Chapter 96: The Spirit Lord
A white hand expanded in an instant, as if to blanket the entire world. It was a screaming demonic energy, condensed killing intent, twisted malice. All of that tangled aura crashed straight toward Yi Jinpyeong's body. They were already close enough that a mere stretch of the arm would reach him. The man's hand allowed no escape route, no time to flee.
It didn't matter. Yi Jinpyeong had no intention of retreating from him—not even a single step.
With his resolve firm, his energy surged once more. It boiled up fiercely, like magma erupting from deep underground. He swung his pipe, packed full of that raging, bubbling power. Flames erupted, engulfing the white palm. The hand, which had seemed to fill the sky, vanished.
But behind it waited another palm. Layer after layer, one more after that... No matter how the flames scorched and burned through them, the palms had no end. They were illusions, yet real. In the end, a massive palm slammed down—thud—crushing Yi Jinpyeong's body.
Un Sa-nang, who had been watching their battle from the ground where she'd collapsed, gasped and held her breath in shock. From her vantage point beside them, it looked like Yi Jinpyeong's body had been utterly shattered. By a single strike from the being her childhood friend A-jin—and the Demonic Cultists called Ryeong-ju.
But that lasted only a moment. Yi Jinpyeong burst upward, slicing through Ryeong-ju's hand as it dug deep into the earth. Leaping high with his pitch-black dagger cutting through the white hand's illusion, he brought down his pipe wreathed in golden energy. From above to below—like he could cleave the heavens themselves in two.
The black-clad man, Ryeong-ju, showed no agitation. He flicked his sleeve to neutralize the pipe's energy, retracted his extended white hand, and seized the empty air once more. Swiftly, decisively.
Crunch—something unnatural echoed in the air. The space where Yi Jinpyeong had been seemed to be swallowed whole. But his form was already gone from there.
Riding the flow of the wind, Yi Jinpyeong circled behind Ryeong-ju. He kicked at Ryeong-ju's ankle with his foot, swung the black dagger with his left hand, and lashed out with the pipe in his right. Ryeong-ju glanced back and swept his hand, devouring all of Yi Jinpyeong's attacks in pitch-black darkness. The space where he should have been crumpled once more.
But Yi Jinpyeong had already pulled back. None of those poured-out strikes had carried his true intent.
Ryeong-ju glanced down at his foot. While countering the attacks, vine-like energy had risen from the ground unnoticed, binding his ankle tight. He stared at the energy slowly constricting his body and let out a dry laugh.
"Do you think these parlor tricks can do anything to me? Trying to buy time and run?"
But if Yi Jinpyeong had wanted to flee, he would have done so long ago.
Staring at Ryeong-ju from several zhang away, Yi Jinpyeong's face twisted strangely. Like he was squeezing out something painful, focusing his mind, he muttered in a small voice.
Wood and fire qi ignite in unison!
At that, flames burst forth—whoosh!!—from the vine-like energy gripping Ryeong-ju's ankle. Before he could react, the blaze swelled in an instant, swallowing his form from the ankle up. Just like it had devoured his subordinates.
Brighter and fiercer than ever, the flames lit up the dark night.
But Yi Jinpyeong's face held no joy as he watched. For within the roaring inferno, Ryeong-ju smiled all too calmly.
"Hahaha."
Ryeong-ju clapped his palms together. Black energy surged from all directions, smashing toward him as if to crush and destroy his own body. Naturally, Ryeong-ju's form didn't crumple. The flames that should have blazed through him using him as fuel simply died out.
"Quite entertaining in every way. Not mere tricks after all. Now I see why the old Sacred Cult figures struggled so."
The man laughed calmly, bare-bodied. Most of his black robes had burned away in that instant, but his exposed body showed no damage whatsoever. Dazzlingly white skin, beautiful face, long flowing black hair—all pristine.
Yi Jinpyeong let out a groan. That strike had briefly wielded wood qi and fire qi simultaneously. A method to harm the seemingly impenetrable foe directly—but it had done no real damage, as expected.
The cost was heavy. At his current level, even a fleeting simultaneous use of opposing attributes demanded immense sacrifice. His dantian wasn't vast enough yet; it emptied in seconds.
Confirming his dantian suddenly void, he took deep breaths to steady himself.
But Ryeong-ju had no intention of granting him more time. He strode forward, closing the distance. With each step, the burned remnants of his robes crumbled to ash and scattered. His bare white body was packed tight with muscle, not a needle's width of slack. No excess, no bloat—everything trimmed to perfection. Heart, qi, body. All honed to the pinnacle.
