The Ghost King's Last Stand
As soon as he stepped into the gorge, Han Yujin felt a faint twist in his spatial perception. Even through the Yin-Yang True Dragon Eye, the distortion was visible, yet the fact that he could see it with his own eyes only made him step forward with even less hesitation.
Though the terrain clearly opened wide toward the sky above, it felt exactly like entering a cave.
The surroundings plunged into sudden darkness, carrying a bone-chilling cold. The place was so thick with malevolent energy that it felt almost liquid, enough to unsettle and agitate any ordinary person.
If this is the Taiyi Festival, I can’t imagine how bad the Guimen Festival must be.
If the atmosphere was already this oppressive during the Taiyi Festival, during the Guimen Festival he might feel physical resistance to every movement, as if submerged in the deep sea. On the other hand, it would undoubtedly grant ghosts an enormous boost in power.
The gorge floor was an unrecognizable quagmire and swamp, formed from who-knew-what accumulated filth. A poisonous stench rose from it so vile that losing consciousness at the first whiff would not have been surprising.
For a moment he considered summoning the formal attire ghost, but quickly abandoned the idea.
Since he had begun refining it again with the Spirit-Controlling Ghost Command Art, he had lost even the limited control he once held over the entity. Releasing it in this environment carried more than a fifty percent chance of rebellion.
Besides, now that he possessed the Yin-Yang True Dragon Eye, he no longer strictly needed the creature’s help.
This way.
Following the direction where the malevolent energy grew thicker and the spatial distortion intensified, he advanced. At the same time, he carefully observed the surrounding phenomena that were undoubtedly manifestations of the ‘Ghost Gate.’
He couldn’t fully understand the power, nor could he use it himself, but simply analyzing its structure and effects was more than enough to spark inspiration.
If I construct the core framework with my own illusion arts and shape the environment using the Five Elements of the Taiyi, perhaps I could create a similar phenomenon.
It would feel something like the “Domain Expansion” that appeared in those old manhwa.
Though I’m not sure how useful something like that would actually be.
He continued moving while lost in thought.
Suddenly, his head snapped downward. The heavy, viscous ground erupted like an explosion, and a massive black hand burst forth, lunging to engulf him.
The black hand slammed down with terrifying force.
Using the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art, Han Yujin effortlessly evaded. The spot he had just occupied was crushed, sending shockwaves rippling outward. A nauseating stench of rotting corpses accompanied a thick, visible greenish corpse poison that spread like fog, obscuring his vision.
But immediately after—
Purple Heaven Divine Lightning
A deafening thunderclap shook the gorge as purple lightning tore through the fog and struck the hand dead-on.
─···!!!
A layered shriek, overlapping dozens of times, erupted as the hand vanished back into the ground as quickly as it had appeared.
To any observer, it would have looked like a clean victory. Yet Han Yujin’s expression hardened as he spoke.
“Muyong, stay close. Don’t let go.”
Jjik-!
The moment he released the hand that had been cradling her and drew upon the power of Great Extinction Water—
Explosions erupted from every direction as the ground trembled. Dozens upon dozens of enormous black hands burst forth.
“Aaaaaahhh…”
“Kuuuugh… kuhuuuugh…”
“Uuuuughhh…!”
Countless howls, laments, and sobs intertwined, drowning out the earlier explosions and echoing through the gorge. The sound was intense enough to make even seasoned exorcists clutch their ears in agony. It carried a curse-like power that shook emotions and eroded the soul.
All at once, the hands struck without leaving the slightest gap, perfectly coordinated like a joint assault formation. It felt as if the very sky were collapsing.
In response, Han Yujin’s hands moved. Great Extinction Water swept outward.
What appeared to be light, casual motions stretched into countless afterimages, each following completely unobstructed trajectories that projected raw power. It was the palm technique derived from the famous Falling Flowers Chasing Shadows style of the martial world.
An indescribable roar erupted alongside a vast crimson explosion.
When the harmony of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements was reversed, it became the power of absolute extinction—capable of annihilating all matter and severing even spiritual energy strand by strand until nothing remained.
