Chapter 51: The Black Dark Sect
Its mouth was packed with sharp teeth. Then the bead stirred, sinking its fangs into my finger. Crunch crunch. But with my Iron Skin Art at the 9th stage, not even a drop of blood welled up from such a feeble bite. I shook my finger and said,
"Are you a yoju? Want to become my spirit beast?"
Crunch crunch crunch. It either lacked spiritual intelligence or couldn't understand me, gnawing away relentlessly. Pitch-black and orb-shaped with nothing but a mouth, its form was utterly bizarre. Was this really a yoju? Knowing nothing about it, I slapped on a sealing talisman and stowed it in my spirit beast pouch. It looked drained after ages of imprisonment, with no spiritual aura to speak of. Still, it was a solid first harvest since arriving here. If it became my spirit beast and pulled its weight like my turtle puppet, it'd be a real asset.
Then a thunderous boom echoed from outside the hall. Boom! A bad feeling hit me like a gut punch, and I bolted out. In the plaza, Hwang Danha was clashing with a Core Formation mid-stage cultivator. Jo Mihyeon hung back watching, while two unidentified figures lurked behind the mid-stage elder, observing silently.
"Junior Sister Jo, what's going on?"
"Black Dark Sect cultivators claim they found this ruin first and own it."
"No way... Didn't we break the formation at the entrance first?"
"According to them, they got intel on the ruin and came here too."
Hwang Danha retreated as she spoke.
"Senior Brother, how about we talk this out first?"
The Core Formation mid-stage elder halted his assault, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Fine. Unkak Sect and Black Dark Sect are allies in the Gaun Mountains—no need for needless strife."
I'd glimpsed Hwang Danha's brief exchange with the elder; his skills were no joke. If it came to blows, I'd have to swiftly dispatch any initial-stage foes and back her up for a shot at victory.
"Senior, I bought intel on this ruin at the Takga auction and personally shattered the entrance formation to get here."
"Same here—I just arrived after getting word. Hand over everything you've taken from this place, and I'll let you leave in peace."
Seemed words wouldn't sway the black-robed elder. Jo Mihyeon sensed the tension too, drawing her silver wheel. Hwang Danha wore a troubled look.
"So you're saying you'll take everything we've claimed here?"
The black-robed elder's booming laugh shook the plaza.
"Hahaha! The law of the cultivation world: the strong take all. You haven't grasped that simple truth at your level?"
Hwang Danha sighed.
"Hah... Guess this old coot's tired of living."
"You bitch!"
The black-robed elder drew a human head from his storage ring. Bald with a masculine face, its eyes were shut, tears of blood streaming down.
"Time to test my new dharma treasure."
That grotesque thing was a dharma treasure? Gripping the head, the elder formed hand seals. The blood-weeping eyes snapped open, shrieking. The scream pierced my ears, disrupting my qi flow. Hwang Danha shot toward him, summoning a black pagoda-shaped dharma treasure the size of a palm from her ring. She unleashed seals, and the pagoda ballooned, trapping the elder inside.
Boom! Boom! As the tower shuddered on the verge of collapse, Hwang Danha kept bombarding it with seals.
"While I hold this bastard, you two take out the other pair!"
Jo Mihyeon and I flew at the remaining two Black Dark Sect cultivators. My opponent was a buxom Core Formation initial-stage woman.
"Miss, I'd rather enjoy a woman's company than fight one—what do you say?"
The red-palace-robed cultivator eyed me with contempt.
"A scum like you is an Unkak Sect disciple? I'll make sure you can't even reincarnate."
No reincarnation? That was the worst. Suddenly, she shed her robes, her stunning nude form dazzling my eyes. I couldn't tear my gaze from those massive breasts.
"Changed your mind?!"
"Hmph!"
She swiftly formed seals, black mist erupting from her body and blanketing the area. She dissolved into the fog, vanishing. I retreated with Cloud Concealment Art, but I was already trapped inside.
"Haha, what can fog do? Come out if you're confident!"
With my confidence in slaying initial-stage foes easily, I taunted to draw her out. I needed to finish fast and aid Hwang Danha. Phantasmal yōkai swarmed from the mist, brushing past me. I hurled a fireball from my Flame Pearl, but it passed harmlessly through—no substance, just illusions.
"Just illusions? I'm an Unkak Sect disciple of unyielding will—your tricks won't work!"
Suddenly, the phantoms shifted to scantily clad beauties closing in. How did she know my weakness for women? But this was nothing. I was destined to lead Unkak Sect—no mere temptresses would sway me. The approaching stunners' faces morphed into women I knew.
"...!"
