Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 166 - Variable (1)

Chapter 166 – Variable (1)

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Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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On the main road not far from the Baek Family.

More than twenty martial artists of the Baek Family were clearing up the area.

The one directing them was Baek So-gang, Outer General Chief of the Baek Family and the second son of Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King.

“Huh.”

Baek So-gang clicked his tongue as he looked over the aftermath around them.

The place was in a complete mess, as if a war had broken out.

Though his fame was not particularly high because he was overshadowed by his father Baek Sa-ha and the eldest son, he too was a master at the entrance to the transcendent peak realm.

Because of that, from the traces of the aftermath alone he could roughly infer what kind of battle had taken place.

‘So Father said, but…’

The sword marks covering the ground were truly shocking.

It was enough to call it a duel between peerless masters who had crossed the wall.

In truth, after hearing of this matter, second son Baek So-gang had not been able to suppress his concern.

Though his father Baek Sa-ha, the Annihilation Poison King, had broken through the wall and risen to the realm of transformation, the opponent had been the most likely successor candidate in the Heaven and Earth Society.

Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang had countless supporting factions under him.

If the Baek Family became estranged from such people, it would place them in a precarious situation.

And yet,

[What? C-crossed the wall?]

[Shh. Be quiet. This fact will be kept hidden from the outside for a while.]

[How can this…]

Second son Baek So-gang had doubted his own ears.

He was told that Mok Gyeong-un, whom his father had newly taken in as a disciple, had gained enlightenment while crossing hands with Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang and broken through the wall.

It was something impossible to believe even after hearing it.

Yet if one examined the aftermath of the fight left here, it was absolutely not the traces of a one-sided beating.

‘…Can this really be possible?’

The speed at which he was growing stronger went beyond imagination.

Even the so-called grandmasters or those called legends of the murim would likely not have advanced this quickly.

Could it truly be, just as Father said, that he was a genius that might appear only once in a thousand years?

Looking only at the current situation, it did not seem like empty talk at all.

Still, it worried him.

‘Was Father’s choice the right one?’

Though he possessed astonishing talent, it seemed as if Father had staked the family’s fate on one person too much without any discussion with the household retainers or even the family.

The family head’s orders were absolute, but this time, he could not help feeling uneasy.

“Hoo.”

In any case, they had to hurry and clear up this place.

Fortunately, as this was within the inner castle area managed by the Baek Family, if they hurried, it seemed they could erase the traces to some extent within half a sicheon.

“Um… Outer General Chief.”

At that moment, one martial artist of the Baek Family came up and spoke.

“What is it?”

“About… what should be done with Great Young Master…”

They had brought bandages and medicine and given him temporary treatment before placing him on a stretcher.

But the Baek Family martial artists were anxious about the consequences of moving Great Young Master, who had been injured so severely, back to his residence.

As if understanding their feelings, Baek So-gang said,

“I will accompany you, so you lot take up the stretcher and foll…”

-Woooong!

In that instant, the surroundings were covered by a dark shadow.

Then Baek So-gang froze with his mouth still open, and the Baek Family martial artists who had been cleaning up the area also stopped on the spot in the exact forms they had been moving in.

It was a strange phenomenon, as if everyone’s time had stopped.

However, there was one person here who was moving normally.

-Step, step!

A man in a gray martial robe marked with yin and yang walked forward slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.

He was Jo Tae-cheong, Square Sun and the eldest disciple of Jo Ui-gong’s master In Seo-ok, the former lord of Origin Kill Pavilion.

Everyone else was frozen, but Jo Tae-cheong’s gaze was strange as he calmly walked around and surveyed the area.

“Hmm. This is certainly the place.”

Jo Tae-cheong stroked his chin and let out a thoughtful hum.

For just a moment, he had definitely sensed tremendous spiritual power from this place.

Its level was so high that it would not be an exaggeration to say he had never seen such a resentful spirit in recent times.

‘At the very least, it is of Blue Spirit’s level.’

Blue Spirit.

A resentful spirit that had existed for more than a hundred years.

A resentful spirit that had reached this level was no different from a strange entity like the yimeiwangliang, so if left alone, it would devastate the surroundings or inflict great harm.

