Chapter 333
It was at that moment.
Hae Cheong-yeon’s face twisted in shock as she asked,
“Th-that voice… it can’t be?!”
Seol-rang gave a bitter smile.
Just as he remembered her voice, it seemed she remembered his as well.
Wearing a confident smile, Seol-rang spoke to her,
“Long time no see, Yeokcheon Blood Demon. To think I’d run into you here—it’s quite a pleasure. Though, honestly, it would’ve been better if we hadn’t.”
Hae Cheong-yeon’s expression quickly turned to one of terror.
“G-Gumshin Sagong-geon?! How—how did you get here?!”
At that, Mayu-gyeom chuckled softly and replied,
“Do you think I can’t use the same techniques you did? After seeing your Yeokcheon Ghost Soul Great Art last time, I figured I could pull it off too. I always thought you’d end up like this someday.”
Hearing that, Hae Cheong-yeon began to back away hesitantly.
Frantically shaking her head, she shouted,
“Th-that technique—the Yeokcheon Ghost Soul Great Art—is sacred to our Blood Sect…!”
Mayu-gyeom took a slow step toward her and said,
“Well, what’s so great about your Blood Sect’s techniques? They’re a bit dirty, but you know well enough that my brothers and I are open-minded people, don’t you?”
At that, Hae Cheong-yeon’s face turned completely pale.
“N-Neuishin?! S-Sagongshin is here too?!”
Mayu-gyeom didn’t answer, only smirking quietly.
He whispered inwardly to Seol-rang,
—If things go well, maybe we can chase her off without a fight.
Her reaction gave him a glimmer of hope.
After all, the one she feared most in the world was her own brother, Neuishin.
But just as he thought that, Hae Cheong-yeon suddenly stopped retreating.
She stared blankly ahead and muttered,
“But… that’s strange. Gumshin, you really ambushed me with just that technique?”
Her eyes, once clouded with confusion, now regained a measure of calm.
Seol-rang clicked his tongue and whispered,
—…We’re screwed.
But outwardly, he smiled and replied,
“It’s a newly invented sword technique. I thought it’d be nice to revive the lost martial art of the fallen Bing Palace. So? Not bad, right?”
Though he responded with ease, Hae Cheong-yeon stood her ground, refusing to back down any further.
She stared intently at Mayu-gyeom for a moment, then finally smiled.
“Now I understand. You didn’t actually use the Ghost Soul Great Art. You only left behind the will. And that means…”
Her smile widened as she began to speak.
“You’re no longer the monster of the Mythical Realm! Oh ho ho ho ho!”
At that, Mayu-gyeom and Seol-rang could no longer keep up the pretense of smiling.
She had accurately grasped the situation.
The limits of human physical development capped at first-rate.
Anything beyond that was a matter of the spirit, not the body.
Through enlightenment, the spirit’s level could be raised, granting transcendent martial prowess beyond human limits.
That was why the Yeokcheon Blood Demon, Gwa-yeom, could use his original martial arts immediately upon entering Hae Cheong-yeon’s body.
If her body could withstand the spirit’s level, then regardless of the flesh, she herself was a monster who had reached the edge of the Fiery Realm.
But Gumshin was not.
Hae Cheong-yeon said,
“Yes, that must be it. Even I struggled to find a body capable of containing my soul’s level. There’s no way you could find a body to hold a soul at the Mythical Realm’s level. What a pity, Gumshin! You may have preserved the memories of the Mythical Realm, but you left behind no soul capable of realizing it! Oh ho ho ho ho ho!”
And she was right.
What Gumshin left behind was not a soul, but memories and will.
Even with memories that transcended the walls of the Mythical Realm, his actual martial prowess could not surpass the level of Mayu-gyeom’s soul.
In other words, he was no match for the Yeokcheon Blood Demon now.
Hae Cheong-yeon laughed fiercely.
“Oh ho ho ho ho! How delightful! Here, I can kill you with my own hands, Gumshin!”
With that shout, she spread both hands wide, and nine blood dragons burst forth from her body once again.
Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra!
These blood dragons were enormous—far larger than before.
The crimson beasts surged from her entire body, writhing like tentacles as they fixed their gaze on Mayu-gyeom.
They crouched with mouths agape, as if ready to pounce and tear him apart at any moment.
