War of Seizure (1)
Byeokpung Valley was one of the three great powers of the 6th Layer.
Its main hall stood in a mountain region swept by relentless, howling winds.
For an ordinary cultivator, such a gale-ridden environment was a recipe for sickness — but Byeokpung Valley's disciples learned to understand and master the principles of the wind itself amid that very storm.
Its sword cultivators, in particular, spent entire days swinging their blades before the raging wind. Through that training, they gained the power to wield sword-wind as freely as breathing, and the speed they achieved was the fastest in the entire 6th Layer. It was said that whoever struck first was guaranteed victory.
But this time, their first strike bore no fruit.
The moment they poured into the underground waterway, they unleashed a torrent of sword-wind — only for Wi Ju-seon's jiangshi to throw themselves forward as living shields.
Wi Ju-seon was the Sect Master of the Corpse Ghost Extreme Jade Gate, born with the innate Spirit-Controlling Talent. Jiangshi commanded directly by someone like her possessed bodies sturdier than any ordinary defensive dharma artifact.
Under the deluge of sword-wind they were eventually shredded to pieces, but they succeeded in blocking at least one full wave of the assault. That bought enough time for Cheon Woo-jin's Black Thunder Serpent Sutra to unfold.
"Hup—!"
BOOOOOM!
The sight of hundreds of black blade-qi raining down left the sword cultivators of Byeokpung Valley aghast.
The black sword-qi tore straight through the famed sword-wind of the Byeokpung Sword Art and drove into their midst. Faced with a black storm unlike anything they had ever known, even in a mountain region where every kind of wind howled, screams erupted from their ranks.
"This is no ordinary sword-qi! It's thunder qi!"
BOOOOOM!
The penetrating black thunder qi crashed over the sword cultivators' bodies.
Black thunder did not leave clean cuts the way Byeokpung Valley's sword-wind did. Instead, like flesh gouged away with a carving knife, it tore out muscle and bone in entire chunks, inflicting wounds beyond any hope of recovery.
Sword cultivators who had lost arms, lost legs, lost their innards scraped together their last strength and hurled themselves at Cheon Woo-jin. A single strand of sword-qi, launched with the resolve of men already dead, bored toward his throat — but it was deflected by the protective barrier he had already deployed.
It was the Water-Thousand Wheels Art, woven from water he had gathered from the underground waterway itself.
Having repelled the enemies' attack, Cheon Woo-jin shifted back onto the offensive.
[Water Blade]
[Water Spear]
[Water Heaven Wheel]
The waters that had formed the barrier transformed into weapons of every shape and fell upon the enemies. Only after cutting down every last one of them, letting no single soul slip through, did the assault finally cease.
"It's over."
"……"
Wi Ju-seon stared at Cheon Woo-jin with an expression of sheer disbelief.
"So this is why Seo Seol-ryeong placed such hope in you……"
"I've never fought in front of Seo Seol-ryeong."
So he replied, and Cheon Woo-jin lifted his gaze past the corpses strewn across the ground.
"Jongri Un will have sensed the commotion and fled. We should give chase."
"Ah, that's right—"
KWA-BOOM!
This time, the ceiling collapsed behind them.
Turning around, Cheon Woo-jin saw dark-scaled cultivators descending into the underground waterway.
"The Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect……!"
"It's been a while, Sect Master Wi."
The largest man among them laughed with his hands clasped behind his back. Beneath a gray hood, his face was covered in reptilian scales.
He was a Core Formation cultivator of the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect.
His constitution — the Lizard King Body — revealed that he was not human but a demon, and moreover, a powerful figure of the Shicheok clan of lizard demons. The Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect was a sect built around cultivators of such demon lineage.
"Did Sect Master Wi come coveting the dharma treasure too?"
"Don't make me laugh. I merely intend to return it to where it belongs."
"Kek kek, who'd believe that?"
Na Chwi-ryang laughed, flicking his forked tongue in and out.
"Stand aside. I smell something that way."
