novelraw Chapter 184 : I Shall Catch All the Fish with a Single Cast of the Net (2)
Chapter 184 : I Shall Catch All the Fish with a Single Cast of the Net (2)
Chapter 184: I Shall Catch All the Fish with a Single Cast of the Net (2)
Thud! Thud!
The moment he realized that the power of the Reverse Heaven Qi had manifested without him noticing, Sewoon’s heart pounded violently.
The background inside the carriage faded away, and Sewoon’s field of vision began to darken.
Sewoon quietly steadied his breathing.
Yet, from the very center of his heart, a gloomy aura was rising.
‘……The power of the Reverse Heaven Qi is deceiving me as if it were alive, and it is growing stronger.’
An overwhelming influence that drew in people’s desires without him realizing it, making them kneel even without persuasion.
This was not a simple increase in inner power caused by the Reverse Heaven Qi.
That power was not brute force expressed outwardly, but a force of suppression that burrowed deep into the inner self.
A formidable power that subjugated the minds of others.
What made Sewoon so unsettled was the crucial fact that the manifestation of this power did not originate from his own will.
‘If, without realizing it, I myself am changing…….’
As this power grew stronger, others would follow his path without him saying a single word, and lower their heads without him even pointing a blade.
Since it was a force that moved the inner self itself, the loyalty they displayed would be unwavering sincerity.
But if so, that 모습 unmistakably resembled one particular existence.
‘No different from the Blood Demon.’
No, it was not merely “no different.”
He was becoming another Blood Demon.
Before the regression, the being who had subdued countless demons and driven the world toward destruction.
The Blood Demon he had seen reigned above all demonic practitioners.
When the Blood Demon issued a command, the demonic practitioners charged at the enemy with smiles, even while knowing they would die.
Sewoon had watched that grotesque and horrific spectacle right beside him until he was sick of it.
And now, without realizing it, he himself was gaining such power and changing into such a form.
Thud! Thud!
At the sound of his heart about to burst, Sewoon felt his breath grow stifled.
His narrowing vision now felt as though it were shrouded in thick fog.
‘Am I…… still, all right?’
Sewoon asked himself.
Was the path he was walking truly the path he wanted to walk?
If, like the matter with the Martial Exalt Union, he had provoked someone’s desires and forcibly embraced them—
Had he already been consumed by the shadow of the Blood Demon?
It was at that moment, when the Reverse Heaven Qi within mocked its master and caused a dreadful inner demon to bloom—
[……Sewoon.]
Suddenly, a calm voice echoed by Sewoon’s ear.
Even within his darkened vision, like a night cloaked in darkness, Sewoon knew whose telepathy it was.
Do Ha-yeong.
From beyond this deep darkness, she was looking at him.
Sewoon slowly inhaled, then exhaled.
As his breathing grew a little lighter—
[……Please don’t go too far alone again.]
‘……!’
Short words. Yet the emotion contained within them was warm and heavy.
Shaaah!
The fog-like vision slowly returned.
The surroundings were exactly the same as before.
The confusion he had fallen into had lasted only the briefest of instants.
Shwaaah!
Sewoon immediately drew up the power of the Extinction Thread and suppressed the Reverse Heaven Qi that had covered his inner self.
A tranquil flow that purified the turmoil of mind and body continued.
His gaze cleared, as though storm clouds in the sky were parting.
Sewoon’s eyes met Do Ha-yeong’s.
‘……Yes, I am different from the Blood Demon.’
Had he not shared his heart even with those whom the power of the Reverse Heaven Qi could never reach?
His sinking inner self was once more finding solid ground and rising.
Now, he was certain.
The path he was walking was a path he himself had made,
And that he would never be devoured by the Reverse Heaven Qi and become a Blood Demon-like existence.
‘Even if I lose my way, I can always come back.’
There were hands that would catch him even if he strayed.
And hands that would pull him back up even if he were deeply consumed.
After all the confusion had been settled.
[……Thank you.]
Sewoon expressed his gratitude to Ha-yeong.
Beaming.
Only then did she show a relieved smile.
Sewoon slowly rose to his feet.
As everyone inside the carriage focused their attention on him in an instant—
“Now then, let’s start devising a plan to capture the Heaven-Piercing Sect.”
At last, Sewoon moved on to the next stage.
Rumble!
A white tiger charging through the darkness was producing a thunderous roar.
Yet even as the carriage shook violently from the speed, all of the Tang Clan’s martial artists maintained firm postures and focused on Sewoon’s words.
“Originally, as you all know, battles between sorcerers and martial artists favor the martial artists.”
Sewoon’s voice was low and solid.
“No matter how exceptional sorcerers may be, once the sorcery and curses they used are neutralized, they are no different from commoners who have never learned a single martial art.”
As everyone nodded in agreement, a sharp light rose in Sewoon’s eyes.
“However, a battle against sorcerers who possess ‘time’ and have completed every ‘preparation’ is entirely different—like heaven and earth.”
“……!”
“And the Heaven-Piercing Sect, since its founding, has spent the last two hundred years making exhaustive preparations to preserve its power.”
Unlike orthodox sects, the unorthodox world was a place where power struggles between sects occurred constantly.
It was a realm where interests and blatant desires ran rampant, even without justification.
Thus, the Heaven-Piercing Sect—wielding all manner of bizarre and sinister sorcery—was a place that made countless unorthodox forces salivate.
