Chapter 360
Chapter 360
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 95
>Chapter Title: Treasure Pearl (1)
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Grotesque monsters burst out from the ravine floor.
They resembled giant earthworms, but what set them apart was the head-like end: dozens of black eyes surrounding a round maw lined with countless sharp teeth, too many to count.
-Boom! Kwakwakwakwa!
Though worm-like in form, their girth far exceeded a man's torso, and their length stretched from six to eight zhang at least.
Moreover, these monsters weren't solitary.
Dozens of them swarmed.
'What in the world?'
Mok Kyung-un frowned as Cheongryeong's voice rang in his ear.
-Earth Dragon.
"Earth Dragon?"
Earth Dragon was another name for earthworm.
His grandfather, who handled herbs, had called them that too.
Of course, that wasn't the point right now.
"They don't seem to have strong demonic power."
"Even so, they're on the level of monstrous beasts. Most evil spirits are like that, but I heard Earth Dragons hate light and live deep underground."
"This ravine is so deep, barely any light gets in. Perfect spot for them."
"True enough. But look at them thrashing around. It's got to be because of that thing you're holding? Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
At her words, Mok Kyung-un glanced at the treasure pearl.
'!?'
He could see why Cheongryeong reacted that way.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the glowing treasure pearl.
'Gold?'
Now that he looked, its light had dimmed considerably.
The cracks were visible because of it.
'Ah...'
He realized the cause.
A faint sword mark scarred the pearl.
He'd been careful during his clash with the Blade Guest to keep his energy from touching it, but some must have slipped through.
Mok Kyung-un eyed the pearl with concern.
If it shattered now, the whole trip would be for nothing.
'For now...'
-Kuwaaaaa!
Right then.
The Earth Dragons erupting from the ground surged upward with roars.
Over a dozen lunged at once, targeting none other than—
"Me?"
Two or three went for the Blade Guest, but most of the horde aimed straight for Mok Kyung-un.
Their roars sounded furious.
'So they don't just dislike it—they loathe it.'
They truly hated the light.
No, they despised it utterly.
The pearl's glow had them desperate to snuff it out, glaring at him in unison.
-Woooong!
Mok Kyung-un summoned his demonic energy, unleashing black sword aura.
Monstrous beasts like these—even in numbers—were no match for him anymore.
Sword aura flared, and he drew his blade, aiming at the oncoming Earth Dragons.
Right then.
-Whoosh!
Scorching heat erupted alongside massive flames.
Puzzled, he looked over to see the Blade Guest engulfed head to toe in roaring fire.
'His body wrapped in flames?'
What sorcery was this?
As he wondered, the Blade Guest shouted for Mok Kyung-un to hear.
"Behold, Heavenly Demon. This is my true power!"
With that cry, the Blade Guest unleashed a flame-wreathed ultimate technique against the charging Earth Dragons.
'Fourth Form: Blade Apex Wave—Fire!'
-Whoosh! Shwashwashwashwa!
Flame-infused blade aura crashed over them like a tidal wave.
To the Earth Dragons, fire was their ultimate bane.
The blazing blade aura shredded their bodies relentlessly, incinerating them amid grotesque screams.
-Kekekekekeke!
The sheer force of the fire-laced blade strike overwhelmed them helplessly.
But then, something unexpected happened.
-Kwooooo!
-Kwakwakwakwa!
The horde fixated on Mok Kyung-un due to the pearl's light suddenly wheeled toward the Blade Guest en masse.
Even those still on the ground leaped up.
'No way!?'
This wasn't intentional.
Yet the blazing flames emitted a light even brighter than the pearl—more than enough to provoke them.
A couple he could handle easily, but this writhing wave of Earth Dragons overwhelmed even the Blade Guest.
-Papapapapapak!
'Damn!'
Individually, they weren't tough evil spirits.
But their numbers, entwining and surging with immense force and momentum—it was staggering.
The Blade Guest, swinging his flame aura, couldn't withstand the onslaught and was swept up in the Earth Dragon swarm.
-Pak!
Mok Kyung-un, sword embedded in the wall, dangled and watched with a smirk.
If he hadn't gone all out with fire energy, this wouldn't have happened. What rotten luck.
Self-inflicted bind.
Mok Kyung-un looked down.
The ravine's bottom—the ground—was visible.
No point hanging on the cliff forever. Time to descend.
He yanked his sword free and leaped downward.
Just twenty-some zhang. He adjusted air resistance with qi and floated down gently.
-Tak!
He landed.
As he touched ground, the earth writhed, revealing the remaining Earth Dragons.
Most had swarmed the Blade Guest; these few were juveniles, not fully grown.
Mok Kyung-un summoned aura to finish them.
-Kuwaaaaa!
Even immature, they dwarfed humans in size and length—still plenty threatening.
The Earth Dragons roared and charged.
But as they neared, they shuddered violently.
Mok Kyung-un's eyes gleamed, gauging the distance.
Why the sudden change?
Puzzled, he watched them crouch low and slink backward across the ground.
'What?'
"They're afraid."
"Afraid?"
"...Don't you know why?"
At Cheongryeong's words, Mok Kyung-un drew the ornament from his belt.
The retreating Earth Dragons flinched harder, abandoning caution to whip around and burrow underground.
-Kwarrr!
Watching them flee, Mok Kyung-un eyed the ornament.
It was made from fur of the severed tail of the White-Faced King's golden-furred nine-tailed fox.
She'd said it would ward off most evil spirits—and it wasn't empty talk.
The demon beast egg trapped in Shaolin's Anti-Demon Cave had high rank and intelligence, fearing the fox spirit's power yet scheming to use it.
But these Earth Dragons, low-rank beasts, seemed purely instinct-driven.
