Chapter 413 Battle of Numbers (1)

I should have realized it when I flipped over that damned kasa.

The strange sense of déjà vu and the nauseating feeling in my gut.

I should have recognized these as omens that I was becoming my own poison.

I thought nothing major would happen since Mok Gyeong-un had inscribed protective spells against the diviners’ techniques, but…

-Whoosh!

The moment the kasa inscribed with the Sutra of Subduing Demons burst into flames from the chanting,

“Keuggagagak!”

It was Guard Go Chan who took the full brunt of the sutra’s power with both hands.

-Hiss!

Go Chan, who had been holding the burning kasa, was flung away from Jang Neung-ak’s body, on the verge of attaining Buhahood by the majestic power of the Sutra of Subduing Demons.

-Ah…

For some unknown reason, it felt warm.

It was as if he was being sucked into some inexplicable place.

Was this the moment of finding peace from everything?

Right at that moment.

-Pak!

Someone hastily grabbed hold of his soul.

It was none other than the expelled monk, the Demon-Subduing Fist Master, Ja Geum-jeong.

“I thought something was off about you from the start, but you were just a lowly ghost. As always, there’s barely anyone normal around that master of yours. Hehehe.”

-Let go. I want to find peace now.

“Oh ho. Really? Are you trying to attain Buhahood while you’re at it?”

-Buhahood?

“Yes, you fool. If you go on like this, attaining Buhahood means a one-way ticket to the afterlife.”

‘!?’

In that instant, Go Chan snapped back to his senses.

When he was enveloped by the energy of the Sutra of Subduing Demons, he had been overwhelmed by a warm and ecstatic feeling, but all of that had been the process of departing from this world.

-Ugh! Da-damn monk. Hold onto me tight.

“I am holding on. But where does a lowly ghost like you get off calling me a damn monk?”

-You damn monk, this mess happened because of you, didn’t it?

“…Well, that may be true, but I still don’t appreciate being called a damn monk by a lowly ghost like you.”

-What have you done right!

-Pa-pa-pat!

Amidst their bickering, the executives under Mok Gyeong-un who were regrouping and leading the society members appeared nearby.

They were Hwan Ya-seon, the Shadow Clan Master, Ho Tae-gang, the Axe-Destroying King, and Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilating Poison King.

Hwan Ya-seon, who had come closer, said with a smile.

“Oh ho ho. Well done, Young Master Jang. Thanks to you, we were able to regroup easily before more casualties occurred… Huh? Young Master Jang?”

Hwan Ya-seon couldn’t hide his bewilderment as he saw Jang Neung-ak’s body with arms charred black, eyes rolled back, and tongue sticking out.

“Ahem.”

At this, the expelled monk Ja Geum-jeong gestured hurriedly for Go Chan to possess the body.

Go Chan also tried to quickly enter Jang Neung-ak’s body, but…

-Chiiiiik!

-Eugyagyak!

Due to the remaining energy of the Sutra of Subduing Demons in Jang Neung-ak’s body, the moment he tried to enter, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning and was flung out again.

Once again, as he was about to attain Buhahood with a majestic light, Ja Geum-jeong hastily grabbed him, licking his lips.

“Tsk. Seems it won’t work.”

-Aaaargh! You damn monk! What are we going to do about this?

It was the best body he had managed to obtain after much struggle.

He thought he could finally live in luxury as the second-in-command by Mok Gyeong-un’s side, but now it had become a body he could never enter again.

“There are bodies lying all around, just enter any of them.”

-Are you seriously saying that right now! You…

Go Chan spewed every curse he could think of at Ja Geum-jeong’s insensitive words.

The bodies lying around were all either critically wounded or cold corpses.

While they were squabbling, Ho Tae-gang, the Axe-Destroying King, raised his giant axe, his sect’s unique weapon, and shouted.

“Those in front of us are no longer our allies! Sweep away all those strange beings!”

“Waaaaaah!”

At his cry, the society members under Ho Tae-gang, who had regrouped, charged towards the strange beings whose eyes were still not fully open due to the aftermath of the Sutra of Subduing Demons, shouting with high morale.

