A Regressor’s Tale of Cultivation Chapter 397
Yuk Yo swallowed a huge gulp, her eyes spinning wildly as she scattered the countless law talismans she had stolen and gulped down pills one after another.
“Hic… hic…”
The scarlet demon fire surged over her. She gritted her teeth and dodged, her movements clumsy and erratic.
‘Fortunately, I haven’t regained my senses yet, so the hit rate is low.’
Yuk Yun possessed only the early Heavenly Person realm. With her mind shattered, she was little more than a marionette being pulled by strings.
That was why she was still alive.
Yet something felt wrong.
‘Did my father really leave a person with a shattered mind right beside the Hyeon-go Paper? That’s impossible. No matter how I look at it, it’s strange.’
She knew Yuk Rin never would have done that.
‘This is odd. I keep coming back to the same thought.’
If the Yuk Rin she knew wouldn’t have done this, there was only one answer.
‘Something must have happened to my father.’
Perhaps he had already stepped into the early stages of Possession Madness.
Or maybe the body of Yuk Ung had split his mind.
Either way, this was not the Yuk Rin she knew.
‘Come to think of it, since we returned from Bongrae-do, he’s been a little calmer toward me.’
Before, if I tried to run away he would seal my power and hang me on the cliffs of Jeongryong-do for half a year. He didn’t care if I died.
But now he just locks me in a basement prison for a hundred years like some ordinary criminal.
Of course, if I were a normal person I’d be dead from starvation and thirst. But since I’m a Half-Underwater Dragon who can’t rot, I survive.
I understand now.
‘It all started right after we left Bongrae-do. Why? Because we visited Bongrae-do? Or because I started serious training with the Sea Dragon’s Inner Palace? Or because the biggest obstacle—Jungbokwang and the Demon Cult—were trapped in Bongrae-do?’
The huge skeletal law formation hovered above Yuk Yun’s head.
‘Insane… what kind of demonic art is that?’
She wiped cold sweat from her forehead and lifted the stolen law artifacts from Jeongryong Palace.
That was when—
“What? Are you crazy?”
Yuk Yo glared at Baek Rin, who was humming with vibrating bones at her waist.
“Mumble mumble mumble…”
Yuk Yun gathered the power of the demonic art and chanted a spell. Baek Rin’s jaw rattled even louder.
“No, it’s not disbelief…”
Yuk Yo alternated anxious glances between Baek Rin and the skeletal formation, then squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed the bones.
“Fine, I get it!”
Boom!
And the skeletal formation moved.
At the same time, Yuk Yo hurled the bones straight at it!
The bones struck and exploded into dust.
“Ah…”
Yuk Yo’s face went blank.
Too ridiculous. Baek Rin was dead.
“No…”
She couldn’t even feel sorrow.
[Kiyaaaaaaa!]
The skeletal formation screamed as it was swallowed by her demonic fire.
The red skeletal form gathered fire in its hands and began to attack, ears flaring like flames from its eye sockets.
And just as despair set in for Yuk Yo—
Crumble…
Yuk Yun’s skeletal formation.
Its fingertips gradually turned snow-white.
[Eh…?]
Yuk Yun stared at the formation with strange eyes, her gaze darkening.
Somehow the formation no longer obeyed her will.
[Ugh… grr!]
She poured demonic energy into the formation, but the size only grew larger while the whitening did not slow.
And finally!
Shatter!
The skeletal form turned completely snow-white.
It began to burn with a blue flame.
In an instant—
Flash!
The form blazed white-hot, and twenty-eight semi-transparent black nails shot out from inside.
Yuk Yo’s eyes widened in recognition.
Twenty-eight golden nails that had sealed Baek Rin’s Heavenly Origin Essence and suppressed his law power!
‘Those are coming out…’
The immense pressure descended on the sealed room.
Both Yuk Yo and Yuk Yun dropped to their knees, but her eyes sparkled.
Then, amid the white light, the powder clumped together and a figure took shape.
Crumble…
The light faded, and the figure opened its mouth.
The entire body was skeletal, wearing a pristine white long robe. A Ghost Cultivator.
[The Thirteenth Guardian Ghost King of the Mugeuk Sect, Baek Rin. I have resurrected to protect Her Royal Highness Yuk Yo.]
“As expected… too late.” >
Baek Rin withdrew the pressure from Yuk Yo and pointed a finger at Yuk Yun.
