Demonic Qi (4)
The rift in spacetime snapped shut almost as soon as it had opened.
The grotesque tentacles were gone. The wavelengths that had been pouring out vanished without a trace.
But the bone-deep dread of meeting those golden eyes was not so easily forgotten.
That was not an auspicious connection to make.
Eokhae Majon, a transcendent being of the Upper Realm, had observed Cheon Woo-jin and departed.
Given that he'd spoken as though he expected to meet again, he had apparently taken a liking to Cheon Woo-jin.
That was hardly welcome news.
Attracting the attention of a powerful being was dangerous. For those like Baek Gang-ryeon, who hoped to lean on such an existence and siphon its strength, it might be a golden opportunity — but Cheon Woo-jin was the sort of man who avoided, above all else, any situation he could not control.
The one consolation was that Eokhae Majon seemed to have no intention of directly interfering with Cheon Woo-jin down here in the Lower Realm.
So long as he did not deliberately insert himself into the Demon Venerable's affairs, he would be free of the being's interference for as long as he remained below.
Once I ascend to the Upper Realm, though, it will be another matter entirely.
His gaze drifted to the altar — and the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner was gone. In the spot where it had rested, only a handful of pitch-black powder lay scattered.
It was hardly the kind of Dharma treasure meant for a single use. Had Baek Gang-ryeon fumbled something during the ritual? Or perhaps, with Baek Gang-ryeon dying partway through, the facility had discharged its proper function after all — compressing and destroying the banner.
"Mmgh…"
At that moment, the fallen Seo Seol-ryeong and Oh Hwi-seong stirred back to consciousness. The two glanced around in bewilderment.
"What just happened here?"
"Where did Baek Gang-ryeon go?"
To the two of them, still grasping for the situation, Cheon Woo-jin gave a brief account.
"Baek Gang-ryeon failed to claim the Upper Realm's power and was annihilated, Nascent Soul and all. The Ghost Spirit Demon Banner crumbled to dust as well."
"…!"
Seo Seol-ryeong drew in a sharp breath, and Oh Hwi-seong's eyes went wide.
"Is — is that really true? Ah, now that you mention it, that lump of flesh rolling around over there must be the Thousand-Year Snow Leopard…"
"It was indeed an object with a high chance of failure, as it turns out. For even Baek Gang-ryeon to fail and be erased down to his Nascent Soul…"
Seo Seol-ryeong, who had been surveying their surroundings, flinched and turned her head toward Cheon Woo-jin.
"Hold on a moment, Master Cheon."
"What is it?"
"What exactly happened to you?"
Blindfolded, she nevertheless fixed her face squarely on Cheon Woo-jin and pressed the question.
"Your spiritual presence… it's changed from before."
"What?"
Oh Hwi-seong too looked at Cheon Woo-jin in surprise.
"Ah… now that she mentions it."
"Don't tell me you absorbed the Upper Realm's power? In Baek Gang-ryeon's stead?"
At that question, Cheon Woo-jin shook his head.
"It was power that Baek Gang-ryeon, a Late Nascent Soul cultivator, had summoned. Had I swallowed the whole of it, my body would have burst apart."
"That's certainly true, but…"
"It remains a fact that a portion of it affected my body. Thanks to that, it seems I've grown further, even as a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
Saying so, Cheon Woo-jin directed his gaze at the remains of the Thousand-Year Snow Leopard sprawled across the floor.
"Careless, and that could have been me. I was fortunate."
"…"
Seo Seol-ryeong sealed her lips and sank into thought.
Oh Hwi-seong, meanwhile, studied Cheon Woo-jin with a faint smile.
"Had Master Cheon taken the Upper Realm's power for himself through the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner, I could not have simply let the matter pass. But from the look of things, that was not the case. It seems you have merely grown as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, your body stepping into its next stage."
"…"
Perhaps because it was tucked away so carefully within his dantian.
Oh Hwi-seong failed to discern that Cheon Woo-jin had absorbed the demonic qi and stored it inside himself.
"With the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner destroyed as well, thanks to Master Cheon this matter has been brought to a tidy—"
Mid-sentence, Oh Hwi-seong flinched.