Not to be outdone, Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilating Poison King, also shouted at the warriors of the Baek family.

“Show them the poison qi of the Baek family!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The Baek family warriors also charged towards the enemies, shouting at the top of their lungs at their leader’s call.

‘This is where new history is being written. To uphold my disciple’s prestige, I must demonstrate the dignity of the Baek family by achieving greater military exploits than anyone else.’

Amidst this, Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilating Poison King, noticed that the warriors of Corpse Blood Valley were being led by subordinate officers without their leader.

Where was Lee Ji-yeom, the Corpse Blood Valley Master?

‘What?’

Lee Ji-yeom had somehow already approached the vicinity where Mok Gyeong-un and Na Yul-ryang were fighting.

The fight between these monsters, who could be considered the pinnacle of the current martial arts world, had such a great impact that neither allies nor enemies dared to approach. So why did he go there?

Could he be trying to help Gyeong-un?

Baek Sa-ha’s speculation was wrong.

The reason Lee Ji-yeom had rushed there, risking danger, was for one reason only:

For her, whom his family had considered their true lord for generations.

“My Lord!”

-Whoosh!

The sparks emitted from Lee Ji-yeom’s sword cleared the path ahead, cutting down the strange beings with unstoppable force.

The majesty of the flaming sword energy imbued with fire qi and Lee Ji-yeom’s tremendous momentum were so overwhelming that the strange beings, momentarily intimidated, found it difficult to approach easily.

After breaking through the strange beings, Lee Ji-yeom’s figure reached the front of Cheong-ryeong, who had landed on the ground due to the excessive consumption of spirit power while using the Void Suppression of the Eight Thought-Shattering Techniques.

‘This guy?’

When Lee Ji-yeom, the grandson of Lee Hwa-mun, the leader of the Lee family who used to follow her, appeared, Cheong-ryeong’s eyes flashed with interest.

As it was, she was already struggling to deal with the strange beings rushing at her before she could recover even a little of her depleted spirit power.

-Whoosh!

-Chwak!

“Kek!”

Lee Ji-yeom, wearing the evil spirit mask, instantly bisected a strange being of clan master level that was rushing towards him. He then stood blocking Cheong-ryeong’s front and shouted in a thunderous voice.

“Whoever targets my lord will be burned to death by this Lee Ji-yeom’s sword!”

-Flinch! Flinch!

His aura was comparable to that of Jang Ik-deok, who alone guarded the front of Changban Bridge against hundreds of cavalry.

Perhaps because of this, the strange beings who had been aiming to target the weakened Cheong-ryeong unknowingly took steps back, shrinking from Lee Ji-yeom’s tiger-like valor.

Seeing Lee Ji-yeom’s back, Cheong-ryeong was reminded of the young Lee Hwa-mun.

[I, Lee Hwa-mun, will guard my lord’s back.]

As even that voice, which had faded over a hundred years, came to mind, Cheong-ryeong’s eyes reddened.

‘This Lee family brat…’

Loyalty preserved across generations.

It moved even the heartstrings of her, who had become a vengeful spirit.

Mok Gyeong-un, who had been watching their figures from the air in between fighting with Na Yul-ryang, felt reassured.

He had been planning to deal with the strange beings targeting Cheong-ryeong, whose spirit power was greatly depleted, using the Sword Energy of Overcoming Demons, but with Lee Ji-yeom there, it seemed that wouldn’t be necessary.

[No matter how strong you become, you can’t do everything alone. You too, Mortal, should have people you can trust by your side. They will support your back.]

He hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of those words before.

But now, he felt he understood.

‘I see.’

Because his subordinates were each playing their roles, he didn’t need to pay attention elsewhere.

He could focus solely on the enemy before him, which made things easier.

‘I’ll kill you with peace of mind.’

-Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chang!

He gradually sharpened his sword energy, which had been clashing fiercely in a fierce battle.

As the precision of his sword techniques and moves increased, Na Yul-ryang sneered at Mok Gyeong-un’s momentum and opened his mouth.

