Chapter 322: You Did Not Fail.
Chapter 322: You Did Not Fail.
A savage aura surged from So Baek-ta’s body.
The declaration that the Cult would not permit his war hadn't angered him all that much; it was an expected response. However, being told to go wash his face had insulted him beyond measure. It struck his pride where it hurt most.
Are you truly that strong?
The wailing of ghosts echoed from all directions, ghostly qi pressing down on Geom Mu-geuk. It was the Calamitous Heaven Great Demonic Energy, though the demonic art had not yet reached Great Achievement.
The Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art activated, shielding Mu-geuk’s body. As he stood there with a relaxed expression, So Baek-ta pushed his internal energy even further.
I asked if you’re really that strong!
He was indeed strong. Far from being suppressed by the ghostly qi, Mu-geuk began to stride toward So Baek-ta.
“What exactly do you have that makes you act like this? This isn't some back-alley thug’s squabble over a brothel. What on earth do you possess that makes you speak of unifying the Outer Regions and dreaming of conquering the Murim?”
Geom Mu-geuk stopped directly in front of So Baek-ta.
“I don’t think these distracting patterns on your face are going to lead a war to victory.”
The moment a certain resolve flashed in So Baek-ta’s eyes, another of his hidden cards was flipped. A crimson energy began to flow from his eyes, merging with the ghostly qi he had released earlier.
In that instant, Geom Mu-geuk realized it.
That energy isn't the Calamitous Heaven Great Demonic Energy!
A moment later, the blood-red energy surged over Geom Mu-geuk, and his surroundings shifted. He was no longer standing in the Heavenly Demon Hall.
The walls and floor around him were undulating as if they were alive. This place felt like being inside the entrails of a beast—a sensation he had experienced before.
Yes, it was the space created by Hwan-yeo, the woman from the Flower Garden.
However, it felt different from the space Hwan-yeo had made. The colors were different, and the shape was distorted. He could feel both the energy of the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s Calamitous Heaven Great Demonic Energy and the energy he had felt from Hwan-yeo in the past.
The two martial arts have been fused!
The combined energy was far more powerful. Naturally, the person who had enabled the fusion of these two arts must be the Illusion King.
The reason So Baek-ta felt changed wasn't because he had fallen victim to the Soul-Seizing Technique. It was because the fusion of two powerful demonic arts had warped his personality. Added to that were likely the persuasion and brainwashing of the Illusion King.
Did the Illusion King provide his own martial arts to make him stronger?
Hardly. If such an effect were possible, he would have stolen So Baek-ta’s martial arts and absorbed them himself.
The end of this fused martial art is death.
Geom Mu-geuk was certain. The man known as the Illusion King had already proven in Mu-geuk's previous life that he was someone who cared only for himself.
At the front of this space was the Ten Thousand Li Communication Wall, from which human faces used to emerge. From the opposite side, someone poked their face out.
“Young Cult Leader, did you say you wanted to see?”
The face that emerged from behind the thin membrane was So Baek-ta. His voice echoed eerily.
“I suppose I can’t kill you, since you’ve mastered the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. But I can trap you here forever.”
This was where his confidence in unifying the Murim came from—this powerful martial art that he believed could even imprison the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
Naturally, Mu-geuk could deduce his final card as well. If the Illusion King had passed down this martial art, So Baek-ta must also believe the man would help him. The Illusion King assisting this fused martial art? Only now could Mu-geuk understand the man's excitement and confidence.
“What is the name of this martial art?”
At Geom Mu-geuk’s question, So Baek-ta answered with pride.
“The Calamitous Heaven Blood Spirit Technique!”
Mu-geuk could feel an energy powerful enough to justify that confidence. However, this was no different from taking the unstable internal energy amplifier, Wild Rage, which the Unorthodox Path Alliance had sold in the past.
“Do you not realize that becoming strong in this manner always demands a price?”
So Baek-ta laughed. Not a hint of anxiety could be felt in his expression as it appeared on the undulating membrane.
“Shouldn't you be the ones paying the price? You, who have grown complacent, relying solely on the Nine Calamities Demonic Art! Well? Have you seen enough of my ability now?”
Geom Mu-geuk did not answer. As he fell into thought, So Baek-ta asked him, “What are you thinking so hard about?”
How can I get you to tell me about the Illusion King?
“I was wondering how I might get out of here.”
When Geom Mu-geuk drew the Black Demonic Sword, So Baek-ta sneered.
“The membrane looks thin, so you probably think it’ll tear easily.”
So Baek-ta, shaking the membrane with a relaxed laugh, had no way of knowing the truth. To Geom Mu-geuk’s eyes, empowered by the Blood Eye Purifying Water and the New Eye Technique, the bluish lines that marked the way to dismantle the membrane were clearly visible.
