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“Let’s head to Mount Mani on Ganghwa Island where the Moon Sovereign resides tomorrow,” I declared.

It wasn’t only my group sharing obsidian; even the experts from the Bancheon Alliance would join us. Before setting off, I wanted to visit Miho in Dongyoung. Having Miho around would definitely be helpful, and I needed to update her on the ongoing events.

Just as we were about to leave Dongyoung at dawn, the Sword Demon looked troubled.

“Baek Woong, I’m sorry, but I can’t join this time.”

“What’s the matter?”

“My daughter suddenly fell ill…”

His daughter was none other than Seo Mun-hye. I was slightly taken aback.

“Ill? Really?”

“Want to see for yourself?”

“Yes.”

I made my way to Seo Mun-hye’s quarters. A large building was erected in the Kingdom of Duke Du, and within its interior was a room specifically for her. There, she lay, being cared for by the Shadowless Sect’s disciples, her face flushed a deep red.

“We just discovered her. The disciples said she has been groaning in pain all night…”

The Sword Demon gently brushed her hair, but she seemed completely unconscious. I noticed an unusual phenomenon.

‘Her white hair… it’s become even more pronounced.’

Not only that, but her skin was gradually turning supremely white, almost reminiscent of a Westerner. It had always been pale, but now it looked deathly pale. Next to her, the First of Henan, Gang Jeon-gil, was just waking up and checking her pulse while murmuring.

“I’m sorry, but I still can’t grasp what’s wrong…”

Gang Jeon-gil’s medical skills were far superior to mine. If I tried checking her pulse, it wouldn’t do any good either. This was clearly abnormal, so I said to the Sword Demon,

“This isn’t ordinary. I’ll call for some people right away.”

“But I can’t have you delay your departure…”

“It’s okay if getting the Seven Luminaries takes a day or two longer. I’ll just quickly summon Mangnyang and the sorcerers.”

“…Thank you.”

I quickly gathered Mangnyang and the sorcerers, and simultaneously, I decided to use the Hwa Seong-myeong technique to bring the renowned physician Hwa Seong-myeong here as he was currently the easiest person to obtain and his medical prowess was exceptional.

‘It’s better with a physician at the base.’

Immediately, I rushed to Guangming Divine Doctor Hwa Seong-myeong and swiftly brought him back in a kidnapping-like manner, offering the obsidian and gold bars as payment. Hwa Seong-myeong stared in bewilderment at the transformed Kingdom of Duke Du.

Meanwhile, the sorcerers from the Bancheon Alliance were examining Seo Mun-hye with serious expressions.

One of them, Jeon Woo-chi, exclaimed, “This is quite something… I don’t understand, Lord. What the heck is this powerful energy wriggling within her?”

Mangnyang shook his head, perplexed. “I have no idea either…”

Were those sorcerers completely useless? I glanced around for Zhuge Sa, but he was just standing there, staring blankly at Seo Mun-hye without any insight. It seemed the sorcerers noticed her state was odd but didn’t know why. Even Cheon Woo-jin tilted his head curiously.

“It’s definitely powerful energy, but I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“Zhuge Sa, don’t you know?”

“No. You could call it an unexplainable strange disease.”

Zhuge Sa looked rather intrigued as he crossed his arms.

“If it’s that Hwa Seong-myeong you brought, he might know.”

At that moment, all eyes turned to Guangming Divine Doctor Hwa Seong-myeong. He cleared his throat and said, “Don’t get your hopes up too high.”

He began checking her pulse calmly. Objectively speaking, his medical skills were among the best in the world, with only Dongbang Mu-gyeol potentially surpassing him. However, since Dongbang Mu-gyeol was from the White Lotus Sect, he was hard to reach, making Hwa Seong-myeong our best bet. If he didn’t know, we were pretty much out of luck.

After a long silence, Hwa Seong-myeong seemed to understand something as he pulled out his needles one by one.