“Your concentration has improved. Is it because of your subordinates that you can now focus entirely on me? I didn’t think you were the type to keep anyone close, as you seemed too sharp to approach, but it seems you have quite a following.”

Though his words sounded like praise, his tone was closer to sarcasm.

Of course, Mok Gyeong-un paid no attention to this at all.

He was using all his concentration to find flaws in the sword techniques the other was displaying.

-Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chang!

However, Na Yul-ryang’s, or more accurately, the Mok-gan, Three Eyes, who had possessed that body, had sword skills that could be called the best among all beings he had encountered so far.

It was sword skills close to perfection, to the extent that even Ou Cheon-mu, the Supreme Spiritual Sword Craftsman who was the master of Spiritual Sword Sanctuary and one of the Seven Heavens, who prided himself on having reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship, would be considered far inferior.

“Even if you sharpen your sword energy by increasing your concentration, you can’t bridge the gap between you and me in an instant. My sword, built up fiercely through countless moments of despair, no longer loses to anyone. And do you think this is all I’ve prepared?”

“What?”

“Hell begins now.”

-Du-du-du-du-du-du!

No sooner had those words ended.

At that moment, a large group of about three thousand in number could be seen rushing at high speed towards the inner castle on the southeast side of the main building.

When Mok Gyeong-un concentrated his eye power, they appeared as if they were close by.

But they were,

‘Those are?’

Not ordinary humans.

With pale faces adorned with talismans and sharp nails, they looked like moving corpses.

Having read all sorts of spell books and ancient texts, Mok Gyeong-un immediately recognized what they were.

‘Jiangshi?’

Jiangshi.

It originated from a spell technique devised by Taoist priests to send the bodies of those who died in war back to their hometowns. It’s a spell that makes the dead stand up.

When a dead body whose soul has left is forcibly awakened, it becomes like a bird of prey, and if left alone, it develops a habit of targeting living things as yin energy seeps in.

That’s why Taoist priests controlled them with talisman techniques like that.

‘…So that’s it.’

Mok Gyeong-un had read all the books and records that the Primal Killing Pavilion Master possessed.

Therefore, he knew that what he was doing in Corpse Blood Valley was not just about the loneliness of vengeful spirits.

Among the later-generation disciples and young talents who entered Corpse Blood Valley, countless had died without passing through the gate.

The diviners of Primal Killing Pavilion had been constantly collecting the relatively intact bodies among those corpses.

These Jiangshi were what they had created from those collected bodies.

For ordinary people or righteous sects, this would be something to scoffed at or be shocked and criticized as a deed straying from the right path, but Mok Gyeong-un’s thinking was far from ordinary.

He thought it was quite rational to use dead talents like this, and had planned to utilize this after taking over Primal Killing Pavilion.

But,

‘I’ve been beaten to it.’

It was a shame, as he had intended to use them.

Or perhaps Three Eyes had prepared this for a long time through Primal Killing Pavilion, a group of diviners, for a moment like this.

So that he could swallow up the Heaven and Earth Society into his hand at any time.

The society members who were keeping watch and observing the battle situation from the top of the pavilion and high ground seemed to have spotted this, as they shouted in surprise.

“Mo-more unknown strange beings are rushing in from the southeast direction!”

“There are too many enemies!”

At their cries, one of the executives leading the society members under Mok Gyeong-un shouted a question.

“How many?”

“It looks to be easily two or three thousand!”

‘!!!!!!’

‘This is…’

At those words, the executives’ faces darkened.

They had just managed to regroup and fight after escaping the chaotic situation, and they were still able to maintain high morale because they had the upper hand both in numbers and in the number of experts.

But now, if enemies rush in from the southeast, they would be trapped between the enemies.

However, this wasn’t the end.

-Bang! Chwa-chwa-chwak!

“Kek!”

“Kwaak!”

Suddenly, a being appeared in the midst of the society members with lightning speed from somewhere and began a massacre, attacking them relentlessly.

This being was so strong that no one could properly face it, and because of this, numerous society members lost their lives as their bodies were torn apart and burst.

