Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Lion Gate's Branch Leader
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“Big brother.”
“Stay put here, little brother. I’ll turn that wicked bastard into pulp myself!!”
The Lion King’s presence, now enlightened, was utterly different from during the sparring match.
Before, he’d been ferociously beastly, but now an aura of unapproachable majesty emanated from him.
It was as if the man had transformed overnight.
Lions had never been mere savage beasts, after all.
They were divine beasts sworn to protect the Buddha’s teachings.
Naturally, their majesty filled heaven and earth, and a single roar could subdue ten thousand beasts while making the four seas tremble.
That was exactly what the Lion King embodied now.
Even sharing the title of “King,” it was clear their levels weren’t remotely comparable—the Black Bone Lion King’s momentum was already crumbling to pieces before him.
Yet beneath that murderous aura, something familiar lingered.
『Big brother, could it be?』
『Hahaha! You sensed it too, little brother? Spot on. The Tang Clan Lord bestowed this opportunity upon me. Thanks to it, I’ve deepened my enlightenment even further.』
A hollow laugh escaped me.
At the Dark Lord’s far grander magnanimity than expected.
No matter how you sliced it, handing over his signature technique so casually?
It seemed to be from the Return to Origin Arts lineage, distinct from the Myriad Heavens Art I’d received, but a supreme art was still a supreme art.
He must have seized this chance to pull the Lion King into our camp as an ally.
The Dark Lord’s ambition to become hegemon ran truly deep.
Meanwhile, the Black Bone Lion King, overhearing our exchange, twisted his face in fury.
“Big brother? Little brother…?”
“Indeed. Though we weren’t born on the same day, Wi Ji Hu-myeong and his sworn brother Tang Un-hwi have vowed to share the same fate for eternity! Anyone seeking to reach my little brother must first trample me!!”
The Lion King slammed his Fierce Lion Blade into the ground.
In that instant, the Lion Gate’s Taoist Guard materialized around me en masse, erecting a barrier of righteous energy.
“The Taoist Guard will protect the Branch Leader with our lives!!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
The Taoist Guard roared their affirmation in unison.
「Huh?」
「What?」
「Branch Leader?」
「Young Lord! When did you secretly become the Lion Gate’s Branch Leader?!」
「And a shared fate…? The Lion King is a pillar of the righteous factions! How could you make such a perilous vow?! You mustn’t!!」
‘I never agreed to that.’
「Pardon? But—」
‘I had no idea. Seems he went off on his own impulse.’
Another involuntary chuckle slipped out.
This guy always managed to surprise in the weirdest ways.
Acting all dignified on the surface, yet tossing out such a cute gift like this.
Sure enough.
A quick glance at his back with puzzled eyes, and the Lion King snuck a look my way, flashing a grin.
‘How’s that, your big bro? Pretty cool, right?’ his whole body seemed to say.
Watching him puff up his chest, craving praise from his much younger sworn brother—it cracked me up.
That previous incident too. Turns out this fellow, despite his age, loved compliments more than seemed fitting.
A subtle bow of thanks, and his face lit up, his momentum surging anew.
His title screamed lion, but his behavior was pure loyal pup.
「S-So you’re saying he gave you the Branch Leader position without consulting anyone?」
‘Yeah, looks like it.’
「…W-What, that—」
「How head-over-heels must he be for the Young Lord—」
「……Just a bit more prodding, and he’d hand over the entire sect to the Young Lord.」
Ah, the trials of a handsome man’s life.
Men and women alike clinging on—it was exhausting.
「Huh? But everyone who’s stuck to the Young Lord so far has been dark-skinned brutes—」
「Shh! Shut it!! That’s the kind of talk that’ll get you flogged if the Young Lord hears!!」
Some weird nonsense seemed to be circulating, but nonsense was just that—I let it slide off my ears.
Still, Lion Gate’s Branch Leader, huh?
The supreme ruler of the Ghost Region probably felt burdened calling a mere junior like me “brother” casually, so he’d slapped this title on me instead.
Obviously a purely honorary position with zero real authority, but having something like this wasn’t half bad.
“Branch Leader?”
The Black Bone Lion King’s already foul mood soured even further.
“Lion King, do you even know who that bastard—”
“Quiet! Just keep your ugly head right there!!”
The Black Bone Lion King’s words cut short.
The Lion King had already stomped forward fiercely, launching himself.
KABOOM!
SCREEEEE—
The blade aura ravaged the ground wildly as it charged.
“Damn it!! What the hell are the Twelve Black Ghosts doing?! Why haven’t you summoned the Ghost Sword Squad here?!”
PIIII—
In that moment, a flute pierced the battlefield’s center from above, shadows plummeting from the sky—over a dozen of them.
Foreheads plastered with eerie talismans, their auras reeked of savagery.
“Out of my way!”
The Lion King swung his Fierce Lion Blade horizontally in a brutal sweep to shove them aside, but three latched on, blocking the assault.
More piled on one by one, until the Fierce Lion Blade was even forced back.
The Lion King’s eyes widened.
Even if his enlightenment wasn’t fully settled, he was a pinnacle master.
He couldn’t believe he was being pushed in raw power by mere jiangshi.
「Young Lord, those are!」
‘Yeah. Looks like they succeeded with the Soul Summoning Possession Great Law over the past six years.’
The Black Bone Ghost Valley’s spirit swordsmen and death swordsmen were jiangshi infused with the forcibly possessed souls of summoned warriors, turned into soldiers.
But the souls summoned were usually third-rate ronin who’d failed spectacularly in life—rarely any true experts.
Such experts typically held exalted statuses in life, beyond a sorcerer’s casual control.
