The Descent of the Envoy
At that, the other cultivators, who had been instinctively hesitating, rushed forward as if refusing to be outdone. It was the exact moment Jekyeong was reeling from a bombardment of dozens of talismans. Thanks to the human cultivators intervening at such a perfect time, Jekyeong was able to catch his breath.
"Cough!"
He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth, creating what looked like a literal crimson waterfall. To an outsider, it would seem as though he had suffered a mortal wound, but in reality, it was merely a light internal injury. Vomiting a waterfall of blood was nothing more than a standard cough for a creature of his colossal size.
But even if the physical wounds were trivial, the blow to his pride was immense. Or perhaps it was his self-esteem that had taken a hit? Gwak Yeon hadn't even lifted a finger, nor had she used a single dharma treasure; she had pushed him back using nothing but talismans. How long had it taken for him to charge in so confidently, only to spit blood and retreat? Even if he tried to rationalize it as the power of the Core Formation realm, he knew deep down it was just shallow self-deception. Core Formation power? What a joke. The original owner of that core had died and rotted away seven thousand years ago, and the core itself was nothing but a cracked, faded piece of junk that had lost its luster long ago.
Is the gap really this vast?
Even if he wasn't in peak condition, neither was his opponent. Had that bastard Myeong-ha lied to him?
"Graaaah!"
In an instant, Jekyeong's temper flared to its limit, and he charged straight ahead. Flames enveloped his entire body like a suit of armor.
The destructive crimson fire of the Origin Earth Fire erupts, writhing like colossal tentacles to incinerate everything in its path.
"Damn it! Fellow Daoist, watch out!"
Myeong-ha screamed via telepathy as the lower half of a Foundation Establishment cultivator caught in the Flame King Whip was instantly reduced to ash. Hearing this, Jekyeong forced himself to steer away, even as his eyes rolled back in fury. It was his own way of trying to avoid running over the human cultivators. However, his body was simply too massive, and the human cultivators bewitched by Myeong-ha could see nothing but the core embedded in Gwak Yeon's forehead, making a few collisions inevitable.
What was amusing, however, was that both Myeong-ha and Gwak Yeon frowned at these accidents. In fact, when a particularly large collision seemed imminent, Gwak Yeon went so far as to throw a talisman to blast Jekyeong away.
I've never seen such a ridiculous fight.
The sacrifices must not be depleted. That had been Myeong-ha's warning, but he had said it applied to Gwak Yeon as well. To be honest, Jekyeong had been skeptical, but seeing Gwak Yeon's reaction, it seemed to be true. She really intended to offer everyone here as a living sacrifice.
Fine. Let's see you try.
Clad in his armor of fire, Jekyeong launched another physical charge.
Rumble!
Defending against the relentless barrage of attacks, Gwak Yeon suddenly closed her eyes. At that moment, a violent shockwave erupted, blasting away all the cultivators who had been circling her, waiting for an opening. Jekyeong stubbornly held his ground and spat fire, but the fierce flames dissolved into nothingness before they could even get close to her.
"It is over."
Gwak Yeon opened her eyes. They were entirely pitch-black, like ink, with neither whites nor pupils remaining.
"This is your destiny. Accept it."
"How can one who submits to destiny be called a cultivator!"
The moment her calm declaration fell, Myeong-ha lunged forward and waved his hand.
Hundreds of invisible, soul-binding threads weave through the air, shredding the protective talismans.
"Which is why the end of most cultivators is miserable."
Though an inescapable net of threads tightened around her, Gwak Yeon didn't even blink. Without making any significant movement, she merely exhaled a soft sigh. The moment Myeong-ha's Heavenly Cursed Thread touched her breath, it vanished helplessly, like mayflies swallowed by a raging fire.
"I thought you, of all people, would know."
"Haha. Has it been a few hundred years since we first met?"
His face pale, Myeong-ha stumbled backward. Gwak Yeon did not pursue him. Instead, without even turning her head, she lightly waved her hand. At her gesture, darkness surged like a tidal wave, binding Jekyeong as he attempted to charge once more.
"Argh!"
Jekyeong hastily lashed out with his Flame King Whip to shake off the darkness, but by then, nearly a third of his scales had already lost their luster.
"Gwak Yeon has finished refining the core. It is beginning."
Myeong-ha's telepathic voice pierced Jekyeong's ears as he writhed in pain and helplessness. His voice was colder and more subdued than ever before.
"Once she begins, I will move in tandem. I leave the rest to you."
The moment Myeong-ha finished speaking, an indescribable power began to swirl around Gwak Yeon. It was a terrifying, dreadful, yet wondrous force.
As Gwak Yeon's aura soared high enough to pierce the heavens, the illusory entity hovering around the altar high above reacted. Its colossal, dark gaze locked onto Gwak Yeon, and she looked right back up at it.
At that moment, Jekyeong felt Gwak Yeon's presence swell to fathomless heights. Her aura had been formidable before, but it had still remained within the bounds of a normal late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Now, however, her presence was ballooning so massively that it even overwhelmed Myeong-ha. It was like a balloon being forcibly overinflated. Though unnatural, it was overwhelmingly powerful and colossal. Jekyeong couldn't help but shudder before this aura, which seemed to proclaim itself the sole protagonist of this world.
There really is no other way now.
