Chapter 112
Chapter 112
Judgment (4)
Se-woon dove deeper into the blood-filled pit, swimming further inward.
The interior of the pit was far deeper than it appeared.
'This feels absolutely vile.'
The water inside the pit, likely mixed with groundwater, was thick and sticky like blood. A horrifying sensation he had never experienced before crawled over his entire body. He could sense the Blood Cult's sinister curses mixed within.
Whoosh...
Hiss...
Then, a grotesque sound reached his ears.
As his energy sharpened his vision, the murky water began to clear. With his sight now unobstructed, he saw the larvae of the Blood Gu swarming toward him at terrifying speed.
Anyone else would have recoiled in horror at the monstrous sight and scrambled back to the surface.
'How dare these measly insects...'
Se-woon twisted his lips and drew upon his energy.
He had held back until now, given the presence of the Huiji Sect disciples.
Swoosh—!
CRACK!
Reverse Heaven Energy.
A savage force, unmatched in brutality, erupted like a meteor crashing into the sea, sending violent ripples through the water. The price of defying this demonic energy—belonging to the realm of the grotesque—was utter devastation.
Crackle—!
Sizzle—!
The larvae in the water began burning away without a trace. The Reverse Heaven Energy devoured the creatures that dared oppose him, wiping them out in an instant as if they had been infected by a plague.
'Alright, the pests are cleared.'
With the nuisances gone, it was time to move toward his true purpose for diving in here.
Before jumping in, Se-woon had already discerned with a single glance:
This pit concealed the grotesque entity that was the origin and core of everything here.
'Lucky. It hasn't even hatched yet.'
With an unreadable thought, Se-woon pressed further inside.
Just as he was nearing his limit of holding his breath—
"Hah!"
Se-woon burst out of the bloody water.
At the pit's end was a small, cave-like space barely large enough for a single person to move. A few steps in any direction would lead to a dead end.
Thump...
Thud...
A rhythmic pulsation reached his ears.
A glint flashed in Se-woon's eyes.
'Found it.'
In a single step, he moved toward the source of the sound.
Swish—!
A tiny pool, no larger than a palm, lay before him.
But the blood pooled within was a deep crimson, richer than any shade of red he had ever seen.
This was the resting place of the Thousand Blood Gu, a creature possessing power more horrifying than any other Blood Gu in martial history.
And then—
Fwoosh—!
Splash—!
Without hesitation, Se-woon plunged his hand into it.
The blood in which the Thousand Blood Gu resided was saturated with a terrifying poison energy.
A single drop was potent enough to kill even a martial artist at the Pinnacle of Martial Arts.
But to Se-woon, that only meant one thing:
'Too sweet.'
It was nothing more than a delicious meal.
Hummm...
Groan...
With a rough resonance, all the poison energy in the blood began absorbing into Se-woon's body.
The toxins and demonic energy were exquisitely intertwined, making both his Divine Poison Energy and Reverse Heaven Energy flare up in excitement as they greedily devoured the feast.
His Divine Poison Energy, cultivated for at least three years, and his Reverse Heaven Energy, honed for two, surged in tandem.
His internal energy skyrocketed, surpassing even the effects of rare elixirs or spirit pills.
Then—
Perhaps sensing the disturbance in its domain, the Thousand Blood Gu finally opened its eyes.
Grrroooaaah—!
In the same instant, it lunged at Se-woon like lightning.
A life-or-death moment.
Unlike the larvae, this creature could easily pierce through the protective energy of a martial artist at the Peak of Transformation Realm, burrowing straight into their heart or brain.
Its terrifying, awe-inspiring power was precisely why the Blood Cult had invested so much effort into breeding it.
In his past life, it had taken several more years before the number of Thousand Blood Gu miraculously exceeded ten.
Of course, that had cost both the orthodox and unorthodox factions many of their finest warriors.
But—
'A mere insect dares to squirm before me?'
In this life, that was no longer the case.
Swoosh—!
Shiiing—!
A brilliant golden light erupted from Se-woon's submerged hand.
Unbeknownst to the Gu, the Golden Threads of Heavenly Net had already coiled around Se-woon's fingers.
The Extinction Thread, a power he had newly obtained from the sacred relic, was manifesting its unique ability—
The power to subdue demons.
Snap!
Instead of retreating, Se-woon seized the Thousand Blood Gu as it bared its fangs at him.
Groan...
Groooan...
The demon-subduing energy surged through the golden threads, crashing into the Gu like tidal waves.
Naturally, the creature let out a scream of agony.
For the first time in its existence, it experienced the reversal of roles—where it was the one writhing in pain.
But Se-woon felt not an ounce of pity for the insect.
His gaze was cold and merciless as he stared into the crimson depths.
'Submit.'
Crunch.
He simply tightened his grip, threatening to crush the Gu if it resisted further.
No—he would crush it if it refused to obey.
'I've already absorbed the main prize anyway.'
While obtaining the Thousand Blood Gu would undoubtedly be useful for future plans, if it continued to resist, he had no qualms about destroying it outright—denying its use to both the Blood Cult and himself.
Perhaps sensing his unwavering resolve, the frenzied Gu suddenly stilled, as if it had never struggled at all.
Noticing the shift, Se-woon slowly made his final offer.
'Serve me, and I'll feed you Reverse Heaven Energy periodically. Refuse, and death is your only option. Choose.'
Hiss...
Groooan...
