The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (7)
Madam Ryeo, who had sent Jin Somyeong a voice transmission telling him to run at once, furrowed her brow.
Her message should have reached him. Yet he was still walking toward them.
No matter how she looked at it, he did not seem like a man intending to flee. He was openly studying Wi Munseok, as though he had found something fascinating, and the sight made her feel as if something had lodged in her throat.
Why in the world?
Given the situation, she could not let it show, but she felt like stamping her feet in frustration.
Surely he isn't thinking of fighting him?
That would have been absurd.
As their Divine Senses had brushed against one another, she had naturally learned Fellow Daoist Jin's realm. He was at the third layer of Golden Core.
Not long ago, he had only been at the first layer of Golden Core, and yet he had already reached the third.
What a monstrous talent.
Even after seeing it with her own eyes, the speed of his growth was difficult to believe. It was so overwhelming that she could not even bring herself to feel envious.
However...
It was still not enough to resolve the current situation.
The difference between early-stage and late-stage Golden Core was far greater than most imagined. Even in terms of raw magical power alone, the gap was at least eightfold.
If he had learned some special secret art that increased the volume of his magical power, that gap might narrow, but the situation would remain just as grim.
There was only one way.
Escape.
If Fellow Daoist Jin goes all out, he at least won't be caught easily.
An early-stage Golden Core cultivator escaping from a late-stage one?
Anyone else would have laughed at the idea, but Madam Ryeo was sincere. She had witnessed Jin Somyeong's skill while harvesting the Moonlight Golden Grass. With that power, she believed he could at least run away.
In truth, the reason Madam Ryeo had warned Jin Somyeong was to create an opening. If the situation descended into chaos, a gap would appear, and if luck favored her, she might find a chance to flee as well.
She was not particularly trying to use him. This was a move that benefited both of them. From Fellow Daoist Jin's point of view, it was far better to grasp the situation quickly and escape than to be helplessly captured and tormented.
Then why...!
He had already closed to within three hundred meters. As she bit her lip in frustration, a thought flashed through her mind.
What if the voice transmission had not gone through?
Should she send it again, even now?
But voice transmissions were not omnipotent.
If she sent one before an expert whose Divine Sense greatly surpassed hers, she could be discovered. Even the warning she had sent Fellow Daoist Jin earlier had been a risk.
After a brief but fierce struggle, Madam Ryeo made her decision.
This is the last chance anyway. If he comes any closer, he won't even be able to run.
She meant to warn him once more. Just as she moved her Divine Sense with the desperation of a gambler throwing dice...
Her eyes met Wi Munseok's.
Ah.
A chill ran down her spine at the sight of those cold, lifeless pupils.
She had been discovered.
The realization made Madam Ryeo retreat a half step without thinking. Her face drained white as paper.
"Wi Munseok. Are you the strongest one in the Dragon-Elephant Demon Palace?"
A voice, utterly calm, cut in.
Jin Somyeong had approached close enough to stand almost before them, and when he spoke so casually, Wi Munseok's brow twitched.
"...How rude. Why do you suddenly ask such a thing?"
"Because I think your lot and I are about to become enemies, so I'm curious how large a sect I'm dealing with."
Silence fell.
What did it mean to become enemies with the Dragon-Elephant Demon Palace? It meant Wi Munseok would soon die by his hand.
Everyone looked at Jin Somyeong as though he had lost his mind. Madam Ryeo was different.
Was it because she trusted Jin Somyeong?
No. She simply could not react because she was too busy suppressing the dizziness that nearly made her faint.
Ah... sword cultivators are all lunatics...
It was not that the transmission had failed to reach him. He had merely treated the warning she sent as an invitation to an interesting duel.
While Madam Ryeo barely held on to her fading consciousness, Wi Munseok, who had been studying Jin Somyeong's faint, ambiguous smile, clicked his tongue.
He discarded the kind smile he had worn like a mask and said, "I was planning to toy with you for a while, but you've ruined the mood. Still, what did that traitorous bitch say to you by voice transmission to make you act so insolent? No matter how I think about it, I can't understand."
"Traitor?"
"I showed mercy and accepted her as a subordinate, yet she leaked information to you. That makes her a traitor. From now on, that woman won't be my subordinate. I'll use her as a slave."
"Hah. Impressive."
"For reference, you'll soon share the same fate."
Jin Somyeong let out a brief note of admiration and nodded.
