The 21-Headed Ghost King’s Silent Guard
Creak, creak—!
A fierce resistance flashed through the White Queen in Baekwoon’s grip, yet the overwhelming scent of deathflower petals rising around them left her no choice but to drop to her knees in utter defeat.
Newborn white sprouts began to emerge across the Ghost King’s entire body, unfurling like fragile flowers before rooting deep and twisting into thick vines that coiled around her like living restraints.
Creak—!
With a final, decisive twist, Baekwoon sealed the Ghost Queen inside a living wooden prison.
She began her ritual.
Drum, drum, drum—! /pGT> div style="text-align:centerborder:3px solid #c9a84cpadding:25pxbox-shadow:0 0 25px rgba(201,168,76,0.5),inset 0 0 20px rgba(201,168,76,0.1)background:linear-gradient(135deg,#1a1400 0%,#0a0800 50%,#1a1400 100%)border-radius:8pxmargin-bottom:20px"GT; div style="color:#c9a84cfont-size:24pxfont-weight:boldmargin-bottom:15pxtext-shadow:0 0 20px rgba(201,168,76,0.6)letter-spacing:3pxfont-family:Georgia,serif"GT;⚔ SUMMON ⚔div style="color:#e8d5a3font-size:18pxfont-style:italictext-shadow:0 0 10px rgba(201,168,76,0.3)line-height:1.8"GT; __LT Chiii— ‘Have I succeeded?’__LT The Sub-Heart Sword had sunk perfectly into her mind. Yet Geumjinjo looked outwardly unchanged. [What is this? Borrowing the power of Noeseonghae itself from the very realm that once belonged to me, Geumsinja. Hah… you lack any real cunning.]__LT ‘It worked on Baekwoon… but the difference between True Immortals and Star Plate saints must be the reason.’__LT I was still reeling when— Whoosh—! The entrance to the 99th floor suddenly split open, and a figure stepped through that I could never have imagined. Baekwoon herself. [You cruelly slaughtered my child, the Ghost King. How despicable, Baekwoon.]__LT [You call it a child, yet it is merely a lump of flesh. Pretending to feel affection when you have none? I already know that your “love” only exists for the dead Geumsinja.]__LT [A crippled disgrace speaking so much… Even when I was truly a True Immortal, you never dared meet my eyes. Now you lift your chin before me? After all this time, I shall make you lick my feet again.]__LT [The feet you once soiled with your own spit? I’d rather not bother. Besides, True Immortals never need to look down upon True Saints. It was merely the Gaeyeol stage that forced you to look away—not because you feared me, you half-wit.]__LT __LT Flash—! [As the Saintess of Gwanghan, even a real True Saint is beneath me.]__LT I thought the entire 108-story Trial Tower was shaking. ‘Is this the real power Baekwoon has prepared? Stronger than last time….’__LT ‘…Of course. The seal of Myeonsingeopcheon is activating.’__LT [What drivel is this from a crippled fool? Do you think this is the Gwanghan Realm? Do you not know who holds the authority to command the owner’s trace buried in your belly?]__LT Uwoong—! Two glowing orbs rose above Geumjinjo’s head. [Tianxuan Flag. Dihuang Banner.]__LT Kuung, kong—! Two colossal lightning giants materialized on either side of her, each gripping a massive black flag in one hand and a golden one in the other. [Wave, Heaven-Earth Twin Flags!]__LT [Tianxuan!]__LT [Dihuang!]__LT [Thunder Curses All Beings!]__LT Kwarurung—! [Do you finally understand the relationship between master and servant, Baekwoon? A crippled wretch dares raise its head before me…]__LT [I beg you, Heavenly Lord.]__LT Drum, drum, drum—! She began shouting frantically in the ancient language of the Heavenly Court. I understood instantly. The belly of Baekwoon. Instead of the seven giant thunder-cracks, seven tiny needles had been driven in. ‘Jeon Myeong-hoon… He must have used my Sub-Heart Sword to seal them away while the Thunder Saintess was descending.’__LT Even the previous Jeon Myeong-hoon had not been able to control Baekwoon’s thunder-cracks, but this time he had clearly gained some enlightenment. She screamed desperately and began to inflate her body like a balloon. As if she feared the entity Baekwoon had summoned. Kwakjikjikjik—! ;-----!!! : : The power to erase 100 dimensions with a single cry! This was the true might of the Thunder Saintess Yang Su-jin had created! [As the Saintess of Gwanghan, I beg you to subdue the evil immortals rampaging in the Gwanghan Realm…]__LT Drum, drum, drum—! She wore the same ancient robes as Geomgeukcheongun, a crown on her head and a mask on her face. “…!” She began to melt. Her face turned into photons and scattered into the void. At the same moment, my mind flooded with memories I could not comprehend. The technique