“This… seems to be a phenomenon where the Bloodline is compressed beyond the limit of Heart, Qi, Blood, and Essence. It’s surreal!”

“Compressed Bloodline?”

“Hmm. How should I put this? You guys are sorcerers, but this thing is definitely outside of your realm. It’s hard to explain.”

Hwa Seong-myeong looked slightly troubled as he continued, “Qi is condensing at an incredible density, compressing and repeating, and then undergoing a transformation we’ve never seen before, which is compressing the Eight Extraordinary Vessels. Because the densest Qi is pressing hard, the Eight Extraordinary Vessels that ordinarily don’t exist are being forced into existence. But theoretically, this shouldn’t even be possible…”

“So, you’re saying the body can burst due to immense Qi pressure?”

“Not quite. It’s not her body bursting because of Qi, but rather the Qi is going beyond the realm of Heart, Qi, Blood, and Essence. The Eight Extraordinary Vessels themselves aren’t bursting. This is a theory close to the intent of peak experts.”

Hwa Seong-myeong continued.

“To put it simply, within this young lady’s body is an incredible amount of Qi deserving of being called ‘thousand-year inner power’ condensed so tightly that it has transformed into a different shape than what we recognize as ‘Qi.’ This transformed Qi affects ‘concepts’ and pushes the previously non-existent Eight Extraordinary Vessels, which in turn sends commands to the brain to apply pressure onto the Bloodline.”

“……”

“The degree of Qi’s condensation is so different that even martial artists would feel it differently. However, no martial art I know can condense Qi like that.”

“This is confusing…”

Everyone looked puzzled. Sensing the atmosphere, Hwa Seong-myeong forced a wry smile.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m even saying. I’ve only combined the renowned phenomena described in our family’s medical texts with my knowledge just to come up with a hypothesis. The energy within this young lady’s body is beyond common sense.”

Hearing this, Jin So-cheong chimed in.

“That’s different energy than the infinite inner power used by Dharma Guardians. What’s contained within her isn’t infinity, is it?”

At that, Hwa Seong-myeong finally seemed to have something to add.

“Oh! I think I understand something! You’re right; it’s not about being trapped in infinity.”

“There’s a massive force contained that could suppress human imagination.”

After a moment of silence, Jin So-cheong turned to me and said, “Baek Woong, I think I roughly comprehend her condition.”

“Really?!”

I was shocked. Seo Mun-hye seemed to be facing an unprecedented situation, and Jin So-cheong alone seemed to grasp it. Hwa Seong-myeong had just been rambling and throwing out hypotheses, but Jin So-cheong had grabbed the truth!

“The energy within her right now… if released could potentially surpass even the Dharma Guardian, no—looking at how much has condensed, it might actually overpower the Dharma Guardian momentarily. It could very well be energy from the universe far exceeding our understanding of Qi or internal power. However, to handle the pressure of that force now residing within her, it seems we need martial artists close to the Absolute Realm.”

“Hmm…”

By contemplating Jin So-cheong’s words, I finally spoke up, “You mean the mental ability to control the intent?”

“Exactly. Only with the ability to handle the intent we control in our imagination can we release that pressure and make proper use of her stored energy. But the young lady was only just beginning to reach the peak expert level, and though she learned the Seven Great Techniques from the Sword Demon, I believe she hasn’t fully crossed into the transcendent realm.”

“Hmm.”

“No amount of medicine will help her, and no sorcery will succeed. She needs to elevate her control over her realm of intent.”

“……”

It seemed we had found a solution. But how easy is it to gain that control over the realm of intent? I had to endure the torturous hell training to attain it, and even after reaching the entry stage, it took years of consistent effort. I was certain that even the most talented individuals would need time to properly handle the realm of intent.

The Extreme Tiger scratched his head. “Why did such immense power suddenly emerge in that beautiful young lady?”

That was truly a puzzling matter. Why had such an anomaly suddenly occurred in the usually quiet Seo Mun-hye? At that moment, Zhuge Sa, who had been following the chaos in the hall, said to me, “Baek Woong, let’s postpone our strike against the Guardian of the Moon Sovereign for a bit. You go and bring Miho.”

