Chapter 102: Divine Artifact
Chapter 102
Divine Artifact
In the martial world, the relics left behind by enlightened monks upon their passing were treated as something akin to divine artifacts.
Among all objects and living beings, these relics possessed the highest Demon-Subduing Power.
Twenty years ago, wasn't it the relics passed down from Mount Emei that played the most crucial role when the Nine Heavens Fairy, Cheng Liying, prevented the great flood?
Thus, in all Buddhist sects, relics were regarded as equal to the sect leader's command token and were managed with the utmost strictness.
That was why Se-woon was stunned when Abbot Gakgong arrived and handed him a box containing the late Divine Monk's relics.
"...I cannot defy my master's final wish, so I shall pass them to you."
"But if your inadequate skills allow them to be stolen by villains, or worse—if you trade them for mere coin—"
"On that very day, I will come for you."
Abbot Gakgong's eyes burned like those of a furious tiger as he delivered his stern warning before departing.
Though Se-woon had obtained the relics in a daze, he remained puzzled until the end.
No matter how much he searched his memories from before the regression, there had never been any mention of the Divine Monk's relics appearing after his cremation.
The only possibility was that the Shaolin Temple had deliberately kept it a secret, but that made no sense.
Before the regression, when the Divine Monk had entered Nirvana, the war against the Blood Cult was at its peak.
Had his relics appeared, they would have been used as a crucial material to counter or dispel the Blood Demon's terrifying curses on the battlefield.
Thus, the only explanation for this altered reality was clear:
'...The Divine Monk must have left them behind as his final gift to me.'
Se-woon recalled the words of the late Divine Monk, who had once told him that their worldly ties ended there.
He knew that leaving behind relics could not have been an easy choice for the Divine Monk.
Suppressing the surge of emotion in his chest, Se-woon silently vowed:
'I will use your power solely to save as many lives as possible, Great Monk.'
Slowly, Se-woon raised the hand holding the relics into the air.
Whoosh!
Instantly, the golden threads scattered in the air converged toward his palm.
Hummm!
The relics resonated, emitting a brilliant light.
Then, like a mother bird carefully cradling her eggs, the threads gently wrapped around them.
Ssshh—!
Shwaaa—!
Another transformation occurred within the golden threads.
Just as the Ice Wheel Technique had once dyed them white, now they began to shimmer with a golden hue—not the gaudy gold of worldly treasures, but the radiant glow of dawn's first light.
This was no mere illusion.
Se-woon could see it clearly with his own eyes.
'This Demon-Subduing Power is absurd—!'
Even though the process wasn't complete, the sheer magnitude of the power radiating from the relics was staggering.
It was said that the Divine Monk's spiritual power surpassed even the greatest in history, and witnessing it firsthand only confirmed that.
Se-woon couldn't help but marvel.
'This is a completely different power from the Shadowless Token...!'
At first glance, the Demon-Subduing Power imbued within the golden threads resembled the Shadowless Token's ability to dispel illusions, but their natures were polar opposites.
The Shadowless Token's power was solely focused on killing and destroying demonic foes.
But the Demon-Subduing Power within the Divine Monk's relics was rooted in salvation and healing.
Because their essences differed so fundamentally, the applications of this power were infinitely vast.
Most importantly, it was the most effective force against powerful curses like the Blood Rain Ritual that had brought devastation to Kaifeng.
'The Blood Rain Ritual is only the beginning.'
Before the regression, the Blood Cult had unleashed horrors equal to—no, perhaps even worse than—the Blood Rain Ritual.
To prevent such tragedies, Se-woon needed to further amplify his Demon-Subduing Power.
'Sigh, I should have acted more swiftly.'
The thought of the Kaifeng Blood Incident left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Originally, he had planned to head south after completing his business with the Martial Alliance to obtain that thing and acquire Demon-Subduing Power.
But the Blood Cult's unexpected movements had nearly resulted in even greater casualties.
Just as Se-woon was about to sink into self-reproach, he steeled himself.
'No, dwelling on the past isn't productive. As long as I don't repeat the same mistakes, that's enough.'
After all, hadn't he obtained an even greater Demon-Subduing Power through the Divine Monk's relics?
Right then—
Shwaaa!
The golden threads, which had momentarily stilled, stirred once more.
"...!!"
Simultaneously, the layers of threads enveloping the relics rapidly peeled away.
Shhh—!
In an instant, all the threads returned to Se-woon's hand.
Strangely, nothing remained where the relics had been—they had vanished without a trace, as if melted away.
But there was no reason to grieve.
A bright gleam had already risen in Se-woon's eyes.
'This is proof that they've been fully absorbed.'
Swish.
Next, Se-woon retrieved something from his robes.
A blackened iron fragment appeared in his palm—none other than the Dark Point Iron he had forged to track the Blood Rain Ritual's cursed artifacts.
But something was off.
Hummm!
It no longer resembled a high-grade treasure.
The aura it emitted was undeniably sinister, tainted by the Blood Rain Ritual's corruption during its use.
At this level of contamination, the only solution was to destroy it.
Huuuum!
Just as the Dark Point Iron was spewing its malevolent energy—
Shwaa!
