The Scramble for Possession (5)

"Seo Seol-ryeong! Cheon Woo-jin!"

Wi Ju-seon, gripping the helm of the flying vessel, raised her voice again.

"We can punch through the encirclement like this! But somebody needs ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to decide where we're going!"

The flying vessel was currently tearing through the skies above Junggyeongjin.

Cultivators from a dozen different factions hurled attacks at it, but Wi Ju-seon's high-speed aerobatics rendered their efforts largely futile.

Besides, they also had to contend with the corpse ghouls and jiangshi of the Corpse Ghost Extreme Jade Gate rising from underground.

Shaking them off and breaking away didn't seem to pose much of a problem.

But escaping Junggyeongjin wouldn't be the end of it.

"Cheon Woo-jin, what was the plan originally?"

"I intended to find the Cheonryong Pavilion branch here in Junggyeongjin. Though I suppose that's no longer feasible."

Cheon Woo-jin spoke as he gazed down at the chaos churning through Junggyeongjin below.

"For now, joining up with the Pavilion Master seems like the best option."

As he said this, Cheon Woo-jin turned his gaze toward Seo Seol-ryeong.

He needed to confirm where her thoughts lay.

"Seo Seol-ryeong, the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner—"

"Say no more."

Seo Seol-ryeong cut him off mid-sentence.

"Now that things have come to this, stubbornly insisting on keeping the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner for myself would be foolish. There's no need to persuade me otherwise."

"Then—"

"I will cooperate so that the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner can be moved somewhere truly safe."

It was a fortunate turn of events.

Had Seo Seol-ryeong declared, I cannot give up the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner after all, they would have found themselves in a considerably difficult position.

"A wise decision, Seo Seol-ryeong."

At that moment, Wi Ju-seon, still holding the helm, spoke up brightly.

"The Ghost Spirit Demon Banner would certainly help you achieve your goal. But it could just as easily be your ruin—and not only yours. It might drag the entire world down with you. Relying on such an uncertain instrument isn't like you."

"Sect Master Wi…"

"Just place your hope in Cheon Woo-jin. You've lived long enough to meet him again—why not make the most of it, the two of you together?"

"……"

By this point, Cheon Woo-jin couldn't help but wonder what Seo Seol-ryeong's true goal actually was.

But before he could ask, she spoke first.

"By the way, how did the two of you come to know each other? You should have had no points of contact whatsoever."

"Hm? Well, you see, you told Cheon Woo-jin—"

"Seo Seol-ryeong."

Cheon Woo-jin cut Wi Ju-seon off.

His visit to Wi Ju-seon this time had been made by leveraging his knowledge of the game.

Since Seo Seol-ryeong had never once mentioned her, pressing her on how any of this was possible would only invite headaches on all sides.

"Figuring out what we do next comes first."

"You're right."

Seo Seol-ryeong nodded.

"In that case, joining up with the Pavilion Master should indeed be our priority."

"Hold on. Are we sure the Pavilion Master can be trusted?"

Wi Ju-seon raised an objection.

"By now even he must have realized the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner is dangerous. I'm worried that once it's handed over, he might misuse it."

When it had been put up for auction, Pavilion Master Oh Hwi-seong had failed to grasp what the banner was truly worth.

But with such an enormous uproar erupting across the 6th Layer now, he would surely have caught on that the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner was something far greater than he'd imagined.

"The Pavilion Master will not misuse the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner. If we hand it over, he'll attempt to destroy it outright."

"Why would he?"

"Because that is the Dragon Clan's policy."

Seo Seol-ryeong explained calmly.

"The Dragon Clan has no wish to see powerful dharma treasures circulating freely through the world. An ordinary treasure might be overlooked, but a treasure on the level of the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner, they will seek to eliminate without fail."

The Dragon Clan was a race consumed by pride.

They took pride in possessing the greatest strength of any race existing in the Lower Realm.

And so the dragons rarely used dharma treasures or dharma implements at all.

They believed the power welling purely from their own bodies was more than sufficient.

At the same time… they lived in constant vigilance against the possibility that other races might borrow the power of mighty instruments to surpass draconic authority.

"Part of why the Pavilion Master runs Cheonryong Pavilion is to gather intelligence on the goods circulating through Ghost Head City. He investigates what's moving through the market and reports it to the Dragon Clan. And anything they deem dangerous even by draconic standards, he disposes of personally."

"Ah…"

"So the Pavilion Master will want to eliminate the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner as well. It is more than dangerous enough to qualify even by the Dragon Clan's measure."

This was information Cheon Woo-jin already knew.

It had been depicted in the game's storyline.

That said, Oh Hwi-seong didn't go around confiscating and smashing every treasure a player happened to carry.

A treasure dangerous by draconic standards had to be something on the level of an immortal treasure.

Even the Soulpiercing Flamefiend Sword Cheon Woo-jin currently possessed was, by draconic reckoning, nothing remarkable.

