Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: I Never Imagined Spirit Control Had Changed This Much?
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= How is this possible?
= What is this? Release me right now!
Shepalt's ghost hovering whitishly in the air and the black skull-shaped Vladiclaw perched on Geon-woo's palm.
Realizing something was off about their states, they began unleashing their thoughts explosively.
“What a fateful connection. I met you two together once before and let you slip away so futilely.”
Geon-woo gazed once each at Shepalt's ghost and Vladiclaw's soul, his face beaming brightly.
“But today, I've caught you both at once like this? How could our fates be anything ordinary? Hahaha!”
Geon-woo teased Shepalt and Vladiclaw as he burst into hearty laughter.
And there wasn't a shred of pretense in that laugh.
He was genuinely that delighted.
“I'm in a good mood. Catching you like this, and the massive explosion using chaos mana—everything.”
Geon-woo muttered to himself and nodded.
= How can you capture my soul? What kind of technique is this?!
Vladiclaw scattered his thoughts hysterically, unable to accept his situation.
“I told you, you shouldn't underestimate people like that. Just because you escaped easily last time doesn't mean it'll happen again. Things change day by day, and some people can adapt.”
= Day by... What are you talking about?!
“Just stay put. It'll be hard to have a proper chat with me later if you waste your energy now. You're second in line anyway.”
= W-Wait, what are you...?
Geon-woo pushed Vladiclaw's soul, which lay in the form of a black skull on his palm, into the tattoo space on the back of his left hand.
Vladiclaw's soul had already undergone the preliminary process of becoming a jiangshi spirit, leaving it unable to escape Geon-woo's grasp.
The evolved Heavenly Brain Diversified Spirit Control Divine Art had effortlessly subdued Vladiclaw's soul.
“Alright then, shall we talk? But with our current situation, is this non-face-to-face contact or face-to-face?”
Geon-woo said, looking at Shepalt's ghost floating in the air.
= It's clearly just a mental link—how is this possible?
Shepalt directed his incredulous question at Geon-woo.
His soul was definitely housed in his main body back at the estate.
The clone that had come here was merely operated through a mental connection.
= My clone was destroyed, so why is my mind trapped here?!
Shepalt thrust his thoughts strongly at Geon-woo once more.
“Come on, yelling like that won't change anything, so let's just talk.”
= T-Talk? What do you want to talk about?
“Nothing much. Just a declaration of war, that sort of thing.”
= What? A declaration of war? From you to me?
“Yeah. That's why I caught you. Tormenting you here might cause problems for your main body too, right?”
= What nonsense? What problems? I'm just manipulating the clone like a dream.
Shepalt shook his head in disbelief at Geon-woo's words.
But Geon-woo didn't miss the tense expression on Shepalt's illusion.
“You'll find out when it happens. Dreams can leave trauma if they're vivid enough.”
With that, Geon-woo strongly drew up his spirit control energy.
= W-What? What are you planning...?
Shepalt's clone moved through a connected consciousness rather than a soul.
He could sever the mental link at any time and abandon the clone without harm to the main body.
Of course, such clones weren't easy to make, and using significant power required drawing from the main body—a drawback.
Still, in terms of utility and safety, nothing beat it.
It was the secret technique that had propelled Shepalt to his marquis position.
= Kugh! Kraaaah!
But Shepalt had never imagined a situation like this while using his clone.
Being tortured while his mind was trapped, unable to return to his main body.
“How's that? Fun, right? Even with just your mind left, the pain feels like your whole body's there.”
Geon-woo taunted Shepalt's ghost as it writhed and screamed in the air.
Whoosh!
= Kraaaah! Kraaaah!
This time, flames ignited on Shepalt's ghost and began to burn.
Shepalt screamed as he felt the agony of his entire body burning.
= How... How is this...? Such pain from something like this! Kweeeh! Kweh!
As the flames briefly died down, Shepalt muttered in disbelief before screaming again.
“Wounds need fuXX—no, coarse salt.”
= Kweeeh! Kweeeh!
“You must be wondering why it hurts so much. You should be able to endure that level easily.”
Geon-woo chuckled.
“It's because the pain acts directly on your mind, not your body. Like pouring it straight on without a filter?”
= Krrrk! Krrrrk!
While Geon-woo explained, Shepalt's ghost in the air grew faint and shook.
“Ah, that's it. No mental energy left. Too bad.”
Geon-woo had trapped Shepalt's mind in the clone, preventing it from returning to the main body.
At the same time, he blocked the severance of the connection between body and mind.
The main body could theoretically abandon this portion of the mind entirely, but that would mean losing part of it.