Yuk Yun, still confused, exploded into dust the moment the finger touched her.
He reached toward the spot.
A moment later, Yuk Yun’s bones and a strand of her soul floated into his palm.
“What do you plan to do with them?”
[Refine them into ghostly artifacts…]
“You’re going to use them as law talismans?”
[No… I will grant you citizenship in the Realm of Eternal Echo and let you live a new life.]
Baek Rin laughed dryly.
[I didn’t kill you out of hatred. Your body was completely eroded by demonic energy, so I had no choice. I heard a girl once fell to her death in Jeongryong-do after a subordinate’s mistake during the Jungbokwang era. She must have been you. I was going to deliver you to your parents.]
“Ah… if her soul was tainted by demonic energy, refining it with a law talisman would have been powerful. What a shame.”
Baek Rin turned to her, curious.
[You said you only saw illusions anyway, didn’t you? Why would you crave an illusion?]
“Well, it’s an illusion. What’s the difference if I refine an inhuman being in an illusion with a law talisman?”
[Do not speak that way.]
Yuk Yo lowered her eyes, shame washing over her face.
“…If you swear to follow me, I’ll never do it again.”
Baek Rin looked at her for a moment, then wordlessly released the golden nails.
Clink, clink, clink!
Three golden nails that had been buried in her body flew out.
Yuk Yo recovered her cultivation and flicked her wrist, scattering the nails and snatching the Hyeon-go Paper from the altar.
“Done! Finally!”
Joy bloomed in her eyes.
The Hyeon-go Paper glowed with a strangely auspicious light, the name “Yuk Ung” shining brightly.
She clutched it to her chest with trembling hands.
Seeing her, Baek Rin cleared his throat.
“Why not just put it in the pocket dimension? If it were the Sea Dragon Palace lord, he would have set tracking arrays without us noticing. Even the name tablet would detect it.”
“No. Hyeon-go Papers and similar items are extremely fragile. They break easily. Besides, it’s a fake of the real thing.”
“Hmph… even a fake capable of hosting a Late Integration contract is this tough…”
Baek Rin stared at the black spirit tablet in wonder, then turned away.
“Well then. Let’s get out.”
Just as they reached the door—
Boom!
The altar where the Hyeon-go Paper had been trembled.
A massive boom echoed, and Hongbyeong appeared above the altar.
At the same time, the surrounding space warped, and the sealed room shrank into a droplet shape, floating apart from the dimensions around it.
Yuk Yo let out a soft laugh.
“Hah… my father set up a mid-region so that extracting the Hyeon-go Paper would twist the surroundings. He really didn’t entrust it to just anyone.”
“Hmm…”
Baek Rin peered through the distorted space.
The outside was nothing but a dark abyss.
“Useless. This mid-region was split from Jeongryong-do and dropped into the middle of the sea. If we leave, we’ll fall into a lost soul in the abyss.”
“Your Highness said you could find a way through the sea, right?”
Yuk Yo lowered her head, embarrassed.
“…That was a lie to dump Jin Ma-yeol’s pursuit on you. Even my Sea Dragon Inner Palace isn’t enough. Only if it were someone like Seo Ran.”
Baek Rin nodded.
“Then the only remaining options are to return the Hyeon-go Paper or…”
Their gazes turned to Hongbyeong on the altar.
“…Take this transmission formation to the opposite side of the mid-region.”
“…”
“Your Highness?”
Baek Rin noticed the dark look on her face and tilted his head.
“…I have a feeling about the place this transmission leads.”
“Where?”
“…Probably the Wanglong-do. And Wanglong-do is an underwater palace. Leaving is impossible anyway.”
“……”
Yuk Yo placed the Hyeon-go Paper back on the altar with a heavy heart.
The droplet-shaped space inside the sealed room returned to the inside of Jeongryong-do.
“What can we do? First we join the Master’s group, then we’ll deal with this later.”
Baek Rin walked toward the door.
Yuk Yo stared at the Hyeon-go Paper, unable to let go.
When the door opened—
Creak…
Yuk Yo and Baek Rin froze at the sight of the skeletal figure outside, face twisted into a hideous grin.
Boom!
Baek Rin slammed the door shut, and Yuk Yo pulled the paper out again with trembling hands.
The sealed room immediately shifted back into a droplet, sinking deeper into the sea.
“…”
“…That was… the Master’s true body.”
They had seen the original Yuk Rin.
