing her energy, so without something like the Jo Yeo-kyung, it’s hard to pinpoint her location.”

“Jo Yeo-kyung?”

“It’s a treasure that can reveal the nature of a demon and weaken it, allowing one to find out where it is, no matter where.”

That sounds pretty useful. Growing curious about the Jo Yeo-kyung, I asked, “Where can I get it?”

“Well, I’m not sure. It’s passed down through stories, but its exact location is unknown.”

“Hmm…”

“You seem to have a treasure trove of legendary treasures and artifacts, but usually, treasures are items that most people only manage to find one of, if they search tirelessly until death,” Cheon Woo-jin said.

I stared at the Land and Earth Diagram hanging from his waist.

“You have a treasure as well.”

Cheon Woo-jin looked a bit surprised that I recognized the Land and Earth Diagram.

“This was given to me by my master.”

“Master Mangnyang gave it to you?”

“It was a reward for accomplishing something on behalf of one person. Don’t ask more about it.”

He replied curtly and walked ahead. Stopping at the entrance on the first floor, he extended his arms and shouted loudly.

“Emergency Evocation Spell!”

Crackling

In the next moment, a massive thunderstorm and flames fell from the sky, creating pillars of fire on the ground. The spell was powerful enough to incinerate the abandoned buildings of Dongning Prefecture in an instant, and I instinctively took a step back.

‘Five Elements Technique?’

As expected from the strongest sorcerer of the mortal realm, the power of the Five Elements Technique was no joke. Dense smoke billowed from the crumbling Dongning buildings, and I realized that Cheon Woo-jin had opted to destroy the demon’s nest first rather than directly enter.

Cough, cough…

Peering through the thick smoke, Cheon Woo-jin said, “It’s underground.”

“There’s a separate entrance?”

“I’m not sure. There’s an odd sense of discomfort.”

Cheon Woo-jin pondered a bit before asking me, “Baek Woong, what’s your skill level in martial arts?”

“Why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”

“From now on, I’m going to search for the demon Myo Cheong’s base, and it’s likely to be an extremely dangerous place, so I need your skills to back me up.”

“Can’t you just smash it with the Five Elements Technique like before?”

When I retorted, Cheon Woo-jin got annoyed.

“It’s because that might not work! It seems that Myo Cheong has created a specific otherworldly realm to hide in, so we’ll have to find the door and eliminate her ourselves.”

“Can evil spirits really do something like that?”

“Damn it. I asked first, so you answer first!”

Cheon Woo-jin glared at me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I replied, “Well… excluding groups like the White Lotus Sect or the Twelve Joules, I’d say I’m in the top five in the world.”

“I don’t know about the standards of martial artists, but it sounds like you’re no slouch.”

“Yeah, probably.”

Crackle

“Then just hold off those guys while I advance. I need to conserve my spell power.”

Behind the ruins Cheon Woo-jin was facing, grotesque demon-like creatures had been summoned. They looked less terrible than otherworldly races but were certainly not human. It seemed that as Myo Cheong awakened, she felt threatened and summoned these demons.

Boom

A massive bull-headed demon swung a great axe at me. The strike was so powerful that it caused the ground to crack and dirt to fly, but I was already maneuvering to the side and placing both my hands on the demon’s waist.

Thunder God Fist

Double Palm Expansion

Crack!

[Growl!]

The bull-headed demon exploded into pieces and fell over, utterly defeated. I could have easily killed it with just the Thunder Spirit Seal, but I wanted to try using the derived Absolute Slash of the Thunder God Fist instead. It was one of my middle-level techniques aimed at causing immediate internal damage. I defeated the demon and looked around.

‘About twenty of them?’

Each was a hulking and powerful demon. An ordinary exorcist would undoubtedly struggle against that many summoned demons, but I realized there was no reason for me to feel burdened fighting these ones. After all, I had faced much worse demon beasts in Aokigahara’s Life Sea, and compared to the Absolute Slashes of peerless masters, these were nothing.

Boom Crash

Using a mix of the Soul Removal Technique and Splitting Shadow, I defeated the demons approaching Cheon Woo-jin with my Thunder Spirit Seal and Sword Strength. After taking down about ten of them, I noticed that the demons hesitated momentarily. Cheon Woo-jin looked at me with newfound recognition in his eyes.

“So, the Half-Transition Master is quite strong.”

