FreeBooksOnline Chapter 268 : Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost (2)
Chapter 268 : Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost (2)
Chapter 268: Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost (2)
The art of Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost was not originally a technique Sewoon had known.
That was because it was a forbidden spell passed down within the Shrine Maiden Sect.
It was the first and last sorcery created by the founding Sect Leader of the Shrine Maiden Sect—so dangerous that it had been sealed the moment it was devised.
Yet before the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden departed for the battlefield, Sewoon had secretly requested a private audience with her.
“Shrine Maiden Sect Leader, please grant me the art of Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost.”
He had asked for the technique for himself.
“……How do you know of that technique?”
The moment her words ended, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden was thrown into visible confusion.
Her hand, which had been pouring tea, froze midair and trembled noticeably.
That reaction was only natural.
The art of Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost had been revealed only to her by her master, and its existence had never been disclosed to anyone else.
She had not even told her one and only disciple. For Sewoon to know of it was, by all logic, impossible.
That was why such immense turmoil showed clearly in the eyes with which she looked at him.
Had it been anyone else, she would have immediately unleashed all her power, subdued them, and forced out the truth—but she did not do so to Sewoon.
That was because everything up to this point had made her trust him deeply.
“Could it be that you have gained the ability to read the Heavenly Will, like the Divine Monk? No… even then… this should be impossible…”
“No. I cannot read the Heavenly Will.”
“Then how, exactly…?”
Facing her flustered confusion, Sewoon began to speak in a voice that did not waver in the slightest.
A story he had hidden deep within himself for a very long time.
“I heard it from Seo Surin.”
“That is false. I can say with certainty that I never told that child about that cursed technique.”
“No. You did tell her.”
“What are you saying…?”
“In the past that I came from.”
“……!!!”
The Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden’s pupils shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck within them.
Sewoon revealed the truth of his regression to her.
There had been no other way to obtain the art of Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost.
“It is exactly as I said, Shrine Maiden Sect Leader. I returned by reversing time.”
Sewoon spoke once more, making it unmistakably clear.
He himself was trembling as well.
Unlike Tang Muyeol, this was the first time he had ever spoken of his regression to another person with his own lips.
Yet his resolve to stop the Blood Cult far outweighed his fear of exposing a secret.
“That… such a thing cannot possibly be real.”
“I will let you see my memories.”
“…What?”
“Before my regression, you had already reached a realm where such techniques were possible before meeting your death. If that is the case, then it should be possible even now.”
“!!”
Before the regression, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden had once heard a report from the Blood Cult stating that infiltrators hidden within their ranks had been exposed through a memory-searching technique.
Following that, Sewoon offered his pulse to her.
For a martial artist, offering one’s pulse was no different from offering one’s life.
After a long moment of contemplation, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden finally began to examine Sewoon’s memories with the technique, her expression solemn beyond measure.
Paaaat!
Hwaaak!
The instant her hand touched Sewoon’s pulse, a colossal vortex of light was drawn into her consciousness.
What unfolded before her eyes was a record of grand tragedy so vast it could hardly be believed to be the memories of a single individual.
Scenes flashing vividly before her eyes, like the life-reel said to appear just before death.
The ruins of the annihilated Sichuan Tang Clan, the horrific massacres of the Blood Cult, and Sewoon’s scream of despair as he lost everything while being toyed with by the Blood Demon.
“Ah… ahh…”
As she sifted through his memories, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden let out a low groan.
What she saw was not merely a sequence of events.
It was the desperate trajectory of a human life—one that endured all that suffering, fell into despair, yet ultimately rose again.
Only then did she truly understand the immense burden Sewoon had been carrying.
Drip.
Tears fell as she returned to reality and opened her eyes.
Unsure of how to resume the conversation, she was met by Sewoon, who slowly began to speak.
“Before my regression, I committed a great sin against the Shrine Maiden Sect. Once the matter of the Blood Cult is resolved, I will accept my punishment as I should.”
Sewoon’s voice trembled faintly.
He was confessing his sins and asking her for forgiveness.
Before the regression, the weapons he had created had led her to a horrific death, and even her disciple Seo Surin—seeking revenge—had thrown herself into the Blood Cult, only to be captured and forced to live on as a madwoman.
Bearing all of that guilt, Sewoon sincerely begged her forgiveness.
Contrary to his fears, however, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden slowly stepped forward and embraced him.
“…Do not say such things. Having seen your life, how could I possibly blame you?”
“!!”
Warmth filled her voice.
She was comforting Sewoon from the depths of her heart.
The memory-searching technique she had used did not merely reveal past events.
It allowed her to feel the emotions and sincerity the subject had held at the time.
Within Sewoon’s memories, she vividly felt the pain, despair, and torment he had suffered while being consumed by vengeance.
She imagined how lonely and arduous his life must have been before the regression—and how, even after regressing, he had continued to shoulder everything alone, fighting a desperate battle.
Compared to her, he was far younger and far more junior, yet the burden placed upon his shoulders was so heavy that she could scarcely fathom it.
Thus, the true feelings of the two became connected as one, and the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden decided to pass the art of Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost on to Sewoon.
