The Black Ghost Curse Banner Awakens
Five hundred Foundation Establishment realm cultivators…!
I gave a heavy warning… but simply let out a dry cough.
“Hmph… Well then, it shouldn’t take long. Please wait for a moment.”
I flicked my wrist inside the array.
Kugugugu!
A raging storm immediately erupted from outside the array. Every Foundation Establishment cultivator lost their footing and fell helplessly to the ground.
They had somehow managed to locate the location of the array, but they couldn’t see inside it clearly. Their cries of panic echoed endlessly.
“C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-k!”“The Core Formation Senior Brother has gone berserk!”
“T-this power… could it be a Core Formation Peak realm technique!? Even a Core Formation Grand Completion level aura!”“This is on the level of a formation that could challenge a Core Formation Grand Completion cultivator!”
Kugugugu!
After the storm passed, the cultivators were drenched in cold sweat as they crawled several dozen steps away from me.
Among them, the Foundation Establishment Grand Completion leader let out a thunderous shout.
“Everyone, calm down and form ranks!”
Following his command, they moved with perfect coordination and began weaving a defensive array.
Uuwuung!
Their law power and spirit energy intertwined.
Clack, clack, clack, clack!
The Foundation Establishment cultivators formed seals and raised their defenses.
499 defenses shattered one by one. Their auras gradually amplified, while my inner energy began to be suppressed.
“Oh? At this level…”
I genuinely admired the Jin Family’s array techniques and kept a close eye on the formation.
The leader shouted again.
“Even if you’re a Core Formation Peak senior, you won’t escape the wrath of the Heavenly Forest Great Array! Not even a Nascent Soul expert could break free from this formation! Please, choose wisely!”
“Hmph…”
I listened quietly for a while, growing increasingly irritated.
‘They keep pestering me without showing any real power.’
I could tolerate even a mischievous six-star Qi Condensation brat, but five hundred of them swarming over was now simply annoying.
‘But I don’t even feel the need to exert force against them…’
After a moment’s hesitation, I extended my hand outward.
* * *
Jin Weidu, a Foundation Establishment Grand Completion cultivator of the Jin Family, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
‘What is this feeling?’
It was there—something had been touched that shouldn’t have been.
But the clan lord’s order was final, and retreat was impossible now.
‘Damn it… Why did the clan lord insist on bringing that monstrous senior here…’
And yet he still didn’t know exactly what kind of monster the old man in front of him was. Even with five hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators on their side, there was zero agitation from our side.
‘Do they think we can handle even this? But we’ve already deployed the Heavenly Forest Great Array. If we back down now, it will be a fatal blow to the Jin Family’s honor!’
Just as he thought that…
Swoosh—
“…?”
A single hand emerged from outside the array.
‘What?’
Jin Weidu broke into a cold sweat and raised his law energy.
A burst of corrosive aura shot up the red staff.
‘I have a bad feeling about this. I must prepare!’
At that exact moment—
Uung—
A white sphere floated above the hand.
‘A pure spirit energy lump? No, this feels… similar to the internal energy wielded by those Wulin martial artists…’
And then—
Flash!
White light exploded, and the white sphere shot forward.
“…!”
Jin Weidu staggered back in shock.
But the next instant, the white sphere released a devastating flame technique. The surrounding heaven and earth spirit energy churned, and a scorching fire element law art erupted.
“Wha…!”
Fwoosh!
Jin Weidu hastily cast his own flame technique, but the white sphere’s flames devoured his fire-element arts wholesale.
Kwaaaar!
“Kuaaaaagh!”
Jin Weidu desperately tried to block the white sphere with all his strength.
‘This isn’t a mere pure spirit energy lump!’
“Senior Brother!”
“Everyone, activate the array!”
“Channel all power to Senior Brother!”
Fwoosh!
The Heavenly Forest Great Array activated. An overwhelming pressure of law energy slammed toward the white sphere.
Simultaneously, five hundred cultivators’ law powers connected and amplified.
Fwoosh!
Kwaaaang!
Hundreds of flame techniques poured toward the tiny sphere as if they were a tidal wave.
Kwaaaang!