“But to this day, not once has Namnyeong, where the Heaven-Piercing Sect is located, ever been successfully assaulted. Do you know why?”
“……The sorcery formations installed in Namnyeong. And the Heaven-Piercing Sect Leader.”
“That’s right.”
Sewoon nodded at Gong Taemun’s low, thoughtful reply.
“All across the land of Namnyeong are horrifying sorcery formations created by the Heaven-Piercing Sect. To reach their main base, one must break through those formations, yet no one has ever succeeded in neutralizing them.”
“Hrm…….”
“Moreover, even setting aside the current leader, the Ghostly Strange Nether King An Cheongmyeong, every past Heaven-Piercing Sect Leader has, astonishingly, wielded destructive sorcery equivalent to the Divine rank whenever fighting on Namnyeong soil. Every enemy who raised a blade against the Heaven-Piercing Sect was completely annihilated before they could even properly strike.”
The expressions of those listening darkened.
From the Tang Clan’s perspective, it was nothing but despairing news.
But just as the atmosphere sank, Sewoon delivered a single line that turned everything around.
“That’s why the first thing we must do is destroy the sorcery formations spread across Namnyeong.”
“What? But Clan Head, didn’t you just say no one has ever neutralized the Heaven-Piercing Sect’s formations?”
“Just because they couldn’t do it doesn’t mean we can’t.”
“……!”
At Sewoon’s words, everyone’s expressions changed at once.
The confidence in his eyes told them he already held a secret stratagem.
“There’s only one reason other unorthodox forces failed to neutralize the sorcery formations of Namnyeong. From the beginning, the spell arrays that activate and maintain Namnyeong’s sorcery are not located in Namnyeong itself.”
“……!!”
Drawing upon memories from before his regression, Sewoon revealed the Heaven-Piercing Sect’s secret.
“Before reaching Namnyeong, one must pass through Donglan, Doan, and Pyeonggwa. Somewhere within those three counties, the spell arrays are hidden. Those arrays sustain Namnyeong’s defensive formations and vastly amplify the power of the sorcery used by the Sect Leader.”
“Ah!”
“So they secretly built three gates outside the city to ensure Namnyeong could never be invaded!”
“Placing three Hulao Passes around Hengyang!”
Exclamations burst out as the secret was unveiled.
What Sewoon meant was that if the three spell arrays were destroyed, the Heaven-Piercing Sect’s power—once like an iron wall—would collapse like a sandcastle.
For the first time, a method to annihilate the Heaven-Piercing Sect had been presented.
“We will split our forces and strike the three locations simultaneously. However, those places are also guarded by sorcerers stationed by the Heaven-Piercing Sect and active sorcery formations, so caution is required.”
He then continued by explaining the powers of the spell arrays deployed in the three counties.
First, in Donglan County, there was the ‘Curse Blood Formation.’
It was the outermost array and the first to react, and as its name implied, it activated through blood.
If an intruder spilled even a single drop of blood, the formation awakened on its own and forcibly cast a curse that sealed the circulation of the enemy’s qi.
Moreover, the more blood was shed, the stronger its effect became, leading intruders to meet miserable deaths without being able to properly use any martial art.
“……Then those without blood will have to fight there.”
Umun Tak muttered quietly to himself.
Sewoon’s explanation moved on to the second location.
It concerned Doan’s ‘Defeated Slaughter Divergence.’
The Defeated Slaughter Divergence was not a formation, but something akin to hidden explosive mines buried in the ground.
The difference was that instead of detonating like fire bombs, the moment someone stepped on one, a pre-planted demonic spirit latched onto them.
That demonic spirit then showed the target horrifying illusions, shattering their mind.
“Comrades appear as enemies, and the afterimages of one’s past sins swirl before the eyes. In the end, uncontrollable chaos erupts. Allies end up trying to take each other’s lives.”
No sooner had the explanation of the second location ended than the telepathic voice of Nameless, filled with irritation, echoed by Sewoon’s ear.
[Dammit. We’ll need someone with an unshakable, immovable mind no matter the situation. Are you trying to use me again, you disciple bastard?]
“Now then, that’s all the information you need to know. In any case, once all the spell arrays are dismantled, I’ll personally command the battle that takes place on Namnyeong soil.”
As Sewoon spoke, letting Nameless’s voice pass through one ear, Tang Serin tilted her head and spoke up.
“Hm? But why didn’t you explain the spell array in the last county, Pyeonggwa?”
His explanation had stopped at two locations.
From what he had said earlier, there were clearly three spell arrays that needed to be dismantled.
At that, Sewoon gave a meaningful smile to reassure his elder sister.
“That side already has people sent there, Sister.”
“……Who did you send?”
However, Sewoon refrained from answering.
‘Now that I think about it, they’ve probably already started the operation by now.’
Before striking Guizhou, Sewoon had already sent a carrier pigeon and dispatched one of his subordinate units straight to Pyeonggwa County.
“Huh… For information this secret, never once revealed before—how does my liege know all of this in such detail?”
Gong Taemun blinked his eyes and voiced his question.
It was closer to admiration than suspicion.
Sewoon had anticipated the question, but he couldn’t exactly say he had regressed, so he gave the answer he had prepared in advance.
“I planted a spy inside the Heaven-Piercing Sect beforehand.”
“……!”
As everyone gasped in shock,
Sewoon curled the corner of his lips ever so slightly.
“Yes. One who can never betray us.”
Squeeze.
With that, he lightly pressed the small Gu larva hidden in his palm with his finger.