What Do People Live For? (4)
Storm howled across the skies. Ku-rung! Ku-ru-ru-rung!
“Seo Hyul, how long will it take to pull in the Ghost Dao Holy Mother?”
[That was supposed to be pulled from the original coordinates… but with the coordinates suddenly changed, fixing them now will take even more time.]
“…”
How long do I need to hold her back?
[A day would be best…]
I bit my teeth at his words and shouted.
“You useless—!”
[Wait, calm down, Seo Do-woo. If we had a way to fix the coordinates, we could shorten the time dramatically.]
“…How?”
Seo Hyul’s voice, coming from far away, carried a mocking laugh.
[A drop of your blood or your main soul would let me lock the coordinates quickly. From what I know, one of your companions is a descendant of mine. If you could send even a small amount of their blood or a fragment of their soul to me, I could reshape the coordinates in a single watch of the incense.]
Her blood or soul fragment?
I was still debating when—
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
The Strange Fortress finally settled into its target location.
Pu-shiiiii—
The elimination earthquake array on the Strange Fortress suppressed the heat, and I could finally see my companions again.
With the Ghost Ship Seopmyeong-ham anchored on its deck, the human alliance leaders stood facing us once more.
Atop the Ghost Ship’s deck, Jun-je and the rest of the human alliance chiefs stared between us and the Strange Fortress, clearly shaken.
I spoke to them all.
“The Ghost Dao Holy Mother is about to descend here. Move to the coordinates I gave you immediately!”
Huh-wak shouted back.
“Not yet! The energy hasn’t accumulated!”
“That…”
And then Goe-gun stepped forward.
“Black Prince!”
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
An enormous shadow erupted from the Strange Fortress.
From the puppet made from Black Dragon King Hyeol-eum’s corpse, monstrous power of darkness surged forth.
Originally, the black seawater inside his Integration domain and the power sources of the Ghost Ship began to resonate.
Uuuuung!
The power of the two Ghost Ships—led by her—rose sharply.
“Wh-what… What is this…?”
Huh-wak looked up at Goe-gun in confusion after he offered help, while I turned and shouted.
“Full power! Fire it up!”
Huh-wak snapped out of it and cried.
“Activate the Ghost Ship!”
[Activate the Ghost Ship!]
[Release the mooring ropes!]
[Raise the anchor!]
Following Huh-wak’s orders, thousands upon thousands of ghosts boiled upward from the deck of the Ghost Ship and began to rise into the air.
The Ghost Ship prepared for a space leap.
[Seo Do-woo, we don’t have much time. You must deliver it quickly.]
Strong Min-hee was already visible breaking through the dimension ahead.
Seo Hyul urged me for Seo Ran’s soul fragment.
But I frowned.
Is he planning something to Seo Ran?
Against a single Seo Hyul there was no worry, but Seo Hyul was a collection of many existences, a plague in his own right.
I didn’t know what he would do with the trace of Seo Ran.
I promised I wouldn’t betray anyone…
I was still racking my brain when—
“Master!”
Hong Beom flew over.
“Master, board the Ghost Ship with me!”
“…”
I need to hold Strong Min-hee back here.
“Haa… Understood. Do you need anything?”
I briefly explained the situation to him, and he nodded.
“There isn’t enough time to extract Seo Ran. I’ll make the coordinates and send them to Seo Hyul.”
“But… is that possible…?”
Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu!
At the same moment, Hong Beom took out a cauldron and tossed in strange herbs, beginning to refine something.
A short while later, he poured in herbs and poisonous liquid. The cauldron glowed, and inside swirled a crimson liquid.
[I used the herbs and shells that Seo Ran left behind last time. This liquid contains components most similar to a True Dragon’s bloodline. I will combine the herb ratios and their inherent energy to make it perfectly match a Dragon’s. Use this to lock the coordinates and send it to him!]
“I understand!”
I passed the message to Seo Hyul, who accepted it with a faint look of surprise.
[I see. So that’s possible too… Then I’ll connect the coordinates!]
Pa-aaat!
A fragment of Seo Hyul’s Muddy Soul Filling the Heavens burst from my shadow and plunged into the liquid.
Hong Beom adjusted the liquid’s energy, sending the coordinates toward Seo Hyul. After a moment, the liquid began to boil with a deeper crimson glow.
[Blood Demon Scripture—Hyeol-eum Ghost Return.]
Uuuuung!
The Muddy Soul fragment inside the boiling liquid surged upward like it was burning red.
