Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village
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I sat there motionless for an hour, lost in thought. The standoff in the hall remained unchanged, but to me it was simply more time to think. I wrestled with what the right move was in this situation.
'This isn't something that comes around easily.'
I knew it on instinct. No matter how many times I reincarnated, Lee Gwang wouldn't easily turn the Thunder God School disciples against Vice Leader Mang Liang. This was the result of too many factors aligning.
Which meant passively observing wouldn't benefit me. The risks for the future outweighed any observational gains. What I needed to do now was find a path that helped everyone as much as possible. Only I, the reincarnator, could manage that.
I quietly called out to Geuk Ho.
"Senior Brother Geuk Ho."
"What?"
"By now, Master and Senior Brother Jin So-cheong should be near the demon beast."
"Well... yeah. Even with the army blocking them, no one can stop those two..."
Ta-at!
In a flash, I drew my sword and lunged at Geuk Ho. He was the linchpin of the Thunder God School's encirclement—a peak expert—so taking him down first was key. Despite the total surprise, Geuk Ho reacted nimbly, twirling his spearhead to parry my Manseung Sword Art's Quick Form.
Kakang!
Yun Gwang and Ji Hyeon reacted a beat slower. As they fumbled to swing their spear blades in panic, Geuk Ho bellowed.
"Kill the Vice Leader of the Half Heaven Alliance!"
Geuk Ho had instantly grasped that a straight fight was off the table now that I'd attacked. Following the emergency order to eliminate Mang Liang, he barked the command. But I surged in right then, channeling fierce inner energy into Thunder Cloud Soft Fist to seal Yun Gwang and Ji Hyeon's acupoints in a heartbeat.
Thud.
Yun Gwang and Ji Hyeon went limp all over and crumpled. Geuk Ho's face twisted. As his spear tip drooped, I spoke.
"You knew from the start this was a fool's errand, Senior Brother Geuk Ho."
My inner energy had reached an inhuman, impossible level for any normal cultivator. No matter how masterful Lee Gwang's seal, it couldn't hold me. I'd simply bided my time, brute-forcing through it until the moment was ripe.
Half Heaven Alliance experts slunk in around Geuk Ho. Ignoring them, he fixed me with a glare.
"Kid. You grasp what you've done? This is betrayal of our Thunder God School."
"It's not betrayal. It'll help Master in the end."
"What bullshit is that?"
I told Geuk Ho.
"Senior Brother. Trust me. Us fighting here helps no one."
"Trust a backstabber?"
"I'm heading to help Master right now."
"......?!"
Geuk Ho wasn't the only one—everyone's faces turned bizarre. I'd fished the Golden Gourd from my bosom and approached Miho, who'd been standing off to the side, staring blankly.
I shot a glance at Mang Liang.
"Please spare the Thunder God School folk."
"Naturally. Safe travels."
Mang Liang already seemed to have divined my intent.
Miho had played dumb, watching the hall's chaos, but her face soured when I approached with the Golden Gourd in hand.
"Come with me, Miho."
"What..."
I rubbed the gourd's flank and took her hand. It was a magic tool that activated from a waist-rub alone—no fire required.
Fwoosh!
Images from the Golden Gourd flickered through my mind. I watched the sequence impassively. Once the Dark Heaven Village vision passed, the familiar voice rang out.
[Shall I send you?]
Somewhere else.
[Only places you've visited.]
Here.
[Very well...]
Flash!!
In the next instant, the landscape around Miho and me transformed. I'd heard tales of it, but witnessing it for real stirred some excitement. Miho, who'd come along hand-in-hand, stood dumbfounded for a spell before scanning our surroundings.
"This place..."
A grim secret lair leaking yin energy and baleful qi. Iron bars sheared everywhere, signs of prisoners freed. Miho had glimpsed it via her shikigami before, so recognition dawned quick.
I flashed a grin. The gamble had paid off.
"The Great Thunder Prison."
Exactly.
I'd never bought that the Golden Gourd was limited to those three spots. Mang Liang Senior had urged me to use it, planting the seed that other locales might work too. A long shot, sure, but better than rotting in place while everything unraveled—so after an hour's deliberation, I'd committed.
Miho gawked at me, incredulous.
"So that Golden Gourd lets you teleport anywhere you've been?"
"Yep. First real test run."
"You're insane... And dragging me here—what's the plan?"
"You're as sharp as Mang Liang. You know why we're here."
"......"
Miho glared, then shrill-yelled with infused spiritual power.
"Why court death like this? No clue how perilous tangling with that demon beast is? Zero payoff—why?!"
"To reach the [next]."
"Haa..."
"We made it this far. Help me out, Miho. I'm begging."
Miho crossed her arms, head turned away, silent for ages. I knew pushing now would backfire, so I waited patiently. After about half a gak of quiet, she murmured.
"Swear a pact with me then, Baek Woong."
"What kind?"
Her next words froze my breath.
"Kill Jin So-cheong or Lee Gwang without a second thought if they interfere."
"......!!"
"Non-negotiable."