His subordinates, too, sniffed at the air or flicked their tongues. It truly seemed they had tracked Jongri Un by scent.
"This is the domain of our Corpse Ghost Extreme Jade Gate. It's you who should get lost."
"Can you really afford to say that?"
Na Chwi-ryang asked in a taunting drawl.
"You look like you've just fought a big battle and are worn to the bone…… Think the two of you alone can handle the demon cultivators of our Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect?"
"Just two of us?"
But Wi Ju-seon merely snorted.
"And where, exactly, do you see only two?"
"……!"
Thud. Thud. Thud!
The corpses of the fallen Byeokpung Valley cultivators rose as one.
Bodies that should have rotted away in the underground waterway were reborn as strong, loyal jiangshi.
"Damn it! Sweep them away!"
At Na Chwi-ryang's raised voice, the demon cultivators of the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect scrambled over one another to charge. Wi Ju-seon's jiangshi threw their whole bodies into a brutal melee to meet them.
"Cheon Woo-jin!"
"I know."
Leaving the jiangshi to block the way, Cheon Woo-jin and Wi Ju-seon broke into a run along the underground waterway.
Jongri Un would already be fleeing through the tunnels. There was no time to waste dueling the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect here.
"This way!"
Wi Ju-seon, who knew the layout of the underground waterway, took the lead, while Cheon Woo-jin followed behind her, stretching his spirit qi in every direction to scout their surroundings.
"Sect Master Wi — do you have no interest in the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner yourself?"
He asked, recalling her exchange with Na Chwi-ryang earlier, and Wi Ju-seon answered in a hard voice.
"I…… no. We — the Corpse Ghost Extreme Jade Gate — do not want such a thing."
"……"
"If we used the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner to borrow the power of the Upper Realm, we'd no doubt wield tremendous strength in short order. But that would not be the fruit of our own effort. We will walk the path of immortality our own way, cultivating the Dao as we see fit."
The conviction of a sect master. Her voice carried it plainly.
"By diligently modifying corpses, of course."
"……"
That last remark probably should have been left unsaid.
"And besides…… there's no guarantee anyone could properly control the power of the Upper Realm. Handle it carelessly, and you could invite catastrophe on a colossal scale."
"You're right."
He had experienced such events many times, even just playing the game. In the cultivation world, recklessly chasing power beyond one's means and plunging not only oneself but the entire world into peril was a tale as old as the genre itself.
And when such a catastrophe struck, Cheon Woo-jin would not be spared either. It would be one thing if some corner-dwellers destroyed only themselves in private, but if someone rampaged with unchecked power inside Ghost Head City and collapsed every layer of the tower, that was another matter entirely.
The whole reason Cheon Woo-jin cultivated strength in the first place was so he would not be dragged into someone else's catastrophe and die a dog's death. Such events had to be prevented before they ever began.
"The best course is to seal it away somewhere no one can touch. Whether the Heavenly Dragon Tower Lord will agree is another question, but—"
Ah.
In that moment, he caught sight of a flutter of clothing in the far distance. Someone was fleeing frantically through the underground waterway.
"There he is!"
"I'll pursue him."
Cheon Woo-jin had already taken his recovery pill and restored his spiritual power. Slipping past Wi Ju-seon, he shot forward.
KRA-KOOM!
A deafening thunderclap split the air as he tore through the underground waterway. Cloaked in thunder qi from head to toe, he closed the distance to the fleeing man in an instant.
"……!"
The fleeing man's eyes went wide as he glanced back. A banner was strapped across his back.
Jongri Un — branch patriarch of the Jongri Clan. The thief who had stolen the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner from the Heavenly Dragon Tower stood before him.
Late Core Formation, but he carries a Ghost Soul Banner forged by slaughtering his entire household. I can't afford to underestimate him.
There would be no complacency. First — make sure he could run no further.
Cheon Woo-jin swung down the mass of thunder qi gathered in his grip. A single bolt of lightning lanced across the gloomy underground waterway.