I stepped back, wary of the gravity that began to pull from the liquid.
Seo Hyul’s voice rang out.
[When that existence returns, scatter this liquid on it.]
“Understood.”
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
Space warped once more, and Strong Min-hee, who had been driven into the Void Space by us and Seo Hyul, returned.
Chills crawled up my spine.
This is insane…
Last time she had been in the early Star Shattering stage, her power erratic. Now it was clearly mid-Star Shattering.
She trained separately in the Void Space and advanced…
A gaze of fury passed through the darkness toward the Ghost Ship preparing for a space leap.
In the next instant, I swung the Colorless Glass Sword.
Strong Min-hee attacked the Ghost Ship at a speed so fast I could barely perceive it.
Danak Sword Art—Void Return Shock!
I poured every ounce of strength into the sword and met her strike, flinging it into the sky.
Tuung!
Her strike shot upward and—
Chwaaaak!
The sky split.
Chwaaaak!
From the southern horizon to the northern, a black line appeared in the heavens. It was the exact same sight as when Kim Young-hoon had cut through an ocean in the Goryeok Realm with his Dividing Heaven.
The difference was that his cut had only bisected one sea-level area. Strong Min-hee’s strike had torn open the boundless heavens of the Gwanghan Realm itself.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
I looked at the black valley in the sky and shouted to Hong Beom.
“Pour it! Hong Beom! Launch! Black Ghost Valley!”
Flash!
Two Ghost Ships of the Black Ghost Valley leaped through space, and I looked toward Hong Beom.
Wait…
And Hong Beom stared blankly into the darkness beyond Strong Min-hee—something I had never seen on his face before.
“Hong Beom, hurry—!”
Kwa-aang!
I was struck by an impact so severe I nearly passed out.
“G-guh… uuuh!”
Something enormous and powerful slammed into my body.
It was a barrier made of hundreds of Ghost Kings.
What the… What is this situation…?!
I stared in disbelief.
Strong Min-hee had warped space with her Space-Folding technique and was pursuing the Ghost Ship heading toward the mid-realm.
I had been standing between them and was now pulled along by her charge into her barrier.
This is the Space-Folding of the Star Shattering stage…
Even the Space-Folding of Sachuk or Integration stage cultivators could only move slightly faster than pigeon technique. But Star Shattering level Space-Folding moved through entirely different dimensions.
Piiiiiit!
Everything around me looked like a blur of light.
It was exactly like when I had crossed from the Water Realm into the Gwanghan Realm—space itself pressed down on me with immense force, and everything nearby appeared razor-thin.
In the distance, a Ghost Ship fleeing to the mid-realm using space leaping was visible.
Damn it! I’m going to be caught!
I clenched my teeth, watching Strong Min-hee chase the Ghost Ship’s space leap by simply using Space-Folding.
Hong Beom missed the timing.
While he had been hypnotized, she had already begun Space-Folding, so the coordinates he was supposed to create for Seo Hyul were never formed.
If this continues, the plan won’t even start.
But I won’t allow that.
Kkudukukuk!
I raised my Triple Taiji behind my back, wrapped my domain around my body, and transformed into my true form.
[Gaaaaaaaah!]
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
Using all my strength, I tried to block Strong Min-hee’s gravity pull.
But I already knew that the force I was best at was “pushing.”
All of my martial arts and sword techniques are specialized in slashing and thrusting.
Everything I had researched and understood so far was built on the sword.
Yet at the core of the sword was only slashing, thrusting, and blocking.
Pushing itself was never the true essence of the sword.
If the opponent had a mind, I could tear at their eyes or genitals to stun them for a moment, but Strong Min-hee was the Ghost Dao Holy Mother.
Even if I could do it to her, she was in a ghostified state—those weak points no longer applied.
Even curses won’t work.
I fired weak curses at her in the darkness, but the agony was scattered among billions upon trillions of vengeful souls and became nothing.
Even if I put my full sincerity into the curse, it would only make those vengeful souls twitch—nothing more.
Uuuuung—
Through the Strange Star-Mind Scroll, I learned that Goe-gun had activated the elimination earthquake array on the Strange Fortress and was racing after Strong Min-hee with Hong Beom.
Goe-gun’s inner voice reached me.
[Hold her off just a little! Then I’ll send the Puppet Legion to scatter the blood of the bastard! Just slow her down a tiny bit and it will work!]
I glanced behind us. Goe-gun’s elimination earthquake array was slowly pulling away from both Strong Min-hee and us.