It was not because he agreed with Wi Munseok. He had merely realized the man had been rotten from birth.
At this point, this isn't a problem caused by the mental restriction. He was always this kind of bastard.
A mental restriction worked by amplifying the desires one already had. It did not suddenly transform a perfectly decent person into a heinous monster.
Wi Munseok narrowed his eyes, licked his lips, and said, "But I happen to be the type who can't endure curiosity. Tell me what that traitorous bitch said by voice transmission, and I will accept you as a subordinate rather than a slave."
The fact that he was trying to drive a wedge between them even now was almost astonishing.
Jin Somyeong felt he could guess what sort of life Wi Munseok had lived.
After listening quietly, Jin Somyeong chuckled. He shook his head as though he had seen something ridiculous.
"I can't take this anymore. What nonsense have you been spouting all this time? The one who sent me a voice transmission was someone else."
"...Hm?"
If Wi Munseok thought he was the only one capable of sowing discord, he was mistaken.
When Jin Somyeong jerked his chin toward the companion standing behind Wi Munseok, the man looked utterly dumbfounded.
"Grand Elder. You don't actually believe that nonsense, do you?"
"Of course not—"
At that very instant, as Wi Munseok let out a hollow laugh of disbelief, the focus he had placed wholly on Jin Somyeong scattered by the faintest degree.
It could not be helped. Someone had just claimed there was a traitor standing directly behind him. It was an instinctive reaction, one that had nothing to do with rational judgment.
Of course, the span in which his concentration slipped was so brief that even calling it an instant felt generous.
Ordinarily, it would have meant nothing...
But Jin Somyeong possessed the speed to exploit even that sliver of time.
Clang!
Like a drop of water striking a still pond, a cold metallic note rang out.
It was, quite literally, lightning. The sword point shot from its sheath too fast for the eye to follow and marked a single point in the air.
"Kuh!?"
One of the Dragon-Elephant Demon Palace elders, a man who had been watching defenselessly from the very rear, suddenly had a crimson dot between his brows.
His eyes bulged in disbelief before he collapsed limply to the ground.
A strand of Sword Qi had flown three hundred meters through the air and severed his life.
In that fleeting instant, Wi Munseok was the only one who reacted to the ambush. His choice, however, was not to protect his companion, but to guard his own vital point.
It could not be called a foolish decision. If he had not responded, Jin Somyeong's Sword Qi would have flown toward the center of his own brow.
In any case, aside from Wi Munseok, everyone else had only one reaction.
Shock.
"Ah?"
Those being treated as slaves hung their mouths open like people whose souls had fled their bodies.
Madam Ryeo was the most striking among them. Her eyes, already large to begin with, widened even further, and her entire body was expressing exactly what it meant to feel on the verge of fainting.
"You bastard!"
Wi Munseok trembled from head to toe with rage as he roared.
The atmosphere, which had been like a cat toying with a mouse, changed in an instant.
Having lost a companion to a momentary lapse, Wi Munseok's eyes filled with vicious killing intent.
Crack, crackle!
Blood energy and magical power surged through his entire body.
With a bursting sound, his upper garment exploded apart. His already thick muscles swelled, and his height grew until he stood four meters tall.
"You son of a bitch! I'll tear off your arms and legs!"
Boom!
At the same time as an explosive crash rang out, as though the earth itself had collapsed, Wi Munseok appeared as if he had teleported and brought his long staff down.
Fast.
The force contained in the staff was anything but ordinary. He could tell from the sound alone; it did not merely slice through the wind, but seemed to rip it apart.
Jin Somyeong poured magical power into the Heavenly Heavy Darkstone Sword, where Mugeuk resided.
The sword, which normally weighed five thousand kilograms, increased its mass in an instant. The moment the sword, now weighing thirty-five thousand kilograms, collided with the staff...
Kwaaaang!
The ground beneath Jin Somyeong's feet caved in.
All he had done was block the staff descending toward the crown of his head, yet the shockwave swept outward and devastated the surroundings.
Kh...
The Heavenly Heavy Darkstone Sword bent as though it might snap. The residual force that seeped through the blade alone made every joint in his body scream.
His right arm, which had borne the impact first, felt especially as if the nerves had gone numb.
He's stronger than me.
With that single exchange, their relative strength had been decided.
Put another way, there was a gap between them from the level of their basic ability.
Wi Munseok seemed to have realized the same thing, for the corners of his mouth curled upward with a foul expression.
