Chapter 18
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon - There Is No Place Shadows Cannot Reach
-----------------------------------------------------------------
All eyes in the cult were fixed on the scene as an absurd event unfolded.
"Eighth Elder, come on down!"
The Eighth Elder, Spear Ghost Dam-mok Gon.
Who was he?
One of the Dam-mok Family's top fighters and the current patriarch's younger brother.
Even if he was seen as the weakest among the elders, he was no lightweight whose name a mere late-stage disciple could invoke so lightly.
"Hah... that crazy bitch..."
Dam-mok Hyeon, who had been thrashed by her earlier, was equally dumbfounded.
He knew she was unhinged, but not to this extent.
Dam-mok Gon was a master on par with the Jin-gwang Group Leader whom Geum-gang had faced before.
And yet.
Geum-gang's demeanor showed not the slightest change.
A righteous warrior stands tall with an inner glow.
Geum-gang shone with a light that seemed to draw everyone in.
"Annoying..."
Dam-mok Gon had clearly heard her, but deemed her unworthy of a response and ignored her.
At an age approaching the limits of mortality.
He could dismiss it as youthful bravado.
Dam-mok Gon, seated among the elders in the place of honor, rose with his spear held high.
"Such spirit is commendable. I'll give you a chance to retract your words."
He appeared the picture of a magnanimous master.
Not blaming her for calling him out, nor shying away from the fight.
It seemed the matter might end there, but Geum-gang fanned the flames higher.
"Mister. Come on up."
Geum-gang cocked her head provocatively at Dam-mok Gon.
Her appearance was that of an irresistibly cute girl.
For a normal child, such rudeness might be overlooked once or twice.
However.
He had already warned her several times.
"My, my. You've crossed the line into insolence. Do you truly seek punishment?"
If he clashed with this girl now, it might not be a matter of victory or defeat, but survival.
What if he accidentally severed an arm with a careless strike? That would be trouble.
Especially in front of so many onlookers.
Exercising his final patience, Dam-mok Gon decided to let the girl off.
"Hoo. I'll chalk it up to youthful fire. Pick another opponent."
Sweeping back his green hair, Dam-mok Gon forgave the impudent junior with the grace of a true elder.
Geum-gang repaid that forgiveness with a slap and a punch.
"The Dam-mok Family must be scary, huh? Well then..."
"What did you say?"
She had mentioned the family.
In the martial world.
Insulting a clan here was akin to insulting one's parents.
No one could endure that.
Joy at finding a perfect excuse mingled with rage to discipline the impudent girl.
"You... insolent wretch!"
His eyes burned with deep fury as he unleashed his aura.
A true peak master, gazing toward absolute transcendence.
The heavy pressure overwhelmed the crowd.
The Cult Leader watched from her lofty seat with evident amusement.
"I, Dam-mok Gon of the Dam-mok Family, seek to punish this foolish junior. I beseech the Cult Leader's permission."
Dam-mok Gon clasped his hands in salute toward the Cult Leader and awaited approval.
His loyalty on full display.
The Cult Leader waved her hand dismissively, granting permission.
"Geum-gang. This is your last chance. Can you truly prove yourself against the Eighth Elder?"
"Cult Leader. I will prove it alongside Hee Yeon of the South Heaven Sword Family."
Geum-gang's resolute reply held a swirl of emotions in her eyes.
Fury.
Confidence.
Warning.
'I'll come for your head one day too.'
"Very well. Succeed against the Eighth Elder, and you'll lack for nothing. Spear Ghost. Prepare yourself."
"Yes."
Dam-mok Gon deployed his lightness skill and swiftly descended to the altar.
The altar resembled a broad square pyramid with its top sliced off.
Surrounding it were braziers for the Sacred Fire Festival, ringed by seats for the elders, Cult Leader, and division leaders.
The Right Envoy found their lofty gaze upon the Sacred Fire quite amusing.
It spoke volumes about the current state of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Hee Yeon, pushed into a spar with the Eighth Elder by circumstance, fidgeted anxiously.
