Chapter 207
Chapter 207
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: Whose Hands Hold It?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Although it lacked the deep and profound Heavenly Demon Qi like Master's...
It was unmistakably a technique he had casually devised before collapsing.
How do I know?
Because I was the one who named it Blood Howl Finger.
'To link the Heavenly Demon Armament Sword's sequence with the upper dantian and unleash it as a finger wind. That's an idea even I haven't thought of. Impressive.'
'You have your Specter Arts, so you don't need something like this. But for me, in tempering my sword, it seems very important. It trains finger strength and can serve as a counter in a crisis.'
'Then may I name it for you?'
'Hmm? You?'
'Yes. I wanted to give you a gift like this.'
And now, the Kongtong Sect Leader was deploying Blood Howl Finger?
How on earth was I supposed to process this?
Master certainly hadn't passed it to him.
The Pure Crane Immortal I knew wasn't the type to be that ruthless.
That meant Master must have directly transmitted it to him...
Even the Heavenly Demon Qi's traits were absent, replaced by the Kongtong Sect's Nine Yin Skill characteristics.
It was a modification impossible without the very Master who created Blood Howl Finger.
Thump!
Thump thump!
My heart raced.
As if I'd found traces of Master in this unexpected place.
"Lock them all in the Repentance Cave."
"Sect Leader? This isn't like you at all!"
"Please forgive us, Sect Leader!!"
"What are you waiting for! Drag these sinners away!"
The Doctrine Scholars' faction was all sealed in their dantians and hauled off somewhere. Plum Crane Scholar, the commander of the Demon-Subduing Evil-Exterminating Sword Formation, kicked the struggling ones while leading the way.
"Infinite Buddha, Infinite Buddha. It's all my fault for failing to properly manage this position, my fault... I'll gladly share the responsibility with you all. I'm sorry."
Pure Crane Immortal squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch the scene to the end.
As expected, unlike his swordsmanship, his heart wasn't ruthless.
He was simply forcing himself to endure his tearing heart for the sake of his followers.
That seemed to be why, despite having the skill, he hadn't quelled the Doctrine Scholars' rebellion early.
『I thought a sect leader would have at least one extraordinary trait, but there's not a single one in sight.』
Tsk!
Lion Deer Sovereign sent a transmission while clicking his tongue.
In truth, Lion Deer Sovereign had viewed Pure Crane Immortal unfavorably the entire journey to Gansu.
How incompetent could a man be, unable to control his subordinates and letting the South Palace Clan and Demonic Cult extend their reach?
And now he was showing weakness again, which clearly displeased him.
『He's just a fool who gives off a good-natured impression. I always get pissed seeing guys like that. Sorry, but this old man will step out for a bit.』
Whoosh!
Lion Deer Sovereign vanished abruptly.
I didn't even have a chance to stop him.
What was this guy thinking, pulling that out of nowhere?
"I've shown you an unsightly side. My apologies."
Pure Crane Immortal approached me quietly after the cleanup.
"Not at all. How is this your fault as Sect Leader? It's those who caused this mess who are to blame."
"I'm grateful for your understanding. But... where has Lion Gate Lord gone?"
I gave a wry smile.
"He seems quite fatigued from the recent fierce battle. He asked me to convey his apologies to you."
"Oh dear. I hope Lion Gate Lord suffers no ill effects. If needed, I can provide restorative pills."
"Your words alone are thanks enough."
"What thanks? If anything, I should be the one thanking you all for coming all this way without hesitation."
Pure Crane Immortal smiled faintly.
It felt like he could read my innermost thoughts.
"Let's not stand here. Come inside. I've prepared some fine white snow tea, however modest, for the helpers of my Kongtong Sect."
Pure Crane Immortal led the way deeper into White Snow Valley.
I followed him, swallowing back the words trying to force their way out.
I wanted to ask.
What exactly was your connection to my master, as a leader of the Nine Great Sects?
