The Mirage of the Ghost King
I slowly pulled the main body's vital energy through this flesh, gathering it from the core.
It was merely lending power to this vessel, and what he chose to do with it was his own choice.
There was no need for me to interfere directly in his karmic ties.
Whoosh―
I drew in the surrounding qi through the vital force and wove a barrier.
The hastily formed shield was crude, yet even that was enough to block the foundation-stage cultivator's attack.
Kwaaa―
“Grrr, you bastard! What kind of sorcery is this?!”
Scarlet flames assaulted the shield in a frenzy.
‘What kind of spiritual root does this fellow possess? Ah, water and metal… but he hasn't fully refined both, only reaching foundation stage through basic water-attribute laws.’
I ignored the old man glowing above my shield, swinging his flame spear wildly while vibrating the spiritual energy within my body.
Whoong―
Heavenly Person-stage water-attribute heaven's will was ultimately just a lower form of vital force.
Using water-element power as a medium to activate vital force.
Kugugugu!
In an instant, the sky darkened.
The foundation-stage cultivators below noticed something amiss and looked up at the heavens.
[Rain.]
And as I reached out toward the sky.
Shwaaaaa―
Rain began to fall.
Heavy downpours hammered the burning land in all directions.
[Fixed.]
I anchored the heavenly phenomenon above the sky itself.
For the next seven days and nights, rain would pour down across the entire region.
And only then did the foundation-stage leader, noticing the anomaly, widen his eyes in shock.
“W-wait… your eyes… are they inverted…? Y-yes! Spirit attachment! You're channeling power from some high-level existence!”
I moved the man's body to scan the surrounding foundation-stage cultivators.
They flinched and quickly averted their gazes, only to jolt in horror the moment they met my eyes.
“T-that shadow…”
“It has transformed into a monster with nineteen heads…”
“Shh! Everyone stay quiet!”
The foundation-stage leader, though still calculating, refrained from rash action and formed a seal to speak.
“You worm, Yu-hwi! Have you truly granted your body to that sinister existence?! Snap out of it!”
Whoong―
As if it were part of some technique, the foundation-stage cultivator's voice stirred the consciousness.
‘A form of consciousness-restraining method… I should try speaking to the one I occupy.’
Even with my consciousness, I could have silenced the voice, but I deliberately left it unhindered.
A moment later, I felt the man's consciousness beginning to stir within the body I had taken.
“K-kheh…”
Yu-hwi moved his lips in a mocking smile.
“Why so angry, old man? Keep attacking! I have successfully connected with a great being and borrowed their power!”
“Grr, you fool! This is merely a matter between your family and ours! How dare you borrow power from such a vicious otherworldly existence!”
The old man glared at Yu-hwi with boiling rage.
“Snap out of it! Are you trying to drag otherworldly power into this land?!”
“What can I do…! If this land is something I can never possess anyway, then what does it matter!”
“Grr, what sort of mischief was that otherworldly being planning when you accepted him!”
‘…Won't do anything of the sort.’
I cleared my throat internally and spoke aloud.
[Enough chatter. Withdraw.]
Whoong―
I reversed the vital force, converting it into repulsive force.
Kuuwoong―
“Guaaaah, Yu-hwi! Think carefully! That being is a vicious otherworldly existence!!!”
Most foundation-stage cultivators were blasted hundreds of li away, but the leader stubbornly held his ground, roaring at the top of his lungs.
From the consciousness, it seemed he truly feared and worried about the existence called ‘me.’
“You must never trust any otherworldly being! I speak not as an enemy, but as the Duke of the Dream Continent! They are vicious, cruel, without compassion or mercy…”
‘…Not that extreme….’
“They are beings that can never be trifled with!”
I increased the repulsive force slightly, and the foundation-stage leader finally couldn't hold on any longer and flew away.
Whoosh―
Not only the leader, but all the foundation-stage cultivators who had been rampaging in the area fled in panic.
I observed Yu-hwi's body in thought.
‘If it were me, I could turn this into a nascent soul right now….’
Simply stuffing the world with heavenly qi would have sufficed for that.
But gazing at Yu-hwi's soul, I clicked my tongue.
‘If I did that, his soul would shatter immediately. I barely managed to attach even one thread of my consciousness to him before he was on the verge of breaking apart.’
Even raising him to core formation stage would have been difficult.
Whoong―
What I could still do was activate pathways within his body, granting a blessing that would make the twenty-eight layers of foundation stage far easier to ascend.
[I shall take my leave now. And I will claim the price for the power I lent.]
I had heard that once one reached integration or star-shattering stages, there were far more varied prices to claim after lending power.
