Protection
Uwoong―
It felt like my consciousness had been jolted fully awake.
What should I even say?
Right now I was being chased by Gang Min-hee, yet I could see another path at the same time.
And it felt as if I already knew exactly how to walk it, step by step.
I could see it now.
This very instant.
How I was supposed to take this road.
What I had to do to walk it.
All of it was clear to me.
This was death and death.
And a road forged from blood and lives.
‘Janyanggwangmagong, bihonjinmagong, yeomma byeonui, sisik bipyorebon, anhonjingeol….’
I connected my Gimyoseongsimjeon with the Proportion Ritual, demanding knowledge of the demonic techniques.
I could not receive complete memories, but I could grasp the vague remnants.
The bihonjinmagong, yeomma byeonui, sisik bipyorebon, and anhonjingeol that Proportion had once seen.
Those scenes from Proportion’s memories of the techniques.
I integrated them with the Gwi-seon-gyu-ma-gyeol based on those scenes.
The integration came swiftly.
The complete patterns of the other techniques except Eun-ram’s and Yeomma Byeonui floated through my mind.
The absorption methods such as bihonjinmagong and sisik bipyorebon.
The emission methods such as janyanggwangmagong.
The ritual methods such as anhonjingeol.
And countless others.
They were realized, merged, and reborn anew within me, rooted in the Gwi-seon-gyu-ma-gyeol and illuminated by Proportion’s memories.
I could devour every ghost king that Gang Min-hee spewed forth and immediately convert it into power.
If I wished, I could even lower her strength to raise my own realm.
But.
‘Is this path truly right?’
Suddenly, before I even stepped onto the road, I wondered whether entering it was right.
I did not know why.
‘No, no….’
Thinking about it, it was obvious.
‘I am still….’
I did not want to sacrifice anyone.
Nor did I want to simply steal Gang Min-hee’s life.
Nor to devour the ghost kings who had already died once.
The way was something I had to obtain by weakening and weakening myself until I was left with nothing, ready to die at the end of the day.
How then could someone else’s sacrifice become my power?
What belonged to them belonged to them alone.
I could not turn theft into my own.
‘Fine.’
Chiiiiing―
I used the Gimyoseongsimjeon to extend my consciousness field.
And sent signals through my consciousness to every living creature in the Han-eum Swamp within a thousand-li radius.
Dudududududud!
The spirits of the Han-eum Swamp, having received my signal, panicked and fled.
In truth, most of them had already run when Gang Min-hee began using her power, and the remaining ones were those who could endure the residual shock of her strength—at least Core Formation or higher.
Each of them used their own techniques, such as flying or gliding, to cross a thousand li in the blink of an eye, and I used the newly created technique.
‘Then I shall not take what does not belong to me.’
I would not steal what belonged to another.
Instead, I would borrow it.
And the borrower would be the Heaven and Earth themselves, the ownerless world.
Kugugugugugu!
The land of the Han-eum Swamp within a thousand-li radius began to dry up even as the surrounding plants continued to grow in the cold.
The demonic technique I had made caused the life force of the Han-eum Swamp to vanish.
The technique.
Dae-mak-sa-hae-seong.
Beoseok―
Within an instant the entire Han-eum Swamp within a thousand li dried up and turned into a desert.
At the same time, every drop of life force and aura that had flowed through the Han-eum Swamp rushed into my core.
A technique that sacrificed no one had become my power.
I had gained strength while simultaneously seeing the path, yet I realized I had not actually entered it.
‘Main body.’
I cooled my cold head and transmitted my will to the main body.
‘Deliver the Ghost Realm secret technique to Yeon Wi. From now on, treat Gang Min-hee.’
The technique that had treated Heon-won.
A while later, the main body transmitted the complete pattern of the technique to me through Yeon Wi.
The technique of Bong-ryeong-hyu.
The name of the law that forcibly drove a wedge into a damaged mind and sealed it shut.