Precisely, the body before he had taken the form of Yuk Ung. It had still been at the mid-Late Integration level.
Of course, the Yuk Rin who now wore Yuk Ung’s body was just a replica. But even that replica had reached mid-Late Integration.
Baek Rin would never have been able to handle him.
“…”
Baek Rin stared at the transmission formation with a sigh.
“…No other choice, it seems.”
“……”
After a moment, both of them closed their eyes and stepped onto the formation.
The light enveloped them and swallowed them whole.
The sea beneath Jeongryong-do.
They had arrived at the Wanglong-do.
* * *
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
In front of the sealed room, the skeletal Yuk Rin drew with eyes bloodshot.
The lines formed a transmission formation.
“No! I can’t let you escape! Yuk Yo must be in my hands! Yuk Yo must be in my hands!”
His mind seemed unsteady as he screamed and poured power into the formation.
Crackle!
The lines caught fire and the formation activated.
The transmission leading to the mid-region where Yuk Yo and Baek Rin had been.
Yuk Rin was about to step onto it—
“Where do you think you’re going, Sea Dragon Palace Lord?”
A man in white robes, holding the void in his hand, smiled from behind.
Yuk Rin’s face twisted.
“You demon cult bastard! Don’t interfere! I have to take Yuk Yo back into my hands!!”
* * *
Yuk Rin had gone mad.
That was the only conclusion I could reach.
‘Was it because I mastered the Sea Dragon Inner Palace? Or something else?’
His mind was twisted, boiling with obsession and greed.
And from the circumstances, that obsession was aimed at Yuk Yo.
‘Not a normal mental illness. Definitely not a normal heart demon.’
I had seen them up close.
If someone had Possession Madness, it would have manifested as either an obsession with salt related to the Sea Dragon Inner Palace or a split personality from the Purple Soul Filling the Heavens.
It had been strange for him to suddenly develop such possessiveness toward the daughter he once wanted to kill for ignoring his words.
‘Was some external entity involved?’
I could only think that.
But why Yuk Yo? I still didn’t know.
“What is that transmission? It looks like one related to the mid-region.”
“Shut up! If you interfere, I’ll kill you, demon cult bastard!”
“You’re too stupid. This is just a replica. What a pathetic sight. I never imagined the proud Dragon King who once trapped the entire Mugeuk Sect in a trap would become this deranged.”
I looked at the bloodshot eyes slowly turning into dragon pupils and clicked my tongue.
“And you’re mistaken. The one you couldn’t handle was the Master’s true body, not someone like you.”
“You dare…”
Crash!
I drove the One Step Before the Throne strike straight into his mouth. He staggered, and I followed with several more.
Boom boom boom!
Yuk Rin’s body tore into pieces and flew out of Jeongryong Palace.
“What a shame.”
I clicked my tongue and activated the transmission formation on the one he had built.
Flash!
* * *
Crossing the mid-region, I finally arrived on the opposite side and frowned.
“…This is also an underwater palace.”
Honestly, the sea palaces trapped in Bongrae-do had grown tedious.
“Then this must be the Wanglong-do. In any case…”
Jin Ma-yeol was probably about to enter.
Originally Yuk Rin was Kim Young-hoon.
Jeongryong Palace was mine.
Wanglong-do was for Jin Ma-yeol’s Gae-ryeok ship to conquer.
With a ship that could sweep across the sea, entering here was possible.
‘Tsk, I wish the Gae-ryeok ship could have descended to Bongrae-do.’
Unfortunately, the sea palace where Bongrae-do was trapped was so deep that the ship could not enter casually.
I shook off unnecessary thoughts, scanned the surroundings, and spotted Yuk Yo.
And Baek Rin beside her.
“Baek Rin, Yuk Yo!”
“Ah… Master.”
Baek Rin turned with a warm soul.
But Yuk Yo, even after hearing I had arrived, simply stared blankly somewhere.
“…? What are you looking at, Baek Rin?”
I couldn’t tell what they saw because replicas lacked the Master’s level of consciousness.
I walked up beside her and followed her gaze.
It was a mural.
And the moment I saw the painting—
My eyes narrowed sharply.
Because at the bottom of the mural, in a familiar script, familiar words were written.
-After careful thought, I realized the reason that person gave such excessive gifts to the maggots. It was not to help the weak like maggots. It was definitely to release the ancient power.
The hidden library on the top floor of Bongmyeong Castle.
The same characters and exact script were carved in the corner of that library.