Chapter 1237
“I think the reason my eyes turned dark is definitely related to Evil Qi.”
Even if I’m a bit dim-witted, I can manage that much of a guess.
“Damn it. Where did it go wrong?”
The enhancement of the summoning circle and the summoned creature must be because my magic power has gotten stronger. But why would my magic power increase at all?
“…I can’t quite figure it out… I was just a dizzy mess until the very end of my past life…”
Most of my diligent training was all about martial arts, never touching magic or demon paths at all. I had a strong desire to improve by practicing martial arts first before reaching the Realm of the Divine Domain. But suddenly having stronger magic power now?
No, if I look a little closer, there might be a reason. But too many things have rushed past in my last life, and retracing them one by one now is just speculation. I took a moment to calm my confusion and took a deep breath.
“Hoo…”
My thoughts changed.
“Normally, I would’ve gone to find Zhuge Sa by now, but… forget it.”
With the magic power increased like this, it seems reasonable to first figure out how to lower it. I might cause serious harm even to Zhuge Sa. With that thought, I pondered what I could do alone without searching for Zhuge Sa or Mangnyang.
“……”
Suddenly, I remembered visiting Zhuge Sa before. I felt my face harden.
[Those possess a polarizing power. If I touch them, I would instantly roast to death.]
Four Great Spirit Deities…!!
As soon as I remembered that the Four Great Spirit Deities had polarizing magic, I closed my eyes and visualized them. I reached out toward the white circle among the four orbs that appeared in my mind. The white circle contained the Thunder God, Vajra.
“Let’s try using Vajra to suppress my magic…”
Just holding it should have some effect, right?
I thought that as I plunged my hand into the white circle, but at that moment—
Crackle!!
“Aaaah!!”
I immediately collapsed to the ground in agony as my entire body felt like it was being scorched. I couldn’t even take Vajra out because my hand hurt, and my body was literally on fire from the lightning.
Whoosh!!
“Aaaah! Uaaah!”
I screamed. The pain of being burned alive was not as severe as what I had experienced in my past life, but it was no less brutal. I had to endure the smell of my burning flesh while fainting and waking up repeatedly. After a while, sensing the flames on my body had diminished somewhat, I dashed towards the nearby river and jumped in.
Plop.
The river water evaporated almost instantly, which seemed surreal. It was just flames derived from the Thunder God, not the Flame God Agni, yet it felt like 20% of the river had dried up. I feared that if this continued, the river would disappear entirely. In that brief moment of pain subsiding, I summoned a massive amount of energy and activated Protection Energy Technique throughout my body.
Whoosh!!
Whoosh!!
A drastic way of expelling Protection Energy from inside out! Normal martial artists would never use such an inefficient method repeatedly, but as I did so, the Vajra’s flames gradually receded. When the flames dimmed down, I was left exhausted, barely managing to crawl out of the river.
“Huff… huff…”
In a weary state, I realized one thing.
“It’s for sure… my magic power is maximized.”
The polarizing magic of the Four Great Spirit Deities was boiling inside me to the point I couldn’t even touch them!
“Does that mean I can’t use any of the Four Great Spirit Deities now? Not just Vajra but all of them?”
This… is a huge loss.
I wore a dull expression at the gravity of my situation. The Four Great Spirit Deities were the ultimate weapons I could use against the Old Ruler, but if I can’t use them, it’s practically the same as sealed! This realization hit me harder than anticipated.
“…I don’t know. Even though I just had that craziness happen, I can’t tell if my magic power has diminished.”
I felt an overwhelming urge to rush to Zhuge Sa but resisted. For some reason, I sensed that visiting Zhuge Sa now would yield nothing but a predictable answer. I needed to catch hold of some lead on my own before approaching Zhuge Sa if I wanted to be more efficient.
What should I do?
What could I obtain to gain a clue from this situation?
After pondering for a while, a conclusion struck me.
“First, let’s rescue Seo Mun-hye…”
In the past, meeting with Zhuge Sa or Mangnyang didn’t take long, but prioritizing visiting Seo Mun-hye was reasonable since I hadn’t collected all the treasures yet. There’s a chance that while gathering treasures, I might stumble upon clues too!
Bang!
I headed straight to Pirate Island, where Seo Mun-hye was located. Upon entering the area where the captives were kept, I saw Seo Mun-hye in a state of a living corpse, and I prepared to use the Forbidden Heaven Seal Technique, like usual, to restore her consciousness with acupuncture.
But at the moment I inserted the first needle…
“Ah… uhhh… Aaaah…”
Unexpected groans slipped from Seo Mun-hye’s lips. Since it was completely uncharacteristic of her, I froze in shock, and suddenly, a massive power erupted from within her, unleashing a roar.
“Aaaah!!”
BOOM!!
Thud thud thud.
Thanks to the defensive barrier I hastily put up with all my energy, the other captives weren’t killed. However, even with the barrier holding all my energy, I couldn’t completely shield Seo Mun-hye’s roar, and my hands felt numb with surprise.
