Chapter 300: With a Heart of Light
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Bo Hwoe, Jeung Ji-rim, and Wang Su-ah, who had been watching while holding their breath, were greatly startled.
The light beams that Cheol Ryu-heun had emitted from both eyes connected as one like a cord with Ximen Yue’s eyes.
A subtle red color.
An eye light that seemed to mix bright and dark feelings.
Bo Hwoe immediately surmised.
That it was some mysterious martial art using the naked eyes.
Throughout history, there had been famous eye techniques in the Jianghu.
Beggar Sect’s Striking Dog Firm Eyes, optimized for countering Lustful Demon Arts that induced sexual desire; Shaolin Temple’s Sumeru Eye, based on Buddhist power to destroy others’ upper dantian; Wudang Sect’s Supreme Harmony Eye that subdued and annihilated various bizarre spells and sorceries; Murong Family’s Emerald Revealing Eye that neutralized the Black Curse Arts called the curse of evil gods – and so on…
All of them were equivalent to supreme arts in the category of special abilities.
That one was also such.
No doubt, he was certain it was an eye technique with an unfathomable essence.
He had heard Cheol Ryu-heun’s story before coming here.
That he possessed the power to peer into others’ minds.
He had also heard Ximen Yue’s account of his experience in addition.
So everyone had sensed it, but actually encountering it like this, the feeling of wonder came first regardless.
As expected, he keenly felt that the difference between hearing and seeing directly was incomparably great.
At that moment, a voice seeped out as if whispering low.
“That… doesn’t seem to be just peering into one’s mind.”
The owner of the voice was Jeung Ji-rim.
At that, Wang Su-ah standing beside her nodded slightly.
“Yes, unnie. Just now, Sect Master Cheol told Young Master Ximen. That it would be different from before…”
“Yes, he probably meant that the wondrous functions of the eye technique are diverse.”
“Unnie, look at that. His eyes somehow…”
Ximen Yue’s two pupils, somehow without focus.
It was a dazed look as if staring into the distance.
He looked like he had fainted while standing upright.
Meanwhile.
Ximen Yue’s consciousness headed into deep, deep darkness.
Currently he was in a state where he could not hear, see, or feel.
When a long time had passed from then.
His consciousness returned.
‘Uuk…!’
He finally opened his eyes.
Those weren’t his physical eyes.
They were the eyes of his heart.
That is, he had recovered consciousness in the space of his mental landscape.
Everything was pitch black.
Utter darkness.
A space where it was difficult to distinguish up from down.
He was standing there as if trapped.
Right at that moment.
-You must… open the door yourself. Find… the light.
Someone’s voice, heard faintly.
It was incomparably distant.
Moreover, even the direction was unclear.
Was it a kind of Sound Transmission?
Ximen Yue surveyed his surroundings while quickly grasping the situation.
‘This seems to be the center of my mental landscape. It must be a phenomenon that appeared due to the influence of swallowing the demon essence.’
Then he recalled Cheol Ryu-heun’s words.
-When you eat that, your consciousness will become hazy. Now, look into my eyes.
‘I see. At that time, did Sect Master Cheol’s eye technique cushion the shock that assaulted my upper dantian?’
The demon essence had melted rapidly like water the moment it passed his throat, generating tremendous power.
That had instantly coursed through his Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Standard Meridians, passing through the lower dantian and middle dantian before striking the upper dantian.
It was so fierce he even heard a BANG! sound.
It was truly an enormous shock.
He had felt death in a time where even an instant was long.
But he had regained consciousness and awakened like this.
Though it was in the space of his mental landscape.
Through that, he surmised.
That the energy of the red eye light had protected his upper dantian.
‘Yes, that’s right. If not for that, it wouldn’t make sense. Honestly, the power was such that it would be strange if my brain hadn’t ruptured… ah! Wait, then what I just heard…’
Perhaps that distant voice had also been transmitted by Cheol Ryu-heun.
Ximen Yue collected his mind along with that judgment.
Thus he strained his ears.
Hoping the voice would be heard again.
But something else arrived instead.
It was none other than the breath of thick darkness that gave him chills.
OSAK.
