Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 70 - True Intent (1)

Chapter 70 – True Intent (1)

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Inside a room whose walls on all sides were filled with talismans and countless ritual implements.

A white-haired daoist, who had arranged candles according to the directions of the Five Elements and had been meditating within them with his eyes closed, opened his eyes.

‘!?’

His eyes trembled.

The white-haired daoist with a sharp impression could not hide his bewilderment.

‘That cannot be.’

Seized by an ominous feeling, the white-haired daoist rose from his seat.

Then he went out through the door and walked down the corridor.

The sensation from just now had been the backlash that should have returned when the spell he had laid down was broken.

But that was impossible.

‘Even if the gu poison was completed, it could not possibly break this Pavilion Lord’s spell.’

Soon the white-haired daoist stopped before a certain door.

The daoist opened the door.

The expression of the daoist who opened it hardened.

On the floor inside the room was drawn a formation that looked like a barrier, and within it were a thick jar covered in talismans and chains bound together.

But then,

-Tremble, tremble!

As though his rage had surged up, the beard of the white-haired old man shook violently.

And naturally so, the talismans attached to the candles had been torn away, and the chains had also been snapped.

The old man approached, seized the broken chains with trembling hands,

and then closed his eyes and recited a spell.

“By attached smoke, by the master above, by linked source and hidden path, by the bodiless god, urgent, urgent, by decree.”

-Parrrrrr!

The chains trembled violently.

‘How in the world did this happen? Show me the reason.’

-Creep, creep!

Something formed within the old man’s mind as he stood with his eyes closed.

It was the process by which countless vengeful spirits devoured one another and were corrupted.

On the days when Corpse Blood Valley was conducted, he checked this periodically two or three times a day to see whether there was any problem.

Had he not done exactly that until just moments ago?

But what on earth had happened?

At that moment, he saw something that appeared completely black approach the gu poison that was nearing completion.

“By the bodiless god, urgent, urgent, by decree!”

‘Show me. Just what was it?’

He had to know what variable had arisen.

Thus he poured even more spell power into it through the incantation, but then

-Pagak!

At that moment, blood streamed from the old man’s left eye, and the broken chain he had been holding turned entirely to powder and scattered away.

The old man staggered and was pushed backward.

‘……..’

What had that been just now?

Something vicious, covered in death aura, had interfered with the gu poison as it was nearing completion.

It was absolutely not a strange entity in the form of a dead thing like a vengeful spirit.

If so, then

‘Did a strange creature break through the talisman barrier at the cliff and enter?’

The old man wiped away the bloody tears that had run down with the sleeve of his robe.

If it was a strange creature that had broken the cliff talismans and touched such a highly ranked vengeful spirit, however incomplete its completion was, then it would exceed a monster beast.

‘Could a demon beast or even a devil beast have appeared?’

No.

Devil beast was going too far.

If it had been at that level, he would have sensed it at once no matter the distance.

If a devil beast had appeared here, then no matter that this was a martial world group, the casualties would have been enormous.

-Grit!

But even if it was not of that rank, he could not suppress his anger.

The gu poison he had been slowly completing over a span of fully fifteen years had turned to nothing in an instant.

-Bang!

The old man threw open the door violently, passed through the corridor, and went outside the building.

There he saw someone kneeling.

It was none other than Occult Practitioner Jo Ui-gong.

At the sight of the old man coming out, Jo Ui-gong lifted his head, his face brightening.

“Master, no, Pavilion Lord!”

The sharp-featured old man with white hair.

He was In Seo-ok, Pavilion Lord of Origin Kill Pavilion, which served under the Heaven and Earth Society as advisor in occult arts.

And he was also Jo Ui-gong’s master and one of the mere fourteen who had reached the highest realm of occult arts, a Square Sun.

Apart from the Gods of the Six Directions, who were called the summit among the Divine Sun-Moon Mysterious Skill Transmission, he was an expert for whom almost no one could compare in occult arts.

“Pavilion Lord. Will you report this to the Society Leader?”

At Jo Ui-gong’s question, Pavilion Lord In Seo-ok slowly shook his head, his face frighteningly stiff.

At that, Jo Ui-gong could not hide his disappointment.

Of all the talented people he had seen so far, that brat was the best.

That was why he had been planning to beg the Pavilion Lord to pull him out of Corpse Blood Valley no matter what.

But this was not because the Pavilion Lord had changed his mind.

‘Ahhh…’

As he was thinking that, In Seo-ok said,

“That is not the problem right now.”