"A weakling like you dares act so arrogantly. I'll make you beg me to kill you."
"With skill that poor? That'll be difficult."
There was no need to be cowed simply because his opponent was stronger. Strength did not mean he could not be killed.
When two lives were staked in a fight and the battle crossed into the line between life and death, no one would know who survived until the end.
Besides, Jin Somyeong still had many cards hidden up his sleeve.
Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust? No. If I use it now, it will miss.
He trusted what his intuition whispered. Setting aside every stray thought, he considered only the path to victory.
Perhaps it was because of the clarity in Jin Somyeong's eyes.
"You still don't understand your place."
Wi Munseok snorted as if Jin Somyeong were beneath contempt, then swung his staff horizontally this time.
The moment Jin Somyeong heard the staff whistle through the air, it was already nearly upon him. It was so fast the intervening motion could not be seen.
He swung his sword as if raising a shield, and once again blade and staff collided.
Craaaack!
A sound like shattering glass rang through the air.
Forced backward by the difference in brute strength, his feet carving furrows into the ground, Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes.
The hand gripping his sword had lost its strength.
His muscles had likely torn after reaching their limit, but he paid it no mind.
If nothing else, the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art granted extraordinary regenerative power. Wounds like these would heal in a matter of seconds.
Boom!
Wi Munseok, however, seemed to have no intention of granting even that brief time. He charged without pause and unleashed a relentless offensive.
Jin Somyeong shifted the sword into his left hand and knocked aside the torrent of staff strikes. As he did, his senses sharpened.
It felt as though every sleeping cell in his body was waking at once.
Crack!
When his left hand broke, he gripped the sword in his right once more. He forgot pain. He forgot stray thoughts. He sank wholly into the battle itself.
It had been a very long time since he had felt this sensation of moving between life and death.
Was it enjoyable?
He did not know. But he had no intention of denying the smile that had formed on his lips.
By contrast, Wi Munseok's mocking, sneering mouth had pressed shut. The deep crease between his brows was so amusing that Jin Somyeong found it thoroughly delightful.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Each collision between blade and long staff rang out like an exploding bomb.
More than a dozen clashes passed in what seemed like a single instant.
By the time both of Jin Somyeong's hands had recovered completely, he realized he had adapted to his opponent's brute force.
"...Not bad. I will admit that I underestimated you."
Wi Munseok sprang backward and aimed his staff from a distance.
He lowered his center of gravity and pointed the end of the staff forward, in a stance that resembled the moment just before thrusting a spear.
Grrrk...
His four-meter frame began to shrink without pause. Like a compressed spring, the muscles throughout his body contracted.
Jin Somyeong did not know what he was trying to do, but he had no intention of letting him.
Naturally, he tried to counterattack at once, but the pressure bearing down on his shoulders made it difficult to move.
Rumble!
It came from the magical power Wi Munseok had poured out. It was not an especially profound technique. He was simply pressing Jin Somyeong down with a stupidly vast amount of magical power.
It was a crude method, almost laughably simple, and for that very reason Jin Somyeong could not shake it off immediately.
The instant he detonated the wind raised by the Wind Transformation Divine Scripture and broke free of the restraint...
It's coming.
He sensed its approach faster than any physical sense could have told him. His concentration reached its peak, and the world slowed.
Wi Munseok roared and thrust his staff.
The staff lengthened in an instant. Like Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang from Journey to the West, it stretched forward, aiming to pierce Jin Somyeong's heart.
Kwarung!
In that moment on the boundary between life and death, there was no longer anything to hide. Jin Somyeong used the Thunder Evasion Art.
One step.
Wrapped in lightning, Jin Somyeong shifted sideways and twisted his upper body.
The tip of the staff, charging in as though to gouge out his heart, grazed his chest.
Kh!
A chunk of flesh evaporated from even that slight contact.
Blood surged up in his throat. The force contained in the staff was far greater than he had expected.
The wind pressure alone had split the ground.
If Jin Somyeong had not practiced body refinement, merely being grazed would have reduced him to a handful of bloody water.
Fwoosh!
He used the blood energy surging from his dantian to suppress his internal injuries and guided every strand of magical power to the tip of his blade.
An opening!
The greater the force, the greater the recoil. That was the principle of the world.
Crack!
Ignoring the pain, Jin Somyeong stamped down.
Toward Wi Munseok, who had not yet even recovered his staff, he charged faster than the rolling thunder, becoming a single streak of light.