It felt like goosebumps rising all over his body.
Above? Beside? Below?
He didn’t know where it was.
But what was certain was that something oppressive was approaching from beyond the darkness.
Continuous thrills.
Fear of an uncertain entity assaulted him.
Seized by great dread, Ximen Yue couldn’t budge.
‘Uh…!’
The sinister breath becoming clearer by the moment.
His flesh and bones were becoming tingling.
On top of that, his breath was blocked as if his neck were caught in a noose.
That wasn’t all.
Due to the massive pressure, his eyeballs hurt as if they would pop out, his ears trembled as if they would fall off, and even the teeth in his mouth were being ground away little by little, heightening unprecedented terror.
Suddenly.
HWAK-!
Eyes appeared before him.
White eyes with no pupils at all.
Large.
So massive they filled all the darkness ahead.
A pair of eyes that evoked a demon god of darkness.
Ximen Yue, the moment he met that gaze, trembled violently.
From the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
It was a reaction caused by extreme fear.
What existed within those pupil-less white eyes was demonic energy.
He wanted to close his eyes tight.
He had no confidence to meet that gaze.
But his eyelids and entire body wouldn’t obey.
Amid that, he came to a sudden realization.
That those large white eyes were the essence of demonic energy symbolizing Heavenly Demon during his lifetime.
It was fearsome energy incomparable to Sun Moon Demon Arrive Art.
At that moment.
SEUMULSEUMUL, SEUMULSEUMUL…
Countless thread-like currents derived from the surrounding darkness approached.
They crawled up like insects and wrapped around his body.
‘Kkeu… haaak…!’
Ximen Yue screamed inwardly.
He felt as if his mind and body were being mercilessly destroyed just from the touch.
His convulsions intensified.
It was inexpressibly painful.
Moreover, along with the sensory pain of the flesh, it even touched the fundamental part of his soul.
His consciousness became hazy again.
He, having become weak of heart, thought.
Wouldn’t it be better to just die like this?
Before he knew it, the light and dark in his heart had tilted to one side.
The bright side was becoming faint.
Conversely, the dark side was rising rapidly.
Not just fear, but inferiority, a sense of loss, defeat, frustration, and such…
It felt as if the great power emitted by the essence of demonic energy was forcibly corrupting him.
It was a part consistent with when he had learned Sun Moon Demon Arrival Art before.
The demon heart of corruption.
What was different was that it was rapid.
At that time, the demon heart of sinister nature had developed gradually.
But now, all the processes seemed to be proceeding at once.
Because of that, the dark side of his heart was growing at rapid speed.
In an instant.
Amid his suffering, a previous conversation with Cheol Ryu-heun flashed through his mind.
-How many have you killed so far?
-…
-There aren’t any. That in itself means it’s not too late yet.
-Not too late?
-It means there exists a nature that reflexively resists the corrupted demon heart. You’ve completed demonic arts, but you’re not complete as a demonic person.
-…
-Your character changed within the past few years, I think, and that was probably because the demon heart grew due to the demonic energy gifted by Sun Moon Demon Cult Leader.
-GAL! What would you know…
-Shut up and listen.
-…!
-You weren’t ruthless from the start. You just carelessly touched demonic energy and ran around causing trouble, bunched up with pointless spite and stubbornness. First, I’ll cleanly extract the demonic nature energy that has permeated your body.
Memory continuing immediately after.
It was a conversation of regret exchanged in tears with his father Ximen Jwa.
-A fellow who’s not ruthless.
-…
-If you really wanted to get rid of me… wouldn’t you have made a move long ago?
-Ah… Father…
-The demon heart that rapidly grew… was barely being held by your last conscience. Yes, that’s it… that’s right… keup…
He suddenly came to his senses.
‘I can’t lose again!’
He had been consumed by the demon heart at that time and headed down the path of corruption.
But a strand of thread-like light had remained.
Thanks to that, he had returned to normal.
It had seemed impossible, but it had been possible.
Then now was the same.
He believed that if he somehow grew the light in his heart, he could overcome it.
Suddenly.
-You must open the door yourself. Find the light.
He heard that voice again.
It was different from before.
