Chapter 249
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: Ghost Demon (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There's a saying that the best defense is a good offense.
I had no idea how many jiangshi they had prepared, but judging by the endless waves pouring out, it seemed like they'd scraped together every last one from everywhere they could find.
That meant I couldn't afford to wait around until they blocked them all.
I wasn't even sure if the Taoists' stamina and mental strength would hold out.
What if the Illusion Demon or Hong Soon-deok absorbed all that energy they'd been gathering by now and gobbled it up?
Wouldn't that turn them into an enemy too powerful for even me to handle?
So the best course was to cut off the source before such a disaster could happen.
"Luri, if anything happens or you see something weird, let me know right away."
"Okay."
So here, I had no choice but to trust my comrades and handle it myself.
The problem was...
"Ha, damn. Where is it?"
I couldn't pinpoint the core of the formation.
Every formation naturally has boundary stones placed according to directions to perform its function, and a central point that gathers the energy.
Normally, you could roughly locate it by reading the flow of qi.
But right now, that flow wasn't leading anywhere—it was plunging straight into the ground.
In cases like this, there was usually just one explanation.
There was probably some cave underground somewhere, with the formation's core inside it.
But how the hell was I supposed to find the entrance?
Mount Wudang wasn't some little neighborhood hill.
It was a massive place.
Despair washed over me first.
But I couldn't just sit on my hands.
"Kuhaha! Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon!"
I circled the outer perimeter of the Wudang Sect grounds, stomping the Supremacy of the Heavenly Demon with resounding thuds to burst the jiangshi, while tenaciously tracking the flow of energy.
"Kraaah!"
"Whoa, startled me, you ugly thing."
Occasionally, a tougher jiangshi appeared that looked like an upgraded version of the Heavenly Spirit Jiangshi.
But since I was tracking locations anyway, operating the Northern Bright Divine Art cleanly exploded their heads, so it wasn't a big deal.
After circling the whole area once.
"That must be it."
I managed to narrow down the direction the energy flowing along the ground was heading.
...Well, it was obvious, really.
At the center was the Wudang Sect.
In terms of position, it seemed to extend straight down from the summit of Tianzhu Peak, the highest point of Wudang—the area beneath the Golden Summit.
The issue now was how to find the entrance leading there.
Henan man trait.
Ponder and find the path.
True man trait.
I carve my own path.
Whoosh!
Flipping my robes, I returned to the Wudang Sect grounds, let out another lion's roar to boost everyone's energy, and...
"Where are you headed?"
"S-sorry in advance."
To the Taoists questioning my destination, I felt bad, but...
Was the mountain more important?
Or the people?
I passed straight through the various palaces built on Mount Wudang and reached the vicinity of Tianzhu Peak.
Since it was within the grounds, no jiangshi could reach here yet, so I could relax.
Pa-ba-bat!
I wrapped qi around my fingers and began digging into the ground with the Six Meridians Divine Sword.
- What are you doing?
Watching me, Luri wiggled her hips questioningly.
Short on a good answer, I ignored her on purpose and twisted my internal energy into a drill shape, mercilessly boring into the earth.
My drill was...!
A drill that pierces bedrock...!
Stronger and more efficient than a minute ago.
If I had to compare, my new technique—like an ultra-high-intensity Northern Bright True Qi rotating drill, the divine staff—began powerfully demolishing Mount Wudang.
Of course, operating qi as efficiently as possible meant...
Not enough for a person, barely enough for a small puppy—a tiny gap.
"Hoo."
As I secured the space, I confirmed the qi flow was artificially directed deep underground.
Plus, this method consumed too much internal energy to be efficient.
So I began drawing up my power in a more efficient way.
Demonic qi, pure qi, yang qi, yin qi.
...Skipping poison qi for conscience's sake.
I harmonized the four arts of martial arts unstably, compressing them as if they might explode any second.
This time, not one, but several.
I delicately crafted small invincible meteor bullets so they wouldn't touch, then repeatedly bound them with threads of internal energy piercing between.
The visuals were like...
"...anal beads..."
A bit grotesque to look at.
But it was necessary to avoid concentrating firepower in one spot and to upheave the ground broadly enough.
Aiming carefully at the hideous hole that had formed on Wudang's summit.
I whirled and threw the completed seven-round invincible meteor barrage, then quickly evacuated the area.
Thud...!
