The Mountain God's Folly
"Oh, for crying out loud."
Do-ha scowled at the thick fog rolling in. When fragrant flower-scent and fog appeared together like this, it meant only one thing.
"Cut the crap and come out already."
He stamped his foot lightly. With a deep thud, the dense fog shot skyward and vanished.
"Huh. You're not Dool."
Do-ha tilted his head as an immortal he had never seen before stood revealed in the clearing mist. Not Dool, not Hogyun, not Jailsol—the ones who had come to snatch the Yeouiju. This was someone new.
"Who the hell are you?"
The immortal, hands clasped behind his back and face set in stern dignity, slowly turned his head to survey the ruined Kunlun Sect. His gaze found Yeon So-bong as well, skull crushed among the rubble.
"Yeon So-bong… did you kill him?"
"I asked who you were first."
"I am the Hwagang Divine Spirit. A Mountain God."
"Oh-ho."
Do-ha's eyes narrowed at the words Mountain God. Among ordinary immortals, the Mountain Gods were the ones who came closest to general-rank. Plenty of common immortals had nothing to do with combat—but nearly every Mountain God possessed formidable martial skill. More precisely, only immortals of exceptional prowess were appointed to the post.
"I have answered. Now I ask again. Yeon So-bong—"
"Yeah, I killed him. He was in bed with a demon, so I put him down. If you think I'm lying, go check the corpse. When Furcas clawed his way out, he left demonic energy all over it."
"And for something so trivial, you took it upon yourself to kill a man of Kunlun? How presumptuous."
"Wow… what is this now?"
Do-ha let out a disbelieving laugh at the word presumptuous. Was this guy actually an immortal? His name—no, not just his name, his deeds and his temperament—were known throughout Seon-gye. How could anyone stand in front of him and say something like that?
Kunlun or not, anyone who colluded with a demon was branded a traitor and executed on the spot. Seon-gye couldn't possibly be ignorant of that. And this fool was calling him presumptuous?
"Hey. You might want to watch that mouth. Presumptuous? What have you been doing sitting on your ass this whole time, only to show up now and start lecturing me about my place? You looking to die?"
Hwa-ryeong's eyes narrowed at Do-ha's scathing tirade.
"I had heard the rumors, but you truly are lawless."
"Hahaha. Hey, Canteas. You hear that? He just called me lawless."
Do-ha burst out laughing and gave Canteas a shove. It had been decades since an immortal had spoken to him like that; the sheer absurdity cracked him up.
Hwa-ryeong's gaze slid over.
"Hand it over."
"Hand what over?"
"The Furcas you claimed. I know it is not dead yet. So surrender it."
"…Oh, brother."
Canteas shook his head at Hwa-ryeong's behavior. A rookie Mountain God, was he? Acting like that toward Do-ha.
"…You… now that I look at you, Yeon So-bong must have been greasing your palm pretty well."
Do-ha studied Hwa-ryeong with a thin, cold smile. He had wondered how a Mountain God could leave his mountain at all—and the answer was tribute. Yeon So-bong had piled offerings high enough to loosen the binding placed on Hwa-ryeong.
Once an immortal assumed the office of Mountain God, he could not leave his territory. Think of it as a civil servant's jurisdiction—though the comparison only went so far, since ordinary people could wander free of their districts without consequence. The reason Hwa-ryeong could roam at will was entirely thanks to Yeon So-bong's offerings. When tribute to Seon-gye accumulated past a certain threshold, reasonable requests were granted—and every time, Yeon So-bong had apparently bought Hwa-ryeong stretches of free time.
"The man who used to buy you leave is dead, so now you can't leave your mountain—and sitting still for that pisses you off. So you figured you'd hand a demon over to Seon-gye and wriggle free of the Mountain God post altogether."
Hwa-ryeong's mouth shut tight. He had heard the rumors, but this one was genuinely sharp.
"Since you understand, this conversation should go smoothly. Hand it over."
"Did you eat rat poison? Smoothly, my ass. What exactly makes you think this is going smoothly?"
"…Have you forgotten that I am a Mountain God? Even you should know what that means."
"Looks like you're the one who forgot I'm the Absolute Being."
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Third Step — Cheonhyeon Geumgang
A low hum built behind Do-ha. Of the four arms that bloomed from his back, one shot forward and smashed into Hwa-ryeong at blinding speed.
"I spoke kindly, and still you insist on drinking the cup of punishment."
Hwa-ryeong flicked the fan in his hand. A colossal gale roared up, pressing hard against Do-ha—but in the next instant, as Hwa-ryeong closed the distance with a shrinking-earth step, Do-ha's hand clamped around him.
"Even if you begged for forgiveness, I wasn't planning to let it slide."
One of the arms at Do-ha's back drove straight down, pinning Hwa-ryeong like a nail hammered into wood—not a punch, but the flat of a fist slamming his skull into the earth. Hwa-ryeong hit the ground in a single breath and wiped the blood streaming down his face. How long had it been since he became an immortal and last came down from the clouds?
"You bastard!"