That was as serious as losing a fragment of the soul, potentially causing a drop in rank.
That's why Shepalt endured the torture to the end, maintaining the mental link.
Thanks to that, as the mind here was depleted, an equivalent amount recovered in the main body.
Like pressing one side pushes the other—like squeezing a balloon—the trapped mind flowed back to Shepalt.
Of course, it came with the full mental pain Geon-woo inflicted.
“Remember what I said earlier? Declaration of war. Wait just a bit. I'll come to you myself.”
Just before Shepalt's mind-shaped ghost dispersed, Geon-woo issued the warning.
= I... I'll be waiting.
Shepalt responded in a chilling voice thick with rage, and then the mental link severed.
“Whew. That wasn't easy.”
After Shepalt's ghost fully vanished and the mind departed, Geon-woo let out a deep breath.
Using the evolved spirit control art to trap and torture Shepalt's mind hadn't come without cost, even if it didn't show outwardly.
It had consumed an enormous amount of mental energy.
The greatly evolved spirit control art could now interfere with souls or minds protected by mind power, but at the price of massive mental expenditure.
“I said it's not maintained by internal energy from the start. A special power—the power of the brain, called brain force?”
Sometimes called psychic power or mental strength.
In any case, trapping Vladiclaw and Shepalt, and mentally torturing Shepalt, wasn't easy for Geon-woo.
“Still, the results with spirit control are satisfying. A bit more refinement, and efficiency will improve.”
Geon-woo muttered as he focused his mind inward.
The method from moments ago: using telekinetic force to suspend dust in the air and detonating it.
It utilized the known mechanism of dust explosions, but crucially, the mana used was chaos mana.
Chaos mana, once exclusive to Great Demonic Vein residents, could now be wielded by bio-armor implant recipients who had learned the jiangshi art.
The three living jiangshi Geon-woo had deployed earlier used chaos mana because they were all bio-armor implant recipients.
The issue was that after crossing over, they had gone astray.
Like turning troublemakers who had to be eliminated into living jiangshi.
As the number of talents recruited from Earth surpassed hundreds into the thousands, impurities began emerging.
It wasn't like that from the start, but inevitably, some lost their initial resolve over time and circumstances.
Moreover, these 'talents' were top-tier elites on Earth.
Their arrogance inevitably caused problems, and harsh punishment followed as a set course.
In any event, with bio-armor implant recipients mastering the jiangshi art now able to use chaos mana, Geon-woo Clinic's forces were surging.
But separately, Geon-woo using chaos mana was an entirely different matter.
It was an unknown fact until now, known only to Pang and Illyeong.
“In a way, it's not accumulating chaos mana in my body.”
Geon-woo summoned a jiangshi spirit from the tattoo space on the back of his left hand.
Not a jiangshi, but a jiangshi spirit possessing jiangshi traits—a special one.
A special jiangshi spirit and jiangshi created to wield chaos mana.
“A living jiangshi made from a Great Demonic Vein resident.”
Geon-woo regarded it with a satisfied gaze.
Great Demonic Vein residents originally lacked physical bodies, existing as energy forms.
This was the prototype: a success in capturing and refining one into a living jiangshi spirit.
“It's a trick—borrowing a jiangshi's power momentarily—but being able to use chaos mana as my own is incredible.”
Spread dust with telekinesis, ignite with chaos mana.
It produced tremendous results, like shattering Vladiclaw and Shepalt moments ago.
But other jiangshi couldn't replicate it exactly.
Only limited jiangshi could wield chaos mana.
“This means I need to accelerate the plan a bit. Secure more powerful living jiangshi spirits. And ultimately, one that can generate its own chaos mana would be ideal.”
This was why Geon-woo had been training by entering and exiting the demonic vein.
To build maximum resistance to chaos mana first, then challenge the residents.
Each victory secured high-grade residents as living jiangshi spirits, aiming eventually for the six kin of the Great Demonic Vein lord—or the lord itself.
“But before that, I need to settle things with Shepalt. This grudge has dragged on too long. Time to test our clinic's combat capabilities too.”
Even now, the Great Demonic Vein remained challenging for Geon-woo.
His limit for enduring chaos mana was approaching.
In a pinch, he could deploy chaos mana-absorbing living jiangshi around to dilute the concentration.
But there was no need to court such risks deliberately.
“By the way, I wonder who it is. The one who leaked my info to Vladiclaw or Shepalt. They knew my schedule pretty accurately.”
Launching his body out of the Great Demonic Vein, Geon-woo resolved to hunt some rats.