Ku-goong, thud...!
Kwa-kwa-kwang...!
With a massive roar.
Like an earthquake, the intense shaking climaxed roughly... no, crap, being near a lust demon wrecked my vocabulary. That's why they say guilt by association.
Anyway.
The violent vibrations, as if the earth itself flipped over, shook all of Mount Wudang.
My two goals.
Ideally, uncover the formation's core somewhere inside the mountain.
And if that failed.
"The qi and blood are calming a bit...!"
"The jiangshi movements are weakening! Everyone, focus!"
"Exactly."
Such a massive explosion shaking the entire mountain would inevitably affect the boundary stones forming the array.
I recalled the perfect method to destroy a formation I'd learned in my first-year 'Understanding Formations' class.
- Everyone, there's a saying that being reckless wears out your body? Total lie. If you're overwhelmingly strong, you don't need to struggle to break the formation. Just obliterate it entirely. Of course, to do that, you'll need to be one of the top ten experts in the world, so train hard, okay?
Back then, I thought it was bullshit.
Now, I fully understood.
"Teacher, I didn't know..."
Whether from the thrill of enlightenment or the still-shaking ground, vibrations rattled my body wildly.
Anyway.
Secondary goal achieved.
The formation weakened...
"Whoa."
Seeing the crack at Wudang's summit where I'd shoved the invincible meteors, a primate GOAT-level exclamation escaped me unwittingly.
Exactly as intended.
A crevasse-like fissure split the mountainside, revealing the interior.
And even.
"A secret chamber there, huh."
Whether it held the formation's core.
Or a treasure vault hiding the Wudang Sect leader's treasures.
A section of stone chamber, seemingly unscathed by the massive shockwave, was fully exposed.
I leaped down immediately and stuck my foot to the wall presumed to be the chamber's top.
"Here it is."
My inference turned to certainty.
No need for invincible meteor punches now; I carefully pried out bricks, tossed my body through the hole.
Night-luminescent jewels emitting a Geiger-counter-worthy glow welcomed me.
And writing scrawled in blood across the entire wall.
"Their tastes are really..."
Honestly curious, I wanted to find the entrance first.
But later for that.
Following the faint trail of blood on the floor, chasing the prickling sense from the formation's core.
Deeper inside, further in.
- Eugh.
"Whoa, this is a bit much."
Even Luri, who was watching, furrowed her brow; even I, inured to gross images, felt nauseous at the horrific scene awaiting.
Originally, probably something like a hidden sacred site of Wudang.
A massive statue of the Primeval Lord of Heaven should have smiled mysteriously.
But its head half-smashed, where a human brain should be, a grotesquely shaped red heart throbbed disgustingly.
The surroundings mocked and trampled Daoism itself, filled with all sorts of blasphemous things.
And.
"Once wasn't enough death? You came back for seconds, you bastard?"
Seeing the Illusion Demon at the formation's center, back turned, muttering nonstop, rage boiled over.
Not really expecting an answer.
Determined this time to exorcise its soul entirely so it couldn't escape, I swung my fingers to unleash qi.
But before it touched.
Blood vessels surged from the Illusion Demon's body, cleanly devouring my Six Meridians Divine Sword.
This technique.
Terribly familiar...
The ominous thought hit me.
- Ack!
Its body stayed put.
But the Illusion Demon's head, its face, twisted 180 degrees with a creak toward me.
As Luri screamed unwittingly at the eerie sight.
"Ah, shit."
I sighed.
The reason.
"Supreme One! How have you become so impoverished?"
The intact Illusion Demon's head had swapped to Hong Soon-deok's, beaming a bright yet chilling smile.
Moreover.
Two voices echoed simultaneously, front and back.
Forcing down the foreboding, I turned to look.
Among all Hong Soon-deok=jiangshi I'd seen, the most perfected one, emanating an unfathomable depth even to my eyes, terrifyingly concealed.
To put it extremely.
A living calamity—that's what you could call this Hong Soon-deok=jiangshi, now appeared at the entrance.
"...The real body?"
"How ever did you recognize this humble one at a glance, Supreme One! My nether gate already burns hot..."
With those words.
As if the world shifted dimensions—
All walls began staining with blood.
The cute sexy slender Luri image in my mind completely vanished.
"Welcome to my soul realm."
Hong Soon-deok flashed a sinister smile.