Chapter 127 - Act 18. Cheong Un, the Sword of Small Defeats (7)

* * *

Hovering above the center of the demonic practitioner city, Cheong Un quietly looked down at the inner citadel. His eyes shone with the effects of the Farseeing Talisman.

An alarm blared, and he could feel the impact of what seemed to be two Foundation Establishment Cultivators clashing. His divine sense did not reach inside the citadel, so he was following events through spirit sight alone. He wanted nothing more than to descend a little and get a clear view of how Yise fought.

Then the Demonic Energy within a Dharma-Transformed Dantian vanished. Yise had eliminated a Foundation Establishment Cultivator in that brief instant.

'Fast.'

It was astonishingly quick work. He had killed a Foundation Establishment Cultivator almost as soon as the battle began.

The Qi Refining demonic practitioners who rushed him afterward could not withstand even a single move. Cheong Un marveled at the almost impossibly swift way he hunted them down.

A message talisman shot into the air from inside the citadel. Cheong Un swiftly sent out a blast of formless qi and shot it down in midflight.

Yise then reached a place where three Foundation Establishment Cultivators had gathered and began fighting once more.

"..."

The citadel rumbled again. An outer wall shattered, and spells burst out through it. Wondering what the commotion was, demonic practitioners from the outer city began gathering around the citadel.

Cheong Un frowned.

The Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners had recognized the intruder and attacked him together. Yet two of them fell one after another, at regular intervals.

'Even three against one? Impossible.'

Without realizing it, Cheong Un lightly gripped the end of his scabbard.

He himself was considered exceptional among Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but he had no confidence he could win such a reckless fight against multiple opponents. No—even if he won, he could never settle the outcome so quickly.

Just how much stronger had Yise become?

An irrepressible desire to challenge him blazed in Cheong Un's eyes.

At last, the city lord, the only demonic practitioner left among them, escaped the inner citadel. Cheong Un could only feel grateful to him. Now he could witness Yise's fighting firsthand.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator fled at full speed, as though begging his flying ritual implement to save him. Yise emerged at his leisure, mounted a flying cloud, and took off in pursuit.

Cheong Un had thought nothing could surprise him anymore, yet his eyes widened again. The flying cloud was fast in its own right, but that would be useless in the hands of an unskilled flyer. Yise's control of his divine sense must have reached an extraordinary level: even as he flew through acrobatic maneuvers, he launched spells simultaneously and in an unbroken stream.

'And that insane casting speed hasn't changed, either.'

He unleashed spell after spell without any preparation, as though activating ritual implements. Imagining that immense spell power directed at him, Cheong Un shivered with exhilaration.

The wood-attribute cultivation method extending from Yise's hand formed vines that bound the fleeing Foundation Establishment demonic practitioner. Cursing, the demonic Cultivator who ruled the city blasted purple Demonic Energy from his palm.

Yise's flying cloud swerved smoothly out of its path. The Demonic Energy was powerful enough to make even Cheong Un flinch, but Yise remained unshaken, moving only as far as necessary to leave the blast's reach.

Then he actually used Telekinesis Art to pull in the ritual implement the demonic practitioner was piloting.

'He's forcing out another Cultivator's energy and overriding it with his own Telekinesis Art?'

Cheong Un had never heard of such a thing. Driving out someone else's energy and seizing control?

"You bastard! Just what the hell are you? Tell me who sent you this instant! Let go!"

What happened next was even more astonishing.

The two drew close. At that instant, Yise's hand axe flashed as swiftly as a sword in a sword Cultivator's hand. Though the attack clearly contained no spiritual energy, it severed the Foundation Establishment Cultivator's neck in a single stroke, as easily as slicing tofu.

"..."

It was a formless energy invisible to divine sense. There was definitely something in that blow—something resembling the Tyrant Sword Sect's formless qi, yet different. Formless qi could not cleave through a Foundation Establishment Cultivator's body so cleanly.

Cheong Un swallowed as he watched the demonic practitioner's head being mounted high for display.

What if that axe were aimed at his neck?

The thought was truly chilling.

'Four times? I gave myself too much credit.'

If what Yise had just shown was not even the full extent of his abilities, Cheong Un was confident he would lose all ten bouts out of ten.

Having eliminated all the Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners, Yise flew over the city and began hunting down those who had gathered below.

The skill with which he picked them out and killed them on sight was extraordinary. He seemed experienced not only at fighting opponents of a similar realm, but also at hunting large numbers of lower-realm Cultivators.

He unleashed Wind Blades mercilessly, like a Foundation Establishment sword Cultivator scattering formless qi. Swiftly, and with devastating power.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

"Spare me, Senior!"

No one resisted. Their will to fight had long since broken the moment the Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners who ruled the city fell.

But Yise's Wind Blades did not stop. If anything, those who cried for mercy only drew his attention and were sent to the afterlife sooner.

Heads were mounted throughout the city like a hedgehog's spines. It was somewhat excessive for a man of chivalry, but to Cheong Un, even that only added to Yise's mystique.

Realizing that surrender would not earn them mercy in this slaughter, several demonic practitioners attempted to escape.

'I suppose I should pay for the spectacle.'

He had been treated to quite a sight. It was time to do his part.

At last, Cheong Un guided his flying sword after the spirit beast's wingbeats. He shot like an arrow toward a Qi Refining demonic practitioner who came into view.

* * *

Yise drove his Twin-Banner Spirit-Domain Sealing Standard into the ground. A barrier formation that sealed Demonic Energy spread as though swallowing the city, then smoothly contracted a moment later.

