The Threshold of Death (2)
The earth shook violently. Vibrations rippled across every direction.
**KWAAANG!**
Golden light lances flashed. The formation barrier trembled wildly, shaking as if in frenzy.
**KKWAAANG!!!**
Invisible Sword Qi swung. The barrier, already shaking, could no longer hold. Cracks spread across its surface.
I and Kim Young-hoon attacked in perfect unison. Our formless swords and golden blades smashed the barrier to pieces.
Seo Ran watched from the side with wide eyes.
“…No, you could just enter and pull out the flag….”
Yet who needed a head that hurt when the body was strong.
**KWAAANG!**
I and Kim Young-hoon struck simultaneously.
The barrier cracked further. Then it shattered completely.
**PAAK!**
The formation flags inside the barrier collapsed one after another.
We stepped through the gap and followed.
“Is this enough?”
“Yes, yes… That’s right, senior. But senior…”
Seo Ran asked cautiously while we answered in our native tongue.
“Senior, is that… your real name?”
The native tongue could only be spoken by those who saw the yin-yang principles flowing through their inner energy. Unlike humans, whose speech vibrated the air, the native tongue was not just words. It was its own existence.
“Hmm. It is not my real name. I simply feel… rather unusual among humans. That level of unusual nature is exactly what earned me the recognition of the Dragon King and the order to assist you.”
“Ah… I see. Thank you for helping, then. The barrier is broken. From now on I will challenge it myself. If you ever come to my residence later, I will repay the favor separately….”
However, I shook my head.
“No. I am coming with you.”
“Eh?”
“I want to see the legendary Ghost Ship of Black Ghost Valley once, after all. The Seopmyeong Ship.”
“Ah…”
Seo Ran looked uneasy when he saw the two of us—strong Core Formation experts—decide to enter together.
But I paid it no mind and walked forward with him toward the Ghost Ship.
It was safer than dying out here.
And then, the moment we stepped onto the deck of the Seopmyeong Ship.
**SHEEEEEE—**
“Huh?”
“Wha…?”
The cold qi and deathly yin energy on the deck suddenly faded.
The ghostly power radiating from the entire ship weakened.
“What the…?”
Seo Ran scanned his surroundings in confusion. I already understood the reason.
I sent a mental message to Kim Young-hoon and explained the situation.
Kim Young-hoon nodded, grip tightening on his blade.
We entered the ship’s interior.
As expected.
Inside the Ghost Ship, unlike in our previous lives, the ghostly energy and death qi were not as heavy.
“Either way, it’s fortunate. If the ghostly energy isn’t thick, exploring the inside shouldn’t be difficult.”
“…Hah. Listen, Seo Do-woo.”
I looked at Seo Ran.
“Let’s head straight to the lower deck.”
“To the lower deck first?”
“That’s right. Something feels off. The thinning ghostly energy in the Ghost Ship is likely concentrated on the lower level.”
“Hmm. If seniors say so…”
Before he could finish, I led them down ahead.
In our previous lives, the deeper we descended, the thicker the ghostly energy became.
Today, however, it grew thinner the further we went.
And before long, we reached the exact spot we had visited before.
The lowest layer of the Ghost Ship.
Unlike the upper floors where ghostly energy still seeped, this layer was completely devoid of it.
Yet I stayed on high alert, posture ready.
Kim Young-hoon, following moments later, also drew tension. His golden blade pulled free.
“Senior, what…?”
“Kyaaah?!”
The surrounding area was quiet.
But the ghostly energy wasn’t gone.
It had been forcibly sucked out and sealed inside the Ghost-Suppressing Bell that clung to the lower deck of the Ghost Ship.
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
On a black jade throne.
A figure sat, completely drenched in pitch-black darkness.
In the past, the outline of a skull had been visible. Now it was pure shadow itself.
[...Two Core Formation mages crashing in at once…? Foundation Establishment two and Qi Condensation one? No, that’s impossible. To shatter the Ghost Ship’s protective barrier, at least a Core Formation expert is needed. What technique did this fellow use?]
The shadow looked at us from within the darkness.
**PAA-TSUT…**
From its eye sockets, azure ghost flames burned.
[...No matter who it is, it doesn’t matter. Those trash who couldn’t even follow us to the Ascension Gate… trying to take something from Black Ghost Valley’s ghost arts?]
**ZIT! ZIT!**
I swallowed hard at the overwhelming aura radiating from the ghost.
It was nothing like the weak feeling from before.
