The Blood Demon's Forbidden Method
The Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method didn't follow the natural order of the Extraordinary Vessels. It forcibly ripped them open and treated innate qi like it was ordinary internal energy. Easy to say. But having personally experienced the terror of blocked meridians, I knew this was nothing short of a magnificent self-destruct technique.
Innate qi was powerful enough to burn a person's meridians and kill them even when it leaked out in tiny trickles. This method was like installing a faucet and cranking it wide open. A genuine demonic art. It really drove home who these people truly were. The ones posting lame jokes in the gallery weren't saints. They were Heavenly Demons.
I closed the gallery window and refocused on the Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method.
He's surprisingly kind.
Despite his prickly personality, what Blood Demon had posted was meticulous and easy to understand. The first stage of the Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method was opening the Conception Vessel. Then came the Governing Vessel, Thrusting Vessel, Belt Vessel, Yin Heel Vessel, Yang Heel Vessel, Yin Linking Vessel, and Yang Linking Vessel, in sequence. In the end, it forcibly opened all of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels.
How much would one's essence, energy, and spirit need to be tempered to endure opening them all? For now, it felt impossibly distant. I'd start with the Conception Vessel.
I steadied my breathing and sat in the lotus position. Compared to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the formulas and teachings of the Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method were intuitive and rough. Still, they seemed to share the same root—there were many similarities. The reason I could understand it now was thanks to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art that the Gallery Master had forcibly implanted in my mind.
The Conception Vessel began at the perineum's Meeting of Yin acupoint and ran along the front centerline of the body all the way to the Receiving Saliva acupoint beneath the lower lip. The foundation of the Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method was reversal. It went against the natural upward flow of the Conception Vessel, pulling true qi downward from above. In that process, the vessel was forcibly opened and the innate qi that burst out was used like internal energy.
While testing it according to the method's formulas, I realized one critical problem. This was essentially attempting to overclock something until it exploded. And in the Waiting Room, all injuries and status ailments were completely healed. Before I could even try to open the Conception Vessel and do anything with it, the Waiting Room's power would seal up the damage to my Extraordinary Vessels.
I had a rough grasp of the concept, but it was a shame I couldn't properly test it here. In that case, I'd just repeat the process up to the moment right before the vessel opened. Like turning the faucet until it was just about to pour.
...
Dozens, hundreds of times. Inside the Waiting Room where the concept of time grew hazy, I silently repeated the Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method. Before I knew it, the allotted twenty-four hours had flown by. Time spent training always passed in the blink of an eye. Martial arts really were fascinating.
[00:01:00]
I rose from my seat. All that remained now was real combat.
With the familiar message, my vision distorted. A gloomy atmosphere and a damp smell. Sure enough, it was starting over from the beginning. But there were changes this time.
Clear the Five Ghost Stories of Inshin Middle School
📍 1. Statue
📍 2. Murderer
📍 3. Human Specimen
📍 4. Security Guard
📍 5. Female Student
📍 Prevent the Descent of ҉҈̷̸̡̢̍̕■҉҈̷̸̡̢̍̕
The question mark in the clear condition had changed to preventing the descent of some entity. Shall we begin?
I immediately dealt with the Kim Yu-shin statue and headed down to the basement where Hyeon Seo-ah was waiting.
“Hic… hic…”
The familiar sobbing, the familiar back. She probably wouldn't even remember me.
“Hyeon Seo-ah.”
At my call, Hyeon Seo-ah turned around.
“Hic, who… are you? How do you know my name…?”
The same reaction. She really didn't remember.
“I received a request to save you.”
The Tower's demand was basically a request. Hyeon Seo-ah's name tag was still painted pitch black. I didn't know exactly what the Tower wanted, but if I resolved everything, she would probably regain her body and her name. Maybe the murderer ghost story was...
I stopped speculating and talked with Hyeon Seo-ah just like before. It had only been a day since our last conversation, yet it felt strangely nostalgic.
Right before we finished talking and I was about to leave, Hyeon Seo-ah stared at me and tilted her head.
“Oppa, have we met before?”
Sharp in the strangest places. Or maybe my attitude gave it away.
“We haven't.”
I answered lightly and moved on to clear the security guard ghost story, followed by the slime. Having done it once before, it was definitely easier the second time.
And so, the long-awaited fourth floor. Once again, I stood before Class 2-1.
“Want to come with me?”
I made a different offer to Hyeon Seo-ah than last time.
“Is that okay?”
Hyeon Seo-ah's ears perked up.
“We have to get your body back.”
“Is there anything I can do in this state…?”
“You probably won't have to do anything major.”
Since the entity trying to descend using that pen as a medium seemed to be the root of all this.
“I'll go too.”
After a brief hesitation, Hyeon Seo-ah clenched her fists tightly.
“Good.”
I answered briefly and walked toward Class 2-1.
Through the half-open door, I saw the bizarre version of Hyeon Seo-ah sitting at a desk, frantically writing something down—just like before.
Scratch. Scratch.
The eerie sound of a ballpoint pen.
I quietly focused inward.
Blood Demon Meridian Opening Great Method.