"Useful enough."
"Well... yes."
As they vanished underground, Mok Kyung-un sheathed his demon sword, Wicked Instant.
-Ching!
Cheongryeong spoke to him.
"How did you slip into the trance state earlier? The pearl?"
He pulled the severed hand of Gu Ung-seong—impaled on his Fear Murder—from his belt.
The hand clutched the cracked pearl.
One wrong touch, and it'd shatter.
"No idea. Suddenly dropped into the heart realm state."
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah."
"Strange. You're no 'chosen one' like that old hag or girl said. How'd you enter trance? What did you see?"
"Yeah."
"What?"
"...A possible future."
"A possible future? You mean a prophecy—or events yet to come?"
"Who knows. It's just one that might happen."
"What happened in it?"
She asked curiously.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged.
"Who knows. Wasn't what I wanted to see, and too far off to be useful."
"Not useful?"
"Yeah... not entirely, though."
He couldn't forget that final scene.
It brought near-ecstatic shock.
Seeing that one thing was enough.
Cheongryeong spoke.
"I don't know how you saw those, but to see what you truly want, you probably need that girl's power."
"True, but..."
The pearl's state was poor.
Cracks everywhere—one touch might break it.
Even the radiant energy leaking out was fading.
It seemed on the verge of losing its power as an artifact.
"For now, hide it. No—I'll manifest and take it up the cliff."
"You, Cheongryeong?"
"Yes. Look at the Earth Dragons. How long can they last?"
-Kugugugugu!
Red fire energy leaked from the tangled monstrous Earth Dragons.
Numbers overwhelmed him, but the Blade Guest would break free soon.
"I don't know that monster's identity, but he seems to have absorbed the essence of spirit beasts."
"Spirit beasts?"
Mok Kyung-un recalled Blood Saint Dan Baek-ha of the Blood Ghost Sect and the Mountain-Sea Strange Beasts Record.
Unlike evil spirits born from yin energy, spirit beasts formed from natural qi and pure spirit power.
Dragons—the holiest beings—were prime examples.
"Ah!"
"What?"
"...That's him."
"Him?"
"The peerless master who appeared on the great calamity day, wielding strange blade arts."
Blood Saint Dan Baek-ha had faced a rampaging spirit dragon ghost, only for a mysterious blade expert to finish the weakened beast and claim its essence.
She'd gained eternal youth and thunder energy from just a sip of its blood.
"I see. Could be the one that woman mentioned."
Thunder energy, insane regeneration.
No ordinary human powers.
He'd definitely absorbed the dragon ghost's essence.
Maybe more than one.
"Besides thunder, he wields fire energy. Probably took a fire spirit beast's essence too. A fire qilin, most like."
Fire Qilin.
Another legendary spirit beast.
Born in molten lava, incarnation of flame.
Come to think of it, Six Thousand Tiger So Ye-rin said a fire qilin appeared in Geumung's imperial capital on calamity day, turning it to ash.
'How many essences has he swallowed?'
Long-lived, glimpsed possible futures via the pearl—still a mystery.
-Kwajik! Whoosh!
Flames erupted from the Earth Dragons as someone leaped out.
The Blade Guest.
Thought he'd fall soon, but he'd escaped.
-Kwaduk!
Then Cheongryeong shattered the wooden doll and manifested.
Out after so long, she reached for Mok Kyung-un.
"Soon now. Fight with that, and it'll break for sure. Give it here."
"Guess so."
Agreeing, he extracted the severed wrist from Fear Murder, carefully prying open the fingers to retrieve the pearl.
The moment his hand touched the cracked treasure pearl—
* * *
'!?'
Mok Kyung-un frowned.
The world turned to nothingness again.
In an instant, trance pulled him into the heart realm world.
'No time for this.'
He focused to escape the trance.
But then, something bizarre unfolded before him.
-Whoosh!
Black flames ignited in the empty space.
Not crimson or scarlet—pure black flames. What phenomenon was this?
As he marveled, the black flames began swirling.
-Whirrrrr!
The vortex drew the flames inward, gathering to one point.
Soon, the coalesced black flames took form—a human shape.
Mok Kyung-un's eyes widened.
It looked just like him.
'...What now?'
Why his own image?
Puzzled, the black flame-born duplicate strode forward.
'What?'
No mere illusion?
Unlike the prior heart realm, this entity—identical to him, born of black flame—seemed aware of him.
Then it spoke.
"That's the result of the choice."
'...Talking to me?'
"Who else?"
At those words, wariness flashed in Mok Kyung-un's eyes.
Not a simple vision—it recognized and addressed him.
The duplicate smirked.
"Fascinating. Can't change the outcome, but for something so desired, quite incomplete. Or is it because you became an incomplete being?"
'...What are you talking about?'
"Your choice—no, our choice."
"'Our'?"
His mind reeled at the entity's words.
Couldn't make sense of it.
"'Our'? What do you mean?"
It approached as it replied.
"Who knows. Ask your sealed self that."
"'Sealed self'?"
"Yes. Sealing yourself was your own choice. Not my place to interfere."
"You keep going on about choices—what are you saying? If you know something, explain properly!"
"Even sealed, you're still me. I could answer, but no time."
"What?"
"Cracks are spreading fast. Fragments will vanish soon."
'!?'
Fragments—the pearl?
It closed in.
"Hurry. Nearly half the energy's already lost to cracks."
"What in the..."
-Tak!
It reached toward him.
Mok Kyung-un tried dodging, but something bound him immobile.
Before he could react, it pressed its palm to his chest center.
-Whoosh!!
His double erupted in black flames.
What was it doing?
It smiled faintly, voice profound.
"I am a fragment of the core. Merely one piece of you."