“What the hell? Seo Mun-hye should be at least at the top level of Peak Expert right now; where is all this power coming from…?”
Could it be that she has already regained the power of the Giant Race?
But why now?
The ground shook as Seo Mun-hye’s white hair gradually floated into the air, and I felt an overwhelming force growing. Realizing I couldn’t afford to treat Seo Mun-hye leniently, I gritted my teeth and swiftly slashed through all the prison bars underground with a single strike. Then I shouted.
“Get over here, now!! Unless you want to die!!”
Swish.
As all the prisoners flocked to my side, I quickly ushered them into the wooden armor. Just as I was placing the last one inside, Seo Mun-hye’s palm strike surged toward me.
BOOM!!
It was an immense palm loaded with powerful energy! I used both palms to block it, and despite having a great stance, my entire body shook as waves reverberated through me.
“This force is even stronger than when Grand Master Myung-ho puts all his power into a strike…”
What a ridiculous overflow of power. Right now, Seo Mun-hye could be deemed stronger than the Dharma Guardian of the White Lotus Sect at this moment.
Grinning, I spoke to Seo Mun-hye.
“You could have attacked earlier, but you waited until all the prisoners were in. You still have some sanity left?”
“U… uhh…”
At that moment, Seo Mun-hye seemed to regain a semblance of clarity, her dazed eyes fixing on me.
“R… run away… I’m… not me…”
“I know.”
“No… it’s not me… Something else inside me… keeps telling me… to kill you…!! You can’t… be spared…. It keeps saying that to me…”
“……”
Is the blood of the Giant Race already hostile towards me?
“Run away…!!”
Seo Mun-hye screamed with a voice full of fury, but I remained apathetic.
“Nope.”
“Why…?”
“Seo Mun-hye. You may not remember, but in my past life, you risked your life for me. Your father also made a request of me. I have yet to repay that debt…”
I looked directly at her.
“Now it’s my turn to risk my life for you.”
“Aaaah…!!”
In the next moment, a rampaging Seo Mun-hye’s palm strike came flying towards me again. I sensed instantly that I wouldn’t be able to deflect it head-on with my martial arts potential.
“Damn… this is intense…”
It looked about three times more powerful than before and seemed to surpass human martial arts altogether. There was no way my internal power could withstand such magnitude; even Yeongbi Cheon would explode if he tried to block it.
Pierless Technique!
But at that moment, I unfolded Wuwei and unleashed the Yin and Yang Blades, feeling a massive halo encircle me. In that state of extreme concentration, the Pierless Technique neutralized Seo Mun-hye’s immense force, watching as her technique fell apart.
“……!!”
Even Seo Mun-hye, in a frenzy, seemed to hesitate momentarily, realizing this brief lapse was perhaps my first and last chance. I summoned the Immortal Sword with one hand and directed it towards her solar plexus.
BOOM!!!
I was still not at the level to achieve non-lethal strikes with the Immortal Sword, meaning it harbored destructive power enough to break Mount Tai. Normally, this would mean sure death upon impact with a human body, but I pushed through regardless. Having reached the Absolute Realm, my ability to gauge my opponent’s potential had also increased, so I figured that with her current defensive power, she wouldn’t die or sustain serious injury!
Thud!
“Kuh… Aah!!”
Just as I predicted. With a brief explosion, Seo Mun-hye’s body shook violently, bouncing back, but she only coughed a little blood with no visible serious injuries. The overwhelming defensive power she gained from the Giant Race’s 선조회귀 was enough to withstand my full-force Immortal Sword!
“But even if her physical defense is high, it doesn’t mean her qi defense is equally resilient.”
I took advantage of Seo Mun-hye’s opening, quickly closing in to place my palm on her dantian. Then, with all my strength, I unleashed the Thunder God’s philosophy on her Eight Extraordinary Vessels.
Thunder God Lineage’s Fifth Secret
Lightning Spirit Hidden Dragon
The energy transformed into lightning and spread out across Seo Mun-hye’s Eight Extraordinary Vessels. Originally a sealing technique meant to incapacitate an opponent, this wicked secret art would, instead, suit this situation.
Crackle!!
She could no longer exert power as she collapsed to the ground, pouring out streams of Qi like a struck dragon. I gazed down at her while she dripped blood from her eyes.
“Technically, I should perform the Forbidden Heaven Seal Technique on you, but I’m going to do the opposite this time. If I release you now, it would be like setting a feral horse loose in the desert, so I’ll reverse the seal instead.”
With a swift motion, I buried sixteen gold needles I’d snatched from the Merchant Association into her back’s acupoints, using the needles to direct energy flow. I reinforced the previously enacted Forbidden Heaven Seal Technique while simultaneously sealing her dantian.
Whoosh.
“Hah… hah…”
As the energy of the Forbidden Heaven Seal Technique intensified, the blood light in Seo Mun-hye’s eyes gradually faded until she slowly closed her eyes. I exhaled a sigh of relief.