That power violently repelled every black hand that had lunged toward him. At the same time, it clung to the entities with a malice far more vicious and persistent than the curses they had emitted, tearing them apart as if thousands of invisible blades were ripping them to shreds.
The howls, laments, and sobs transformed into shrieks and screams of agony. Even the torrential downpour of dark red blood that began to fall evaporated before it could touch the ground, consumed by the power of extinction.
More than half the black hands were destroyed before they could even flee. Those that had retreated into the ground and walls would not be able to emerge again so easily.
“All bark and no bite,” Han Yujin remarked calmly.
In truth, he had felt a slight tension when he first sensed the hands’ presence, which was why he had even freed the hand holding Muyong. Yet he spoke with deliberate nonchalance as he gazed toward one side of the gorge ahead.
“Lowly ghost, you can’t escape this land anyway. Do you plan to keep hiding? Or will you only show yourself after I smash this entire place to pieces?”
At that moment—
A sigh-like groan from an overwhelmingly massive being reverberated through the air.
The surrounding environment trembled. The darkness deepened, and a wailing gale began to howl like the cries of ghosts.
When Han Yujin glanced upward, he saw a dense fog resembling black clouds that completely blocked his view. The Yin-Yang True Dragon Eye easily pierced the mist, but what lay beyond was not the sky.
Incredibly, the gorge terrain itself had been flipped upside down and placed over them like a lid. In other words, even if he soared into the air, he would only be slammed back down somewhere within the gorge.
Even though its power has weakened, this is still its home territory.
Truly, the saying that even a mutt becomes bold in its own yard was no empty phrase.
Yet after carefully examining the inverted gorge terrain that covered the sky, Han Yujin regained his confidence. He judged that, if necessary, he could simply force his way through.
Then—
Rumble…!
Something enormous and heavy dragged across the ground. A figure emerged from the thick fog ahead.
It was a ghost of truly inhuman size. Large enough to pick up a full-grown adult between two fingers. Long, filthy hair hung wildly, completely obscuring its face.
The garments it wore were dark red, as if soaked through with countless layers of blood. From various spots, ghostly blue-green patterns flickered into existence before fading away. The clothes were so tattered that it was impossible to tell whether the ghost had been male or female in life.
Clank…!
The heavy dragging sound came from the broken iron chains attached to pitch-black restraints on its limbs. It was clear this Ghost King had been a prisoner or slave during its mortal life.
Suddenly, from between the strands of hair, a single eye as dark as the abyss and dripping with blood revealed itself, staring down at Han Yujin. If a gaze could exert physical force, that look—filled with pure hatred and murderous intent—would have crushed its target to death instantly.
“Child…”
A voice like countless overlapping whispers reached him. It sounded at once like a man, a woman, the cry of a child, and the final gasping breath of an old man on his deathbed.
“What do you seek… that you have come here…?”
“Oh? Are you actually trying to negotiate with me?”
Encountering a ghost that could speak after so long, Han Yujin asked with a hint of genuine interest.
But the Ghost King slowly shook its massive head in denial. Its enormous eye narrowed into a slit.
The expression was one of mockery, as though it were watching a hated enemy commit a fatal blunder.
“Even if… you manage to leave this place alive… nothing will change… Nothing at all…”
After a brief silence, Han Yujin smiled back.
“There’s no need to call me a frog in a well. I already know this world is nothing more than a livestock pen.”
At that instant, the Ghost King’s mocking eye widened in shock. At the same time, an overwhelming surge of malevolent energy exploded outward, warping space itself as its two massive arms swung down.
Though its strength was suppressed by the Taiyi Festival’s influence, its inherent dignity had not diminished.
Had an ordinary Core Formation stage exorcist been its opponent, the moment they perceived the overlapping afterimages, they would have already been smashed into a bloody pulp by those arms.
But Han Yujin was no ordinary Core Formation exorcist—he was at the Forbidden Core stage. With the Yin-Yang True Dragon Eye, he could perceive space-time even more clearly than before. He also had experience fighting against Nascent Soul level opponents.
His figure blurred like a streak of light, easily evading the attack. The edge of his hand, shaped by Great Extinction Water, sliced cleanly through the Ghost King’s descending arm.