“Am I not strong yet?”

“Focus on finishing off those demons first. I’m losing concentration.”

Following Cheon Woo-jin’s command, I mobilized all my martial arts to defeat the remaining demons. It took hardly half a meal time, and the hall was drenched in the gruesome remains of the demons, painted red. Cheon Woo-jin started muttering his incantation, stretching his hand forward.

“Emergency Evocation Spell!”

Boom

Suddenly, dark spirit energy gushed out from somewhere amongst the ruins. Cheon Woo-jin approached the energy and pointed with his finger toward a square-shaped entrance. After a moment, as if responding to his spell, the entrance opened with a rush. I was slightly taken aback and said,

“An underground entrance?”

“It seems so. I was unsure, but it was skillfully concealed with high-level sorcery. Normally, it was hidden in a way that couldn’t be entered with physical means.”

“Hmm…”

Listening to Cheon Woo-jin’s words, I could infer why Miho hadn’t been able to simply absorb Myo Cheong before. First, when a strong shockwave hit, Myo Cheong would awaken and summon a horde of demons, and the entrance was concealed with spells. Miho must have taken over Dongning Prefecture first to establish a stronghold before daring to break through such powerful spiritual defenses.

Step, step…

As I entered the underground entrance and descended a dark staircase, I began to feel the path swirling in a dizzying manner. And I realized the shape of this staircase seemed familiar.

“A spiral…”

Could this also be a ruin of the otherworldly race? Cheon Woo-jin glanced at me as I muttered, but he seemed to think it wasn’t a big deal and refocused on moving ahead.

After descending the staircase for quite some time, I spotted a dark mass up ahead. As soon as Cheon Woo-jin saw it, he warned me.

“That creature is trying to bewilder us! Focus your mind.”

Bewilder?

I sharpened my focus at his words, but unexpectedly, I didn’t feel any mental attacks at all.

‘What’s going on?’

Looking to the side, Cheon Woo-jin was concentrating, visibly resisting illusions. I momentarily wondered if I had missed the mental attack from the monster in front of me, so I stepped forward boldly, yet still felt no illusions. Once I approached the monster’s front, I could finally see the true nature of the dark mass.

What I thought was a dark mass was actually concentrated magical power, visually tainted with darkness. And within that high-density magical power, a skeleton clad in monk robes sat cross-legged, staring at me.

I realized I had locked eyes with the skeleton. It made a clicking sound and spoke to me.

[Why… Isn’t the illusion working on you…?]

“……”

[Leave… This is… my dwelling…]

A thought crossed my mind, so I asked the skeletal monk, “Are you Myo Cheong?”

[Leave… Quickly leave…]

I figured it was 80% likely to be Myo Cheong, but the skeletal monk only repeated the command to leave without answering. I resolved to defeat the enemy before me, drawing forth my Sword Strength, and unleashed a slash imbued with intent toward the skeletal monk.

Swish!

[Shraaaak…!]

The skeletal monk split cleanly in half with a wretched scream and collapsed, and at that moment, the dense magical power covering its form seemed to dissipate like mist. Cheon Woo-jin, arriving a bit late from behind, spoke in disbelief.

“What on earth are you? How did you incur no effects?!”

“I’m not sure. I felt nothing at all.”

“……”

Cheon Woo-jin, who had been staring blankly at me, turned his gaze to the skeleton.

“Anyway, you did well. Taking it out in one strike is perfect.”

As he formed a seal and reached out towards the fallen skeletal monk, the skeleton desperately cried out, still rattling on the ground.

[Graaaah… Stop it… Do you want to steal my place of rest…?]

“Your kind taking root is causing innocent people to suffer from dark energy. Come, attain enlightenment.”

[Ha ha! How could that be…?]

The skeletal monk spoke fiercely, rattling its bones.

[I, Myo Cheong… did everything for the repressed Western Capital… but foolish cowards feared me… my plans failed… But none will know… here lies the God… All will regret it!]

“Is your last wish over? Emergency…”

“Cheon Woo-jin, please wait a moment.”

I stopped him from hastily uttering the Emergency Evocation spell, feeling curiosity rise, and asked the demon claiming to be Myo Cheong.

“A god? Which god do you speak of?”

Thinking I was getting scared, Myo Cheong spoke in a sinister voice.