Nae Cheonha, Yeop Inyeong, Seong Yuhyang, Hwang Danha, Jo Mihyeon, Kang Seolhui, Moyong Wol, Tak Hwaryeon, Jeong Simhyeon—nine fairy-like figures encircled me. Their breaths tickled my ears, soft flesh enveloping me.
"Young hero, my breasts ache so hot."
"Disciple, I love you."
"Senior brother, strip and come here."
Ah... No man under heaven could resist this. Overcoming it would make one less than a real man. I shed my clothes and tangled with the fairies. Time blurred in the illusion. Snapping to, half my qi was gone. I hastily redressed.
"Heehee, finally awake?"
The fairies vanished; the mist coalesced into the woman cultivator.
With my qi halved and Hwang Danha needing help, I drew a Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talisman from my ring. A shame to waste it, but I itched to test it on a demonic cultivator—no hesitation. I infused it with qi and unleashed seals. A gale whipped up in the plaza, drawing ambient spiritual energy into the talisman. The golden slip trembled, spewing a bowl-thick bolt of golden lightning.
Krarung! Thunder roared across the plaza as the bolt lanced at the woman. Panicking, she layered defensive barriers. The lightning shredded the black mist and battered her shields. Tougher than expected—I closed in with Cloud Concealment Art and swung my Ghostly Wyrm Saber.
Kwakang! Her barriers quaked wildly under the lightning, shattering layer by layer.
"Senior Brother! Help!"
As she cried to the elder, urgency gripped me. I assaulted the barriers with saber and Flame Pearl, then punched them bare-fisted.
Kwang! The shields crumbled; burning vital essence, she gaped her mouth.
"Too late."
My saber pierced her mouth, the Flame Pearl incinerating flesh and nascent soul.
"No!!"
The belated elder rammed the blood-weeping head into his chest. The embedded face twisted grotesquely, spewing a massive blood pillar from its maw. I dodged with Cloud Concealment Art, weaving toward Jo Mihyeon's fight. Her opponent was locked in fierce combat, blind to my approach amid the elder's assault.
Hwang Danha transmitted mentally, "Ignore the elder—kill the initial-stage first."
She stealthily neared Jo Mihyeon; I blocked the elder's strikes while closing on the initial-stage Black Dark Sect cultivator. Jo Mihyeon hurled her silver wheel with gale-force. Hwang Danha loosed hidden weapons; I unleashed Ecstasy Soul Enthrallment Art, freezing him. Thud! His body and nascent soul shattered—he was gone. Just the elder remained.
"I won't let you leave alive!"
The black-robed elder formed seals; the chest-face roared, blood tears surging. Blood volume exploded, flooding the plaza to our ankles in an instant. Sensing danger, Hwang Danha summoned her pagoda anew, hurling it at him. He cackled sinisterly, plunging into the blood river. A Blood Sea unfurled before us. The plaza's blood converged into a colossal blood giant studded with skulls—nauseating.
"Made from the blood and flesh of all the cultivators and mortals I've slain—impressive, eh?"
It smashed a fist at the black pagoda. Boom! Cracks spiderwebbed the treasure, flinging it to the plaza's edge. Hwang Danha recalled it swiftly, peppering the giant with hidden weapons to draw its ire. Ignoring them, it targeted Jo Mihyeon, blasting a crimson beam that shattered her barrier and pierced her gut.
"Kuhk!"
I Cloud Concealment-flew to her, staunching the blood and dusting Life Renewal Powder on the wound. Gut-shot by the giant, Jo Mihyeon leaped up, launching her silver wheel. It sped at the giant's left leg. Syncing with her, I slashed my saber at the right, unleashing white saber qi. Shushuk! Both legs severed, the giant knelt crashing down. Hwang Danha pointed at its brow, firing gray soul threads that materialized intent. The giant shrieked, thrashing madly under the soul assault. Seizing the gap, Jo Mihyeon fanned relentlessly at its legs with a blue fan. The blood pool around it tried reforming limbs, but frigid yin qi from the fan froze it solid. The giant was weak to ice! I circulated Yin-Yang Art, bombarding its head with ice spears. Puk! Puk! Hamstrung by Hwang Danha's soul barrage, its lower half iced over, skull riddled with dozens of spears.
"Ugh..."
It groaned in agony, then detonated.
Kwaang! The blast's shockwave hurled Hwang Danha and Jo Mihyeon to the plaza's wall. Kukukung! The ground quaked, dust choking the air as it threatened collapse. Hwang Danha pursued the giant's escaped nascent soul with a tracking art. Jo Mihyeon and I flew after.
"Kill the nascent soul!"
Fleeing Hwang Danha's pursuit, the elder's nascent soul darted to the plaza's center, sucked into the lone coffin. Too sudden to stop. "Eek!" Only a few sealing talismans clung to it, all expended. The lid cracked open slightly, an ominous aura seeping out.