Chapter 482
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 482
Chapter Title: Something's Amiss
"Hah."
Won Pyeong-sam let out a sigh.
It was because of the wretched state of the man standing before him.
He had lost both arms and one leg.
Yeong So-hyang stood silently behind him.
The freakish figure without arms or a leg glared with murderous intent pouring from his eyes.
From his body,
poisonous energy began to seep out slowly.
Won Pyeong-sam noticed it immediately.
"Hold your breath."
He gave the short order to Yeong So-hyang and stopped his own breathing as well.
He circulated his internal energy to resist the poison.
He had been told this was the owner of the Poison Pearl.
So he could guess just how vicious the poison would be.
But the poison that seeped into Won Pyeong-sam's skin after he held his breath wasn't as ferocious as he'd expected.
It was potent, of course.
But not to the level one would expect from the Poison Pearl's toxin.
The reason was simple.
Ha Mu-baek's final strike.
It hadn't just taken his remaining arm and leg.
His dantian had been damaged as well, and right now, all his internal energy and poison were being poured into regenerating those lost limbs.
That was why the poison wasn't at full strength.
And why Won Pyeong-sam found it weaker than anticipated.
'As expected...'
Watching his foe endure his poison, Myo Gu-eung ground his teeth.
His top priority was recovering his internal energy.
Once recovered, he needed to heal his damaged dantian and regrow his severed limbs.
Regrowing limbs sounded impossible.
But Narak had said it was possible.
And slowly, ever so slowly, something was sprouting from the severed wounds.
Won Pyeong-sam looked at Myo Gu-eung, who leaned against the wall, and his face filled with shock.
He'd thought it was just severed limbs.
But no.
The stumps were bulging outward.
According to what he'd heard from the Heavenly Poison Valley Lord, there hadn't been enough time for even the wounds to heal.
'Is this truly the Manhwang...?'
It was absurd.
But the sight of the wounds fully healing and swelling up made one assumption inevitable.
"Regenerating your limbs, are you?"
"Who are you?"
A rough, raspy voice shot out sharply.
"Won Pyeong-sam. I've come from the Great Heaven in search of the Manhwang's flames."
It was the same answer as before.
The only difference was that Won Pyeong-sam had revealed his name.
"Great Heaven? Was there such a place in the world?"
At the skeptical question,
Won Pyeong-sam slowly explained about the Great Heaven, the True Demon Heaven.
The man before him had ignited one of the Manhwang's flames.
He was someone to win over.
So Won Pyeong-sam continued his tale patiently.
Not only Myo Gu-eung was drawn in by the explanation.
Yeong So-hyang, standing behind Won Pyeong-sam, was captivated too.
She had heard about the Great Heaven before.
But the explanation he was giving this freak was far more detailed.
"And so we met one fragment of the Manhwang briefly, but he vanished soon after, leaving behind eight candle flames. Afterward, we waited long ages. Awaiting the time he foretold."
"Time?"
"When all the Manhwang's flames are lit, remaking the world anew!"
As Won Pyeong-sam spoke, Myo Gu-eung's eyes flickered with complex emotions.
Then,
"Who was that Manhwang?"
He posed the question, relaying a will from within.
"Narak's question?"
Won Pyeong-sam asked,
and Myo Gu-eung nodded.
"The Manhwang shattered into eight fragments, each bearing the essence of the world. The records state that the one we met held the essence of the heavens."
The Manhwang Chronicle.
In some unfathomable ancient time.
Perhaps thousands of years ago, one day,
the True Demon Heaven encountered the Manhwang.
They recorded the event and passed it down through generations,
awaiting the time.
When all eight Manhwang fragments awakened,
and the world turned upside down, opening their heaven.
Myo Gu-eung's eyes sank deep.
He conversed with Narak.
And reached a conclusion.
"What do you want from me?"
"To come to the Heaven and help prepare the new world."
"My position?"
"Second only to the Sovereign. The other Manhwang fragment bearers will be the same, no doubt. But right now, you're the only one whose flame is lit."
"For such a position, your words are awfully curt."
At Myo Gu-eung's retort, Won Pyeong-sam smiled faintly.
He could sense the man was nearly won over.
"You must go to the Heaven and receive the Sovereign's recognition first."
Myo Gu-eung nodded.
"I am Myo Gu-eung."
And then,
he shared his own story.
Grind.
As she listened,
Yeong So-hyang ground her teeth.
Myo Gu-eung cast a puzzled glance at her reaction,
and Won Pyeong-sam explained.
"My disciple. She harbors a grudge against that Ha Mu-baek too."
The explanation made sense, so Myo Gu-eung nodded.
Once the tales were done,
'Ha Mu-baek... What kind of man is he...?'
He couldn't help but wonder.
As Won Pyeong-sam fell into thought,
Myo Gu-eung spoke again.
"I can regenerate my limbs. Once I recover all my power, I'll tear that Ha Mu-baek bastard apart. We go to the Heaven after that. Can you help me until then?"
At Myo Gu-eung's question,
Won Pyeong-sam thought briefly,
then replied.
"Very well."
Just as planned.
They had entered the Central Plains for two purposes.
To investigate Shakyamuni's movements and to find traces of the flame-ignited Manhwang.
This moment fulfilled both.
Early morning.
Just as dawn was breaking.
The Demon-Sealing Corps had finished all preparations to depart.
The Dragon Training Pavilion cadets were ready too.
The Fierce Dragon Corps members stayed behind with Han Seol-bing.
No matter what, the Fierce Dragon Corps belonged here in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
The Dragon Training Pavilion cadets would return to the pavilion under their instructors' lead.
The Demon-Sealing Corps would head straight back to the main alliance with Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong.
They needed to decide on measures for them back there.