[The great one… sealed since ancient times, no one could find the traces of their existence… the ruler of the moon… who ruled the glorious bloodline as the founding god of Dongyoung City… shall awaken!]

“……!!”

[Ha ha ha… Even if you kill me, you cannot stop the resurrection of the great I Jin Ashi!]

Crash

In the next moment, the ceiling collapsed, and bizarre tentacle-like creatures gushed forth from all sides. The tendrils seemed to fill the space all around. Cheon Woo-jin’s face turned pale at the horrifying sight, and he shouted loudly.

“Emergency Evocation Spell!”

As Cheon Woo-jin’s spell erupted, the spirit energy of proclamation flew everywhere. Tentacles that seemed like they would swallow us whole burst forth, issuing eerie screams from everywhere. Cheon Woo-jin looked at me with urgency, and I quickly reacted, casting a Mind Control Technique aimed at the demon Myo Cheong up ahead.

Boom!

[Graaaah…!]

This time, it felt as though Myo Cheong was obliterated with a horrific scream, devoured by the summoned tentacles. Cheon Woo-jin, who was spreading barriers with his magic, shouted.

“Let’s get out quickly!”

I hurriedly grabbed Cheon Woo-jin’s clothing, attempting to use the Golden Lamp, but it had no effect. I said urgently, “Should we go back the way we came?”

“Let’s do that.”

Clap!

I cast the Soul Removal Technique, burrowing Cheon Woo-jin under my arm as we flew toward the entrance. Just in time, we passed through the closing entrance and barely made it outside.

Once Cheon Woo-jin emerged to the surface, he sighed heavily.

“Damn it… I told you to get rid of it; why wouldn’t you listen? It was gathering the last of its strength to summon those tentacles.”

I scratched my head, “Sorry. It seemed like it was about to share something important.”

“That place seems to belong to the [Ancient Ruler]. That Myo Cheong guy, or whatever, must’ve made his hideout there, sleeping for hundreds of years,” Cheon Woo-jin grumbled.

“Why’s that?”

“I mean, what kind of trouble do we have to face in this eastern land to get rid of a mighty evil spirit?”

Cheon Woo-jin was annoyed, but I didn’t feel like responding to his irritation.

‘I Jin Ashi.’

The “god sleeping in the Western Capital” that Myo Cheong mentioned!

I recalled having heard the name I Jin Ashi in the past.

[If you go there, you might get the clues you’re seeking about the Seven Luminaries.]

[That place is called Takamagahara, a realm similar to the divine realm you know. But now that I think about it, it’s likely a stronghold for the otherworldly race.]

[Only the heavenly emperor might share the secret traditions; Takamagahara is not a land where gods dwell but a place where ominous beings are sealed, acting as a passageway. Those who arrive wield mighty powers and have ruled over Dongyoung. I suspect that it is a dwelling place for the otherworldly race.]

[I know that there’s a passage to Takamagahara in Goryeo, in Geochang. If you go there, you might find a clue.]

This was information given to me by the heavenly emperor of Dongyoung who pretended to be captivated by Miho. I had once explored Geochang with Jin So-cheong to find out if Takamagahara existed and found myself breaking through the void space on Geochang plateau, entering an otherworldly realm.

I realized that this realm was indeed linked to Dark Heaven Village. And at the same time, I had discovered a stele inside.

[Imperial Sovereign I Jin Ashi’s Domain]

At that time, I surmised that this I Jin Ashi was likely the first monarch who became the god of Dongyoung. Unexpectedly, that name was mentioned again by Myo Cheong.

‘If so…’

A chilling thought surged as I formed a hypothesis. I hastily asked Cheon Woo-jin, “Cheon Woo-jin, didn’t that demon just say a god is resting here? Is such a powerful being really felt in this Western Capital?”

Cheon Woo-jin shook his head.

“That would be at least a Demon King level, right? If such a powerful being existed, I would’ve known long ago. No such thing exists.”

“But inside that realm…”

“… It’s possible.”

Cheon Woo-jin, perhaps realizing what I was getting at, fell silent.

That’s right.

Right here in the Western Capital rests the founding deity of Dongyoung as well as the Demon King! And the entrance exists in the realm where Myo Cheong is hiding! Myo Cheong must have fled to the Western Capital to borrow I Jin Ashi’s power.

This brought surprising insight into the whereabouts of the mighty Demon God I Jin Ashi.