“I was planning to go get her.”

“She has likely undergone significant changes as well. Until we meet Miho, we won’t be able to clarify this situation thoroughly.”

With determination, I headed towards Dongyoung. However, upon arriving at the Heavenly Emperor’s Palace in Dongyoung, what appeared before me was a place transformed into something resembling a fortress, not at all the scenery I had come to know. Surrounded by solid walls, it felt as though I were looking at a fortress, not the Heavenly Palace I was familiar with.

“Miho!!”

As I called for her, shadowy Wind Ninjas suddenly emerged from the corners. They drew their daggers and shurikens silently, holding me with a look of hostility, and I felt a surge of irritation.

‘I’m just trying to meet Miho, and who are these clowns…’

Just then, a melodious voice rang out, “Stop.”

Miho appeared elegantly, walking toward me with an air of nobility that contrasted with her previous demeanor, radiating tremendous power.

As I faced her, I instinctively sensed she had surpassed the general strength of ordinary great demons. Stunned, I gazed at Miho, who responded with a light laugh.

“Baek Woong. It seems there’s quite a commotion in the Central Plains.”

It would take a while to elaborate.

I handed her the obsidian, carefully omitting the memories of the Evil God’s trail to avoid causing confusion. After scanning through the obsidian, Miho looked frightened and said, “I see… The yin and yang of the world have shifted, causing great natural disasters, and it turned out that the Evil God has appeared!”

“So our goal is currently to acquire the Seven Luminaries.”

“Hmm. I’ll help. For now, you’re the only hope for mortals.”

“What happened here?”

Miho glanced at the fortified walls outside, gesturing for me to look.

I turned to face the wall. And I was shocked.

“……!!”

Outside, the corpses of humans were up and walking around. More accurately, the dead staggered and tried to climb the walls, while soldiers relentlessly chased them away with flaming barrels and arrows. There were tens of thousands of corpses, and from every corner, monsters were rampaging.

‘It looks like nobody has survived outside.’

Dongyoung had already turned into a scene from Hell. In this situation, the city was utterly destroyed. I was at a loss for words as I observed the horror before me, finally managing to speak.

“Is this what has happened to Dongyoung?”

“According to the Yin-Yang Masters, all major cities, including Edo, have already been destroyed. This place is barely holding on thanks to the support from the Wind Ninja Corps, Kouga Ninjas, and the Yin-Yang Masters. Otherwise, I’d just be frantically trying to escape on my own.”

“Yin-Yang Masters…”

Just as I finished speaking, a pale-faced Yin-Yang Master materialized three stances away with a teleportation spell. Bowing his head at me, he said, “Renowned warrior of the Great Ming Empire, I am Abe no Kurotsuchi. I was originally in charge of managing the Aokigahara Life Sea, but hurried out here to assist the outside world, bringing ten Yin-Yang Masters with me.”

“What about the Life Sea? Has it been affected by the influx of negative energy?”

Abe no Kurotsuchi looked troubled as he answered, “Our leader, Seimei, has reinforced the seal there. You need not worry about that.”

His posture suggested he could hardly respond to my inquiries further. Yet, I could easily deduce the situation.

‘Just like the Guardian of the Golden Crow in the West, he seems to be sacrificing himself to maintain the seal.’

In that case, the most powerful sorcerer in Dongyoung, Abe no Seimei was likely deceased as well. Though the seal on the Aokigahara Life Sea had prevented the great demons from flooding the world, the aftermath had already led to the destruction of the nation of Dongyoung itself.

‘This is the result of negative energy overwhelming positive energy…’

To think that such a drastic situation would emerge within a day or two just from the Evil God’s light touch! The dead walking and causing chaos must undoubtedly stem from the overwhelming influence of negative energy blurring the lines between life and death.

