821——————==

True Martial Home

As soon as the Asura extended his hands, the celestial being moved the lower pair of mirrors of his Six Aspects and formed a hand seal. A soundless scream like a white breath flew out of the celestial’s mouth, releasing a spell.

At that moment, the celestial’s body, devoid of facial features like a white egg, grew hundreds of times larger. In an instant, the size became mountain-like, capable of collapsing a palace with a single hand. But it wasn’t just about the size; as he pointed his index finger at the Asura, a massive explosion erupted near the Asura’s body.

Boom!

That explosion was on a completely different level than a regular blast. Green and blue lights intertwined like threads, causing the blast radius to continually expand. Eventually, it spread so much that it seemed to consume the entire sky of Moscow, making me gasp in shock.

‘What kind of spell is that….’

I had thought before that beings like Tripitaka or the Illusory God Cheon Woo-jin could use spells beyond the understanding of an ordinary practitioner. With just that spell, it seemed possible to annihilate an entire city.

Ssss!

Asura, no matter how tough, seemed powerless against such an explosion, but a strange light spun around him, blocking the celestial’s magic. It was obvious that the seal he did a moment ago was anticipatory, a defense mechanism against the upcoming attack.

With a fierce look in his eyes, the Asura charged again at the celestial.

Crash!!

This time, perhaps focusing on defense, all of Asura’s powerful attacks, including the Nirvana of the Absolute, only produced thunderous sounds without succeeding. They exchanged blows back and forth without any real advantage, and the celestial, enveloped by divine clouds, floated into the sky and spoke.

[You’re quite hard to understand. Despite possessing the power of the Demon King, why do you insist on close combat? Do you not breathe chaos and wield vast powers?]

[Ha! Guess being a weak monk in my past life made you afraid of brawling?]

[…Hmph.]

The celestial snapped irritably at the Asura’s provocation.

[With the kind of power we possess, we could settle this using capacity alone, yet why expose ourselves to weaknesses through close combat?]

The Asura slowly raised his central face and replied.

[Is that fun?]

[What?]

[I’m not having fun. That’s all there is to it.]

Bang!

Once more, the Asura lunged forward, pouring out the Nirvana of the Absolute. The celestial couldn’t defend against it head-on, constantly evading and seemingly unable to use his time-space distorting techniques. It appeared that the Nirvana itself carried abilities that dismantled the laws of time and space.

The celestial stretched his hands out, erecting a powerful barrier, and shouted.

[Are you really saying you’ve been fighting for fun for thousands of years? I really detest your combat-driven nature!]

[What’s it to you? I fight for fun.]

[Do you understand that losing means annihilation? For us who have accepted the chaos of this realm, there is no “next”!]

[And why should I care?]

[What!?]

[Everything is born to die, and rises just to fall. If you fear the outcome, you can’t gain anything in the process. Isn’t it absurd to hope for a ‘next’ when you’ve already lost in this survival of the fittest?]

[I was originally a martial artist. So I’ve merely wanted to gain something through this process.]

Calmly replying, the Asura aimed his technique.

[Don’t get in my way! I will meet the Martial God no matter what!]

[What about Lord Chi You? Are you trying to hinder us from saving Lord Chi You?]

[When did I ever say I was going to meddle in your business? If the Yacha comes out, just tell me the whereabouts of the Four Great Spirit Deities. Is that too much to ask?]

The celestial hesitated before replying.

[…She cannot meet anyone right now. If you go back today, the Yacha will come find you.]

[I don’t trust that. Why can’t she meet?]

[Because she performed a ritual to become an offering and entered ‘the Cocoon.’]

[What? What does that mean?]

[The ritual of human sacrifice for the external beings is on a completely different level from a regular offering ritual. It requires highly advanced magic and tremendous offering, as well as the ritualist sacrificing themselves. The Yacha assumed that role to find the whereabouts of Lord Chi You, turning herself into a cocoon and becoming an offering to the external beings.]

[……!!]

[Enough already! You surely know that the Yacha is actually Lord Chi You’s biological daughter? She risked everything to find her Lord, yet you’re just going to disregard that and abandon your comrades and loyalty for your own purposes!]

The celestial shouted angrily, but the Asura replied nonchalantly.

[Really? Then that just means I’ve gotta slice you apart. If she becomes an offering, I won’t be able to chase the Martial God’s path ever again. Wouldn’t the Yacha be thanking me for saving her life?]

[You… you bastard!]

[Stop flapping your gums and settle this already.]

[Fine!! I’ll take you out!]

Boom!

Once more, battle erupted between the Asura and the celestial, but I felt no further need to watch. Instead, I stealthily pulled back from their line of sight and cautiously examined the path leading into the inner palace. Once their battle intensified and they stopped paying attention to me, I quickly used the Soul Removal Technique and the Instant Transport to dart inside at incredible speed.

“Asura! I’ll secure the Yacha!”

[Kuh, bug-like creature!!]

Zing!

The celestial reached out with a spell’s thread to capture me, but the Asura used the Mind Control Technique to sever it. He helped me slip inside. I took advantage of the moment and swiftly penetrated the celestial’s defenses.

Ta-da!

‘It’s spiral stairs, after all.’

What a unique architectural style of the otherworldly race. I realized the entire space had been magically restructured so that it was wider inside than out. It was a labyrinth with at least a hundred levels. I charged through the stairs and, in a fall-like manner, reached the lowest level. There, I discovered grotesque, enormous insides that looked fitting for a horrifying creature, with ‘the Cocoon’ appearing in various spots. The insides were incredibly large, appearing to be at least fifty slices in thickness. It was clear that there were not just a couple of cocoons. When I sliced one in half, only part of it cut through, leaving my Thunder Sword stranded halfway.