of hiding underwater. The technique of hiding in the sea. The technique of hiding in the rain. The technique that summons tsunamis and earthquakes. The technique that rains for a hundred years and ends the world. The technique that summons ice ages. These secrets had burned themselves into my soul. [Of the Eight Immortals of Light, the Seventh Seat… Great Sea Heavenly Lord, please grant your power…]__LT Thick dark-blue light began to dominate the surroundings. The True Saint who ruled the blue light. The projection of the Great Sea Heavenly Lord manifested behind Baekwoon in the form of an aura, lending her strength. Slash—!I recognized the phantom of the ruler of blue light. Then my consciousness itself melted away, and I lost it. __LT When I regained my senses, I was back in my own body. I had somehow returned through the Black Ghost Curse Banner that Baekwoon had placed on my head. I regenerated my head and looked around. ‘This… what is this place…?’__LT I stared in disbelief at the completely transformed Trial Tower. Ice Age! The entire universe had plunged into an ice age! Countless stars that had once lit up Noeseonghae were now frozen solid, no longer emitting light. At the same time, the surrounding space was so bitterly cold that even souls felt like they would shatter. That was not an exaggeration. ‘The soul’s coordinates have stopped moving!?’__LT I watched the mental thoughts of the soul’s coordinates—formerly so lively—now frozen in place and felt a surge of horror.The Seventh Seat of the Eight Immortals summoned by Baekwoon had not only frozen the entire Trial Tower but also the soul and name coordinates that corresponded to them. I wondered if the name coordinates might have been frozen too. [Heh… haaa…]__LT I temporarily sealed my own core. If I continued to connect through my core, the very origin of my existence would freeze solid. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle—!I heated my own core with the heavenly energy it produced internally and flew out to investigate. Flash—! 99th floor. I landed where Baekwoon stood and opened my mouth in shock. Except for Baekwoon, who was emitting blinding white light, everything else was frozen solid. Yes… The Thunder Saintess of Yang Su-jin had done this to everyone—including Geumjinjo. [You… drove out the Thunder Saintess?]__LT Huuu…Baekwoon sighed heavily. White heavenly energy poured from her mouth. [No. I fled.]__LT [Eh…!?]__LT I could only stare in disbelief. One hundred dimensions and their corresponding soul and name coordinates had all been frozen. And yet there she stood—frozen in ice before my eyes—and she claimed to have fled? [I knew the ruler of Noeseonghae would hide something, but I never imagined the Trial Tower had 108 floors.]__LT Tak! Baekwoon snapped her fingers, and a dimensional door opened above. [She fled to the upper floors. An idiot. Did she truly believe she could escape the power of a Heavenly Lord…? I’ll go catch her and drag her back.]__LT The power of the Heavenly Lord. In other words, the phantom of the Great Sea Heavenly Lord that had swept through this place moments ago had also frozen the 101st floor that Baekwoon had not noticed. [He must be hiding on the 106th floor. According to my calculations, the 107th is Yang Su-jin’s treasure vault—anyone who dares climb without permission will be punished.]__LT [Then what is the 108th floor? Do you know?]__LT [According to my calculations…]__LT I asked out of curiosity, and Baekwoon frowned as if she did not wish to reveal the answer. […Forget it. You rest for now. After I catch her, we will go to the treasure vault and prepare for the end.]__LT Whoosh!She stepped through the dimensional door to the 101st floor. I watched her go and let out a long sigh. Huuu… The heavenly energy rushed in, cooling my core, yet a wave of relief washed over me. ‘…It worked out better than I expected.’__LT In truth, I had assumed that clearing Noeseonghae would take thousands of years at the minimum. ‘Once Baekwoon recovers the symbols of the Central Realm, the end of the world will no longer worry me!’__LT I smiled faintly. With that, I could skip the 10,000-year end and live in the world after the Big Bang, where infinite time remained. ‘Right after the Big Bang, heavenly energy is billions of times denser, so my companions’ cultivation will benefit greatly.’__LT My only remaining goal now was to find Kang Min-hee and restore her mind. All was finally going smoothly! Kwak—! “Eh?”