I sighed and declared, “Miho, let’s relocate our base.”

“Do you have a solution?”

“For now, we can only gather the Seven Luminaries…”

Miho nodded. “That’s the only option. My power has grown considerably, so I will strive to help you.”

Just then, Abe no Kurotsuchi spoke with a perplexed expression, “This palace is barely holding on with the efforts of us Yin-Yang Masters and your Miho. Are you really planning to flee in this situation?”

Miho coldly replied, “What remains after endlessly fighting tens of thousands of corpses and demons here? It’s a meaningless fight we can’t win. Baek Woong has the means to relocate us, so when we can escape, that’s our best option.”

“Ugh. But…”

After a long hesitation, he finally conceded, “Alright then. We will head to Osaka Castle.”

I gathered the soldiers, civilians, and ninjas defending the castle, and stuffed them all into the wooden armor before moving to the Kingdom of Duke Du. When Miho arrived at the hall, Zhuge Sa, who had been waiting, glanced our way and said, “You’re back.”

Having already learned about Seo Mun-hye’s predicament through the obsidian, Miho walked up quickly and stared at her face.

“I will try to absorb her force using my Demon Power.”

Without warning, she placed her hand on Seo Mun-hye’s heart and started absorbing her energy.

Suddenly, a burst of light erupted, and divine energy began pouring into Miho’s body as she trembled from the power influx.

I watched nervously, worried Miho might die from the attempt. As she absorbed, she alternated between losing her human form and shifting into her original Nine-Tailed Fox appearance.

After some time, Miho withdrew her hand from Seo Mun-hye’s chest, and at that moment—

Whoosh!!

Miho’s tail shimmered with light and released four tails, instantaneously transforming the color of her fur to a stunning golden hue reminiscent of an enchanting gold fabric. After glowing for a while, she reverted back to human form and said, “I can’t absorb any more… it feels too overwhelming.”

“Miho, what just happened?”

With a slightly fearful expression, Miho replied, “The swirling chaotic power within her doesn’t solely belong to her.”

“What do you mean?”

“I transformed the power into my own energy, but each particle of that energy is whispering the voice of the world, as if there are countless wills connected to her. It’s almost like communicating with the shadows of the world.”

“……?”

“If that maiden had made even the slightest mistake in handling it, she would have been consumed by the power of darkness and ceased to exist.”

Swirling chaotic power? Then that means the immense force condensed within Seo Mun-hye is chaos itself? Thankfully, thanks to Miho absorbing her energy, Seo Mun-hye’s fever began to subside, and she looked peaceful as she fell into a deep slumber.

Zhuge Sa observed her closely for a moment before saying, “Currently, we can be sure of nothing. We only know that the energy swirling within her has chaotic properties.”

“Zhuge Sa, is it still the case that the Evil God has intensified negative powers to affect her…”

“That’s quite likely.”

Zhuge Sa spoke resolutely. “We have no time to waste. We need to complete our preparations immediately.”

With a puff of wind, I headed down to the underground of Luoyang with Zhuge Sa. Searching for Shangguan Hyuk, I found that he had completely vanished.

“He’s not here?”

Bewildered, I scanned the surrounding area for his aura, but indeed there was no trace of Shangguan Hyuk. Not only him, but also not a single servant belonging to the Shangguan family could be found! Just to make sure, I checked the seals in the Shangguan estate’s underground, but the seals were tightly secured.

Zhuge Sa propped his chin in thought, muttering, “This is odd.”

“The seals are well secured. What’s supposed to be strange about that?”

“The fact that it’s locked so well is what’s strange. The world’s laws should have shifted so that negative energy is now far stronger than positive energy, yet the dimension door remains sealed?”

“……!!”

“Previously, the dimension’s seal loosened, letting the monsters from the Dark Heaven Village spill out—this should have been a normal occurrence. No matter how Mangnyang protects Luoyang, these seals aren’t a part of the battle ground.”

