The Victor (3)
“Ggaaaagh…!”
Black Thunder True Sea Wave — Cheon Woo-jin's new signature law-art.
It was a supreme technique that proved just how far Cheon Woo-jin had grown through the fierce battles he'd fought while crisscrossing the Hwangryeol Flying Archipelago.
The principles of death and extinction took shape like the eerie waves of the Jinhwang Sea, swallowing everything whole and grinding it down without mercy.
Swept up in those waves, Song Mu-yeol let out a miserable scream.
“Uuugh!”
Still, Song Mu-yeol was the Sect Master of the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect in name and reputation.
Weakened as he was by the authority of the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord, he remained a high-ranked cultivator standing before the very gates of the late Nascent Soul Realm.
He layered every law-art he knew over his own body, desperately trying to keep himself from dissolving away into nothing.
“Uuoooooh…!”
At last, the black thunder waves calmed.
Thud. Song Mu-yeol collapsed to his knees on the ground.
He had become a lump of mangled flesh, so gruesomely damaged that it was hard to tell a human had ever been there.
But he had escaped the complete annihilation of his physical form.
He had even managed to protect the dantian in his lower abdomen.
Raising his grotesquely ravaged face, Song Mu-yeol glared at Cheon Woo-jin with murderous eyes.
“I'll kill you…!”
Song Mu-yeol mobilized what strength remained to him and tried to counterattack.
No doubt he had calculated that Cheon Woo-jin must be exhausted after unleashing a law-art of such magnitude.
But Song Mu-yeol's counterattack came to nothing.
Because two blades pierced his torso.
“Wh… what?”
Song Mu-yeol's face was a mask of incomprehension.
The sword Cheon Woo-jin had been holding was still in Cheon Woo-jin's hand.
No sword qi had come flying from him either.
And yet blades had appeared from somewhere, wormed in from his blind spot, and run him through.
“The Blood Sword…?”
They were Cheon Woo-jin's blood swords.
Blood swords forged from the blood souls harvested from two Nascent Soul cultivators — the National Guardian Jinnin of the Moonlit Thirteen League and Yu Mu-gi of the Gwangmyeong Sect.
A moment ago, Cheon Woo-jin had secretly drawn out the blood vials and sent the blood souls flowing along the ground.
Unlike Ban Si-gyeong of the Blood Soul Pavilion, he couldn't drive blood down into the earth itself — but making it flow across the ground's surface was another matter entirely.
All he had to do was apply the principle of the Black Shadow Technique.
The blood that stretched out from the ground had formed into two blood swords and stabbed Song Mu-yeol from his blind side.
Song Mu-yeol, in the middle of rousing his strength for a counterstrike against Cheon Woo-jin, had been unable to respond to the ambush.
With his dantian pierced through and destroyed by the blood swords, the law-art he had thrown his full power into fizzled apart without ever activating.
Song Mu-yeol is a cut above me even in his weakened state. I have to keep striking his blind side and press him relentlessly.
This was not something that could be achieved through moment-to-moment improvisation alone.
It was a result Cheon Woo-jin had been able to wrest out only because he had deceived Song Mu-yeol all this while, concealing both his identity and his true strength.
The preparations Cheon Woo-jin had made with cold composure for this decisive moment.
Every last one of them was accumulating now, bearing fruit.
“Uuugh…!”
Then something pale rose out of Song Mu-yeol's body.
It was Song Mu-yeol's Nascent Soul, bearing a form almost identical to his physical body.
“I admit it. In this moment, at least — you are the stronger…!”
After spitting the words out as if they left a foul taste in his mouth —
Song Mu-yeol's Nascent Soul burst through the wall and fled.
Realizing he could not defeat Cheon Woo-jin in his current state, he had chosen to run from this place first.
But Cheon Woo-jin did not pursue him.
At this stage, killing the body and reducing him to his Nascent Soul was enough.
Song Mu-yeol has been driven into a dead end.
What fate would befall a cornered Song Mu-yeol —
Cheon Woo-jin already knew.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!
Shockwaves radiating from the colossal golden dragon swept over the surroundings once again.
The Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord had nearly finished crawling up to the surface.
With its hind legs up on the ground after its forelegs, all that remained was to haul out its tail.
“If… if that thing gets fully onto the surface and starts moving in earnest…”
“It could take to the air and start attacking us from above. And then we'd…”
The disciples of the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect had already lost the great majority of their number to the Golden Dragon's attacks.
