The Talisman Treasure (3)

It was hot.

Cheon Woo-jin found himself seized by that illusion.

And yet, there was nothing in the vicinity capable of generating heat.

This qi wave is leaking from the Talisman Treasure stored on the third floor.

A talisman treasure steeped in intense fire qi. It was because he had sensed its pulsing wavelength that he felt the heat.

The Talisman Treasure would surely be kept in a heavily secured storage container. And even from inside such a container, energy this potent was reaching him — which meant the treasure within possessed power to match.

As expected — it's the Talisman Treasure storing the power of the Crimson Sea True Fire Lamp.

The Taiyi Easy Separation Sect had entrusted the Crimson Sea True Fire Lamp's Talisman Treasure to the Dongnyu Merchant Group, and the merchant group intended to gift it to the Hwangju Neungnyeong Sect as their ticket into Ghost Head City.

But if the treasure vanished here today, every one of those plans would collapse into nothing.

"……"

Cheon Woo-jin tried to pinpoint exactly where the wave was emanating from. Among the many rooms on the third floor, which one held the treasure?

There.

The second room from the right end.

Having confirmed its location, Cheon Woo-jin began to walk, slowly. The Hidden Form Talisman was still in effect.

Because it was the high-grade talisman that had belonged to Gu Yang-gyeol, ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators could not detect him at all.

But a Foundation Establishment cultivator was a different matter.

"……!"

Bang!

From the fourth room from the right end, a white spear came flying straight through the door.

A precise strike, aimed squarely at Cheon Woo-jin's heart.

Kuuung!

With a thunderous roar, the white spear was stopped dead.

The man who had launched an attack without so much as a warning from behind his door stared with wide eyes.

"A defensive artifact!"

The white spear had been blocked by a shield of silver.

It was the Silver Radiance Guardian Wheel, the artifact Cheon Woo-jin had been holding in his hand all along, now unfurled.

His opponent was an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. A single Gold spiritual root — even the spear he had just thrown had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been conjured on the spot by refining gold-element qi.

"You bastard……!"

Shashashak!

A dozen-odd white daggers materialized around the Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Blades so sharp that the merest graze would split skin and sever tendons. They hurled themselves at Cheon Woo-jin all at once.

But Cheon Woo-jin did not dodge.

He simply poured more spiritual power into the Silver Radiance Guardian Wheel in his grip. In response, the hemispherical barrier generated by the artifact grew even thicker.

Papapat!

The dozen-odd daggers hurtling in at hypersonic speed buried themselves in the barrier.

Not a single one pierced through.

It was a defensive artifact that Gu Yang-gyeol, a Core Formation cultivator, had carried in his Storage Pouch against the day he would face a formidable enemy. There was no way a Foundation Establishment early-stage spell could breach it.

"Who the hell are you……!"

As the shout echoed through the building, reactions came from all around. The other cultivators waiting on the third floor came rushing out.

Fortunately, there were no Foundation Establishment cultivators among them. Every last one was Qi Condensation.

Cheon Woo-jin kept the Silver Radiance Guardian Wheel deployed as he slid his hand into his Storage Pouch — and drew the Five Thunders Heaven-Piercing Sword.

"That artifact……!"

The Foundation Establishment cultivator's eyes went wide as he realized it was no ordinary weapon. But it was already too late.

Black lightning whipped around Cheon Woo-jin as its center. Every Qi Condensation cultivator charging in from all directions was swallowed by the murky current of black thunder-qi.

Watching his juniors annihilated in an instant, the Foundation Establishment cultivator trembled and stumbled backward.

"W-wait, just hold on a moment……"

Even his manner of speaking had changed before anyone noticed.

What kind of expression would he make, knowing the man before him was merely a junior still in the Qi Condensation realm? But Cheon Woo-jin preferred cutting off his breath over confirming it.

"Khhk……!"

Black Thunder tore through the cultivator's chest. He collapsed on the spot, his face carved with despair.

After confirming that every cultivator who had assailed him was dead, Cheon Woo-jin moved again. He went to the fourth room from the right end and flung the door open.

"……"

The room was empty. The only thing inside was a red box resting on the table at its very center.

So that was where the qi wave he had felt the moment he ascended to the third floor had been coming from. Cheon Woo-jin stepped inside to inspect the box's contents.

What a bold one.

Gi U-seon, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, clicked her tongue inwardly.

Infiltrating alone and wiping out our people in the blink of an eye…… Late Foundation Establishment, maybe?

Gi U-seon was a different person entirely from the Gold-root Foundation Establishment cultivator felled moments ago.

The master of transformation arts that Song Pyo had warned Cheon Woo-jin about — that was Gi U-seon. Even now, she was watching Cheon Woo-jin, her true form concealed.

Things have been so quiet lately it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boring, but finally something exciting happens. Now this is what Ghost Head City should be.

Even with her comrades slaughtered, Gi U-seon was positively delighting in it. She showed no trace of wariness toward Cheon Woo-jin's strength either.

This was simply how Gi U-seon always was. Whatever threat came her way, she would hum a tune and enjoy herself.

It had everything to do with the Ten Thousand Transformations Demonization Art she had mastered.

The Ten Thousand Transformations Demonization Art was a cultivation art specialized in altering one's own form, and Gi U-seon could transform flawlessly into anything — living or unliving. Because of that, she never worried even when cornered into a disadvantageous situation. All she had to do was change her shape and hide.

Lying in wait like that, then striking when the enemy let their guard down — that was Gi U-seon's fundamental battle doctrine.