It had sensed our strength and was boiling with venom.
[What you came here for, I don’t care. But you won’t take anything from Black Ghost Valley…! I will protect it!]
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
**KYAAAAA—**
**KAARA—**
**KUUAAAAAAA—**
Ghost qi boiled from the ghost’s body. Hundreds of ghost howls erupted from within the shadow.
The ghost stood up.
**THUD. THUD.**
It stepped off the throne completely.
At the same moment, something between the throne and the ghost snapped.
[It cut off the connection to the ghostly energy supplied by the Ghost Ship?]
Instead, it had been draining the remaining energy from the ship.
No longer needed the supply. No longer sat passively on the throne responding to attacks.
Much harder to fight than before.
Next moment.
The ghost moved its hand.
A colossal ghost claw the size of seven zhang shot toward us at terrifying speed.
**KWAAKWANG!**
The ghost claw met my Invisible Sword and was neutralized. Kim Young-hoon stepped forward.
**PAAK!**
Golden light flashed.
**KWAAAANG!**
Kim Young-hoon’s blade chopped at the ghost’s neck.
Speed so sudden it felt like time had frozen!
The ghost couldn’t react to the speed. Yet Kim Young-hoon’s blade failed to slice its neck.
The ghost was repelled by the clash.
And as it formed a technique, countless ghostly hands shot out from it, targeting Kim Young-hoon.
**PAAK!**
Golden light flashed again. Kim Young-hoon had already moved to my side.
“Hmm. The speed of that ghost claw is similar to some special techniques, but those techniques themselves are slower than its base speed. In short, it’s much slower than us. However, it can’t pierce my output of the Golden Blade. It’s Core Formation level.”
He glanced at me.
“I’ll draw its attention. You handle it head-on.”
“Understood.”
“I can use techniques effective against ghosts. But to cast them I need to gather qi. Please stall for me.”
Seo Ran spoke while we nodded.
Seo Ran transformed from human form into a dragon shape.
**PAAAH!**
Golden droplets flew from his mouth. He opened wide and gathered qi into them.
**KWAKWAKWAK!**
Multiple ghost claws flew again.
The terrifying attacks that had forced us to flee last time.
But I stepped forward and swept my Invisible Sword, slicing the claws in half.
**KWAAAANG, KWAAK!**
Sparks flew. The claws exploded. Golden light flashed once more.
**PAAK!**
Kim Young-hoon became a bolt of light and appeared below the ghost’s shoulder.
He struck the ghost’s right arm while it was mid-casting.
**ZYAAAH!**
Dozen ghostly hands chased Kim Young-hoon. But the hands couldn’t keep up.
**ZYAAK!**
The ghost enveloped itself in ghostly hands and began forming a new technique inside.
Kim Young-hoon would have a hard time penetrating that.
I assumed a ready stance and unleashed my Invisible Sword.
**DANAK Sword Art — Mountain Wind!**
**PIIIIING!**
I accelerated to the limit while gripping the Invisible Sword and closed in right in front of the ghost.
I switched techniques mid-acceleration.
**DANAK Sword Art — Overhanging Peaks!**
The straight Mountain Wind twisted and dove into the gaps between the ghostly hands.
It slipped through them cleanly and struck the target dead center.
**KWAAK!**
Sonic boom and explosion echoed. The ghostly hands burst apart.
Through the wreckage, my Invisible Sword pierced the ghost’s chest.
The ghost looked pained but kept forming its technique.
[Is it already dead? This won’t kill it?]
It must not be a normal flesh body. A ghost body. One hole through the heart was nothing.
[Just rip it apart.]
It was that simple. No problem.
**DANAK Sword Art — Layered Peaks!**
**ZYAAAH!**
The Invisible Sword embedded in the chest changed. Needles shot out in all directions in an instant.
Invisible Sword Qi webs spread across the space.
But in the last moment the ghost completed its technique.
[Fly Escape.]
**ZYAAAK!**
The ghost turned into ink light and vanished from within the changing sword.
**ZYAAK!**
It had survived, but it had been torn apart in many places.
[Core Formation mage’s Fly Escape technique.]
When a Core Formation mage used it, he could hide inside the starlight formed in his dan and escape at incredible speed.
Fly Escape was primarily for long-distance travel. Foundation Establishment and below couldn’t chase it.
A long time ago, under my master’s guidance, during my final moments, through a life-saving talisman that allowed me to use Core Formation Fly Escape several times, I had escaped Kim Young-hoon’s pursuit.
