089 - Blood Dragon
Heaven and earth.
These are called heaven and earth.
The human soul is heaven. For it governs the microcosm that is the human body.
The body is earth. It can be grasped in the hand, and all things begin from the flesh.
Jin Muhon had shed his mortal form through bone marrow transformation, remaking his body entirely.
And his soul had risen several realms higher through the Fate Soul Heaven Sacrificing Scripture.
It was on another level entirely from the first time he'd touched the Cloud Peak Mist Sea.
'Mist Sea...'
A sea of fog.
Until now, Jin Muhon had thought the mist sea described in the Cloud Peak Mist Sea was a metaphor for the qi flow generated by a special breathing technique.
But now.
He realized he'd been wrong.
'So that's it.'
The mist sea literally meant a thick fog like an ocean.
How else could he explain the water he now sensed beyond the mysterious-iron walls?
'An art that cannot be mastered.'
His consciousness seized upon the water buried underground.
Like the dead souls slumbering in the blood mist, he felt he could command it.
As he'd guessed, the Cloud Peak Mist Sea was no martial art, but an immortal path.
A cultivation that shattered the human frame to ascend to divinity.
Yet Jin Muhon had never once desired to become an immortal.
Not even in this moment.
He had no need for the profundities of immortal arts.
For him, power enough to fulfill his purpose was all that mattered.
Tsssss—
Jin Muhon projected the image rising in his mind beyond the wall.
The water seeping into the earth transformed into the shape of swords.
One sword became two, two became four, and four soon became eight.
The Cloud Peak Mist Sea was an immortal art that commanded water.
He couldn't yet embrace an entire sea,
but to manifest water swords without a master was a rare fortune in the mortal world.
Shwaaaaa—
Jin Muhon unleashed the eight water swords to churn the area around the mysterious-iron walls.
The swords mercilessly tore into the soil,
and soon.
Snap.
A sound of something breaking echoed in Jin Muhon's mind.
'The Soul Binding Chamber.'
—Kiiiiiaaaaa!!!
The demonic spirits suppressed in the Soul Binding Chamber erupted all at once.
The greater the force holding them down, the fiercer their release.
Long imprisoned, the spirits shrieked deafeningly, pounding the mysterious-iron as if to shred it apart.
Tssstsss—
What escaped as the water swords shattered the Soul Binding Chamber wasn't just demonic qi.
The seal on the Fate Soul Heaven Sacrificing Scripture had broken as well.
With Jin Muhon at the center, crimson blood mist spread in all directions.
Swiftly, across a vast area.
Having reached the sixth stage, its control had grown far easier.
—Kiaaaak!!
—Kyaaaah!!
Jin Muhon unleashed Absorb Essence.
The spirits thrashed and wailed to escape, but the blood mist let none slip away.
Devouring the spirits like a living dragon, the blood mist glowed an even deeper crimson.
Jin Muhon rose from his seat. He slowly surveyed his surroundings.
The extinguished lantern, the mysterious-iron walls glowing red in the blood mist, and the map carved upon them.
Finally, his gaze settled on the collapsed entrance.
"Break through."
[Grraaaaaarrr!!!]
The blood dragon, swollen from devouring countless spirits, roared and surged forward.
Kwaaaaang!!
With a deafening crash, the rock wall exploded.
Kuuuung!!!
The plummeting pavilion finally halted with a thunderous groan.
"Ugh... "
"Aaaah!"
"Get a grip! Come on!"
They were all later-generation disciples versed in martial arts, so no one was gravely injured from the fall. The pavilion itself had slowed their descent, playing the biggest role.
"Hong-a! Cheong-a!"
Jin Hayeon frantically looked around.
Warm and cool hands grasped hers from either side.
"Yeah."
"We're right here!"
And a sturdy back blocked her front.
"Are you all right, Senior Sister?"
"Cheongpung, junior brother!"
Cheongpung scanned their surroundings warily, speaking in a low voice.
"Stay right behind me."
"Yes!"
Cheongpung drew his sword with a shing.
No matter what, nothing could happen to Jin Hayeon.
That would awaken the Sword Demon's wrath.
Cheongpung focused his entire mind on that sole imperative.
Clunk! Clunk!
"What the hell is this? We're trapped!"
Then, from a short distance away, Jegal Yunmyeong's startled voice rang out.