A golden thread suddenly coiled around it.
The tainted treasure, now wrapped in the threads, began to emit a soft golden glow.
The fragment's resonance ceased in an instant.
Shwaaa!
Then, as the threads withdrew after completing their task—
"Ah."
Se-woon couldn't help but let out a genuine gasp as he stared at his palm.
Ssshh—!
The once-corrupted Dark Point Iron had been restored to its original luster.
The new power had succeeded in purifying it completely.
Instinctively, Se-woon understood.
Purification was only the beginning—the golden threads' potential was far more diverse and extraordinary than anything the Phantom Sound Threads could achieve.
As he gazed at his transformed threads, only one name came to mind.
Se-woon murmured softly:
"Extinction Thread."
The thread that extinguishes the flames of suffering.
It was the most fitting name for the power the Divine Monk had bequeathed to him.
Sssuuu—!
At that moment, the golden hue of the threads dispersed once more.
His Extinction Thread was not yet perfected.
'Unlike the Tracking Technique or Ice Wheel Technique, there's no grand sorcery formula engraved within it.'
For now, Se-woon left the sorcery formula blank.
He had yet to find a technique worthy of the Extinction Thread's power.
'...There's only one sorcery that would suit this.'
But he already knew what formula he would engrave.
A forbidden sorcery from his past life surfaced in his mind—one even the Blood Cult had feared.
That power, now divided between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions, was entrusted to those who didn't even recognize its worth.
Namely, the Divine Maiden Sect Leader and the Heaven-Piercing Gang Leader.
Even if the Divine Thief returned from the dead, stealing it would be impossible.
Yet Se-woon harbored no concern.
'In this world, nothing is truly absolute.'
His eyes gleamed with cunning.
"Ahh, I'm so sorry, Fairy."
In front of a humble cottage on the outskirts of Kaifeng, a middle-aged woman repeatedly bowed to a much younger woman, apologizing profusely.
"Oh, please, there's no need for that! Get up—you'll hurt your back!"
The young woman, beautiful enough to seem out of place in such surroundings, flusteredly helped the older woman up.
The middle-aged woman wore tattered clothes, clearly an ordinary commoner, while the younger one looked every bit the noble daughter who had no business being in such a place.
"I'm so ashamed... My home is so shabby, and yet you, a fairy, must stay here..."
"I slept perfectly well these past few nights! And please—I'm no fairy! You're embarrassing me!"
"But you are a fairy! You saved my child with those wings of yours!"
"I—I really am not! Please, don't call me that!"
True to the woman's words, the young lady's attire was unusual—her long sleeves draped so low they nearly brushed the ground.
Only after much more time had passed did the middle-aged woman finally leave, bowing repeatedly even as she walked away.
"Ah, she didn't have to go through all this trouble..."
Once inside, the young woman found a basket filled to the brim with steaming sweet potatoes.
She picked one up, peeled it effortlessly, and took a big bite.
"Mmm... So good."
Pure bliss spread across her face—a far cry from what one would expect from the Young Mistress of the Divine Maiden Sect, known as the Spiritual Phoenix among the Nine Dragon Peaks.
After all, nothing tasted better than a meal earned through hard work helping others.
Seo Su-rin smiled as she popped the last sweet potato into her mouth.
Four days had passed since she arrived in Kaifeng with her master, the Nine Heavens Fairy, to aid the commoners suffering from the aftermath of the Blood Rain Ritual.
Her expression darkened as she recalled the traces of the curse.
'...Master said the Heaven-Piercing Gang could never have cast a spell like this.'
Her master, who had once stopped a catastrophic flood, had worn an expression Su-rin had never seen before—one of fear.
That alone had shocked her.
'But if not them, then who...?'
Lost in thought, she suddenly—
"—!!"
Swish!
—spun around, her long sleeves lashing toward the empty space behind her.
A flawless strike of the Divine Maiden's Instant Strike.
Her cheerful demeanor had vanished, replaced by sharp vigilance.
She had sensed no presence, no aura—only an inexplicable wrongness that her innate spiritual power had picked up.
'...No one?'
But the space was empty.
Her sleeves sliced through nothing before returning to her.
'Must've been my imagination—'
She sighed, blaming fatigue—until—
"—!!"
Goosebumps erupted across her skin as she turned back.
Her body froze like a statue.
...What?
Beside the now-empty basket lay objects she had never seen before.
A black cloak.
A mask.
And a letter.
She immediately heightened her senses, but detected no presence whatsoever.
A soft gasp escaped her lips.
She had just realized—her life had already been in someone's hands.
Swish.
Slowly, she picked up the letter.
If they had wanted her dead, she would have been already.
She needed to know their purpose.
"—!!"
Her hands trembled violently as she read.
[Two Days Later]
[Blue Ape Bookstore]
[Assemble]
[Absolute Silence]
-Gather at the Blue Ape Bookstore in two days.
-Do not speak of this to anyone.
But what shocked her wasn't the message.
It was the seal stamped at the bottom.
'The Martial Alliance Leader's seal...?!'
It unmistakably belonged to Yoo Jin-hak, the Sword Emperor.