Chapter 408: It's Him

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Namgung Sang-rin tilted his head again and thought inwardly.

‘A diversionary operation has started?’

Hae Su-yeon beside him was the same.

So were the five guest retainers of White Peak Sword Sect, along with former Heretic Cult Master Defying Heaven Evil Wind Shin So-sul and Dark Hall Master Dark Fragrance Sword Mun-bin, who were also in this gathering.

Each wore an expression of not quite understanding the true meaning hidden in Cheol Ryu-heun’s statement.

That’s why everyone only stared blankly with their two eyes.

Speaking of a diversionary operation, it was part of deception tactics: creating movements different from the original purpose to draw the enemy’s attention and make them misjudge the battle situation.

There was no one present who didn’t know that.

However, Cheol Ryu-heun’s statement was somewhat at odds with the current situation, making it difficult to readily understand.

Who was doing that work?

The Orthodox, Unorthodox, and frontier Jianghu members who would fight the enemy tomorrow were all gathered here inside the Ten Directions Ghost Road Lost Soul Formation.

To deploy a deceptive operation to guide the enemy’s attention and actions would require at least someone like Heavenly Demon Cult Great Prelate Extreme Heaven Demon Emperor Gun Mu-ak to step forward.

Only then would success probability be guaranteed.

However, he too was staying here.

The people currently here were the total force.

After completing the earlier rescue operation, there was no one who had gone outside to execute a diversionary operation.

Unless Cheol Ryu-heun, who had brought up the topic first, intended to carry out an independent mission afterward.

At that time, a quiet voice flowed into the ears of those seated in a circle on the grassy ground.

“I’m also curious about the hidden meaning in those words.”

Soon one man approached and sat in a nearby seat.

The owner of the voice was none other than Gun Mu-ak.

Cheol Ryu-heun abruptly spoke toward him in a curt manner.

“Come promptly when called. Do you think appearing a bit late makes you look cool?”

“……”

Gun Mu-ak’s expressionless reaction.

Yet inwardly, a wry laugh was leaking out.

‘Hut, what an amusing fellow.’

Probably the only one who could babble such impertinent words at him was Cheol Ryu-heun.

Anyway, it was no longer a novel matter now.

Having withdrawn his gaze, Cheol Ryu-heun spoke again.

“I met someone earlier. He will execute the diversionary operation. And the enemy camp will ultimately head toward annihilation.”

“Oh my! Who is that?”

Hae Su-yeon blinked her eyes as if extremely curious and asked.

Then an unexpected reply was heard.

“A descendant of the Zhuge Family.”

At Cheol Ryu-heun’s indifferent voice, everyone showed a surprised expression.

“What?”

“That can’t be…!”

“You said a Zhuge Family descendant?”

“That House already… over two hundred years ago…”

Amid each person uttering a word, Gun Mu-ak quietly spoke of what he surmised.

“A person who has fully inherited the supreme arts of the Zhuge Family. Or rather, going further, someone possessing exceptional talent as well. A genius of the same class as those gathered here.”

“Well informed. There’s a reason for choosing him.”

“Naturally, he must be helpful to us.”

“Zhuge Bi. Twenty-five years old. He’s on close terms with the Zhejiang Son Family Lord who’s the same age, and entered the mountains along with that group, targeting the Divine Martial Sword.”

Cheol Ryu-heun thus continued speaking indifferently.

“He also possesses an extraordinary body. I’ve laid plans to annihilate the enemy by making active use of that.”

Everyone’s eye-light changed at the words about an extraordinary body.

As if they understood.

That’s right.

It meant that Zhuge Bi also possessed a legendary constitution in the same vein as Gun Mu-ak’s Demon Extreme Sacred Body, Namgung Sang-rin’s Nine-Grade Martial Bone, and Hae Su-yeon’s Heavenly Demon Incarnation Body.

Sure enough.

“Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body.”

When Cheol Ryu-heun immediately told them, a silent shock shook the chests of those gathered here.

In the midst of that, Shin So-sul burst out an exclamation of admiration.

“Ah…!”

He couldn’t help but be surprised.

Because it was one of the truly legendary constitutions, so very famous in martial history.

The Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body was a constitution where the flesh itself transformed into an extremely powerful formation, displaying a truly mystical marvelous application.

It was said that if one perfectly attained the abilities dormant in that body, one could even manipulate or control Natural formations at will.

Also, that its power could be used like strong formation barrier sealing….

Of course, that was only in cases where ultimate enlightenment was obtained.

