NOVEL NEXT Chapter 581
Chapter 581 – Dark Heaven Village
The next day, we decided to head to Mount Muni on Ganghwa Island where the Moon Sovereign was. It was a journey shared not just by our party with the obsidian but also the experts from the Bancheon Alliance. Before we set off, I intended to visit Dongyoung to meet Miho. Having her around would be helpful, and I needed to update her on everything that had transpired.
However, just before our departure in the early dawn, the Sword Demon seemed troubled as he spoke.
“Baek Woong, I’m sorry but I can’t accompany you this time.”
“What’s the matter?”
“My daughter suddenly fell ill…”
His daughter, of course, referred to the noble Seo Mun-hye. I was a bit taken aback.
“Fell ill?”
“Want to see her?”
“Yes.”
I headed towards Seo Mun-hye’s residence. Inside the massive building established in the Kingdom of Duke Du, there was a designated area for her, and she was being cared for by the Shibi of the Shadowless Gate. Her face was flushed red.
“We just found out. According to the Shibi, she has been moaning in pain all through the early hours…”
The Sword Demon worriedly brushed her hair aside, but she seemed unconscious. I noticed something odd about her condition.
‘Her white hair… has become more prominent.’
Moreover, her skin was gradually turning pale, reminiscent of someone from the West. She originally had fair skin, but it felt almost ghostly now. By her side, the First of Henan, Gang Jeon-gil, was awake and examining her pulse, but he muttered in confusion.
“Sorry, but I can’t figure out what’s wrong…”
Gang Jeon-gil’s medical skills were far superior to mine, meaning my attempt at diagnosis would likely yield no better results. This was clearly an anomaly, so I said to the Sword Demon,
“This is not ordinary. I’ll call for people immediately.”
“But you can’t hinder your own expedition…”
“Delaying our acquisition of the Seven Luminaries by a day or two is fine. I’ll just summon Mangnyang and the sorcerers first.”
“… Thank you.”
I quickly fetched Mangnyang and the sorcerers to assess the situation, while simultaneously using the Golden Lamp technique to bring Hwa Seong-myeong. He was the easiest one to summon at the moment and had exceptional medical skills as well.
‘It would be better to have the physician at the base.’
I promptly abducted Hwa Seong-myeong in a manner akin to urgent kidnapping, offering obsidian and gold bars as compensation. He arrived at the Kingdom of Duke Du with a dazed look, and by that time, the Bancheon Alliance’s sorcerers, including Mangnyang, were seriously examining Seo Mun-hye.
One of the sorcerers from the Bancheon Alliance, Jeon Woo-chi, said,
“This is… I don’t know, Leader. What’s this powerful energy stirring within her?”
Mangnyang shook his head as if he was at a loss.
“I can’t figure it out with my knowledge…”
It seemed the sorcerers were already at a standstill. I scanned the room with my eyes for Zhuge Sa, but Zhuge Sa merely stared blankly at Seo Mun-hye without providing any useful insights. The sorcerers thought her state unusual, yet they couldn’t determine the cause. In addition, Cheon Woo-jin scratched his head.
“It’s powerful, no doubt about that, but it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before.”
“Zhuge Sa, you don’t have a clue either?”
“I don’t know. It could be classified as an unknown strange disease.”
Zhuge Sa seemed intrigued rather than concerned as he crossed his arms.
“If the physician you brought, Hwa Seong-myeong, can figure it out, that would be something.”
In an instant, all eyes were on Hwa Seong-myeong. Clearing his throat, he said,
“Don’t get your hopes up too much.”
Hiss…
Hwa Seong-myeong calmly began examining her pulse. Objectively, his medical skills were among the best in the world; the only one surpassing him was Dongbang Mu-gyeol. However, since Dongbang Mu-gyeol was affiliated with the White Lotus Sect, reaching out to him would prove difficult at the current juncture; Hwa Seong-myeong was our only reliable option. If Hua Tuo, the ancestor of renowned physicians, couldn’t decipher this, it would be nearly hopeless.
