The Heavenly Demon Goes to See the Plum Blossoms (10)
As I drew my sword and prepared to take a stance, Baru suddenly burst through the underbrush. She seemed to have rushed here in a hurry, breathing heavily, but the moment she saw the divine spirit in the center greedily inhaling the demonic energy, she froze solid.
"It looks like they forced a human sacrifice on it," I said.
At my words, Baru gripped her staff tightly with both hands.
Her voice trembled as she spoke. It couldn't be pleasant to see a former comrade reduced to someone else's plaything.
"I understand how you feel, but let's deal with what's right in front of us first."
Thud. When Baru struck the ground once with her staff, the demonic energy that had spread around us vanished, transforming into pure energy that enveloped our bodies.
Thud. When she struck the ground a second time, a blessing descended upon me. Breathing became easier. Moving my body felt lighter. Even handling my internal energy grew comfortable.
Thud. When Baru struck the ground for the final time, numerous spirits that had been residing on Mount Hua came rushing in, gathering to guard her surroundings. Each of those spirits possessed profound energy, so their presence alone turned Baru into an entire legion.
Truly, the Taoist magic used by a mountain deity was wondrous. No wonder she was called the guardian of the mountain.
When I turned my gaze forward, the lizard that had been continuously growing in size finally stopped. It had a long body, thin yet sturdy legs, and a face fiercer than a tiger's—fitting to be called an Eastern dragon. Strangely, it also possessed wings on its back like a Western dragon, but combined with its inherent malevolent aura, it somehow suited the creature perfectly.
Setting aside its appearance, what I felt from the divine spirit was poison. What spread out from it wasn't just one type of toxin. One kind could rot all living things in the world with a mere touch. Even the rocky ground began to melt the instant the poison touched it; without reinforcing my body with internal energy, my human skin would surely melt away like ice.
Another type spread through the air, stealing away vitality. The once lush trees around us withered and twisted into dead wood in an instant. It was obvious what would happen if it touched a human.
Yet another kind seeped into the skin instantly and began stirring up the internal energy within me. The energy that had been flowing steadily through my meridians started rampaging wildly. If I had been an ordinary person, I wouldn't have been able to control it and would have died right then and there.
For now, I was resisting the divine spirit's poison by wrapping my body in reinforced energy, but I didn't think I could hold out for long. Fundamentally, the amount of internal energy I possessed was far too lacking. This was when having only a second-class body truly became irritating.
If this had been my original body, there would have been no need to worry about something like this.
The time I could still move forward was at most a minute. Well. That should be more than enough.
After all, I didn't have to worry about surviving this fight.
For some reason, it seemed like every time I fought inside the game, I had to be prepared for mutual destruction.
Shall we begin?
I held my breath and tightened my grip on the sword. Even after touching the poisonous energy, the blade Geomseon had given me maintained its form perfectly. As expected of a sword he had gifted while staking his own name on it. It was fortunate I had this. No matter how capable I was, I had no desire to touch the divine spirit's body directly while it spewed poison.
The moment I took a step forward, the spirits Baru had summoned charged ahead of me. They were cunning. Though they certainly possessed profound energy, they were not stronger than the divine spirit. Instead of clashing with full force, they maintained just enough distance to provoke it, irritating the creature without letting its attacks land properly.
Normally, with its excellent insight, the divine spirit would never have fallen for such tricks. But now was different. The spirit was no different from a jiangshi that had lost its intellect. It could not ignore anything that irritated its nerves.
Moreover, Baru wasn't simply standing still after sending out the spirits. She was using her own spells to disperse the increasingly thick poisonous energy. Thanks to her efforts, breathing had become noticeably easier than before. At this rate, I couldn't say she wasn't being helpful.
I ran forward while organizing my thoughts. The internal energy in my current body had lost all control. I was forcing it to follow its original paths, but that was the limit. Additionally, my body, already being eaten away by the poison, could no longer function properly. Even moving a single finger required conscious effort and control.
With a body in this state, executing supreme martial arts was impossible. Any reckless attempt would only accelerate the body's collapse without achieving anything.
In that case, it was better to return to the basics.
The Three Talents Sword. It had been so long since I last even thought of that name.
Cut from top to bottom. Cut from left to right. Thrust from back to front.
The sword technique containing these three movements—ones any sword wielder would know—was commonly considered third-class trash that only street thugs would learn. However, the principles contained within this seemingly light martial art were none other than the very truth of swordsmanship. If one reached the pinnacle, there would be nothing it could not cut.