Jongri Un wrenched his body aside to dodge the bolt — but instead, the ceiling ahead of him collapsed.
"……!"
Falling rock rained down on his head, and Jongri Un staggered back on reflex. Cheon Woo-jin had anticipated precisely that reaction, his shadow already stretched out beneath him.
THWACK!
Blades of shadow erupted from the floor, lunging for Jongri Un. But he twisted his body and slipped past the strike — the Black Shadow Thorn barely grazed his ankle before scattering into empty air.
"Just the one of you?"
Realizing there was only a single pursuer, Jongri Un chose to repel rather than run.
"Begone!"
Shwa-ek!
The rocks that had just come crashing down went hurtling back like cannon shells. Not only were they fast — they were reinforced with spiritual power.
And that was not all. Jongri Un stamped the floor hard with the sole of his foot, and the ground split apart as if in an earthquake, jagged stone spears surging upward. Killing-intent-laden spells came flying from every direction.
One moment of carelessness and his entire body would be crushed into a smear of meat.
Cheon Woo-jin responded by pushing his senses to their absolute limit.
PA-JIK!
He deployed thunder qi beneath his feet to shift his position, slipping clear of the pincer of incoming attacks from all sides while hurling the clump of lightning clenched in his hand straight ahead.
KWA-BOOM!
The thunder exploded like a burst pomegranate, punching a hole clean through the enemy's spell bombardment. An opening appeared, and Cheon Woo-jin maintained his Thunderstep to drive into it.
"You little—!"
Jongri Un's fury boiled over.
"What a nuisance you are!"
At last, he unfurled the banner strapped to his back — the Ghost Soul Banner, made by slaughtering his own family and forging their vengeful spirits into it.
"Manifest!"
GUWOOOO!
A monster vast enough to fill the entire underground waterway emerged. At a glance it looked like a creature of liquid, but in truth it was the yin qi released by the Ghost Soul Banner given form — a colossal mass of curse, saturated with the grudges of the Jongri Clan's branch family.
The monster stretched out dozens of arms, reaching to seize Cheon Woo-jin. If even a single fingertip touched him, the curse would invade his body and render him powerless.
But Cheon Woo-jin already knew how to stand against curses, learned through his clash with Lee Jin-gang.
If I can read the spiritual structure that gives it shape, and drive my power into its weakest point——
Within his spiritual domain, he bored his gaze through the massive mass of curse. Intense and dense it was, but its structure was crude and monotonous. To Cheon Woo-jin, whose eye for perceiving spiritual structures had only just begun to develop, its vulnerabilities stood out in plain relief.
Break it.
Within Cheon Woo-jin's being, the Body of the Dark True Abyss pulsed. He stretched out black water-attribute qi compressed to its very limit — drove a jet-black blade deep into the body of the cursed monstrosity, and from that blade sprouted countless thorns.
It was an application of the Black Shadow Thorn.
PUH-EONG……!
With a sound like a combustible gas detonating, the mass of curse burst apart. The monster that had stretched out dozens of arms to overwhelm him scattered into nothing but worthless smoke, having accomplished nothing at all.
I'm starting to get a feel for it. So this is what it's like.
Pahoe — breaking and destroying.
Those two words brushed across his mind. Not merely meeting an enemy's attack with a counter and canceling it out, but truly — in the fullest sense — shattering it to pieces. For the first time, he grasped what that meant.
"Impossible. How can this……"
Jongri Un's face went slack with disbelief.
The power he had obtained by killing and sacrificing his own family with his own two hands had scattered into nothing. Pahoe — the art said to be achievable only by true geniuses. Having witnessed it with his own eyes, Jongri Un could barely breathe.
But it did not end there.
The power of the curse Jongri Un wielded……
Cheon Woo-jin turned over the spiritual structure he had just pierced through, committing it to memory. And the Body of the Dark True Abyss began to draw in the yin qi scattered in every direction around him.
I think I can reproduce it.
Even in this very moment, Cheon Woo-jin was continuing to grow.