The Victor (5)
Overhead of the Jinhwang Sea.
In that punishing space where fierce winds howled and whirled, Cheon Woo-jin gripped the Eight Directions Brand-Slaying Saber and surveyed his surroundings.
Fortunately, I caught up before it could attack Gongnyeong Island.
Cheon Woo-jin had soared up from the Imperial Palace on Nakyeong Island and chased after the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord. It had only been possible because he made use of the Ghost Wood Boat, which Emperor Gong Ui-ryun had granted him alongside the saber. The Ghost Wood Boat was a flying Dharma Treasure crafted by the Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace — a vessel whose extraordinary performance allowed it to punch straight through the skies above the Jinhwang Sea. Thanks to it, he had been able to overtake the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord, which had set out first.
And once he had closed in on the divine dragon, he had exploited the concealment effect of the Heaven-Buried Hidden Shadow Cloth to launch a surprise strike against the Soul-Crushing Blood Demon.
Thanks to the status window, it was easy to see exactly where the Soul-Crushing Blood Demon was clinging, too.
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon, Do Hang. Pavilion Lord of the Blood Soul Pavilion under the Blood World Mara Sect. Ban Si-gyeong and Dan Woo-ryeong, whom Cheon Woo-jin had cut down in the Hwangryeol Flying Archipelago, had both been this demon's subordinates.
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon had set them in motion to make a host of preparations, but Cheon Woo-jin had turned every one of those plans to failure. He had not given up, however. Taking matters into his own hands, he had approached the Third Prince Gong Ui-se, infiltrated the Imperial Palace, and succeeded in awakening the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord.
It stood in stark contrast to the great powers entangled in this upheaval, every one of which had tasted crushing defeat. The fruit, one might say, of the Blood Demon's own tireless legwork.
But his final goal — the creation of a Blood World — will never be achieved.
Cheon Woo-jin stared at the Soul-Crushing Blood Demon, its skull split open, writhing in agony.
In the game, the Soul-Crushing Blood Demon had been a ferociously powerful foe, commanding multiple potent blood spirits at once to bury players alive. But that had been when its blood spirits were prepared in advance. Caught in a state of zero preparation, as it was now, it posed little threat at all. What was more, this place was a domain where the authority of the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord held sway — the demon was far weaker at this moment than it ever was at its peak.
"You... you wretch...!"
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon tried desperately to counterattack. But Cheon Woo-jin moved faster than the demon could unleash his assault. Channeling the Liuji Tiangang Divine Art, he swung the Eight Directions Brand-Slaying Saber and carved the demon's Nascent Soul into several pieces.
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon's Nascent Soul was unlike those of others, for it was a Blood God Body — a mass of congealed blood. It was, in essence, a liquid monstrosity: spirit fused with blood. Even sliced apart, the fragments could simply gather and merge, and the demon would restore itself whole.
But not this time. The Eight Directions Brand-Slaying Saber in Cheon Woo-jin's hand was a very special blade.
"Wh-what... why won't this...?"
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon tried to reassemble itself, gathering the scattered blood back together, but his will went unheeded. It was the saber's effect — wounds it inflicted could never be healed.
Watching the chunks of blood squirm like slugs, Cheon Woo-jin drew out the Withering Extinction Boundary Sword in place of the saber, and burned each bloody fragment, one by one.
"St-stop...!"
The Withering Extinction Boundary Sword was a blade that burned space itself — and it could burn even the fragments of a Nascent Soul. Cheon Woo-jin incinerated every visible shard of the demon's Nascent Soul... yet the Soul-Crushing Blood Demon's status window stubbornly continued to display itself. From a position corresponding to the back of the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord's skull.
What an absurd creature you are...
The demon's telepathic voice reached him.
So you really are Cheon Woo-jin. You carry the Heaven-Buried Hidden Shadow Cloth, and that merciless, unhesitating way of yours — it matches the rumors exactly.
"I didn't realize I was so famous."
Hah. I already knew you had a hand in Jeok Ya-wol's death.
Jeok Ya-wol had originally been the Mad Spirit Pavilion Master of the Blood World Mara Sect. He had proclaimed himself head of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect and planted his banner in Ghost Head City, only to lose his life in his war against the Seonggak Ilwon Sect.
Now I see — so that's how Jeok Ya-wol died. At your hands. Am I wrong?
"Your imagination is impressive."
Fine. Then tell me — what exactly is your objective?
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon asked through his telepathy.
Don't tell me you intend to seize control of the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord? Is that it — you want to bend it to your own will?
The demon's laughter rang inside Cheon Woo-jin's skull.
You fool! You think that would be easy?
"Is it difficult?"
Cheon Woo-jin gazed at the back of the divine dragon's head.
Well, you seem to be managing well enough.
Hah. Sharp one, aren't you. So you noticed — I'm inside the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord's head, steering it.
A portion of the demon's Nascent Soul had penetrated into the dragon's skull. That was why its voice still reached him even after he had burned every visible fragment.
I've infiltrated a piece of my Nascent Soul and am transmitting signals into the divine dragon's mind. But all I can do is nudge which direction it turns. Even for me, that is my limit. With your paltry ability, it is absolutely impossible.
"I see."
Anyway, Cheon Woo-jin.
Having explained everything, the demon posed its question again.
What do you want? I wish to negotiate with you.
"Negotiate?"
As long as I remain inside the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord's head, you cannot harm me. Even that blade of yours will never pierce the dragon's scales.
"I suppose not."
But dispatching you will be no simple matter for me either. My Nascent Soul is badly damaged from your ambush... and—
The demon paused for a moment.
Using the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord's power to remove you is also out of the question.