Blood exploded outward as the power of extinction invaded the wound, tearing through the limb from within. Yet the Ghost King paid it no mind. It charged forward with unnatural speed, its enormous body moving at a terrifying pace.
The monstrous figure barreled forward, shattering the gorge terrain like tofu. Poisonous gas erupted from every footprint while wailing winds thickened the surrounding fog.
“KYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!!!”
The ensuing roar shook Han Yujin’s Six Paths of Reincarnation halo like a candle flame in the wind.
At that exact moment—
The brilliant sword of light that had been resting quietly inside the Monghyeon-gyeong shot forward.
The instant it appeared, a burst of radiance exploded, dispersing all the malevolent energy and fog. A blade large enough to cleave the massive Ghost King in a single stroke left a lingering afterimage burned into the retina as it descended.
Simultaneously, from the darkness behind the Ghost King—darkness as deep as the explosion of light had been bright—another identical blade surged forth, perfectly covering the blind spot.
The advanced spell Five Elements Wilderness Slash consumed a staggering amount of energy, even for Han Yujin, whose Dream Dragon Dharma Power and Dream Dragon Dao Body granted him an absurdly vast reserve.
Still, it was only “slightly burdensome,” never truly excessive. As a complete high-grade technique, the expenditure was perfectly reasonable given that it possessed power on par with the Nascent Soul stage.
In the slowed world, the Ghost King moved desperately, swinging its limbs to block the blades of light and darkness. But weakened by the Taiyi Festival, the cost was devastating.
One arm and one leg were severed without mercy. A waterfall of blood gushed out as uncontrolled malevolent energy rampaged wildly.
Through the chaos, dozens of black threads shot forward like arrows, piercing the Ghost King’s body and rapidly draining its power. At the same time, the front face of the Monghyeon-gyeong reflected the Ghost King before flipping to its reverse side.
On the reversed mirror surface, the Ghost King’s head was severed as if by a guillotine. Simultaneously, the real Ghost King’s neck exploded with another fountain of blood.
It had not been a clean decapitation, but the wound was more than fatal.
─!!!
A scream unlike its previous sharp, threatening roars erupted—countless voices howling in genuine agony.
Immediately afterward, the ghostly blue-green patterns that had sporadically appeared and faded across the Ghost King’s skin and clothing accelerated dramatically. Then, all at once, they burst outward on their own.
“Uwaaaaaang…!”
“Weeeaaang…!”
“Ueeeeng…!”
At first glance they resembled nearly a hundred baby-like figures. But upon closer inspection, their heads were grotesquely twisted, their limbs deformed, and their wide-open eyes were pitch-black abysses. These infant ghosts—Young Ghosts—crawled and swarmed toward Han Yujin.
When examined with the Yin-Yang True Dragon Eye, each one possessed Dharma Soul stage power and carried countless curses. Simply dealing with them would leave lingering consequences.
So this is a ghost technique cultivated over centuries.
Even a single one of these infant ghosts, if dropped onto Earth, would be extremely difficult for hunters alone to handle. And even if they somehow succeeded, the curses would spread like a plague, driving the entire region into a near-anarchic state.
As he assessed the situation, the mirror surface of the Monghyeon-gyeong reflected a scene of countless purple lightning bolts raining down.
Hundreds of purple lightning bolts erupted from the mirror, piercing each infant ghost with perfect accuracy and erasing them from existence.
Unfortunately for the Ghost King, Purple Heaven Divine Lightning was the natural predator of such attacks.
Once again, a pure white sword of light formed on the mirror’s surface and shot toward the Ghost King, which was desperately trying to recover from its injuries and charge forward.
Another brilliant explosion of light. Another descending slash. Simultaneously, an identical strike rose from the newly formed darkness.
This time, more than half of the Ghost King’s torso was torn apart, and its relatively intact remaining arm was severed from the shoulder.
Meanwhile, the black threads from the Blood Spirit Red Flower Wine Bottle—which had been partially severed—shot out once more, piercing the Ghost King’s body and greedily draining its power.
“KYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAH—!!!”
Cornered, the Ghost King unleashed its signature roar and charged with suicidal fury. Despite its massive size, its Nascent Soul level ability made its speed terrifying.
