The Hollow Skin's Bargain
Cheon Rajin had clearly heard the mental message as well.
He stared back and forth between his ancestral master and Han Yujin with an expression of utter incomprehension. Then, as if a realization had struck him, all the hope drained from his face. He stopped begging entirely and could only move his lips in silent despair.
At that exact moment, the leather figure suddenly looked down at Cheon Rajin.
Two bolts of lightning tore through the air.
Han Yujin, sensing the danger, instantly channeled his Thunder Dragon and fired two streaks of lightning. One targeted Cheon Rajin, the other the leather figure.
Yet the attacks never reached their marks. They collided with darkness surging up from the floor, producing only a bizarre explosive sound. It felt like hearing a noise from the deepest ocean through an impossible distance.
While the darkness blocked the lightning, the leather figure dropped from the air and fell upon Cheon Rajin.
“M-Master…!”
The scream, drenched in absolute terror, never finished.
For a split second it looked like he was trying to escape using the Shadow Concealing Descent Step, but the darkness that should have swallowed him protectively instead bound him like chains.
The leather figure’s grotesquely stretched maw covered the restrained man and swallowed him whole.
Crunch…! Crack—!
Crack! Crunch, crunch…!
The sickening sounds of bones and flesh being crushed and chewed echoed through the chamber. The sight of the leather figure’s expanded mouth and bulging cheeks as it devoured an entire healthy adult male was surreal in its horror. Han Yujin realized it was already too late and simply watched in silence.
After chewing meticulously for dozens of seconds more, the leather figure swallowed the contents in several wet gulps. The previously empty, flopping interior of the skin grew slightly fuller.
Feeling his stomach turn, Han Yujin replenished the depleted power of his Thunder Dragon and readjusted his stance.
Where there is light, darkness must exist. In the same way, the cultivation world had both the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path.
Both sought to become immortals, yet their methods were diametrically opposed. In fantasy terms, the righteous cultivators were white mages while the demonic ones were black mages.
But unlike fantasy black mages who gained power through contracts with demons and souls, demonic cultivators walked the path of becoming demons themselves from the very beginning.
— No, there is no need to tell me where you are from. Here… do you know the way out of this pit?
Sanctuary and Heaven. Han Yujin could roughly guess the meaning, but not the exact details. The way it called this place a pit suggested it had not come willingly and desperately wished to escape.
Instead of answering, Han Yujin observed his opponent carefully before speaking.
“Even setting the body aside, it feels as though there isn’t even a soul…”
— You appear to be a righteous cultivator, yet we are both cultivators, are we not? We are far closer and more friendly than those worms who do not even understand the immortal path of this place.
— Therefore, friend, let us make a deal. Tell me the way out, and I shall give you the Incarnation Technique.
It meant a cultivation method that could reach the Soul Formation stage. The words also proved the opponent’s level was by no means low.
The leather figure opened its pitch-black mouth filled with darkness and spat something out. From the same maw that had just devoured Cheon Rajin, a strikingly pure white cylindrical jade slip popped out and flew through the air. Han Yujin caught it with his Distance Manipulation Art, his eyes narrowing instinctively.
In that instant—
The lightning reduced the jade slip to powder.
“I have no interest in examining a jade slip created with sorcery.”
As Han Yujin had seen in the Five Elements Sect ruins before, crafting jade slips was closer to a pure, highly intricate craft requiring extreme precision. Although sorcery could store information more easily and in varied forms, there were reasons they were made the traditional way.
Because the moment sorcery enters the equation, it becomes easy to plant traps alongside the stored information.
Considering the abundance of insidious sorcery in the cultivation world, it was only natural. No matter how cumbersome, safety had to come first.
— In any case, what happened that caused you to fall here in such a state?
“Hehehehe……”
The leather figure burst into laughter and took a step closer.
— I was overcoming the Soul Tribulation. But… there appears to have been a small accident.
The leather figure took another step closer.