Since it had already been used once, continuous use might not be as effective.
Hold her off just a little?
But I felt utterly helpless watching her ignore my best efforts.
How could I stop her?
How?
How?
Sa-rak—
At that moment, something soft brushed my fingertips as they reached out to block Strong Min-hee.
[You…!]
It was Kim Yeon.
I stared in shock at the figure that had appeared beside me.
Flame—!
She was burning.
The one who had come was not her true body, but her consciousness body.
A snow-white consciousness body condensed into a fiery shape.
I had seen this form before.
During the fifteenth loop.
Exactly like Kim Yeon’s consciousness body when she had been hosting Gye-ryeon’s Gwanghan Covenant.
Of course, her appearance was far more unstable now. Unlike the peach-blossom glow of that time, it was still only the white light that appeared when her consciousness was fully condensed.
But I could feel that she was on the verge of reaching that same realm again.
Kim Yeon was concentrating with terrifying focus—far beyond anything I had ever seen.
[Now.]
Her very state of existence was the collection of consciousness itself.
The moment her hand touched mine, I understood exactly what she wanted.
It was transmitted directly, beyond the boundaries of consciousness.
I stabbed the All-Heaven Sword into her as if I were possessed by her instructions.
[Everyone, come!]
And the All-Heaven Sword’s rank adjustment began to glow.
The companions Kim Yeon had connected to the Strange Star-Mind Scroll appeared one by one.
Chwa-ra-ra-rak!
Oh Hyun-seok, Chang-ho-ja, Kim Young-hoon, Jeon Myeong-hoon, and others revealed their consciousness at the soul rank, then descended to the inner energy rank thanks to the All-Heaven Sword.
They had temporarily become true-body-equivalent clones thanks to Kim Yeon.
The ones at the front were Oh Hyun-seok and Chang-ho-ja.
[Heh heh! Amazing. You can imagine a body with consciousness and manifest it at the soul rank, then lower the rank to create true-body-equivalent clones…!]
Chang-ho-ja laughed heartily.
[I get to test the legendary technique! Hyun-seok!]
[Yes, Master!]
[Show the history of the real body!]
Wings burst from behind the backs of Chang-ho-ja and Oh Hyun-seok.
One wing, two wings, three wings…
Gradually their bodies swelled, boiling with starlight.
Because their wings were the blue light of the Open Heaven, their bodies seemed to glow with both day and night, like the heavens themselves.
Seven wings, eight wings, nine wings…
Gradually their power surged.
In an instant, Chang-ho-ja and Oh Hyun-seok’s power soared past the Sachuk Great Completion and into the early Integration stage.
And Chang-ho-ja’s armor began to shine.
[I will show you—this is the essence of two thousand years of the Changcheon Gaebyeokmun history…!!!]
Chiiiiiii!
Under the ninth wing, a tenth wing began to emerge.
It was a red wing.
A life wing born from Chang-ho-ja’s and Oh Hyun-seok’s blood and sweat.
p>The energy of the Open Heaven wings and life wings mixed, and the bodies of Oh Hyun-seok and Chang-ho-ja were dyed purple.
That is…
The final Changyi Chonchae of the fourteenth loop.
The Ten-Wing Formation!
The purple giants Oh Hyun-seok and Chang-ho-ja had become charged forward together and “pushed” Strong Min-hee!
[Your specialty is slashing, Seo Eun-hyun!]
Oh Hyun-seok shouted, glancing back at me.
[Leave this type of thing to us! Since these are clones created with Kim Yeon’s ability, they can be destroyed without issue!]
Chang-ho-ja raised the power of his Azure Heaven Armor and showed the strength he had used to temporarily block the Black Dragon King who had integrated with the Venerable.
Oh Hyun-seok amplified his power to a level comparable to Chang-ho-ja by combining the power of the One-Form Body and the Ten-Wing force.
Two giants stood in my way.
[Indra’s Net!]
Kwa-ji-ji-ji-k!
Jeon Myeong-hoon transformed into the Two-Ear Six-Eye Thunder God and spread a web of lightning.
Soon the Strange Fortress and I were caught in the net.
I felt the Strange Fortress being pulled even faster toward us thanks to Jeon Myeong-hoon’s power.
[I heard you need to scatter something on the Ghost Dao Holy Mother!]
Kim Yeon was connected to my consciousness, and the others were connected to hers, so the situation so far was being shared in real time with most companions except the voice.
Kim Young-hoon, because of the situation, realized our plan and spoke.