But ordinary foundation-stage cultivators were limited in what they could receive.
The five treasures were longevity, wealth, health, Yu Ho-deok, and Gogeun-myung.
Why did longevity always come first among the five treasures.
The reason was simple.
‘Longevity is the most fundamental resource when building the five treasures.’
To accumulate the longevity treasure, one must receive something precious related to lifespan.
Hence, they directly took the length of their lifespan.
For the wealth treasure, one must receive something precious related to affluence.
And since longer lifespans provided more opportunities to accumulate wealth, longevity was naturally linked to wealth.
The same went for the health treasure.
And health was life force, which was also tied to lifespan.
Yu Ho-deok's case was slightly different, but it could still be obtained through lifespan.
Thus, those stacking the five treasures' rewards almost always took only the length of their lifespan from others.
Of course, the majority would take every remaining year of lifespan upon lending power, but I could not bring myself to do so and only took ten years.
Whoong―
Opening my eyes, the Gongryeong-ji lake glowed brightly, and within it shone a auspicious aura.
It was Yu-hwi's lifespan.
Following Yeon-wi's instructions, I inserted the lifespan into the formation and offered a simple prayer.
[Oh realm of the nether ghost. I offer a lifespan that someone precious held dear to me. Please bestow upon me the treasure of longevity.]
Whoong―
The nether realm itself resonated, and Yu-hwi's lifespan was received.
At the same time, the yin energy moved, forming a beam of light and embedding itself in the side of my dantian.
Fwaaaat!
‘This is….’
A very small, tower-like thing…
Or perhaps a toothpick-sized rod.
It was lodged into the side of my dantian, next to the wealth treasure's position, taking root.
‘This is the foundation of the longevity treasure….’
If I repeated this roughly a thousand times, I could accumulate the longevity treasure.
‘A thousand times….’
To truly build the longevity treasure, one needed to receive a lifespan of ten thousand years.
I sat quietly and pondered.
Taking a ten-thousand-year lifespan from someone.
No matter how small the piece, was this truly right?
While I was lost in thought, Yeon-wi clicked her tongue in displeasure.
“It seems you only took a mere ten years. What realm was the one who lent you power?”
“Foundation stage.”
“No! Then you could have taken the remaining lifespan and gained three hundred years! Where did you sell the three-hundred-year lifespan and why only ten years?!”
Yeon-wi scowled, looking aggrieved as she scolded me mercilessly.
“What… there's no need for that.”
“No need at all! After all, the result of a transaction they agreed to with open eyes!”
“Fair…”
Indeed, if they had agreed, it could have appeared fair.
But I still found the method distasteful, and I had decided to only take the minimum lifespan I could manage to accumulate the treasure.
I let Yeon-wi's scolding slide in one ear and nodded.
“Understood. Next time, I will think more carefully.”
“You idiot, you have no intention of listening to me at all!”
“Oh dear…”
She sulked like a horned bull and tried to leave the underground chamber.
Then.
Kugugung!
“Hmm…?”
Suddenly, the entire Mugeuk Sect trembled.
I quickly transformed into my ghost king form and my eyes gleamed.
Yeon-wi looked toward the ceiling of the underground chamber with narrowed eyes.
“Oh? It seems intruders have arrived.”
“Kuhm…”
I was about to rush out and punish them immediately, but realized that dawn was approaching soon and I sat back down in the seat of the elder.
“Stay here. I'll go have a look at who those bold fools are. The guardians will handle it, so don't worry.”
Hearing that, I created a clone of the illusory body, sent it to report the situation, and waited right there.
‘I hope they don't come all the way here….’
* * *
Kugugugugu―
Mugeuk Sect.
Inside the sect's territory, within the training grounds for the disciples.
Three human figures appeared there.
Baek Rin, the 13th Guardian Ghost King of Mugeuk Sect, wearing a skeleton's body.
Eum-wa, the head of the shadow-masked sect, wearing a shroud of darkness.
Yu-sihon, the head of the sect that spat out green miasma from his entire body.
The three foundation-stage cultivators stepped onto the training ground and shivered.
“How barbaric! What did you do to the ghosts you kidnapped?!”
In their eyes, a few ghosts inside puppets appeared.
The ghosts, made solely for use as puppets and cursed dolls, all had slightly grotesque appearances.
“Locking the ghosts into these narrow, suffocating cursed dolls! You truly understand the mad teacher's hobbies!”
Eum-wa roared with explosive fury.
“How monstrously ugly! How did you even come up with such horrific monsters?!”
Yu-sihon screamed, staring at the puppet resembling General Seo.
And the ghost who received the puppet resembling General Seo screamed in rage.