But I retrieved my Invisible Sword, grasped it again, and looked at the ghost healing its torn body.
“Is that all?”
I smiled bitterly and accelerated once more.
“It’s a bit slower than the claw you shot….”
At that speed, my Invisible Sword could easily pursue.
“So you’ll have to keep using the technique if you want to react properly.”
**DANAK Sword Art — Entering the Mountains!**
I swung the Invisible Sword again.
It flew toward the ghost floating in the air and aimed at it.
The ghost showed rage and used Fly Escape once more.
**PAAH!**
It barely dodged my Invisible Sword. But the next moment, it couldn’t react to the Golden Blade that had already appeared beside it.
**KWANG!**
Golden light exploded like a fan and slammed into the ghost.
**KWAAAANG!**
[These guys… If only I had the Law Protection and Ghost Suppression technique intact…!]
Before the words finished, Kim Young-hoon’s Golden Blade appeared again—before, behind, left, right, above, below—striking thirty-six times in total.
“Hold still…!”
It split in one strike.
**DANAK Sword Art — Heart Piercing the Sky!**
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
My sword qi grew even more ferocious. I mixed in the Dragon Vein technique and swung straight down.
Kim Young-hoon, who had been holding down the ghost’s ankles from all sides, retreated at lightning speed. The ghost looked at my swollen Invisible Sword and reached out.
**KWAAAANG!**
Black ghostly bones shot from the ghost’s hand and blocked my Invisible Sword.
[You’ll stop this?]
When I was about to praise it, the ghost hurriedly formed its technique again.
[I will kill you all!]
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
Thousands of skulls rose one by one, each infused with Innate Qi.
Countless ghostly hands followed, and ghost bugs swarmed everywhere.
[Stalling, huh.]
But I saw the ghost gathering power from among all those techniques to prepare something even bigger.
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
I gripped my Invisible Sword and unleashed one thousand changes.
**DANAK Sword Art — Crescent Moon Blade!**
The Invisible Sword formed countless combat principles of the Danak Sword Art and swung horizontally.
One strike.
**ZYAAAAH!**
In a single blow, all the skulls and ghost bugs blocking me were swept away like waves.
Only the ghostly hands remained.
**DANAK Sword Art — Crumbling Rock!**
The Invisible Sword wrapped around me.
It spread in all directions like a miniature storm. I plunged into the ghostly hands with my full power.
The sword spun and tore the ghostly hands apart as it advanced.
**ZYAAK!**
The center of the ghostly hands was silent. At the exact heart of that silence, the ghost completed its technique.
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
The azure ghost flames burning in the ghost’s eyes were now extremely weak.
At the same time, above the ghost’s hand, a faint cyan-white skull floated.
The skull flickered as if about to disperse into the air. Unstable.
Yet the power contained within was terrifying. A feeling that if struck, it would never be parried.
**DANAK Sword Art — Layered Peaks!**
Invisible Sword Qi spread in all directions and split.
Invisible Sword Qi webs spread again.
**PAAAAH!**
The ghostly hands were completely torn apart. The ghost at the center was pierced through the entire body by my Invisible Sword and became a honeycomb.
But the ghost still poured power into its technique.
**DANAK Sword Art — Mountain Battle!**
I concentrated the spreading Invisible Sword into one point. The Sword Qi web lifted. Golden light entered from beyond.
“HAAAAAP!”
Kim Young-hoon, using the outside dan he had shown last time, swung his Golden Blade. My concentrated sword qi exploded.
**BLEEKH!**
A blinding white light burst. Ghost qi exploded. More than eighty percent of the ghost’s body was torn away.
**SWAAH…**
The light dimmed.
Then cyan-white light spread in all directions.
[Complete…]
**OOH!**
The ghost’s body looked like rags, about to disintegrate, yet it glared at us.
The ghost’s eyes were no longer burning with azure ghost flames.
It was shedding red eyes like an ordinary ghost.
[Let’s… go together!]
[We’ll drag you down with us!]
Kim Young-hoon and I read the ghost’s intention and hardened our expressions.
The cyan-white skull swelled.
The terrifying death power inside made the entire layer of the Ghost Ship feel freezing cold.
And then Seo Ran’s voice rang out.
[Run, seniors!]
“!”
Color drained from our faces.
Seo Ran bit down on the golden droplet, gathering immense qi inside his mouth.
Next moment, Seo Ran opened his mouth.