Seol-rang sighed helplessly in his mind.
—Well, there’s no choice now. We have to run, Yu-gyeom. But don’t worry. With my divine technique, even if it’s your body, we can easily shake off that bastard.
Gumshin was the younger brother of Neuishin, the strongest master of divine techniques in history, and the one who theoretically refined his brother’s divine arts with his exceptional martial talent.
That was why he was confident.
Even in Mayu-gyeom’s body, no one in the martial world could match his divine techniques.
Even if the opponent was the monster Gwa-yeom, who had reached the edge of the Fiery Realm.
But just as he was about to flee, Mayu-gyeom calmly said,
“Elder, could you not run away completely, but lure him out at a moderate pace as much as possible?”
Seol-rang paused, then asked,
—…You?
Mayu-gyeom smiled bitterly and apologized,
“I’m sorry, Elder.”
Seol-rang knew he had less than a moment left to control Mayu-gyeom’s body.
If they couldn’t completely shake off Hae Cheong-yeon within that time, Mayu-gyeom would never survive.
So when he said he would lure her, it meant he was giving up on escape.
He was willing to risk his life to buy Dang-yeon some time to flee.
Understanding this, Seol-rang tried to dissuade him with a heavy heart.
—Doing that won’t make much difference. You’ll only buy her less than a moment.
But Mayu-gyeom smiled faintly and replied,
“Buying her even a moment more with my life’s price is a fair trade.”
Seol-rang sighed, realizing he couldn’t change Mayu-gyeom’s mind.
At that moment, Hae Cheong-yeon burst into a wild laugh and stretched out her hand.
“Oh ho ho ho ho! What are you waiting for? Frozen in place, Gumshin?!”
One of the massive blood dragons lunged at Mayu-gyeom at incredible speed.
Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra!
The dragon’s jaws closed instantly, swallowing Mayu-gyeom’s motionless body whole.
At the same time, a massive explosion erupted.
Kwah-aaahhh!
It was then that Mayu-gyeom’s form appeared beside the fifth gate, like a distorted shadow, and he began fleeing in the opposite direction of Dang-yeon.
Seeing this, Hae Cheong-yeon cackled and took to the air, chasing after him.
“Ha ha ha ha! Gumshin, to see you running away like this! Truly, it’s worth coming back to life!”
As she finished speaking, three blood dragons flew toward Mayu-gyeom’s back in staggered succession.
Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra!
The lead dragon swallowed Mayu-gyeom again, triggering another massive explosion.
Kwah-aaahhh!
But at that moment, his new form appeared beside the fifth gate, having shifted space and was running.
Seeing this, Hae Cheong-yeon laughed aloud.
“Oh ho ho ho! What a splendid blink technique!”
Then, another blood dragon followed closely and struck Mayu-gyeom’s body again.
But once more, he used the distorted shadow technique.
Kwah-aaahhh!
The third blood dragon met the same fate.
Kwah-aaahhh!
Hae Cheong-yeon laughed joyfully,
“Ha ha ha ha ha! Even with reduced martial prowess, that blink technique remains! Then how about I just block off the space entirely?!”
As she finished, four more blood dragons burst forth from her body.
The number of blood dragons, which had dwindled to five, was now back to nine.
Hae Cheong-yeon spread her hands wide and let out a fierce shout.
“Ha-aap!”
At that moment, the nine blood dragons scattered in all directions, roaring.
Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra!
They formed semicircles and charged at Mayu-gyeom from all sides, blocking every possible escape route.
Then, Mayu-gyeom’s body transformed into a streak of light.
Shiiiiiik!
In the blink of an eye, he had moved to the space before the tenth gate.
He had accelerated and slipped through before the nine blood dragons could complete their encirclement.
Behind him, the nine blood dragons collided, causing an earth-shattering explosion.
Kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah-kwang!
At last, Hae Cheong-yeon’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Seonggwanghaeng?”
Seonggwanghaeng was the divine technique of Neuishin, Gumshin’s elder brother.
The Yeokcheon Blood Demon Gwa-yeom had been grinding his teeth against this martial art even a hundred years ago, and now it had appeared again here.
It was quite surprising that he could use such a technique without being in the Mythical Realm.
And as she thought this, she began to sense something strange.