Upon Zhuge Sa’s statement, comprehension dawned on me. The dimension door here had already been barely holding on due to the Fire Dragon Sword, so if the negative energy had surged, it should have crumbled. Yet, it was doing just fine.

Zhuge Sa suggested, “Look into it with the Palace Examination Technique. Find out what’s currently maintaining that seal.”

In a moment, I viewed the seal through the Palace Examination Technique. First, I spotted fragments of the Fire Dragon Sword, which had lost its sword shape, and preceding that, I noticed something strange resembling a scythe embedded in the seal.

‘A scythe?’

Just to be sure, I activated the power of the Palace Examination Technique to gather the fragments of the Fire Dragon Sword, restoring its original form and removing it from the seal. As the transparent Fire Dragon Sword materialized from the seal, I slowly reached out to grasp it.

‘It’s not even that hot compared to last time…’

Previously, it had been hot enough to burn me, but this time it felt manageable. As I pulled the Fire Dragon Sword out, the seal shook violently for a moment, but still remained intact. Watching this, Zhuge Sa said, “Seeing that you can touch the Fire Dragon Sword without difficulty, maybe the Spirit Power is resisting it instead.”

“Is that so?”

In this state, even if I couldn’t draw full power from the Fire Dragon Sword, I would be able to utilize it as a standard famous blade.

“What is forming that seal?”

“It’s a… massive scythe. It resembles a huge, grotesque black scythe that seems like it could behead a person.”

As I described the artifact’s form I had seen through the Palace Examination Technique, Zhuge Sa replied, “It’s clear now. Someone took Shangguan Hyuk and the servants of the Shangguan house while also embedding a powerful artifact to protect the barrier. That scythe must undeniably be an item comparable to high-grade artifacts.”

“Who could have done such a thing?”

“I don’t know who, but what I can tell you is that individual must possess the power of at least a Great Immortal Level. Otherwise, they couldn’t have repaired the barrier.”

“……”

Who could have done this? There was no time to probe into their identity right now.

With urgency, we returned to our base and quickly organized a team to head to Mount Mani, where the Moon Sovereign’s seal lay. With our elite group on the altar, we spilled blood, and soon, the ground trembled as the Guardian of the Moon Sovereign revealed its colossal form.

Roar!!

Just like before, a gigantic nightmarish tree! Everyone on our side tensed at the sight. They all knew that this beast could create bizarre low-level monsters and shoot calamity beams, marking it as a disaster-level demon. At that moment, the Extreme Tiger gazed at the apparition of the Moon Sovereign in the air, baffled and muttered, “Uh… is it just me, or is it strange?”

Lee Cheong-un, who was preparing to lead the first attack with the Heavenly Spirit Pill group, glanced at the Extreme Tiger. The Extreme Tiger spoke with uncertainty, “That thing… looks even bigger than what I saw in Baek Woong’s memories.”

“……”

“And its eyeball seems even bigger too.”

Indeed, it appeared bigger than the Guardian of the Moon Sovereign I had seen in my 10th life, the Izanagi no Mikoto. Because of this, even the altar was being consumed, and the mountain itself seemed to be splitting apart. Moreover, the trunk pierced the clouds while the enormous eyeball in the center appeared far more massive.

Mangnyang solemnly remarked, “It’s because the negative energy has intensified. That monster had originally been suppressed as a guardian, but was originally a demon king from the Mythological Age, and now it has regained some of its former stature as a demon king. Normally, even Lee Cheong-un could take it down all by himself…”

“Cut the fancy talk and just simplify it for me, Mangnyang.”

“To put it simply…”

At that moment, the giant eyeball of Izanagi no Mikoto scanned our direction, and then a massive gray beam shot toward us.

Boom!!

The force of the gray beam was no different from the divine attacks previously unleashed by the Sea God. In a split second, we managed to evade the beam, but the destructive force left behind dry seawater and vanished islands in its wake, leaving everyone speechless.

Mangnyang, looking pale, said, “That monster won’t be easy to deal with.”

 

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