__LT I turned and saw someone—Geumjinjo—sliding a hand onto my shoulder. Her pupils were completely dilated, and her eyes burned with an uncontrollable madness. [How… how did you… enter the 106th floor…]__LT Yet through the seal that still lingered around her, I understood exactly what she had done. ‘Myeonsingeopcheon!’__LT She had hidden inside the seal of Myeonsingeopcheon and waited for me to find her! The technique that avoids fate! She had hidden right beside me, evading Baekwoon’s prophecy! Hehe… Geumjinjo laughed—a chilling, unsettling sound. She plunged her hand deeper into my shoulder! Through that touch I finally understood how Baekwoon had manifested here. ‘Was it through the scar of Geomgeukcheongun on my shoulder? Then what Geumjinjo is trying to do now…’__LT I shouted with all my strength, over Baekwoon’s shoulder, toward the White Jade Tower of the Gwanghan Realm where she had descended. [Run! Jeon Myeong-hoon!!!]__LT Kwakjikjikjik—! Through the passage Baekwoon had created, Geumjinjo reached out and grabbed him. [Master has returned… has returned… has returned… this time I won’t let him go…]__LT __LT Gwanghan Realm. Baekwoon’s White Jade Tower. After Seo Eun-hyun had gone to Noeseonghae, Jeon Myeong-hoon—summoned separately by Baekwoon and left to maintain a temporary seal on the power of the seven thunder-cracks embedded in her belly—blinked. “Hm? What’s this?”__LT A bad premonition struck him. At the same time, a familiar voice drifted from somewhere distant. [Run! Jeon Myeong-hoon!!!]__LT ‘Seo Eun-hyun’s voice!?’__LT Jeon Myeong-hoon immediately obeyed and stepped out onto the balcony of the White Jade Tower, scanning his surroundings. “Seo Eun-hyun! What’s going on!? Seo Eun-hyun!”__LT The Asim-geom planted in his soul by Seo Eun-hyun vibrated, and his voice echoed from within. -Jeon Myeong-hoon, get out of there right now—__LT And then— Kwakjikjikjik—!Inside the White Jade Tower, the transmission array Baekwoon had used to descend to Noeseonghae began to activate. A colossal lightning arm burst out from the array and lunged toward Jeon Myeong-hoon. “…”__LT Jeon Myeong-hoon was shocked, but he still followed Seo Eun-hyun’s order and retreated. Yet before he could even turn, a lightning hand seized him. “Gah—!”__LT He tried to swallow the lightning to devour it, but instead of satisfaction he was met with the sound of tens of millions of agonized screams that pierced his brain, forcing him to vomit blood. Jeon Myeong-hoon fell unconscious right there, surrounded by the endless whispers of the lightning arm. [Master… Master… Master…]__LT The lightning arm dragged the unconscious Jeon Myeong-hoon toward the edge of the universe, toward Noeseonghae. __LT Kwakjikjikjik—!I watched helplessly as Geumjinjo pulled Jeon Myeong-hoon out through my shoulder and shrank his body to fit in her arms. She held him gently against her chest. [I finally… have you in my hands… You’re mine now. You can never leave my embrace again. I’ll teach you properly. I’ll make you a body that can’t even breathe without me…]__LT “No… don’t…”__LT [Now I possess the true sovereignty of Noeseonghae. I am…]__LT She ripped something from Jeon Myeong-hoon’s body and scattered it across the entire realm. [I am the true ruler of Noeseonghae!!!]__LT Kwarururung—!Lightning rained down across every corner of Noeseonghae. I could feel it. She now held complete dominion over Noeseonghae through Jeon Myeong-hoon. At the same time, I was blasted out of the realm in an instant. Pachik…! “This… what is this…?”__LT I looked around in confusion. Others around me looked just as bewildered. And the most shocked expression was on Baekwoon’s face. She stared at Noeseonghae with an incredulous look. Then, in front of us all, Geumjinjo’s human form appeared as a projection. [Ahaha, I apologize for the fright, everyone. I was simply supposed to hand Noeseonghae over to that Myeonsingeopcheon user and head toward the mortal realm… but Master has returned. Master has come back! Can you believe it? Heeheeheeheee… But surely Master doesn’t remember his previous life? Then it’s not over. After I’ve done this to you, how could you live peacefully forgetting everything? Absolutely not. Therefore… I’m sorry, but I shall claim Noeseonghae for the next ten thousand years.]__LT She smiled gracefully, lifted the hem of her pale skirt, and bowed politely. [From now on… I will train Master for the next ten thousand years. So please, everyone, don’t worry about the end of the world. Go outside Noeseonghae and have fun as much as you can.]__LT After delivering her speech, Geumjinjo bowed deeply to us one final time and vanished.