The Mad Ghost of 19 Heads
All the ghosts of the Myeonggwi Realm craved one thing above all else: the flesh of the living.
Even if they could not claim a living body, they longed for any vessel that allowed possession—whether a strong zombie corpse or the form of a wall ghost—so they could cling to existence.
The reason was simple.
They were all ghosts. And they were always tormented by the Yin Qi of the Underworld.
There were three main ways to endure that Yin Qi.
The first was to simply consume their own cultivation to survive. Only a Ghost King who had reached at least the Sachuk stage could manage it.
The second was to capture another ghost, sacrifice it as a substitute, and temporarily weaken their own Yin Qi. This was usually done between bitter rivals or by extremely cruel evil ghosts during dark magic rites. But each time they performed it, the death they carried grew stronger, and the Yin Qi only became more intense. It was an unpopular method even among demons.
And the third was to obtain a “body.”
A wall ghost’s wall, a decaying zombie corpse, or any vessel that suited them at least somewhat would allow them to free themselves from the Underworld’s grip.
Among these, a living body held the highest value. Even a Ghost King with an immense amount of death could become immensely free from the Underworld’s influence if they entered a living body. Their flesh might lose its vitality, but they could act with almost the same freedom as in life.
Of course, over time the body would become that of a corpse. It was not perfect. Yet in the Myeonggwi Realm, the most effective tool for extending lifespan was precisely a living body.
Moreover, once a Ghost King possessed a living body, the “death” they carried was hidden inside it and could not be easily sensed.
Yet the mad ghost before me was wielding a monstrous quantity of death, shaped and split across nineteen heads.
That part I could understand.
Long-term cultivation in the deep parts of the Myeonggwi Realm could lead to such a state. So could being corroded by a Fissure-Opening True Immortal who had peeked too long at the heavens and learned demonic arts.
He was the puppet of a Fissure-Opening True Immortal, so I did not know when he might go berserk. Still, he remained a sane existence by ordinary standards.
But could a being who carried such insane levels of death actually possess a living body?
“Th-there… the appearance has changed, but the aura of death has not vanished at all…”
The pressure of the Ghost Dao Technique I had deliberately shown him had been nothing but the ordinary death aura I always emitted.
That meant two possibilities.
The first was that this madman had deliberately acquired a living body only to commit suicide nineteen times and thereby obtain this insane death.
The second was that he had sacrificed tens or hundreds of thousands of other ghosts as substitutes, allowing his own death to grow stronger, until he reached this state.
Either way, he was a madman and an evil ghost of the highest order.
“Hold on. If it were the first case, the death form would be so clear only if those suicides were not some technique or rite but true deaths. Only True Immortals or Death Servants could do that… He must have obtained living bodies by the hundreds and then performed those suicide rites.”
As the lord of Heukryuseong, I had no idea what answer to give to this first mad ghost I had ever encountered.
“Answer me, Lord of Heukryuseong. Why do you all run the moment you see my face? In the Myeonggwi Realm, do you fear living bodies? Or is this face just that terrifying?”
The mad ghost walked straight toward me, expression serious, and I began to tremble.
“What in the world are you asking me for? Wait… does this mad ghost really not know?”
A single possibility flashed through my mind.
“So that’s it! The repeated dangerous suicide rites have caused him to lose his memories! I heard that losing one’s self during Ghost Dao cultivation is common, and this must be what they meant.”
I asked him carefully.
“U-um, honored sir… you wouldn’t by chance intend to offer me as a sacrifice, would you?”
“I have no such intention.”
“Great! So he is not the evil ghost who sacrificed millions of ghosts! That matches my guess after all!”
I quietly wiped my chest and explained the situation to Seo Eun-hyun.
* * *
“…So…”
I understood the situation.
In the end, revealing my living body had only made things worse.
The mad ghost with nineteen heads was still a normal monster possessing the peculiarities of a technique and the danger of a True Immortal.