He took out the Spirit-Detecting Mirror to check whether anyone was hiding with their Demonic Energy concealed by a Demon-Concealing Talisman. No new dots appeared. Apparently, he had dealt with them all.

'I've overeaten.'

An enormous amount of Demonic Energy had accumulated inside his Demon core—nearly twice what he had gathered while hunting in the Thousand-Demon Mountains. He had already stored more internal reserves than necessary when breaking through to middle-stage Foundation Establishment. If he simply gathered spiritual energy now, late-stage Foundation Establishment would be within reach.

He patted his stomach as though he had feasted, though it was not actually full.

A mountain of storage pouches lay before him. If he sold everything, it would easily fetch a hundred thousand spirit stones.

'Nice.'

If making spirit stones was this easy, he would not even need to farm. Of course, doing this more than once would be difficult, given the risks.

Yise glanced at the ordinary people prostrating themselves on the ground, trembling without daring to raise their heads. He had left the Heavenly Pillar Brazier untouched, so they should have no trouble surviving.

Putting away his weapons, he addressed one nearby.

"A new city lord will arrive soon. Make no trouble, and see to the cleanup."

"Y-yes, honored sir..."

The person answered in a tremble, not even daring to look at his face. They seemed unable to understand what had happened to them.

Yise turned his gaze away from the ordinary people and sent Cheong Un a sound transmission.

"Did any get away?"

"None."

The satisfactory answer came at once. Still, someone might have used an Escape Talisman, so it would be best to leave quickly.

"With all this Demonic Energy, no Cultivator will want to come here, will they?"

"Don't worry. A single purification ritual will clear this up in no time."

"I see."

Apparently, the Northern Continent also had Cultivators like Daemudo's shamans.

Yise had roughly gathered his spoils and was about to leave when he sensed something strange.

Looking up, he saw an unnatural dark cloud forming in the sky. It looked like black mist, like the smoke from burning rubbish. On closer inspection, mist was rising from places throughout the city and gathering into the cloud.

'Lingering resentment...?'

Lingering resentment seeped out of the nearest corpse and was sucked toward the dark cloud. The resentment was coalescing.

Yise had never encountered such a phenomenon before and stood staring blankly for a moment. An instant later, he shook his head to collect himself and considered the cause.

It had probably happened because he had hunted too many demonic practitioners without performing exorcisms.

Among Foundation Establishment evil spirits was something called a War Aberration. He had heard that it sometimes arose when wars led to mass slaughter.

'... I didn't see this coming.'

Since he usually performed an exorcism after a hunt, he had never experienced what happened when he left this much lingering resentment behind.

The aberration grew larger and larger until it was as enormous as a black dragon.

"Exorcising evil spirits isn't my specialty, but..."

Still, it had only just taken shape. He should be able to deal with it now. Aberrations were weakest when first formed, after all. They gradually fed on lingering resentment, grew, and spread like a plague.

He could not let innocent neighboring cities suffer.

As Yise took ritual items for exorcising evil spirits out of his storage pouch, Cheong Un hurriedly landed beside him with Emer.

"Are you all right? What is that thing?"

"An evil spirit. Looks like I hunted too many demonic practitioners at once."

"Vile things."

"You're telling me."

After causing so much lingering resentment, they ought to have had the decency to depart quietly. What attachments and grievances could they possibly have left to create an evil spirit?

It was beyond absurd.

Yise took out a Foundation Establishment Exorcism Talisman and attached it to his Vajra. As a Qi Refining supernatural treasure, the Vajra's performance left something to be desired, but the Foundation Establishment Exorcism Talisman would amplify its effect.

He used Weapon Enlargement Art to enlarge the Vajra as much as possible. The gigantic club floated into the air. Then he honed primordial energy at its tip and recited an exorcism prayer.

He would be in trouble if he failed to finish it in one blow. Foundation Establishment Exorcism Talismans were expensive, and he had only two on hand.

Only then did the black dragon-shaped aberration seem to recognize his presence. It turned its enormous head toward him. Two bloodred points of light flickered faintly within the black mist.

KEEEE... EEEE... EEE...

KRAAAAAH...

The baleful sound rang out as though wringing his eardrums.

At his will, the enormous Vajra swept down in a single stroke. A rending shriek reverberated through the city as the aberration split in half.

But it did not disperse. Still screeching, it began flying toward him.

Veins bulged all over Yise's body from the considerable expenditure of his internal reserves. He raised the Vajra once more and struck.

The two radiances collided. Then the aberration scattered like mist and was sucked into his body. Demonic Energy, lingering resentment, and the aberration's spirit body all forced their way inside at once.

It was the Foundation Establishment evil spirit's final act of defiance.

Without faltering in his stance, Yise bore it all.

Had Seol Ryeong been beside him, she would have immediately performed a spirit-guiding rite to send the evil spirit's remnants back into the Abyss. Now, however, he had to manage alone.

Black smoke hissed from every opening in his body as though from a burning cigarette. At the sight, Cheong Un and Emer grew frantic and cried out to ask if he was all right, but Yise heard none of it.

He simply used the spiritual energy inside him to repel and purify the invading energies.

Yise recited the exorcism prayer inwardly once more.

'Enough. Begone.'

He bit down hard on his lip and practiced energy circulation, but the aberration's malevolent resentment would not readily yield.

Just as the fear arose that the aberration might devour him at this rate...

An energy sleeping deep, deep inside Yise's body stirred.

It was the auspicious energy that had entered him along with the Soul-Returning Body-Entering Art in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm.