Chapter 462: A Mind Already Turning

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Fresh blood and chunks of flesh that soared chaotically through the void and soon scattered all over the ground.

HUDUDUDUDUK, HUDUDUDUDUK, HUDUDUDUDUK, HUDUDUDUDUK……

Black Tortoise Divine General Wang-ryu thus met death with his entire body bursting into pieces and became a lonely ghost.

It was the price of defeat from overestimating his one body’s martial arts level.

But that was because his opponent was Cheol Ryu-heun.

If it had been another expert, conversely, they would have met a gruesome death at Wang-ryu’s hands.

Anyway, Wang-ryu should have been more careful.

There had been a certain ominous sign regarding him.

Precisely when the soul body of the Otherworldly Demon God had ignored Wang-ryu himself and fixated on Cheol Ryu-heun……

That essentially meant a disparity in the functional capacity that the physical body itself possessed.

However, Wang-ryu had overlooked that momentary sign, and finally was devoured by the astonishing divine might that Cheol Ryu-heun’s body displayed.

Though, was it solely Wang-ryu’s oversight?

The fundamental cause of him overlooking that was the words of the master who was the object of his loyalty and worship.

-Kill him and then transfer it. No, it will transfer by itself.

-Pardon? What do you mean by transfer by itself……?

-Into your body, that is.

-……!

-Since you possess a body even stronger than Heuk Ma-yung, the otherworldly demon god would naturally be drawn.

Yet the target the soul body of the Otherworldly Demon God actually wanted was the body Cheol Ryu-heun possessed.

Thus, consequentially, the Heaven Emperor Society Lord’s arrogant misjudgment had caused Wang-ryu’s death.

The space in the forest where stillness had arrived.

SEUUP, HUUU.

Having quietly exhaled in that silence, Cheol Ryu-heun soon turned around and murmured in a bored voice.

“As they say, What’s meant to be will be.”

On his lips, a thin smile too faint to perceive with two eyes flickered past like lightning.

Earlier, while fighting Wang-ryu, he had faced an unexpected crisis.

But.

That instead led to a miraculous opportunity.

Also, through that, he had broken through the limits of his mysterious body and reached an even higher place.

Yes.

Everything related to martial arts had advanced a step.

To a level transcending even the martial knowledge accumulated over a thousand years……

And he won, to show everyone.

Was victory all he gained?

He had even obtained information that would be useful for his future actions.

It was literally a blessing in disguise.

Even so, there was still much road left to travel.

Because he had currently only taken the divine energy arranged by Blood God Mu-wol among the eternal divine ranks within the Great Universe.

‘It’ll be more interesting from now on.’

Cheol Ryu-heun spoke inwardly and glanced at the void.

The sky had erased the entrance to the Great Universe as if nothing had happened and merely scattered blue light.

Right then, Gun Mu-ak and the retainers tried to approach.

Seeing that, Cheol Ryu-heun sent a gesture.

“Stop. Wait a moment.”

At his restraint, the group each hitched in their movements.

Namgung Sang-rin, tilting his head, asked from afar.

“Ah…… Why is that?”

Cheol Ryu-heun’s dry reply followed.

“There’s something to finish.”

He still had one thing left to wrap up.

Namely, the absorption of the Black Tortoise Divine Energy.

No, precisely speaking, it would be more correct to express it as recovery.

He had felt something from right after awakening through the Great Universe.

He had continued to be conscious of it even while fiercely driving Wang-ryu into a corner.

In the midst of that, he figured out that it was a certain mysterious spiritual energy that hadn’t completely merged with the natural earth energy unique to the Shiwan Mountains.

It wasn’t energy related to a formation.

Because no formation had existed in this place from the start.

At that moment, he became certain.

That it was energy connected to the legendary divine beast, the Black Tortoise.

Right then, a conversation with Wang-ryu floated up in his mind.

From when a peculiar current had been generated from the fragments of the destroyed Black Tortoise Iron Armor……

Wang-ryu had transferred that current to his own body while chattering.

-Cheol Ryu-heun…… Do you know of the power called divine energy?

-Don’t stall and just say it.

-The so-called divine energy is the power that gives form to one’s thought.

-So what you just did was the spiritual power dwelling in the black tortoise iron armor?

-Yes, it’s the divine beast black tortoise’s innate thought and divine energy. To give examples, it’s the same mysterious use as the supernatural abilities the Divine Martial Sword was said to possess.

-……

-Fear and fear again. From now on, I am the black tortoise itself. I never thought the opponent I’d have to use this power against would be you.

All thought, thought-will.

The root is the spirit-mind.

Here, ‘mind’ is also called ‘spirit.’

The spiritual energy belonging to spirit-mind is again classified into soul-spirit.

Soul is mind or spirit, spirit is essence.

Such soul-spirit within the mental spiritual energy creates mental power.

That’s why it’s said to be the root of the power commonly called thought-will.

Death meant the separation of soul and spirit.

The Black Tortoise Iron Armor had given Wang-ryu its divine energy and turned into ordinary iron.

That was equivalent to death.

A departed soul typically ascends to heaven.

But the soul of the divine beast Black Tortoise, which belongs to the order established by primordial great nature and is not human, would be something different.

Being a high-order mysterious existence, there would require some sort of procedure.

That’s why it couldn’t go straight up to heaven and was wandering this forest like a ghost, perhaps.

Also, the mysterious spiritual force dwelling throughout the Shiwan Mountains was special too.

At that time, Cheol Ryu-heun had thought that due to the absolute law of great nature related to divine beasts, only the spirit part of the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit had been transferred to Wang-ryu.

Then after Wang-ryu’s death, the soul-spirit would reunite again.

So Cheol Ryu-heun planned to use the divine ability his body possessed to attempt recovery of the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit.

After Wang-ryu died, he felt the spiritual energy wandering here had become even thicker.

It seemed certain the soul-spirit had reunited.

‘I need to make it enter me.’

Having spoken inwardly, Cheol Ryu-heun quietly regulated his breathing.

He had already found an appropriate method.

The key was whether it would succeed or fail.

He began constructing blood vessels and energy pathways inside his body.

They were exactly the same as the late Wang-ryu’s internal composition.

He had bought a bit of time with his Celestial Wandering Sword Energy before the opponent perished.

And through that, he had grasped the composition of the internal blood vessels and energy pathways and memorized them on the spot.

If Wang-ryu’s body had been optimized to receive the Black Tortoise Divine Energy, his plan was to create an identical body to draw in that soul-spirit.

Having soon completed everything, Cheol Ryu-heun enhanced his mental power by operating divine energy.

‘Resonate!’

Sure enough.

SEUSEUSEUSU, SEUSEUSEUSEUSEU…

Suddenly, a dark red current began to gather in the air.

And before long, it formed the shape of some large beast.

At the same time, Namgung Sang-rin, Hae Su-yeon, Cui Lan and the other retainers exclaimed in admiration.

“No way……”

“Could it be…… The Black Tortoise?”

“That’s right, unni. It looks like the Black Tortoise.”

Gun Mu-ak beside them was also inwardly letting out exclamations.

‘Huh! What’s that again? How mysterious. Nothing he does is ordinary……’

High in the air, the form of the Black Tortoise shrouded in dark red current was massive and dignified.

Thus, as everyone quietly held their breath and watched.

-Human…… Are you close to divine rank?

A transmission of thought resounded in Cheol Ryu-heun’s mind.

It was a voice no one else could hear, only he.

Of course, the owner of the transmission was the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit.

Cheol Ryu-heun responded using the method of heart-voice.

-Do I look like it? Then I’ve succeeded.

The Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit was silent for a moment, then.

-You are without doubt a vessel capable of managing my power. But excessive greed invites disaster.

