The Demonic Path (2)
"Filthy demonic cultivators!"
The shout exploded from somewhere beside him.
A man with a bandit's bristling beard was glaring at the cultivators of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect with murderous eyes.
It was Jin Cheol-uk of the Hegemon Dragon Society, who had been standing with his arms crossed and a sour expression on his face for some time now.
The cultivators from the Hegemon Dragon Society had gathered around Jin Cheol-uk. Judging by the way they arranged themselves, he was clearly the strongest of their group.
"You brainwashed the Doyo Sect and stole their seat! Have you no shame?"
"'Brainwashed' seems a bit harsh, friend."
"Who are you calling friend, you filthy demonic scum!"
Even the Black Gate, where the strong devouring the weak was doctrine, despised the demonic sects. And the Hegemon Dragon Society had supposedly regarded the Doyo Sect as brothers. They could feel nothing but fury toward the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect for swallowing them whole.
"There's no need for an uproar."
"Sect Leader Doyo...!"
At that moment, three Taoists who had been conversing in a corner of the gathering approached. One cultivator of the Core Formation Realm from each of the three sects — the Yuk Family, the Hegemon Dragon Society, and the Doyo Sect. The Doyo Sect, notably, was represented by its Sect Leader in person.
He looked at Jin Cheol-uk and spoke in a grave voice.
"Submitting to the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect was the unanimous decision of our Doyo Sect. I would ask outsiders not to raise objections."
"Ghh..."
Jin Cheol-uk shut his mouth. However rough his temperament, he could hardly stay loud in front of a Core Formation cultivator.
"Then let us open the gate."
"Mm. Agreed."
"If we don't open it today, we'll have to wait another twenty years."
At the Doyo Sect Leader's words, the representatives of the Yuk Family and the Hegemon Dragon Society nodded. In each of their hands was a Gate-Opening Tablet — the key required to unseal the secret realm.
Since the realm was jointly managed by all three sects, opening the gate and entering required all three to be present.
"Listen well,"
the Yuk Family representative said, addressing the fifteen cultivators gathered around him.
"The Dark Soul Secret Realm before you is a mysterious place left behind by the Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace in Ghost Head City long ago. A restriction bars its gate, allowing it to open only once every twenty years, and only cultivators of the Qi Condensation Realm may enter. The intent, presumably, is to make Qi Condensation cultivators seize their own cultivation resources through their own strength. The twenty-year interval, too, is likely the time required for resources to accumulate within."
He paused, letting the words settle, then continued.
"Unlike the outside world, spiritual qi is abundant inside the realm. Even sitting still and circulating your energy will yield considerable gains. But what matters most to you is procuring resources — the spirit herbs that have spent twenty years soaking up that qi."
Cheon Woo-jin only needed to secure his Foundation Establishment spirit item, but the other cultivators were still lacking in spiritual power. For them, simply finding a good spirit herb would count as a major harvest.
"There is also a warning. It is not only herbs that have absorbed the qi of these twenty years. Monsters that spawned naturally and grew fat in the dense spiritual energy will be waiting for you. Surviving among such dangers is part of the trial given to you."
"..."
"The exploration of the Dark Soul Secret Realm will last five days. Only on the fifth day can you leave the realm. Until then, you must survive."
When his explanation was finished, the Yuk Family representative exchanged a look with the other two. They formed a triangle around the crack in the ground, extended their Gate-Opening Tablets forward, and began to chant.
"Ooooh...!"
The Qi Condensation cultivators gasped at the sight of such vast quantities of spiritual qi swirling into the air. The beings who had crafted this secret realm and set its restriction were transcendents who surpassed even Core Formation. The torrent of qi raging before them made that abundantly clear.
"Now!"
Boooom!
A gate through space-time yawned open in the crack.
The instant they confirmed it, the Hegemon Dragon Society cultivators were the first to hurl themselves into the rift. The demonic cultivators of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect, Yu Gi-ryeong at their head, leapt in after them one by one.
"B-Brother, let's go too!"
"Mm. Right!"
Yuk Baek-dal, eldest of the Yuk Family's four brothers, leapt in with a tense face, and his younger brothers followed. Cheon Woo-jin, last to remain, glanced toward the Doyo Sect Leader.
Unlike the Yuk Family and Hegemon Dragon representatives, who were sweating buckets, the man wore a perfectly composed smile.
Jin Cheol-uk claimed they'd been brainwashed... but that wasn't it, was it.
