Chapter 414
Chapter 414
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 109
>Chapter Title: Numbers Battle (1)
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I should have realized it when that damned song lyric flipped everything upside down.
The eerie sense of déjà vu, the nausea churning in my gut.
I should have known that was the harbinger of poison seeping into my own body.
Mok Kyung-un had inscribed protective spells on me to ward off the shamans' sorcery, so I figured nothing major could happen.
But then—
Whoosh!
The inscribed lyrics of the Anti-Demon Incantation Scripture ignited under the chant.
“Gahhh!”
Go Chan, who had taken the full brunt of the scripture's power with his bare hands, reeled back.
Splat!
Clutching the burning lyrics, Go Chan was hurled straight out of Jang Neung-ak's body, teetering on the brink of enlightenment from the scripture's majestic force.
Ahhh.
For some reason, it felt warm.
It was like being pulled into some unknowable void.
Was this release from everything at last?
That was the moment.
Thwack!
Someone urgently seized his soul.
It was the defiant monk and Subduing Demon Fist Master, Ja Geum-jeong.
“I thought something was off about you from the first glance. Turns out you're a stray ghost. No wonder—no one's normal around that master of yours. Heh heh.”
Let go. I want peace now.
“Oh ho. Is that so? Planning to achieve enlightenment right here?”
Enlightenment?
“Yeah, you fool. If you go like this, enlightenment means a one-way trip to the afterlife.”
!?
In an instant, Go Chan's mind snapped alert.
The moment the Anti-Demon Incantation Scripture's energy enveloped him, he'd been lost in its cozy, ecstatic bliss—but it was all the process of leaving this world behind.
“Urk! D-Damned monk! Hold me tight!”
“I've got you. But where does a stray ghost like you get off calling me 'monk' this and 'monk' that?”
“You're the reason I'm in this mess, you damned monk!”
“...Hrm. Fair point, but I'll pass on hearing 'monk' from the likes of you.”
What right do you have to—
Whoosh!
Amid their bickering, Mok Kyung-un's subordinates arrived, rallying the survivors and reforming the lines: Dark Clan Leader Hwan Ya-seon, Breaking Axe King Ho Tae-gang, Island Poison King Baek Sa-ha, and others.
Hwan Ya-seon approached with a smile.
“Oh ho ho. Well done, Young Master Jang. Thanks to you, we reformed our lines before the casualties mounted further... Huh? Young Master Jang?”
She couldn't hide her shock at the sight of Jang Neung-ak's body—arms charred black, eyes rolled back, tongue lolling out.
Ahem.
Ja Geum-jeong nodded urgently at Go Chan to possess him quickly.
Go Chan tried to rush back into Jang Neung-ak's body, but—
Sizzle!
“Gyaaah!”
The lingering energy of the Anti-Demon Incantation Scripture in the body struck him like lightning the instant he entered, flinging him out in agony.
Once more, as majestic light threatened to send him to enlightenment, Ja Geum-jeong smacked his lips and yanked him back.
“Tch. No dice, huh.”
“Aaaargh! You damned monk! What the hell do we do now!?”
It was the perfect body he'd struggled so hard to claim.
He'd been poised to live luxuriously as Mok Kyung-un's right-hand man, only for it to become an unusable husk.
“Bodies are everywhere. Just hop into any.”
“You call that advice!? You...!”
Furious at Ja Geum-jeong's flippant remark, Go Chan unleashed every curse he knew.
The “bodies everywhere” were all either dying from grievous wounds or ice-cold corpses.
As they squabbled, Breaking Axe King Ho Tae-gang hoisted his signature massive axe and bellowed.
“Those before us are no longer allies! Sweep away every last one of these freaks!”
“Waaaaah!”
His rallying cry ignited the morale of Ho Tae-gang's reformed followers. They charged with fierce roars toward the eye monsters in the snow—still blinded by the scripture's aftershocks, unable to open their eyes properly.
Island Poison King Baek Sa-ha wasn't about to be outdone. He shouted to his Baek Clan warriors.
“Show them the Baek Clan's poison prowess!”
“Waaaaah!”
The Baek Clan warriors roared at their patriarch's command and surged toward the enemy.
This is where new history is written. To uphold my disciple's prestige, I must outdo all others in merit and display the Baek Clan's dignity in full.
Amid the chaos, Baek Sa-ha spotted the Blood River Valley warriors being led by deputies without their captain.