He wasn't as strong as her father, the South Heaven Sword Family Patriarch, but he seemed elder-level from a prestigious sect.
'Geum-gang. Are you really sure?'
'Hee Yeon. You always say it—keep stabbing, and it'll go in.'
'You have to pick your opponent for that!'
Watching the whispering girls, Dam-mok Gon pondered their fate.
'Can't injure the South Heaven girl too badly—just knock her out. That one... I'll sever her wrist.'
Geum-gang, stripped of her Left Envoy backing, had no reason to hold back like Hee Yeon.
She had already gotten the Cult Leader's nod with a glance.
Dam-mok Gon twirled his spear with a whoosh.
"Are you prepared, insolent juniors?"
Geum-gang stretched her legs in front of him, loosening up, while Hee Yeon polished her sword and muttered something irreverent.
"Hoo... really. No helping it then..."
"Yeah, since it's come to this, let's win clean. Okay?"
Dam-mok Gon saw the two girls as nothing but laughable.
"Hey, you brats. No, listen! If it looks like I'm about to kill them, Right Envoy—no, Thousand Techniques Asura, step in."
"Got it."
Dam-mok Gon treated them with a master's poise to the end.
His greatest concern was slaying them before him and ruining the Cult Leader's grand plans.
That was all.
"I'll use only half my internal energy. I'll show you the price of your arrogance, fledglings."
Dam-mok Gon leveled his long spear.
"Ready? I won't yield the first move."
"Alright then..."
Geum-gang clenched her small fist tight.
'Hee Yeon. Here we go.'
'Yeah.'
"Hup!"
Geum-gang exploded forward with tremendous leg power, thrusting her thigh toward his abdomen.
This was a direct kicking advance to gauge distance.
"For all your bravado...!"
Of course, the spear's reach exceeded Geum-gang's leg.
She twisted her body to narrowly dodge the thrusting spear shaft, then seized and bent it.
"Hee Yeon!"
As she pinned the shaft, creating a brief opening, Hee Yeon thrust in sharply.
A perfect combo by any measure.
It looked unstoppable.
"Pathetic."
Dam-mok Gon nearly scoffed at Hee Yeon's strike.
It was like children's play-fighting—utterly ridiculous.
Dam-mok Gon assumed a proper stance and began unfolding his signature technique.
Ghost Spear Form - Flowing Swim
The spear shaft traced an impossible trajectory, slipping from Geum-gang's grasp.
It flickered like a shadow, targeting Hee Yeon's wrist precisely.
This all happened in the instant Hee Yeon lunged.
"Guh...!"
Hee Yeon barely twisted her wrist to block with her blade, but the recoil was undeniable.
As pain briefly halted her, the shadow-like spear flew at her again.
"It's not over...! Ghost Spear Form - Floa..."
"Yah!"
It seemed unavoidable, but Hee Yeon wasn't alone.
Geum-gang focused all her concentration and seized the wildly flailing spear.
'My turn again...!'
Sensing the chance, Geum-gang yanked the shaft with her right hand and launched her left fist at Dam-mok Gon.
A direct hit to the abdomen.
"Nngh!"
He stifled a groan, but a strike from a Golden Body Art practitioner was no trifle.
Geum-gang, noticing, retracted her left and struck again, forcing Dam-mok Gon to circulate his energy.
Ghost Spear Form - Floating
"Again...!"
The spear slipped away like a shadow once more, impossible to hold.
She hated to admit it, but it was a technique of such sublime skill she couldn't even perceive it.
Hard to even notice.
Ghost Spear Form - Submersion
The upward spear came crashing down with relentless momentum, seamless in motion.
"South Piercing Sword, Heavenly Pivot...!"
As Dam-mok Gon's spear grazed Geum-gang's shoulder blade, Hee Yeon's sword intervened, blocking the attack.
Like piercing constellation acupoints, a flurry of light strikes.
"Geum-gang, you okay?"
"Tense the muscles—it'll stop!"
Geum-gang contracted her shoulder muscles to staunch the bleeding instantly.
She pondered.
How to pierce that ghostly spear.