I recalled the sensation I'd repeated hundreds of times in the Waiting Room.
Gate Opening.
The flow of true qi reversed.
Crimson Vessel Reversal.
The energy that should have risen from below, passing through the dantian, now flowed downward from the crown of my head.
Heart Flame Demonic Path.
My heart reacted first to the flow of true qi.
Thud—!
In the center of my chest, the middle dantian pulsed as if it would burst. The sacred fire of the middle dantian began to swirl and flow in reverse.
Reversed Taiji Manifestation.
Above became below, and below became above. What should rise now descended. What should flow now collided. The entire Conception Vessel screamed. The meridians running along its path twisted as if being crushed. Without the Waiting Room's merciful recovery, the pain of living flesh being torn apart struck my entire body.
I gritted my teeth, eyes bloodshot.
Conception Vessel Heaven Breaker.
Crack—
The reversed true qi finally twisted the Conception Vessel and forcibly opened a path. Jaw, heart, solar plexus, perineum. Innate qi poured through the Conception Vessel and flooded my entire body.
Blood Fire Scorching Heaven.
The two colliding flows merged into one at the middle dantian. Finally, the vast innate qi became a wave that filled my entire being. Hot steam leaked from my mouth. The pain was still there, but an overwhelming sense of omnipotence surpassed it.
Three minutes. That was the time given to me.
“Give Hyeon Seo-ah her body and name back.”
I spoke to the anomaly just like before.
“҉̢̕T҉̢̕h҉̢̕a҉̢̕t҉̢̕ ҉̢̕i҉̢̕s҉̢̕ ҉̢̕m҉̢̕i҉̢̕n҉̢̕e҉̢̕.”
The anomaly instantly appeared right in front of me, just like before. The difference was that last time I couldn't even perceive its approach, but this time its movements looked fragmented.
“Ugh!”
Hyeon Seo-ah hurriedly covered her mouth. It seemed she couldn't bear the sight of her own grotesque appearance, her face covered in incomprehensible symbols.
Creak—
The anomaly twisted its neck toward Hyeon Seo-ah. As expected, it could perceive the ghost version of her too. The moment my hypothesis became certainty.
“Hey! Give me my body back!”
As if she'd never been scared, Hyeon Seo-ah shouted without hesitation.
The instant the anomaly lunged at her—
Thud—
I kicked off the ground in the opposite direction. Just using innate qi like internal energy made my leg strength on a completely different level than before. The moment its aggro was drawn to Hyeon Seo-ah was my chance.
I poured every ounce of energy into my sword. Destructive power condensed, and the blade burned with a dark crimson hue. Materialized true qi blazed like flames along the edge.
I had to cut that pen before the anomaly could react. Blood poured from my mouth as I swung the sword down.
Shhhk—!
A dark crimson trajectory carved through the air.
Kwaaaaang—!
A sharp explosion shook heaven and earth.
Crash—!
The shockwave from the collision shattered every window.
“҉̢̕A҉̢̕a҉̢̕a҉̢̕a҉̢̕a҉̢̕h҉̢̕—!”
An inhuman, bizarre scream erupted from the anomaly's mouth. The symbols covering its face crumbled away as if burning.
And then.
“Oppa?”
It wasn't the bizarre version of Hyeon Seo-ah. The real one, restored to her original body, was calling me.
Three minutes, he'd said. It hadn't even been three minutes yet, but my consciousness was already starting to fade.
I squeezed out the last of my voice and spoke to Hyeon Seo-ah, who had begun crying again.
“…Take care. And stop crying.”
Hyeon Seo-ah said something urgently, but I couldn't hear it.
You have saved the First Sinking Path World.
We pay our respects to your sacrifice.
With the blue holographic message floating in the air as the last thing I saw—
Returning to the Waiting Room.
My vision went completely dark.
The hand that had been typing a reply to the floater who had appeared in the gallery not long ago suddenly stopped.
Plop.
A single teardrop fell onto the back of my hand without any conscious intent. How many decades, how many centuries had it been since I last shed tears? I couldn't even remember.
In the screen, the floater was casually replying, 'Thanks to High School Girl-jang,' as if it were no big deal.
The floater who had barged into a gallery that was supposed to be only for Heavenly Demons. At first, I had thought of him as nothing more than an amusing acquaintance. A boy who accepted whatever martial arts were given to him, who didn't seem particularly attached to life.
But as I listened to him explain the Tower, I finally understood.
Hundreds of years ago, in that hellish school ghost story.
By the side of a girl who had no one to help her, who was falling into despair and turning into an anomaly, a boy with a limited lifespan from the future had raised his sword.
Leaving behind only shattered windows and traces of destruction, the dying boy disappeared.
The timeline twisted and history was rewritten, but only she remembered the truth.
The final sword strike the boy had shown while burning away his life. The flame engraved like a brand upon her heart. She had overcome the treacherous murim world by chasing that flame.
Therefore.
“How could I forget?”
In her own unique realm where flowers never withered—the Hundred Flower Forest. In the middle of that silent yet beautiful flower garden.
“There's no way.”
The current Heavenly Demon, Hyeon Seo-ah, murmured softly.