Of course, it didn't work against cultivators in a higher realm, like Core Formation. But then, Gi U-seon never involved herself in big affairs that would draw Core Formation cultivators in the first place.

She knew perfectly well that her talent would never carry her to Core Formation. If that was the case, she wanted to savor her life as a Foundation Establishment cultivator for as long and as enjoyably as she could.

That was why she had only ever taken on jobs of this scale — the kind where one or two Foundation Establishment cultivators stepped in. Against Foundation Establishment opponents, her Ten Thousand Transformations Demonization Art granted her absolute superiority.

A true art of concealment, wielding power far beyond something as crude as a Hidden Form Talisman. With it, she need only dispose of this intruder at her leisure.

Come just a little closer.

Gi U-seon waited for the intruder to approach with a thrill of anticipation. Once he was close, she would ambush him with an offensive spell and leave him half-dead.

I'm curious where a thing like you crawled out of, too — so I'll torture you personally.

She was licking her lips inwardly, imagining exactly how she would torment him —

when a short voice rang out.

"Instant death."

What was that supposed to mean? It sounded like he had suddenly muttered to himself, and she couldn't fathom any meaning in it at all.

A heartbeat later —

Gi U-seon realized that she would never again be able to transform into anything at all.

There was only one form she could take now: a corpse, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠torn apart from head to toe.

Clatter.

The box dropped to the floor. And the table that had supported it slowly revealed its true form.

It revealed the figure of a woman, become a gruesome corpse.

She was the very Foundation Establishment cultivator Song Pyo had warned him about. She had taken the form of a table through her transformation art, luring Cheon Woo-jin in — certain that if she ambushed him as he approached in ignorance, subduing him would be effortless.

In truth, it had been the optimal choice from her standpoint. Facing head-on an opponent with combat power enough to annihilate her comrades in moments would have been a fool's errand.

The problem was that Cheon Woo-jin possessed the status window ability.

From the moment he first stepped into the room, the status window had been visible above the table. So he had used the Instant Killing Heavenly Eye to end her on the spot.

Because she might have been hiding other skills besides her transformation art, he had prioritized eliminating her swiftly.

Now, then.

Cheon Woo-jin reached for the red box that had fallen to the floor. But the instant he tried to lift the lid, electricity crackled and sparked out with a snapping hiss. It was nothing serious, but his fingers went numb.

It seemed the box was designed so that its contents could not be extracted unless opened through the proper method.

No helping it, then.

He drew up a small measure of spiritual power and conjured Black Thunder within his grip. The moment he fed it into the box, the locking mechanism shattered and the lid sprang open on its own.

"……!"

WHOOOOSH!

A heat washed over him as though he were standing before a mountain of flame.

What lay inside the box was nothing more than a single talisman — yet it brimmed with fierce fire qi hot enough to burn the world to ash.

There was no mistaking it. This was the Talisman Treasure that held the power of the Crimson Sea True Fire Lamp.

"Halt!"

Just then, a voice rang out from behind him. Cultivators had noticed the intrusion and come flooding up from the first and second floors, cutting off his escape.

"You dare raise this kind of hell in our Changhwa Pavilion? Tearing you apart wouldn't be punishment enough!"

Even the courtesans came, baring killing intent toward Cheon Woo-jin. They weren't merely trying to intimidate him. There was genuine resolve in their eyes — a promise to kill him slowly and cruelly.

In fact, these women were deviant cultivators trained in the teachings of the Union of Bliss Sect, one of the demonic sects — wicked souls well above the average for Ghost Head City.

"Resistance is meaningless! Surrender!"

"……"

Beyond the windows, he could sense the presence of the cultivators assigned to the perimeter as well. If he tried to flee out a window, they would hurl themselves at him instantly and cut him off.

Roughly thirty cultivators now surrounded him. All of them were Qi Condensation, but even so, taking on thirty alone was no simple feat.

Yet Cheon Woo-jin felt no despair. Because he held a weapon capable of carrying him out of this situation.

And in a situation like this one, it was a weapon even more effective than the Instant Killing Heavenly Eye.

"Ah……!"

One of the cultivators blocking Cheon Woo-jin's escape route raised a trembling finger.

"Y-you! Do you have any idea what that is you're touching?!"

The talisman inside the red box. The moment they saw it appear in Cheon Woo-jin's hand, the cultivators began to scream.

"S-stop! Even we don't know the full extent of that thing — it's dangerous……!"

You're the ones who don't know what it is.

Cheon Woo-jin shot back in a cold, level voice.

"I do."

The Talisman Treasure ignited in Cheon Woo-jin's grip.

The True Fire of the Crimson Sea True Fire Lamp meant the Fire of Samadhi. Not ordinary flame extinguished by a splash of water, but a supernatural blaze wrought by embodying the very principles of heaven and earth.

True Fire differs from mortal flame.

Meeting wind, it swells; meeting water, it rages. The more one tries to douse it, the fiercer it burns, and the more one strives to quench it, the more gloriously it blazes.

Refining essence, qi, and spirit into the Samadhi, it cultivates the essence of the Li trigram, burning away perverse spirits with righteous flame.

The principle of the Fire of Samadhi embodied by the Crimson Sea True Fire Lamp — it had come back to life within a single sheet of paper.

To summon that essence down into this world, Cheon Woo-jin raised high the burning Talisman Treasure in his hand.

The next instant, the world was dyed crimson.

Scarlet flames bearing a colossal heat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burst forth, swallowing the cultivators surrounding him in a single gulp. And without losing even a fraction of their momentum, the flames devoured the building itself — reducing the entire courtesan house known as the Changhwa Pavilion to nothing but ash.