Returning Immortal

Chapter 19 : Yin Talisman Ghost Killing Art

Ne Jinja was not one to stand by and watch.

Ne Jinja was from the Spirit Communication Gate, one of the Ten Great Demonic Gates of the Luminous Cult.

Although he was now the Vice Director of the Dark Spirit Council due to his extraordinary mind and profound knowledge of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, in his younger days, he was a fighting maniac who had not a single day without blood on his hands.

He had resolved his inferiority complex about his hunched back and ugly appearance with blood.

His ultimate technique was the Yin Talisman Ghost Killing Art.

It was a martial art that dealt with living yin energy, and it was a demonic art like a grim reaper from hell, especially to evil spirits and demons.

Whoosh.

With the sound of the wind, Ne Jinja's form, which had been next to Gwi Seongjin, disappeared as if extinguished.

Then he suddenly appeared in mid-air, and before he knew it, Ne Jinja was blocking the green monster's path.

His movement technique was as ethereal as a ghost.

When the surprised monster raised its fist to the air, he disappeared like a phantom, then bloomed like a flower in mid-air and dug into the monster's lower body.

And with his long, sharp fingernails like a knife, he scraped down the monster's lower body.

Rip.

The monster's flesh was torn, and green blood burst out.

The monster, which had stopped, jumped up and struck with its knee, but that much of a counterattack was already within his expected range.

The same went for the attack where he fell down and swept the air with his foot.

Ne Jinja kicked the monster's knee with his foot, then jumped into the sky and this time attacked the monster's face.

At the unexpected attack, the monster tilted its head back and barely dodged Ne Jinja's fingernails.

But Ne Jinja did not have only one hand.

Five green lines were drawn on the monster's face by the fingernails that were swung in succession.

The problem was that one of the green lines had passed through the monster's eyeball.

Kwwwwwaaaaang!

The monster, whose eyeball had burst, let out a scream that seemed to tear the sky apart.

While doing so, it glared at Ne Jinja in front of it with a chilling gaze.

Formidable killing intent.

If the monster had trained a little more, it seemed it could have killed a person with just its gaze.

But Ne Jinja was not one to be intimidated by such killing intent.

Ne Jinja, who had seen through that the monster had trained a special qigong that protected its body with internal energy, added his true qi and drew out his black fingernails even longer.

"I only took out one eyeball, but your reaction is too excessive. This time, I'll split your head open and pull out all the brain matter inside."

While Ne Jinja was threatening the monster, the Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had flown back, reorganized his internal energy and stepped forward again.

His two eyes were flashing with anger, as if it was unfair to have been hit by a mere monster.

"Vice Director! I will take care of that one."

When Ne Jinja looked back at the Raging Fire Divine Lord, fortunately, it didn't seem like he had suffered a major internal injury.

Looking at the flames covering the Sky-Piercing Halberd, there was no big difference from before.

Still, since he had even vomited blood, the shock would not have been nonexistent.

"There's another one left in the barrier besides this one. It will be a headache if the two of them join forces, so let's get rid of this one quickly."

In the end, it was a suggestion to attack together.

"If the two of us step forward to deal with a monster like this..."

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who was trying to defeat the monster alone to wash away the shame of having allowed a blow from the green monster, shut his mouth with a look of helplessness.

It was because while he was speaking, Ne Jinja was flying at the monster.

That wasn't all.

Even the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who had been just watching from behind, was stealthily approaching the monster.

Judging that he might not even get a chance to redeem himself, the Raging Fire Divine Lord also flew at the monster.

As if he had already devised a way to attack, red sword threads were stretching out from his Sky-Piercing Halberd.

At that time, the feared situation occurred.

At the same time as the Raging Fire Divine Lord flew up, the black-faced young man who was sitting on the rock stood up.

Although his presence was faint, a strange tension filled the barrier as he stood up.

Ssssss.

Even the cool-headed Ilgeom blocked the Grand Prince's front and drew his sword more than halfway.

Gwi Seongjin was just as tense.

In fact, Gwi Seongjin had been looking only at the black-faced young man ever since he had entered the barrier.

He had only given a very brief glance at the green monster.