But a madman or an evil ghost who enjoyed offering vast quantities of substitutes while carrying a living body and emitting that level of death as a baseline was something else entirely.
“So it seems that whenever a Ghost Dao Technique is involved, the result is always a mad ghost.”
And I could also understand why ghosts from the Myeonggwi Realm reacted differently from ghosts of other realms.
“The Myeonggwi Realm has always suppressed death aura with the gaze of the ‘upper ranks.’ That is why the ghosts here can function normally even in the presence of greater ghosts… but at the same time, they can no longer intuitively judge death. They must rely only on shape, size, and rough aura to judge opponents. And to you, honored sir… that ‘roughly perceived’ death aura alone would feel extremely dangerous…”
“…”
In short, my very existence was fatal to the ghosts of the Myeonggwi Realm.
“…Damn it. Would living with nineteen heads have been better after all?”
I let out a small sigh and greeted the lord of Heukryuseong.
“Well, thank you for the useful information.”
When I had been in the Gwanghan Realm, everyone had carried a living body, so this problem had never occurred to me.
Yeon Wi, too, had not taught me because she, being alive herself, did not know the details.
“No, honored sir. If anyone could understand the profound Ghost Dao of a being like you, it would be you. It is my honor to be of service.”
Mango bowed deeply and smiled.
The fear I had once seen in his eyes had lessened, and a spark of hope now glimmered in his eye sockets—perhaps he hoped to snatch some benefit from me.
“Fortunately, things turned out well. This fellow would be useful. I shall keep him as a subordinate when I build my forces.”
I felt the momentum shift. Without looking at the sky, I turned my gaze to the horizon.
“Oh… now it is ‘night’.”
Countless true stars rose above me, the yin energy of the heavens growing stronger and the gazes of the Fissure-Opening True Immortals hidden behind them.
“The night of the Myeonggwi Realm… is beautiful.”
I gazed at the yin energy filling the sky and the countless stars piercing it, and let out a small sigh of admiration.
The Myeonggwi Realm was brighter at night than during the day.
Since the True Immortals’ gazes were now concealed by starlight, there was no need to worry.
I lifted my head to look at the sky.
At that moment, a question flashed through my mind.
“Hold on. The Myeonggwi Realm always suppressed death with the gaze of True Immortals… if that gaze is hidden behind starlight, what happens?”
The answer came immediately.
“Kyaaaaah! A great ghost!!!”
Mango, who had only moments ago been answering my question with hidden anticipation, now shrieked madly in his low intelligence, abandoned his own skeleton body, fled Heukryuseong, and disappeared somewhere.
“…”
A low humming sound rose.
The wall ghost that had been guarding Heukryuseong’s walls had also felt my death and fled with them.
When I swept the entire city with my consciousness, nothing remained.
Heukryuseong, once the site of a ghost feast, had become a ruined city because every ghost had fled because of me alone.
The first day I fell in the Myeonggwi Realm.
I had succeeded in exterminating Heukryuseong.
* * *
“So, did you obtain no information?”
“None.”
“Hmph… unfortunate. It cannot be helped. Fortunately, I already have some.”
Thanks to the efforts of Yeon Wi, Hong Beom, Jeon Myeong-hoon, and Kim Yeon, we had obtained considerable information from the lower reaches.
“First, the place we fell into is the Baekum Realm. It lies between the domains of the Yeomgwi Palace and the Bongrae Island, and is one of the two zones where the two powers maintain an absolute ceasefire.”
She continued her explanation.
“And there is good fortune. The Baekum Realm contains an element essential for stacking the Ogijowon pillars.”
I recalled the explanation she had given earlier.
There were several prerequisites for stacking the Ogijowon pillars.
First, a True Immortal or a Core Boundary that presided over the concept of that pillar.
Second, a “force” that gathered the materials needed to build the pillar.
And the final element was “Gongryeong-ji.”
