Chapter 53 : Experts of the Blood Demon Castle (1)

Chapter 53: Experts of the Blood Demon Castle (1)

“If you operate my upper dantian with that internal energy, my soul will react and awaken. Maybe it’s because I’ve been awakened through sorcery, but I feel extremely fatigued. I’ve said most of what I needed to, so I’ll take my rest now.”

“Wait. How are we supposed to find a new body for you to inhabit? Surely, there must be some criteria?”

The Demonic Master chuckled slyly and opened his mouth.

“First of all, the younger the better. And if they’ve got a strong physique, even better. But the most important thing is that I can’t use the Soul-Separating Spirit Art anymore. So the ideal candidates are lunatics or those who’ve lost their minds. It’s easier to dominate the soul of someone like that. I no longer have the power to control the will of someone who’s mentally sound. So the best would be someone physically capable but mentally lacking.”

“Understood. If I come across someone like that, I’ll awaken you.”

“And next time, don’t feed me chicken blood from a boiled talisman. I feel like I’m going to vomit it all up.”

With those final words, the Demonic Master’s image slowly faded and disappeared.

As he vanished, a wave of mental fatigue overcame Yong Hwarin.

Conversing with another person within a dream was an intensely exhausting act.

*

When Yong Hwarin opened his eyes, Nan Myeonggwak was sitting up close beside him.

“What exactly is that soul?”

If he told the truth about the Demonic Master, he’d have to reveal that they were people who had lived in the future and returned to the past. So he made something up.

“He was a martial artist who had cultivated his internal energy to the level of three cycles. He encountered a sorcerer from the Mosan Sect and learned a great technique.”

“Ah, I see.”

Nan Myeonggwak believed Yong Hwarin’s words completely.

There was no reason for him to lie.

“Isn’t there a way to expel that soul?”

“Even if I used every sorcery I know, I couldn’t drive out a soul that entered through the Soul-Separating Spirit Art. But there are ways to weaken it.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“The first method is to split the soul, like what Lady Shangguan Mijong did. By dividing the soul, you disperse its power. But this method requires the technique that Lady Shangguan Mijong learned. The second method is to trap the soul in a different dantian of Young Master Yong. If you trap it in the current dantian, it could disturb the flow of internal energy and lead to qi deviation. So if you create a new dantian and seal the soul there, it would work. But I’ve never heard of someone having two dantians, so that’s essentially impossible. The third method is to possess a power stronger than the soul’s internal energy. Only then can you expel it by force. If your power is weaker, there’s no way.”

These methods were barely better than having no solution at all. Still, he’d gained something.

Splitting the Demonic Master’s soul to weaken it, and sealing it in another dantian—those were possible.

After mastering Chouhui’s Mind-Splitting Art, he could form the Tai Chi Dantian and seal the Demonic Master’s soul there.

“But is there really a way to trap a soul in a new dantian?”

Yong Hwarin probed to see if Nan Myeonggwak knew something more.

If he had mentioned the method, maybe he had an idea of how to actually do it.

“I’ve heard stories of a founder who succeeded with that method long ago. But I don’t know how it was done. If you could really seal a soul in a new dantian, the strongest martial artist under heaven could be born.”

As he spoke, Nan Myeonggwak’s tone softened, as if lost in memory.

“There’s an old saying passed down in our sorcery lineage. When internal energy and spiritual power unite, the true greatest under heaven is born.”

“Unifying internal energy and spiritual power… Is that even possible?”

That sounded even more far-fetched than the story of the Tai Chi Dantian.

“By the way, Young Master Yong, have you heard of the martial artist known as Heavenly Martial God Gwae Wolbaek?”

Yong Hwarin couldn’t help but let out a snort at the name.

The epithet was childish, but the legendary tales Gwae Wolbaek left in the martial world were grand. Nowadays, most people thought those stories were fictional.

They said Heavenly Martial God Gwae Wolbaek could crush boulders with a mere gesture, and split rocks with a swing of his sword.

That was three hundred years ago.

Martial arts had progressed since then, so why was it that even the Seven Kings of the Martial World, recorded in the Martial Moon Blade and Sword Compendium, couldn’t split a single boulder?

Whenever the leader of the Three Demonic Heavens changed, it marked a new generation—roughly every thirty years. A new martial era, or “martial title,” would be declared.

The current martial title of the era was Martial Moon.

During the previous era, Martial Justice, only the Five Emperors of the Martial World had the ability to manipulate qi forcefully.

Qi force was believed to only emerge at the pinnacle of martial mastery—achievable only after attaining the realm of the immortals. Manifesting condensed energy outside the body required absolute enlightenment.

In the era before Martial Justice, the Martial Sea era, it was said that not only the Five Emperors but also the Seven Kings of the Martial World could use qi force. But these were unverifiable tales.

And to Yong Hwarin’s knowledge, in the current Martial Moon era, the only one other than the Five Emperors who could manifest qi force was Ha Cheolryeong from his past life.

