Chapter 459 – Approaching Omens (1)

The Reverse Eight Divine Generals Technique.

It’s a type of magic that uses the Eight Human Talismans to control spirits.

If used well, this technique can artificially create a vengeful spirit through sorcery before the soul completely disperses to heaven and earth.

However, there’s a major prerequisite for this to work.

It requires instilling a strong resentment before death.

There was a good chance it could have worked.

Ghost Blade had the conditions to become a vengeful spirit due to his strong loyalty and anger towards Mok Gan, but at the last moment, his daughter Chunchu’s words instantly dissolved all of that.

This was evident from his peaceful expression as he breathed his last.

“Why… did you stop?”

To Cheong-ryeong’s question, Mok Gyeong-un replied with a soft exhale:

“Because he can’t become a vengeful spirit now.”

‘…You’ve changed a lot, mortal.’

Cheong-ryeong felt strange at Mok Gyeong-un’s answer.

He used to be someone who couldn’t feel any emotion other than anger, even more so than herself, a vengeful spirit.

But now he was somewhat responsive to others’ emotions.

The old him would have cut Chunchu’s throat to draw out Ghost Blade’s anger for his own purposes.

However, now he let him go.

The emotionless one was gradually becoming more human.

However,

[“The secret of Moon Vein that can persuade Incarnate. Just tell me what that means. Cut out all the unnecessary talk and hurry!”]

[“Ryu… So-wol and you… You are… fated…”]

What on earth did this mean?

Those last words left by Ghost Blade kept swirling in her mind.

Having been with Mok Gyeong-un for a long time, she had shared most of his experiences.

Because of this, unlike her feelings for Mok Gyeong-un, her doubts about his origins were growing.

The unknown being inside him, as well as the Incarnate mentioned in Fire Faith Order’s prophecy.

And,

[“You… Have you really… lost your core… and become… human?”]

[“Did you hear that from Ghost Blade?”]

[“Becoming human… Human… Kekek. I really hate it. I really hate you. No, I loathe you. A being expelled from its clan, degrading itself to become human. I can see your detestable intentions.”]

What did Mok Gan mean by those words?

He spoke as if Mok Gyeong-un had been a non-human entity that became human.

Her thoughts were becoming increasingly complex.

At first, she thought it was just a coincidence.

But at some point, she realized that Mok Gyeong-un’s path and her own were becoming increasingly intertwined.

What was going on?

Although she kept denying it, saying it couldn’t possibly be true, someone kept coming to mind.

She was aware that he, too, was no ordinary being.

But due to death, she had become a vengeful spirit without knowing anything about him.

[“Ryu… So-wol and you… You are… fated…”]

Could it be that what Ghost Blade tried to say at the end was…

Just then,

“Young Master Mok.”

Jin Ye-rin called out to Mok Gyeong-un, who had been staring at the dead Ghost Blade and the sobbing Chunchu holding him, in a small voice.

As he turned his head, he saw that her face was flushed red.

Judging by her moist eyes, it seemed she had shed tears watching this father and daughter.

She, too, having lost her father, felt sympathy for their shared pain.

“Ahem. In the end, did you hear nothing from him?”

Jin Ye-rin asked in a whisper, clearing her throat as if choked up.

Mok Gyeong-un shook his head at her question.

He hadn’t been able to hear the few things he really wanted to ask about.

At Mok Gyeong-un’s response, Jin Ye-rin spoke in a troubled voice.

“The outcome isn’t good. Even though we prevented the Forbidden Technique from falling into their hands by defeating Mok Gan’s avatar, we still don’t know where his main body is…”

“What did you just say?”

“Pardon?”

“Before mentioning his main body.”

“I said we prevented the Forbidden Technique from falling into their hands.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un furrowed his brow and then asked:

“Did the Wicked Granny have the Forbidden Technique memorized in addition to the secret book she gave me?”

“…That’s right.”

Because she had been captured by them, the Wicked Granny revealed the Forbidden Technique to save her from them.

And she ultimately sacrificed herself for her.

Seeming to be overcome with emotion again, Jin Ye-rin spoke with reddened eyes:

“But one avatar here was killed by you, and the other two avatars were trapped when Cheol Su-ryeon destroyed the formation, so ultimately, Mok Gan’s main body…”

“No. They share consciousness.”

“What?”

Tuk tuk!

Mok Gyeong-un tapped his head with his finger as he replied.

“They share memories with the avatars. As a result, the Forbidden Technique has fallen into the hands of Mok Gan’s main body.”

Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue as he said this.

But it was hard to blame anyone for this.

If he hadn’t been dragged into the bamboo scroll of the Eight Trigrams, he might not have reached the level of Extreme Sword and the Supreme Sword until now, which could have been dangerous.

In the end, it was a case of gaining one thing and losing another.

The only fortunate thing was that all the enemy had obtained was the spell formula of the Forbidden Technique.

‘Thankfully, Cheong-ryeong and Wi So-yeon are on our side.’

If even one of them had been in the enemy’s hands, it would have been troublesome, but since he had also retrieved Wi So-yeon, who held Cheong-ryeong’s soul, there shouldn’t be any problems with the Forbidden Technique.

Unaware of this, Jin Ye-rin spoke in bewilderment:

“Then we have no time to waste.”

“No, but still…”

“Didn’t you see what I sent through Dam Baek-ha?”

“Dam Baek-ha?”

“Ah, I see you didn’t. If the Forbidden Technique has fallen into the hands of Mok Gan, the leader of Secret Society, they will bring about a day of catastrophe incomparable to last time.”

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un asked with curiosity:

“What does the Forbidden Technique have to do with the catastrophe?”

The reason Mok Gan wanted to obtain the Forbidden Technique was because of Bi-yong-heon of Heaven Vein, the will of the body he occupied.

Wasn’t he forcibly holding onto Cheong-ryeong’s soul, preventing her from properly reincarnating, out of an endless madness to have her in his possession?

As if to answer his doubts, Jin Ye-rin drew a picture on the ground with sharp energy.

Seuk seuk seuk!

What she drew was a map of the entire Central Plains.

Wondering why she was drawing this, he saw her mark five spots around the edges of the Central Plains map.

One in the north, one each in the northeast and northwest, and one each in the southeast and southwest.

Finally, she inscribed what looked like a spell formula between these points.

‘!?’

The moment he saw it, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes lit up with recognition.

‘This is…’

He had seen this spell formula before, though he wasn’t sure exactly where.

During the second test at the Corpse Blood Valley of the Heaven and Earth Society, he had faced a berserk Imaemangyang beast called Gal-jeo while trying to capture a flag.

Afterwards, he had also discovered a spell to make Imaemangyang go berserk in the magic books and research notes possessed by another Three-Eyes, Jo Tae-cheong, and it was almost identical to this.

However, there was one problem with this spell: it excessively increased the yin energy in the atmosphere to amplify their killing nature, resulting in an unimaginably large consumption of magical power.

And once all the magical power was exhausted, the berserk state would end.

‘To perform a spell on such an enormous scale would require an unimaginable amount of magical power. Is it realistically possible to secure enough magical power to perform this?’

The scale of the spell was far too large.

A spell that could cover the entire Central Plains was beyond imagination.

At this scale, it might only be possible if numerous magical tools imbued with magical power and thousands, no, tens of thousands of diviners exhausted all their magical power and vital energy.

As he thought this, he noticed Jin Ye-rin making special markings at a few places between the completed spell formation.

One was not far from the Sichuan Tang Clan, and another was pointing exactly at the Heaven and Earth Society.

What could these be indicating?

Mok Gyeong-un asked:

“What are those?”

“I’m not sure. It was written that the Forbidden Technique is needed at these four points.”

“The Forbidden Technique is needed here?”

The Heaven and Earth Society was where Wi So-yeon was, so that made sense.

But he had no idea what the other three places were.

There was no apparent pattern, and they were scattered in different locations.

“Is that all?”

“Ah! Come to think of it, below the places where it said the Forbidden Technique was needed, it was written ‘Six Demons’.”

‘!!!!!’

At these words, one of Mok Gyeong-un’s eyebrows shot up.

Cheong-ryeong spoke to him in a meaningful voice:

“Mortal… Don’t you remember what happened at the Heaven and Earth Society? The Assassin King of the Sea, one of the Six Demons, is there.”

Among the monsters known as Imaemangyang, there exists a hierarchy.

This hierarchy is divided into Ferocious Beasts, Strange Beasts, Wicked Beasts, Demonic Beasts, and Spirit Beasts.

Among these, the highest rank is called Spirit Beast, and among them, there are six Spirit Beasts that are infinitely close to being Divine Beasts.

The Imaemangyang refer to these as the Six Demons or the Six Demon Kings.

Each of these Six Demons was considered a disaster in itself.

And sealed in the hidden vault of the Corpse Blood Valley at the Heaven and Earth Society was one of these Six Demons, the Assassin King of the Sea, The Restraining Badger.

***

At the same time.

A cliff so steep that looking down made one feel as if gazing into an endless abyss.

Not far from the cliff, outside a wall, countless corpses of Imaemangyang overflowed, and among them stood a muscular young man, covered in green and black blood, struggling to stay on his feet.

“Haa… Haa…”

The young man was Yoo Moo-jin, a member of the Yoo clan guarding this place.

The Imaemangyang, who had momentarily paused out of fear at the sight of him catching his breath in exhaustion, were now slowly approaching again.

‘…There are so many.’

Together with his father, Yoo Moo-jeok, they had killed nearly a thousand, no, several thousand of them.

Despite killing so many, an uncountable number of Imaemangyang were still endlessly pouring in, to the point where even he, who rarely tired, was struggling.

Just then, a tremendous roar came from behind.

Kwaaang! Kwaaang!

With each roar, the earth shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Yoo Moo-jin’s face grew worried as he glanced back.

His father, who had been holding back the Imaemangyang rushing towards the entrance of the formation, had hurriedly headed towards the source of that being’s roar coming from behind.

‘It’s too fast.’

It hadn’t been long since his father had subdued that being, yet it had awakened again.

The frequency was now becoming worrisome.

Normally, it wouldn’t be a concern, but his father was also quite exhausted from fighting this enormous number of Imaemangyang alongside him.

Kwaaaang!

Kwoooooo!

Just then, along with the thunderous sound, the roar of that being reached all the way here.

At this, the Imaemangyang who had been stationary suddenly let out roars as if inspired by that being’s tremendous cry, and charged forward like soldiers with raised morale.

Kwoooo!

Kekekekeke!

Kakakakaka!

Faced with the oncoming Imaemangyang whose spirits had been revived, Yoo Moo-jin turned the dial on the Force Suppressing Bracelet on his right arm.

Kiririririk!

Shuuuuu!

As he turned it completely, white steam emerged from Yoo Moo-jin’s entire body, which began to turn black.

Though exhausted, if he couldn’t stop these creatures, the place his clan had been guarding would be exposed.

Yoo Moo-jin clenched his fist, about to swing it.

But then,

Wook!

“Kuk.”

Had he pushed himself too hard?

A terrible pain surged through his heart, which hadn’t fully healed, causing Yoo Moo-jin to clutch his chest and stagger.

Not missing this moment, the higher-ranked Diabolic Beasts and Demonic Beasts among the Imaemangyang simultaneously attacked Yoo Moo-jin.

Kwoooooo!

Kaaaaaaa!

‘Damn it!’

Yoo Moo-jin swung his fist towards them, barely enduring the pain in his heart.

As Yoo Moo-jin swung his fist, an tremendous wind pressure arose, enveloping the charging Wicked Beasts and Demonic Beasts simultaneously.

Kwakwakwakwang!

Just when it seemed he had repelled them, one Demonic Beast burst through the dust and debris, grabbed Yoo Moo-jin, and frantically charged towards the mountain wall.

Kwarurururu!

“Kuuuuk!”

Yoo Moo-jin, smashed into the mountain wall, continued to be pushed back even as he collided with it.

Meanwhile, a black silhouette darted towards the entrance of the formation that had been left open as Yoo Moo-jin was pushed back.

***

“Huu… Huu…”

Yoo Moo-jeok, drenched in sweat, held a pointed wooden pillar inscribed with red sutras as he caught his breath, looking down at the abyss-like cliff below.

Kurururururu!

‘This is bad.’

Whether due to lack of strength, the blue light visible at the bottom of the cliff wasn’t weakening, but growing stronger.

At this rate, the worst-case scenario might really unfold.

Kwak!

“Huu.”

As he took a deep breath, Yoo Moo-jeok’s body began to glow black, and steam-like substance started to rise from his entire body.

Having gathered his strength, Yoo Moo-jeok threw the wooden pillar inscribed with red sutras towards the bottom of the cliff.

Paaaaang!

The wooden pillar pierced through layers of air.

Strong ripples formed wherever it passed.

But before it could become a mere speck,

Kwoooooooooo!

The blue light flickered strongly, a roar echoed out, and in response, a gale-like wind pressure surged up from the cliff along with shockwaves.

With this, the wooden pillar disintegrated before it could even reach its target.

Passsss!

‘Oh no!’

Yoo Moo-jeok’s expression hardened.

At this rate, the seal on this being might really break.

Just then,

“It seems that even the Yoo clan, being human after all, can’t stand against sheer numbers. There’s no winning against quantity, it seems.”

Flinch!

Yoo Moo-jeok quickly turned his head at the voice from behind.

About ten paces in front of him stood a figure wearing a bamboo hat, hands behind their back.

Even though he was exhausted from depleting his physical strength, how could someone approach this close without him noticing?

This was surprising, but suddenly his son Yoo Moo-jin flashed through his mind.

‘Moo-jin.’

Could it be that the boy had fallen?

Sreung!

As he stood there in shock, the bamboo-hatted figure drew the sword at their waist and approached with a sneer.

“You’ve worked hard all this time, so shall we now release the Great Strength King?”