Its mouth stretched open impossibly wide. From within emerged what looked like a birdcage. The leather figure caught the object with two flopping hands and smiled so widely that both corners of its mouth nearly reached its ears.
At the words “Heavenly Passage Spirit Treasure,” Han Yujin’s wariness surged. He stared at the object.
And then his eyes met something inside the cage that had definitely been empty moments ago. It was a small, plump human shape, blood-red in color, with pupils that held a darkness deeper than the abyss itself.
In the next instant, Han Yujin shuddered as if struck by lightning. His clear eyes turned the same abyssal color as the thing inside the cage, and his breathing stopped completely.
As if it had been waiting for exactly this moment, the leather figure laughed loudly and strode forward. Mu-yong, nestled in Han Yujin’s arms, thrashed wildly and let out a storm of loud jjik jjik! cries, but he remained unconscious.
Once again the leather figure’s mouth opened wide, and from within emerged a small baby-like figure formed from mingled darkness and blood light. It was crudely shaped, like a doll a child had clumsily molded from clay.
The moment the passionate mental words spread—
BOOM—!!
BOOM—!
The Thunder Dragon, which had seemed neutralized and frozen alongside him, suddenly unleashed a lightning bombardment. It was an attack bordering on self-destruction, releasing even the power that maintained its form.
At the same time, Han Yujin’s body—which had been suppressed with its eyes dyed in unnatural darkness—vanished like an illusion and reappeared unharmed a short distance away.
It was the power of the divine ability he had gained upon beginning the refinement of his Dragon Heart, the one he had only recently named Monghwan Yusim.
The incomplete Nascent Soul, which had never anticipated a trap, was swept into the lightning deluge before it could even finish its question.
An indescribable shriek tore through the mind like a blade.
Yet Han Yujin, hearing the scream, merely frowned slightly while covering Mu-yong’s eyes and ears. He remained completely unaffected.
The lightning did not sweep through only once. It coiled tightly around the incomplete Nascent Soul and continued to unleash flashes and roars for dozens of seconds until every last ounce of power was exhausted.
When the uproar finally subsided, nothing remained.
“…Did I finish it?”
Han Yujin muttered the magic phrase, gathering lightning law techniques in one hand once more as a precaution. At the same time, he meticulously scanned the collapsed leather figure, the nearby birdcage, and every corner of the chamber with his divine sense.
Fortunately, no further anomalies occurred. The birdcage-like object still carried an extraordinary aura, but it no longer triggered the dangerous phenomenon from before.
It was too insignificant to even call a remnant soul, yet…
If its words about the Soul Tribulation were true, it had been the remnant of at least a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. The battle had been genuinely dangerous.
On the surface it had seemed easy, but looking back at the reality, it had not been simple at all.
There was a reason the creature had let down its guard and revealed its incomplete Nascent Soul. The way Han Yujin had been affected was no act.
He truly had been hit.
It was simply that, as he had confirmed before visiting Yunhoeseongbul Temple, the Monghwan Yusim divine ability was exceptionally effective at preserving life.
It could replace even an already-occurred reality with illusion according to preset conditions.
The situation flipped like a dream at the exact moment the enemy was most certain of victory and let its guard down.
Of course it was not omnipotent. A superior opponent could have countered it. But this leather remnant had not possessed that level of ability.
While thinking, he used the Distance Manipulation Art to pull the leather figure over and spread it open in the air.
It was a repulsive object that made one frown the longer they looked. Mu-yong covered her eyes with both hands and buried her face in his chest, turning away.
Repulsiveness aside, it was a highly valuable item. The traces of law patterns constantly oozing blood were precisely the Incarnation Technique the creature had mentioned.
Moreover, from his rough analysis, it appeared to be a supreme-grade method that could later transition into other techniques without issue.
As expected, the jade slip had been a trap.
He did not know why it had carved such a thing onto its own skin, but he had obtained a cultivation method. Even if he never learned it himself, the ability to reference it long-term was a significant gain.