Where was Blood River Valley Lord Lee Ji-yeom?
No?
Lee Ji-yeom had somehow drawn near the clash between Mok Kyung-un and Na Yul-ryang.
The shockwaves from these pinnacle martial artists of the present age kept allies and foes alike at bay—why head there?
Was she trying to aid Kyung-un?
Baek Sa-ha's guess was wrong.
Lee Ji-yeom had braved the danger for one reason alone:
For her, the true liege she'd served across generations.
“My liege!”
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted from Lee Ji-yeom's sword, slicing through the freaks in unstoppable fashion.
The blazing sword aura, infused with fiery qi, and Lee Ji-yeom's overwhelming presence cowed the freaks, making them hesitate to charge.
Piercing through them, Lee Ji-yeom landed before Cheong-ryeong—who had touched down on the ground after expending vast spirit energy unleashing the Public Resonance Stance of the Eight Destroyer Forms while battling Na Yul-ryang.
This one?
Cheong-ryeong's eyes gleamed as Lee Ji-yeom, granddaughter of Lee Hwa-mun—the former head who had followed her—appeared.
She was already strained from massive spirit energy drain, with no time to recover before the freaks swarmed.
Fwoosh!
Slash!
“Gurk!”
The oni-masked Lee Ji-yeom bisected a captain-rank freak lunging at her in one stroke, then stood guard before Cheong-ryeong and bellowed thunderously.
“Anyone who targets my liege will burn under this Lee Ji-yeom's blade!”
Flinch! Flinch!
Her aura rivaled Zhang Yi-de standing alone before the bridge against a cavalry charge.
The weakened Cheong-ryeong-targeting freaks recoiled instinctively from Lee Ji-yeom's tiger-like valor, stepping back without realizing.
Watching Lee Ji-yeom's back, Cheong-ryeong recalled the young Lee Hwa-mun.
[I shall guard my liege's back.]
Even that voice, faded over a century, resurfaced—reddening Cheong-ryeong's eyes.
That pup from the Lee Clan...
Loyalty spanning generations.
It stirred even her vengeful spirit.
Mok Kyung-un, observing from above amid his fight with Na Yul-ryang, felt relieved.
He'd planned to handle the freaks targeting the spirit-exhausted Cheong-ryeong with branch-slicing sword qi, but Lee Ji-yeom had it covered.
[No matter how strong you become, you can't do everything alone. Surround yourself with those you trust, my child. They will support your back.]
The words hadn't fully resonated before.
But now, he understood.
I see.
With his subordinates handling their roles, he could focus elsewhere.
No distractions.
I'll kill you with ease.
Clang-clang-clang!
Their evenly matched fierce swordplay sharpened even further, stroke by stroke.
As Mok Kyung-un's precision in forms and aura intensified, Na Yul-ryang scoffed and spoke.
“Your focus has sharpened. Thanks to your subordinates, you can devote yourself fully to me now? You seemed too sharp to keep anyone close—like you'd cut down anyone who approached—yet you command real loyalty, it seems.”
His praise dripped with mockery.
Mok Kyung-un ignored it entirely.
He poured all his concentration into spotting flaws in the enemy's sword forms.
Clang-clang-clang!
Yet Na Yul-ryang—or rather, the Third Demon Eyes Mok Gan possessing his body—wielded swordsmanship surpassing all Mok Kyung-un had faced, rivaling the pinnacle.
Even Gu Cheon-mu, Extreme Spirit Sword Master of Spirit Sword Manor, Seventh Heaven member and self-proclaimed sword apex, paled in comparison. It was near-perfect.
“Sharpening your aura with focus won't bridge the gap between you and me in an instant. My sword, forged in countless despairs, yields to no one now. And you think this is all I've prepared?”
“What?”
“Hell begins now.”
Boom-boom-boom!
No sooner had he spoken than it happened.
From the southeast of the main compound's inner fortress, a horde numbering around three thousand surged in at breakneck speed.
Mok Kyung-un focused his gaze, and their forms sharpened as if up close.
But they were...
What?
No ordinary humans.
Pale faces plastered with talismans, razor claws—moving like animated corpses.
Having pored over spells and tomes, Mok Kyung-un recognized them instantly.
Jiangshi?
Jiangshi.
A spell derived from Taoists animating war dead to return them home—forcing soulless bodies to rise, feral as beasts, steeped in yin energy, preying on the living if unchecked.
