Subjugation Battle (4)

"What in the—!"

Jeok Ya-wol was utterly astonished. The law art unfolded by Cheon Woo-jin — a mere Qi Condensation cultivator — had shaken him to his core.

"You... how could you...!"

Cheon Woo-jin had just imitated Jeok Ya-wol's law art — the pinnacle that Jeok Ya-wol had reached after more than three hundred years of training in demonic cultivation methods, the ultimate technique for drawing out the full power of his Water Spiritual Root and Black Soul Physique. And Cheon Woo-jin had copied it on the spot.

Of course, Jeok Ya-wol was far from his normal state right now. The sudden severance of his connection to the Law Domain had dealt a massive shock to his spiritual realm, leaving him wracked with a splitting headache and his techniques badly degraded in completeness. On top of that, the left half of his body had been destroyed by Tae Sa-ryang's earlier attack, throwing his spiritual power circulation into chaos.

When an arm or leg is blown away entirely, the Twelve Spirit Meridians that circulate through the limbs cease to function — and because Jeok Ya-wol had always channeled his power by using both sets of meridians in tandem, the blow had been devastating. His output had plummeted, and the speed of his law arts had slowed considerably. That much was undeniable fact.

And yet — even so.

For some Qi Condensation punk to see through it at a glance and mimic it? Impossible. This cannot be happening!

Jeok Ya-wol raised his spiritual power even higher. Blood sprayed from the ruined ruin of his left side, but he ignored it and pushed his power to its absolute limit.

Jeok Ya-wol's spiritual power was like a horde of vengeful ghosts seething with resentment — the energy of death itself, one that tolerated no living thing. Releasing it like flame to massacre his enemies was the signature specialty of Jeok Ya-wol, the Mad Spirit Pavilion Master of the Blood World Mara Sect.

Some desperate Qi Condensation brat flailing before his eyes? He could kill him in an instant.

But...

"Uuurgh...!"

Hundreds of streams of black flame poured down as if to melt the entire underground cavern — and scattered apart, torn to pieces by Cheon Woo-jin's black lightning energy as it danced like something unhinged. In that moment, Cheon Woo-jin's power was, unmistakably, surpassing Jeok Ya-wol's own.

"You — don't tell me you're drawing in the qi scattered around you—!"

A Qi Condensation cultivator's power had hard limits. There was a ceiling on the maximum amount of spiritual power one could hold, and another on the instantaneous output one could unleash at once. Cheon Woo-jin had clearly blown past both. He was pulling in and using the ambient qi all around him — the qi of the Law Domain, no longer supplied to Jeok Ya-wol and scattered to the four winds, and even the qi Jeok Ya-wol himself had released to deploy his law art. He was devouring all of it and pouring it into his own techniques.

That was something only possible with an innately extraordinary aptitude, or through training in methods specialized for exactly such a feat.

"What in the world are you?!"

Jeok Ya-wol desperately clawed up more spiritual power. Normally, Qi Condensation strength could never so much as scratch a Core Formation cultivator — but if the opponent was borrowing external power like this, the calculus changed entirely. And Jeok Ya-wol was already missing the left half of his body from the fight with Tae Sa-ryang. One misstep, and even his Golden Core might take damage.

Wuuuuoong!

The black flame writhed violently. A storm swept the cavern, steeped in a gloomy principle of death — as if to swallow the whole world and return it to nothingness.

I will kill you.

Black flame infused with that ferocious will howled like a beast wailing in agony.

"......"

Cheon Woo-jin watched the spectacle with perfect composure. With every desperate escalation of Jeok Ya-wol's attacks, their underlying structure was laid bare more nakedly than before — and it struck Cheon Woo-jin with tremendous stimulation, as though overwhelming inspiration were being hammered directly into his skull.

Immersed in that flood of insight, Cheon Woo-jin recomposed his technique from the ground up. His current attacks had him at an advantage over Jeok Ya-wol, but they were not enough to settle things properly. To shatter Jeok Ya-wol's Golden Core itself and cut off his breath, he needed something of a far higher order.