Gwak Yu, who had been gravely wounded earlier, had finally breathed his last as well.
Only about a dozen remained — Song Mu-jin, Song Yuhee, and the rest.
“What in the world is my brother doing…?”
Song Mu-jin ground his teeth, cursing Song Mu-yeol.
He had left, claiming he had a plan, and still not a word had come back.
“At this rate…”
Song Mu-jin's gaze turned toward Song Yuhee.
In the midst of all this chaos, Song Yuhee stood without a single scratch on her.
But lost in some private thought, she merely held up her defensive law-arts, neither attacking the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord nor aiding the others.
“Young Sect Master!”
Song Mu-jin approached her.
“Why are you just standing there? At this rate, every last one of us is finished!”
At his question, Song Yuhee stared at him blankly.
Looking at that face, Song Mu-jin felt a faint chill crawl up his spine.
“I haven't received any orders.”
“Or—orders?”
“I've always acted exactly as Father commanded. That's all.”
Watching his expressionless niece answer, Song Mu-jin felt his frustration mounting.
“The Sect Master is absent right now, so we have no choice but to handle this ourselves. If you find it hard to decide on your own, then I'll give the orders — you move as I say.”
Song Mu-jin knew that Song Yuhee's power could suppress the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord.
But doing so would cost Song Yuhee her life, so he couldn't come right out and say it.
“By the way, where is that loose cultivator?”
“Loose cultivator?”
“The one called Shin Hyeok — the loose cultivator who went out with you. Didn't you two enter the Imperial Palace together?”
That cultivator was a considerable asset.
Given everything he'd accomplished so far, he would surely be a great help in the fight against the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord as well.
Especially if he unfolded his evolution at full output, he ought to be able to deal the dragon real damage.
So why was there not so much as a hair of him to be seen?
“He went to take care of some urgent business.”
“Urgent business? What business?”
“He didn't tell me, so I don't know. But I'd assume it was something necessary.”
“So that man is acting on his own? He sent you here alone?”
“That's right.”
“…”
Could that man have had some other scheme all along?
A prickling sense of unease settled over Song Mu-jin.
“If it's come to this… ugh!”
Golden lightning released from the dragon swept the area.
Only because he was using the Taiyi Protective Talisman was he unharmed — if it had struck him directly, even Song Mu-jin would not have survived.
“Young Sect Master, we must suppress that thing. The Sect Master says he has a plan, but for now, we have no choice but to manage on our own.”
“I suppose so.”
“Do you happen to have any good ideas?”
“Not particularly.”
“Ahem. Then this is the only way, I suppose.”
Song Mu-jin pointed at the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord and spoke.
“You will trap that Golden Dragon inside your pseudo-Dharma Domain.”
“My pseudo-Dharma Domain?”
“You said you trapped the Sea-Fiend Serpent in the Jinhwang Sea recently, didn't you? Do exactly the same thing. It's much bigger this time, but… with your skill, it should be possible.”
As he said this, Song Mu-jin gestured at the ground stained yellow all around them.
“Once you do, the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord will try to turn even your pseudo-Dharma Domain into its own territory and rule it. That's when you absorb the dragon's power.”
“Absorb…”
“Your pseudo-Dharma Domain, the Great Void Divine Sandalwood Domain, can draw in every kind of power when its true strength is unleashed. Like the roots of a tree sucking up water and nutrients from the soil.”
Song Mu-jin looked at Song Yuhee again and smiled.
“No need to explain the principle of Wood restraining Earth, I trust. You have the elemental advantage, so with your power, suppressing that thing is well within reach.”
“…”
“We'll handle taking it down ourselves. All you have to do is maintain the Great Void Divine Sandalwood Domain to the very end and keep draining its power. Understood?”
Of course, in reality, he intended to draw Song Yuhee's power out far past its limits and send her berserk.
Her Nascent Soul would be torn to shreds in the process — but it would give them the winning hand against the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord.
Truthfully, Song Mu-jin did find it a little painful to sacrifice Song Yuhee.
She was a talent he had carefully cultivated all these years — and his own blood niece.
If only she had grown a little further and mastered a true Dharma Domain, she could have subdued the Golden Dragon without pushing her power past its limits.
But things had come to this, and there was no help for it.
All he could do was sweet-talk her into taking the lead, then feed her to the fire.
It was for the sake of the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect. There was no other way.
