Chapter 236 : Chapter 236
Chapter 236. Wuji (1)
The energy that flowed from the True Light Cult Leader shot forward.
Jin Yuseong hurriedly twisted the Myungin Sword and barely managed to block the strike.
“Tch.”
Die!!!
The black energy that opened its maw wide gave the eerie sensation of screaming.
In the midst of that, the True Light Cult Leader swung his sword once more.
With the Myungin Sword pinned down, Jin Yuseong had no room to respond.
“Amitabha!”
Fortunately, the Shaolin Abbot stepped in and blocked the strike for him. At the same time, the Beggars’ Sect Leader who had rushed over was already swinging the Dog Beating Staff.
The combined assault of Jin Yuseong, the Sect Leader, and the Abbot continued.
But they did not have enough hands.
Centered on the body of the True Light Cult Leader, nine enormous streams of energy flowed outward.
Each of them opened its maw wide as it continuously targeted the three of them.
It resembled nine gigantic serpent-dragons parasitizing a human body.
Those nine serpent-dragons moved freely as though they possessed their own will.
BANG!
The Beggars’ Sect Leader’s Dog Beating Staff was blocked, and Jin Yuseong’s Myungin Sword was also intercepted.
Each time it happened, a strange sight appeared before Jin Yuseong’s eyes.
Hand over the Heavenly Peach!
I shall ascend to the heavens!!
They truly possessed their own will.
‘Has the demonic energy gone berserk?’
Such a thought briefly crossed his mind.
But the True Light Cult Leader appeared completely fine.
“Heh heh heh heh.”
Rather than suffering from internal injuries or being tormented by rampant demonic energy, he was merely laughing like a madman while revealing his greed.
‘Are they the souls of the martial artists he devoured?’
Just as Jin Yuseong arrived at that conjecture, he hurriedly threw himself aside.
The True Light Cult Leader’s Enhanced Qi, launched in a sudden ambush, slammed into the ground where Jin Yuseong had been standing.
BANG!!
This was no situation to calmly ponder theories.
“Hah!”
With a shout, Jin Yuseong hurled the Myungin Sword.
Guided once again by the profound principle of controlling the sword with intent, it twisted through the air in complex trajectories, aiming for the vital points of the True Light Cult Leader.
But avoiding the nine serpent-dragons and striking the True Light Cult Leader’s body was no easy feat.
The battle raged with continuous explosions.
The ground had been blasted apart everywhere, and waves of energy surged endlessly.
The Shaolin Abbot’s monk robes had been reduced to rags, and the Beggars’ Sect Leader—who had been a beggar to begin with—was now half-naked.
At that moment, a ferocious shout erupted from somewhere nearby.
“O Supreme One!! Use this foolish old servant as fertilizer and lead the faithful toward the heavens!!”
It was the voice of the Grand Elder.
The True Light Cult Leader turned his head.
Only then did the situation of the battlefield enter his sight.
His eyes had been completely fixated on the three delectable prey before him.
He had not realized that nearly half of his followers were already sprawled across the ground.
“RAAAARGH!!”
The berserk aura of the Grand Elder surged.
The sight of a beheaded follower lodged itself in the True Light Cult Leader’s eyes.
At that moment, three presences were felt simultaneously.
The offensive of the trio, seizing the moment when the True Light Cult Leader had looked away.
The nine black serpent-dragons twisted together and blocked all of their attacks.
BANG!!
Amid the explosion, another strange sight appeared in Jin Yuseong’s eyes.
How dare you harm my limbs!!
I will never forgive this!!
Words resembling floating inscriptions appeared above the tangled currents of energy, as though hovering over the head of the True Light Cult Leader.
Only then did the True Light Cult Leader slowly turn his gaze toward the trio.
As he swung his sword, the intertwined black energy exploded outward.
The recoil force blasted Jin Yuseong, the Beggars’ Sect Leader, and the Shaolin Abbot backward.
“Did you truly believe you could block my path forever?”
He decided to stop devouring all three.
After all, one alone would suffice for ascending to the heavens.
Demonic energy flowed from the body of the True Light Cult Leader, now slightly freed from his greed.
It was not as condensed as when the nine serpent-dragons writhed.
Thus, the others could not see the demonic energy at all.
But Jin Yuseong, who possessed special eyes, could see it.
The demonic energy spread like mist, gradually dominating the surrounding space.
It looked as though the entire world had been covered by a black curtain.