Kukukukuung!

Even as he scattered Jeok Ya-wol's furious barrage, Cheon Woo-jin focused his mind. His attack could not simply be a blazing inferno like Jeok Ya-wol's. Convinced that a more efficient form existed, he refined his technique — and there, a new inspiration surged up out of nowhere.

It sprang from the enlightenment of the Taiyi Mysterious Mystery Sword Art, which he had chewed over and internalized through countless readings of cultivation manuals. Following that inspiration, Cheon Woo-jin smelted his black lightning energy — tempered it firm and sleek like a single blade, from which not even a wisp of spirit qi leaked. And then the black lightning blade forged that way... poured from Cheon Woo-jin like a thunderstorm.

"...!"

Jeok Ya-wol's breath caught in his throat. Hundreds of black lightning blades — he had just watched them deploy in unison.

The two sides were manifesting similar principles — the power of death and extinction corresponding to Water among the Five Elements, the principle of black energy. But Cheon Woo-jin's attack, sublimated into a higher domain through the theory of lightning arts and sword qi, had unmistakably surpassed Jeok Ya-wol's.

"Aaah...!"

Jeok Ya-wol shrieked. The enlightenment he had only just attained after more than three centuries of training — and the feat surpassing it was unfolding right before his eyes. Unable to accept it, Jeok Ya-wol wrung out everything he had like a cornered beast, and his own body began to collapse under the strain. He sublimated his skin and fur, flesh and muscle, sinews and meridians, marrow and bone, qi and blood, humors and fluids all into spiritual power, erupting them outward as black flame.

It was useless.

Kwakwakwakwa!

Through the black flame that burned even his own life, the light-swallowing lightning blades filled Jeok Ya-wol's vision — and with an overwhelming majesty they devoured what remained of him, annihilating his existence so thoroughly that not a speck of dust was left behind.

The surroundings fell quiet. Until moments ago, the cavern had rung with a roar loud enough to burst eardrums; now there was only perfect stillness. Jeok Ya-wol, who had screamed while pouring out an immense reservoir of power, was gone — annihilated without even a fragment of his Golden Core remaining. Such was the power of the Black Lightning Annihilation Vista, the ultimate technique Cheon Woo-jin had completed using the inspiration drawn from Jeok Ya-wol's own art.

The harvest was enormous.

He had clashed with Core Formation cultivators many times before, but this was the first time he had faced one head-on in open battle. Thanks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to that, he had experienced the power of Core Formation firsthand, and the stimulation had yielded insight — a great enlightenment.

The Body of the Dark True Abyss is a boundless abyssal sea that accepts all things... and that is exactly why it could take in the very essence of the Water-attribute law art Jeok Ya-wol unfolded.

Cheon Woo-jin closed his eyes, feeling a deep sense of accomplishment. His heart was light, but his body was heavy — the price of exercising power beyond the limits of a Qi Condensation cultivator.

My spiritual power has run dry after all.

It felt as though his body had been scooped hollow. Even borrowing external force, he had still had to drain his own spiritual power to the last drop. If he tried to circulate spirit qi through his Spirit Meridians now, there was hardly any response — only a trickle of energy, less than a chick's tear, seemed to be flowing within.

Cheon Woo-jin first took a pellet elixir from his robe and swallowed it. But it was not like the game — nothing recovered in an instant. He began circulating energy while drawing in as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much of the surrounding qi as he could. It would take time for his spiritual power to recover.

The Law Domain... will fully dissolve before long.

The underground cavern was slowly collapsing, reverting toward its original form as Heiyu Valley — no doubt because Jeok Ya-wol, its central pivot, was dead.

That completes the subjugation of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.

Of course, he had not wiped out every demonic cultivator sworn to the sect. There would be survivors somewhere, even here. But hunting each of them down was not Cheon Woo-jin's job — Seonggak Ilwon Sect could handle that on their own.

My work is finished, which means all that's left is collecting my payment.