An old figure came to mind along with the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body.

Zhuge Seong.

Over two hundred years ago, the first Family Lord of the Zhuge Family who was revered as a peerless master of formations.

It was through that existence that the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body became known to the world.

At that time, he was well-versed in the Eight Trigrams Descent, Five Elements Extraordinary Arts, Mysterious Gate Strange Methods, and such, and had obtained supreme renown.

Some even evaluated him as being on par with the most famous arts master of ancient times before the birth of the Orthodox and Unorthodox Jianghu, Ghost Valley Hermit Guest.

The basis of that talent was precisely the body called Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body.

However, that was the end of it.

After the death of their pillar Zhuge Seong, the Zhuge Family repeatedly regressed over time.

Because no one who had awakened the various supreme arts based on the marvelous application of the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body at a high level was born in later generations.

In other words, no talent possessing the same constitution as the first Family Lord had appeared in subsequent generations.

That naturally brought about the gradual regression of the Zhuge Family.

Yet.

To think the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body, whose lineage had been severed since Zhuge Seong, had appeared in this era… he hadn’t known.

At the unexpected fact, Cui Lan showed a mystified expression.

“Wow… How did you know he’s here?”

“Earlier, when I attained enlightenment, I felt the mysterious power of the Ten Directions Ghost Road Lost Soul Formation connecting with a great power. The flesh that connects with formation power like that is only one thing.”

“Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body…”

“Yes. That is, the mysterious flesh that has harmonized as part of great nature, the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body, responded to the changes in great nature. I found Zhuge Bi through that, trusting my intuition and energy sense.”

Hae Su-yeon, who had been listening quietly, spoke with a slight smile.

“Huhut. Well, talk is cheap; finding him is more impressive.”

“I had been thinking that somewhere there must exist a possessor of the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body. Since the legendary constitutions you possess like Heavenly Demon Incarnation Body, Nine-Grade Martial Bone, True Ink Heaven Meridians, and Light-Dark Harmonizing Secret Meridians have all already appeared prominently.”

At that time, Namgung Sang-rin spoke meaningfully.

“Hmm, for even the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body to appear in this era… It somehow feels like a warning of an unprecedented age of chaos.”

Mae Yak-bang beside him also added his voice.

“Indeed. It feels like a great battle unlike any before will soon arrive. Is the Shiwan Mountains its starting point?”

“No need to worry in advance. Even if an age of chaos arrives, if we fight together and pacify it, that’s all.”

At Cheol Ryu-heun’s disinterested reply, Namgung Sang-rin smirked.

“Hut, that is correct.”

Then this time Shin So-sul spoke with a worried expression.

“Sect Master Cheol. As you already know, the ability of the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body possessed by the first Family Lord of the Zhuge Family of old was tremendous… enough that even our Cult was reluctant to face him. It was recorded as a god-given divine art that could manipulate even Natural formations according to his will. But if the descendant Zhuge Bi becomes the enemy’s prisoner…”

“That is exactly it.”

When Cheol Ryu-heun thus cut him off, Shin So-sul’s eyes went wide.

“Pardon? That is exactly it, you say?”

“I mean an essential condition for our operation’s success. It’s actually better if he’s taken prisoner.”

“…!”

“The Darkness-Craving Blood Clan and Heretic Cult side confirmed Zhuge Bi’s talent. So they’ll capture him to use him in summoning the Demon God of the otherworld. That’s why I’ve come from instructing him to get captured. Well, a sort of agent intentionally infiltrating the enemy camp.”

“W-won’t he be in danger?”

“There’s no chance he’ll die. I’ve made appropriate arrangements for that too. In planning this work, I’ve looked further ahead. To places those stupid bastards cannot see. Zhuge Bi as prisoner is instead the same as a sword to strike the enemy. And… the weapon to assist that sword will be you.”

Cheol Ryu-heun, with those words, abruptly moved both hands and rapidly tapped over a dozen of Shin So-sul’s pressure points.

TATATATATATAK… !

Shin So-sul, having been point-sealed in an instant, collapsed to lie on the ground.

With his entire body paralyzed, he couldn’t move.

‘UK! What’s this all of a sudden… Ah, that’s it!’

Shin So-sul’s complexion changed completely from his bewilderment.

The eye-light of one who had realized what was intended.

The words Cheol Ryu-heun had said when they first met came to mind.

-Looking at you, it seems to be some kind of Severed Meridian Syndrome; I’ll fix it right up. And then I’ll make you reborn as the greatest master of sorcery of this era.