Han Yujin, transformed into a streak of light, rapidly retreated. The Ghost King pursued with monstrous momentum, scattering blood, malevolent energy, and curses like a storm.
The obstructing gorge terrain exploded and shattered. Earthquakes shook the ground as continuous thunderous booms rang out. Even the black hands that had been repelled earlier reappeared to block his path.
Of course, a single sweep of Great Extinction Water scattered them all like fallen leaves, unable to slow him even slightly.
Then, without warning, the Ghost King’s body burrowed into the ground at an impossible speed and vanished. The next instant, it dropped from above in a bizarre freefall, unleashing a roar that tore at both mind and soul.
The sight of the colossal Ghost King descending like that was truly horrifying. Yet strangely, Han Yujin only smiled.
“Thank you.”
After those cryptic words, the Monghyeon-gyeong above his head reflected a scene of more than ten thick lightning bolts striking down.
Unlike before, there were only a dozen or so bolts, but each was extraordinarily thick and carried an aura that made one’s flesh tremble.
The technique, completed in an instant with the assistance of the fusion intelligence spirit Elb, was unleashed before the Ghost King could even complete its attack.
It was an advanced Five Elements technique that, like Divine Transformation of Time, Cloud Dragon Summoning, and Indestructible Cold Ice, could currently only be performed in an incomplete state.
In particular, this high-grade Celestial Lightning Tribulation carried a fatal flaw that was both dangerous and comical: the attack point could only be set directly above the caster’s own head.
Had the Ghost King not positioned itself directly above Han Yujin, this technique could never have been used so effectively.
BOOOOM—!!
Like a heavenly general hurling spears of lightning, more than ten exceptionally thick and ferocious bolts of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning slammed into the Ghost King. The moment the flash dyed the world in black and white, the strike had already landed at incomprehensible speed.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Rumble…!
Even as the Ghost King screamed and desperately tried to retreat, the heavenly purple lightning continued to rain down relentlessly, bombarding it without mercy.
Aside from the critical flaw of only being able to target the area directly above the caster’s head, Celestial Lightning Tribulation displayed the full utility of a high-grade technique.
And the reason it was named Celestial Lightning Tribulation was simple: once it struck and locked onto a target, shaking it off was extremely difficult.
After several more direct hits from the purple lightning, over half the Ghost King’s body had already been burned and shattered. It was on the verge of death.
Only then did it realize that to stop the technique, it had to kill the caster, Han Yujin—or at the very least destroy the Monghyeon-gyeong that continued projecting the lightning formation above his head. The Ghost King charged forward like a mad beast.
“KYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAH—!!!!!”
Han Yujin endured the roar—powerful enough to kill any being below Core Formation on the spot—with his Six Paths of Reincarnation. Instead of retreating, he planted his feet and took a stance. The moment the distance was perfect, he thrust his fist forward like a bolt of lightning.
Power traveled from the leg planted firmly on the ground, through the waist to the shoulder, then down the arm. Amplified dozens of times according to the profound principles once used by the Grand Master known as the Peerless Supreme, it erupted like a cannon shell.
Great Extinction Water, shaped into the form of a massive fist, slammed directly into the charging Ghost King’s face.
CRAAAAAASH—!!!
A deafening impact rang out, as if two enormous metal structures had collided.
The overwhelmingly gigantic Ghost King was sent flying backward by the strike, tumbling across the ground. The power of extinction that clung to the blow burrowed into its head and began tearing it apart. The creature thrashed wildly, unable to regain its senses, howling in agony.
There was no longer any reason to dodge the Ghost King’s charge now that it had been weakened to this extent.
Even as this happened, the Celestial Lightning Tribulation continued to rain down without pause. The Blood Spirit Red Flower Wine Bottle, now extended instead of a fist, once again fired more than ten black threads that pierced the Ghost King’s body and drank its power with ravenous greed.
Screaming and thrashing desperately, the Ghost King could no longer endure the onslaught. It collapsed into countless fading shapes and met its end.
According to the ancient records of the Zhou Dynasty, this was the miserable conclusion of a being that had ruled this gorge for a staggering one thousand nine hundred years, spreading unimaginable terror and calamity across the surrounding lands.