Thinking this, Cheon Woo-jin slowly opened his eyes. In the midst of the crumbling cavern, Tae Sa-ryang was approaching.

Tae Sa-ryang had recovered to about ninety percent. He had taken heavy wounds in the fight with Jeok Ya-wol and expended a great deal of spiritual power, but his Golden Core was unharmed, and with the aid of pellet elixirs and energy circulation, he had been able to heal. And as his body recovered... he had observed the battle between Cheon Woo-jin and Jeok Ya-wol with meticulous care.

So it wasn't some hidden law artifact after all.

He had originally assumed Cheon Woo-jin was concealing a powerful artifact. But that wasn't it. Cheon Woo-jin possessed abilities that could not even be compared to an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator, and the reason lay elsewhere.

You really were hiding a secret of monstrous proportions, weren't you.

Tae Sa-ryang smiled as he stared at the figure standing motionless in the distance.

You... you have the Body of the Dark True Abyss, don't you?

Absorbing the surrounding qi to launch his attacks. That was the conclusion he had reached after analyzing it thoroughly.

The Body of the Dark True Abyss is a constitution like a black sea without end — an abyss that accepts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and swallows everything. If one wields that power to its fullest, drawing in external qi like that is entirely possible.

The reason Tae Sa-ryang knew anything about the Body of the Dark True Abyss was a recent rumor: Heukha-ryong had vanished from Mount Goeyu. The dragon, a Nascent Soul dragon-kind born with that very constitution, had disappeared one day leaving nothing behind but a stain of blood. The Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect had been investigating to uncover which faction was responsible, but with no results, they now suspected one of the powers inside Ghost Head City. That information had been relayed to Seonggak Ilwon Sect, and Tae Sa-ryang had taken an interest.

He's almost certainly in league with whoever killed Heukha-ryong.

The faction behind Cheon Woo-jin must have slain the dragon and taken its corpse — and then, by some means, transplanted the Body of the Dark True Abyss into Cheon Woo-jin. There was no way Cheon Woo-jin could have killed Heukha-ryong himself, so that had to be the answer.

Perhaps your arrival at Ghost Head City was to field-test the Body of the Dark True Abyss — away from prying eyes?

Whatever the case, this was a golden opportunity dropped from heaven. Bring down Cheon Woo-jin, and he could uncover a truth that the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect and countless other factions were dying to know. Do that, and Seonggak Ilwon Sect might pay him a handsome reward.

No... rather than handing him over to the sect, it would be better to keep him for myself.

That one was a research subject of tremendous value. Perhaps he could even extract the power of the Body of the Dark True Abyss and make it his own. If he managed that, it would be an enormous help when he challenged the Nascent Soul Realm in the future.

Or, failing that, he could simply render Cheon Woo-jin into a pellet elixir and consume him. A human with a constitution as special as the Body of the Dark True Abyss was, in itself, nothing less than a precious spiritual elixir.

Of course, that was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠conduct no orthodox sect would tolerate. If it became known, he would be denounced as no better than a demonic cultivator and expelled in disgrace. But as long as no one caught him, there was no problem at all. The upper echelons of Seonggak Ilwon Sect themselves were committing their share of filthy deeds in secret, after all. Tae Sa-ryang's own master was a man who had violated every taboo imaginable from his days as an outer disciple, building his strength all the while.

Ultimately, in the cultivation world, it was those who spared no means or method who rose to the top. That was simply the way of things.

I too will climb over mountains of corpses, just as my predecessors did, and reach ever higher! Even if my whole body is drenched in blood, I could not care less!

With that resolve, Tae Sa-ryang approached Cheon Woo-jin. The man had burned through every ounce of strength fighting Jeok Ya-wol anyway. Approach him with his true intentions hidden, strike suddenly — subduing him would be easier than flipping his own palm.

But at that very moment.

Cheon Woo-jin, still standing motionless, fixed Tae Sa-ryang with his gaze and spoke.

"I have one question for you."

In that instant, an ominous light began to swirl in his eyes.