At the same time, the True Light Cult Leader took a single step forward.
The demonic energy that filled the surrounding space immediately sank downward.
It was as if a cloth weighing several thousand geun had descended to crush the world.
That immense pressure was transmitted directly to the trio.
“Tch.”
The pressure was so great that it felt as though their knees would collapse on their own.
The Shaolin Abbot and the Beggars’ Sect Leader frantically raised their internal energy to resist the overwhelming force.
Jin Yuseong did the same.
But there was one difference.
He was observing the energy that crushed them.
Kneel, all of you.
Such words appeared everywhere.
Thanks to the battle that had continued until now, Jin Yuseong was finally beginning to grasp something.
What those words he had been seeing all along truly were.
They were neither symptoms of demonic energy running wild nor the cries of vengeful spirits devoured by the True Light Cult Leader.
‘Embedding will into Qi?’
The Qi controlled by the True Light Cult Leader contained his will.
Just as that thought arose, the sound of footsteps echoed once more.
The True Light Cult Leader was approaching.
With every step he took, the pressure that crushed the surroundings intensified.
CRRRK.
The ground, already devastated by battle, shattered once again.
Perhaps realizing that merely enduring would accomplish nothing, the Shaolin Abbot braced himself for internal injuries and unleashed the Hundred Steps Divine Fist.
Golden energy surged toward the True Light Cult Leader.
While the True Light Cult Leader deflected it with his sword, Jin Yuseong and the Beggars’ Sect Leader joined the attack.
BANG!!
They barely managed to break free from the pressure of the True Light Cult Leader.
Or perhaps he had intentionally released them.
In the next instant, the True Light Cult Leader charged forward again, swinging his sword.
The Shaolin Abbot barely blocked the strike, but blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
The fierce battle resumed.
Each exchange felt as though bones and muscles were being crushed.
The overwhelming difference in internal energy twisted their meridians and caused blood to surge upward.
But they had no leisure to hesitate or succumb to pain.
Life-threatening crises followed one after another, where even the slightest opening could cost them their lives.
Just after Jin Yuseong barely ducked his head to avoid a wave of black energy, the True Light Cult Leader’s sword flew toward him.
He exerted the principle of yielding to its fullest, yet could not completely deflect the strike.
BANG!!
Jin Yuseong’s body was blasted backward as he spat blood.
The Beggars’ Sect Leader and the Shaolin Abbot rushed forward as if to protect him.
But the Sect Leader also spat blood and was sent flying after a single exchange.
Immediately afterward, the True Light Cult Leader’s gaze turned to the Abbot, who now stood alone.
Two phrases surfaced simultaneously within his mind.
Devour.
Kill.
After a moment’s hesitation, the True Light Cult Leader swung his sword.
SLASH!
The Shaolin Abbot’s left arm was severed.
That brief hesitation had barely spared his life.
“Abbot!!!”
Cries like screams erupted from all directions.
The nomadic raiders and the True Light Cult followers had already been largely dealt with.
The chivalrous heroes threw themselves forward to assist.
Jin Yuseong shouted urgently.
“If he devours you, it will only restore his internal energy!!”
At that shout, the chivalrous heroes rushing forward like moths answered.
“Heh heh! Did the Ghost Sword Great Hero not say it himself?”
“If he keeps devouring people with demonic arts, he might die from Qi deviation!”
The True Light Cult Leader swung his sword toward the incoming crowd.
“You flies dare approach me!”
With that single strike, more than a dozen heroes died in vain.
Even as human bodies were torn apart and blood sprayed into the air, the heroes continued advancing.
“Hahaha! Try and kill me!”
“Spill all the internal energy you gained through filthy demonic arts!”
“The more of us you kill, the closer your own death will come!!”
The sword of the True Light Cult Leader swept out again and again.
People were continuously cut down by the demonic energy flowing from his body.
But his internal energy was also being consumed rapidly.
Seeing this, the True Light Cult Leader laughed arrogantly.
“Heh heh heh. Did you truly believe that devouring vermin like you would cause me to fall into a mental demon?”
Demonic energy burst from his body and tore into the throat of a hero.
“AAARGH!!”
The hero’s body gradually withered as he screamed.
Jin Yuseong could clearly see the scene.
Surrender your vital essence!!
The greed of the True Light Cult Leader contained within the demonic energy devouring the hero’s Qi.
You too will someday receive heaven’s punishment!!
