Chapter 140
Chapter 140
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 140
Chapter Title: The Great Law of Soul Descent
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The place I arrived at was a thatched hut deep in the mountains, not far from the Nine Dragons District.
It looked like a rundown old shack from the outside.
*Thud!*
“Is that it?”
“Indeed, my lord. They entered that place and have not emerged for quite some time.”
The Warm Demon, now perched on my shoulder, nodded vigorously.
“No wonder it’s a sect that handles funerals for the dead—every safe house they set up looks like this dump?”
That said, the safe house prepared by the North Sea Sect Leader was something else entirely.
The outer Illusory Labyrinth Array subtly warped people’s perceptions, keeping them from approaching the area.
The inner Demonic Yin Allure Array erased even the faintest traces of presence.
Even a master would pass it by without notice unless focusing intently—it was utterly serene.
And being in such a remote wild mountain, no one would pay it any mind.
Even I might have overlooked it without the Warm Demon’s guidance. It was the perfect hiding spot.
“Keep watch so no one approaches.”
“As you command!”
*Flap flap!*
The Warm Demon soared back into the sky with vigor.
From here on, the leader of the Dark Demon Divine Transformation Sect was going to meet the leader of the Doomsday North Sea Sect.
I wanted no interruptions.
I landed silently before the hut, blending the Ma Sect’s Guardian Art, Ghost Shadow Body Technique, with Lightning Wind Speed.
*Creeeak!*
I flung the door wide and stepped inside.
*Keeeaah—!*
*Kee kee kee keek!*
An eerie wail and chilling atmosphere assaulted me.
“The scent of death…!”
“Undoubtedly the scent of the North Sea Sect.”
Pushing past the ghostly cries, I entered to find a man sitting by the window, half-perched on the sill.
His frame was so gaunt it seemed his skin was stretched taut over bones.
Sunken eyes. Shorter than average by a handspan.
He looked more corpse than man, yet the ‘aura’ he exuded reminded me of someone.
“Evil Ghost Battle Robe… white hair… intense yin energy… I had my doubts, but to think you’re really alive…!!”
The North Sea Sect Leader forced his rigid jaw to move.
It seemed his soul hadn’t fully merged with the body yet.
Or perhaps something had gone wrong with the great technique.
His voice scraped like nails on iron.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“I was…”
“I moved quietly, but oh well. Was hoping to crack you over the head from behind.”
“You chased so… noisily… how could I not… know…?”
His gaze drifted out the opposite window, where the paper screen was gone.
So the Warm Demon had trailed him openly despite my orders for stealth.
Of course, it wasn’t the Warm Demon’s fault.
The North Sea Sect Leader was impressive for sensing so keenly right after performing the great technique.
“And… above all…”
Above all?
“Only a madman who could devise… such an absurd… board… besides Little Heavenly Demon… who else in this world…?”
He’d already sensed I was behind it, even before noticing the Warm Demon.
That was unexpected. Not someone to underestimate.
“No matter how strong… the Tang family head was… this campaign shouldn’t have failed… if not for you… because of you…”
His pupils blazed, belying his slow speech.
“You, who knew us better than anyone… made it an unwinnable fight… We blundered into the trap… like fools… that’s what I am…”
I smirked with one corner of my mouth in reply.
“You ambushed us plenty—why can’t I do the same?”
“True enough… Reap what you sow… Ha, hahaha…!”
The corner of his broken lips twitched faintly.
“You’ve… revived too…? Like me…?”
“Who knows.”
I grinned.
No obligation to answer his questions.
Only he would answer mine.
“Shouldn’t you worry about your own safety first?”
I circulated the Black Dragon Heart Formula.
*Kieeaah!*
*Tzzzzz—*
A far more sinister yin energy and ghostly aura than what filled the shack spread out.
A bone-chilling cold fiercer than any earth spirit.
Yet within it lurked embers that could incinerate souls on contact.
The moment I willed it, those embers would erupt into hellfire, devouring the North Sea Sect Leader whole.
The early stage of the Transcendent Realm is called ‘Three Blossoms Gather at the Crown.’
The three blossoms refer to the upper, middle, and lower dantian. Before this, they’re trained separately, but here they connect as one, allowing qi to flow freely like water—hence the name.
The boundary between inner power and spells vanishes. A mere ‘thought’ from the upper dantian directs qi anywhere, or manipulates it.
It’s when qi and intent fully merge.
Thus, imagination and creativity become crucial from this point.
How you shift your thinking diversifies or deepens qi manipulation.
It’s also when the importance of your heart formula peaks.
The heart formula dictates the paths and scope of your extensions.
In that sense, the Heavenly Demon Treasure Heart Art held immense value.
It embodied a millennium of the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult’s essence, offering profound study, and as the origin of ten thousand demons, it could forcibly subjugate other demonic arts and unorthodox spells.
Hence, the Sacred Cult called it thus:
—Demonic Intent, Demons Follow.
—When the Demon harbors will, all other demons obey.
“Heavenly Demon Treasure Heart Art… this one… You’ve achieved even this unique art…?”
His eyes wavered slightly.
The prize he’d chased his whole life stood before him—naturally unsettling.
Especially since it was me, whom he’d dismissed as a halfwit.
“I heard you boasted before the Tang family head that you’d become the cult leader.”
*Step!*
I took a step.
*Woooong—*
A faint ripple from my footprint spread through the shack and all surrounding arrays.
Now, this entire area was my domain.