And Ha Mu-baek would accompany them on that journey.
Thus, from the early hour, they bustled about and set off on their separate paths.
With Ha Mu-baek along, maintaining and dispelling Han Seol-bing's ice arts on the frozen corpses posed no issue.
Han Seol-bing saw off the two groups departing with the Fierce Dragon Corps members.
Ha Seol-ran watched the procession with sorrowful eyes.
Her dear brother was leaving again.
Behind her stood Wi Ji-gun with a composed expression.
'You'll overcome this too.'
He gazed at his disciple's back with eyes full of faith.
Rumors of the near-cataclysmic battle and its outcome in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest began to spread bit by bit.
Inevitably so.
There had been witnesses to the fight.
Mostly desperate herb gatherers risking their lives for Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest herbs.
Among them were several Blood Cult members.
But they had survived the bloodbath.
Because they lacked internal energy.
They had slipped past Ha Mu-baek's senses.
The Blood Cult spies disguised as herb gatherers cautiously watched Ha Mu-baek's retreating figure as he left the forest.
"Whew. Finally, that monster's leaving."
"What now?"
"What do you mean? We become real herb gatherers."
Someone sighed, and another replied.
"What about the cult?"
Another question.
"Didn't you see that monster? We don't need to see to know what state the main base is in now... Who cares about the cult?"
That was the answer from the one who'd suggested becoming real gatherers.
"The Blood God will be furious."
One with deep loyalty to the cult growled angrily.
"Hmph, Blood God? That monster'll wipe him out too."
"You dare...!"
The angry man's rage grew,
but he could do nothing.
They were all ordinary herb gatherers without internal energy.
They had been recruited by Il-no and pledged to the Blood Cult,
but that was it.
No blood arts or special martial techniques taught.
Truly ordinary herb gatherers.
The only difference was their sharp eyes.
"Besides, the Cult Leader's dead, the elders are gone, and the main base is probably wiped out. So what now? Worship the Blood God alone if you want—that's your choice. I'm done. Back to being a plain old herb gatherer."
The messenger birds they'd sent showed no return.
The man who said that turned away.
Those sneaking glances followed suit, slinking off.
Only a few remained.
They too scattered soon after.
They had grasped reality.
The enraged herb gatherer stood alone.
He glared at the departing gatherers with fury-filled eyes.
"Traitorous scum."
Muttering that, he too began walking slowly.
In a different direction from the others.
Toward the Blood Cult's main base.
The place he'd visited only once, upon joining.
The journey to Luoyang proceeded smoothly.
They hurried, arriving faster than expected.
But the rumors spread even faster.
Thus,
the atmosphere at the Righteous Heaven Alliance headquarters was chaotic.
The return of the Demon-Sealing Corps,
and the fallen warriors.
Yet the alliance warriors' eyes darted busily.
Searching for the rumored warrior.
Who was that mysterious figure who single-handedly swept away the jiangshi that even Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong struggled against?
No, a monster.
The herb gatherers had watched from afar.
They'd seen the monster,
but not Ha Mu-baek's face or attire.
They hadn't dared approach closer.
Il-no would have guessed Ha Mu-baek from that alone, but he was already dead and gone.
However,
the rumors would change now.
With the Demon-Sealing Corps back at the alliance, details would spread from their mouths.
"Hm."
Yeon Ja-kyeong frowned.
Ha Mu-baek was with the Leader's return.
The entire Demon-Sealing Corps had come back too.
With the fallen's corpses all frozen in ice arts.
'Something's up.'
His instincts warned him.
It wouldn't be good for him.
Yeon Ja-kyeong acted swiftly.
He erased all traces linking the Demon-Sealing Corps and the Kongtong Sect to himself.
The parts tied by the White Flower Self-Light Herb were unavoidable, but everything else, he wiped clean.
Especially anything related to the Demon-Sealing Corps.
'Do Sim-geuk is dead, and Yang Bi-chang is imprisoned.'
Of course it was bad.
The moment he heard those names, what flashed in Yeon Ja-kyeong's mind was,
'Inner pellets.'
The jiangshi inner pellets.
Hadn't the Heavenly Mechanism Book said it?
The Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest was like a breeding ground for spirit pellets.
He had gifted Yeon Ja-kyeong a pellet made from one, but he'd refused and returned it.
No other reason.
Before being a crafty Righteous Heaven Alliance elder, he was a martial artist.
He might deal with Blood Cult scum in the shadows,
but he couldn't consume a jiangshi inner pellet.
Yeon Ja-kyeong drummed his fingers on the armrest, lost in thought.
"Ha Mu-baek..."
He murmured the name.
If it was that guy,
with that guy's temperament,
he'd surely uncovered everything, down to the depths.
Since Yang Bi-chang was imprisoned.
'I might be in danger too.'
Yeon Ja-kyeong rose from his chair.
He double-checked his office and secret vault.
Any remaining secret letters with Il-no?
Any lingering traces?
'It's not just the inner pellets. The tasks the Heavenly Mechanism Book gave his disciples—that's the problem. That's probably why Ha Mu-baek came all this way.'
To turn the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest into a spirit pellet farm,
jiangshi needed to keep appearing endlessly.
To do that,
Yeon Ja-kyeong roughly guessed the Heavenly Mechanism Book's method.
Even Il-no had blackmailed him when jiangshi dwindled in the forest, causing trouble.
And Yeon Ja-kyeong's countermeasure had been the same.
The difference between Heavenly Mechanism Book and Yeon Ja-kyeong was one.
The Heavenly Mechanism Book left traces.
Like the disciple Yang Bi-chang.
Yeon Ja-kyeong had left none.
"Time to abandon the Kongtong Sect."
A cold voice slipped from Yeon Ja-kyeong's lips.