Then the corner of Jo Tae-cheong’s mouth twitched to the side, and his expression changed completely from a moment earlier as he opened his mouth.

“No. Higher than that.”

A somewhat darker, rasping voice flowed from his mouth.

Then Jo Tae-cheong’s facial muscles twitched again and returned to normal.

“Higher than that?”

Jo Tae-cheong frowned.

Then he formed a hand seal with his fingers and closed both eyes.

It was to inspect the traces of spiritual power that remained.

However,

‘A crafty one.’

Not the slightest trace of spiritual power remained in the surroundings.

At this rate, tracking was impossible.

Clicking his tongue, Jo Tae-cheong seemed to have lost interest and turned to leave the place.

But he stopped midway as he was about to go.

Jo Tae-cheong looked down at a certain being lying on a stretcher.

That person was Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang.

As he looked down at him, Jo Tae-cheong’s lip muscles twitched again and his expression changed.

In that state, Jo Tae-cheong bent down and placed his hand on Na Yul-ryang’s face.

-Slide!

Touching the area of the right eye that was wrapped in bandages, Jo Tae-cheong frowned.

His furrowed brow began to bulge and twist little by little.

At length, Jo Tae-cheong muttered in a small voice, as though displeased,

“Did you lose what I went to the trouble of giving you in a manner like this?”

* * *

At the same time,

“Haak.”

At that moment her slender waist arched backward.

Wi So-yeon’s eyes shook.

That was because the force of the rampaging Celestial Yin Severed Meridian was being sucked in through Mok Gyeong-un’s palm.

‘W-what in the world is this?’

The Zhongwan acupoint of the conception vessel could be called the center of Celestial Yin Severed Meridian without exaggeration.

That was because the true yin qi spreading out from there blocked all the meridians and caused the symptoms of severed meridians.

How had Mok Gyeong-un noticed that?

But that was not what mattered.

-Shuuuuuuuu!

Because the true yin qi was being drawn out at great speed, the terrifying chill pouring from her began to subside.

‘This…’

Her master had once said this.

[The yin force of Celestial Yin Severed Meridian is colder than the storms of the Northern Sea, so there is no ordinary method by which it can be controlled.]

[Then must I live in such danger all my life?]

[Yes.]

[Is there nothing even Master can do with your profound internal power?]

[If I were to forcibly suppress your force with my own blazing yang true qi, then in all likelihood your life would instead become even more endangered. Can you accept that risk?]

[Is there no other way?]

[There is one more way… but in truth that too is impossible.]

[What is it?]

[The Zhongwan acupoint, which can be called the center of your Celestial Yin Severed Meridian, is no different from an unending spring to you. That is why the true yin qi does not cease. But if only that force could be dried up temporarily…]

[Then can it be cured?]

[If, at that moment, all the blocked severed meridians are broken through, there is the faintest hope.]

[Can’t Master do it?]

At that question from her, the Society Leader shook his head.

[Why not?]

[As I already said, if I try to forcibly suppress the true yin qi with an opposing force, you may lose your life on the spot.]

[Then? Then how exactly is that force supposed to be dried up?]

The true yin qi of Celestial Yin Severed Meridian was a force that never ran dry.

Then by what means could that possibly be made possible?

[Did I not tell you? This too is impossible.]

[……..]

[If, by some chance, there were someone who had learned the Absorption Art said to have lost its lineage, and could absorb your true yin qi and cut it off for a single instant, then there would be that possibility. But who could possibly do such a thing? The moment that person absorbed the immense true yin qi of Celestial Yin Severed Meridian, his whole body would freeze and he would die.]

That was why her master had said there was no way to cure Celestial Yin Severed Meridian perfectly.

Yet something unbelievable was happening.

This man was absorbing her true yin qi.

Even her master had said it was absolutely impossible because the chill was too savage.

-Shuuuuuuuuuu!

Was this man really all right?

Wondering that, she raised the head she had thrown back and looked at Mok Gyeong-un.

He should have been feeling pain as though his insides would freeze while absorbing that terrible chill, yet Mok Gyeong-un simply breathed out white vapor and silently continued absorbing the force.

At that sight, Wi So-yeon suddenly felt strange.