The Doyo Sect Leader had defected to the demonic side of his own judgment. He'd been courted, no doubt, with promises of a realm that no small Black Gate sect could ever reach on its own. In truth, he probably believed he had made the best possible choice. However diligently a minor sect like Doyo was run, Core Formation would be its ceiling. Submitting tribute and turning to the demonic path — that, he must have judged, was the decision that best served his own future.
Cheon Woo-jin suddenly remembered what Jo Hyu had once told him. The path of cultivation was, inevitably, a climb over the corpses of countless rivals — but those who ascended drenched in blood from head to toe were bound to slip somewhere along the way. The Doyo Sect Leader believed he had chosen wisely, yet the moment he would slip was coming. And that moment might not be far off at all.
With that thought, Cheon Woo-jin leapt into the rift.
A sky where black clouds stretched on without end. Sodden earth blanketed in thick moss of a dark, sickly hue. Trees of every grotesque variety, sprouting in open defiance of natural law. The Dark Soul Secret Realm was, true to its name, a world of gloom and murk. It was a world apart from the small secret realm he had entered before.
First, I need to find the four Yuk brothers.
Enter this realm a hundred times and you would land a hundred different places. Cheon Woo-jin had come down in a wide-open plain, but the four brothers, who had gone in ahead of him, were nowhere in sight. They would be scattered somewhere else entirely.
He was still scanning his surroundings when, without warning, a firework burst upward with a boom.
A signal flare.
Assemble here — that was the message it carried. The Yuk Family hadn't planned anything of the sort, and the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect seemed unlikely to announce itself so. Which meant it was the Hegemon Dragon Society's rallying signal.
So they intend to band together against the demonic cultivators.
According to what Seo Seol-ryeong had heard, the Yuk Family had proposed joining hands against the demonic cultivators. But the Hegemon Dragon Society had apparently taken the very suggestion as an insult. The numbers were even — five apiece — and the restriction limited everyone to Qi Condensation. Then there was nothing to fear. If the demonic scum attacked, they would simply repel them with the Hegemon Dragon Society's strength. That had been their thinking.
And yet...
Fools.
Believing they could drive off the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect unaided. Firing a flare that laid bare their own position. It was stupidity upon stupidity.
The Hegemon Dragon Society will be annihilated soon.
Cheon Woo-jin moved at once. Before they could suffer the Hegemon Dragon Society's fate, he had to secure the safety of the four Yuk brothers.
Boom!
The head of a fellow disciple — a man he had trained beside for decades — burst apart.
Watching him collapse into a headless corpse, Jin Cheol-uk of the Hegemon Dragon Society trembled from head to foot.
"H-how is this possible..."
Seol Jin-hu of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect stood before him. He had entered this realm, so he was surely Qi Condensation — yet with a flick of one finger he had killed a fellow Qi Condensation cultivator instantly. Of the Society's five cultivators, Jin Cheol-uk was the only one still breathing.
"What demonic art in the name of hell have you learned!"
Jin Cheol-uk screamed, but Seol Jin-hu didn't even answer. He merely fished out a crimson pill, popped it into his mouth, and chewed.
"We're both Qi Condensation, so why do you have the power of Foundation Establishment—"
Boom!
A hole punched through Jin Cheol-uk's chest. He stared down at it in disbelief, then toppled backward where he stood. With his death, all five of the Hegemon Dragon Society's Qi Condensation cultivators had perished.
As he kept feeding pills into his mouth over the bodies, the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect underlings who had entered with him came close.
"Elder Brother Yu, has your spiritual power fully recovered?"
"Six-tenths, more or less."
So saying, Yu Gi-ryeong kneaded his own face, and the balance of his features shifted. This was not the face made for the false identity of Seol Jin-hu, but the true face of Yu Gi-ryeong, Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
"Truly astonishing. That someone at Peak Foundation Establishment can compress his spiritual power down to the Qi Condensation level..."
"That is the power of the Scattered Retreat Concealment Art,"
Yu Gi-ryeong murmured in a cold voice.
"The Hegemon Dragon Society is dealt with. Now I must hunt down the Yuk Family... and that won't be easy."
The Society, in their foolishness, had fired their own signal flare — and thanks to that, everyone gathered in one place could be wiped out in a single stroke. But catching the Yuk Family would not be so simple. This realm was vast; even sweeping it with detection arts would take considerable time.
"Even so, we must exterminate them all by today's end."
"Understood."
The time allotted to them was limited. The stragglers needed to be cleaned up quickly so they could turn to gathering resources. According to the documents the Doyo Sect had handed over, this realm harbored monsters with considerable demonic power as well — and hunting those would yield spoils worth more than any spirit herb.