The later-generation disciples' heads snapped toward the sound.
Shockingly, thick iron bars had been densely embedded around the entire fallen pavilion.
The later-generation disciples had become pigs caged in a massive prison.
"Damn it! There's no one here! Hurry and open this!"
"Wh-what's going on?"
"Don't you know who I am? Hey! Is no one around?!"
Some later-generation disciples, losing their reason, shook the bars and bellowed. Sobs broke out here and there.
Jegal Yunmyeong quickly regained his composure and racked his brain.
'A mechanism. A massive one. How else could they drop an entire pavilion? Let alone a space like this beneath a pond. This has been prepared for a very long time...'
Suddenly, lightning struck Jegal Yunmyeong's mind.
He whipped his head around, spotted a figure, and dashed toward him.
Grab!
"Eek?!"
Jegal Yunmyeong seized Nangong Seonu by the collar.
The second young master of the Nangong family, and Jegal Yunmyeong's peer and friend.
As fellow great families, they'd once roamed the jianghu together.
"Seonu! You tricked us!"
Flames blazed in Jegal Yunmyeong's eyes.
At his ferocity, the surrounding later-generation disciples fell silent, focusing on them.
Jegal Yunmyeong's attitude was one thing, but the cold stares of the others left Nangong Seonu visibly flustered.
"Tr-tricked? What are you talking about?"
"This mechanism! You couldn't have been unaware of such a massive contraption! Right under your estate!"
"...!"
Nangong Seonu's eyes darted frantically.
Jegal Yunmyeong and the others looked utterly unconvinced, but Nangong Seonu swore on the heavens he'd had no idea such a thing existed.
How could such a place lurk beneath the estate of the world's foremost family?
Yet the one young master who might know the reason was, predictably, nowhere in sight.
"Big brother... big brother might know..."
"The eldest young master?"
"Yes... urk! Let go of me!"
Nangong Seonu shook off Jegal Yunmyeong's hand.
Jegal Yunmyeong hurriedly searched for the Nangong family's eldest young master.
The other later-generation disciples looked around as well.
"Hah! Th-there... "
"What... what kind of place is this?"
Only then did the later-generation disciples take in their surroundings.
The pavilion alone was no small structure, yet the underground cavern stretched vast enough that its limits were hard to see.
Torchlight flickered at regular intervals along the roughly hewn rock walls, and the dank stench of rotting earth and old blood made breathing difficult.
Above all, the eerie atmosphere felt cut off from the world.
Like falling into hell, the later-generation disciples hesitated even to breathe.
But then.
Step. Step. Step.
Heavy footsteps pierced the darkness, echoing through the cavern.
Everyone flinched, eyes locking toward the sound.
Soon, a man in white robes approached the prison leisurely, hands clasped behind his back.
"Big brother!"
Nangong Seonu called out first, overjoyed.
Now close to the prison, the eldest young master smiled softly as he surveyed the later-generation disciples.
"Mm..."
Cheongpung let out a low hum as their eyes briefly met.
Fleeting as it was, a crimson glint had flashed in the eldest young master's pupils.
"Is everyone all right?"
"Yes! Big brother! What in the world is going on?!"
"What is going on... That's a hard question to answer."
"...Pardon?"
As Nangong Seonu blinked in confusion, tilting his head, one later-generation disciple shoved him aside and pressed against the bars.
"Eldest young master! Get us out first! We'll hold you accountable after!"
"Accountable? For what?"
The eldest young master asked back with a smile.
The later-generation disciple pressed him incredulously.
"For what?! You have to take responsibility for this accident! Do you even know how many are hurt?!"
"Ah, hurt?"
"Hurt...? Eldest young master! You think this situation is a joke?!"
Pfuk.
Then came a curt, chilling sound.
The impassioned later-generation disciple slowly looked down at his chest in disbelief.
There, impossibly, a sword gleamed in the torchlight, buried in his heart.
"Oh dear. You'll have to die now."
"El...dest... young... mas... ter..."
Shwaaak!
The eldest young master withdrew his sword and stepped back.
The later-generation disciple spewed blood from his heart and crumpled to the floor.
"Wh... what... big brother?"
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
"Eldest young master! What are you doing?!"
The prison plunged into shock and terror.