[I’ll join Hong Beom and scatter it together!]
[Please…]
And Strong Min-hee began to thrash wildly.
Kuuuung!
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu!
With one thrash, the Ghost Ship ahead shook, the following Strange Fortress vibrated violently, and everyone blocking her—including me—vomited blood from their seven orifices.
Strong Min-hee is still moving. Even if Hong Beom and Kim Young-hoon combine their power, it will be difficult.
I made up my mind.
[Go! I will restrain her movements for even a single moment!]
[I believe you!]
Pa-at!
Kim Young-hoon disappeared.
I gripped the Colorless Glass Sword and focused my consciousness for a brief instant.
The opponent is not something I can cut.
Right now, what passes through is not slashing or thrusting—it is pushing and blocking.
So is my sword useless now?
No.
Again and again I had despaired before the heavens and fate.
Only a few times had I shouted in the face of an invincible force.
Yet I had developed my sword to be useful even in those moments.
There is still something I can cut.
If slashing has no meaning and the target feels no pain even when cut, what exactly should I slash?
Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu!
I poured my consciousness into the sword.
It had originally been an ultimate move containing the Original Soul, but now that the Original Soul had evolved into the domain, it had become an ultimate move that pushed the entire world.
Danak Sword Art
Twenty-Fifth Style
Uihye Eunsan (Righteousness Ocean, Grace Mountain)
All my power inside the sword merged, and the rank of the energies rose to the soul rank.
The curse was scattered among the vengeful souls.
Tsu-tsu-tsu—
Uihye Eunsan turned black.
Then, when the moment of scattered agony arrives, I can reverse it. Instead of ‘scattered curse,’ it will become ‘concentrated blessing.’
I will concentrate the blessing solely upon Strong Min-hee, stopping her even for a single moment.
Uihye Eunsan alone won’t be enough.
She is a Star Shattering-level existence even if she lacks consciousness.
Even at the speed of Uihye Eunsan, it would be insufficient.
Perhaps it would be blocked halfway.
I have to launch it at a speed that can’t be stopped.
I combined the style with one more ultimate move.
Uihye Eunsan.
And then…
San-sim Yeon-hu Do (Mountain Deep, Then the Dao)!
Application
Geum-sim Gyo-gyo Baek (Benevolent Deep, Bright and Majestic)
The black sword qi shot forth in the shape of a new crescent moon.
The sword qi of Uihye Eunsan, launched at the speed of San-sim Yeon-hu Do, pierced straight into Strong Min-hee’s chest in an instant and scattered my curse inside her.
And in the next moment, the curse reversed together with my will inside it.
The agony did not scatter—it concentrated solely upon her.
Pa-aa-aa-at!
A clear new crescent moon bloomed on Strong Min-hee’s chest.
It was as if a bright full moon had risen in the dead of night.
Pa-aa-at!
In the next instant, I entered Strong Min-hee’s inner world.
Inside it, I instantly swept away the vengeful souls’ screams echoing from within her and faced her consciousness directly.
A snow-white space.
For a moment, we faced each other without any need for words and smiled gently.
“I’m going crazy… I’m so ashamed.”
Strong Min-hee brushed her own face.
“I didn’t know you would enter even inside me… Then you must have seen all of my heart too.”
“I didn’t see everything.”
“Don’t lie. You saw. Tell me what you saw.”
Su-su-su—
The space I had briefly created in Strong Min-hee’s inner world using the blessing was beginning to turn dark.
She asked while still covering her face with her hand.
I smiled softly and answered.
“…”
[Back then.]
No special explanation was needed.
Inside this place, our hearts had always been connected.
The evening when we had dated for the second time and then parted forever—
In the smoking room.
At that time, I had seen the longing and regret that Strong Min-hee had been hiding.
Strong Min-hee lowered her hand.
She was crying.
The surroundings had turned into darkness.
The short time I had obtained through Uihye Eunsan was almost over.
“Do you know, Seo Eun-hyun?”
I looked at Strong Min-hee calmly, and she spoke through her tears.
[Now that it’s over…]
Pa-at!
The consciousness returned outside Strong Min-hee’s inner world.
And Strong Min-hee’s voice, which had briefly regained her consciousness thanks to me, echoed faintly inside the Ghost Valley.
[Life is… sadness.]
Chwa-aak!
And red liquid from Seo Hyul was scattered over her.
Flash!
The coordinates had connected, and the gate to the Star Realm where Seo Hyul and Oh Hye-seo stood opened.