Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: They're All Dead! Come At Me!
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“It's still not enough. I can only summon you, a mere spirit, and not the jiangshi with physical bodies.”
Geon-woo's face showed clear disappointment.
= Hehe. My lord, how can you call that insufficient? You say 'mere spirit,' but I too have the power to aid you.
“That may be true, but your physical strength isn't that great, so I don't have an immediate use for you right now.”
= I apologize, my lord.
Ilryeong could command jiangshi in Geon-woo's stead and wield minor physical force through psychokinesis.
She also excelled at abilities using mental power.
But she offered little help in direct physical combat.
“It's not something for you to apologize for. I could only reach this point because of you, so don't feel sorry over something like that.”
= But in a situation like this, all I can do is keep you company. Couldn't even a living jiangshi like Amryeong do that? The new living jiangshi you'll make from now on could as well.
“Jiangshi are ultimately just more useful tools. There's no need to get attached to them. You're different.”
= You say they're all tools, but won't that change from now on? Now that you can handle spirits, my lord.
“Hmm, you're right about that.”
With his cultivation reaching a new level, Geon-woo could now manipulate the souls of jiangshi.
Before, he had used blood orbs to preserve and transfer their abilities.
Even then, they weren't true jiangshi anymore, so he treated them as disposable tools.
That was why he had always avoided growing attached to them.
But now, with the Cheonnoe Bunshim Je Ryeong Gong advancing to a new realm, he could summon jiangshi spirits directly without blood orbs.
From now on, even in the worst cases, he could recover the spirits, so switching bodies would still mean using the same jiangshi continuously.
The spirit was the true essence, after all.
However.
“Even so, that's not entirely true. There might come times when I need to swap spirits based on necessity. If there's one with better abilities, I'll have to use it.”
Geon-woo still had no desire to grow attached to jiangshi.
They would be made into living jiangshi from demonkin or criminal users anyway, most of whom he would kill personally. Attachment? No.
= Understood. I shall follow your will, my lord.
Seeing Geon-woo's firm resolve, Ilryeong immediately acquiesced.
“Alright then, shall we clean up those guys outside now?”
= Hehe. I will aid you with all my might, my lord.
“Thanks, but leave this one to me. I need to test the power of my newly evolved Yeonga Jiangshi Technique. Plus, my mental strength has grown tremendously thanks to the advancement in Cheonnoe Bunshim Je Ryeong Gong. It means I've shaken off much of the suppression on supernatural powers in this cavern.”
His psychokinetic power was now much freer to use, giving Geon-woo confidence against the demonkin.
Not only had his physical abilities and durability multiplied several times over with the growth of his Jiangshi Technique, but unless it was a special case, no demonkin weapon could even scratch his skin now.
On top of that, his bolstered mental strength from the Cheonnoe Bunshim Je Ryeong Gong had lifted many restrictions on his psychokinesis.
With just a bit of effort, he could easily overcome the interference the demonkin were deploying from outside.
With his psychokinesis freed up like that, escaping by shaking off the demonkin outside wouldn't be hard if he wanted.
“Not a single one will escape.”
But why run when the situation was like this?
Geon-woo shot to his feet, his eyes gleaming.
* * *
Ka-gang! Ka-gang! Ka-ka-ka-kak! Srrrrk!
“Hahaha! This is really something.”
The demonkin swords, spears, and axes stabbing and slashing at Geon-woo's body only sparked and bounced off.
Sometimes, their sharp edges would even slide harmlessly along the contours of his body, drawing mad laughter from Geon-woo.
Ha-ra-cha! Mak-ka-dak! Ha-ma!
Da-ro-ni! Ha-ra-cha-da-ra! Ma-ma-ha-ma!
The demonkin hesitated at Geon-woo's display, stepping back.
Ka-ga-ga-gang!
Da-ra-ma-ti-ra! Pae-ta-ha!
The leader charging from behind and raining blows on Geon-woo's neck bellowed in rage.
“Isn't it cool? Your attacks are useless. Well, they sting a little.”
Even the leader was only marginally better than his underlings—a mere fifty paces to their hundred.
All he'd managed was a shallow scratch.
And even that vanished without a trace after one stroke.
It was the regeneration effect of the evolved Yeonga Jiangshi Technique.
Ssss!
“Honestly, I never imagined something like this was possible.”
Originally, the Jiangshi Technique absorbed energy from corpses.
The type of energy it could absorb depended on what the corpse held.
Right after death, it could take in some vital energy and use it to heal.
But from older corpses, it mostly drew in toxic or deathly qi.
The superior Yeonga Jiangshi Technique could selectively absorb what it needed, maintaining bodily balance.
Even so, the older the corpse, the less usable energy it provided—that was unavoidable.
Yet who would have thought he'd gain such an enormous boon from an unknown corpse buried deep in this cavern for who-knows-how-long.
“You guys die first. It'd be great if you died quickly, but is that too greedy?”
Kwa-jik! Hwi-ik! Pa-cha-chang! Seo-geok!
“One down!”
Geon-woo kicked off with such force that the ground shattered like gravel, smashing through the blocking demonkin's weapons and slicing its body diagonally.
Immediately after, three more nearby couldn't even react before their necks and waists were severed by Geon-woo's sword, collapsing.
To-hu-ri-ra! Ha-seo-ra!
The demonkin leader roared at the sight.