Yet elite sorcerers occasionally succeeded in summoning and possessing expert souls into jiangshi—that was the Demonic Wheel Jiangshi.
Black Bone Ghost Valley possessed only twelve: the Twelve Black Ghosts.
But they had an even higher sorcery.
A forbidden art designed to summon absolute pinnacle experts’ souls as soldiers… though too impractical, I’d once harshly critiqued it and suggested a new direction.
Forcing such souls into lowly jiangshi was tough, so why not use ghost entities as possession vessels instead?
Ghost entities were easier for sorcerers to handle, so craft jiangshi cores from them, possess the souls there, and harness the curses and grudges they exuded—that was my advice.
Ghost entities naturally sought to manipulate their owners.
Hand one to a jiangshi, and it’d move on its own; the sorcerer just directed.
That was the blueprint for the new Soul Summoning Possession Great Law.
Too many theoretical gaps for immediate use, so I’d shelved it—apparently, they’d finally perfected it.
Pushing back the Fierce Lion Blade with just five jiangshi proved it.
‘Hated my guts, huh? Yet here they are, using my teachings to a tee. What clowns.’
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—
The ensuing clash between the five jiangshi and the Lion King raged fiercely.
The jiangshi leaped with spring-loaded soles, twisting midair in unpredictable maneuvers, pressing the Lion King hard.
“Quit buzzing around and get lost!!”
Golden Lion Blade Art
Black Lion Flame Burst
RUMBLE!
Five lightning bolts erupted from the savagely swung blade aura, repelling the jiangshi.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM…!
The earth quaked violently.
The Taoist Guard shielding me twitched, itching to aid their lord, but held firm.
Discipline was ironclad, plus eight more jiangshi swarmed to intercept any movement.
Even paragons like Pure Wind Pavilion elites, Green Bird Troop, or famed elders would struggle here.
‘So this was their ace. Both the North Sea Sect Leader and the Black Bone Lion King banked on it.’
I’d found it odd before.
Even with the council’s boost, how could Demonic Blade North Sea Sect alone take on the Tang Clan, packed with luminaries?
But seeing these Soul Summoning Possession Great Law jiangshi made it click.
Mass-produce pinnacles and absolute pinnacles, and North Sea Sect could crush the Tang Clan, claim Sichuan’s martial world.
The council must’ve stepped in to finalize the art’s theory.
「Aaaah! Nooooo!」
「My body! My precious flesh!! Sob sob!」
「Young Lord!」
Just then, Ma Bok—relentlessly targeting the Black Bone Lion King—had his head smashed.
His Night Crow limbs scattered across the ground.
Amid the wraiths’ screams at losing their flesh—
Flash!
I stepped forward again.
“What the—!”
The Taoist Guard cried out, noticing my absence a beat too late.
Dark Wind Step.
A blend of Dark Shadow Step and Lightning Gale Speed.
Unrivaled for stealthy, swift traversal.
In a blink, I’d flanked the Black Bone Lion King.
“Hey, fake.”
I grinned warmly, slamming down my Fearwind Fan hard.
Mara Heavenly Sword Form
Sword Thunder Flash
RUMBLE!
A single bolt crashed atop his skull.
I’d maximally compressed Crimson Dragon Qi’s yang energy, turning the lightning molten red—nay, pitch-black crimson.
KABOOM!
His remaining right arm shattered entirely.
“Guh…! Damn it! As I thought! You!! How are you even here?!”
The Black Bone Lion King staggered back, shock overwhelming him.
Fear flickered in his eyes.
No wonder.
Every time he drew sorcery to block my strikes, it jammed midway; every spell failed.
My doing—surreptitiously firing Black Dragon Qi into his meridians.
Even with council aid, all his sorceries lay in my palm.
Learning the Ghost King Scripture had been his fatal error from the start.
I knew my own spellcraft best.
Counters were child’s play.
In a spellcaster’s world, having your spells read stripped you bare, realm be damned.
“Valley Lord!”
“You bastard—!”
“No!!!”
Fearing for their Valley Lord, three of the Twelve Black Ghosts—hitherto focused on puppeteering the Ghost Sword Squad—rushed me.
The Black Bone Lion King screamed warnings, but too late.
The Fearwind Fan’s packed Crimson Dragon Qi heat hadn’t fully dissipated.
Flash-flash-flash!
The light ray veered mid-flight, splintering into hundreds in an instant.
Like hurling a vast net of light skyward.
Unleashing hundreds of sword strikes in one breath—the pinnacle of swiftblade, Mara Heavenly Sword Form’s true face.
Swordwind Mara swept all directions.
Lava spewing from the earth erupted in chaotic waves.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
The three Black Ghosts shredded into dozens of chunks, dead.
Bewilderment etched their faces—why hadn’t their spells activated?
A scorching gale followed, incinerating the remains.
“……Young—”
Another Sword Thunder Flash diagonally sheared the Black Bone Lion King’s head.
Eyes locked in horror.
The fool hadn’t recovered from the Ghost King’s return.
SPLATTER!
Half his skull exploded, blood fountaining everywhere.
‘Tch.’
Too shallow.
By a hair.
Flash!
Space folded around the Black Bone Lion King.
He reappeared far off, gasping raggedly.
He snatched a nearby Double-Headed Venom Eagle’s nape, gnawing desperately.
Crunch-crunch!
Snap, snap!
With each gruesome bone-crack, his wounds healed rapidly.
‘As expected.’
Severed arms regrew, crumpled face reformed.
His brought-along water jiangshi: emergency healing tools.
Of course, I couldn’t let him recover unchecked.
Fan flared wide, swung grandly.
WHOOSH!
Fresh flames surged from the circling heatwave, cascading over his head.