‘Main body, complete the technique of Bong-ryeong-hyu and pass it to me. After I challenge the Heavenly Person realm, I will receive the technique and heal Gang Min-hee.’
I sent my opinion to the main body and then prepared to transform the qi I had gathered through Dae-mak-sa-hae-seong into law power and reach the Heavenly Person realm.
Piing―
Gang Min-hee’s consciousness line targeted me.
I evaded her attack with the rapid San-gun-wol-aek-bi.
‘As I thought, her skill has long since surpassed the first-rate threshold.’
She had always been like that.
Suddenly I felt a surge of emotion toward Gang Min-hee.
* * *
‘First-rate….’
I received Seo Lip’s impression and gave a cold laugh.
‘Is it because of the Ghost King influence, or has Seo Lip become too sentimental?’
This was an overreaction.
Gang Min-hee had been first-rate?
Absolutely not.
Cheok, cheok!
While preparing the technique of Bong-ryeong-hyu that Yeon Wi had given me, I recalled the memories of the past.
A half-transparent silver chain formed between my fingers.
Like the Ohaeng Hyeoljubeon, the technique of Bong-ryeong-hyu was a law that spanned only halfway into the soul realm.
That was why I could complete it here and transmit it through consciousness to Seo Lip.
But I would not transmit my contempt for Seo Lip to him.
‘Seo Lip, lost in sentiment, is overestimating Gang Min-hee.’
Memories were being distorted by useless emotion.
The cold evaluation of Gang Min-hee was that, during her Earth days, she had only barely reached second-rate martial artist status.
It was simply that Seo Lip could not control his emotions and had raised the rating.
‘I will pass the Bong-ryeong-hyu to you, Seo Lip. Become cold. Don’t you think something is wrong with you right now?’
* * *
‘Is there a problem? With me?’
I wondered whether my memory of Gang Min-hee’s strength had been adjusted somehow.
But I thought the main body had become too cold for no reason.
As if ice had formed inside my head.
‘…I see. I was careless.’
I sensed my suspicion and received the Bong-ryeong-hyu from the main body.
At the same time I evaded Gang Min-hee’s consciousness line and half-closed my eyes.
Chuchuchuchuch―
Yet I covered the surroundings with my consciousness field.
There was a difference between a martial artist’s consciousness field and a Taoist’s.
A Taoist’s field was transparent.
It was clear, but one could only sense it; nothing else was possible.
But a martial artist’s field was the color of all things.
Everything could be seen.
Among them, the red line and blue line that had evolved into fields.
The ‘red field’ and the ‘blue field’ had been important areas in combat.
The red field was the area where every path the opponent could attack was overlapped and overlapped throughout the entire one li.
And the blue field was the area where every path I could attack was overlapped and overlapped.
Red and blue.
And these red and blue fields most closely resembled the two colors of consciousness I knew.
The rage of the Seven Bright Ones and the sorrow of the Seven Bright Ones.
Rage was easy to understand.
Because the hostility sent by the opponent most closely resembled rage.
Then what did the deep green-blue of the blue field and my optimized path blue field mean?
‘Ho (護).’
The essence of sorrow was self-protection.
Therefore the consciousness that extended from oneself was expressed as the blue consciousness optimized for protecting and guarding oneself.
For some reason, I suddenly recalled the conversation I had had with Tae Yeol-jeon.
While she had been discussing the Seven Kings with me, she explained the Yuryu-ho-cheonwang like this.
―The Yuryu-ho-cheonwang, who wears armor made of yuryu (blue glass stone), is a king who protects and guards humans from pain and suffering. Because he exists, human beings can fall wounded, yet they will eventually rise again under his protection. Therefore he symbolizes the law of protection.
Why was that?
I felt that Gang Min-hee, wearing sharp Ghost Dao, looked fragile as if she had sharpened her fangs to protect herself.
Like glass.
Her consciousness field was entirely red.
But viewed from her perspective, that red was all blue to protect herself.
I had to pierce through that blue armor and drive the Bong-ryeong-hyu into her soul.