[You bastard! How dare you insult me, the ghost who was given the puppet of the form most cherished by the sect master!]
“Wait, you must be… the head of the Gonggol Sect, a subordinate of our Baekmaek Sect, right?”
Baek Rin recognized the voice of the ghost and was startled.
The puppet resembling General Seo nodded his head.
[Correct. I was indeed the head of Gonggol Sect.]
“You have no pride in your sect!? How could you abandon the loyalty owed to our superior sect and become a pawn for the demonic path!”
[Hmph, pride in the sect? There was some, but after joining Mugeuk Sect, it changed. Pride or not, the first thing our disciples are taught is the gong-gwi-gyeol, and those who wish for a peaceful life can only truly be satisfied by a sect that provides excellent welfare. Have you ever given welfare or benefits to your subordinate sects? You only demand tribute while promising to protect when in danger! Instead, I decided to pledge loyalty to Mugeuk Sect, which grants the best welfare, benefits, and quality of life!]
“What nonsense! You've already fallen completely under the brainwashing techniques of that sinister sect!”
Baek Rin looked at his former subordinate who had become a fanatic and could only sigh at the evil actions of the demonic path.
“Move aside! No matter how brainwashed or fanatic you have become, I cannot kill my former subordinate, so I will give you an opportunity!”
[Former subordinate my ass! The slave I used to rule is now a fanatic disciple seeking welfare! You filthy exploiters, today we end it here!]
The head of Gonggol Sect roared in fury instead.
[I-w-i-l-l-d-e-s-t-r-o-y-You!!]
Kugugugugu!
Kaka-gak, kakakakak―
And at the same time, the ghosts who had received puppets' bodies from Seo Eun-hyun gathered at the Gongmul Sect master's command.
In an instant, the western training grounds of Mugeuk Sect were filled with countless cursed dolls.
The three foundation-stage cultivators stood in front of the countless dolls with tense expressions.
Pale skin, pure white skeleton, bodies of sturdy shambling corpses… not those, but stiff, lifeless puppets.
Moreover, since they could not change expressions at will, they always maintained the same blank face, making them look even more bizarre.
They burned with rage as they gazed at the pitiful ghosts who had become puppets.
But then, Yu-sihon looked up at the sky.
“Hey, Baek Rin, Eum-wa!”
“What is it?”
“We don't have much time. If we drag this out here, dawn will break and the sect master will come himself.”
“Umm…”
“That…”
Yu-sihon’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the two.
“I will stop them. You two, run to the sect master and sever the root of this evil sect!”
“Umm…!”
“Yu-sihon…”
“Hurry and go ahead!”
Yu-sihon stepped forward and his body began to grow larger.
Kugugugu!
The miasma he exhaled turned into fur.
Yu-sihon gradually transformed into a bizarre beast and roared.
[Kuaaaaa!]
The transformed beast Yu-sihon blocked the army of cursed dolls, and Baek Rin and Eum-wa, watching the scene, swore their resolve with trembling voices.
“Yu-sihon!”
“Come quickly! The precious gap created by sacrificing the sect master!”
Baek Rin led Eum-wa and swiftly passed through the training ground into the heart of the sect.
At first, Eum-wa seemed powerless, but he soon steadied himself and ran with Baek Rin through the inner sect.
How far had they run through the inner sect?
The two ghosts suddenly noticed something strange.
“Wait, Sect Master Baek. The surroundings…”
“Indeed. It's a formation.”
Fwaaaat!
The two ghosts were now running across a misty grassland.
“I will dismantle the formation. You, keep watch.”
“Yes.”
Just as Baek Rin formed a seal to break through the formation.
Slosh, slosh…
From within the mist, someone entered.
“Who are you?!”
Eum-wa widened his eyes and shouted toward the figure emerging from the mist.
And the figure who walked out of the mist.
Kim Yeon, a woman wearing a reddish-pink palace attire, greeted them politely.
“Greetings, I am Kim Yeon, serving as the left guardian of Mugeuk Sect.”
“Grr, the strange ghost king!”
“Of all things, I had to run into the most vicious, cruel, and sinister existence!”
Baek Rin and Eum-wa were bewildered, and Kim Yeon looked at the two with a faint smile.
“You two cannot pass through here.”
Baek Rin and Eum-wa looked at each other and nodded.
“We know you are the one responsible for the brainwashing of this sinister Mugeuk Sect. But that also means that if you subdue you, it will create a way to undo the brainwashing of the good ghosts as well.”
Baek Rin gazed at Kim Yeon with a solemn voice and spoke.
“I will kill you and free everyone from the brainwashing!”
