Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Mindscape
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A white-haired beauty staring this way, her unidentified crimson eyes gleaming fiercely.
It was the Sword Spirit dwelling within the demon sword.
It was an utterly absurd scene.
Cheongun narrowed his eyes for a moment and contemplated his own mindscape.
"……"
He had merely smeared a few drops of blood on the demon sword, and suddenly his consciousness, which had been perfectly fine, was pulled into some mindscape beyond.
This place was likely the realm of the sword's lingering soul. The Sword Spirit's consciousness.
Before his eyes, the sword's mindscape appeared.
The sword's mindscape, deep within the Sword Spirit's unconscious.
"…Hmm."
The moment he entered the sword's mindscape world, Cheongun felt his consciousness momentarily melt into the sword.
It wasn't that he had actually been devoured by the sword's mindscape; he had simply been invited into the mindscape the sword had prepared.
He wondered why he hadn't known about such an opportunity until now.
The demon sword was a demonic treasure of the Blood Cult in the original story, but Cheongun had already cleared the Blood Cult route multiple times.
Of course, he had wielded the demon sword countless times, but this was undoubtedly the first such opportunity.
Putting it all together up to this point, there was only one plausible conclusion.
'A mode-exclusive weapon?'
It wasn't impossible if it was a new weapon added due to the conditional cheat mode he had applied before possessing this body.
His thoughts hadn't even finished forming.
Whooooosh—!
Purple haze billowed out, spreading to both sides.
The beautiful being thrust her face right up to Cheongun's.
She scanned him up and down, then grinned, lifting the corner of her mouth—
—Master.
With that single word, she embraced him.
It wasn't mere sound; it rang directly in his mind, as if spoken into his brain.
'The senses are vivid.'
Feeling the soft sensation against his upper body, Cheongun surveyed the sword's mindscape world.
'So this is the sword's mindscape…'
Cheongun's eyes narrowed.
The sword's mindscape was a river.
A vast and profoundly deep river.
Wails of tormented souls echoed from various places, and colorful auroras darted chaotically across the vast sky.
Cheongun's gaze dropped downward.
Ridiculously, he was standing on the river's surface.
The river's surface was strangely both crystal clear and murky, perfectly reflecting his own image when he looked down.
And beneath that water, countless dense souls were trapped below the river.
It was so transparent that everything inside was visible.
Yet within lay hundreds, thousands of vengeful spirits sacrificed to a grand curse.
A hellish abyss of eerie, horrifying souls!
That was the Sword Spirit's mindscape.
"Are you the Sword Spirit?"
—Yes.
The woman beamed, her face flushing red.
At that sight, Cheongun hurriedly executed a foot technique to create distance.
The woman tilted her head in confusion, as if she didn't understand.
—Why run? Do you hate me?
"Shut up."
For Cheongun, creating distance was the only option for now.
The reason was his unique trait currently surging wildly before his eyes: Overthrow Demonic Cult.
The demon sword itself was forged from the blood and flesh of those who cultivated demonic arts, so being treated as a demon was understandable, but the trait required one additional condition to activate.
To encounter a demon harboring 'hostility' toward the user.
Yet this was a mindscape world with only the Sword Spirit and Cheongun. For the trait to activate here meant that, no matter how friendly she acted with her talk of master and such, the Sword Spirit before him still recognized him as an enemy.
'Need to be cautious.'
That was why Cheongun had created distance and assessed the situation.
In a game, there'd be no need for such wariness, but this was reality, not a game. Caution was necessary—unless he had multiple lives.
Seeing Cheongun's expression, she approached with a pale smile.
Zzzzt, zzzzt!
'What kind of pressure is this…?'
It was suffocating.
'At least Wall-Climbing Realm aura…'
This was comparable to the full-force pressure from someone who had surpassed the Wall Realm.
Of course, being the sword's mindscape world played a role, but it was still an impressive aura.
The Sword Spirit continued advancing toward Cheongun.
And in the next moment.
—Don't dodge.
Shwaaa—!
With a gesture from her in black robes, the river water at their feet surged up as a water column in an instant.
It rushed toward Cheongun at lightning speed.
Cheongun mobilized every ounce of his internal energy and retreated backward.
