Chapter 267: Extreme Yin Body
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 267: Extreme Yin Body
Even I'm not completely immune to mental attacks.
It's just that I've built up some resistance after enduring the mental attacks from the Rakshasa Bird and the Human-faced Bird.
Seol-hwa should have a similar level of resistance.
But Seol-hwa collapsed from the suspiciously suspicious thing's attack, while I was fine.
Was it because I'm stronger than Seol-hwa?
I wouldn't know for sure unless we fought, but the difference probably isn't that significant.
Especially when it comes to the mental side of things, she, a priestess of a religion, might even be superior.
The reason I endured was simple.
I may have the body of a lizard, but my mind is human. And not just any human, but one you could call a modern person.
To such a modern person, this Murim is an era that could be called antiquated.
And an era that even this Murim calls ancient?
What a joke.
The kind of Heart Demon shown by a creature from such an era was painfully obvious.
Other martial artists might see it as an unblockable technique, but from a modern person's perspective, it just looked... unimpressive.
It was a pathetic attempt that couldn't even touch me.
I was startled for a brief moment, but I got used to it quickly enough.
The kind with fur flying everywhere... well, in our... no, in that industry, it's considered entry-level stuff.
The real deal isn't fur, but smooth scales.
There's even the lewd kind that polishes spears...
“Guooorgh! St-stooooop!”
Hmm, you saw it too, huh?
The suspiciously suspicious thing had been struggling ever since I caught it in my hand.
I kept squeezing with the intent to crush its head, but it was tougher than I thought.
I'm usually resistant to such sights, but the feeling of its fur getting between my claws was... odd.
Usually, in this situation, I'd grab its head and slam it into the ground. The impact from its whole body hitting the hard ground would be immense.
But if I do that, there's this strange, immutable law where the one who's dominating starts to lose ground.
It's like using a throw move during a grab, which just ends up letting the enemy go.
I never understood that.
Why would you let go when you've already got them?
Zzzzzzap!
Lightning burned away all of the creature's fur.
The internal energy I could feel from it was definitely stronger than Seol-hwa's, but now that its spirit was broken, there was nothing it could do.
“Kuuuh! Why would scales wear clothes like that...?! Gyaaaah! What are those blue scales...?! Why is there pink powder on its front paws... It's not fluttering, it's slick... T-Terry? What in the world is that?!”
...Is it seeing something other than Miss Heart Demon?
— Tsk, to think you still haven't killed it in this state.
The Heart Demon clicked its tongue.
This thing is just abnormally tough, I thought. And I figured it would be fine to let you torment it.
— Oh? For you, that's quite a refined taste. Yes, a true sovereign must have such a cruel side.
Seeing how much the Heart Demon likes it, maybe this was a bad choice.
— Still, you must consider the situation. You wouldn't want to lose a human who is a priestess, of all things, even if you don't care about other humans.
Hearing the Heart Demon, I looked over at Seol-hwa. She was groaning with a pained expression.
What's wrong with her?
— What's with that look on your face?
Her whole body was cold as ice, and she was drenched in sweat.
— Surely you don't think falling into a Heart Demon is similar to catching a cold?
What?
— If one cannot escape the Heart Demon, the door closes forever, and no one can come or go.
— They could live the rest of their life like a vegetable, or fall into demonic possession and lose control of their own actions.
...Right, that's what a Heart Demon is.
A being that tries to drag you into the abyss with sweet temptations.
I hadn't thought of that.
To me, a Heart Demon was never that dangerous. I'd fallen into one several times, but I was always able to get out.
— So, are you just going to stand there gawking?
I took out an elixir I had tucked between my scales.
I'd been saving it just in case, but it looked like I'd have to use it now.
I pushed the elixir into Seol-hwa's mouth. It would have been a hassle if she didn't swallow it properly, but she managed to gulp it down.
— You don't think that's the end of it, do you?
Right. Just one elixir wouldn't be enough to escape the Heart Demon.
Crack.
I gave her the elixir to restore her depleted internal energy.
Even while unconscious, she was constantly emitting yin energy and cold energy. It was obvious she'd collapse from exhaustion if left alone.
And as for the method...
— ...Hmph.
The Heart Demon would tell me.
— You catch on quick.
If it wanted Seol-hwa to die, it would have just kept its mouth shut. It intended to help me. Whether it was because it enjoyed me giving the suspiciously suspicious thing a good lesson, or for some other reason.
— You helping this woman brings me pleasure.
Now it's being honest.
...But pleasure? Hearing a Heart Demon say that gave me a bad feeling.
— What will change with that look on your face?
— It's not like you, of all people, are weighing the pros and cons now, are you?
Right. Whatever the price, I had no choice but to listen to the Heart Demon.
— It will be a painful process. You must walk a path where even I nearly broke down several times.
...Now it's seriously trying to scare me.
— You must overcome all of it to save that woman.
The Heart Demon whispered in a subtle voice.
— Are you ready?
I had only one answer.
“Gek.”
Of course.
— Khah, khahahak!
The Heart Demon laughed loudly.
— In that case... the contract is formed.
The moment I bound the Heugunbang Leader completely with roots and vines, a red light flashed.
What on earth was the price that made that Heart Demon so happy?
— Now, feel the same despair and helplessness that I felt.
— Khahahahahak!
