Chapter 254
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 254
Chapter Title: Cheon Luri (2)
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As Cheon Luri had witnessed.
Geum Sihyeon's condition wasn't good at all.
Somehow, he'd volunteered to act as a human washing machine, but how could the karma of Hong Sundok—stained with blood and slaughter—be so easily cleansed?
And moreover.
Until now, he'd been able to perfectly control the demonic energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and stand against Hong Sundok's blood arts, largely thanks to the contributions of the Buddha within him.
Besides, even if it was just one among countless lingering resentments, shoving it into someone else's inner self—how could that not massively twist the laws of the world?
Along with the karma of defying heaven's will.
Rather than taking the time to carefully dismantle the formation, he'd collapsed the formation itself outright, so the aimless, wandering energies had turned into curses and clung to Geum Sihyeon's body.
Witnessing Geum Sihyeon in that state.
Even though she'd heard the voice telling her not to come.
Instead, Cheon Luri approached him.
One step at a time.
With each closing of the distance, just like when she'd seen the hallucinations of the old Geum Sihyeon dying over and over and gone berserk, her head began to dye red.
The incantation on her back, which had recently fully stabilized, now raged with a ferocious glow, greedily sucking in the demonic energy spilling uncontrollably from Geum Sihyeon's body.
But.
Unlike that time, Cheon Luri wasn't losing control—she was properly maintaining her reason.
Biting her small lips tight, she took another step.
As if resonating with Geum Sihyeon, she pushed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to its limits and drew near his side.
Geum Sihyeon's gaze, fully focused on suppressing the churning energies without even uttering a word, uneasily swept over Cheon Luri's face.
"It's okay."
Instead, Cheon Luri soothed him with her characteristic smile.
And then.
One layer.
Another layer.
She shed the clothes enveloping her.
Cheon Luri's pristine naked form was revealed, and the incantation etched on her back began to scatter a crimson glow even more ominous than the light of a night pearl.
In that state.
Cheon Luri leaned her back against Geum Sihyeon's body, who was sitting cross-legged.
It was a position they often took.
Of course, normally Geum Sihyeon would absorb and stabilize the power of the incantation, but this time it was the opposite.
Like feeding prey to a starving demon.
This time, Cheon Luri began madly sucking in the rampaging energies from Geum Sihyeon's body.
As she did, her hair grew ever redder, and by the time not a trace of black energy remained on her head.
Geum Sihyeon's ragged breathing finally began to steady, little by little.
In contrast, Cheon Luri's complexion started to grow pale.
As the saying goes, poison given to cure poison.
She had taken on the curses and spells dwelling in Geum Sihyeon through her own incantation.
The clamor of the resentful spirits that had met tragic ends rang noisily in Cheon Luri's ears.
But if there was one thing Cheon Luri had over Geum Sihyeon.
"Not my fault."
Compared to modern sensibilities, the moral standards of ancient Central Plains were naturally far lower on average.
And as befitting the young leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the budding Little Heavenly Demon.
She began to lightly brush off and discard the original sin that Geum Sihyeon had been agonizing over to atone for.
Gazing down at her soft crown, despite the precarious situation.
Geum Sihyeon couldn't help but chuckle, as it felt like Luri was screaming with her whole body, "Why is it Luri's fault?!"
As if the lingering spirits cried, "Apologize to me!" she'd parrot back, "Sorry to me."
Such brazen behavior might normally deserve condemnation, but in this situation, it clearly helped turn the tide.
And so, Geum Sihyeon did his utmost to offset the twisted karma of the world.
Cheon Luri shamelessly dispelled the curses of the resentments, and quite a long time passed.
Of course, it couldn't be perfectly offset.
But they'd reached the state where it was suppressed as much as possible.
"Phew..."
"Uu..."
The two let out sighs of relief in unison.
With the immediate crisis averted.
Finally, the survival instincts that had been blaring alarms quieted, and reason took their place.
Geum Sihyeon wore a complicated expression.
He'd put in so much effort over time to fully dispel Cheon Luri's incantation, yet all that work seemed mocked as the incantation reverted to devouring her life force.
And he'd realized that twisting the laws of the world too greatly demanded a massive price.
A sense of self-loathing washed over him—he couldn't just knead and shake his mind-image like dough.
But Geum Sihyeon couldn't scold Cheon Luri.
If the situations were reversed.
He too would have rushed in, risking danger to ease her pain.
"Hng."
Gazing at the proud smile tugging at Cheon Luri's lips as she looked up at him from her warm embrace.
Geum Sihyeon pressed his lips to hers.
They hadn't formally wed yet.
But she was his utterly lovable wife.
Fuck.
I almost died.
If I were given the ability to regress to the past, I'd definitely track down that dogshit modpack creator and beat the crap out of them.
Enough with the repeated guts-spilling endings from the high difficulty already!
After Hong Sundok's Phase 1 and 2, suddenly a hidden phase with Cheon Siu barging in—what kind of balance is that?
Even boss fights have limits; what's the difference from whipping once for 10x damage and then maniacally dashing around the room landing off-beat rapid strikes?
Thinking about it, there were more than one or two unfair points.
Over an hour of roaming the whole map farming items—enough with that catchphrase already?
I ran around with Northern Bright Secret Record and ended up circling the Central Plains, right?
The flashy martial arts effects made it hard to distinguish feints from real strikes, and the appearance buffs and exposure patches were just... thank you, GOAT...
Anyway.
By sacrificing the mental heir to my inner meathead, Buddha Geum Sihyeon, I somehow overcame the crisis.
And I even gained something in return.
"That's creepy."
"Yeah, it is."
The miscellaneous technique that Hong Sundok originally had, barely qualifying as a martial art—blood control.
That ability had taken root in my right arm.
Truly, a bearing that surpasses even the Black Flame Dragon—like the Blood Flame Dragon itself.
No matter how I looked at it, it suited the title Blood Demon more than a righteous great hero, so not something to show off in public.
But it was Sundok's defensive technique that I liked enough to want to rip off.
I could now freely unleash Blood Flower Chaos.
No ordinary attack from an equal opponent would harm me now.
...At the same time, useless info like corpse-controlling spells flooded my brain, but I'd neatly seal that away.
Snap, crackle.
That's not for playing around with.
"When do you think your hair will go back?"
"Hmm. Dunno."
Having endured too much energy, Luri's hair was dyed blood-red, reminiscent of Hong Sundok.
Personally, big thumbs down.
Her original black hair with red streaks as edgy highlights was way prettier.
"Suck out the demonic energy."
"...Not now. This is inside Wudang Sect, after all..."
Just like the first time, Luri tried mounting me to suppress it.
But the location wasn't ideal for falling for such cunning tricks.
Of course, employing the Cloud-Rain Ecstasy Art would definitely help settle Luri more.
But I'm a man who knows when and where, Geum Sihyeon.
"Then, to the basement?"
"Oh Primordial Heavenly Lord... Sorry..."
It was an act of God.
Even if King Yama saw that irreverent act, he'd rule it not guilty, chalking it up to struggling for survival and crediting the merit of dealing with Hong Sundok.
Northern Bright Divine Art and Cloud-Rain Ecstasy Art synergized too well.
Anyway, not my fault.
"Time to go. We gotta head out again soon."
"Yeah."
We hadn't completely destroyed the formation, just pierced its core, so anyone determined could recreate a similar mess anytime.
So after recovering, we didn't leave right away—instead, we stayed at Wudang for recuperation while systematically eliminating the ghostly artifacts that had anchored the formation.
Pocketed the controllable, valuable ones too.
That much reward is fair, right?
After all I went through.
The surprising part was.
- This part should be repaired like so. Should be no major issues for a while.
- Thank you, Great Hero Yeon Hong-un!
The lecherous fiend I'd expected to bolt immediately stayed to help repair the collapsed Wudang Sect buildings.
As expected of a great hero among great heroes, the pride of the righteous faction, the last beacon of righteousness, incarnation of goodness—even without Buddhist nature, fully qualified as an immortal. Must be emulating my morality.
"Nah, probably not."
While playfully pinching Luri's cheeks for daring to contradict her lord husband outright, I finished packing up.
As the saying goes, those who gather must part.
I could've strutted around claiming to be Wudang Mountain's benefactor and savior, but no desire for that.
Planned to slip away quietly.
If I left a casual "Well, time to go,"
There might be a farewell party, with the bright-eyed third-generation disciples swarming, whining "I'll grow up to be a gold great hero too!" piercing my eardrums till they bled again.
It's nice, but...
Still, a bit burdensome.
Especially considering we came as Heavenly Demon and Little Heavenly Demon.
Lingering so long in righteous faction territory was politically burdensome for us and Wudang alike.
So the answer: midnight flight.
"Got everything?"
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
Left a single letter on the floor and sharpened our escape angle.
And the moment I opened the door.
"Eek."
Luri startled with a squeak, locking eyes with an old man grinning soundlessly without a trace of presence.
"It's been a while—truly glad to see you, Great Hero Geum Sihyeon. But where might our esteemed guest be headed in the dead of night?"
"...I hope you've been well."
"Just arrived and headed straight to the guest hall. Judging by your attire... I haven't arrived too late. The blessings of the Primordial Heavenly Lord are upon us."
No idea when he'd shown up.
The long-nosed big boss who'd bantered with the old fogey before.
True Void the Perfected—AKA Wudang's Sect Leader—was quietly waiting for us in the guest hall courtyard.