The reason Gwi Seongjin had only been watching the black-faced young man was because of his peculiar physical structure.

The green monster was not much different from the monsters he had seen in the Phantom Beast Forest, other than the fact that it possessed internal energy.

What was peculiar was that its killing intent was excessively strong...

Other than that, it was just an ordinary monster.

But the black-faced young man was different.

As a result of examining with his spiritual sense, he too was not human.

But he wasn't a monster either.

A ghost?

A thought-form?

It seemed a bit of a stretch to see him as that either.

It just seemed like the primordial qi of heaven and earth had clumped together in the shape of a person.

The spiritual sense Gwi Seongjin deployed was the ability to see qi visually.

Although he could see the forest hidden by trees or even underground, unfortunately, he could not penetrate the body of a living being.

He could not see the internal energy inside the body of a human or a monster.

But the black-faced young man was different.

When he examined with his spiritual sense, the inside of his body was all transparent.

The density of the qi, its color, and even its flow...

As a result, he naturally came to know one of the black-faced young man's abilities.

The fact that he could make his internal energy flow under the ground.

The black-faced young man, who had slid forward about a chi, asked Gwi Seongjin.

"Who are you?"

At the black-faced young man's question, Gwi Seongjin could not answer readily.

It was because he knew that the gazes of the Grand Prince and Ilgeom were directed this way.

Seeing that the black-faced young man had singled him out among all the others, the possibility that he had noticed his ability could not be ruled out at all.

In that case, he would ask a question related to his ability.

If he was not careful, the fact that Gwi Seongjin himself could use spirit energy could be revealed to the Grand Prince and Ilgeom.

Since he had to hide that fact to take revenge on the Luminous Cult in the future, Gwi Seongjin had no choice but to hesitate whether to answer the black-faced young man's question or not.

Then, Gwi Seongjin thought of a good method.

It was the method of communicating with spiritual sense.

Fortunately, a secret art of conveying one's will with spiritual sense without moving one's lips was passed down in the Ghost Valley Sect.

[I am a human. But what kind of thing are you?]

At Gwi Seongjin's question, the black-faced young man made a startled expression.

It was a face that said he didn't know Gwi Seongjin would speak to him with spiritual sense.

However, he was no ordinary being.

After pondering for a while, he too soon sent a sound with his spiritual sense.

[A thing? I am not a thing. I am one who has awakened on my own.]

While the black-faced young man was conveying his words in an arrogant voice, Gwi Seongjin glanced towards the green monster.

The monster, which had been covered in wounds from being hit by Ne Jinja and the Raging Fire Divine Lord, was suddenly filled with courage and was rampaging.

It was because of the power the black-faced young man had secretly transmitted through the ground.

[Awakened? What did you awaken to?]

[The meaning of existence.]

[Is that all?]

[That's right. I was born in the dark and deep ground and reached my current realm by awakening to the Dao with my own power. Isn't that amazing?]

At the black-faced young man's answer, Gwi Seongjin shook his head from side to side.

[That is survival, not awakening. Besides, you are now injured and your mind and body are extremely unstable. If you're not careful, the bead in your middle dantian could break. Aren't you afraid of that?]

At Gwi Seongjin's question, the black-faced young man did not answer at all.

After staring at Gwi Seongjin for a long time as if glaring, he asked in his usual gloomy voice.

[How did you know?]

[I can just see it.]

Conveying his voice calmly, Gwi Seongjin once again looked inside the black-faced young man's body.

The young man only had the form of a person, but there were no organs inside his body.

There was only condensed internal energy and its flow.

His skin was also not living flesh like a human's, but a form constructed by exquisitely manipulating qi.

He at least had a lower dantian, but all sorts of miscellaneous energies were inside.

What was peculiar was that they were tangled up in a disorderly manner, as if he had suffered an internal injury.

Other than that, a chestnut-sized golden bead was visible in the very center of his chest, but its purpose was unknown.

Seeing that it was surrounded by a clear and bright energy, there was a high possibility that it was an inner core.

As he raised his gaze further up, the black-faced young man's head came into view.