She could grab it, but...
No.
It might be baiting her to grab it and lower his guard.
'How did it slip from my hand?'
Geum-gang hadn't noticed, but her thoughts spun at incredible speed.
The Golden Body's effects extended beyond muscles and bones; her cognition surged as well.
"Again!"
From her training with the Right Envoy, Geum-gang had gained three insights.
The first: the rotational mystery of the Spiral Vortex.
She could now apply it to offense and defense.
For instance, Dam-mok Gon's spear tip targeting her shoulder again.
She subtly rotated her body's fibers ever so slightly, deflecting the energy.
Then applied the Spiral Vortex to her own strike, shoving the shaft aside fiercely.
"Tough one!"
Unlike training wooden swords, the elder's spear was unyieldingly solid.
The repelled spear came at Geum-gang again, but she focused on her toes and calves, moving ceaselessly.
This was her second gain.
Concentrating on body parts to maximize performance.
'Performance' might sound odd for a human body, but it fit.
Enhancing strength, hardening tissues, boosting reflexes, or other motor functions.
By adjusting muscle density, fiber alignment, and blood flow.
Geum-gang darted about nimbly, repeatedly targeting vitals and creating openings for Hee Yeon.
"Quick, aren't you? But that's all. Vortex."
Vortex
The issue was Dam-mok Gon's mental fortitude.
Her hits had landed.
But not enough to break his momentum.
They only stripped his complacency, forcing him to fight at full power.
As Dam-mok Gon gripped the spear two-handed and swung, spear tips assailed from all directions.
There is no place my shadow cannot reach.
A barrage of thrusts declared as much.
Hee Yeon could only defend desperately, unable to attack.
Geum-gang's skin tore bit by bit under the energy-infused blade.
In truth, the spectators were already astonished by Geum-gang and Hee Yeon's performance.
Not only coordinating against an elder, but landing effective blows? Unbelievable for girls that young.
Even if it ended now, they'd be recognized as true martial artists of the cult.
'Yeah. They're holding up. Holding up fine. But...!'
This way, they couldn't win.
I want to win.
I want to shove it in that Cult Leader's face somehow.
'Should I use it...!'
The third gain from her Right Envoy training.
Heavenly Movement Formula.
Internal energy flow.
Geum-gang's body clearly harbored internal energy.
She had simply left it unused, ignorant of how to wield it.
Normally, without a dantian to store it, it would dissipate—but her unique physique retained it, circulating within.
Her Golden Body effectively served as the dantian.
If she could fully harness the omnipotence felt when circulating the Heavenly Movement Formula...
Endure the agony and keep moving...
Balance internal and external energies to elevate the Golden Body Art's mysteries...
Ha Jin had once poked her side with a stick and said:
'Geum-gang. This is the kidney. Something from here dulls the pain. I don't know exactly what, even as your master, but remember it. You'll need it someday.'
Whatever she meant—likely adrenaline, by modern knowledge.
If she released it to ignore pain, circulate the formula relentlessly until her body gave out... what would happen?
"Here I go...!"
Amid the endless thrusts, a radiance enveloped Geum-gang's form.
The dawn light flowing from Ha Jin's hands.
Her flesh, emanating that dawn glow, shone even more beautifully.
Her eyes brightened to gold.
What she saw, heard, felt—all shifted to another dimension.
Geum-gang had achieved harmony of internal and external, attaining her obsession with 'symmetry'.
Her body now embodied the ripened third stage of Golden Body.
A flesh that could rival a transcendent master with bare hands alone.
Beautiful enough to shock others as it had the Heavenly Robe Sect adepts.
Even Baek Mu-heun, who had crossed blades with Ha Jin countless times, stared in awe.
"Ha Jin's disciple, alright. Heh."
No need to name the technique.
She already knew it.
"Heavenly Robe Transformation."
⟨ Heavenly Robe Transformation ⟩
It lasted but a moment.
A fleeting instant.
Like the fairy's garb leaving no trace, not even a falcon's talon mark.
Geum-gang had manifested one facet of the Heavenly Robe Without Seams.