The Apostle's Despair
In the chief secretary’s mind, Li Haozi was a man who quietly opposed the President on political grounds. Their power bases were different, and so were the paths they pursued.
Where the President favored centralized control and ideological reinforcement, Li Haozi preferred open, pragmatic policies grounded in scholarship. He championed expanding the market economy and strengthening international cooperation.
Having positioned himself as the face of China’s rising elite faction, he had clashed with the President repeatedly in the realms of economy and diplomacy. To outsiders, he appeared moderate—a mediator of sorts.
Yet the scholarly, rational image he projected in public was only half the truth.
Privately, the man was consumed by greed.
His audacity in challenging the President for power sprang from that same greed. He frequently voiced irrational delusions of becoming a towering figure in history, far beyond mere avarice.
Above all, after encountering an entity known as a “disciple” who served the Eternal Goddess, he had begun to dream of eternal life.
Even if it meant betraying the entire planet—except for himself and his inner circle.
Does he truly believe immortality as a ghost would be so wonderful?
As far as Han Yujin knew, ghosts were imperfect beings in countless ways. Their ability to “survive” for eons was real enough, yet it could hardly be called true immortality.
To attain perfection, one would have to endure far greater tribulations than simply walking the path of cultivation to the True Immortal stage.
Compensating for innate flaws was no simple matter. If it were easy, would the majority of beings across the universe not have chosen the ghost path on their own? The path of cultivation itself would have been warped in that direction long ago.
While these thoughts ran through his mind, Han Yujin finished trapping the collapsed chief secretary in a nightmare so horrific no ordinary person could ever wake from it. He stepped inside the villa.
He had deployed dharma arts at a level no ordinary human could withstand. Whether the secretary eventually died or somehow survived, he would pay for his crimes. Han Yujin had no intention of hunting down every minor accomplice, but he would not simply overlook someone he now knew to be a monstrous sinner.
He must pay the price for betraying Earth’s humanity.
Had Han Yujin not gained this power, the world would truly have fallen into that nightmare ten years later.
Unhindered, he walked a straight line toward the room where Standing Committee member Li Haozi waited. Passing through the closed door, he frowned at the obscene scene before him.
The old man was entangled with several women who looked drugged out of their minds, engaged in acts too repulsive to describe. Worse, it was not mere lust—he was practicing a dual-cultivation technique to harvest yin and replenish yang.
In essence, it was a method of stealing a woman’s vital essence, life force, and power through sexual union.
It had to be knowledge granted by that so-called disciple. A technique that satisfied base desires while extending lifespan and increasing strength—perfect bait for the depraved.
Thud!
“Ugh…!”
Struck by an invisible force, the old man tumbled off the bed. The sight was even more revolting in his naked state, but Han Yujin ignored it, immediately activating the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art.
Yet the moment he dragged the target into the dream, an entity that should never have been there opened its eyes and fixed its gaze on Han Yujin.
It was a pitch-black abomination that seemed composed of nothing but bones and stretched skin.
It possessed two pairs of arms, dark-crimson hair that dragged along the floor, and a single appendage on its back—whether wing or tentacle, it was impossible to tell—that radiated a gray halo. Its facial features resembled a human’s, yet its eyes were entirely black, and its body stood well over three meters tall.
However—
Behind the growling Han Yujin, the Six Paths of Reincarnation rose and blazed with radiant light. The entity struck by that divine ability let out a piercing scream and dissolved into a wisp of black smoke.
A ghost’s signature technique, I suppose.
It had apparently left a fragment of its consciousness inside its follower’s soul for both protection and surveillance.
Still, the power was only at the level of someone who had barely reached the Dharma Soul stage.
The fact that it had managed to scream and flee even after being hit by the concentrated aura of the Six Paths of Reincarnation was somewhat impressive.
In any case, with the interference cleanly removed, Han Yujin extracted every piece of useful information from the old man’s memories—including details about the Eternal Goddess Cult and the location of its secret base.
Tianjin…
A region roughly one to two hours by car, about 120 kilometers southeast of Beijing. A convenient distance for a Standing Committee member to travel back and forth.
Moreover, the presence of Tianjin Port—China’s largest northern harbor—made it ideal for maritime smuggling, transporting victims, and linking up with violent syndicates like the Blood Scale Society. It possessed clear potential for international expansion.
Though a major city, its outskirts contained many rural and slum districts. The warehouses near the port were perfect for concealment. Having once been a foreign concession, it also offered a cultural foundation that could mask the peculiarities of a new religion.
All of it had been pulled directly from Li Haozi’s mind.
After building their forces, they planned to conduct a massive living-sacrifice ritual to transmit Earth’s spacetime coordinates to their main base.
They intended to summon the real Eternal Goddess Cult and trigger a ghost apocalypse.
I wonder if, in that future, this bastard received the reward he desired.
Feeling skeptical, Han Yujin looked down at the repulsive old man with contempt.
To many, the creature had been an untouchable titan of power. To Han Yujin, who had reached the Decisive Stage, he was nothing more than an existence that could be erased with a single finger if the reason existed.
In the end, only strength decides everything.
It was the same principle as the saying that power rules the world.
With that brief reflection, he cast the same dharma art upon the old man that he had used on the chief secretary.
Dealing with the remaining accomplices was less urgent than striking the main base.
He immediately transformed into a streak of violet light and shot toward Tianjin at terrifying speed, passing through every obstacle in his path.
* * *
It had taken him a mere ten minutes to travel from Korea to Beijing. Tianjin was even closer. When one could ignore terrain and pierce straight through mountain ranges, the distance became meaningless.