"Wait. This is, I believe…"
"We should go outside."
Seo Seol-ryeong's expression had turned grave.
Together the three of them emerged from the ruins — and found a scene entirely transformed from before.
"Just as I thought. The other factions have moved as well."
"…"
Outside, legions gathered for an all-out battle were drawn up in formation.
To the right, the sword cultivators of Byeokpung Valley painted the field in blue. To the left, the demon cultivators of the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect — Na Chwi-ryang at their fore — stood in ordered ranks.
Through the movements of Manyabinggung, they had caught wind that the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner was here, and come swarming in droves.
"Master Cheon. Look to the sky."
"…"
Above each faction's ranks stood two elders, hands clasped behind their backs.
One was a Daoist in blue robes with a flowing white beard; the other was a demon beast who hid a serpent's face beneath a grey hood.
Elders of the Late Nascent Soul realm. The two beings who reigned above Byeokpung Valley and the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect had revealed themselves.
They had hardly come all this way simply to join a fight. Most likely, they had sensed Baek Gang-ryeon dropping his mask and preparing to commit an atrocity, and arrived in response.
"Fascinating. Truly fascinating."
"We ought to have come a little sooner. It seems we've missed quite a few entertaining parts."
Both elders had fixed their gazes on Cheon Woo-jin.
They had discerned that it was Cheon Woo-jin who had resolved this entire affair.
Yet neither made any particular move. As if everything had already concluded and there was nothing left to see, they simply turned to leave.
"I will remember you. We will meet again."
"Come visit the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect sometime. We'll treat you well."
With those parting words, the two elders vanished — and the cultivators of Byeokpung Valley and the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect began to withdraw as well.
Watching their retreating backs as they pulled away empty-handed, Oh Hwi-seong let out a sigh of relief.
"Had the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner's destruction come even a little later, they would have stormed into these ruins and thrown everything into chaos. A genuine stroke of fortune."
Oh Hwi-seong looked at Cheon Woo-jin and smiled.
"It seems everything worked out so smoothly thanks to you, Master Cheon."
"I never so much as touched the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner. It destroyed itself, that's all."
"Still, it was the outcome of your handling Baek Gang-ryeon so skillfully, was it not?"
"…"
"I won't press you for the particulars of what methods you used. But the fact remains that this affair was settled so cleanly because of you."
Hearing those words, Cheon Woo-jin answered in an even, matter-of-fact tone.
"Then kindly see that my compensation is settled accordingly. And made substantial."
"Ah, well…"
Oh Hwi-seong scratched the back of his head, looking somewhat troubled.
"Have no worry on that count. This affair must be reported to those above me regardless, so I can offer remuneration beyond my own authority."
"That is good to hear."
"In exchange, you must accept that your existence may become known to the Dragon Clan. My apologies in advance on that point."
The Dragon Clan's attention.
He had anticipated as much from the moment he first made contact with Oh Hwi-seong. So it weighed on him little — but he kept that to himself as he spoke.
"Then I shall set my fee with that in mind as well. Proceed with the negotiations accordingly."
He said this while glancing toward Seo Seol-ryeong, who would handle the bargaining — and Oh Hwi-seong shook his head helplessly, as if he could hardly keep up.
And so the affair surrounding the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner drew to a close.
What had begun as a seemingly simple auction theft had, as its full scope came to light, erupted into an upheaval that shook the entire 6th Layer and drew the faces of even the Nascent Soul elders.
In the end, though, the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner was utterly destroyed — reduced to powder — and each faction slunk away like dogs chasing a chicken that had long since escaped.
Byeokpung Valley and the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect got off with only minor losses in personnel, but Manyabinggung suffered a catastrophic blow.
Its Palace Lord, Baek Shin-yeong, was dead — and the former Palace Lord, Baek Gang-ryeon, who had been hiding in plain sight all along, had been annihilated as well.
Left as it was, the palace would surely surrender its seat among the 6th Layer's three great factions to the Corpse Ghost Extreme Jade Gate.