It wasn’t odd that he used Seonggwanghaeng.
Though it was a bit unfair to produce such speed without the Mythical Realm, those brothers were monsters to begin with.
But the fact that he had been fleeing at such speed all along, even while capable of using Seonggwanghaeng, was strange.
“If he could have used that earlier, he would have escaped me in an instant. So why didn’t he? Then what is he planning?”
In that moment, Hae Cheong-yeon suddenly realized that the direction her target was fleeing in was the exact opposite of where Dang Yeo-eun was.
And then it hit her.
He had been luring her all along…
Gritting her teeth, she muttered, “That sly fox…”
Hae Cheong-yeon decided to stop the chase.
It was frustrating, but if she couldn’t catch him anyway, there was no point in wasting time.
Besides, she’d started feeling a tightening pressure around her heart.
The golden seal etched into her heart—the mark of the Blood Demon of her era, Jeon Mu-gwang—was calling out to her.
Clenching her jaw against the pain, she came to a halt.
“How dare some rookie…”
Anger surged within her, but there was nothing she could do right now.
Before she could deal with the golden seal, she had to fully reclaim her body.
First, she needed to finish with Dang Yeo-eun and return.
Just as Hae Cheong-yeon turned away, no longer pursuing Mayu-gyeom, Seol-rang clicked his tongue.
Then he asked Mayu-gyeom,
Mayu-gyeom answered bitterly,
“I’m sorry, Elder.”
But Seol-rang only let out a soft chuckle.
Shaking his head, he said,
A beam of light shot from Mayu-gyeom’s form, now aimed at Hae Cheong-yeon’s back.
Whoosh!
Hae Cheong-yeon caught sight of him turning his head to look at her.
Seol-rang’s voice boomed,
“Blood Demon of the Reversed Heavens! Where do you think you’re going?!”
At that moment, Mayu-gyeom’s sword sliced through the air.
In response, a massive wave of chilling cold surged toward her.
It was the Ice North Wind Slash, the first strike of Seol-rang’s sword technique that had moments ago turned her surroundings into a frozen wasteland.
But Hae Cheong-yeon scoffed and unleashed nine enormous blood dragons once more.
The Nine Heavens Blood Dragon Art.
Kra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra!
The dragons howled as they charged into the icy wave.
Their collision shattered the cold like fragile snowflakes, scattering it to nothing.
Pssshhh!
The sight was utterly powerless.
Hae Cheong-yeon burst into a wild laugh.
“Ha ha ha! Die, Sword God!”
The nine blood dragons arced around Mayu-gyeom, cutting off any chance of escape.
But Mayu-gyeom neither fled nor glanced at them.
He simply faced Hae Cheong-yeon and swung his sword again.
Seol-rang Sword Technique, Fifth Strike—
Ten Thousand Snowflakes Unleashed.
Suddenly, the shattered ice fragments that had been drifting weakly like snowflakes changed course.
Tiny, razor-sharp shards swirled like a sandstorm, closing in on Hae Cheong-yeon.
Swaaaah!
“!”
Startled, she realized the ice shards were spinning around her in a cyclone, trapping her at the center.
“How dare you!”
While continuing to attack Mayu-gyeom with the Nine Heavens Blood Dragon Art, she activated her protective aura.
But the icy cyclone tightened rapidly.
Sssshhhk!
“W-what?!”
Hae Cheong-yeon was horrified.
Though they were just ice shards, their spinning motion was grinding away her protective aura.
The difference in their cultivation levels should have made this impossible, yet the technique’s power was astonishing.
“N-no way…!”
Clenching her teeth as she watched her aura crumble, she focused all her energy on the Nine Heavens Blood Dragon Art.
She had to strike him before the icy cyclone completely wore down her defenses.
At that moment, Mayu-gyeom looked at the blood dragons closing in from all sides and spoke to Seol-rang.
“I’m sorry for being such a failure, Elder.”
Seol-rang smiled in response.
“To me, you were the greatest successor.”
In Mayu-gyeom’s mind’s eye, the two shared a knowing smile.
No more words were needed—they understood each other perfectly.
Then, the nine blood dragons descended upon Mayu-gyeom’s body.
Kra-kra-kra-kra-kra-kra-kra-KRASH!