The purple water column grazed the spot where Cheongun had stood.
Then, the Sword Spirit giggled with a broad grin.
—Impressive. That wasn't even aimed to hit. How did you dodge? Peak Realm couldn't have possibly…
The Sword Spirit muttered as she brushed her hair behind her ear.
Pure white silver hair, crimson pupils like bloodstones.
Smooth hands, soft skin, black clothes that teasingly revealed her figure.
Step, step, step.
The Sword Spirit kept chattering while steadily advancing, intent on capturing Cheongun somehow.
—Master. Why dodge?
"Creepy."
—Creepy? Me? Why?
"Too rowdy. Shut it."
Cheongun truly felt overwhelmed.
Every time the Sword Spirit spoke, unidentified noises stabbed at his eardrums from below his feet, from the sky, from left and right.
Those noises resembled screams or wails, and the incessant ghostly cries rattled his brain whenever they found an opening, making his mind unbearably chaotic.
If not for the trait's activation, he surely would have gone mad.
—If you've come to borrow my power, I'd appreciate it if you let yourself be caught obediently.
"Curb your hostility first, then say that."
At those words, the Sword Spirit's lip twitched.
—Can't help it.
"Can't help it?"
—Yeah. It's like my fate. Designed to harbor killing intent toward any living being. That's why I'm trying to acknowledge you as master, right? So just let yourself be caught nicely.
"What happens after that acknowledgment?"
The Sword Spirit chuckled softly.
—Then we truly become one.
"One?"
—Your mindscape binds to the sword's mindscape? You'll be consumed by the madness of the souls buried here and go insane, but to surpass the Wall of Walls, that's the price, isn't it?
Cheongun fell into thought.
The content wasn't complicated. Hand over his consciousness to the sword, go a bit mad, but gain power—isn't that it?
A clear loss. No reason to do it. In a game, it might be worth trying, but now he had only one life. The risk was too great to entrust his consciousness to such a sinister sword.
More than that, there was something he was curious about.
"What are those things below the surface?"
—Oh, those? What else? Souls devoured by the sword.
"And you?"
—Same.
"Then why aren't you trapped down there?"
The Sword Spirit smirked.
—I won.
"Won?"
—Yeah. Devoured them all. To survive. Those are the remnants left after I consumed them? Think of them as lingering shadows of vengeful spirits not yet transcended. That's why I need a master. I can't stay trapped here forever with my intact consciousness, can I? After all I've done to survive. So won't you come to me already? You gain power, I gain a master. Win-win, right?
He could see the Sword Spirit smiling with her eyes.
But Cheongun suddenly felt irritation surge.
Handing over his consciousness meant becoming a puppet, didn't it?
This wasn't an opportunity; it was a trap.
Realms without enlightenment held no meaning. Martial arts were a path; crossing via some opportunity without enlightenment wasn't truly surpassing the wall—it was just clinging to it.
You couldn't climb another wall while clinging. Enlightenment-less realms stagnate there. They fester.
And the power gained that way was merely Wall-Climbing Realm? Not Nature Realm, Life-Death Realm, or Manifestation Realm, but Wall-Climbing? Sorry, but that wasn't a high wall for Cheongun.
To hand over his consciousness for such a meager realm? An absurd proposal.
More than that.
'Disgusting.'
Cheongun had a good memory.
With enlightenment gained and his vital spirit tempered, his expanded consciousness didn't forget what he had seen.
Among the souls trapped below, several faces looked familiar.
When he first accepted the Blood Demon Squad's invitation and went to Blood Flow Valley.
The corpses buried in pits here and there. The ones Cheongun had massacred the Blood Demon Squad members over, felt uneasy, personally gathered, and cremated.
He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but they overlapped with those faces.
All young, filled with agony.
No particular sympathy arose. They were strangers, after all.
The pre-possession Cheongun might have gritted his teeth in pity for the innocently sacrificed, but the Cheongun who had rolled through the Central Plains for over a decade had seen and experienced too much to pity others.
But it was still unpleasant. His mood soured. Even if it was a game world, it was a sword made by grinding people up, wasn't it?
"Hahaha…"
Cheongun chuckled dryly.
Here I am. Even when insane, thoroughly insane.