The Ghost Spirit Demon Banner, however, drew on the power of the Upper Realm—dangerous even in the eyes of the dragons. Oh Hwi-seong would hardly stand by and let it be.

"But where would we even go to join up with the Pavilion Master—"

"Wait."

At that moment, Cheon Woo-jin spotted something on the ground below.

"Sect Master Wi, I'll be going down and back shortly."

"What? Why on earth—"

"I've found someone. I'll bring them up, so have the vessel ready for me to board again."

"Wait, hold on—!"

Cheon Woo-jin leapt from the flying vessel without waiting for an answer.

Jumping from a vessel in high-speed flight was a dangerous maneuver, but he managed a precarious landing by wrapping himself in his lightning aegis.

Then he moved toward the spot he had spotted moments before.

There, a woman with striking jet-black eyes had been driven into a corner.

"Resist no further!"

"The prize slipped through our fingers, so we'll at least take you as a hostage!"

Demon cultivators of the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect had her surrounded.

The instant Cheon Woo-jin saw them, he stretched out his shadow.

Crack-crack-CRACK!

Black blades surging up from the shadows impaled the demon cultivators, and thorns burst outward from within their bodies, inflicting lethal wounds.

No matter how tenacious the demon race's vitality, they could not withstand the destruction of every organ inside them.

Watching the demon cultivators who had surrounded her collapse one and all, the besieged woman's eyes went wide.

"Adept Hoyeon, are you unharmed?"

"Adept Cheon…!"

She was Hoyeon Rin of Cheonryong Pavilion.

She had ascended to the 6th Layer escorting Oh Hwi-seong, but she seemed to be alone now.

"How are you here—!"

"Explanations later. First—"

Just as Cheon Woo-jin moved to take Hoyeon Rin with him—

With a thunderous boom, something burst up through the ground.

"There you are!"

It was Na Chwi-ryang, the lizard cultivator of the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect.

He should have been impaled by Seo Seol-ryeong's Ice Thunder Eight Nets and plummeted underground—yet he was somehow still alive.

Even the wounds he'd suffered earlier appeared fully healed. His vitality was truly monstrous.

"I memorized your scent! I'm never letting you go!"

BOOM!

Na Chwi-ryang shattered the ground beneath his own feet and came charging with terrifying ferocity.

But Cheon Woo-jin made no response at all.

Na Chwi-ryang was not an opponent he could fell easily.

There was no reason to fight needlessly here.

"Adept Hoyeon, hold on tight."

"What?"

Cheon Woo-jin gripped Hoyeon Rin around the waist and drew upon his lightning aegis.

He soared skyward, wrapped in the aegis.

Directly upward, a vertical line into the sky.

"Huh?"

Na Chwi-ryang tilted his head back, his face a portrait of incomprehension.

Even if Cheon Woo-jin were fleeing, shooting straight up into the heavens made no sense.

And right at that moment, a commotion began sounding from above.

"Ah—!"

KWAA-KWAA-KWAANG!

It was Wi Ju-seon's flying vessel, its bow swung around and racing back toward them.

The vessel flew precisely to the point where Cheon Woo-jin had rocketed upward, and cradling Hoyeon Rin in his arms, he boarded it once more.

"You little—!"

Na Chwi-ryang bellowed from the ground below, but Wi Ju-seon paid him not the slightest heed and gunned the vessel back up to speed.

Na Chwi-ryang had no means of chasing a vessel flying at terminal velocity.

Leaving him behind looking like the dog that lost the chase, the flying vessel kept accelerating… until at last they broke free of Junggyeongjin.

"I'd say we're safe now."

"It would seem so."

After replying to Cheon Woo-jin, Seo Seol-ryeong approached Hoyeon Rin.

"It's been a while, Sister Hoyeon."

"Sister Seo…!"

Hoyeon Rin owed Seo Seol-ryeong a great debt from the past and regarded her as something of a benefactor.

The reason Cheon Woo-jin had been treated so warmly on his first visit to Cheonryong Pavilion was Seo Seol-ryeong's letter of introduction in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first place.

"What on earth is going on? Were you moving together with Adept Cheon?"

"Well… you could say that."

Seo Seol-ryeong deflected the question.

She could hardly confess to Hoyeon Rin that she had tried—and failed—to intercept ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner.

"Adept Hoyeon, the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner is currently in our possession."

"Is— is that really true?"

"Seo Seol-ryeong is keeping it safe as we speak."

When Seo Seol-ryeong drew the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner out of her Universe in the Sleeve to show her, Hoyeon Rin's eyes went round as saucers.

"The Pavilion Master's eye was true after all! Thank goodness we entrusted the job to Adept Cheon, hahaha…!"

Hoyeon Rin pounded Cheon Woo-jin's shoulder again and again as she laughed.

She was genuinely overjoyed.

"Oh, sorry about that."

"No, it's fine."

Rubbing his aching shoulder, Cheon Woo-jin spoke up again.