‘This man…’

Why was he going this far?

He must have realized the moment he absorbed her true yin qi just how difficult a force it was to bear.

‘Why… is he trying to stake his life?’

Wi So-yeon truly could not understand it.

It was not an easy thing to risk one’s life for another.

Why else would people speak of a whole lifetime?

To offer one’s one and only life to someone else was no different from a sacrifice.

‘Mok Gyeong-un…’

Do you want me enough to risk your life for me?

Is that truly the case?

The look in Wi So-yeon’s eyes as she watched Mok Gyeong-un had become clearly different from before.

It had unmistakably grown close to favor.

Of course, unlike this change in her feelings, Mok Gyeong-un was merely focusing on making this new, differently textured force his own.

‘Just as I thought.’

The center of the force Mok Gyeong-un currently possessed was demonic aura.

However, its beginning had stemmed from death aura, the force of the dead.

Although it differed in nature from the yin chill inherent to death, true yin qi could not possibly compare to it.

-Shuuuuuuuuuu!

Yet unlike yang force, true yin qi did not scatter inside the body.

That meant this new force called true yin qi could be made his own.

If he could absorb this force completely, it would become twice what he had possessed when he first entered the entrance to the realm of transformation.

Mok Gyeong-un used the Form of Attachment to absorb her force even faster.

And when it had almost reached its limit,

‘Now!’

For an instant Wi So-yeon could feel the true yin qi of Celestial Yin Severed Meridian rising from Zhongwan acupoint temporarily running dry.

She did not miss that moment.

Because Mok Gyeong-un was continuing to absorb the force of Zhongwan acupoint, the opportunity had come for her to attempt it.

“Hoo.”

Wi So-yeon circulated the force in her dantian through her qi-circulation method.

And she sent all the force she had left at once toward her blocked severed meridians.

-Papapapapapapa!

Her true qi crashed against the blocked meridians.

Terrible pain came over her, as though every blood vessel in her body were about to snap.

“Hnghhh!”

A groan burst from Wi So-yeon’s mouth.

She was in unbearable pain.

But seeing Mok Gyeong-un before her, showing not the slightest sign of suffering, she steeled her heart.

‘I can do it too.’

-Creak! Creak!

Her major acupoints bulged and made cracking sounds.

The blocked severed meridians had begun to respond.

Steam rose from the body that had been overflowing with cold, and soon sweat ran down her naked body.

-Kwaduk!

And in an instant, all the blocked severed meridians,

-Papapapapak!

Were broken through.

At the same time, a change came over the force that had dried up because of the Form of Attachment.

The rampaging force began to come under control.

‘The force?’

Perhaps sensing this as well, Mok Gyeong-un stopped the Form of Attachment and ceased absorbing the true yin qi.

Then he began the process of making the absorbed force his own through the Reverse-Acupoint Qi-Circulation Method.

As both of them entered a crucial moment,

‘This is the chance.’

Blue Spirit emerged from the wooden doll and manifested.

She had been waiting all this time for the ideal state in which to possess her.

If Wi So-yeon completely broke through her meridians and overcame Celestial Yin Severed Meridian, she would step into a realm different from anything before.

Before that happened, she had to seize the body now.

-Srrr.

And so Blue Spirit sank into Wi So-yeon’s body.

But the moment her body overlapped by about half,

‘!!!!!!!’

Blue Spirit’s expression twisted.

Then she at once tried to struggle free and pull herself out of Wi So-yeon’s body.

Yet strangely, Wi So-yeon’s body seemed to draw at Blue Spirit, as if trying to make the spirit body adhere to it.

-Kuh!

Because of this, Blue Spirit had no choice but to raise her spiritual power for an instant.

-Paaang!

Since she had reached the rank of Indigo Spirit, immense spiritual power was released, and thanks to that Blue Spirit was able to avoid being bound and escape.

Having barely avoided being possessed into the body, Blue Spirit stared at Wi So-yeon with a hardened expression.

‘What in the world is this?’

There was something wrong with that body.

This was something different from possession.

It was as though her spirit body was trying to take root in that flesh.