Mok Gyeong-un, being in a high position in the air, could see the appearance of this being, and…

‘A woman?’

The being was a peerlessly beautiful woman with seductive looks, her hair half white and half black.

The woman’s martial prowess was beyond imagination. Every time she made a hand gesture, warriors would burst apart, turning the scene into a living hell.

Seeing her killing their allies as if massacring them, Ho Tae-gang, the Axe-Destroying King, and Ja Geum-jeong, the expelled monk who had sensed danger from the ominous energy the moment she appeared, simultaneously launched their attacks, thinking this couldn’t go on.

-Pa-pat!

The two experts, who had unintentionally arrived almost at the same time, unleashed their ultimate techniques towards her, but…

-Pa-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chang!

-Pa-pa-pa-pa-pak!

Surprisingly, the half-white-haired peerless beauty blocked the attacks of Ho Tae-gang, an expert of the Transformation Realm, and Ja Geum-jeong, whose internal energy was almost on par with the Transformation Realm after cultivating the Peerless Great Ability, with remarkable ease.

Not only that, she even managed to break through their techniques and land a strike, forcing them to retreat.

-Chwa-reu-reu-reuk!

-Ku-dang-tang!

Ho Tae-gang and Ja Geum-jeong, who were pushed back and bounced off to roll on the ground, turned pale.

Although they had only exchanged moves for about one technique, they instinctively knew.

That this peerlessly beautiful woman before them was a monster approaching or equal to the Profound Realm.

“Where did such an unheard-of being come from? Cough… cough.”

“That damn succubus is unbelievably strong.”

They had managed to stand up, but they had suffered internal injuries from just one hit.

With the appearance of a supreme expert overwhelming their side’s strongest, the morale of the society members around them began to rapidly decline.

The half-white-haired peerless beauty, or rather, Chunchu of the First Realm of the Secret Society, waved her blood-stained hand towards Mok Gyeong-un with a seductive smile.

“I missed you then, but now I get to see you like this. Heavenly Demon.”

Seeing her, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

With all his eye power unleashed, Mok Gyeong-un could see her dangerous and vast energy, which was closer to demonic power than true qi.

At this level, among those present here now, only Mok Gyeong-un himself could face her alone.

“Huhuhu, do you understand now? You cannot defeat me in either force or numbers.”

“……”

“By the time you die at my hands, all those who follow you will have become cold corpses as well.”

Chunchu of the First Realm possessed power equal to the Supreme Masters of the Seven Heavens, the pinnacle of the current martial arts world.

With her appearance and the jiangshi, the tide of battle had already been reversed.

Na Yul-ryang, or rather, Three-Eyes  who possessed that body, smiled with satisfaction.

However,

‘He’s smiling?’

Even though the situation had changed, Mok Gyeong-un was smiling.

“You fool, do you understand the current situation……”

“It’s amusing that you think you’re the only one fighting a battle of numbers.”

“What?”

It was at that moment of retort.

Three Eyes’s eye on the forehead reacted to a strange spell power felt from somewhere, and his gaze turned towards it.

It was in front of the main building.

There, a cute-looking girl with short hair could be seen standing with a large brush in her hand.

Considerable spell power could be felt from the brush, which seemed to be a ritual tool for spellcasting.

She was Yeo Su-rin, a disciple of the Harmonious Immortal Pavilion Master.

“Open!”

Mok Gyeong-un shouted towards her.

Then, as if she had been waiting for this, Yeo Su-rin raised her brush and drew a large circular shape.

At that moment, a vermilion cloud arose and the space began to ripple.

-Woooong!

Along with it, one being and numerous groups of swordsmen emerged from that rippling space.

As an extraordinary-looking old man standing at the front revealed himself, the society members nearby exclaimed in shock.

“Ou, Ou Cheon-mu?”

He was Ou Cheon-mu, the Supreme Spiritual Sword Craftsman, one of the Seven Heavens considered the pinnacle of the current martial arts world and the master of Spiritual Sword Sanctuary.