The explosion echoed. The mountains and rivers trembled.
But the next moment, the eyes of Jin Weidu and the other senior cultivators widened in disbelief.
Beyond the smoke…
The white sphere was surrounded by rotating five elements spirit energy, blocking every flame technique that struck it.
“T-that’s… the Five Elements Path Scripture…?”
A cultivator muttered in awe.
But Jin Weidu immediately realized it was far from over.
‘It’s not the ordinary Five Elements Path Scripture. It’s the Five Elements Path Scripture pushed to its absolute limit… No one except a Pure Heavenly Venerable senior could reach this level of understanding. How is this possible…?! And that’s not all! Inside the five elements spirit energy, countless other law arts are also rotating!’
He swallowed hard.
‘So the true nature of that sphere is…’
He forced the words out.
“That… that senior’s Divine Outer Manifestation Secret Technique!”
“W-what?”
“Everyone, focus your awareness!”
Without hesitation, they extended their consciousness toward the white sphere.
In the world of awareness…
The sphere appeared completely different.
To the naked eye it was just a sphere, but with awareness it revealed the silhouette of a man in white robes!
And strangely, the man’s face remained hidden.
The heaven and earth spirit energy itself seemed to block any “recognition” of the face.
Uung!
The white sphere in the awareness realm formed seals.
Jin Weidu roared.
“That’s the senior’s Divine Outer Manifestation Secret Technique! It’s well known that when the inner energy of the Divine Outer Manifestation runs dry, it self-destructs! Channel everything into a full assault and exhaust its energy!”
Before the words even left his mouth, countless attacks rained down on the white sphere under Jin Weidu’s command.
Kugugugu!
The sea of crimson flames looked like it could swallow the world.
How long had the barrage continued?
Jin Weidu’s eyes bulged.
“…!!”
Gradually, their techniques were being pushed back.
The five elements law arts of the Divine Outer Manifestation swirled around it, chasing away every flame technique.
“H-how…!”
Jin Weidu gritted his teeth despite the terror.
‘Still, a technique of this output can’t last forever. Just hold on a little longer!’
He thought that.
But it was a terrible mistake.
Uuuung!
A full day and night passed.
Jin Weidu felt as if he had been hypnotized by a day-walking ghost.
‘W-why…’
It was strange.
The Divine Outer Manifestation that should have lost its energy had not only survived but was now suppressing them with even greater force than before.
‘How is this even possible!?’
He roared and clenched his teeth.
* * *
I looked at the strong incarnation inside the array.
Since I had reached the Heavenly Person realm, the heaven and earth spirit energy was entirely on my side.
Therefore, even though it was just an incarnation, I could freely draw heaven and earth spirit energy whenever my consciousness willed it.
Uuuuuung!
The Foundation Establishment cultivators hadn’t noticed.
But to my eyes, the nearby heaven and earth spirit energy was flowing straight into my strong incarnation.
The strong incarnation, despite being an incarnation, was absorbing heaven and earth spirit energy without end. It had grown even stronger than at the start.
If this continued for just a few more days, the outcome would be decided.
“Too bad…”
Still, I felt it was time to stop tormenting these poor children with the strong incarnation.
“Master. You’ve suffered enough. Allow me to handle this now.”
Hong Beom finally broke the seal and stepped out.
“It’s done.”
I shook my head and said.
“Tormenting those pitiful children ends here… I need to find out how they located us. I’m going to meet the clan lord.”
Swoosh—
I reached out to the Foundation Establishment cultivators still burning with fighting spirit.
I immediately created eight more strong incarnations and sent them soaring into the air.
It didn’t even take half a day for them to drain all their fighting spirit.
* * *
“Hmm… Is this the Buk Hyang-hwa?”
Jeon Myeong-hoon examined the “gift” brought by the Gongmo Sect envoy with a rather intrigued expression.
The Gongmo Sect envoy, Gongmo Hui, shook his head.
“Strictly speaking, it is an early-stage replica of the Seopmyeong Ship created by the great ancestor Buk Seon.”