Until now, I'd wielded it fine as an endgame weapon, and now I'm disgusted? A madman.
Anyway, my mood comes first, so since I'm in a bad mood, I have to resolve it somehow—a madman.
A guy who could surpass Wall-Climbing anytime he wanted. A guy with a minimal sense of ethics. A guy who can't tolerate annoyances. A guy living reality like a game world. A guy who doesn't think about consequences. A guy who forges his own path. A guy no mere demon sword could handle.
That's me.
Thus.
"……Pity."
—What?
"I said pity. So hand over your deficient consciousness to me. I'll put it to good use."
At Cheongun's words, the Sword Spirit blinked in confusion.
—A mere Peak Realm?
"For now."
This was the mindscape world.
In other words, a space where consciousness and intent manifested as reality.
Thus, consciousness manifested directly, and abilities were restricted by mindscape.
One could become as strong as one willed.
The key was truly believing in oneself. Knowing how to grow stronger, the entire process, heart, and will were needed. Empty words wouldn't do; it required experience.
Cheongun recalled countless playthroughs.
As a veteran of Azure Wind Saga, he knew better than anyone what reaching the pinnacle of martial arts entailed.
Bone-grinding endurance, countless failures and trial-and-error. Though just a game, no one had poured more time into Azure Wind Saga than Cheongun.
"……"
Qi haze rose above Cheongun's palm.
Only his consciousness had been drawn here, leaving him empty-handed without sword or anything, but he didn't need a sword anyway.
Cheongun closed his eyes and recited inwardly.
Dark. Isolated. Nothing heard.
He exhaled slowly, briefly emptying his mind.
Swords are not alive.
But the 'I' wielding the sword lives.
Infuse intent, and that intent communes with the world.
That was sword intent.
Flash!
Cheongun's intent reacted with qi.
Sword qi bloomed despite no sword.
Shwaaaaa—!!
The sword qi clumped like threads, evolving into sword threads.
Next.
'Sword intent pierces heaven and earth!'
Intent forges the sword, and the bloomed sword intent communes with the mindscape world.
Rumble—!!
The thread-like sword threads swirled violently, merging into one.
Hundreds of sword qi strands rotated rapidly, compressing ever denser.
Soon, it emitted pure white light.
As if starlight piercing the darkness had gathered in Cheongun's hand.
Sword Qi Solidification!
Every cell reacted. Muscle fibers compressed to limits. Every hair stood on end. Blood flow, meridian vibrations, internal energy circulation—all felt vividly.
The sword qi solidification on Cheongun's palm slowly evolved.
It grew transparent, eventually losing all form.
Formless Sword.
"Hoo."
He took in the world unfolding before him with both eyes.
The Sword Spirit gaped, dumbfounded. The vengeful spirits below wailed.
Cheongun slowly lowered his raised hand.
A massive beam of light engulfed everything.
————————————!!
A strike at the pinnacle realm cleaved the world.
Cheongun's lip twitched.
Now.
Die.
Mindscape is the image of the heart.
A world of mindscape shifts form by intent.
Thus, the Sword Spirit had drawn Cheongun's consciousness into the mindscape to devour it and seize the living body.
Mindscape is obsession. This world was born from the obsession of those sacrificed for a mere sword, and the Sword Spirit who survived by devouring other souls to the end.
As the mindscape of a lingering ghost who survived by consuming so many souls, no mere human could escape once trapped.
That's why it was the demon sword. A sinister blade that drove its wielder mad the moment grasped.
But Cheongun's formless sword aura cleaved through the mindscape world.
This was the pinnacle of martial arts.
Slicing the world with sword intent, rewriting it with one's own intent.
Control of the Sword Spirit fully passed to Cheongun.
The vengeful spirits trapped below transcended to the heavenly path.
Green grass began sprouting above them.
The eerie purple river water gradually turned to clear water.
The dismal soul phantoms in the sky vanished one by one, replaced by warm sunlight.
The horrific mindscape slowly transformed into a lush summer day landscape.
The Sword Spirit was dumbfounded.
Her obsession-forged world crumbled to mere Cheongun's intent.
Finally, Cheongun spoke.
"…Summer, huh."
"……"