‘These cocoons are protected by magical barriers.’

Otherwise, my sword, which could slice through diamond, wouldn’t have faltered like that.

Half of the cut cocoon oozed a noxious liquid as a human form suddenly popped out from within, startling me.

“Ugh.”

Should I say it looked like a horrifying fusion of human, cow, and bee? It was so grotesque that just looking at it could make a regular person vomit. Did it still retain any human reason? It crawled on the ground making only ‘aaah’ noises, with tendrils protruding from its brain. I guessed the others in the cocoons might be similar, and the number of cocoons surpassed a hundred.

‘The Yacha is… probably inside the insides?

A black silhouette flickered inside the insides. Having studied demon rituals from Zhuge Sa, I had a rough understanding of this sacrificial structure. Presumably, life force and vitality were linked from the common cocoons to the insides, maturing the true offering within into a great offering.

I gathered my strength to cut through the insides with my Thunder Sword.

Clang!!

“Hmm!”

Sure enough, my sword only penetrated halfway. Unlike the regular cocoons, this wound healed almost instantly, and my blade nearly got stuck inside.

I hurriedly withdrew the blade, brainstorming what to do when an idea suddenly struck me.

‘Right. I’ll infuse the Water Spirit with the Spirit Power.’

Then I would attack the insides combining Spirit Power and the Thunder Sword! With both physical and magical forces fused, it would surely be enough to break through.

As I fueled the Water Spirit with Spirit Power, I slashed at the insides once more.

Swoosh!

The insides split open, with blood flowing out like a river.

Success!

After a while, as the blood flowed out, the form of a woman cascaded down like a waterfall. Upon recognizing that the woman was the Yacha, I hesitated about what to do.

‘I need to subdue the Yacha to extract information. But….’

Would torture techniques even work on a being of the Eight Parts of the Divine?

The Thunder God’s torture techniques were incredibly effective, but the Eight Parts were all formidable entities. Using Eight Extraordinary Vessels to torture them would probably be ineffective. Besides, while she was unconscious, I needed a way to restrain her.

The conclusion was obvious.

Soul Exchange Technique!!

There was no method other than the Soul Exchange Technique. Although I could consider temporarily placing her in a bubbling state, since she was of the Eight Parts, her power was too vast, and my mere Demon Artifact, the Wooden Armor, might not contain her and could break.

“…….”

I recalled the principles of the Soul Exchange Technique. Ultimately, it’s not the soul itself that moves, but the Bai (魄) that shifts to indirectly influence the soul. Therefore, the practitioner of the Soul Exchange Technique must begin by stealing the Bai from the target to gain dominance.

But did the Eight Parts even have Bai (魄)?

In this world, while some beings possess souls, others do not. Life and soul are different—one can exist without the other. For instance, a ‘Portrait Immortal’ is predominantly such a being. A soul is a representation that a sentient being must have.

Bai is no different. There are beings with souls yet lacking Bai in this world. The main reason for this is still unknown, shutting down the essence of the Soul Exchange Technique. Neither Zhuge Sa nor the Demon King, the creator of this technique, knew why Bai exists; it couldn’t be definitively established based on principles of life and death or chaos and order. Even among humans, there are rare cases, as well as beings of chaos among the otherworldly races.

‘Perhaps the Primordial Heaven Master or Taishang Laojun, who studied artificial soul and Bai, might know the reason….’

I bit my lips tightly, closed my eyes, and reached out to the Yacha’s face submerged in the puddle of blood. Knowing I had nothing to lose, I had to give it a try at least. I wouldn’t get another chance to attempt the Soul Exchange Technique on the Eight Parts while she was being offered as a sacrifice without her consciousness.

Wooo

I activated the Soul Exchange Technique. Suddenly, my body began to tremble violently.

“Woooo!!”

I sensed an overwhelming size of a soul!

Is this the soul of an Eight Part Divine?

‘I’ve never sensed a soul this massive with the Soul Exchange Technique….’

An average living being’s soul floats like a yolk, surrounded by Bai like the egg white. However, the soul of the Eight Part is so enormous that I couldn’t discern anything other than the soul itself. This is the identity of a being consumed by chaos.

Desperately, I channeled my energy, trying to locate the Bai within the shell surrounding the soul.

‘Hmm… none….’

Is the Demon King merely a mass of pure soul?

I felt a pang of despair, but it was then that I heard a voice.

[Renja.]

Startled by the sudden voice, I turned back to see Jang Sam-bong standing there in spirit form. The once-absent Jang Sam-bong was now observing the situation in the hall.

[An evil energy is palpable here….]

I was flustered by the appearance of Jang Sam-bong.

“Grand Master! Did you receive the memories of the Reborn Person?”

[I did.]

…As expected.

Jang Sam-bong continued.

[Great Reborn Person Baek Woong. I understand the reason you seek the Absolute Realm, and your desire to meet the Martial God. However, I do not think your thoughts are correct.]

“What?”

[You are dangerous. So dangerously…!]

Sssssss –

The spirit of Jang Sam-bong slowly began to materialize into reality. I realized that he was forcing his way into the real world to take on physical form despite the usual constraints of a spirit.

Though the Great Immortals find it hard to interfere with reality, crafting an ordinary body is indeed possible at the expense of self-restraints and risks. In no time at all, the fully materialized Jang Sam-bong took a preparatory stance with the Tai Chi Sword.

“Prepare yourself.”

At Jang Sam-bong’s following words, my expression froze in fear.

“Your rebirth will not cease, but I shall personally sever your neck for the loyalty of this life. Leave and create no more tragedies….”