"Secure a mountain of resources here, and growing our strength in Ghost Head City becomes easy. We'll be able to win over not just minor sects like Doyo, but the loose cultivators swarming the city as well. And then, in an instant, we seize control of the city's lower layers."
He watched his underlings scatter in all four directions, then settled into place and began circulating his energy.
Demonic pills, brewed by the sect's wicked methods, had restored six-tenths of his spiritual power — but it was still not enough. To bring down the powerful monsters lurking in this realm, he needed his full strength. The young masters of the Yuk Family he could safely leave to his underlings; they would finish them off.
With that thought, Yu Gi-ryeong closed both eyes and gave himself over to his circulation.
"Now hold on — hide in here? What nonsense is this!"
Yuk Baek-dal, eldest of the four Yuk brothers, voiced his displeasure. Cheon Woo-jin, who had used his status-window ability to locate the four of them in short order, had dragged them straight into a secluded cave without a word of explanation.
"This isn't why we entered the realm!"
"We came to gain the strength to reach higher realms!"
"Cowering in a hole like this, we'll gain nothing at all!"
"If you're scared of the demonic cultivators, then just withdraw! We'll manage on our own!"
All four brothers pushed back furiously. But Cheon Woo-jin remained perfectly calm.
"If you don't hide in this cave, you die."
"What in the world are you—"
"The demonic side has a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
At Cheon Woo-jin's words, all four men's eyes went wide.
"Th-that's absurd. What do you mean?"
"The Blood World Mara Sect possesses a secret art called the Scattered Retreat Concealment Art. It scatters the user's own spiritual power, temporarily lowering his realm."
"...!"
"With that art, a Foundation Establishment cultivator can slip into a realm that admits only Qi Condensation."
As he spoke, Cheon Woo-jin turned his gaze toward the direction from which the flare had risen earlier.
"The Hegemon Dragon Society is already wiped out. You four are next."
"...!"
"There is exactly one way for you to keep your lives — hide in this cave, the Shadowveil Cave."
The Shadowveil Cave. In the game, it had been designated a safe zone. Hidden behind other terrain features, nearly invisible from outside, and the spirit qi running before its mouth was scrambled by the influence of a ley line, rendering detection arts useless. Hunker down inside, hold your breath, and you could reach the fifth day without a single ambush.
"B-but... do you have proof?"
Yuk Baek-dal still could not bring himself to trust Cheon Woo-jin.
"If we're to believe you, then we'll need evidence to match—"
"One moment."
Cheon Woo-jin cut him off, took out a single Grade-4 Sinew-Forging Bone-Tempering Pill, swallowed it, and moved using nothing but his pure physical strength. Moving while casting spells risked detection. His reinforced body shot forward — and soon he caught sight of a Mad World Yin Spirit Sect cultivator sweeping the area with a detection art.
Cheon Woo-jin hid behind a grotesquely twisted tree and stretched his shadow out long across the ground. Sensing the flow of spiritual power, the demonic cultivator flinched and looked toward him — but all he registered was that someone was hiding behind the tree. The ground was already dark with moss and mire; he never noticed the black shadow creeping toward his feet.
"Khh—!"
Slic!
The shadow-blade, surging up at impossible speed, impaled the demonic cultivator through the torso. He opened his mouth to alert his comrades — but the second blade pierced his throat faster than a scream could leave it.
Thud.
The corpse tumbled across the ground. The four Yuk brothers, hurrying up behind him, swallowed in unison at the sight. They hadn't clearly seen Cheon Woo-jin's method, but one thing was certain: he had annihilated a Peak Qi Condensation demonic cultivator in the span of a heartbeat. Which meant he could do the very same to any of them.
"Inside the cave."
"...!"
At Cheon Woo-jin's short command, the four brothers scrambled into the cave. In this moment, the presence they feared most was not some faceless Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator. It was Cheon Woo-jin.
Cheon Woo-jin affixed additional talismans over the entrance of the Shadowveil Cave, sealing it completely. Anyone who tried to force their way out would not have a pleasant time of it.
The Hegemon Dragon Society is annihilated, and the four Yuk brothers are locked inside the cave.
Only the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect remained. The Dark Soul Secret Realm was now a battlefield belonging solely to Cheon Woo-jin and the demonic cultivators.
Now I can use my power without watching anyone's eyes.
Crack-le!
Black lightning writhing to life around him, Cheon Woo-jin soared into the sky.