He approached Yi Jinpyeong. Toward the fifteen-year-old boy whose body trapped Yi Gyeol, who could barely be called a youth.
Yi Jinpyeong straightened. Even before this unprecedented chasm in power, he had no thought of retreat or surrender.
Toward the advancing foe, Yi Jinpyeong walked straight ahead as well. The two closed in without slowing a step. They clashed once more.
Un Sa-nang watched their collision, breath held. With Yi Jinpyeong refusing to retreat, flight wasn't an option for her either. If he fell here, who could face A-jin and save her? It would only prolong her suffering.
Needle-like winds whipped about, purgatory flames erupted here and there. Space warped, screaming demonic qi prickled the skin. It was a battle beyond anything she'd seen, in an incomprehensible style.
Un Sa-nang's own martial arts were advanced, but she couldn't dare intervene in their fight. Yet from what she'd witnessed so far, her childhood friend A-jin held the advantage.
In truth, from his appearance until now, he'd never once seemed on the verge of defeat. Victory existed only in her hopes.
The budding flames died down. The thick smoke cleared in an instant, the flesh-slicing gale winds fell still. With a massive explosion-like boom, something far off was flung away. Then, no more movement.
Collapsed in a pitiful heap was the one who'd been her hope moments ago: Yi Jinpyeong. Standing tall alone was A-jin—once her lover, now the object of her deepest hatred and fear.
His flawless bare body unscathed, one palm extended toward Yi Jinpyeong.
Coldly, he opened and closed his palm repeatedly.
Thud.Thud. Thud.
Each time, blood spurted from Yi Jinpyeong's body with crunching sounds. The huddled form no longer reacted.
As Ryeong-ju moved to crumple his hand one final time, he tilted his head. Un Sa-nang clung desperately to his arm. Both hands pulling, teeth sinking hard into his skin. None of her attempts succeeded.
"Jin-seol. What are you doing?"
he asked.
"You ignored my calls to come, yet when I try to kill him, you approach me yourself."
"Let go!" Un Sa-nang spat out his arm and screamed. Her voice raw, as if tearing her throat.
"Let go! Give me back my A-jin! The kind, polite, beloved A-jin to everyone in the village. The one who smiled at me gentler than anyone!"
"Jin-seol. I am A-jin."
"You're not A-jin! That boy doesn't kill people on whims, doesn't talk of destroying the world! And that boy... would never hurt me!"
Ryeong-ju chuckled lightly.
"Everyone has a destiny. I simply awoke to mine late. I was born to dominate, to reign... All doubts and proofs about myself are resolved. So, Jin-seol, question me no more."
Finishing, Ryeong-ju gently gripped Un Sa-nang's nape. Like lifting a beast cub. Her body stiffened rigid.
"All preparations will soon end. I'll conquer the Central Plains, burn it all to ash. From those ruins, I'll raise a new citadel. Fitting for the era's master—grander and more splendid than any before. Wouldn't it be a fine picture with a beautiful woman beside that shining jade throne? What I offer you now is a grand opportunity. The chance to claim that coveted seat."
Un Sa-nang trembled. As always, he was dictating and controlling her fate at will.
Ryeong-ju peeled off the black veil, then tore away the ugly human-skin mask covering her face. Un Sa-nang's bare visage emerged. Near-perfect compared to the man, more radiant than any woman in the Central Plains.
Even paralyzed under his suppression, she glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
Admiring her beauty, Ryeong-ju belatedly frowned.
"...You've shed the demonic qi. His doing too?"
Ryeong-ju released his grip. Un Sa-nang's body, exposed to the intense demonic qi, thudded limply to the ground.
"Not something to overlook. I must finish cleanly. Not just him—wipe out every seed of Yi Gajang."
Ryeong-ju extended his palm toward where Yi Jinpyeong had fallen once more. And realized his form was gone.
".....!"
Ryeong-ju's brows shot up. Yi Jinpyeong had been all but dead. Did he still have energy to escape?
"Damn it all. Why the hell are you stripping naked like that? Shameless bastard."
A rough, vulgar voice from behind. Ryeong-ju slowly turned his head. Wrinkled skin, jagged teeth, tattered clothes. A shabby old beggar—No Gae—stood there, Yi Jinpyeong tucked under his arm, staring him down.