It was a rebuke asking why he coveted the power of a divine beast when he was already sufficiently strong.

To that, Cheol Ryu-heun replied in an indifferent tone.

-It’s not divine energy that I need.

Instantly, the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit expressed a question.

-Those words…… What do they mean?

Cheol Ryu-heun’s words continued.

-This world needs it.

It was meaningful.

At that, the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit assented.

-Ah, the constellation of world-destruction…… So you’ve sensed that sign.

Right then, Cheol Ryu-heun’s eyes changed.

He heard it again here.

The Constellation of World-Destruction.

Could that possibly be the fate the Heaven Emperor Society Lord possessed?

With that thought, Cheol Ryu-heun posed a question.

-Would you tell me about the group the one who had been using your divine energy until now belonged to? What I’ve found out on my own isn’t enough for me.

But the answer he expected didn’t come.

-My self-awareness…… Only responds at moments like now when we commune. While lending my power, I fall into deep sleep and cannot see or hear the outside. That is because of the immutable law set by primordial great nature.

Cheol Ryu-heun, having heard those words, murmured to himself as if he had expected it.

‘Hmmm, no different from that guy.’

-A god is also a being belonging to the order set by great nature. Therefore, one cannot freely come and go between heaven and earth. If certain conditions are met…… Only then does intervention become possible.

Those were the very words the divine being had said yesterday.

Cheol Ryu-heun soon composed his eyes and spoke.

-Understood. Then there’s nothing more for us to discuss. Now, come into my body. I’ll use that power to save the world.

Immediately after, the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit answered.

-You have no need to ask for my permission. This divine energy naturally permeates into one who has the qualifications.

No sooner had those words ended.

KUKUKU, KUKUKUKUKU……

The ground and atmosphere vibrated.

It was a phenomenon occurring as the Black Tortoise’s soul-spirit rapidly compressed.

Thus, a sphere in the form of a dark red inner core was created in the air and then.

FLASH!

It exploded, emitting radiance.

Following that, it divided into thousands of strands and entered Cheol Ryu-heun’s body.

SHUSHUSHU, SHUSHUSHUSHU… !

At last.

TTUK.

The surroundings became quiet again.

In the midst of that, a faint strange light was contained in Cheol Ryu-heun’s dark brown pupils.

‘Hoho……’

An inner core of vast energy with cold attribute was detected condensed in his lower dantian area.

It was the Black Tortoise Divine Energy.

Now if he shattered it and completely absorbed it, it would settle as Cheol Ryu-heun’s own power.

But he left it as it was.

Why?

Because he intended to use the Black Tortoise Divine Energy differently.

‘There’s somewhere else it should be used.’

Inside Cheol Ryu-heun’s mind, plans for what came next were already being quickly formed one by one.

The Black Tortoise Divine Energy was also an element included in that matter.

“Have you…… Finished?”

At Hae Su-yeon’s cautious question from over there, Cheol Ryu-heun gave a wordless nod instead of an answer.

Thereupon the retainers, Gun Mu-ak, and Divine Wind all quickly approached within arm’s reach.

“Just now that…… What phenomenon was it?”

When Gun Mu-ak asked quietly, Cheol Ryu-heun shrugged his shoulders.

“Isn’t it obvious if you look? I absorbed the Black Tortoise’s Divine energy.”

“……!”

“It was the power the guy who died earlier had. It’d be a waste to just throw it away, so I’m picking it up to use.”

Having said so, Cheol Ryu-heun cast a meaningful remark toward Gun Mu-ak in front of him.

“The true battle begins now. You should immediately gather the combined forces of demonic path Jianghu led by Heavenly Demon Cult and move.”

“What……?”

“We must swiftly annihilate the forces under the Heaven Emperor Society. One of them is the demonic path’s share.”

“Could it be……?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s already in my head. The location of the enemy camp that the demonic path’s full strength will attack.”