Of course, not all counter-dispelling methods were this easy to find. There were illusions and sorceries that could only be unraveled after crossing the threshold of life and death, like his previous battle with the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord.
But at the very least, the method to cut the membrane of the Ten Thousand Li Communication Wall was plain as day to Mu-geuk.
Swish!
The Black Demonic Sword lightly sliced through the air.
Riiiiiiip.
The membrane tore like cheap fabric. Because of that, So Baek-ta, who had been pressing his face against the membrane, tumbled headfirst into the space.
His eyes bulged in shock. Furthermore, Geom Mu-geuk had sliced the membrane without leaving a single scratch on So Baek-ta's face.
“How?”
Geom Mu-geuk reached out, grabbed So Baek-ta by the collar on the other side of the wall, and yanked him inside. So Baek-ta was dragged in like a ragdoll.
Geom Mu-geuk looked down at him as he sprawled on the floor and spoke coldly.
“You said I could never leave? Are you confident you can stay here with me for the rest of your life?”
Reflexively, So Baek-ta tried to dissolve the space. It seemed for a moment that the space was vanishing and they were returning to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
Ssssh.
But they were pulled right back into the original illusory space.
“!”
So Baek-ta was startled. He had recited the oral formula to dissolve the space and had definitely returned to the hall. Yet, he had been dragged back here as if by a tether.
He recited the formula again. But the walls and floor only surged and buckled; the created space would not disappear.
Something is wrong!
He panicked. Since learning how to create this space, he had never once failed to exit it. His gaze turned toward the torn wall.
Is it because of that?
Looking around, the space was similar to the one he had created, yet different. The color was different, and the feeling was alien.
Something changed because he tore that!
So Baek-ta’s heart sank with an unknown sense of dread.
“Calm down and try again,” Geom Mu-geuk said.
He tried again, but the space still wouldn't vanish. So Baek-ta ran to the Ten Thousand Li Communication Wall, attempting to exit through the spot Mu-geuk had torn. However, a new membrane had formed behind the torn one.
He tried to inject true qi to tear the membrane, but it only stretched and proved useless. So Baek-ta turned to Geom Mu-geuk and shouted.
“You! Try tearing that wall again!”
Geom Mu-geuk drew his sword and struck at the membrane. But the membrane did not tear. Whether he stabbed or slashed, it only stretched and undulated.
“How did you tear it earlier?”
“I don’t know. I just got angry seeing your face mocking me, so I ripped it. Does it only tear if you poke your face in from the other side?”
Geom Mu-geuk asked back, but So Baek-ta didn't answer. He didn't know either.
“We’ll get out somehow. Surely we won't be stuck?”
Unlike the somewhat relaxed Geom Mu-geuk, So Baek-ta’s fear was growing. This carefree man didn't know how terrifying this place was. If the space couldn't be dissolved, they would starve to death here.
“Is your internal energy being consumed?”
So Baek-ta checked his energy and shook his head. Geom Mu-geuk sat down, leaning against the wall.
“That’s a relief, at least. Otherwise, you would have died from exhausting your innate true qi. Rest and try again.”
Geom Mu-geuk was right. Getting agitated wouldn't solve the problem. So Baek-ta calmly examined the wall. The movement of the walls, which had been writhing like intestines, was subsiding, and the color was gradually darkening. The wall was dying.
“Did you really think there would be no side effects to fusing another demonic art with a great one like the Calamitous Heaven Great Demonic Energy?”
He had. So Baek-ta had believed there would be no side effects. There hadn't been any until now.
So Baek-ta sat down and began to circulate his qi. He intended to settle his mind, replenish his internal energy, and try again with a fresh perspective. When he opened his eyes after one complete circulation of true qi, Geom Mu-geuk was examining the wall.
So Baek-ta calmly recited the formula to dissolve the space once more. But it was still a failure.
It was then.
Drip, drip, drip.
Blood began to stream down from the walls on all sides. As if announcing that death was imminent, the blood flowing from the walls did not stop. Startled, So Baek-ta looked around and fell into despair.
“There’s nowhere for the blood to drain.”
Blood began to pool on the floor. If it continued to rise like this, they would eventually drown. To drown in blood within an illusion he had created himself? And with the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, no less?
So Baek-ta stood dazed for a moment, the situation too absurd to process. Then, a fierce hostility suddenly surged within him. So Baek-ta gathered his internal strength. A blood-red energy began to coalesce in both his hands.
“This is all because of you!”