Geon-woo instantly grasped the meaning from the demonkin reacting to the cry.
“Escape? As if!”
Kuu-gu-gu-gu-gu-guk!
Geon-woo unleashed psychokinesis to seize the demonkin.
Eo-teong! Ta-tu-pi! Ta-du-ri-ttra!
Ka-tan, ka-ta-nak!
The demonkin flailed as their feet were bound by Geon-woo's psychokinesis.
Starting from the farthest, their ankles and calves sank into the ground.
As their steps were halted, a circular wall rose, forming a dome that enclosed Geon-woo and all the demonkin.
It was just like the one he often used for creature hunts in the past.
Only now it was far larger in scale, and instead of creatures, it trapped demonkin.
“Escaping is impossible anyway. So stop resisting and die nicely, okay?”
Geon-woo grinned widely at the demonkin, who now seemed to have lost even the will to fight.
Then he charged again, swinging his sword.
“There are no emotions between us but hatred and loathing anyway. Hostility and murderous intent, maybe.”
Seo-geok! Ttsrit! Seo-geok, seo-geok!
Kiiiiiik! Kaaak!
The demonkin couldn't block Geon-woo's sword, now greatly evolved by his Jiangshi Technique.
Even forcing a block only bought them a strike or two before their heads came off.
Attempts to break through the dome wall failed; Geon-woo had made it with intent, so it wouldn't yield easily.
Failing once only made that spot thicker and tougher, a hopeless situation no matter how hard they tried.
Hwae-aek! Cha-rak!
“Now it's just you left?”
Soon after, Geon-woo flicked the blood from his blade and pointed the tip at the demonkin leader.
Ma, a-sal-ja-sa-i-ra! Gan-du-ta!
“What's that? 'Just die' or something?”
Geon-woo rested his sword tip on the ground and tossed the futile question at the ranting leader.
The leader tried to respond.
“But why listen to words I can't even understand?”
Hwi-ik!
“Huh? You don't wanna die that easily?”
Geon-woo's swing passed right through the demonkin leader's body again.
It had turned incorporeal, like an illusion.
“You little shit!”
Geon-woo snarled in irritation and began slashing up, down, left, and right.
The leader's phasing was just another supernatural ability, still bound by the cavern's suppression.
It couldn't last long in that state.
= My lord! Wait, just give me a chance.
But Ilryeong flew to Geon-woo's ear and stopped him.
“What? A chance for what?”
Geon-woo asked, still swinging.
The demonkin leader stood motionless, watching Geon-woo.
= In that state, my attacks should work. Give me the chance, and I'll subdue and capture it alive.
“What? Capture it alive?”
Geon-woo was so startled that his swing at the leader faltered.
He had been killing all the demonkin because capturing them alive wasn't feasible.
Killing was easy; capturing and managing them alive was hard.
Without something like paralyzing poison effective on demonkin—like with Dokryeong—he could knock them out briefly or bury them, but that meant little.
Truth be told, he'd let the leader survive to the end out of greed for its phasing ability.
He wanted to turn it into a living jiangshi.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have spared the leader last.
= My lord, I can handle it in that state. And though I appear this way, I am a refined and strengthened jiangshi. Am I not your First Spirit?
“Hmm, fine. Give it a shot. It'll be nice to see your full-sized form after so long.”
Ilryeong pleaded earnestly, and Geon-woo finally relented.
If she started losing, he could always step in.
= Thank you, my lord. I won't disappoint you.
Ilryeong bowed in the air on one knee, then turned toward the demonkin leader.
Her half-spirit form, no bigger than a forearm, expanded to full size.
The demonkin leader flinched as Ilryeong appeared from thin air, its pupils narrowing to slits.
= Hey, do you understand me? Oh, you don't? Well, same here, so whatever. First, take this.
The moment she materialized, Ilryeong spoke and flung a yellow Monster Emperor Paper Talisman from her sleeve at the leader.
The leader swung its sword at the incoming talisman.
Cha-ang! Ka-gak!
“Playing tricks now, you bastard?”
But Geon-woo casually blocked the sword.
Meanwhile, the talisman etched with strange script and patterns fluttered onto the leader's forehead.
= Let's see how you like this.
Ilryeong then pulled another talisman from her sleeve and stuck it to her own forehead.
Instantly, both Ilryeong and the demonkin leader froze.
“Mm?”
= My lord! We're locked in a mental power struggle right now. Please don't be alarmed.
‘It's not the mental struggle that's the issue. That guy's memories are flowing into my head!’
= What? How is that possible?
Ilryeong sent a startled thought back.
‘I don't know the cause. But it's clear his memories are flowing to me through you.’
Geon-woo frowned slightly at the unfamiliar memories of the demonkin leader transmitted via Ilryeong.
= I can't read his memories, but you can, my lord. Is it causing you any harm? If so, remove the talisman from his forehead at once.
Seeing Geon-woo's frown, Ilryeong immediately offered a solution.
‘What if I do?’
= He'll suffer a massive mental shock.
‘And you?’
= It wouldn't be my talisman coming off, so I'd be fine.
Ilryeong answered Geon-woo's rapid questions without hesitation, as if prepared.
She had everything ready for contingencies.
‘Even if you started losing the mental struggle, you'd have asked me to do that, huh?’
= Either way, his mind would be ruined. But are you alright, my lord?
‘I'm fine. In fact, buy me a bit more time. I can learn a lot from his memories.’