“Hoo… huh?”
Suddenly, I “caught” ten arrows flying at my back without even looking. Even if a Peak Expert secretly shot at me, they wouldn’t be able to hit me even if they practiced for a thousand years!
Glancing back, pirates had gathered en masse at the entrance of the building, and the one at the front pointed his sword, shouting.
“What the hell is that guy!! Capture him and beat him up!!”
“……”
Ugh… What… what the heck…?!
I felt my heart shake.
“I want to play with them.”
Seeing the pirates made a sudden urge to kill strengthen inside of me. I originally thought about slaughtering every last one of them, tied to my sense of justice. But the bloodlust I felt now was closer to savage instinct unrelated to my will.
I wanted to sever their necks and rip apart their limbs before stuffing them into my mouth.
I wanted to pile up the terrified corpses and burn them alive.
I desired to poke out just their eyes and crush them while having fun.
“Ugh…”
Play with them?
If I kill them, there’s no way I’ll do something nonsensical like that!!
I bit down on my lip from the brutal, savage impulses I could hardly accept as a martial artist. It would be more appropriate to just cleanly sever their heads in one strike; this kind of unnecessary cruelty is never my style. This surge of the inhumane instincts had served to make me realize something.
“The influence of my magic power is getting stronger.”
This is bad. If things keep progressing this way, I might end up causing some kind of incident. I felt an urgent need to resolve this situation, and I gazed at one pirate in front of me, speaking.
“You’re prancing around in front of me, making me think of stupid things. I’ll make you disappear from my sight.”
“Kahahaha!! You can’t see this number? There are comrades behind me…!!”
“I know. About several hundred, right?”
After slaughtering them several times, I got a rough idea of how many there were.
Enduring a throbbing headache, I said,
“This isn’t a technique I use often, but I have no choice now.”
Whooooom!!
Concentrating all my energy into my palm, I formed a ball of light. I absorbed the shimmering, crackling ball into my hand and thrust it forward.
“Extreme Thunder Spirit Seal.”
Fwuuuuuuu!!!
The next moment, everything in front of me, including the underground structures, flew away in a dazzling burst of light. I merely transformed my full body internal power into pure Lightning Spirit’s technique, deploying it with all my strength, but the effects were astounding.
Swoosh swoosh.
With one hit of my Thunder Spirit Seal, not only did underground structures vanish, but a small hill on the island also got blasted away, and the sea coast was gouged several miles deep, revealing the ocean floor.
Pop! Pop!
The still-shimmering seabed, infused with remnants of lightning, appeared as if steep cliffs had formed on both sides, preventing any incoming sea water. It felt like I had split the ocean in half. I realized that I had obliterated nearly half of the Pirate Island in one strike. Most of the hundreds of pirates that had gathered there must have died without a trace.
“…They couldn’t have all died. The ones that usually stay aboard the pirate ships likely didn’t come.”
Better hurry and clean up!
Deng gang deng gang.
I made my way to the pirate ship, swiftly decapitating the remaining pirates one by one with single strikes. After finishing off the pirates, I gathered all their treasures and waited by Seo Mun-hye’s side until she woke up.
About three moments later, Seo Mun-hye stirred awake from her position.
“Ugh… where is this…?”
I gazed at Seo Mun-hye with a distant look and replied.
“Seo Mun-hye. I thought you would have resistance against my Obsidian.”
Under normal circumstances, after enduring the Giant Race’s 선조회귀, she might actually possess higher resistance than even the Demon Sorcerer Zhuge Sa. I explained the rough situation to the confused Seo Mun-hye while persuading her, then handed her the Obsidian.
Fwoooosh.
“……!!”
Shocked, Seo Mun-hye flinched upon receiving the Obsidian. She stood still for a moment, then suddenly extended her palm, and I could see a dark sphere forming above it.
“Lord Baek Woong, look at this.”
“This is…?”
“Just as you said, Lord Baek Woong, because I underwent the 선조회귀 once, I can now control some of the Giant Race’s power. I concentrated the Evil Qi that had infiltrated my body into one place and expelled it.”
“But the Forbidden Heaven Seal Technique…”
“It became meaningless the moment I regained consciousness.”
“……”
According to Zhuge Yulong, the Forbidden Heaven Seal Technique was a powerful secret art passed down since ancient times, yet to beings transcending humans, it seems completely ineffective…
“The concentrated essence of Evil Qi that resided in the Obsidian. That’s this dark sphere…”
“So, that means…”
Whoosh.
Seo Mun-hye threw the dark sphere towards the cliff by the coast, and as it slowly burrowed into the cliff’s interior, chaotic fissures erupted from the point of contact, exuding an evil energy from the entire cliff.
Guruguru…
Seo Mun-hye warned me with a grim expression.
“Lord Baek Woong, you mustn’t give the Obsidian to any humans right now. Even Zhuge Sa would fall into madness.”