Already dazed, the thick scent of blood pushed the later-generation disciples to the brink of breakdown.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
As if waiting, multiple footsteps approached from the darkness.
"J-Junior brother..."
Jin Hayeon looked around with a trembling voice.
Dozens of warriors had formed a circular encirclement outside the prison.
Cheongpung quickly checked their pupils.
'They all show the blood light.'
Had the Nangong family gone mad?
Or fallen to some sorcery?
He didn't know yet, but to survive this crisis, they needed to unite their strength.
Cheongpung swiftly assessed the panicked group of later-generation disciples.
Some screamed and stamped their feet, out of their minds, but a few—like him—had sharp eyes, watching intently.
The disciples from the Nine Great Sects.
Exchanging glances with Cheongpung, they began subtly gathering toward him one by one.
"No need to worry. Aren't you all precious talents? We won't kill you easily until the great undertaking is complete. But you'll have to entertain me until then."
A cold gleam filled the eldest young master's eyes.
Nangong Seonu cried out in a quavering voice.
"Big brother! Why are you doing this?! What's happening—"
Pfuk!
"Guhk..."
The same scene repeated.
Only this time, the eldest young master had run his own brother through the chest—a shock beyond words for the later-generation disciples.
The eldest young master looked down at Nangong Seonu with a smile.
"Come to think of it, you're not needed either."
"B-big... brother... why...?"
"Hahaha! Fool. Do you still see me as your brother?"
"...?"
Doubt filled Nangong Seonu's eyes.
But before it could resolve.
His pupils turned ashen.
"...!"
"..."
"Mm..."
With Nangong Seonu dead too, the later-generation disciples clamped their mouths shut like mutes.
Seeing this, the eldest young master burst into satisfied laughter.
"Why so quiet? You must have questions. I'll kindly answer, so ask away."
The later-generation disciples only glanced warily; none stepped forward.
The eldest young master urged again.
"What? Nothing? And you call yourselves dragon-phoenixes? To me, you look like nothing but snakes and chickens. Hahaha!"
"You're not the eldest young master."
Then, a cold voice quietly emerged from among them.
The eldest young master halted his laughter, his blood-glinting pupils darting about.
"Who was that just now? You?"
Those who met his gaze paled and scattered left and right.
And behind them.
A stern-faced Taoist glared back.
"Oh! Cheongpung! It was you? You're certainly better than a snake. But strange. It sounded like a woman's voice."
Jin Hayeon stepped forward from behind Cheongpung.
"Who are you? How did you possess the eldest young master's body?"
"Hoo?"
The eldest young master stared piercingly at Jin Hayeon, truly astonished.
"And who might you be? A new face."
"I'm Jin Hayeon of the Yunbong Jin family."
"Yunbong Jin family? Hm... Was there such a house? Ah! The family the Ilryeongsa personally invited!"
"...?"
Ilryeongsa?
They'd come at the family head's invitation.
Jin Hayeon couldn't make sense of his words.
A wicked smile crept onto the eldest young master's lips.
"Right. I remember now. There was a family tied to the Four Emperors. That must be the Yunbong Jin family."
"The Four Emperors...?"
"Heh heh heh."
The eldest young master approached the prison.
The later-generation disciples recoiled en masse.
"So you must be connected to them too?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Our family knows no such person."
"Heh heh heh. I'll find out slowly. Peel your skin off bit by bit, and the answers will come."
"...!"
Jin Hayeon recoiled at his chilling gaze.
Cheongpung swiftly blocked her.
"Stand down, Cheongpung. Unless you want to die... Hm?"
The eldest young master, growling like a beast, cut off and turned aside.
The dozens of warriors encircling the prison followed his gaze.
The later-generation disciples swallowed hard, peering where he looked.
"Wh-what now? What's happening?"
"Shh!"
Kugugugu—
Moments later.
The cavern floor began to tremble faintly.
The eldest young master looked down.
A small stone on the ground rolled aside.
"What?"
Crack. Craaack.
"...?"
Cracks spiderwebbed across the massive rock wall.
An impossibility—the eldest young master froze.
And that.
Was his fatal mistake.
Kwaaaang!
"Gasp!"
"Kyaaaaah!!"
A mighty explosion roared as a blood-red dragon, spewing crimson light, burst through the rock wall with jaws agape.