No choice—I nodded. I understood her desperation. Every scheme to shield her ward—me—from harm.
Deal struck, Miho said.
"Jin So-cheong and Lee Gwang aren't here yet."
"Their qi approaches from afar."
My qi sense pegged Jin So-cheong and Lee Gwang's auras at roughly a hundred jang out. Taking a cautious detour, holding back speed.
"Let's scout the demon beast before it gets messy. Time's ticking for us too."
"Right."
Per Miho's plan, we pushed deeper into the Great Thunder Prison than last time. Crossing paths with Lee Gwang here meant bickering or brawling—pointless. Better to at least lay eyes on the monster proper.
Whooo—
Deep in, a colossal cavern yawned open. Mountain innards gutted clean, a pitch-black pit over a hundred jang wide gaped like bottomless hell. Cloud ladders and stairs snaked down, but the blackness thickened, swallowing even sound.
Miho peered into the abyss, muttering.
"No rushing down. Demon beast's below."
As a grand yokai, Miho sensed demonic power keenly. She'd roughly pinned its lair. I glanced her way.
"Not scared?"
"Hmph. That Izanagi no Mikoto from your past life? An outlier. Primordial demon beast nearing [Ancient Ruler] might. The thing down there's tough, but no match for Moonlight's Guardian."
"Got it."
"One more time: cherish your life."
"Yeah, thanks."
I picked up Lee Gwang and Jin So-cheong closing in from the far side. Tense, they advanced slow. Rather than evade, I met them, cupping fists.
"Your disciple Baek Woong greets Master."
"......"
Lee Gwang's gaze screamed impossibility; Jin So-cheong beside him looked plenty shocked too. Lee Gwang fixated on how his sealed disciple beat them here—betrayal and rage forgotten amid the query.
"How'd you reach here ahead of us?"
"This item's credit. Golden Gourd teleports to visited spots."
".......!!"
"First proper go, so couldn't endorse lightly."
My half-assed justification drew a headshake from Lee Gwang. His face clouded with dismay.
"What in the world... are you scheming? If that was the play, tag along from jump. Outside's 50,000 troops and alumni elites locked for all-out war just to breach here."
"My apologies. Circumstances on my end. Helping you two? Dead serious."
"Hmm..."
Lee Gwang grasped at straws. If betrayal was the game, sitting tight back there sufficed—no need for flashy teleport right in his face. He eyed Miho.
"Why drag the girl?"
"Miho's a sorceress way beyond expectations. She'll make capturing it smoother."
Lee Gwang pondered, then declared firmly.
"Fine. If you've thought it through, so be it. Seal-break's water under the bridge—no further追究. You're here: give it everything."
"Understood."
"Return trip viable with the gourd?"
I glanced Miho at Lee Gwang's ask. Her spirit voice whispered in my head.
[Their wills can take it.]
"Yes, should hold."
"Relief. Feared a suicide exit."
Lee Gwang's tone implied the outside crawled with hordes and elites. We soon hit the abyss-overlooking stairs, scrutinizing the sound-deadening dark. Lee Gwang scowled at the pit.
"Vast evil qi."
"Down first, I'd say."
"Off-putting. Gourd helps though."
Lee Gwang led; we queued and crept down the abyss stairs. Light faded; he and Jin So-cheong lit torches. Torches dimmed to firefly glows in the gloom—we all sensed wrongness. Darkness this total was rare.
Fwoom.
Miho finally summoned fox fire, bathing surroundings in blaze. Its radiance cut true. Mortals would've burned out mentally descending alone, terror-struck.
Long haul later, we hit abyss bottom. Foot to stone, ahead lapped a hellish black ripple—like a blood creek. Too eerie to probe the liquid.
Miho wafted fox fire slow across the bank. Through its dance, a titanic shape emerged.
Kuooh.
Fifty jang of demon beast. Grayish-white, toad-like slimefest—no head, just a massive maw of writhing pink tentacles.
Glistening bulk oozed acrid fluids, stench thick; it seemed to peer into dark. Closer scrutiny: tentacles from mouth rent and devoured something.
Chwak.
Churuk...
"Ugh..."
Face scrunched. Corpses—mutants twisted by ominous blessings into freak races, Great Thunder Prison specials. Miho's spirit voice hit my mind.
[The beast anchors center, curse law's font. Feeds on human or mutant corpses as ritual offerings—no spellcasting.]
[Tentacle toad water-girded—how to strike?]
[Dunno. Hand to Lee Gwang first.]
Predictably, Lee Gwang's face hardened.
"No probing viable. Ultimate arts—end it now."
"Yes."
Whiiik!!
Lee Gwang and Jin So-cheong summoned Thunder Spirits, thunder crackling. Water Dragon lightness skills launched them fearless at the toad. It finally clocked us, whipping head around for a massive arm sweep.
Hwaaak!
"Eugh...!!"
Wind pressure from fifty jang off slamming here astounded me. Power defied reason. Close-up? Peak-expert ultimate-tier speed and force, guaranteed.
Lee Gwang and Jin So-cheong sidestepped clean with Thunder Shadow Step. A lion's roar boomed.
