Soul Summoning Sword

Chapter 43: Hidden Resonance (3)

At the rocky crevices outside Silver Moon Valley, Bloodscent Fiend held his breath. His nostrils flared as he sensed faint energies in the air.

From the cave emerged three figures. Ones he should never have encountered—Am Ilho of the Blue Blood Unit, Iron Fist Daoist, and Wi Yeongso of the Cold Wolf Sect.

‘They’ve all come out.’

Bloodscent Fiend pulled out a blood orb and raised it to his ear. The Living Spirits still reacted violently.

“Kiiiii! Kiiiik!”

The Living Spirits thrashed toward the direction of the cave. Their response was full of certainty.

‘It really is the Spirit Flow Core!’

His eyes gleamed.

The sacred treasure the Heavenly Sound Cult had been desperately seeking was right here.

Before he came, the Blood Demon Witch of the Seven Armies had been here. The Captain of the Black Blood Unit had also entered the cave. Yet none of them had reported anything about the Spirit Flow Core.

Either they had not recognized it, or they had deliberately hidden the truth.

‘The Great Father may not know, but why would the Seven Armies keep silent? Kekeke! Is it greed? For someone like me, the Spirit Flow Core is no more than a single tonic dose, but for the Seven Armies… they could dominate the world. That greed always brings ruin.’

He quickly pulled out brush and inkstone, hastily writing a message.

「Spirit Flow Core confirmed. Residual traces spread throughout the cave in Silver Moon Valley. Gugwi must be taken. Currently tailing Wi Yeongso. Immediate support requested.」

A carrier pigeon with black feathers spread its wings and soared toward Heuk Yeomjo of the Black Blood Unit.

Bloodscent Fiend draped himself in a Concealment Cloak and silently followed behind Wi Yeongso. His movements were as quiet as a shadow.

‘It seems likely that Wi Yeongso will be the first to find Gugwi. Since they’re from the same Cold Wolf Sect, she’ll know his movements well. Huhu! Wherever that woman goes, that’s where Gugwi is hiding.’

Outside the cave, Am Ilho pulled out a carrier pigeon. His expression was filled with certainty.

“This is the first time I’ve seen such a soul-summoning energy.”

Iron Fist Daoist still fiddled with the trembling Knuckle Duster in his hand.

“It’s clear now that Gugwi… he isn’t just some ordinary Soul-Summoner. I couldn’t sense it at all when he fought the Captain.”

Am Ilho quickly wrote his report.

「Gugwi’s Soul-Summoning Arts are beyond imagination. Entire cave suffused with powerful residual energy. Immediate arrest required. Requesting reinforcements.」

The pigeon flew toward the Captain of the Blue Blood Unit.

In his mind, there was no time to be wasting searching Spirit Essence Mines. Gugwi had to be captured at once and escorted to the Murim Alliance. Whatever this strange soul-summoning energy lingering in the cave was, it was powerful enough to overturn the entire realm of soul-summoning.

“What do you think Wi Yeongso intends to do?”

Iron Fist Daoist’s eyes followed her as she circled Silver Moon Valley.

“Huhu! She seems to have noticed something… but she hides it well. Even if she guesses where Yun Seoha is hiding, she won’t go. As long as we’re watching, she won’t make a move.”

“They erased all traces so thoroughly… following won’t be easy.”

“Even so, we must find him.”

Am Ilho fixed his eyes on Wi Yeongso, who wandered Silver Moon Valley as if knowing nothing.

She surely knew something.

“Iron Fist. From now on, stick to Wi Yeongso. Don’t lose her for a moment. Watch her even when she sends pigeons. Overt surveillance is fine. Just stop her from reaching Yun Seoha.”

“Huhu! Understood.”

Iron Fist Daoist cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing.

Meanwhile, Wi Yeongso walked slowly around Silver Moon Valley, examining the traces of battle.

Though her face seemed calm, her Cheongheodo trembled without pause.

“The Spirit Flow Core… it truly was the Spirit Flow Core.”

The overwhelming soul-summoning energy she felt inside the cave—it was unmistakably the aura of the Spirit Flow Core.

‘If Gugwi possesses it… Yun Seoha would surely have known. Why didn’t she report it? Could she be hiding Gugwi?’

Wi Yeongso recalled Yun Seoha’s report.

A false account claiming she had drawn strength from the cave’s soul-summoning energy. Now she could see the truth hidden behind it.