"From here on, Manyabinggung will be busy electing a new Palace Lord and rebuilding their sect. I doubt they'll have any leisure to trouble us."
"I see."
Rattle, rattle.
Inside the shop, still deep in the midst of its arrangement, Cheon Woo-jin answered in a listless voice.
The place where Cheon Woo-jin now stood was the shop Seo Seol-ryeong had decided to open anew on the 6th Floor of Junggyeongjin.
Having closed up her shop on the 2nd Layer, she had seized this opportunity to establish a new one on the 6th.
Even in the game there had been an event where the shop relocated to the 6th Layer. The circumstances differed, but the same thing had come to pass all the same.
"By the way, Byeokpung Valley and the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect both seem quite interested in you, Master Cheon."
"In me?"
"Not only them. The entire 6th Layer has its eyes on you at present."
Seo Seol-ryeong spoke as she tidied the items on the cabinet into neat rows.
"You slew Jongri Un of the Jongri Clan. You demonstrated your skill against cultivators of every faction in the middle of Junggyeongjin's thoroughfare. And on top of that, you brought down Baek Shin-yeong, the Palace Lord of Manyabinggung."
"Hm…"
"There is a great deal of speculation circulating about Baek Gang-ryeon's death and the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner's destruction as well."
It had clearly been Baek Gang-ryeon who last possessed the banner — yet in the end he was dead, and the banner had vanished with him. It was only natural that people's imaginations would run wild.
"Some are even saying your true identity is Soul Formation, and that you reduced Baek Gang-ryeon and the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner to dust in a single stroke."
"Now that's an absurd rumor."
"Is it? I should think people would find the truth far more absurd."
Seo Seol-ryeong had noticed that Cheon Woo-jin had resolved this affair by some means of his own.
She simply never pried into the details.
Whenever there was something Cheon Woo-jin did not wish to speak of, Seo Seol-ryeong invariably let it pass without pressing. That respect for boundaries was one of her virtues — one of the reasons he worked alongside her.
"In any case, it's a favorable development."
"Is it?"
"Your price will only climb higher."
"…"
Her attitude was no different from the days on the 2nd Layer.
Watching her back as she worked, Cheon Woo-jin recalled that there was something he'd meant to ask.
"Now that you mention it."
"Yes?"
"I hear Baek Shin-yeong had been persistently courting you."
At those words, Seo Seol-ryeong's hands went still.
"And where did you hear that?"
"Baek Shin-yeong himself told me."
"What a man with no sense of shame… truly."
Her voice was thick with displeasure.
"Joined in dual cultivation with Baek Shin-yeong — a man of similar nature to your own — you could have gained great power as well."
"I have no need of it. What I seek is not mere power."
"…"
What was it, then, that Seo Seol-ryeong sought?
This time, she had moved to seize the Ghost Spirit Demon Banner in pursuit of her own purpose. Had Cheon Woo-jin not returned alive, she might well have used it.
What transcendent being had she meant to summon — and what power had she intended to claim?
And… what had she hoped for from Cheon Woo-jin?
There will be a time when I can ask.
Just as Seo Seol-ryeong honored him, Cheon Woo-jin intended to honor her in turn. There was no need to demand answers now; when the moment came, he would know.
With that thought, he changed the subject.
"By the way, what kind of shop is this supposed to be?"
Seo Seol-ryeong's true trade was matchmaking — an ahang broker.
On the 2nd Layer, however, she had disguised it as a fortune-telling stall tucked in a corner of the market. He wondered what front she would adopt this time.
"Well. I haven't decided yet."
"…"
Cheon Woo-jin was struck speechless, staring at her back.
She was arranging the interior without even having decided that?
"What do you think would be good?"
"Why would you ask me that…"
He was sinking into deliberation before Seo Seol-ryeong, who had asked back with perfect composure, when a thunderous clatter of footsteps sounded from outside.
"Sniff, sniff — now what is that smell?!"
CRASH — CRUNCH!
Na Chwi-ryang, the lizard demon cultivator of the Yin Scale Spirit Needle Sect, shoved his face in through the shop's freshly shattered door.