Ghost Spirit Incantation
“It’s hard to believe he’s only at the early Qi Refining stage. That spiritual sense of yours is truly extraordinary. Don’t tell me you dodged because you saw me coming.”
He was wrong. I had merely used martial arts.
That did not mean, of course, that I could not use immortal techniques. Since the chance had come, I intended to show him that as well.
Whoosh—
My fingers moved in a blur, and from the sword in my hand there sprang a strand of sword energy thin as a thread. It bent softly through the air, just like the opponent’s soft blade from a moment ago, and flew straight at him.
At first glance it looked feeble, a wavering breath of qi drifting on the wind. Yet the instant it landed, it would have the power to cut a man’s flesh cleanly in two.
But as though to prove that spiritual power stood above internal energy, the other man’s magical implement sliced through my thread-thin sword energy with absurd ease.
Tik! Tik-tik-tik!
Then, all at once, my hand, which had been weaving a complicated sequence of movements, came to a sudden halt.
Fwoosh!
The reason I had been sending out those thread-thin sword energies instead of using proper martial forms was simple: every motion I had made from the start had been a hand seal for an immortal art, not a martial technique at all.
Using a sword in hand while forming seals had already proven its worth in my spar with my second brother.
My opponent, of course, was a cultivator of higher realm than my second brother had been, but after he struggled to block the continuous onslaught of those threadlike sword strikes, he was caught utterly off guard when Fireball Art, an immortal technique, suddenly came flying at him.
“Damn it!”
As though to show how much slower cultivators’ reactions were than a warrior’s, he failed to avoid the fireball that had come right up to his nose and was engulfed in a mass of flames.
Bang!
If I thought of how shocked my second brother had been when he fell for this same trick during our spar, then this man must be feeling more dumbfounded than hurt at the moment.
Hissss—
Retreating in haste from the searing heat of the fireball art that was scorching his skin, he ground his teeth, glared at me, and finally turned to flee.
This was not a duel fought to the death, after all. The moment matters turned difficult, he had decided that protecting his own life came first.
Then, as though encouraged by that, my second brother took a quick step forward and called out.
“Senior brothers! We’ll be withdrawing now! Please do not block our path any longer!”
Now that the balance of victory had clearly tipped to our side, he must have wanted to end the fight here and now for everyone’s sake.
But as though someone had been waiting for this exact moment, one of the people who had been hiding in the surrounding brush finally revealed himself.
“Oh-ho? Where are you going in such a hurry, junior brothers?”
And as soon as he spoke, another figure emerged from even closer by.
“I think you’ve become a little too greedy. I’ve only been watching for a moment, but this junior brother here seems to possess rather excellent talent. Will all of you be able to bear the consequences of what comes later? Let’s call it a day here and withdraw, shall we?”
The sudden appearance of yet another man sent a chill down my spine.
There were still others who had not shown themselves, but even I had failed to detect the aura of that cultivator who seemed to be taking our side.
Fortunately, the man in the white mask, who was also the host of Dark Dust Market, was on our side.
The realm I estimated him to be in was at least late Qi Refining. It seemed he had been hiding his strength all along.
Of course, I was not the only one who could gauge another cultivator’s realm through spiritual sense, and the others promptly shrank back like beaten dogs. After all, taking on me, who had already defeated a group mixed with early and even mid Qi Refining cultivators, while also facing the white mask at late Qi Refining, would have been a considerable burden.
“Ahem. Since the Dark Dust Market’s host says so much, I suppose I have no choice but to withdraw, if only to preserve my own face. Our junior brothers will no doubt have learned a fine lesson from today’s little incident, so do not take it too bitterly. In the world of cultivators, merely possessing something precious beyond one’s station can itself be a sin.”
For a man who had so grandly emerged only after waiting until we were exhausted, his retreat was rather pathetic.
Still, if anyone had been bluffing, it was only him. The rest did not dare say a single word, merely stole glances at the white mask and then fled.
Before even a single tea-blink had passed, all traces of the injured and every nearby presence had vanished.
Only then did Yang Jeon, whose anger had greatly subsided, clasp his hands and bow to the white mask.
“Thank you for helping us, senior brother! If you will tell me who you are, I will not forget this debt!”
Yet the moment a faint smile touched the corner of the white mask’s mouth, I understood the meaning hidden in that smile.
“Yang Jeon! Step back!”