‘Chilmae will spirit Gugwi away. But where? She’ll erase every location in our minds. She won’t send him anywhere we know. Only a place known to her alone… somewhere safe. Difficult.’

Wi Yeongso suddenly stopped.

She sensed she was being tailed.

She slipped naturally behind a tree for cover.

‘The Heavenly Sound Cult?’

In the distance, a man leaned against a tree, watching her. Iron Fist Daoist.

But he was not the only one. Further away, she heard the faint rustle of cloth. A Concealment Cloak of the Heavenly Sound Cult’s Black Blood Unit fluttered slightly in the wind.

Wi Yeongso’s lips curved.

‘Interesting.’

Now both the Blue Blood Unit and the Heavenly Sound Cult were tailing her.

She chose not to head to Yun Seoha immediately. She could not risk exposing Gugwi’s location under surveillance. Instead, she investigated the split rocks near the cave.

“These spear marks… if Gugwi made them, his skill is extraordinary.”

On the rock, deep traces of the Cloud Flow Spear remained. Such destructive power was impossible at the stage of Spiritual Sensitivity.

‘He isn’t just an ordinary disciple. He possesses some extraordinary force. Could it be the Spirit Flow Core?’

Even as crisis loomed, Gugwi never stopped training.

In one corner of the Blood Spirit Cave, he ceaselessly honed both spear arts and blade techniques.

Whoosh!

The spear tip sliced the air. Blue soul-summoning energy flowed along the spearhead.

“I must believe in the Spirit Flow Core’s good potential.”

Murmuring, Gugwi unleashed the Cloud Star Slash. Blue light burst from the spear tip.

“Un Serim!”

At his Illusory Name Command, the spirit of Un Serim appeared on his left.

“Madal!”

On his right, he summoned General Madal. The general’s mighty divine presence filled the cavern.

Twin Spirits in One Contact!

No Soul-Summoner in history had ever performed such a feat.

Multi-Spirit Contact allowed bonding with multiple spirits, but always one at a time. The illusion of many spirits was due only to the incredibly brief switching interval, something achievable only through arduous training.

But Gugwi had placed two spirits side by side. This had never happened since the very word "soul-summoning" was first uttered.

Yeon Sohye and Yun Seoha were aghast.

“That… is that possible?”

Yeon Sohye’s voice trembled.

“In theory, it’s impossible.”

Yun Seoha’s expression was one of disbelief.

“He’s breaking the very foundations of the Soul-Summoning Arts. Human consciousness cannot command two spirits at once.”

Yet Gugwi was doing it.

On the left, Un Serim displayed the graceful forms of the Cloud Flow Spear.

The spear moved as fluidly as drifting clouds, leaving blue arcs in the air.

On the right, General Madal demonstrated the fierce Flying Swallow Slash. His strikes were lightning-fast and brutally direct. The sheer force behind his blade far surpassed the Cloud Flow Spear.

Gugwi followed their movements.

With his left hand he wielded the flowing spear, while with his right he unleashed the fierce power of the blade.

“He’s learning two martial arts at the same time.”

Gugwi… it seemed as though his body split left and right, each side practicing a different martial art.

“How far does the power of the Spirit Flow Core reach?”

Yun Seoha murmured.

“It feels like the Spirit Flow Core is expanding Gugwi’s consciousness, doesn’t it?”

Yeon Sohye spoke with a pale expression.

Sweat beaded on Gugwi’s forehead. Controlling two spirits at once was far more difficult than he had imagined.

“Focus… I must focus.”

He clenched his teeth and endured.

The pulsation of the Spirit Flow Core supported his consciousness. With his stamina alone he would have collapsed, yet the pulsation told him he could still move—urging him to move more.

It felt as though Un Serim’s voice reached him.

“The Gatekeeper must stand alone against thousands upon thousands. Move more. Grow stronger.”

General Madal also nodded.

“You are properly grasping the essence of the Flying Swallow Slash. I look forward to what comes next. One Sword Slash. With a single strike, cut everything down—foes, armor, warhorses… even shields, even spears….”

Gugwi practiced the two martial arts alternately.

At times, the grace of the Cloud Flow Spear. At times, the ferocity of the Flying Swallow Slash. He engraved both into his body.

“It’s improving.”

His movements gradually stabilized. The dual spirit contact was becoming natural.

Yun Seoha quietly approached Yeon Sohye. Her expression, as she watched Gugwi’s training of Twin Spirits in One Contact, was complicated.

“You know we must flee, right?”

She asked lightly, as if in passing.