So Baek-ta lunged to unleash his Gang Qi at Geom Mu-geuk, but Mu-geuk was a step faster. Closing the distance with Dark Shadow Step, he delivered a strike.
Thwack!
Struck in the chest, So Baek-ta was sent flying, hitting the wall before collapsing to the floor. Geom Mu-geuk grabbed him as he lay submerged in the blood and suppressed his internal energy. Before they knew it, the blood had risen to their knees.
“Why is it because of me? It’s because of you, running around talking about unifying the Outer Regions when you can’t even dissolve your own creation.”
Geom Mu-geuk ruthlessly smacked the back of So Baek-ta’s head.
“This is for your master! Your master told me after meeting you that he should have smacked you on the back of the head while calling you a lunatic.”
So Baek-ta gnashed his teeth. He was furious, but now was not the time to be fighting Geom Mu-geuk. The blood was rising rapidly. So Baek-ta felt terror as he watched the rising blood. It was the fear of death, felt for the first time.
In the midst of this, Geom Mu-geuk provoked him further.
“If your master handed down the position of Cult Leader to you, you should have thought about how to protect it. How can someone who can't even keep the blessings given to him expect to do anything!”
“Blessings? What blessings?” The word 'blessed' was like a reverse scale to him. “I was always the one destined to inherit the position of Cult Leader!”
“You inherited it earlier than expected, so isn't that a good thing?”
“A good thing? At that time, I wasn't ready to be the Cult Leader! It was a position I should have inherited only after more training, when I had reached Great Achievement in the Calamitous Heaven Great Demonic Energy. But my master just threw the position at me and left!”
The things he had buried deep in his heart came bursting out.
“He told me not to worry because there were many who followed him? Don't make me laugh! Those people followed my master, not me! Why didn't he realize that? Why didn't he see that what they said to his face was different from what they said to mine!”
The blood had already risen to their waists.
“Do you know what it was like for me after my master left? Every day was like sitting on a bed of nails. Is someone eyeing my position? Are they looking down on me in secret? I couldn't even sleep properly for fear of being assassinated. And yet, what? Even if everyone else says that, you shouldn't? You don't even know what I've been through.”
Geom Mu-geuk could see it now. The childishness he had glimpsed in the man from time to time had its roots in resentment toward his master. He should have endured and overcome by replacing 'because of' with 'thanks to,' but unfortunately, he had failed to do so.
“He was the only one who truly understood me.”
The Illusion King must have slipped through the cracks of his resentment, anger, and fear. So Baek-ta wanted to say this: that man was a hundred times better than his damn master.
“He said he was the last descendant of the Blood Cult.”
That wasn't a lie. After the Illusion King and Hwan-yeo, the martial arts of the Blood Cult had appeared no more.
“He said he intended to live quietly, but his mind changed when he saw me being abandoned by my master and ascending to the position of Cult Leader.”
The Illusion King must have pretended to be his greatest strength at his weakest moment. He would have melted So Baek-ta's heart while teaching him the demonic arts of the Blood Cult.
So Baek-ta looked at his reflection in the blood that had now reached his chest. Then, using the blood as a mirror, he began to dip his fingers into it and draw the final pattern on his face.
It was the Wind Painting, the one drawn on the faces of the dead. Of course, it didn't draw well with the blood.
“I wanted to go to the battlefield wearing the Heavenly Flower he drew for me.”
The moment he heard that, Geom Mu-geuk knew.
“Was that man the painter of the Heavenly Demon Hall?”
Perhaps sensing that this was the end, So Baek-ta nodded. “He was the one who taught me how to draw the patterns on my face.”
Finally, the moment the Illusion King’s hiding place was revealed.
“He was the one who told me how I should live, and how great a person I am.”
The blood had now reached his chin.
Is this how I die?
So Baek-ta’s eyes suddenly met Geom Mu-geuk’s. In Mu-geuk’s clear, deep eyes, there was an inexplicable sense of joy.
“What are you smiling about? What’s so great that you’re acting superior until the very end?”
“Normally, I would act quite superior, but I’ve held back a lot today.”
What followed was even more incomprehensible.
“Your attempt to dissolve the space did not fail. It’s just that I succeeded.”
“What?”
“Come to think of it, I suppose I’m your junior brother in this place.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“He only passed it down to me, so there’s no way you could know.”
The blood had risen to their faces; they had to stand on their tiptoes to speak.
“There is a gesture your master always makes whenever he opens or closes this place.”
Geom Mu-geuk raised his hand high above the blood. So Baek-ta instinctively felt that something was wrong. But that thought was fleeting as the blood rose above both their faces.
Just as they were being submerged in the blood, Geom Mu-geuk’s raised finger let out a sharp snap.