“Arrogant nonsense. With Master still alive and me perfectly fine, such drivel. Hah!”
My eyes blazed.
“For coveting the throne you must not touch, repay with death.”
I took a second step.
The ghostly fog exploded, transforming the world around us. It was the Evil Ghost Hell Array.
The sky turned ashen, the ground a black swamp.
Wraiths wandered between, filling the air with mournful wails.
“Gu, you bastard! You reduced us to this and thought you’d get away scot-free?!”
“You’ll fall to the same hell as us! Ahahaha!”
*Keek keek keek…*
The wraiths’ curses poured over the North Sea Sect Leader’s head.
I felt his body tremble violently.
By now, the demonic pressure on his shoulders and curses would have him on the brink of bodily collapse.
Yet he endured without a flinch, proof of his formidable mental fortitude.
“I ask you, North Sea Sect Leader.”
My voice carried intent, demonic power, fury—the Heavenly Demon’s timbre.
“Where is Master?”
“I don’t… know…”
“Must I force your mouth open—?”
“But he’s alive… unharmed… that much I’m sure…”
As I roared to unleash, he replied in a still icy tone.
*Gasp!*
“S-Suddenly answering so meekly!?”
Even the wraiths were shocked.
I narrowed my eyes. Couldn’t read his mind.
“Does it relate to the Seventh Apostle’s empty seat?”
“You’ve already… figured that out…? Well then… answering will be… much easier.”
For a moment, his gaze flicked beyond the wraiths.
As if locking eyes with Gu Min-chae.
“Speak plainly.”
“The council found traces of the cult leader… in the Gansu Hollow Mountains… and dispatched the Seventh Apostle… who then vanished…”
“!!”
“I don’t know details… But I heard… something about the Star Sage’s stone chamber…”
“Young cult leader!”
“This is vital intelligence!”
*Thump thump thump!*
My heart pounded wildly. Breath quickened instinctively.
Finally.
Finally, a lead on Master’s true whereabouts.
But I steadied my breathing.
“Has Master… awakened safely from his slumber?”
“I told you… I don’t know… But the Seventh Apostle… is strong… far beyond a halfwit like me… Who else but the cult leader… could slay such a one…?”
He was right.
The Master I knew was already ascending to divinity.
“Why spill this so freely?”
“During the Great Law of Soul Descent… it occurred to me…”
“What thought?”
“If I’m switching bodies… why settle for this shoddy trash… when something better… exists…?”
I took my third step.
*Rumble!*
The earth split, unleashing dozens of iron chains.
Each glowed red-hot with crimson dragon qi, spewing flames.
*Clank clank!*
“Namely you… Little Heavenly Demon… that sturdy body of yours…!”
The chains lunged to seize him.
“With a body you’ve already revived and cultivated… upper dantian opened by spells… perhaps I could reclaim my lost transcendent state!!”
Madness stained his eyes.
His overheated body detonated.
Blood Explosion Art, fueled by life force.
*Boooom!*
A massive heatwave hurled the chains back.
In its place stood the North Sea Sect Leader’s fractured primal spirit, his Origin Soul.
The Origin Soul is a transcendent master’s second body, forged by fusing star essence with qi as they shed the flesh.
Only upon full enlightenment and ascension does it become a true immortal—thus, a semi-immortal form.
Of course, this Origin Soul wasn’t complete.
His great technique was unfinished.
Its rank had plummeted, the Origin Soul heavily degraded.
He could no longer manifest transcendent realm power.
At best, a toe in the ascension stage—if lucky.
Even that was degrading rapidly.
*Shaaa…!*
Soul particles scattered around the Origin Soul—proof.
The soul mages’ most dreaded phenomenon: soul dissipation.
『You cannot kill this seat. You still need more on the cult leader from me. But I can kill you.』
His Origin Soul’s spirit power turned to a blizzard.
The Evil Ghost Hell Array’s air plunged to absolute zero.
Thick ice formed. The ground heaved and sank, carving a freezing ice valley.
*Crunch crunch!*
A winter storm of north winds and blizzards engulfed the world.
As if summoning the legendary Tenth King, Emperor Song’s Ice Hell.
And where the North Sea Sect Leader’s Origin Soul had stood rose a giant of compacted ice and snow.
Dozens of feet tall, its upper body alone blotted the sky with overwhelming pressure.
“This is… Song Emperor Possession Art…!!”
“The lost ancient North Sea Ice Palace secret art still survives!”
“More likely, he partially restored it with the council’s aid! Hah!!”
In the ice-and-snow-filled North Sea, the Ice Palace disciples faced constant hunger and death, shaping a death culture utterly unlike the Central Plains.
They revered the God of Death as their tribal deity before even the Great Demon God.
In the Central Plains, equated to Emperor Song.
Thus, the North Sea Sect Leader was a priest serving Emperor Song’s will,
And at times, could channel a fraction of that power for miracles.
The colossal ice giant, ferocious cold, and hellish array were proof.
But no mere human can fully contain a god’s power.
Especially not a dissipating spirit body—it only hastened doom.
He was wagering his life, his soul’s annihilation, to seize my body.
『So sink deep into the world I’ve wrought, new leader of the Dark Demon Divine Transformation Sect.』
I looked up at him.
His coldly sunken eyes dwarfed my height.
“North Sea Sect Leader, ever considered this?”
My lips curled.
“With souls enabling soul calling, possession, revival, resurrection… why not soul devouring too?”