It wasn’t being heard faintly but very clearly.
As if it had approached close to him and was speaking.
He finally became confident.
That this was the voice of Cheol Ryu-heun, who was executing the eye technique.
‘Light! That means my bright heart! I’ve figured it out now! Sect Master Cheol!’
He had been a genius from the start.
Me.
Around age ten, he had already transcended the level of his peers.
Also.
He had added effort to that.
He had trained harder than anyone.
Such genius qualities and passionate effort led to excellent results.
And at last, he had even obtained the brilliant epithet Celestial Wind Sword Youth.
Yet he hadn’t known satisfaction.
Also, instead of a sense of achievement in his martial prowess, he had kept growing his inferiority complex about being born of a concubine.
Then he had coincidentally encountered demonic learning and went astray.
He had barely returned.
Now he must not repeat such a mistake.
‘I… will become the eternal light of our Ximen Family!’
Thus Ximen Yue, having displayed indomitable mental strength, was soon enveloped in brilliant radiance.
FLASH!
Energy explosively released from his entire body became entangled with the black demonic energy.
KURURURUREUNG, KURURURUREUNG, KURURURUREUNG…
The dark mental landscape shook.
Before he knew it, the white eyes ahead had vanished.
Following that.
JJEOJEOJEOJOK, JJEOJEOJEOJEOJOK, JJEOJEOJEOK…
Huge cracks occurred in the thick utter darkness.
Eventually.
PACHAHAAANG-!
A sound like hundreds of thousands of bottles breaking at once rang out, and the surroundings transformed into a space of bright light.
Immediately after, a voice reached his ears.
-You finally did it.
It was Cheol Ryu-heun.
-Now let’s complete the Light-Dark Harmony Secret Meridian in earnest. From now on, I’ll transmit the mental technique’s formulas, so maintain concentration while operating your energy.
At that, Ximen Yue in his mental landscape answered spiritedly and burned with enthusiasm.
“Yes!”
The formulas of an unknown mental technique echoed.
‘That’s right. I don’t have to defeat this power of darkness. I have to mix it and make it one, and transform it into complete power.’
Ximen Yue grasped the essence and began circulating his energy.
SEUSEUSEUSEU, SEUSEUSEUSU…
Eventually, with a faint sound, the demonic energy of darkness and brilliant radiance mixed and transformed into some kind of energy.
* * *
“Hmm.”
Cheol Ryu-heun, having let out a brief sound, withdrew his red gaze.
Bo Hwoe, who had been watching silently, hurried to his side.
“Is, is it all right?”
It was a question with a worried tone.
That was understandable.
Because Ximen Yue was still fainted while standing upright.
“It’s fine. He has already regained consciousness, and is currently refining his cultivation within his heart.”
“Oh…!”
“He’s sincere about martial arts, that fellow. So please don’t worry. He’ll see completion soon.”
Having spoken thus, Cheol Ryu-heun laughed inwardly.
‘Hoot, if he were a talent that would fail here, he wouldn’t even have the qualifications to possess the Light-Dark Harmony Secret Meridian in the first place.’
But at that moment.
Ximen Yue’s body emitted strange light and floated up.
Like a feather.
Following that.
UDUK, UDUDUK, UDUK-
Unpleasant sounds of bones colliding and dislocating ceaselessly struck his ears.
His skin was being torn off, and blood soaked his clothes.
A strange transformation of his muscles and bones.
Simultaneously, not only Bo Hwoe but even Jeung Ji-rim and Wang Su-ah were astonished.
‘S-surely…!’
At that, Cheol Ryu-heun spoke expressionlessly.
“It’s Bone Replacement and Marrow Cleansing. This is an achievement beyond expectation.”
The three people who heard those words again had surprised eyes.
But Cheol Ryu-heun was merely expressionless.
“This will make upcoming matters even easier. Now, let’s do the remaining work while that fellow gains his power. It’ll take roughly two double-hours, I estimate.”
When he strode forward without looking back, the three people also moved their feet along with him.
* * *
The next day, around the Hour of the Sheep (1 PM to 3 PM).
Cheol Ryu-heun returned to White Peak Sword Sect together with Divine Wind.