The moment I reached the front, the divine spirit's red eyes turned toward me. Its mouth opened wide, and pure poisonous energy gathered within. If I took that head-on, I would undoubtedly melt away. I couldn't let that happen.
Gripping the sword with both hands, I swung it from left to right. The poisonous energy shooting toward me split in half and scattered in all directions. But that wasn't all. The aftermath of my swing continued even after cleaving the poison, piercing through the divine spirit's scales and leaving a wound behind.
Watching the spirit writhe in pain, I took a step back. Engaging in close-quarters combat with a rampaging divine spirit wasn't my role. That was for the spirits to handle.
After confirming that the divine spirit's gaze had shifted to the spirits, I dashed to the side. Approaching from the front was annoying because of the poisonous energy it emitted, and I wanted to get behind it, but that tail was in the way. Then I would simply have to cut it.
Taking advantage of the moment its attention was diverted by the spirits in front, I moved behind it. I raised my sword high and brought it down. Though the divine spirit's scales were certainly hard, mere hardness could not stop a descending blade. The tail was severed and fell to the ground.
As a scream rang out, I stepped on the divine spirit's back and climbed atop it. Though it thrashed wildly, the resistance wasn't too fierce—perhaps because the spirits below were holding its body down. No matter if it was a divine spirit or whatever, in the end, this thing was still a living creature. And for any living being, the head was bound to be its weakness.
Clenching my teeth, I reached the spirit's head, aimed my sword at the back of its skull, and thrust it in.
Confirming that the body tilted forward with a final scream, I kicked off its scales and leaped far away from its body. With the divine spirit's death, the uncontrolled poisonous energy began to devour its own body. Watching it gradually turn purple and decay, I felt a strange emotion.
What a hollow end for a god that was supposed to protect the mountain.
As I was lost in such thoughts, a cough rose from within me. I hastily covered my mouth. After coughing violently several times, I looked down to see my hand stained with blood. I had expected this, but actually coughing up blood left me with a rather peculiar feeling. It really made me feel like I had become a frail young maiden.
"Min-ga!"
Baru, who must have been worried by my appearance, came running urgently from afar.
"My condition isn't very good."
Even though we had defeated the divine spirit, the poisonous energy hadn't disappeared. The toxin that had stirred up my insides had already spread as far as it could. I clearly wouldn't last much longer.
Since it had come to this, I might as well die and come back. It wasn't that I had no way to heal myself, but it would be better to save that for later.
I patted Baru's head a couple of times. The moment I was about to release my control over the poisonous energy, I felt a presence from above. This demonic energy was definitely...
This was going to be troublesome.
The man descending from the sky landed lightly as if walking down stairs and spoke in a leisurely manner. Not a trace of vitality could be felt from the man wearing a black veil. I knew the reason. He wasn't using his own body but was controlling a jiangshi as if it were his own.
Hyeolgyoju. Among all the enemies I had faced, he was the most despicable bastard.
He examined me as if appraising goods, then clapped his hands as if a good idea had occurred to him.
It wasn't me but Baru who reacted first to Hyeolgyoju's words.
Endless internal energy surged from the jiangshi's body and spread outward. Unlike ordinary internal energy, it was viscous and sticky—something endlessly resembling blood. When the suppressed Baru took a step back, Hyeolgyoju turned his head toward me once more.
Watching Hyeolgyoju smile with his eyes, rage boiled up from within me. At this rate, I couldn't afford to die. I had no desire to see Baru fall into that bastard's hands. She was the direct-pettable animal I had finally found after an entire lifetime. The mere thought of him trying to take her from me was utterly infuriating.
I took out a small gourd from my bosom. Gongcheong Seogyu was an elixir that served as a powerful pill containing immense internal energy while also possessing superior healing properties compared to any other liquid. Therefore, if I drank it, not only could I cure the poison currently ravaging my body, but I could also bring my body to its optimal state.
When I opened the lid and poured the contents into my mouth, the pure energy within the Gongcheong Seogyu began to devour the poison inside my body. At the same time, an enormous amount of internal energy started supplying itself to my dantian.
Hyeolgyoju's words were correct. The immense internal energy of Gongcheong Seogyu was no different from poison if not followed by proper control. An ordinary martial artist would have to devote days, even months, to carefully regulating that energy. Otherwise, they would fall into qi deviation and end up in a state worse than death.
However, I was a human who had long since stepped far beyond the bounds of ordinary.
Why should I even think about controlling the surging energy? It was enough to simply devour everything and place it beneath me.
When I inhaled, the energy within my body found its direction once more. When I exhaled, the powerful energy spread outward, suppressing everything around it.
A glint appeared in Hyeolgyoju's eyes as he looked at me.