A silence enveloped the room for some time. Hwa Seong-myeong, seemingly gaining some insight, began pulling out a few needles as he spoke.
“This… seems to be a phenomenon where the Heart, Qi, Blood, and Essence are compressed beyond normal levels. It’s surreal!”
“Compressed Qi, you say?”
“Hmm, how should I explain? You’re like sorcerers, but this doesn’t fall within your domain, that much is clear. It’s hard to describe.”
With a somewhat troubled expression, Hwa Seong-myeong continued,
“The Qi has been condensing and repeating this process at tremendous density, causing an unprecedented alteration that compresses the Eight Extraordinary Vessels. Because the most concentrated Qi is pressing down, the originally nonexistent Eight Extraordinary Vessels are being pressed by the pressure. Yet, this is only theoretically possible; I’m not sure it can actually occur…”
“So, the Qi condensing has caused a mutation? That means her body is going to explode due to immense internal power?”
“That’s somewhat different. The body won’t explode because of internal power; it’s because the Qi exceeds the bounds of Heart, Qi, Blood, and Essence. The Eight Extraordinary Vessels themselves aren’t bursting. This is closer to a theory of Intent employed by peak experts.”
Hwa Seong-myeong elaborated,
“To put it simply, within this maiden’s body is an immense Qi that could be called a millennium’s internal power, tightly compressed. It has transformed to such an extent that it’s unrecognizable as what we perceive as ‘Qi’. The altered nature of this energy has even impacted ‘concepts’, pressuring the nonexistent Eight Extraordinary Vessels, which in turn are issuing commands to her brain. It’s applying a formless pressure to the bloodline.”
“……”
“The degree of density of this condensed Qi has varied even for martial artists. However, I know no martial arts that can achieve such a state of Qi condensation.”
“It’s complex…”
Everyone had puzzled expressions. Sensing the atmosphere, Hwa Seong-myeong smiled wryly.
“Honestly, I don’t know what nonsense I’m spouting either. I’m merely combining the phenomena passed down through my family’s medical texts with my own knowledge and experience to form a hypothesis. The energy trapped in this maiden’s body cannot be explained by conventional wisdom.”
From beside us, Jin So-cheong interjected,
“That’s a different power altogether than the Infinite Internal Power used by the Dharma Guardian. The energy trapped within her isn’t exactly infinite, is it?”
At that, Hwa Seong-myeong seemed to have found his words.
“Ah! I feel like I understand something now. You’re right. It’s not that the infinite energy is trapped, but rather it’s that you perceive it as such.”
“It’s a tremendous force that suppresses human imagination.”
Jin So-cheong paused for a moment before looking at me,
“Baek Woong, I think I grasp her condition.”
“Really?!”
I was taken aback. Seo Mun-hye’s current condition appeared unprecedented, yet Jin So-cheong was the only one to comprehend it. Hwa Seong-myeong had merely been rambling theories!
Jin So-cheong said,
“The energy within her is… should it be released, it might be equal to, no, it may even overshadow the Dharma Guardian in terms of instantaneous strength, based on its compression. It could be energy from the universe far beyond our concept of ‘Qi’ or internal power. However, to control that stacked, compressed force within her body, I believe one would require the capabilities of a peak expert.”
“Um…”
I pondered Jin So-cheong’s words deeply and asked,
“Exactly. We need the power to manipulate Intent and control imagination to release the compressed energy within her body properly. Yet, Seo Mun-hye was merely at the brink of becoming a peak expert, and while she learned the Seven Great Techniques from the Sword Demon, she hasn’t reached the extreme peak.”
“Hmm.”
“To heal her, no matter how potent the medicine or sorcery, it won’t work. She herself has to elevate her realm of Intent.”
“……”
It seemed a solution had emerged. Nevertheless, achieving control over realm of Intent was no easy feat. To attain that, I had gone through hell training multiple times over the years, putting in relentless effort even after reaching the threshold. I could confidently say that even those with outstanding talent would need time to master the realm of Intent.