At last, the moment Shin So-sul himself had been anticipating had arrived.

He also realized the meaning of the words he had just heard.

He’d called him a weapon to assist the sword-like existence called Zhuge Bi.

In other words, it meant to help him after completely healing the meridian-severing illness here, using ultimate sorcery.

Presumably, the method would be explained afterward.

“Entrust the flow of your body to my touch.”

Cheol Ryu-heun, having uttered indifferent words, deployed Pursuing Meridian Piercing Pressure Points.

Light movements but techniques containing great power.

It was clearly a skilled method operating some kind of energy.

“It’s the authentic transmission and secret technique unique to the Evil Emperor.”

At expressionless Cheol Ryu-heun’s words, Shin So-sul exclaimed inwardly in admiration.

‘Heo! He used that legendary unorthodox technique! The one that subdues all unorthodox energy and sorcery under heaven…’

At that time, severe pain encroached upon his body.

There was one reason.

It was because the original unorthodox energy dormant in his body and the unorthodox energy causing the meridian-severing illness were colliding.

In that state, new unorthodox energy gradually spread.

Each time the chain collisions grew larger, that power also gradually expanded and spread.

‘Keok…!’

It was pain enough to make him lose his mind.

But he could feel the new unorthodox energy playing a buffering role.

Having eventually removed his hand, Cheol Ryu-heun looked at him and spoke.

“Clench your teeth and endure. If you survive this process, you’ll be free. I estimate it will take approximately one shichen.”

Shin So-sul, unable to move his body, soon laboriously blinked his eyelids to answer in place of words.

Gun Mu-ak, who had been watching quietly, murmured with a nod.

“The Evil Emperor’s secret technique… I see. It was thanks to that power that you freely roamed through the various formations in the mountains while ignoring them?”

Cheol Ryu-heun, having turned his gaze, nodded his head.

“Today, I gained enlightenment and my martial prowess rose, allowing me to operate it.”

“It’s surprising that you can operate that secret technique without the Divine Martial Sword.”

“Why the surprise at this point.”

“Most likely, you helped his attainment too, right? That’s why you pushed forward with the diversionary operation plan.”

The ‘he’ Gun Mu-ak mentioned meant Zhuge Bi.

“Yes. Zhuge Bi is in a state of having attained the Heart-Stealing Spirit-Commanding Body. The power of the formations there will protect him. So the operation won’t fail.”

At Cheol Ryu-heun’s words, Seol Pan-gyo quietly asked.

“What about the nameless blood-robed group? If the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan and Heretic Cult act separately from them, we’ll have to divide our forces…”

“What nonsense, we just go straight forward and strike. To the base that the Heretic Cult has newly set up and hidden.”

“Pardon? You’re going to proceed directly as planned? But…”

“The Namgung Family, Murong Family, and the gang that led the surprise attacks will converge around here tonight. We just need to kill them all on our way out. As quickly as possible.”

Immediately after, Gun Mu-ak asked with a dry expression.

“They’ll converge and wait outside tonight? What’s the reason for that expectation?”

“Because I wrote a message on the body of the fellow I made into a messenger and sent it.”

“A message on his body… you also have a somewhat ruthless side.”

“When I checked, their inner thoughts differed from each other.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The Darkness-Craving Blood Clan, Heretic Cult, and blood-robed gang… I mean. They appear to be on the same side, but their intentions were different. Of course, their ultimate goal is identical. Weakening the Jianghu’s forces.”

At that sound, Gun Mu-ak’s eye-light deepened.

“Quite an interesting story.”

“The blood-robed gang merely borrowed the power of the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan and Heretic Cult to kill me off.”

“Then… they don’t know about the otherworldly gate?”

“That’s right. And I’ve also found out part of the secret about that blood-robed organization.”

“What is it?”

“That force’s name is Heaven Emperor Society.”

“Heaven Emperor Society?”

“I’ve brought the answer to the question from the other day.”

Simultaneously, Gun Mu-ak recalled the previous conversation with Cheol Ryu-heun.

-In this era… does someone stronger than you exist?

-You’re plenty strong too, so what.

-You know that’s not what I meant.

-There is. Exactly one.

-Who is it?

-I don’t know the identity yet. Also…

-…

-It’s too early to say.

-Is there a connection to that mysterious, enigmatic group?

-Uncertain.

“In that case…”

The moment Gun Mu-ak murmured, Cheol Ryu-heun’s voice flew in.

“Right, the Heaven Emperor Society Lord was him.”