The moment his will was conveyed, the Thousand Blood Gu underwent its final transformation.
It fell into a defenseless slumber within the golden threads—a sign of surrender and submission, begging for its life.
Smirk.
Only then did Se-woon allow himself a faint smile.
'A means to enslave even a martial artist at the Peak of Transformation Realm...'
Undoubtedly, this was an incredibly valuable tool.
The pool of blood had completely dried up, revealing the bottom.
Swish.
Se-woon tucked the Thousand Blood Gu, now sealed within the golden threads, into his robes.
'Now, time to head back.'
He estimated that at least two hours had passed since he entered the water.
Diving back into the bloody pool, Se-woon swiftly ascended—this time far faster than before.
But then—
Groan...
Groooan...
'...This!'
A violent surge of energy rippled from above the surface.
Se-woon's brow furrowed.
This wasn't from the Huiji Sect disciples clearing out the remaining Gu larvae.
This was the reverberation of an intense battle.
'He's here!'
The master of this place—the one who was supposed to be away—had returned.
There was only one person who ruled over this Blood Gu production site.
The enemy's energy signatures numbered exactly six.
'First, reduce their numbers.'
As the water's surface neared, Se-woon gripped the hilt of the dagger strapped to his back.
CRACK!
Shiiing—!
An extreme surge of Yin-Cold Energy erupted from him.
SCREECH—!
BOOM—!
With a sound like splitting air, a projectile hurled by Se-woon shot out of the water.
Swoosh—!
Splash—!
A pillar of water erupted as Se-woon landed on the ground a moment later.
And just in time—
Whirr—!Thunk!
The Blood Axe, frozen in the same blood-red hue as the water, completed its task midair before returning to Se-woon's hand.
Thud.
Roll... roll...
Following the trajectory of the axe, four heads tumbled to the ground.
Only two enemies remained.
'Hm. Cleanly executed, as planned.'
Yet Se-woon's expression was slightly ambiguous.
"The Young Master has returned!"
"He took out four of them in an instant...!"
The Huiji Sect disciples, though relieved, looked worse for wear.
Though he had only been gone for two hours, their ordeal had clearly been beyond imagination. Even Tang Se-rin and Ha-young, the most resilient among them, bore expressions of exhaustion.
"Heh. I knew there'd be a proper leader here, not just these blood puppets."
Se-woon's brow twitched in irritation.
The voice alone was enough to sour one's mood—grotesque and grating.
'As expected, it's Pa-eum Bi-ma.'
Just as he had anticipated, the Blood Cult's Sixth Elder, Pa-eum Bi-ma, stood revealed.
Despite the four bisected corpses of his subordinates strewn around him, the man paid them no mind, his gaze fixed solely on Se-woon.
His tongue flicked out, licking his lower lip.
"I crave it... I crave it. Such a beautiful energy."
He was practically drooling while staring at Se-woon.
Pa-eum Bi-ma's twisted pleasure lay in forcing martial artists into Demon Qi Deviation, watching as they lost all control and died in agony.
"I've decided! You shall be the first material for my inspiration!"
"......."
"But first—"
Plink!
Pa-eum Bi-ma abruptly stopped speaking and plucked the strings of his pipa.
A strange, power-laden sound vibrated through the air.
"I'll have to break you."
The moment those cryptic words left his mouth—
Shing!
The enemy standing guard before him—like a shield—raised his sword.
'So this is why they were struggling.'
Se-woon instantly understood why the battle had been going poorly.
The disciples cried out in desperation.
"Ye-cheon! Snap out of it!"
"We're not your enemies!"
The one standing beside Pa-eum Bi-ma was none other than Do Ye-cheon.
No matter how much his comrades pleaded, Do Ye-cheon remained unresponsive, his eyes dull and unfocused like a puppet's.
This was the effect of Pa-eum Bi-ma's ultimate technique—Illusion Soul's Lament, a Sound Art that ensnared the mind.
Though Sound Arts lacked the raw destructive power of other martial techniques, their ability to hypnotize and induce illusions made them deadly in their own right.
[Sigh. What a headache. Even when injured, he won't regain his senses.]
Mu-myeong transmitted the message to Se-woon.
It seemed she had been barely holding the line before his arrival.
'Do Ye-cheon and Pa-eum Bi-ma are both Transformation Realm martial artists. In terms of pure combat power, they were bound to be overwhelmed.'
Had killing been an option, the situation might have been different—but there was no helping it.
As Se-woon silently observed, Pa-eum Bi-ma sneered.
"Well? You can't kill your comrade, can you? Drop your weapon and come to me. If you refuse..."
Plink!
He plucked the pipa again.
Immediately, Do Ye-cheon's movements shifted.
Shing!
His sword abruptly turned—aimed at his own throat.
"Now, let's see the entertaining sight of this fool stabbing his own—"
Flash!
Before he could finish, a dazzling streak of light cut through the darkness.
'...Huh?'
Pa-eum Bi-ma froze in shock.
The Se-woon he had been watching had vanished without a trace.
But before he could even process the confusion—
CRASH—!
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion sent him hurtling into the wall, embedding him deep into the stone.
"?!"
"!!"
Se-woon had moved like lightning, striking the man's skull with the flat of his Blood Axe.
Rumble...
Crack...
The impact was so tremendous that the entire chamber shook as if struck by an earthquake.
Staring at the enemy now embedded in the wall, Se-woon uttered a single line.
"Know your place, you pathetic clown."