Extreme Tiger scratched his head,
“Why would such an adorable maiden suddenly gain such immense power?”
That truly was puzzling. Why had such an anomaly sprung up within the usually calm Seo Mun-hye? Just then, Zhuge Sa, having observed the turmoil around him, spoke to me,
“Baek Woong, let’s postpone our strike against the Moon Sovereign’s guardian. You should bring Miho.”
“That was my intention.”
“There’s likely been significant changes in her too. We need to meet Miho to clarify this situation.”
Boom!
I set off towards Dongyoung. However, upon arriving at the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace in Dongyoung, the scenery was drastically altered; it had transformed into a fortress-like stronghold. The area was surrounded by walls, looking nothing like the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace I remembered.
“Miho!!”
Swish!
As I called for Miho, shadows suddenly emerged as Wind Spirit Ninjas appeared from various corners. They silently brandished their daggers and shurikens, exuding hostility, and seeing them, I felt my stomach churn.
‘What do these fools think they’re doing when I want to see Miho?’
At that moment, I heard her clear voice.
“Enough.”
From the distance, Miho stepped forward, looking regal rather than sultry, clad in her noble attire. Simultaneously, I felt an immense force emanating from her.
Woosh!
“……!!”
Though it didn’t match the time I received Jeon Wook’s sound energy, Miho’s power had greatly increased. The instant I laid eyes on her, I instinctively realized she surpassed the strength of an ordinary great demon. As I gazed at her blankly, she chuckled.
“Baek Woong, it seems there’s quite a chaos unfolding in the Central Plains.”
“That’s a long story.”
I handed her the obsidian. Of course, I deliberately withheld the memory regarding the movements of the Evil Spirit, lest it confuse her. After a while, having absorbed the memory through the obsidian, Miho spoke with a tone tinged with fear.
“I see… The balance of yin and yang in the world has shifted, causing significant calamities, and this is all due to the appearance of that Evil Spirit!”
“So our current goal is to acquire the Seven Luminaries.”
“Hmm. I’ll lend my assistance. For now, you are the only hope for us mortals.”
“What’s been happening here?”
Miho briefly glanced outside the fortress and beckoned me.
“Look outside.”
I turned my gaze to the outer walls and gasped.
“……!!”
Gwaaarrr!
Outside, the corpses of humans were walking around. Specifically, the deceased were limping towards the walls, while soldiers relentlessly drove them back with flaming barrels and arrows. The number of corpses was in the hundreds of thousands, and creatures resembling demons rampaged wildly.
‘It seems there are no survivors outside.’
Dongyoung had already become hell on earth. At this rate, the city was doomed. I stood there speechless, staring at the horror, then said,
“So this is what’s become of Dongyoung?”
“According to the Yin-Yang Masters, significant cities, including Edo, have already perished. This place is barely holding on with the support of the Wind Spirit Ninja Clan, Kouga Ninja Clan, and the Yin-Yang Masters. Otherwise, I would have only managed to escape alone.”
“Yin-Yang Masters…”
Swoosh!
As I finished speaking, a pale-faced Yin-Yang Master appeared a few meters away, emerging through a teleportation technique. He bowed his head to me and said,
“O renowned martial artist of the Great Ming Empire. I am Abe no Kurotsuchi (安倍?土). I was originally managing the Aokigahara disaster area but hastily joined the fight outside with ten Yin-Yang Masters.”
“What about the disaster area? Is that place also overrun with the energy of the dead?”
His expression turned troubled as he replied,
“Our leader, Seimei, has reinforced the seal. There’s no need to worry about that location.”
His demeanor suggested he could no longer provide answers. However, I could easily infer the situation.
‘Just like the Guardian of the Golden Eagle in the West, they must be sacrificing themselves to maintain the seal.’
This meant the strongest sorcerer of Dongyoung, Abe no Seimei, might also be dead. Although the seal of the Aokigahara disaster area had prevented the great demons from spilling into the world, the backlash itself had led to the ruin of the nation known as Dongyoung.