* * *
Immediately after the White Snow Valley assault failed.
The body of the Doctrine Scholar controlled by Ghost Sect Lord began to rapidly disintegrate.
The fact that it had moved this far was solely due to Ghost Sect Lord's strong lingering will.
"He definitely resembles someone."
But Ghost Sect Lord kept his gaze fixed on White Snow Valley until the Doctrine Scholar's upper dantian was completely pulverized.
Frowning as if trying to recall something.
"But for the life of me, I can't remember who. Exactly—"
"Ghost Sect Lord!!"
Then, someone interrupted Ghost Sect Lord's musing from afar.
He turned his head.
Three Battles Immortal Lord, now reduced to one arm, was rushing this way.
"Why! Why did you keep it hidden!"
The gist was: You prepared this scheme, so why didn't you warn us beforehand?
Ghost Sect Lord scoffed lightly.
After those bastards ditched them to target Kongtong Sect alone—and even tried to swallow North Sea Sect's sacred relic and secrets—they had the gall to act indignant.
It meant he was that cornered too.
Having lost not only the Third Battle Line but also a significant number of White Thunder Sword Mansion's guests to mere fledglings.
Even if he returned to South Palace Clan like this, could he keep his life?
Even if he did, considering the current South Palace Clan Lord's temperament, dying honorably here might be better.
So Ghost Sect Lord turned away without responding.
What deal was there to make with a man about to become a soulless puppet?
From here on, he'd handle everything himself.
By the time Three Battles Immortal Lord arrived, the Doctrine Scholar's corpse had already collapsed, lifeless.
Thud!
"No! Come out! I said come out!!"
Three Battles Immortal Lord's maddened roar echoed through White Snow Valley's gorge.
Meanwhile, Ghost Sect Lord, having ended the Puppet Sound Control Art, opened his eyes in Radiant Star Tomb.
"How did the stroll go?"
The one greeting Ghost Sect Lord first was a pale-faced youth.
Unlike the eerie, bizarre aura of the white-masked ghosts, he exuded a cold, sharp impression overall.
The long narrow sword at his waist and skin white as ice were hallmarks of North Sea Sect's elite, the Few Path Ghosts.
Gu Seong-chae.
Eldest son of the deceased North Sea Sect Lord and heir apparent to the current North Sea Sect Lord.
He hadn't yet fully inherited the sacred relic and secrets, so he couldn't succeed as Sect Lord.
Yet he acted as if he were already Sect Lord.
Look at him now.
Treating Ghost Sect Lord as an equal.
Even though he'd relied on Ghost Sect's aid to come to the Central Plains.
But Ghost Sect Lord simply played along.
A gentleman pursues the greater cause, not petty etiquette that small-minded people obsess over.
"Of course."
"Then...?"
"I saw the North Underworld Blade."
"!!"
Flames erupted in Gu Seong-chae's eyes.
His fists clenched tight.
"Then retrieve it—"
"But there's unfortunate news for the Sect Lord heir."
Gu Seong-chae's eyebrow twitched at 'Sect Lord heir,' but the follow-up chilled his heart.
"Explain in detail."
"They were using the North Underworld Blade. Even reduced to a dagger form as a hidden weapon."
"!! Impossible—"
"And they even used Hell Technique."
"!!!"
"I just learned today how well it pairs with Tang Clan poison arts and Crimson Lotus Hell Technique."
Snicker!
Laughter spread from beneath Ghost Sect Lord's white mask.
It was a sound even Gu Seong-chae, who'd been with him for months, heard for the first time.
"The poison was so vicious it pierced the puppet's meridians and even affected my own will... Pahaha! Poison that can corrupt the mind itself. It really drives home how much there still is to explore in the world. That's why I can't leave the Central Plains."
"......"
Ghost Sect Lord's ramblings fell on deaf ears for Gu Seong-chae.
One phrase echoed in his mind.
"How... How could a Central Plains heretic...!"