He reached his destination in less time than it took for a cup of instant noodles to cook. Using divine sense, he detected multiple presences in a supposedly abandoned farming district where no one should have been.
They were, of course, no ordinary people. Every last one was a fanatic of the Eternal Goddess Cult who had received power without regard for side effects.
Some commanded ghosts known as ten-year or hundred-year black ghosts.
Others had transformed themselves into ghosts, gaining strength comparable to A-rank hunters.
With those powers, they spread the cult’s influence and gathered more sacrifices—often in cooperation with syndicates like the Blood Scale Society.
In short, they were people who deserved death without the slightest injustice.
Floating in the air and gazing down at the abandoned farms, Han Yujin suddenly dropped the concealment of Monghwan Yusim and amplified his presence instead—to the point that ignoring him became impossible.
At the same time, he activated the Six Paths of Reincarnation, causing a brilliant halo to bloom behind him.
Every member of the Eternal Goddess Cult in the area instinctively turned to stare at him. Even those inside buildings or underground saw his figure clearly, as though all obstacles had become transparent.
With the halo of six revolving worlds at his back, his features obscured by backlighting, he looked like a mysterious, transcendent being. Drawing every eye, he issued a mental command.
The order struck like the absolute will of a god, like the heavy toll of a temple bell inside their skulls.
Not a single “human” present could resist the divine ability of the Decisive Stage. Completely dominated by the aura of the Six Paths, they began to kill the self they hated most in the most gruesome and certain way possible.
Screams and shrieks erupted everywhere. Blood, brain matter, and chunks of flesh flew in every direction.
Those who commanded black ghosts ordered their servants to self-destruct and devour them alive. Those who had become ghosts smashed their own heads and chests, crushing their brains or ripping out and exploding their hearts. Even then, many refused to die easily. They tore apart every vital part of their bodies in a frenzy before finally collapsing in horrific ruin.
Passing through the scene of slaughter, Han Yujin used the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art to plunge deep underground.
Ignoring all structure, he cut straight through and arrived at a rectangular space so vast it was hard to believe it lay beneath the earth.
The stepped circular altar at the center was still soaked in undried blood. Yet the gold and jade adorning it emitted an eerily captivating glow that seemed designed to bewitch the mind.
At the highest center of the altar stood a metal pillar covered in countless sharp hooks, reminiscent of a coat rack. Adorned with every kind of dharma inscription, it held people who were already dead or on the verge of death, impaled in gruesome fashion.
Drainage channels around the altar carried the blood away. Following them with divine sense revealed they were used to produce drugs possessing certain mystical effects that collected in specific locations.
It was a sight no sane mind could have conceived.
And the ringleader of the Eternal Goddess Cult—the self-proclaimed “disciple” who clearly embraced such depravity—was seated on a chair made of human bones and skin at the deepest part of the chamber, staring directly at the revealed Han Yujin.
"To think a being like you was hiding on this Earth… Indeed, it is not so simple after all."
The entity was filled with caution, yet showed no great fear.
"But no matter. You are merely a barbarian from a world that has only just begun to open. Do you have any idea how many great and powerful beings exist in this universe?"
It raised a hand that looked like nothing but black bone and stretched skin. The gesture was exaggerated, yet paired with its voice it somehow felt convincing.
"I acknowledge that your power is formidable. I will not deny that this world’s potential exceeds my expectations. Nevertheless, before our Eternal Goddess Cult, this place is nothing more than a sandcastle."
"Do not judge us by the likes of me. And do not dare oppose us. You… are more than qualified to join us and become a true member!"
Han Yujin listened quietly without offering any rebuttal.
Since it resisted the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Dream Illusion Mind Snatching Art may not work either.
He waited for the opponent to volunteer information before testing whether the technique would truly fail.
It did not feel like a stall to activate some trap. His widely extended divine sense detected no anomalies, and above all, the gap in power between them was overwhelming.
The opponent was only at the mid Dharma Soul stage, after all.
"Abandon your shallow, fragmentary understanding of life. We are the true life forms—the ultimate beings who naturally enjoy longevity and ultimately reach eternity!"
“Just a ghost, aren’t you?”
"That is precisely what short-sighted understanding means! How do you think the master of our cult earned the title of Eternal?"
“Is it truly an eternal existence? At least on the level of Ipsissimus?”
He casually mentioned the realm name he had once heard from the dragon Casarnox—the stage said to be comparable to the True Immortal realm of ascenders.
The entity, which had been building toward another fervent speech, froze. Its eyes widened dramatically.
"How could you know of such a thing…? You… you are not an Earthling, are you?"
“Is your cult’s goddess truly an Ipsissimus-level being?”
It was a critically important question, so Han Yujin asked again. If the leader of the opposing force was a being comparable to a True Immortal, the situation would be dire indeed.
A brief silence fell.
"You… are you a mage?"
The question carried heavy significance.
After a moment’s thought, Han Yujin shook his head.
“No. I am an ascender.”
At that instant, the entity’s already widened eyes bulged even further. It recoiled violently, head and torso jerking backward in unmistakable terror.
Like a frog that had encountered a snake.
"An… ascender…!"
It muttered the word like a groan, only now seeming to register the threat of death.
"No, this cannot be…!"
Suddenly it exploded into black mist, splitting into more than a dozen strands in an attempt to flee the chamber.
At the same moment, violet light erupted from Han Yujin, transforming the entire surroundings into a dream.
With those mental words, the disciple realized that no matter how frantically it fled inside the dream-like space, it only returned to the same spot. Its reaction edged close to panic.
"No—!! I cannot be devoured like this—!!"
It screamed with a terror that revealed some unknown, deep-seated prejudice against ascenders.