Jekyeong forced his gaze, which kept trying to turn away, to lock onto Gwak Yeon. Baring his fangs, he spat fire in a desperate bid to stop her.
"Persistent creature. I know not of other things, but I must commend your tenacity."
It was an arrogant voice that sounded somewhat foreign. She had likely been influenced by the Demon King's core during the refinement process. This was a stroke of luck. Thanks to absorbing not only the Demon King's power but also his hubris, Gwak Yeon failed to notice the thick, dark clouds gathering in the sky. She likely assumed they were of her own making. Jekyeong's eyes gleamed with defiance as he provoked her, hoping to keep her attention on him for even a moment longer.
Jekyeong's expression stiffened as he sensed Gwak Yeon's aura, which had ballooned to its absolute limit. Any ordinary human cultivator would have instinctively shrunk back in the face of such an overwhelming and ominous presence. But Jekyeong did not. The ferocious beast nature residing deep within him refused to let him bow his head, let alone kneel before a mere human who had happened to stumble upon a treasure. Jekyeong sublimated that ferocity into sheer arrogance. Holding his head high, he bared his fangs savagely at Gwak Yeon, who, despite her explosive aura, was still nothing more than an ant in physical size.
"Can you not feel it? It has already begun. What is the point of such resistance at this stage?"
Gwak Yeon's gaze, which had been fixed on the sky, snapped down to Jekyeong. While ordinary Yokai Fire could not even graze her skin even if she ignored it, the Flame King Whip forged from his Origin Earth Fire was different. This destructive and bizarre whip of fire was something even she, who was now infinitely close to the Core Formation realm, could not ignore. This Black Flood Dragon was truly extraordinary. Though she had mocked the title of 'Dragon Lord' earlier, she had only meant that he could not compare to a True Dragon, not that she looked down on the Flood Dragon race. Even if only a half-breed, a dragon was still a dragon, and could never be underestimated. However...
Even if you were a True Dragon and not a mere Flood Dragon, you would still have to bow your head at this moment.
Gwak Yeon decisively unleashed six Shattering Castle Talismans in rapid succession to bring the Black Flood Dragon down. True to their name, these talismans possessed enough destructive power to bring down entire fortresses, yet the Black Flood Dragon was only temporarily incapacitated after taking six consecutive hits, showing no signs of severe injury. For a brief moment, Gwak Yeon felt a sense of dread at his absurdly durable physical body, but it was a fleeting thought. Her gaze quickly drifted away from the Black Flood Dragon and returned to the sky—specifically, toward the descending envoy of Taotie.
"Descend, O Envoy of Taotie. Claim the sacrifices prepared for Him."
As if responding to her call, the phantom-like, blurry figure of Taotie's envoy gradually solidified. At the same time, its descent accelerated, and before long, the entire altar was swallowed by its colossal shadow.
"Cough!"
It was around then that Jekyeong regained his senses. Forcing his still-dizzy head upward, he grit his teeth as he beheld the massive entity now blotting out the sky. He recognized it instantly. It was the thing that had been hovering like a ghost above the altar. He hadn't realized its true scale from a distance, but up close, it appeared three to four times larger.
An envoy of Taotie.
He had naturally heard Gwak Yeon's words. He had long suspected that the giant entity possessed an extraordinary origin, but he never imagined it would be an envoy of Taotie. The aesthetic taste of an Evil God is truly atrocious. The appearance of this so-called envoy of Taotie was utterly grotesque. From afar, its elongated shape had resembled a caterpillar, but up close, it was entirely different. It was nothing more than a mass of flesh that continuously expanded and contracted. Could such a thing even be considered a living creature? But whether it was alive or not did not matter in the slightest right now.
Is it still not time?
Even if he wanted to do more, his body refused to cooperate. At this point, he could only hope Myeong-ha would live up to his reputation as a Qi-destined child. Sigh. Once he accepted that the situation was entirely out of his hands, his creaking body went completely limp. Yet, though his physical form was spent, his spirit burned even hotter. He felt a deep sense of shame and resentment at his own helplessness, lying sprawled out like this while his life hung on the actions of others.
"Indeed. To keep one's spine straight and look up at the heavens even in one's final moments—that is the proper mindset a cultivator should possess."
"Who is there?!"
Jekyeong felt a chill run down his spine at the sudden, unfamiliar voice. This sound, which seemed to echo from deep within his mind, was definitely not telepathy. Having recently suffered greatly from bizarre illusions, Jekyeong felt an extreme wariness toward anything he could not comprehend.
"There is no need to be on guard, beast. I cannot harm you, nor do I have any intention of doing so."
"Am I supposed to just take your word for it?"
Jekyeong replied in kind, projecting his thoughts back to the voice echoing in his mind.
"Suspicion is a healthy trait. Still, you adapt quickly. Is it because you are a Bulmang cultivator? You seem quite accustomed to this method of communication."
Jekyeong's wariness, which was already at its peak, spiked even higher at those words.
"Who are you?"
"I am Sangyoza. I wonder if you have heard of my name."
"You... are Sangyoza?"
"Yes. To be precise, a remnant soul of him. Though at this point, there is little difference. It seems you do know of me."
Sangyoza. Jekyeong naturally knew that name. Was he not the Gold Core cultivator who had proudly erected his own monument of merit before setting out to suppress the Demon King Jegu, only to end up buried alongside him?