‘This is the consequence of the powers of evil overshadowing those of good…’
That the Evil Spirit had lightly tipped the scales of the world to such an extent within a single day!
The situation of the dead rising and rampaging was likely due to the growing power of evil, blurring the line between life and death.
I sighed and said,
“Miho, let’s relocate our base.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“For now, we need to gather the Seven Luminaries.”
Miho nodded in agreement.
“That seems to be the only option. My power has also grown significantly, so I’ll do my best to assist you.”
At that, Abe no Kurotsuchi appeared flustered.
“Is your intention to flee from here, with the palace just holding on because of our Yin-Yang Masters and your Miho’s power?”
Miho retorted coolly,
“What good is it to hold off against countless corpses and demons outside? It’s a meaningless battle we can’t win. Baek Woong has a means to relocate us, so the best option is to escape when we can.”
“Ugh. But…”
He hesitated for a moment but eventually relented, saying,
“Understood. Then let’s head to Osaka Castle.”
Boom!
The Yin-Yang Masters soon vanished from the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace. I gathered the soldiers and people guarding the fortress, along with the ninjas, and packed them inside the wooden armor before moving towards the Kingdom of Duke Du. When Miho arrived at the hall, Zhuge Sa, who had been waiting, looked over at her and said,
“You’ve come.”
Having learned about Seo Mun-hye’s predicament through the obsidian, Miho walked over and gazed intently at her face.
Suddenly, she placed her hand over Seo Mun-hye’s heart and began absorbing her strength.
Fizz!
As light erupted, a divine energy flowed into Miho’s hand. For a moment, as she absorbed the power, she trembled, and I felt anxious watching her, hoping she wouldn’t perish. Miho repeatedly shifted forms, losing her human shape and reverting to her original nine-tailed fox appearance.
Eventually, after a while, Miho withdrew her hand from Seo Mun-hye’s chest, and in that instant,
Whoosh!!
Miho’s tail ignited with light, releasing four tails; in an instant, her fur color transformed to gold, reminiscent of a golden dawn. After shimmering for a while, Miho returned to her human form and said,
“I… I can’t absorb anymore.”
“Miho, what on earth happened?”
Miho wore a slightly fearful expression as she replied,
“The swirling chaotic energy within her isn’t solely hers.”
“What do you mean?”
“I transformed that energy into demon power and claimed a part of it for myself, yet every single energy particle carries echoes of the world, as if she’s connected to an immense number of wills from the darkness of the world.”
“……?”
“If she had made even the slightest misstep just now, she would’ve been consumed by the dark energy and vanished.”
A swirling chaotic power?
So, did that mean the vast energy compressed within Seo Mun-hye was, in fact, chaos?
Fortunately, it seemed the energy Miho absorbed significantly reduced Seo Mun-hye’s fever, and she now appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Zhuge Sa stared at her for a while before saying,
“Right now, there’s nothing certain. All we know is that the force swirling within her resembles the properties of chaos.”
“Zhuge Sa, it’s clear that the Evil Spirit has amplified the dark energy affecting Seo Mun-hye…”
“That’s quite plausible.”
Zhuge Sa spoke decisively,
“We can’t afford to delay any longer. We need to finalize our preparations immediately.”
Boom!
I first headed to the underground of Luoyang with Zhuge Sa. Searching for Shangguan Hyuk, I found he was nowhere to be seen.
“He’s gone?”
I was puzzled, scanning for any signs of him, yet Shangguan Hyuk was completely absent. And not just him; there were no servants belonging to the Shangguan Clan either! Just to be sure, I checked the seal in the basement of the Shangguan Clan, but it too was tightly sealed. Zhuge Sa muttered, resting his chin on his hand.
“That’s strange.”
“The seal is tightly secured. What’s the issue?”
“The strong seal being intact is strange in itself. The current dark energy should have overwhelmed the light energy, and the dimensional portal shouldn’t still be shut.”
“……!!”
“The dimensional seal should have been lifted previously, allowing the demons of Dark Heaven Village to escape. No matter how much Master Mangnyang protects Luoyang, this seal is separate from the Battle Ground.”