“Hmph…”
“Senior Buk Seon, while repairing the Seopmyeong Ship, also created a replica of his own. It may not be as refined as the original, but it was the foundation for future Buk Hyang-hwa development. We accepted the technology transfer and received one of the early replicas from Senior Buk Seon. This precious object will now be handed over to the Gold Spirit Heavenly Thunder Sect.”
“Hmmm…”
Jeon Myeong-hoon gazed at the massive floating warship in front of the Gold Thunder Pavilion and took a deep breath.
‘It looks impressive on the surface… Honestly, isn’t this just a prototype? They’ve already mastered the upgraded Buk Hyang-hwa production technology through technology transfer, yet they’re still boasting about it.’
It wasn’t to his liking, but he felt a spark of interest in the spatial fluctuations emanating from the ship.
“A powerful ghost aura is flowing through it.”
“Yes, the early replicas were essentially just rough copies of the Seopmyeong Ship.”
“Hmmm…”
Jeon Myeong-hoon was well aware of Black Ghost Valley.
The Sumiye Three Great Sects.
The Human Six Great Sects.
And the once-mighty sect that once dominated the entire Sumiye Sea.
Among those legendary sects, the Seopmyeong Ship—called a divine object, a celestial treasure—was its most famous replica.
The Seopmyeong Ship, which was essentially the core identity of Black Ghost Valley.
‘The aura from the ship… is barely at the Core Formation level. But if the core power source is properly refined, it could reach the Heavenly Person realm in an instant.’
That same eerie chill he had felt when facing General Seo Eun-hyun now emanated from the ship.
Of course, it was nowhere near as intense as the General’s aura, merely diluted to about one-thousandth of the despair he once felt against a peer of that caliber.
More accurately, it was a faint sense of tension rather than fear.
But that alone was enough for Jeon Myeong-hoon to understand how exquisitely the ship had been crafted.
Especially the functional aspect of that “replica Seopmyeong Ship.”
‘With this level of spatial fluctuation…’
“Long-range spatial displacement should be entirely possible.”
“Of course it is. That goes without saying.”
“Indeed…”
He had dreamed of returning to the Gold Spirit Heavenly Thunder Sect aboard this Seopmyeong Ship.
At his current level, the Seopmyeong Ship would be insufficient, but the Buk Hyang-hwa would continue to evolve over the next thousand years. The Gold Spirit Heavenly Thunder Sect would have ample time to research the replicas they received.
‘If this is true, I can once again place the Gold Spirit Heavenly Thunder Sect upon the throne of the heavens!’
A thousand years later.
When the Ascension Gate reopened…
Jeon Myeong-hoon had vowed to return to the Gwanghan Realm aboard this replica Seopmyeong Ship.
At that moment—
Uuuung!
A golden light flew in from beside him.
A Core Formation elder disciple.
“Old Senior, news of Senior Seo has arrived. Right now he is in the Yeon Kingdom…”
The disciple carrying the news of Seo Eun-hyun rushed over and began whispering urgently in his ear.
Soon, Jeon Myeong-hoon’s eyes widened in shock as he pulled away from the Seopmyeong Ship.
“No… Seo Eun-hyun…!?”
* * *
“Hoo…”
I led the Foundation Establishment senior cultivators who had come to find me—led by Jin Weidu—back to the Jin Family headquarters.
And there, I learned why the Jin Family’s Core Formation clan lord had summoned me.
How they had found me.
It turned out they hadn’t been chasing my Heavenly Person position.
“Hoo… Senior seemed to have misunderstood something.”
I wiped the cold sweat from my brow and knelt before the clan lord, looking up at him before my gaze shifted to the creature behind him.
It was a centipede the size of a human.
Hong Beom and the centipede’s antennae met eyes.
“My beast… suddenly began twitching violently, reciting precise coordinates. That’s why I summoned you. My companion beast is nearing the end of its lifespan, and I read in an ancient text that consuming the inner core of a kin could extend its life…”
He had found Hong Beom through his companion beast.
And I knew exactly what that companion beast was.
“That thing from Deungsunhyang, right?”
“Yes, yes. Precisely, it was gathered from the center of the Dabcheon Desert… directly below Deungsunhyang.”
That was right.
The Qi Condensation low-tier centipede beast was Hong Beom’s kin.