Furthermore, after thorough analysis confirmed no hidden dangers, he thought he might teach it to Lee Won-hee.
As expected of a Demonic Path technique, the method of creating and commanding darkness imbued with spirituality was truly horrific. However, if that aspect could be replaced by Lee Won-hee’s awakening ability, it might not pose a major problem.
He was satisfied at that point.
The leather figure seemed to possess several additional functions, and it was uncertain whether the birdcage was truly a Heavenly Passage Spirit Treasure.
Even if it is only a remnant, items belonging to a Nascent Soul stage being cannot be treated lightly.
There was no telling whether another remnant soul might be hiding, waiting for a chance to resurrect.
Therefore, he gathered the leather figure and birdcage together and activated the Fire Spirit Bird Art. The massive fire bird that appeared settled gently atop the two objects and began destroying them with terrifying heat.
As expected of extraordinary items, they endured for quite some time.
But they had clearly been greatly weakened already, and without an owner to control them, there was a limit.
Soon, accompanied by a faint scream-like sound, the leather figure twitched once before burning into ash. The birdcage beside it rattled violently, emitting strange resonant noises, before finally melting into molten iron and collapsing completely.
Watching the sight, even the faint anxiety he had not consciously noticed vanished entirely.
Han Yujin continued burning the remnants with fire for a long while, poured lightning over them several times, then used the Earth Manipulation Art to bury every trace deep underground.
As he left the chamber, he activated the Earth Manipulation Art one final time on a grand scale.
With a heavy rumble, the hemispherical space was completely buried under earth. Confirming this, he climbed the stairs.
Now it was time to visit the library and treasure vault of the Shadow Demon Cult.
Surprisingly, there was resistance. Even though they knew they were no match, some threw their lives away to block his path.
If they refused to step aside despite his warnings, he could only grant their wish.
Riding the newly created Thunder Dragon, Han Yujin made a single circuit through the Shadow Demon Cult’s headquarters, annihilating every resister.
The gap in power was so vast it might have seemed like mere slaughter, but leaving fanatics like these alive would only invite unknown retaliation. It was a necessary measure.
There was a reason the murim world had a proverb warning against mercy. These were not good people; there was no reason to risk sparing them.
While crushing all resistance, he used the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art on several individuals to locate the library and secret vault. Once he knew the positions, looting them would be quick thanks to his storage belt.
Upon reaching the locations, a few quick-witted individuals had been frantically smuggling out manuals and valuables. Tracking and eliminating them took only a little extra time.
After completing all punishment and harvesting,
he returned to Golden Lotus Manor as swiftly as he had departed.
He had intended to move again without resting even a single day.
Before beginning the main refinement of the Dragon Heart’s meridian stage, he planned to resolve the matter of the imperial murim coordinator who had instigated an assassination attempt against him.
But at that moment, Dok Junseong stepped forward.
“Master, if you entrust it to me, I will handle it without fail.”
“You? How?”
“If it becomes known that Master nearly wiped out the Shadow Demon Cult single-handedly, I can apply sufficient political pressure through the connections I built while working at the Orthodox Alliance.”
When Han Yujin remained silent as if pondering, Dok Junseong continued.
“There is no organization that values face more than the imperial family. If Master were to handle it personally, you would certainly tie up the matter cleanly, but…”
“Unnecessary conflict might arise?”
“Correct. My involvement alone will be enough to secure proper punishment for the responsible party and appropriate compensation.”
In that case, there was no need to act personally. Han Yujin nodded in approval. Dok Junseong left the manor shortly afterward, brimming with confidence.
Once the rumors spread properly, the major sects that have yet to move will come seeking an audience.
Now he could focus solely on concluding the remaining transactions and the Dragon Heart refinement.
To prepare a reward for Dok Junseong upon his return and to handle miscellaneous tasks in advance, he performed alchemy using the various spiritual herbs obtained from the Shadow Demon Cult.
There were not many tasks left for him in this murim world.