Indeed, the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord showed no particular reaction to the commotion unfolding near the back of its own skull. This position was, in a sense, a blind spot for the dragon — and the Soul-Crushing Blood Demon had chosen to nest here precisely because it knew that. Expecting the dragon to attack Cheon Woo-jin on its behalf was hopeless, and of course, directing the dragon to strike was equally impossible.
Keeping this standoff going will only wear us both down. So name what you desire. If it's something I can accept, I'll grant it.
"You're asking me to trust the word of a Blood World Mara Sect pavilion lord?"
You misunderstand something. The cultivators of the Demonic Path keep their promises better than those righteous sect hypocrites ever do.
"I doubt anyone outside the Demonic Path would agree to deal with you at all."
That much I concede.
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon seemed, unexpectedly, candid and magnanimous by nature. Come to think of it, the game had never once offered a chance to hold a conversation like this with the demon. To Cheon Woo-jin, it felt refreshingly novel.
"Soul-Crushing Blood Demon. I'm sorry, but I have no intention of negotiating with you."
I see. Even so, tell me what you want. I'd like to hear it.
"Hearing it won't accomplish anything."
Cheon Woo-jin answered coldly.
"Because I intend to kill the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord."
A silence settled between them.
...Is that a joke?
"It is not."
Cheon Woo-jin. The Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord is a being that has spent a thousand years linked to the entirety of Weijin Country, hoarding power all the while.
The demon spoke as though lecturing a child.
You appear to be no more than Core Formation. I can't fathom why the divine dragon's authority doesn't suppress you, but regardless — killing this guardian dragon of the nation with the strength of Core Formation is impossible.
"Shall we wager on it?"
What did you say?
"A wager on whether I can kill it or not, Soul-Crushing Blood Demon."
Cheon Woo-jin sent his telepathy toward the demon as he stared at the dragon's nape.
"If I manage to kill the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord, then you will teach me what 'Blood Sea' means within the Blood Soul Spirit Method."
Wha—...
At the mention of the Blood Soul Spirit Method — the signature art of the Blood Soul Pavilion — the demon flinched in astonishment.
"I've been studying the Blood Soul Spirit Method recently, and there's a passage where I'm stuck. It says that to create a blood spirit, one must fill the Blood Sea with power — but I can't determine what the Blood Sea refers to."
The Sea of Qi meant the qihai acupoint along the Conception Vessel. But the Blood Sea — that he could not fathom at all.
You... how do you even know of the Blood Soul Spirit Method...?
"Is that really what matters right now?"
Cheon Woo-jin had obtained the secret manual of the Blood Soul Spirit Method after felling Ban Si-gyeong. That much he could hardly confess now.
"Conversely — if I fail to kill the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord, I will cease interfering and withdraw aboard my Ghost Wood Boat."
You'll withdraw?
"Yes. Peacefully. What happens afterward is your affair."
The Soul-Crushing Blood Demon fell silent for a long while, apparently weighing whether the wager favored him.
And if I break my word? Even if you do kill the divine dragon, I'll most likely die here in the process — do you truly expect me to honor a promise in that situation?
"You said the cultivators of the Demonic Path keep their promises better than the righteous sects. Watching what you do will tell me whether that was the truth."
Hmm... very well.
In the end, the demon accepted the wager.
Go ahead, then. I'll be watching.
"Understood."
The wager was struck.
Cheon Woo-jin leapt down from the golden dragon's nape and climbed back aboard the Ghost Wood Boat.
What are you doing now?
"I'm not running away, so rest easy."
The area around the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord was still in the midst of neutralizing the Jinhwang Sea's poisonous miasma. Flying bare-bodied through it remained dangerous. The moment Cheon Woo-jin boarded the boat, a transparent barrier unfolded around it — shutting out not only the sea's venomous energy but the raging winds as well, so that not a single strand of his hair stirred.
In that state, he took hold of the control rod before him. At once the Ghost Wood Boat accelerated, overtaking the golden dragon — then banked in a smooth, gliding arc and swung around to hover directly before the dragon's face.
Have you lost your mind?!
When the demon realized Cheon Woo-jin had moved to the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord's front, it was thunderstruck. It went without saying that the front could never be a blind spot. Just as it had struck down the cultivators of the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect earlier, the dragon would open its attack at once.
Cheon Woo-jin! What in the world is going through that head of yours!
The demon hurled furious telepathy at him, but Cheon Woo-jin did not answer. He simply met the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord's gaze.
Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord... no — Emperor Taejo.
He had been a being who once slumbered beneath the Imperial Palace, yearning to become the guardian dragon that shielded his nation. Had the generations that followed understood his will and served him with devotion, he would have risen in person to protect the Weijin imperial house the moment a calamity like this one stirred.
But his descendants had failed to serve him properly. They had siphoned off every resource required for his upkeep to line their own pockets. As a result, Emperor Taejo's soul had weathered away, until he degenerated into a mindless monster that had forgotten his own grand purpose.
Now I shall grant you rest.
Cheon Woo-jin addressed the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord in his heart.
Do not worry about what comes after. Gong Yi-un will become the new emperor, and he will guide Weijin Country well.
Yellow lightning crackled and spat from the golden dragon's twin horns. Golden energy was already surging up from its gaping maw. This was no act of guardianship — nothing more than an unconscious reflex. Left alone, the Guardian Golden Dragon Divine Lord would fly across every corner of Weijin Country, visiting indiscriminate destruction upon it.
And the only one who could avert that tragedy was Cheon Woo-jin.
Instant Death.
The power he had conserved for this very moment. The authority of Instant Death flared to life, blazing with a golden radiance even more brilliant than the dragon itself.