“…….What do you mean by that?”

“A high-ranking strange creature has thrown ashes over rice that was just about done.”

“Surely…”

“This Pavilion Lord’s Spirit God Gu Poison Art has been broken.”

‘!!!!!’

Occult Practitioner Jo Ui-gong could not hide his shock.

Was the Spirit God Gu Poison Art not the thing his master and Pavilion Lord In Seo-ok had painstakingly cultivated for fully fifteen years?

“How could such a thing happen? No matter that it is a strange creature, for it to break through Master, no, Pavilion Lord’s barrier…”

“That means it is demon beast level or higher.”

“A demon beast!”

It was a strange creature that surpassed the rank of ferocious beast and monster beast.

Even to deal with a monster beast, one had to be at least of Skill rank or higher, and if it was something beyond that, even an occult practitioner who had received the title of Square Moon might find it hard to deal with depending on the case.

‘Wait. The cliff valley where the Spirit God Gu Poison Art is being conducted…’

It was attached to Corpse Blood Valley.

Even apart from the Spirit God Gu Poison Art having been broken, if a demon beast had appeared on that mountain, this was not something they could leave alone.

Pavilion Lord In Seo-ok clicked his tongue and said,

“Take up talismans and ritual implements at once and make ready to go to Corpse Blood Valley.”

At his master’s order, Occult Practitioner Jo Ui-gong thought inwardly that this had turned out well.

Because the Spirit God Gu Poison Art had been broken, his master was displeased, but this might become the pretext for suspending the gates of Corpse Blood Valley.

* * *

Mok Gyeong-un absorbed the death aura still remaining in this place and entered reverse-flow circulation.

At this sight, an odd light appeared in the eyes of Gyu So-ha, who had become his new shikigami.

Naturally so, in Gyu So-ha’s ghost eyes, Mok Gyeong-un’s energy was not being circulated normally but in reverse.

As if that were not enough, it was not yang energy or vital energy but the energy of death that he was circulating.

‘Is Master really a living human?’

That had already been her constant question.

It was a strange thing enough that a human could accept that tremendous death energy and still look so perfectly fine.

Gyu So-ha glanced to the side.

Blue Spirit was perched leisurely on a large rock, smoking her pipe in untroubled ease.

At that, Gyu So-ha cautiously approached and opened her mouth.

-Ahem. Excuse me…

-Excuse me? Hmph. Call me elder sis…

She was about to say that, but Blue Spirit stared at So-ha and then, with a snort, said,

-Just call me unni.

Whether Green Spirit or whatever, hearing the word elder from that young girl felt strangely embarrassing.

Of course, even calling her unni was absurd considering the gap in years and rank, but still.

Yet,

-This yo…

-This what? Try saying “this young master” again, insolent thing.

-This person is a man… yo.

-……..Keep speaking nonsense and whether that fellow made you his shikigami or not, I will extinguish you on the spot.

-No. This person is…

Blue Spirit sharply raised her pipe.

At that, Gyu So-ha squeezed her eyes shut and raised both hands.

Her half-white hair was unusual, but to anyone she could only look like a fifteen-year-old girl.

-Do not hover around in front of me. Hmph. If you say one more word about being a man or whatever, my tolerance ends there.

Blue Spirit clicked her tongue, then waved her hand as if telling her to get lost.

In the end, So-ha neither asked what she wanted to ask nor gained anything for herself.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un opened his eyes, having apparently absorbed all the energy.

“Hoo.”

-Have you absorbed it all?

“Yes. Gathering even the remaining energies, it amounted to quite a lot.”

By drawing together all the death energy remaining at the cliff, he had gathered at least as much as he would have by killing more than fifty people.

It could be said to be far more efficient than roaming the whole mountain and hunting.

‘His energy has stabilized more or less.’

Watching Mok Gyeong-un, Blue Spirit inwardly clicked her tongue in amazement.

He had managed to circulate that enormous amount of death aura and make it fully his own.

The level of his middle dantian and lower dantian, if measured as internal power, had nearly gone beyond the mature fullness of peak state and reached the extreme.

‘This is absurd.’

The order was completely jumbled.

He had almost no understanding or enlightenment concerning qi, so he could not even use things like sword aura or explosive force, yet the level of his internal power had reached the extreme of peak state.

This too was due to the strange principles of the Eight Forms of Mind-Breaking.