Even as he died, the hero resisted with furious will.
That will was torn apart and flowed into the body of the True Light Cult Leader.
The entire process of the demonic art devouring vital essence was vividly visible to Jin Yuseong.
He swallowed the blood rising in his throat and forced himself to stand.
Even as he moved again, people continued rushing endlessly toward the True Light Cult Leader.
Companions fighting beside them were cut down by demonic energy.
SLASH.
Even while being turned into mummies by the demonic art.
Among those charging forward were Jin Yuseong’s own comrades.
“Senior Brother!!”
“Brother, take a moment to rest!!”
Countless stray thoughts filled Jin Yuseong’s vision.
“That man will die sooner or later!!”
“Raise the banner of destroying demons and annihilating evil!!”
Beyond their shouts, the wills of countless people appeared.
The malice of the True Light Cult Leader surged everywhere, devouring those intentions.
The battlefield had become a festival of Qi and will emitted by countless individuals.
Amid the dizzying scene, what captured Jin Yuseong’s gaze was once again a hero being devoured by demonic energy.
It was not merely anger that surged from witnessing it.
The primordial Qi left the body of the hero whose heart burned with fury toward the True Light Cult Leader.
As it connected with him, that primordial Qi turned black.
Then the darkened energy, carrying the will of the True Light Cult Leader, attacked someone else.
The flow of Qi and will.
Something he had never paid attention to before was now continuously stimulating Jin Yuseong’s mind.
His previous life and his present one.
Countless martial arts he had accumulated throughout his life mixed together within his mind.
At the end of that fusion lay a clue to the final form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword.
Wuji.
‘Ah…’
At that moment, Jin Yuseong saw something new.
Countless threads.
They were different from the threads he had seen with his first eye.
Threads connecting will and Qi.
They resembled the threads he had seen when he used the second form of the Sun Moon Infinite Sword and unfolded the Sun and Moon.
The thread that connected his hand and the Myungin Sword.
The thread that connected his will to the Myungin Sword.
Thinking about it, the principle was simple.
Controlling the sword with intent.
A technique that used pure will to wield the blade.
It was possible only because one embedded one’s intent into the sword.
Jin Yuseong’s eyes fixed upon the True Light Cult Leader.
He saw the demonic energy spreading from that man’s body, each strand rampaging with its own will.
‘Does it truly have to be a real sword?’
He could swing a sword that was not even in his hand.
Then perhaps it did not matter even if there was no sword at all.
The moment that thought arose, his hand moved.
As if grasping the empty air.
At the same time, a single thread flowed from Jin Yuseong’s hand.
An extremely faint thread.
A thread that did not exist in this world.
But Jin Yuseong could feel it.
He extended that thread farther and farther.
Toward the battlefield where countless wills intertwined.
At some point, the world seemed to have stopped.
Or perhaps it only felt that way because time flowed unbearably slowly.
Within that stretched world, the thread slowly advanced.
As it lengthened, the already faint thread became even dimmer.
It was shaken violently by the tangled wills around it.
It was a ridiculous thing.
The method itself was not much different from when he controlled the sword with intent.
Yet now it was difficult.
He was performing the same act, yet something that had been easy with a sword became difficult without one.
‘This too is merely prejudice.’
He steadied his mind.
The thread slipped between people moving like sluggish insects.
Passing countless heroes, it finally reached the immediate vicinity of the True Light Cult Leader.
Then something astonishing happened.
How dare you!!
The demonic energy of the True Light Cult Leader reacted to the thread.
As though it could actually see it.
The thread collided with the demonic energy and trembled violently.
The realization he had only just grasped was on the verge of collapsing.
At that moment, someone slowly struck aside the demonic energy.
CLANG!
It was Baek Hyang, who had somehow reached the immediate vicinity of the True Light Cult Leader.
She was not alone.
From every direction, martial artists slowly unleashed their techniques toward him.
The demonic energy moved again to block their attacks.
Within the curtain of demonic energy that enveloped the True Light Cult Leader, an extremely tiny opening appeared.
‘Now.’
Jin Yuseong instinctively thrust his arm forward.
It was a perfect thrust, even though there was no sword in his hand.
The faint thread shot forward with that thrust and pierced the opening of the True Light Cult Leader.
CRUNCH.
With the sound of flesh tearing, blood burst from the chest of the True Light Cult Leader.
He had not been cut by a blade.
Yet a sword wound appeared across his chest.