**BLEEKH!**
The power of the Ghost-Suppressing Bell merged with Seo Ran’s breath. Instead of azure, golden radiance shot forward and flew toward us.
**KU-GUGUGUGUGU!**
[GUOAAAAO!!]
The ghost tried to explode the cyan-white skull, but it was trapped together with the skull inside a cage of golden breath.
Its power was suppressed by the Ghost-Suppressing Bell. Its self-destruction power weakened. The blue explosion could only exert force inside the golden rays.
The terrifying aura of the explosion was gradually sliced away inside the golden light.
“Ha, is that a dragon race?”
Kim Young-hoon clicked his tongue while watching Seo Ran spew light through Law Protection.
“Can he do that attack every time? I’d like to try fighting it….”
“Probably impossible. Seo-hyung… no, Seo Do-woo has been gathering power since earlier.”
“Tsk…”
Then.
**PAAAAH…**
Golden light began to weaken.
Seo Ran’s strength faded.
The Core Formation ghost’s cyan explosion, no matter how powerful, was already heavily suppressed.
“Looks like Seo Do-woo’s strength alone isn’t enough. Still, with the aura weakened….”
“Yeah. Let’s do it.”
The moment Seo Ran’s strength ran out, the explosion would escape again.
I and Kim Young-hoon moved to each side of the ghost and assumed stances.
We gripped our Invisible Sword and Golden Blade.
Next moment.
Seo Ran’s breath vanished completely. He collapsed to the floor, gasping.
The blue radiance burst through the golden cage.
The swords and blades swung.
**DANAK Sword Art — One Second, Crescent Moon.** **DANAK Blade Art — One Second, Plum Blossom.**
From opposite directions we slashed at the explosion with our respective techniques.
**Entering the Mountains, Energy Circulation, Overhanging Peaks…** **Mountain Qi, Mountain Strength, Mountain Wind…**
My sword qi transformed a thousand times, maximizing the power of the technique.
The Golden Blade chopped time itself at extreme speed and released light.
The storm of the Invisible Sword and the golden storm devoured the blue light from both sides.
And finally.
Our ultimate techniques unfolded.
**Complete Peaks, Eight Directions of Mountains, Heaven and Earth…** **Great Interval, Crescent Moon, Return to Ancestors…**
**PAAAAH!**
**DANAK Sword Art — Ultimate Technique: Severed Peak.** **DANAK Blade Art — Ultimate Technique: Tomb of the Blade.**
The thousand changes of the Invisible Sword were condensed into one strike that could even sever mountains.
The Golden Blade’s extreme speed was packed into one strike that buried even light beneath the blade.
**KWAAAAANG!**
Golden and white light swallowed the cyan explosion and completely shredded the remnants of the ghost that had been maintaining the technique at the center.
**ZYAAAH…**
We extended our final techniques, then retrieved our swords and blades and looked toward the light.
The light dimmed. Inside it stood one human figure.
“You’re still not dead.”
“Stubborn guy. Once you die, you should quietly go to the Yellow Springs….”
Kim Young-hoon clicked his tongue and raised his tension again.
But as the light cleared, we were startled.
What stood before us was not the ghost we had fought moments ago. It was a semi-transparent elderly man in black robes.
The elderly man raised ghost flames in both hands and cast techniques.
With what little power remained, it looked like his final technique.
[Dark Soul Possession Great Law!]
**PAAK!**
The black ghost flames covered the ghost. The elderly man in black robes charged at me.
[Know the sin of entering this world to seek its treasures!]
**SHUAH!**
I swung my Invisible Sword to cut him down. Somehow the sword still pierced him. The ghost was sucked into my upper dan.
Black malice stained my soul.
The soul was being devoured.
The ghost entered my upper dan, touched the soul, and seeped deep into it.
Into the consciousness that no one else could enter, it dove in.
In an instant it had reached my deepest core. Our minds intertwined.
The emotions he had felt while living and his consciousness entered me. My emotions and consciousness entered him.
And.
**KRUAAAAAAGHHH!**
The ghost inside my soul began screaming madly.
[HUUUAAAAA! AAAAAA! Let me… out! Stop!]
[KYAAAAH!]
[Please, please!]
But I instead tightened my grip on the consciousness even deeper inside my mind with sheer will.
[Huuaa… What the hell are you?! Why are you alive while thinking these thoughts and feeling these emotions?! You are… you are…]
The voice of the ghost, soaked in fear and despair, sobbed.