Hence, Taoists controlled them with talismans.
So that's it.
Mok Kyung-un had read every book and record from the Original Killing Hall Lord.
He knew the Blood River Valley wasn't just about lone vengeful spirits.
Countless late entrants and young talents died failing trials there.
The shamans had steadily gathered the relatively intact corpses.
And turned them into these jiangshi.
Ordinary folk or orthodox sects would tsk at the immorality, gasp in horror, condemn it.
But Mok Kyung-un's thinking strayed far from the ordinary.
Repurposing dead talents seemed quite rational. After taking over the Original Killing Hall, he'd planned to use them.
Yet...
They beat me to it.
Pity he couldn't now.
Or perhaps Third Demon Eyes had long prepared this via the shamanic Original Killing Hall for exactly such a moment.
To swallow Heavenly Demon Society anytime.
Spotters on the pavilions and high ground cried out in alarm.
“U-Unknown freaks swarming from the southeast!”
“Too many enemies!”
One of the rallying subordinates shouted back.
“How many?”
“At least two to three thousand!”
!!!!!!
This...
The leaders' faces darkened.
They'd just escaped melee chaos, reformed lines, held numerical and elite superiority—morale high.
But enemies from the southeast would sandwich them.
And it didn't end there.
Boom! Slash-slash!
“Gah!”
“Argh!”
A figure appeared in the heart of the followers at lightning speed, launching a ruthless slaughter.
So powerful no one could match it—bodies tore and burst, lives snuffed out in droves.
From his aerial perch, Mok Kyung-un spotted it.
A woman?
A peerless beauty with half-white, half-black hair.
Her prowess defied imagination. Each gesture exploded warriors into pandemonium.
Seeing her massacre allies, Breaking Axe King Ho Tae-gang and Ja Geum-jeong—who'd sensed ill omens since her arrival—launched themselves simultaneously.
Whoosh!
The two elites arrived near-simultaneously, unleashing ultimate strikes.
Clang-clang-clang!
Bam-bam-bam!
Incredibly, the half-silver beauty effortlessly blocked Breaking Axe King Ho Tae-gang's Flower Realm mastery and Ja Geum-jeong's near-Flower Realm supreme ability.
She even pierced their forms, forcing them back.
Splash!
Crash!
Ho Tae-gang and Ja Geum-jeong tumbled, faces ashen.
Just one exchange, but instinct told them:
This peerless beauty was near or at Manifest Realm monstrosity.
“Where'd this unheard-of thing come from? Cough... cough.”
“Damnable fox witch—insanely strong.”
They rose, but wounded internally from a single blow.
Her dominance over top allies tanked nearby followers' morale.
The half-silver peerless beauty—no, Secret Realm's First Realm, Chun-chu—waved a bloodied hand at Mok Kyung-un with a seductive smile.
“I missed you then, but we meet now. Heavenly Demon.”
Mok Kyung-un narrowed his eyes at her.
With all pupil power unleashed, he saw her perilous, vast aura—not true qi, but demonic charm.
Among those here, only he could face her solo.
“Heh heh heh, see now? You can't beat me in force or numbers.”
“...”
“By the time you die by my hand, all who follow you will be cold corpses.”
First Realm Chun-chu matched the Seventh Heavens' grandmasters.
Her advent and the jiangshi had flipped the battle.
Na Yul-ryang—no, Third Demon Eyes in his body—smiled triumphantly.
Yet...
Laughing?
With the tide turned, Mok Kyung-un laughed.
“You grasp the situation now...”
“Funny how you think numbers battles are solo.”
“What?”
The retort came as he felt odd sorcery.
Third Demon Eyes' forehead eye reacted, gaze shifting there.
Before the main hall.
A bob-haired cute girl stood with a massive brush.
Intense sorcery emanated from it—a ritual tool, likely.
She was Yeo Su-rin, disciple of Sea Immortal Pavilion Master.
“Open!”
Mok Kyung-un shouted to her.
As if waiting, Yeo Su-rin swung the brush, drawing a vast circle.
Crimson clouds billowed; space rippled.
Woooom!
From the warp emerged a figure and hordes of swordsmen.
The extraordinary elder at the fore stunned onlookers.
“G-Gu Cheon-mu?”
He was Seventh Heavens' pinnacle, Extreme Spirit Sword Master Gu Cheon-mu of Spirit Sword Manor.
[Chapter 109: Numbers Battle (1)] End