[Secret Art: Thunder Bombardment Flash!!]
[Secret Art: Thunder Bombardment Flash!!]
Ku-ku-ku-kwa-kwang!
Blinding burst; explosions rocked the abyss. Dread energy spears pummeled the tentacle toad. It shrieked, mouth erupting fluid deluge.
[Piiieeeeek!!]
Torrents like apocalyptic downpour. Gooseflesh—hundreds of troops vaporized in one wave. Lee Gwang and Jin So-cheong peeled back to us.
Lee Gwang muttered on landing.
"Tough as hell. And lethal."
"Mortal wound?"
"Can't say. Never seen its like."
Rrrumble...
Abyss dark now well-lit, per Lee Gwang. Lightning ignited the encircling blood-river banks; oily flames danced atop. Grease content, no doubt.
Revealed clear: tentacle toad mauled—front leg sheared, back ruptured. It seemed to lock eyes, then belched a colossal roar.
[?????? -]
That instant.
"Krk..."
"Hngh."
Lee Gwang and Jin So-cheong—poised for round two—reeled and dropped. Rushing over, shocked: deep in mental hallucination hell. Extreme willpower alone held them; reason frayed near gone.
"......!!"
Miho spoke.
"Mental curse, as suspected. Normals die on contact—but they endure."
"Mental curse?"
"Meant to shield you, but untouched. How?"
Miho eyed me intrigued. Just a roar to me—no visions. Odd, given Miho's charms had felled me plenty.
I eyed the flame-river beyond.
"Not charging."
That bulk could've barreled here and leaped—yet it sat, staring. Miho replied.
"Amps its thought-projection, intensifying curse-kill on Lee Gwang and Jin So-cheong. They'll perish at this rate."
"What!"
Roar escaped me. Sword aflame, but attack avenues stalled: spear toss? Dodge risk. Melee? Flame-crossing. No Water Dragon divine steps known.
Miho said.
"They softened it near death—you finish."
"How...?"
"Max power."
Rumble-rumble-grumble.
Per Miho, full inner force into sword. Blade amassed energy swifter, fiercer than ever. Thunder edge stretched three jang; Miho's hand on my shoulder.
"Teleport strike. One-shot it."
"Got it."
Swoosh!
We blinked across flames, beside tentacle toad. Short hops allowed passengers. Full swing before it twitched.
Ku-ku-ku-kwa-kwang!
[Kki... kkirurrrrk!!]
Boom and agonized bellow. Bulk trisected, tentacles exploded. Fatal; it toppled. My all-out matched—surpassed—Secret Thunder Bombardment Flash.
Miho's nine tails flared fox fire, incinerating sprays—no splash harm. She eyed the downed toad, queasy.
"What freakshow survives that? Still kicking..."
True. Shattered carcass, yet "head" twitched alive. For a beat, it felt like the maw addressed me.
[.... Why... take... humans' side....]
Faint meaning pierced.
Then tentacle toad shuddered still. Deep sigh from me; Miho smirked triumph. She rounded on me fierce.
"Idiot! See now? No Lee Gwang, Jin So-cheong—you'd die how many times for that damage? Top-tier demon beast hunt? Pure suicide."
"Sorry... win's a win."
"Hmph!!"
Toad dead, curse broke—Lee Gwang, Jin So-cheong stirred slow across river. My worried glance drew Miho's words.
"No sweat. Potent hex—full recovery takes a shichen."
"Not the issue."
Spotted rear riverbank path from toad's roost. Teleported Miho and me along it.
Secret cave yawned; deeper in.
A lone book rested. Human-skin binding, potent bizarre evil qi wafting. Cover scripted: [Spiral Abyss City Chronicles].
"Spiral Abyss City Chronicles?"
"Ancient relic, looks like."
"Guarding this, that tentacle toad?"
"Possible. Readable?"
I leafed it. Monster script—illegible. Shook head.
"Nope."
Curious bit.
Seven Desires ruins' monster tongue? Decipherable somehow. But Heavenly Dark Secret Book, this? Blank. Different monster-tongue dialects, had to be.
Beside the chronicles: palm-sized box, twin swords. Box mystery; blades radiated verdant jade glow, auspicious qi brimming. My rapt stare drew Miho.
"Grab it all, out first."
"Hide from them?"
"Hmm..."
Miho grimaced. Treasure split with trailing Lee Gwang? Bitter pill. Idly popped the box lid.
Sliiiip...!!
"Gah!"
Jolted. Arm slurped whole, resistance-free. Palm 'armor' swallowing forearm. Yanked free—easy out.
Miho watched, mused.
"Wait... could it be...?"
She smooshed face in. Sank seamless. Pulled back, declared.
"Space-time enchanted box."
"No shit..."
"Yep. Interior's hundred jang plus—stuff whatever."
Head-test confirmed: vast white cubic void. Twin swords, chronicles vanished inside. Convenience bliss.
'Jackpot.'
Past lives netted treasures galore, but haulage headaches aplenty. Deep hides, tedious digs. This? Infinite storage win.