‘…….It is as if he has twice the internal power of someone at the extreme of peak state. But in the case of the middle dantian, since it is something one should only have after crossing the wall, even its potential cannot be known.’

Right now, even she found it difficult to say with certainty exactly what level this fellow was at.

She certainly was curious.

Just what level of masters this brat could handle now.

As she thought that, Mok Gyeong-un asked,

“How much time has passed?”

-Uh… as for how long Master has been here…

-If you are asking how long remains until dawn breaks, then not even half a shichen remains. At most three gak, perhaps?

Cutting off Gyu So-ha, Blue Spirit answered.

At her words, Mok Gyeong-un looked up at the night sky.

Certainly, the sky that had been completely black had already turned a pale navy color.

“Hmm.”

It seemed that, contrary to plan, he had spent quite a lot of time here.

Of course, even so, it was not a loss.

He had taken in several times more death aura than by killing the boys searching for flags, and he had even acquired a Green Spirit with powerful strength.

But now there was not much time left.

Mok Gyeong-un smacked his lips.

“That is unfortunate.”

-What is unfortunate?

“I was planning to leave only seven, but three gak will not be enough.”

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Blue Spirit clicked her tongue.

His way of thinking really was unusual.

From the start, his purpose had been to secure more death energy, but looking at it now, it seemed that was not all. It seemed he had also intended to greatly reduce the total number of participants.

Blue Spirit, still clicking her tongue, said,

-Rather than spending time on that, you should find a flag and teammates first.

If it were simply a matter of finding a flag, that would be one thing, but he had to find one with the remaining half of the sword-formula written on it.

If his luck turned bad, he might end up finding only flags that all bore the same formula.

And he also needed fellows willing to accept him as a teammate.

So he had to hurry.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un pulled something from his bosom.

-You should be busy. What are you doing?

“I have to put them back in.”

What Mok Gyeong-un had taken out was none other than the needles of the Forbidden Gate Lock that he had pulled from the acupoints along his spine.

If he did not insert them again, it would arouse suspicion.

-I can do at least that much for you.

“Pardon?”

-Whish!

Before he had even finished asking back, Blue Spirit lightly flicked her hand.

Then the needles of the Forbidden Gate Lock that had been lying in Mok Gyeong-un’s palm flew through the air and embedded themselves all at once into the qi gates at the acupoints along his spine.

-Pupupuk!

“Hup.”

Just as removing the needles hurt, so did putting them back in.

It was painful enough to insert even one, but since they were all driven in at the same time, no matter how strong Mok Gyeong-un’s tolerance for pain was, he could not help but let out a sharp breath.

Watching this, Blue Spirit said with a satisfied expression,

-Taking them out may require a special instrument, but this much I can do. Still, you…

Blue Spirit’s gaze turned toward Mok Gyeong-un’s chest.

That was the area where the middle dantian lay.

When the qi gates were blocked, the lower dantian, unlike before, had been cut off with its energy scattered, but the middle dantian still remained alive.

* * *

About one gak later,

Mok Gyeong-un discovered a team that had taken possession of a flag.

There were exactly eight of them, and since they seemed to have succeeded in defending the flag once or twice already, as many as nine corpses of boys were strewn around the area.

The moment one boy spotted Mok Gyeong-un and recognized him, he smirked and said,

“Hey. Where did you sell off your teammates that you’re wandering around alone?”

“Puhahahaha!”

“Exactly.”

At his question, every one of the teammates with him sneered in mockery.

There was not much time left until dawn, and they were certain that Mok Gyeong-un alone could not deal with them, which was why they were acting like this.

After laughing together like that, the boy who had provoked Mok Gyeong-un waved his hand dismissively and said,

“We’re full over here, so get lost.”

“So your spots are full.”

“Are you too stupid to understand? I told you to get lost. Ah, right. It looks like there’s only about two gak left until dawn breaks. I wonder whether you’ll even be able to find a team willing to take you…”

-Peogeok!

“Geup!”

-Thud!

At that moment, the boy collapsed in the middle of speaking.

Mok Gyeong-un was standing with the posture of someone who had thrown something, and there was a stone embedded directly in the center of the boy’s face.

It looked as though he had died instantly from being hit by it.

“Wh-what is th…”

“With internal power sealed, how did he…”

The boys on the same team as the dead boy could not hide their bewilderment.

Who could possibly have imagined that he would kill a member of their team just by throwing a stone?

While they stood there like that, Mok Gyeong-un curled up the corners of his mouth and sneered.

“Well now… there seems to be one vacancy over there.”