It was a brutally cold winter.
The oldest and coldest winter in Seol-hwa's memory.
They were two beings, abandoned and alone in the world.
The only one she could rely on was her older sister, who looked just like her.
No, they only shared the same face.
Unlike her weak self, Seol-hwa's sister was strong.
Though they were too young to know it, Baek Yeon-yeong, born with a Heavenly Martial Body, did everything she could to keep Seol-hwa from starving.
Watching her sister's efforts, Seol-hwa resented herself.
Born with an Extreme Yin Body, she had always been a burden to her.
All sorts of memories flowed into her. The insults and discrimination she had endured repeated themselves once more.
She hated the clans of the Orthodox Factions who made life difficult for the believers, and she despised the scoundrels of the Unorthodox Factions.
She hated the world.
But most of all, she hated herself.
In truth, Baek Seol-hwa's talent was not lacking. One could tell just by the fact that she had reached the Transformation Realm at her age.
She only seemed inadequate because her comparison was Baek Yeon-yeong; a talent like hers was rare even if you searched the entire Central Plains.
While the Extreme Yin Body had many drawbacks, Seol-hwa, having reached a certain realm, could control them. In fact, it was the optimal constitution for learning ice arts, so her Extreme Yin Body was no longer a problem.
But despite that, she hated herself.
Baek Yeon-yeong's Heavenly Demon Divine Cult wanted a world where its believers would not go hungry.
Would such a world need Seol-hwa's ice arts?
No matter how many times she asked, the answer was always no.
Ice arts were winter.
Winter was a time when the land froze over.
A time when the believers starved.
It was the season she and her sister were abandoned, a time when life withered and died.
That was why she couldn't help but hate herself.
Once again, a fierce wind blew.
The cold air tightened around her throat.
The things shown by the suspiciously suspicious thing had long since frozen over. The horrible visions it had shown had already lost their power.
She was trapped now because those visions had awakened memories she had tried so hard to forget.
Wouldn't it be okay to just stay like this? No one would come looking for someone like me, anyway.
A dreadful amount of yin energy and cold energy flowed from her body.
She had fallen into a Heart Demon in such an absurd way.
She would not be able to escape this space on her own. Her current situation wasn't created by the power of the suspicious creature.
Paaat.
Suddenly, she felt a warm energy.
The frozen snow mountain began to slowly melt.
Seol-hwa's blue eyes widened.
It was a heat she had never felt before in her life.
If her body was of the extreme yin, this energy was of the extreme yang.
Before her astonished face stood a familiar lizard.
“Gekek.”
Since I was tainted by a Heart Demon in an absurd way...
“...Really.”
...it should be possible to escape it in an absurd way too.
“For a lizard to show up wearing clothes like this.”
Seol-hwa let out a small laugh.
“I wondered why you made such fluttering clothes.”
She couldn't help but laugh. It was a sight she had never seen before in her life.
It was a ridiculously comical appearance, incomparable to the suspicious fur she had just seen.
A scaled being was wearing a long, flowing outfit of exquisitely mixed black and white.
And that scaled being had a very familiar face.
“Looking at you like that, you're actually kind of cute.”
Moreover, it had its head lowered as if embarrassed, and its cheeks were slightly red.
“It's a bit of a shame that I'm the only one who gets to see this... Wait a minute?”
Its cheeks were red.
It was clearly covered in scales, so how could she see its cheeks?
Baek Seol-hwa is the priestess of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
She can see far more than an ordinary person.
Furthermore, this place was Baek Seol-hwa's mindscape.
A place where she could see even things she normally couldn't.
A space where she could see things closer to their essence than anywhere else.
There, she saw another form, not that of a lizard.
White hair that flowed past the shoulders.
Blue eyes.
A tall stature, at least a foot taller than her, forcing her to look up.
It clearly had the form of a lizard, but for some reason, the image of a human overlapped with it. The black scales were replaced by black clothes, and though it just stared silently, she could clearly see it was conveying some meaning.
Is this what a dragon would look like if it became human?
Like her sister, his expression barely changed, but his gaze still felt warm.
“Where did my sister find a lizard like this...”
Just meeting that gaze felt like it could melt the very ice of her Extreme Yin Body.
It was a warmth like the sun, which rises indifferently yet illuminates all things.
Of course, the problem was that the person with such a face was wearing a strange, fluttering, and flowing outfit, but the lizard on the outside would vehemently deny it.
That's why it probably wouldn't know what it looked like for a while. This was its appearance in her mindscape, after all.
All her life, Seol-hwa had envied her sister.
If only I had been born with a Heavenly Martial Body instead of an Extreme Yin Body.
If only I could have acted when I was helpless.
If only I could have been hurt in her place, so she wouldn't have to be.
Though she loved her, deep in her heart, she held a certain amount of jealousy. It was a natural emotion between sisters, a small thing that Baek Yeon-yeong would have seen as nothing more than her younger sister's cute whining.
Seol-hwa stared intently at the lizard looking back at her.
She reached out and gently caressed its face.
She felt cold scales, and also warm skin.
She decided to be a little greedy.
“Sorry, sister, but I'm keeping this to myself.”
She decided that this image she had just seen would be hers to cherish alone.
Craaaaaack!
The world of ice that had imprisoned Seol-hwa split in two.
And the hot sun melted the remaining snow.