Although it was a handsome face, unfortunately, only turbid internal energy could be seen inside his head.

But he couldn't be completely sure.

It was because there could be an energy hidden inside that was not detected by his spiritual sense.

[I can't believe it. The human eye can only perceive the illusion outside the truth.]

[That's because you don't know humans. Humans are the lords of all creation and the closest beings to gods. Since humans pursue perfection, how can they only see illusions?]

[Are you saying there are others besides you who can see through my true body?]

[That's right. You may think your power is infinite because you draw the primordial qi of heaven and earth into your body, but in reality, you are no different from a phantom. They will also be able to immediately grasp your fatal weakness.]

Gwi Seongjin, who had discovered fear in the black-faced young man's eyes, raised the intensity of his threat a little more.

It was to make the demon get scared and run away.

The demon in front of him had accumulated its demonic power for a long time, and its capabilities were immeasurable.

As Gwi Seongjin judged it, it seemed that even if the entire group attacked together, they would not be able to subdue it.

So the best way was to make the demon retreat on its own.

[Are you saying this is my fatal weakness?]

When the black-faced young man pointed to his solar plexus with his finger, Gwi Seongjin nodded his head.

However, Gwi Seongjin's gaze was not fixed in one place.

It was because the black-faced young man was moving his internal energy and continuously changing the position of his middle dantian up and down.

The composure on the black-faced young man's face gradually disappeared as he discovered that he could not hide his inner core from Gwi Seongjin's gaze.

'To him, I'm just a mere cultivator, a piece of food.'

Still, it seemed there was something to learn.

[How can I get rid of my weakness?]

While asking Gwi Seongjin, the black-faced young man increased the internal energy he was sending to the green monster.

It was because he had witnessed the old man carrying a large leather sack on his back sprinkling a dangerous poison powder on his servant.

The effect of doubling the internal energy was immediate.

The green monster, which was struggling under the combined attack of Ne Jinja and the Raging Fire Divine Lord, suddenly had its energy surge, broke through the two's encirclement, and then rushed at the Ghost Medicine Hall Master who was administering the poison.

The startled Ghost Medicine Hall Master stepped back and pointed at the monster with his dragon-headed staff, and blue smoke spewed out from the tip of the staff.

It was a deadly poison that would cause instant death just by touching it.

However, there was a fact that the Ghost Medicine Hall Master had overlooked.

The fact that the monster did not know the terror of the deadly poison.

They say ignorance is bliss.

Boom!

In the end, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master had to take the full force of the monster's fist, which was covered in blue smoke.

What was fortunate was that at the last moment, he had pulled his dragon-headed staff and blocked the fist.

Nevertheless, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master staggered and stepped back about ten steps.

Ugh!

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who had barely stopped his steps, vomited red blood and collapsed to the ground.

He had paid the price for not being able to overcome his greed and activating the barrier, putting the group in danger.

The green monster, which was covered in the poison spewed by the Ghost Medicine Hall Master with his dragon-headed staff, was not safe either.

Its face and shoulder, which had been touched by the poison, had their bones and flesh melted, and its back was split and it lost one ankle from the subsequent attacks of the Raging Fire Divine Lord and Ne Jinja.

Even so, the green monster did not fall.

Kwwwwwaaaaang!

Letting out a roar that seemed to tear the sky apart, the monster hopped on one foot and fought the two with only one hand.

Then, when its remaining eyeball also melted from the poison qi, its movements gradually slowed down.

Cackle.

The monster, which seemed to be in pain, dug out its melting eyeball with its fingers, put it in its mouth, and chewed on it.

Swoosh!

While it was doing that, the Raging Fire Divine Lord's Sky-Piercing Halberd passed through the monster's neck.

At that, the monster raised its remaining hand and pressed down on its head.

It was to prevent its severed neck from falling off.

Puff!

Ne Jinja's black fingernails, which had been waiting for an opportunity, deeply pierced the back of the monster's head.

And when he scraped down, brain matter and burst brain tissue flowed out from its head.

Even so, the green monster did not take its hand off its head.

It knew that if its head fell to the ground, it would die, but it did not yet have its master's permission to die.

(End of Chapter)