“As you said, the battlefield in Shaanxi is facing an unprecedented calamity due to the Jiangshi. Using my master’s technique would allow entry into a space where Qiongqi resides. But as you know, Qiongqi is one of the Four Fiends—the supreme great demon standing above all other monsters. To endure the aura of such a being, the physical body offered as a vessel must surely be of equivalent caliber. Does such a body even exist?”
“It does.”
“…!!”
Sewoon answered without the slightest hesitation.
How could he not have prepared?
He had already secretly secured the corpse of a being so overwhelming that even Qiongqi’s presence would feel insufficient by comparison.
He then revealed the identity of the corpse he had prepared to the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden.
“T-that is impossible. How could that person’s body have remained intact until now? And how did you even obtain it…?”
As expected, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden could not hide her shock.
Kurrurur!
A sudden, massive tremor jolted Sewoon out of his thoughts.
His body had been trembling uncontrollably.
Sewoon slowly calmed the shaking and looked around.
‘No matter how far he went in, there was no end. It was nothing but the same scenery.’
The sight of his surroundings entered his view.
A gray space where only ashen hues existed.
Within it, countless walls had been erected like a labyrinth.
Just like the mental space where he had encountered the Heavenly Demon through the Heavenly Demon Eyes, the surroundings gave the feeling of not existing in this world at all.
Inside what seemed to be an endless expanse, Sewoon merely continued walking forward in silence.
Ssss!
Chiii!
The demonic beast qi spread everywhere like poisonous fog made even breathing difficult, but Sewoon paid it no mind and walked toward the place where he sensed energy.
Just as the illusion arose that he might wander this place alone for an eternity without end.
Wooooong!
Woong!
A violent resonance sound erupted.
Sewoon’s eyes sank into calm composure.
‘Has it come?’
The aura of Qiongqi that Sewoon carried went berserk, as if it had finally reunited with its rightful master.
Kugururur!
Kwarururur!
With a tremendous vibration, the walls of the labyrinth shattered and collapsed.
The fragments scattered in all directions instantly lost their color, turning into sand-like powder before vanishing.
And from the center of that destruction, a gigantic shadow rose upward.
It was magnificent and chilling, like a living nightmare.
[How dare a mere human enter my resting place.]
A sinister voice echoed as if reverberating throughout the mountains, sounding from all directions.
A great demon beast that scorned goodness, despised it with contempt and rage, and loved only evil.
When good and evil clashed, it devoured goodness down its throat, while rewarding evil by making it its servant—an aberration among aberrations.
The most vicious and strongest among the Four Fiends, Qiongqi, was revealing its true form before Sewoon.
Hook-shaped claws and talons identical to those Sewoon had taken.
Two massive, spearblade-like sharp fangs.
Small, twisted wings protruding awkwardly between its four legs.
Grrrrr!
And eyes like those of a tiger—deep as an abyss, filled with arrogance that scorned all life.
Yet calling it merely a tiger demon beast was far from sufficient.
The demonic beast qi pouring out from its entire body carried such destructive power that even a martial artist who had reached the threshold of the Life and Death Realm would have their brain melt the moment they looked upon it.
It was a form fully worthy of the title Great Demon Beast.
But……
“Qiongqi, I need your power.”
[……!]
Sewoon merely declared it quietly.
There was not a trace of fear in his voice.
Which was only natural.
‘It does not measure up to that thing.’
No matter how violently the great demon beast before him raged, Sewoon had encountered something far more terrifying.
In that instant, the image of the Blood Demon smiling at him surfaced in Sewoon’s mind.
That was right. Qiongqi did not compare to the Blood Demon.
That being was a true calamity destined to annihilate the world itself.
Compared to that, Qiongqi was nothing more than a single means he could exploit for his own purpose.
[Impudent wretch. How dare a human of the lower realm.]
Naturally, Qiongqi was enraged by such an overbearing attitude.
Its voice was filled with fury, along with humiliation at being disregarded by an inferior being.
“I will not accept refusal. Submit to me.”
[How dare—!!]
Kwarururung!
A convulsion spread as if heaven and earth themselves were shaking.
The remaining walls of the labyrinth collapsed, and the gray space became stained with poisonous qi and killing intent.
It was because Qiongqi’s demonic beast qi was surging violently.
[I was going to take you as my servant. It seems that will not do.]
Qiongqi’s voice sank coldly. Its gaze was now drenched in killing intent.
[I will kill you.]
Kwagagagaga!
Demonic beast qi imbued with Qiongqi’s genuine killing intent surged toward Sewoon like the raging torrents of the great sea.
Unlike the human realm, where only unstable power could be used, this place was Qiongqi’s native domain where it had lived and breathed.
Here, Qiongqi could unleash all of its power to the extreme without restriction.
If the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden had witnessed this scene, she would have screamed for him to flee immediately in terror.
But Sewoon was not crushed by that immense pressure.
Instead, he merely wore a faint smile, as if amused.
As he watched the storm of demonic beast qi reach right before his eyes, Sewoon murmured softly.
“As expected, this won’t do. Demon beasts only listen after being beaten.”
A strange light flickered in Sewoon’s eyes.
Chwaaaaa!!
In an instant, golden radiance burst forth from his body.
His presence, in contrast, was as majestic as a massive mountain range standing firm.
From Sewoon’s entire body, the Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi began to rampage wildly.