The sight of his own blood sent Hwa-ryeong into a fury. He hauled his power higher. He had intended to show a measure of courtesy to the Absolute Being who had saved the world—but enough of that.
The air shuddered. With a light sweep of his fan, the sky itself began to tremble.
"In the Western Continent, I believe they call this a Meteor?"
Three enormous meteors tore free of the heavens and plummeted. Hwa-ryeong smiled. It wasn't magic, but he could manage attacks of a similar kind.
"Wow. I've never seen an immortal this deranged. There's a village right there and he's dropping Meteors on it."
Canteas stared at the sky and barked a hollow laugh. How had an idiot like this ever become an immortal?
"He probably checked that there are no people nearby before casting."
Do-ha shrugged and shot high into the air.
"Hey, moron."
"What…? Moron?!"
"Since you were nice enough to make me some Meteors, I'll show you something good. Normally I couldn't pull this off at my current level—so thanks."
"What are you—"
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Tenth Step — Tuseok
A staggering torrent of power erupted from Do-ha's body as he looked down on Hwa-ryeong. The name was almost insultingly simple—Stone Throw. The force it carried was anything but.
The three arms at Do-ha's back seized the three falling meteors.
"You made them. You can have them back."
The Cheonhyeon Geumgang arms whipped the meteors at Hwa-ryeong the way a pitcher hurls a fastball. Hwa-ryeong's eyes flew wide; he snapped his fan open and wrapped himself in a barrier. The meteors came screaming in dozens of times faster than they had fallen from the sky.
"Th-this much I can—"
He blocked the first and managed a smile. The sight had startled him, but it was still within his means. Do-ha gave him no room to breathe.
"Two left. Try not to drop them."
He flung the remaining pair in rapid succession. The world vanished in a choking storm of dust, as if a volcano had just erupted. Canteas swept his staff and sent the cloud boiling skyward—revealing Hwa-ryeong collapsed on the ground, coughing blood. He had somehow stopped two. The third throw shattered his defense completely.
"Not bad for a Mountain God. Most people just die when they take that hit."
Do-ha smirked and walked over. He wasn't mocking—he was genuinely impressed. Even admitting his own realm was still incomplete, to eat that attack head-on and stay standing… and his life wasn't even hanging by a thread.
"So why'd you show up and pick a fight, you moron?"
Do-ha sealed Hwa-ryeong's pressure points; the Mountain God went limp. Then Do-ha set his foot on the immortal's head. Anyone who picked a fight with him had to pay the price, after all.
"I'm being considerate, you know. Killing you while you're unconscious."
Just as he was about to crush Hwa-ryeong's skull underfoot, a figure burst down from the clouds in a panic.
"I was wondering how long you'd stay hiding up there. Finally crawled out, huh?"
Do-ha grinned at Dool. He had known from the moment Hwa-ryeong appeared that Dool was lurking in the clouds as well.
"P-please spare him just this once! The fellow's eyes for the world are dim—he simply made a mistake!"
"Usually the only way a man's eyes get opened is by dying once."
"I beg you, spare him! If you kill Hwa-ryeong—"
"If I what?"
Dool clamped his mouth shut. He had been about to say that killing Hwa-ryeong would make an enemy of all Seon-gye—but the instant those words left his lips, there would be no taking them back. The Absolute Being Baek Do-ha was not a man who feared Seon-gye. If Seon-gye attacked him, he would simply cross over and start slaughtering immortals by the score. He would die in the end, yes—but not before leaving Seon-gye with wounds it could never heal.
"If I what?"
"I-if you kill him… the mountain will have no Mountain God left to guard it…"
"A new one gets assigned the moment the old one dies. Not exactly a crisis."
Do-ha put weight into his leg. Dool cried out.
"I will pay a price equal to a Mountain God's life!"
"Is there anything worth a Mountain God's life?"
"Th-the…"
"If the next word out of your mouth is Yeouiju, my leg's going to get a lot heavier."
"…I was thinking there must be any number of things."
Dool bit his lip. Even a Yeouiju was staggeringly precious—and Do-ha had waved it off.
Damn it… what am I supposed to offer him?
Hwa-ryeong had to live. Dool was the one who had brought him here. If the Mountain God died, the blame would land on Dool at once—and the punishment would be severe. With a demon involved, it could go as far as stripping him of immortality itself. Hwa-ryeong could not die.
How is Baek Do-ha this strong? He was still only at the Hwa-gyeong realm. Dool seethed inwardly—unaware that the Absolute Being's Hwa-gyeong was not remotely the same grade as a martial artist's.
"Hey. What are you giving me? You testing how far my patience goes?"
"I-if there is something you desire, name it! If it is within my power to give, I will hand it over at once!"
"Something I desire…"
Do-ha's eyes narrowed. Dool flinched without meaning to. Why was he looking at him like that? So unnervingly?
"Hand over a Bando."
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Dool recoiled with a shout of pure horror. The Bando—the Peaches of Immortality tended by the Queen Mother of the West. Aside from the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother herself, no one in existence was permitted to possess them.