Ghost Sect Lord shrugged lightly.
"Who knows. Maybe intel leaked somewhere, or perhaps the Tang Clan delved deeply into your sect's secrets."
"......"
"But anyway, we've located the secrets and sacred relic, haven't we? Just retrieve them safely, no need to worry more."
Ghost Sect Lord patted his shoulder and brushed past lightly.
Only a fool wouldn't grasp the warning: North Sea Sect would keep bowing to Ghost Sect from now on.
The opponent was the Tang Clan. With their Sect Lord dead, could North Sea Sect's current forces safely reclaim the secrets and relic?
Even if possible, if Ghost Sect interfered midway, it was over.
Gu Seong-chae felt despair.
Yet he'd walked here on the slim hope.
Even with the relic there, they couldn't touch the secrets—that belief shattered.
Like this, the sect's lineage was truly doomed.
Ghost Sect Lord's footsteps receded.
Finally, Gu Seong-chae bit his lower lip hard.
The metallic tang of blood lingered on his tongue.
"Just one thing! Please tell me one thing!"
Tap!
Ghost Sect Lord's steps halted.
Gu Seong-chae's eyes were bloodshot red.
Fresh blood trickled from his lips.
"The secrets! The relic...! In whose hands exactly?!"
Honorifics, not equals.
A pledge to bow his stiff neck.
Ghost Sect Lord's lips twisted beneath the mask.
Heh.
"In the hands of Rejuvenation Half-Fiend."
Ghost Sect Lord left those words and resumed walking deeper into the cave. The white-masked ghosts lining the corridor all bowed their heads.
Watching Ghost Sect Lord disappear, Gu Seong-chae clenched his fist harder.
'I'll definitely, definitely reclaim the North Underworld Blade...!'
His fist trembled.
But Ghost Sect Lord's laughter kept echoing in his ears.
* * *
"And the stone gate?"
"All analysis is complete. It will open shortly."
Gu Seong-chae's words weren't wrong; the stroll had gone smoothly.
Ghost Sect Lord manipulating the Doctrine Scholar to incite Kongtong Sect's internal strife was mere pastime.
What he'd sought from the start was one thing alone.
The whereabouts of Divine Sword Heavenly Demon.
Thud!
Ghost Sect Lord's steps stopped before a stone gate.
The gate was so ancient its form as a door was barely discernible.
Rusted seams and hinges could hardly function, and its surface, once covered in patterns and murals, was blanketed in moss.
It looked centuries—no, millennia old.
You'd believe it if called a cave dead-end rather than a door.
Yet after long exploration, Ghost Sect Lord had ascertained this was the 'true' entrance to Radiant Star Tomb.
A secret cave within the stone grotto—a hidden chamber.
And if Ghost Sect Lord's prediction held, the missing Divine Sword Heavenly Demon's trail lay within.
To this end, he'd eliminated even the South Palace Clan's black agents stationed here.
Now Radiant Star Tomb was solely Ghost Sect Lord's.
Ghost Sect Lord clasped his hands behind his back.
Awaiting the gate's opening.
"Opening it."
And with his subordinate's words.
Grrrrrind...!!
The stone gate began forcing open.
The cave trembled as if collapsing, dust flying wildly.
Vision blurred.
But the madness in Ghost Sect Lord's eyes beneath the white mask blazed ever fiercer.
"...Is this the place?"
Then, as the stone gate fully yawned open, Ghost Sect Lord clearly saw.
In the narrow, cramped secret chamber.
Traces of someone long ago dwelling there, and walls densely inscribed with ancient script far older than oracle bone script.
But what captured Ghost Sect Lord's gaze wasn't such trivial old martial secrets.
A single sword impaled in the chamber floor's center.
A treasured blade utterly mismatched to this ancient chamber, yet all too familiar to Ghost Sect Lord.
Divine Sword Heavenly Demon's beloved sword, Blood Howl Sword, hummed.
Whiiiiiing!