“Yes. Ah! Do you mean now? Right this moment?”

Yeon Sohye asked, flustered.

“No. It doesn’t have to be now. What I mean is…”

Yun Seoha let out a sigh.

“The Heavenly Sound Cult, the Cold Wolf Sect, the Murim Alliance… all the powers are after Gugwi.”

“That’s true.”

Yeon Sohye nodded and turned her gaze back to Gugwi’s training. The sight of him bonded with two spirits at once was both wondrous and unsettling.

“Our choices are only two.”

Yun Seoha lowered her voice.

“Either we spirit Gugwi away, or hand him over to one of the factions. Which will you choose?”

“……”

Yeon Sohye couldn’t answer for a moment. Then, cautiously, she asked,

“Taking him to our Cult also counts as handing him over, doesn’t it?”

“Exactly. The only difference is which side we hand him to.”

Yun Seoha gave a bitter smile.

“To the Sect Leader, or to the Blue Blood Unit. Taking him to our Cult will still end in one of those two ways.”

Yeon Sohye’s face darkened.

“Then does that mean even the Sect Leader won’t protect Gugwi?”

“Who could protect someone carrying the Spirit Flow Core? If protection is offered… then isn’t that just the Sect Leader’s greed?”

Yun Seoha countered.

“It’s something even the Cult Leader covets. Do you think the Sect Leader would be any different?”

“If we take him away, where would we go?”

“I don’t know. But no matter where we hide…”

Yun Seoha sighed deeply.

“As the Spirit Flow Core grows, he will be exposed. Even this Twin Spirit Contact we just saw—it’s a miracle. If such miracles keep occurring, he cannot be hidden.”

Yeon Sohye’s face sank with despair.

“No matter where we flee, he’ll be captured in the end.”

“That’s true, but…”

Yun Seoha looked at Gugwi.

“The greater danger is the Spirit Flow Core itself. The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Sound Cult may step in personally… after all, he was the first to obtain the Spirit Flow Core. He may have something of it still.”

“That makes sense.”

“Gugwi himself is another problem. The whispers of the Manifest Demon Emperor are growing stronger. If he loses his reason for even a moment…”

What came after… was hell. Gugwi’s soul would be overtaken by the Manifest Demon Emperor. He would become nothing but the tool of a demon spirit.

“Think carefully. You’ll need to decide soon.”

“We must run. Together.”

Yeon Sohye answered without hesitation.

“I asked you before… do you like Gugwi?”

“I do like him, but not in a romantic sense.”

“Then what is it? What makes the Captain of the Dark Blood Unit abandon even the Dark Blood Unit itself, just to side with Gugwi? In any case… fleeing won’t be easy. Be prepared.”

Yun Seoha placed a hand on Yeon Sohye’s shoulder.

“What about you, then? What will you do?”

“For me, this is the end. I must return. I’ve already come too far. Now that the Spirit Flow Core is known, pursuers will appear endlessly. Each day will be hell.”

Her voice carried the weight of grim reality. Truly, the time for decision was approaching.

Deep inside the cave of Silver Moon Valley, the soil began to shift in the darkness.

From within the damp earth, filled with the stench of rotting roots, a buried corpse slowly rose.

It was Sa Hyeollin.

She released the Ghost-Feeding Art and regained her consciousness. Her breath was faint, her body as cold as ice.

“Haa…”

Her eyes glowed crimson in the dark. A gaze twisted with resentment and obsession pierced through the damp cave air.

She raised her hand, feeling over her split chest.

Blood insects crawled over her wounds, spewing venom. The poison melted pus and forcibly sealed her torn flesh. Her lips trembled, a raspy moan escaping.

“Gugwi… you wretch… kekeke! The Spirit Flow Core… if I can claim that power…”

Madness flashed in her eyes.

Sa Hyeollin leaned against the cave wall, steadying her breath.

The pulsation of the Spirit Flow Core stirred her senses. There was no need to return to the Heavenly Sound Cult. If she obtained the Spirit Flow Core, she could resurrect the Manifest Demon Emperor and wield his power.

“Hmph, the Heavenly Sound Cult is nothing…”

She reached out and picked up the Bloodfang Whip. The toothed whip trembled with her energy.

Sa Hyeollin instinctively knew Gugwi was somewhere nearby. She rose to her feet. The blood insects released poisonous mist as they sealed her wounds. The soul-summoning patterns on the cave walls glowed red.

“Your heart is mine.”

Her lips curled upward.