I realized the oddity in Zhuge Sa’s words. Indeed, the dimensional portal had previously been hanging by a thread, supported by the power of the Fire Dragon Sword. If the dark energy had grown stronger, it should have shattered… but here it was, sealed so utterly.
Zhuge Sa said,
“Examine it with the Palace Examination Technique. Ascertain what’s currently maintaining that seal.”
Swoosh…
I activated my Palace Examination Technique on the seal. Immediately, the first thing I saw was the shattered pieces of the Fire Dragon Sword, and then something peculiar resembling a giant sickle impaled into the seal.
‘A sickle?’
I took the initiative to invoke the power of the Palace Examination Technique to gather the shards of the Fire Dragon Sword back into its original form and drew it from the seal. As the transparent figure of the Fire Dragon Sword slowly rose from the seal, I reached out to hold it.
‘It’s not as hot as last time…’
While it was once unbearably hot, this time it felt manageable. As I pulled the Fire Dragon Sword out, the seal quivered violently for an instant, yet it didn’t break. Zhuge Sa, observing, remarked,
“Since you can handle the Fire Dragon Sword without issue, it seems the sound energy is resisting in its place.”
“Is that so?”
“Given the state we’re in, even if I can’t fully draw upon the power of the Fire Dragon Sword, I should still be able to wield it like an ordinary famous sword.”
“What comprises that seal?”
“Some… massive sickle. It resembles an enormous black-colored grotesque sickle used to sever a person’s neck.”
When I described the artifact I had seen through the Palace Examination Technique, Zhuge Sa replied,
“Now it’s clear. Someone has taken Shangguan Hyuk and the servants of the Shangguan Clan away while placing a powerful artifact to protect the seal in its place. That sickle is certainly akin to a high-level artifact.”
“Who could have done such a thing?”
“Whoever it is, one thing is certain: their prowess is at least at the level of a Great Immortal. Otherwise, they wouldn’t manage to repair the seal.”
“……”
Who could it be?
But right now, we had no time to investigate identities.
Boom!
After returning to the base, we immediately formed a team and headed for Mount Muni, where Moon Sovereign’s seal was located. With the elite members of our party, we poured blood atop the altar, and soon the ground erupted as the guardian of the Moon Sovereign revealed its enormous form!
Kwoooor!
It was a gigantic, nightmare-inducing monstrosity just like the time we encountered it before!
Seeing that sight, everyone in our army tensed. They recognized that this beast could spawn eerie low-level demons and shoot eerie rays. At that moment, upon seeing the colossal guardian of the Moon Sovereign, Extreme Tiger looked bewildered and said,
“Uh… is it just me, or does it look weirder?”
Cheon Woo-jin, attempting to lead an initial attack with the Heavenly Spirit Pill, glanced toward Extreme Tiger. The latter spoke in an unconfident voice,
“That thing… it looks even bigger than what Baek Woong remembered.”
“……”
“And… its eyes look even larger.”
Indeed.
The Moon Sovereign guardian, Izanagi no Mikoto, appeared to be double the size compared to how it did in my tenth reincarnation. Thus, the altar seemed entirely devoured, and the mountain was shattered. Furthermore, the trunk pierced the clouds, and the massive eye at its center looked even more gigantic.
Mangnyang spoke solemnly,
“The energy of darkness has grown stronger. This monster, though originally suppressed as a guardian, was originally a demon king from the mythological age, and it has somewhat regained its former stature as that demon king. Previously, Cheon Woo-jin alone could have subdued it, but…”
“Speak plainly, Mangnyang.”
“To put it simply…”
At that moment, the gigantic eye of Izanagi no Mikoto turned toward us. Then, an enormous gray beam shot forth in our direction.
Kwahhh!!!
The force of that gray ray appeared no different from the assault previously executed by the Sea God. In a mere instant, we dodged that ray, yet witnessing its overwhelming power drying up the sea and erasing small islands left us all speechless.
Mangnyang exclaimed in horror,
“That beast won’t be an easy opponent!”