Could I pierce it?
Or was it permissible to pierce it?
Under that thought, I pushed through the storm of the Ghost Dao and began to approach Gang Min-hee step by step.
At the same time my realm began to rise.
Kiiiiing―
The blood shadow I had planted in Won-yu’s body began to harmonize with me under my influence.
Heavenly Person integration!
Chun ji-seon-i-rip.
The complete pattern of the Heavenly Person realm flashed through my mind at high speed.
At the same time Won-yu’s soul gradually turned into a giant ghost king.
Along with it, Won-yu’s blood body.
I felt Seo Lip’s body gradually turning into a ghost object beyond its own realm.
Gradually the skin became translucent and blue Ghost Dao ripples appeared here and there.
The immense Heaven and Earth power I had gathered through Dae-mak-sa-hae-seong changed through my enlightenment.
Early Heavenly Person realm.
Ha bul-hok-cheon-myeong.
Mid Heavenly Person realm.
Chudong cheon-sun-jong-sim.
Late Heavenly Person realm!
I digested the immense Heaven and Earth energy without losing even a single thread inside my body.
The more I did so, the more I gradually became a perfect ghost object and could approach Gang Min-hee.
Gradually my body grew larger, and here and there two skulls formed of ghost bones rose up like General Seo’s, completing my head.
I stood before Gang Min-hee as a ghost king with eighteen heads.
Buwoong!
Her Ghost Dao tore through the void and targeted me.
I held the Bong-ryeong-hyu and half-closed my eyes in which Ghost Dao burned.
[Perhaps, Gang Min-hee.]
Heavenly Person Integration Grand Completion.
Cheon-won kao-jong-myeong.
[What we liked back then may not have been just a joke.]
With every single step I took,
Her consciousness leaked out.
And my own consciousness leaked out.
I observed myself and could clearly see why Gang Min-hee had been unpleasant.
Thinking about it, how long had it been since I had faced her so boldly?
Perhaps we had genuinely fallen in love back then.
Perhaps because it was sincere we had felt unpleasant with each other; because it was sincere we had merely treated each other as jokes.
‘I cannot know everything that causes you sorrow.’
But before the unpleasant relationship.
Couldn’t I at least be a little kinder to you as a friend?
I drove the Bong-ryeong-hyu into her heart with sincerity.
The single strike I had entered, expecting her Ghost Dao to pierce my body.
But, surprisingly, the Bong-ryeong-hyu simply passed straight through the inside of her blue field.
I did not know whether it was because her martial path was insufficient or because she had allowed me.
But clearly.
I had reached her.
Kwadeudeuk!
If the realm gap had been large, it would have been impossible for the mind to seal without one party lowering their own realm, as Yeon Wi and Heon-won had done.
But it was Heavenly Person Integration Grand Completion and early Four Pillars.
That was not so difficult.
At that moment.
Wiiiiing―
I glimpsed a faint pinkish consciousness among the blue consciousnesses.
And now I could hear its whisper with clear reason.
‘Ah ah….’
I remembered receiving gifts from those children before.
The children I had blessed on my wedding day passed before my eyes, and at the same time the voice of a majestic being filled my brain with a complete pattern.
Jiiiiing―
It was the complete pattern of Heavenly Person Integration Grand Completion.
Not merely kao-jong-myeong, but an entirely different pattern.
[Was this the price I paid for blessing them…? ]
Then why had I not received it until now?
Why had I received it only now, after using Seo Lip’s body?
That was the question that gnawed at me the most.
Chiiiiing―
Suddenly I realized that the Bong-ryeong-hyu had entered Gang Min-hee’s inner world and sealed part of her consciousness.
Suddenly we had returned from the form of a ghost object to the human form.
In the center of the desert-turned Han-eum Swamp we faced each other as morning dawned.
“…It wasn’t a shadow.”
Gang Min-hee looked at me for a moment in silence, then gave a bitter smile.
“Then you are Seo Eun-hyun.”