Ordinarily she should have clashed with the original owner’s soul, but instead it had tried to adhere to her. It was far too strange.

Startled by this, Blue Spirit had no choice but to come back out.

‘This wench of a sentient being, just what…’

-Flinch!

At that moment Blue Spirit looked toward somewhere.

Then she bit her lip tightly.

‘What an annoying bastard.’

Once again, immense spell power spread everywhere and detected her presence.

If someone could sense even the spiritual power she had raised only for an instant from that far away, then he truly was no ordinary occult practitioner.

It seemed likely he would burst in here soon.

-Sentient being… ah!

She had been about to hurriedly tell Mok Gyeong-un to seal her back into the wooden doll, but he was completely occupied right then with absorbing the true yin qi he had taken in.

So in the end,

‘I’ll evade him first.’

If that bastard came here, it seemed a highly troublesome situation would unfold.

After luring him elsewhere, she needed to hide herself.

-Srrr.

And so she flew up into the air and headed toward the northeast.

Not long after Blue Spirit vanished, Mok Gyeong-un fully digested the true yin qi he had absorbed and made it his own.

Within his body, the three kinds of force, demonic aura, poisonous energy, and true yin qi, came into balance.

Thanks to that, his whole body felt full of force and refreshed.

‘Not bad.’

With force of this level, he felt he could fight Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang well enough.

Mok Gyeong-un released his lotus posture and looked at Wi So-yeon, who lay naked before him.

“Haa… haa…”

By sheer coincidence, she had just succeeded in breaking through all her severed meridians and bringing the force of Celestial Yin Severed Meridian completely under control.

Since the moment she broke through the severed meridians, all the impurities had been purged from her body, and her skin was full of luster.

Yet perhaps because she was so exhausted, her hair, face, and whole body were soaked in sweat, and her breathing was still ragged.

‘The severed meridians… I broke through the severed meridians.’

Wi So-yeon’s eyes reddened.

She had lived carrying the terror that, if Celestial Yin Severed Meridian ever rampaged beyond what even the Forbidden Gate Secret Manual could control, she might die at any time.

She could not suppress her joy.

Now that Celestial Yin Severed Meridian would no longer rampage, it was no different from her having obtained the greatest of bodies.

A smile spread across Wi So-yeon’s face.

But then, suddenly, someone’s face thrust into her view.

“How is your body? Are you all right?”

It was Mok Gyeong-un.

“Hup!”

At the sight of Mok Gyeong-un asking whether she was all right while she was naked, Wi So-yeon suddenly became aware that she too was in a naked state.

Because of that, her face instantly turned red as a carrot.

Wi So-yeon hurriedly crossed both arms over her chest to cover herself.

‘Hm?’

At her reaction, Mok Gyeong-un lifted one eyebrow.

What was this?

Had Blue Spirit not taken over the body?

Her reaction felt quite different from Blue Spirit’s somehow.

While he was wondering, Wi So-yeon, blushing bright red and looking embarrassed, said,

“Y-you… are you truly all right?”

“Pardon?”

“I am asking whether you are all right after absorbing true yin qi.”

At that question, Mok Gyeong-un was able to realize it at once.

The woman before his eyes was Wi So-yeon.

Blue Spirit was not possessing her.

-Blue Spirit?

At that, Mok Gyeong-un looked around and opened his senses to search for Blue Spirit.

Just what in the world had happened?

Then Wi So-yeon said in a trembling voice,

“Why are you doing that? Has something gone wrong?”

At her question, Mok Gyeong-un shook his head and answered,

“It’s fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

More than that, the plan had gone somewhat awry.

Blue Spirit should have been possessing Wi So-yeon’s body, yet suddenly that aura had moved very far away.

He had no idea what had happened.

Then Wi So-yeon asked again,

“Are you really all right?”

“Yes. I told you, I’m fine.”

Then Wi So-yeon, though still blushing in embarrassment, spoke in relief,

“That’s a relief.”

She had wanted Mok Gyeong-un, who was no different from her lifesaver, to remain safe.

And so, perhaps because she now knew he had survived even after absorbing that tremendous chill, she felt genuinely relieved.

Maybe because of that, her heart was strangely pounding.

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

Why is my heart acting like this?