Ha Cheolryeong had defeated countless masters using qi force and had become the strongest under heaven. Since the Five Emperors did not interfere with worldly affairs, Ha Cheolryeong had been able to claim that title.

However, even Ha Cheolryeong’s qi force wasn’t exactly structured. It was explosive, so some didn’t consider it true qi force.

This incomplete form was called “Pseudo Qi” because it resembled real qi force but wasn’t the real thing.

Still, even in the present martial world, aside from the Seven Kings, no one else could wield even Pseudo Qi.

That’s how rare and difficult it was to wield qi force.

If one had to name the most perfect wielder of qi force in history, it would be Heavenly Martial God Gwae Wolbaek.

Of course, he was active in the very first era when martial titles began and when the Blade and Sword Compendium was first introduced. Many believed his story was heavily exaggerated.

“How could I not know him?”

“You’ll be surprised to learn he was a martial artist of the Mosan Sect.”

“What do you mean? The Heavenly Martial God was a sorcerer from the Mosan Sect?”

“That’s right. He was also the first being to unify internal energy and spiritual power, and the first to demonstrate true qi force.”

“Hahaha, that’s hard to believe.”

Yong Hwarin laughed, thinking the story was an extreme joke, but Nan Myeonggwak pouted.

“I’m not lying. If Young Master Yong can seal a soul in the dantian, you can create qi force.”

“To achieve qi force is every martial artist’s greatest dream. Since the beginning of martial titles, all who achieved it left their names in history. If I said I’d become one of those rare masters, would you believe me?”

Nan Myeonggwak looked more serious than ever.

“Do you know why there are so few qi masters in each generation? It’s because no one knows how to create qi force.”

Yong Hwarin, still skeptical, replied jokingly.

“Haha, and how does one make qi force? If you know, please enlighten me.”

No method for creating qi force had ever been clearly explained.

The only known conditions were that one had to reach the realm of three cycles, and their internal energy had to be refined enough to sustain itself outside the body for long periods.

Everything beyond that was considered a matter of enlightenment.

Hence, it remained an unrevealed realm.

“Qi force is created by releasing internal energy from the dantian and shaping it into a tangible form. Its power rivals that of thunderclaps.”

“Indeed.”

Yong Hwarin agreed half-heartedly.

“But energy naturally disperses when it leaves the body, seeking to return to nature. That’s what makes wielding qi force so difficult.”

“True enough.”

Nan Myeonggwak’s theory was something even novice martial artists knew.

“But spiritual power—what we call the soul—can wrap around external energy, preventing its loss and shaping it. Heavenly Martial God Gwae Wolbaek was the first to create forms with energy wrapped in soul. What he made was called qi force. He was only able to do it because he was a sorcerer from the Mosan Sect.”

As Yong Hwarin listened, a shock like an axe to the back of his head struck him.

The more he heard, the more it felt like the truth.

“If you use the soul’s power to shape energy into a blade, it becomes what martial artists call the ‘Heart Blade’ or the ‘Will Blade.’”

Nan Myeonggwak saw that Yong Hwarin was shocked and dealt the final blow.

“If you can expand your soul to the level of your internal energy, you can create qi force. But what human could activate their soul like energy? Only an immortal, perhaps. But Young Master Yong already has a soul on the level of three cycles within you. That means you have a chance to become the successor of Heavenly Martial God Gwae Wolbaek.”

Yong Hwarin, stunned, dropped to the ground and blankly stared at the sky.

He wasn’t deep in thought, nor meditating for insight.

He just stared.

A while passed like that, until the noise around him grew louder.

“Young Master Yong, you need to come out!”

Maybe it was from hearing such incredible stories, but Yong Hwarin’s head began to ache.

“What’s going on?”

He had told them not to let anyone in or disturb him unless it was urgent, so the fact that they rushed in meant something serious had happened.

When he went outside, Jaegal Yohye, an injured warrior from the Jaegal Clan, and a boy dressed like a tavern servant stood there looking anxious.

“What? What’s going on?”

Yong Hwarin couldn’t make sense of the situation at first.

It was strange enough that Jaegal Yohye was here, but for an injured warrior of the Jaegal Clan and even the tavern’s servant to show up?

And the tavern servant was even supporting the wounded Jaegal warrior.

“Did something happen between our group and the Jaegal Clan’s warriors staying at the inn?”

“No. It’s something far more serious.”

As Jaegal Yohye opened her mouth, she looked to the injured warrior of the Jaegal Clan, who began explaining.

“We were returning from Shaolin Temple with Young Master Jaegal Byeok and several hall leaders. We stopped by a tavern to eat, and that’s when the demonic faction attacked us. A battle broke out. They were ruthless, even to ordinary people. So everyone in the tavern tried to flee. At first, we aimed to escape toward the Shangguan Clan, but the enemies had blocked every path. We had no choice but to flee in the opposite direction.”

After hearing that, Yong Hwarin muttered one thing.

“They’re driving the rabbits.”