From the beginning, I had found it suspicious. If he truly meant to help us, he would have shown himself before the fight began, not after it had ended.
That smile—I had seen exactly the same thing before. It had been on the face of a traitorous friend who had once tried to lure me into a trap and kill me.
Flash!
The white mask’s body split into four in an instant, as though a sword wielded with Phantom Sword had divided into multiple blades. The four figures of the white mask then lunged directly at Yang Jeon.
Of course, such an attack was not something Yang Jeon, who was only at early Qi Refining, could endure.
Clang! Bang-bang-bang!
I did not know what sort of sorcery he had used, but all four white masks seemed real; the three attacks Yang Jeon failed to block were each severe enough to land mortal wounds.
Spurt!
Three holes were torn through Yang Jeon’s body in an instant.
It was worth praising him that he still did not collapse, even in that condition, but blood was already pouring from his mouth in a rapidly growing stream.
He had suffered a grievous wound from only one move.
Seeing that shocking sight send my second brother stumbling backward, I instead charged at the enemy with all speed.
This fellow was very different from the greedy wolves we had faced a moment ago.
The pack of wolves driven by greed had wanted only our valuables, not our lives. But the white mask was clearly after our lives.
Heaven-Eraser Sword, Second Form! Tearing the Wilderness!
The strongest move I could use with the internal energy I had left! The sharp sword qi I concentrated at the tip of my blade gathered and stacked in the air with every swing, coalescing into a form almost like sword radiance. Then it surged at the enemy with its heavy, massive body.
Though not as powerful as a true sword radiance, it was still one of the strongest attacks I could unleash in my current state.
But the moment I loosed that great mass of sword qi, I knew instinctively that such an attack alone would not bring him down.
And just as I was about to launch my next move, one of the white mask’s clones, now shining bright yellow, broke through my attack and shot straight toward me. It was an attack so fast it was like a streak of light itself.
Slash!
The shock that struck along with the clear, flesh-splitting sound in my ears made me stagger as well. Barely managing to steady myself, I looked down and saw drops of blood falling from my abdomen.
No matter how I combined martial arts with immortal techniques, it seemed I was still no match for a late Qi Refining cultivator.
But I did not give up. I had already once defeated a cultivator who had stepped into Foundation Establishment.
Tap-tat!
I quickly sealed the blood vessel in my abdomen to stop the bleeding, then fixed the remaining three enemies with a hard stare and searched for an opening.
Then, all at once, my second brother—who had been retreating again and again like a frightened dog—jumped out in front of me.
“Neung So! To be honest, I’m scared. I know I’m going to die at that bastard’s hands soon enough. But losing you here! That frightens me more than death itself! Even if I die here, you must not look back, and you must run!”
The words he risked his life to say in order to save me drew a smile onto my stiff, hardened mouth.
“You don’t actually think I’d run off and leave my brother behind, do you?”
“This is no time for stubbornness! If this goes on, we’ll all die here! You should run while you still can and live!”
At my second brother’s solemn cry, my smile only deepened.
“Do you think I’d let it come to that?”
With those words, I immediately began gathering spiritual energy. My internal energy was surging rapidly through my upper dantian, but for the moment, it still was not enough to use even one decent technique.
The white mask, having already seen me form seals while holding my sword, instantly grasped my intent.
“You think such childish little attacks will work on me?”
Then all three white masks simultaneously drew a bundle of talismans from their sleeves and hurled them. To my astonishment, more than ten talismans froze in midair and wrapped around the three white masks like the protective barrier of some mountain-realm formation.
Thanks to that, the fireballs I had quickly created collided with the talismans instead.
Bang! Fwoosh!
My fireball strained to break through the enemy’s talismans, but all it managed to do was singe one of them slightly; the others remained intact.
If I wanted to pierce those talismans and inflict damage, I would need to use an attack imbued with force and intent, just as I had against Jin Myeong in the mountain array.
But before I could press on with such a strike, one of the white mask’s bodies once again began to glow with yellow light. Then, as before, it shot toward me at the speed of light itself.
This grotesque immortal art was more terrifying for its attack speed than for the destructive force of that yellow glow. It was the sort of strike that made it feel as though, the moment the enemy flashed once, my body would be pierced straight through.
And yet, just as he had done, I would not simply fall to an attack I had already seen once with my own eyes.
Slash!
I twisted my body desperately, narrowly dodging the merciless streak of light that had been boring into my chest. Thanks to that, the strike that had aimed for my heart instead left a small wound on my shoulder.
It was not a truly shallow cut, either; blood soon began to drip heavily from it. But it was not the kind of injury that put my life at risk.
Meanwhile, the enemy’s number had dropped from three to two. The situation had, if anything, become slightly more manageable than before.
Just as I was about to charge forward again, my second brother, perhaps having realized something from the talismans still floating around the enemy’s body, suddenly drew out a talisman of his own and shouted,
“Close your eyes!”
At his words, I shut my eyes without hesitation. Though I no longer had the freedom of sight, I could still continue the attack without much trouble by using my spiritual perception. Besides, I trusted my second brother.
But the instant I closed my eyes, the world before me suddenly flared white. Light burst forth so brightly that it seemed to penetrate even my shut eyelids.
“Urgh!”
Unlike me, who had obeyed at once the moment he spoke, the enemy could not trust my second brother’s words and let out a low groan. Sensing that opening, I immediately resumed my attack.
Slanted Death Blood Sword, Fifth Form: Exploding Blood!
Once again, the fragments of sword qi formed by the meager internal energy I had scraped from the bottom of my reserves poured forward fiercely, and the explosive roar I had been expecting began to ring out.
Bang! Bang-bang-bang!
A paltry amount of internal energy was never going to punch through the enemy’s talisman wall, but it was enough to blind him.
I seized that moment, increased my speed, and closed in. Then I drew up a mouthful of primordial true qi and unleashed a move imbued with the subtlety of hidden force.
Eighteen-Form Plum Sword Art, Second Form! Silver Fragrance Amid Frost Flowers!
For a moment there was some resistance, as though the strike had struck the enemy’s talisman barrier, but soon enough I heard the sound I had been waiting for all along.
Crack! Craaack!
Slowly opening my eyes, I saw the white mask staring at me with fierce eyes, his chest blown clean through.
Judging by the flustered look he had just shown, it seemed that even if he had divided into multiple figures, his true body was still only one….
Swish!
The instant I turned my head at the chill of murderous intent, a spear streaked past my cheek and flicked a spray of blood into the air. Astonishingly, the true body seemed to have been over there instead.
“It’s impressive enough that you can use low-tier talismans in that way, but I’m more curious about how you keep dodging my attacks.”
Just as he seemed interested in the way I used martial arts, I too was deeply interested in the sorcery he employed.
But instead of asking him about it, I concentrated on slipping into the gaps between his breaths.
“That is….”
The moment I let my words trail off and flung my sword out with the same speed as the yellow light he had been hurling at me, his spear suddenly spun in his hands again and unfurled the strip of cloth wrapped around the shaft. Only then did I realize that it had not been a spear at all, but a banner.
But the transformation did not end there. This time, the image within the banner moved and burst out of it.
Uwoooo—
“The shadow of ghosts blankets heaven and earth, and black clouds descend.
Dead souls cry out as they fall, and all Dao shall be severed and destroyed.
Ghost Shadow Heavens Dust.
Black Cloud Descent.
Dead Soul Wailing Fall.
No-Dao Annihilation.”
As the red-skinned, yaksha-like monster that sprang from the banner spat out its bizarre incantation, my sword abruptly veered off course and sliced through empty air instead. At the same time, something strange began to happen to my own body.
Drip, drip…
Blood trickled from my ears, and soon blood was gushing from all seven apertures, including my eyes.
The enemy was a late Qi Refining cultivator, yes, but I had already defeated Jin Myeong, a man of even greater skill, so the result struck me as shocking.
Still, I did not give up. Not because my second brother, who was trembling over there and had begun grinding his teeth before rushing toward me as he saw me staggering and bleeding from head to toe, was inspiring me. No—it was because the only way I had ever learned to solve problems in my life was to never surrender.
And just as I was about to draw up primordial true qi once more, the talismans that had been surrounding the enemy’s body suddenly burst into flames all at once.
Then both of the hands holding the banner exploded as well.
Fwoooosh!!
It was at that moment that a voice burst through the rain of flesh and blood falling from the sky.
“Using Ghost Spirit Formation Incantation—you really are a suspicious one.”
The moment I turned my gaze that way, a familiar figure came into view. It was the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had been our trading partner and had vanished underground using earth-escape arts. In other words, the female cultivator disguised as a man had appeared once more.