[You… are you really human…?]
* * *
When the ghost had used the Dark Soul Possession Great Law to infiltrate Seo Eun-hyun’s consciousness, he had felt nothing but smugness.
One of Black Ghost Valley’s trump cards!
A secret technique that directly competed with the opponent’s will and one’s own will to seize the opponent’s body.
Even in the mental space, since he had mastered ghost techniques, he had the advantage.
All that was needed was to suppress the opponent’s mind at its core!
Thinking that way, I reached into Seo Eun-hyun’s deepest soul—the core of his mind.
**PAAAAH!**
Clear light enveloped him. Then.
The ghost entered a strange space.
[Eeh…?]
**PUK!**
The ghost’s entire body became a honeycomb in an instant.
[A, aa…]
Clear, transparent sword blades were embedded upside down.
No place to stand, dense colorless swords stood densely on the floor and received him.
[AAAAAA…!]
He screamed.
Clear, transparent, colorless swords were densely packed across heaven and earth.
The swords formed one massive mountain in the distance.
Transparent Blade Mountain Prison!
That was the mental world he had reached.
[What… what is this…? Can a human have such a mind…?]
Normally, the mental core of a mage or beast was small.
Some minds were like children, some like grass, some like stones.
But the mind was fundamentally an object.
It could be the object the person usually thought of, or an object with single identity.
Normally that was a normal mind.
But this…
[World…? The mind formed such a vast, clear world.]
I had never heard of anything like it.
But what was most terrifying was…
[Even if this world is this person’s mind, why does this person have such a painful world…?]
The body was pierced by the colorless swords sprouting from the floor. Couldn’t move.
And merely touching the colorless swords caused immense pain.
—Failed. Failed again. Failed.
—Only loss.
—Struggled and struggled and struggled, but was rejected.
—Everything in this life will eventually collapse.
—I am alive, but I am not alive.
From the swords came Seo Eun-hyun’s voice.
Each one was Seo Eun-hyun’s life.
[You… are you really human…?]
The swords symbolizing life.
The overwhelming pain felt from those swords made the ghost tremble with fear.
[You are not human. If you were human, this could never happen… You are a dead man! Closer to death than I am already dead!
How, how is it possible for a human to have such a mental world!!!]
**KU-GUGUGUGU!**
The Blade Mountain Prison writhed.
The ghost felt himself being sucked into the clear swords.
Seo Eun-hyun was manipulating his own mind to trap him.
The ghost laughed madly at the impossible sight. And laughed again.
* * *
“Eun-hyun-ah, are you okay?”
“…I’m fine.”
I said while completely sealing the ghost in unconsciousness.
“I have completely suppressed him. No problem.”
**WHOOOO…**
I formed a technique and spat out inner energy.
Inside the inner energy, the ghost’s face, trapped in my will, looked back at me with terror.
[You… who are you?]
“Just a human. What else would I be?”
[Huu… you are a human.]
The ghost laughed mockingly.
“Anyway, you’re really tenacious. With all your power gone, you’ll go to the Yellow Springs by yourself.”
I was about to release the consciousness binding the ghost when.
[Wait…]
“Hmm? What?”
[…I know you’re strong. I know struggling won’t help. I know I lost. So, as the victor’s mercy, can you grant my final request?]
**SWAAH—**
The ghost inside my consciousness changed.
The semi-transparent elderly man in black robes.
The elderly man stood with a deeply bitter expression.
[…I don’t mean to harm you. If I have to die like this, there is one last thing I want to do. Please, as the victor’s mercy, grant my final request.]
Kim Young-hoon and I looked at him for a moment and read his mind.
It wasn’t a lie. He didn’t mean to harm us.
He was genuinely asking for mercy.
He had no more grudges left.
“Hmm, that’s nice. Why should we do it? I think sending you quietly to the Yellow Springs is already great mercy.”
[…Indeed. That’s why if you grant my request, I will reward you.]
Then the next words made me flinch.
[I was killed by the One-Gate and became a wandering soul, but I was originally a Heavenly Person elder of Black Ghost Valley and a Document Keeper protecting the Technique Scripture Library, so I knew all kinds of techniques.
Nascent Soul techniques, Core Formation techniques, Foundation Establishment techniques… Tell me whatever element property you want. If you grant my request, I’ll give you one or two as rewards.]
We read his mind.
It really wasn’t a lie.
[If you grant my final request, I will tell you everything you want to know.]