"Adept Hoyeon, why were you alone in Junggyeongjin? Where has the Pavilion Master gone?"

"Ah, that…"

Hoyeon Rin's expression turned grave once more.

"The Pavilion Master realized the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner was more dangerous than he'd thought, and left to prepare countermeasures. I entered Junggyeongjin to requisition personnel from the local branch, and got caught up in the fighting."

"The Pavilion Master went to prepare countermeasures? Did he leave for another layer?"

"No, nothing like that. The routes down to the 5th Layer and up to the 7th Layer are both sealed off by the three great factions."

Originally, the three factions had been asked to cooperate in preventing Jongri Un from fleeing with the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner.

Now, however, that arrangement had effectively become an encirclement, trapping their side inside the 6th Layer.

"There is an ancient ruin in the Snow Mountain Region. A facility once used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠by the Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace… From what I understand, it was originally a place for producing elixirs."

"A place for producing elixirs?"

"No—precisely speaking, you might call it an execution ground."

Hoyeon Rin's expression turned bitter.

"The Snow Mountain Region is a place where the Water qi of the Five Elements runs strong. Because of that, the power of Closure—the storing and sealing aspect of Water—can be maximized there. It's a facility that uses that power to compress cultivators who committed crimes, condensing them into a single elixir."

Closure meant life force being concentrated and condensed into a single point, like a seed.

The Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace had used that power of Closure to compress criminals into elixirs.

"The exact operating method was never passed down, so elixirs can no longer be made there… but the compression function itself, the power of Closure, still remains."

"Then…"

"We need only place the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner inside that facility and crush it. No matter how magnificent a treasure may be, compressed down to the size of a pill, it cannot help but lose its function."

If Hoyeon Rin spoke the truth, this seemed like the surest method available.

They could eliminate the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner without traveling anywhere far—all within the 6th Layer.

"That facility also houses powerful guardian stone statues left behind by the Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace. The Pavilion Master intended to seize control of them and use them as a fighting force to reclaim the banner."

"Hmm. Then that's where we should head."

Having listened to the whole story, Wi Ju-seon took the helm and swung the vessel around.

"The Snow Mountain Region, was it? Let's fly there at full speed."

"Sect Master Wi, there is one problem."

Seo Seol-ryeong spoke up then.

"The Snow Mountain Region lies within the Ten Thousand Nights Ice Palace's sphere of influence. The Ice Palace may already have noticed the Pavilion Master's movements and moved to respond."

"Yes, that's the problem…"

Hoyeon Rin said, her expression darkening once more.

"But there's no help for it. If the Ice Palace strikes first and secures that ruin—seals it shut—we lose our only means of disposing of the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner. That's why the Pavilion Master intended to secure the ruin first and fortify it."

"Hmmm…"

Amid the women's deliberation, Cheon Woo-jin spoke up.

"Sect Master Wi, there's no need to agonize. Head straight for the Snow Mountain Region."

"But the Ice Palace—"

"Wherever we go on the 6th Layer, all three great factions will come at us regardless. If there's no escaping a fight no matter where we run, then the right move is to charge straight down the path that ends everything fastest."

Even Na Chwi-ryang earlier had sworn he'd memorized Cheon Woo-jin's scent and shown every intention of pursuing them relentlessly.

The other factions would keep coming for them too.

Rather than fending them off one by one, plunging headlong into the Ice Palace's domain was the sounder course.

"There is exactly one thing we need to do right now. Enter that ruin and hand the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner over to the Pavilion Master. He'll see to everything after that."

With that, Cheon Woo-jin turned his gaze to Hoyeon Rin.

"Adept Hoyeon—if we do that, my commission is fulfilled, yes?"

"Ah, w-well, yes, of course."

After all, the whole reason Cheon Woo-jin had been chasing the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner in the first place was the commission he'd accepted from Oh Hwi-seong.

All Cheon Woo-jin had to do was deliver the banner to Oh Hwi-seong and the job would be complete.

"That way you'll receive the promised reward. Master Thunder Spirit's legacy, just as the Pavilion Master pledged—"

"Not enough."

"What?"

"With things blown up to this scale, you think a single legacy from Master Thunder Spirit is sufficient payment?"

"……!"

Hoyeon Rin's eyes went wide.

Leaving her gaping, Cheon Woo-jin turned to Seo Seol-ryeong.

"Seo Seol-ryeong, am I wrong?"

"You are not."

Seo Seol-ryeong nodded.

"Had I brokered this myself, I would never let a matter like this slide. Additional compensation must be extracted."

"In that case—"

Hearing her answer, Cheon Woo-jin spoke in a cool, level voice.

"May I delegate the negotiation to you?"

"Leave it to me, and I'll squeeze out every last drop of compensation they can give."

"Then I leave it in your hands."

At the exchange between Cheon Woo-jin and Seo Seol-ryeong, Hoyeon Rin blinked in sheer disbelief.

"How are you two so perfectly in sync?"

Wi Ju-seon nodded, clearly of the same mind.