Song Yuhee, I'll hold the memorial rites for you faithfully, every single year. So offer up your life for the sect.
Just as he was thinking this and moving to give her detailed instructions —
Song Yuhee suddenly broke into a smile.
“That man was right after all.”
“That man?”
“He told me a little while ago.”
Song Yuhee, who until moments ago had been staring with a blank face, was smiling.
Song Mu-jin felt an inexplicable flicker of dread.
“My current pseudo-Dharma Domain has major limits… and the higher-ups of the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect all know exactly what they are.”
“What…?”
“And he said that the moment I face a desperate crisis, the higher-ups will order me to resolve it with my pseudo-Dharma Domain.”
“…!”
What in the world was this nonsense?
From Song Mu-jin's standpoint, it made absolutely no sense.
Then that loose cultivator, Shin Hyeok, had foreseen all of this?
That the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect would sacrifice Song Yuhee in exactly this situation?
And what's more — after saying all that, he'd sent Song Yuhee off alone to rejoin the sect… what possible intent lay behind that?
“He really is an astonishing man. How can anyone see through everything like that? Honestly, I wonder if he has some kind of power to see the future.”
“…”
That's my line!
Swallowing the shout that rose in his throat, Song Mu-jin forced himself to speak.
Somehow, he had to smooth this over.
If Song Yuhee noticed that he meant to sacrifice her and turned defiant, everything would unravel.
“Young Sect Master, I don't know what possessed that cultivator to say such things, but—”
“Uncle.”
Song Yuhee cut him off mid-sentence.
“There's something I've been thinking about for a while now.”
“Wh-what is it?”
His voice trembled of its own accord.
A primal fear had seized Song Mu-jin's entire body.
And as he stood there, frozen—
Song Yuhee asked, smiling elegantly:
“By now, Uncle, you're weaker than me, aren't you?”
Damn it all!
Song Mu-yeol flew through the sky above the Imperial Palace in his Nascent Soul state, cursing inwardly.
The Imperial Palace was almost entirely destroyed.
The Emperor's private hall and the other key structures were still holding, but once the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord began moving in earnest, those too would come crashing down.
If the Golden Dragon takes to the sky and begins hunting across the whole of Weijin Country… it will be a catastrophe for the entire cultivation world.
Faced with that, someone of Song Mu-yeol's strength could do nothing.
He would have to beg the ancestors who had reached Soul Formation for help.
But that was something he wanted to avoid at all costs.
The Heavenly Mandate Seal can no longer be used — so in the end, there's no choice but to sacrifice Song Yuhee.
From the look of things, Song Mu-jin had apparently failed to persuade her yet.
At this point, Song Mu-yeol would have to go himself and give Song Yuhee the order directly.
Not once in her life had Song Yuhee ever defied his commands.
She had always done exactly as he told her — she would do the same this time.
Wait. That Shin Hyeok fellow — did he leave Song Yuhee completely untouched?
He remembered Shin Hyeok saying something strange to Gong Yi-un earlier.
Apparently he'd been sowing strange seeds for quite some time now… had he worked his hands on Song Yuhee as well?
If that man approached us deliberately from the very beginning…
He turned over everything the man had done since they'd met.
Come to think of it, he had first won Song Yuhee's favor and used it to gain access to the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect.
If even that had been part of the man's calculated design…
“…!”
Then Song Mu-yeol could not believe his eyes.
He saw Song Yuhee's back, standing atop a collapsed palace hall.
And Song Yuhee was extending a hand glowing green, gripping Song Mu-jin's Nascent Soul in her grasp.
On the ground below, Song Mu-jin's physical body already lay strewn about, torn to ribbons.
“Wh… what are you—”
POOF!
Song Mu-jin's Nascent Soul burst apart.
Watching it scatter without so much as a scream, Song Mu-yeol was struck with horror.
“Wh… what in the world are you doing!”
Song Mu-yeol roared at Song Yuhee.
And Song Yuhee turned around with a perfectly composed face.
It was a natural, untroubled expression — impossible to reconcile with someone who had just butchered her own uncle.
“Oh — how convenient.”
Looking at Song Mu-yeol, who had fled here on his Nascent Soul alone after losing his body—
Song Yuhee smiled brightly, as if only now freed of everything that had ever bound her.
“Now even Father is weaker than I am.”
Where, exactly, had it all gone wrong?
Realizing that he had been dancing in the palm of some vast, unseen hand, Song Mu-yeol felt something dangerously close to terror.