Of course, the first two were either impossible to obtain by one’s own strength or too easy, so Yeon Wi’s excitement made sense.
What remained was the last one.
“So… there is a Gongryeong-ji in this Baekum Realm?”
“Haha, yes. From what I heard, one of the reasons this place became a ceasefire zone was that the two powers—the Yeomgwi Palace and the Bongrae Island—fought pointless battles over the Gongryeong-ji here for too long, eventually agreeing to abandon it together.”
The Gongryeong-ji was an extremely important resource.
For any force seeking to stack the Ogijowon pillars, it was indispensable. Even for forces unaware of the pillars, it served as an enormous talent pool, easily gathering exceptional geniuses from the lower realms.
But according to Yeon Wi, using the Gongryeong-ji merely as a talent supplier was an enormous waste.
“Of course it is a waste. Yet it is still an opportunity to sweep up countless geniuses, so it remains important. But the Gongryeong-ji in the Baekum Realm is much smaller than expected, so its role as a talent supplier is almost nonexistent. Occasionally, yes, but only in the end… In the end, the two sects seem to have declared an absolute ceasefire over this Gongryeong-ji because it brought them no benefit.”
“Hmm. If that is the case, it would still be useful for escaping the Myeonggwi Realm in an emergency.”
The reason we had fallen into the Baekum Realm of the Myeonggwi Realm was undoubtedly influenced by the Gongryeong-ji.
Therefore, the Gongryeong-ji held the potential to open shortcuts far more easily than other places.
“By the way, since it is not the Yeomgwi Palace or the Bongrae Island, who is currently managing the Gongryeong-ji in the Baekum Realm?”
“I was about to explain that. The Three Great Ghost Dao Sects of the Baekum Realm—the Baekmaemun, the Wiumun, and the Sihu-jong—jointly manage the Gongryeong-ji. Apparently they do not stack the Ogijowon pillars but only use it as a talent supplier. It is like pulling pearls from a pig’s neck.”
Yeon Wi smiled wickedly and glanced alternately at me and Jeon Myeong-hoon.
“You understand, don’t you? Tear those pearls from the pig’s neck and carry out the plan I proposed, Eun-hyun! Grow our forces, stack the pillars!”
Jeon Myeong-hoon and I exchanged glances, smiled faintly, and nodded.
“Of course.”
Information had been gathered. The plan had been set.
All that remained was to act.
So Jeon Myeong-hoon and I moved.
* * *
The Baekmaemun, a sect that practiced the Hollow Bone Command Technique.
The Wiumun, a sect that practiced shadow and Ghost King series techniques.
The Sihu-jong, a sect that practiced zombie and zombie control techniques.
The Baekum Realm was a peaceful zone where the three sects coexisted in harmony.
The three sects also took turns using the Gongryeong-ji, and the sect leaders maintained excellent relations.
But peace, too, is not eternal.
One day, an incident occurred in the Baekum Realm.
A mad ghost with nineteen heads and a mad ghost carrying six shadows appeared, occupied the Gongryeong-ji—the secret ground of the three sects—and began acts of madness.
Moreover, these vicious monsters did not stop there. They abducted the ghosts, zombies, and hollow bones that had peacefully lived across the Baekum Realm and forced them to labor in the territory they had seized.
The sudden appearance of the mad ghost and the absurd crime he committed led the Three Great Sects of the Baekum Realm to summon an emergency strategy meeting.
The three sect masters, all Sachuk-stage experts, gathered at the Baekmaemun with stiff expressions.
The convener of this strategy meeting was Baek-rin, the Baekmaemunju.
He spoke in a heavy voice.
“Everyone gathered here knows why. Today we will discuss the mad ghost who suddenly appeared in the Baekum Realm, occupied the Gongryeong-ji, and then committed atrocities there, and the evil cult—the Murim Cult Union—that he established in the Gongryeong-ji area and uses as a tool to abduct the ghosts of the entire Baekum Realm.”