It felt as though he had been cast into an endless hell from which there was no escape.
“Reverse-Flow Impact.”
Impact?
Reverse flow?
Surely it doesn’t mean the impact will be sent back to my true body... right?
CRAAACK—
“URK!”
CRASH, THUD, RATTLE—
A sudden burst of pain destroyed his balance midstride and sent him tumbling across the ground.
The Necromantic Divine Demon stared in disbelief at the vivid agony radiating from his side.
How am I feeling pain?
Is this real?
Did he actually create a spell that transfers pain back to the caster?
Where in the world would anyone find such an insane spell?
This is impossible.
He’s cheating.
The Necromantic Divine Demon looked at Jeok Wigang.
The satisfied grin on his face, as though he had just resolved a point of curiosity, was unbearably irritating.
It almost brought tears to his eyes.
The sheer frustration of it all.
“So it works.”
What?
Surely not.
No. Please, no.
Desperately hoping he was wrong, the Necromantic Divine Demon asked,
“You didn’t... just invent that spell, did you?”
Jeok Wigang grinned.
Damn it.
He really did just invent it.
Why did a monster like him have to appear here of all places?
“I’d like to test it a little more.”
Stop testing it.
Ah!
That’s right.
I can simply sever the connection.
Why didn’t I think of that sooner?
Yes.
But I can’t leave without doing anything.
I’ll land at least one blow on that bastard before I go.
He activated the Corpse Explosion Sigil.
Then he hurled himself at Jeok Wigang.
“Take this and die!”
TZNNNG—
Light poured from every opening in the Living Corpse’s body.
CLACK—
At that moment, Jeok Wigang seized the Living Corpse and absorbed every trace of the Corpse Explosion’s energy.
“AAAAH!”
Even that had failed.
The frustration alone felt liable to kill him.
Fine.
I’m leaving.
It’ll be better never to see him again.
He tried to sever the connection.
“Hm?”
It would not break.
Come on.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Surely not.
He desperately hoped he was wrong, but an ominous feeling crept over him. He slowly turned his head.
“Why? Is something not working?”
Damn it.
It’s that bastard.
What the hell did he do to stop me from severing the connection?
“I told you there were still a lot of things I hadn’t confirmed.”
“Am I... your test subject?”
At the Necromantic Divine Demon’s question, Jeok Wigang gave him a cold smile.
“Why? Isn’t this how you experimented on other people and turned them into reanimated corpses?”
He was right.
But the Necromantic Divine Demon could not bring himself to admit it.
Jeok Wigang was far too terrifying for that.
“Now you can experience how all the innocent people you killed must have felt.”
CRAAACK—
“GAAAGH!”
Pain on an entirely different level swept through his whole body.
That was only the beginning.
*****
“Please... stop....”
The Necromantic Divine Demon pleaded, his body hanging limp.
Jeok Wigang had done everything imaginable to satisfy his curiosity about the Living Corpse.
Throughout the entire process, the Necromantic Divine Demon had felt every ounce of pain.
The more Jeok Wigang learned about the Living Corpse, the darker his expression became.
“You really are something that shouldn’t be allowed to live.”
Yes.
Just kill me.
If the Living Corpse is destroyed while the connection remains intact, will my true body die as well?
The Necromantic Divine Demon suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
Why was he curious about that now, of all times?
Had that damned bastard’s habits rubbed off on him?
All that remained was to await his fate.
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—
A thunderous explosion rang out, followed by a groan of pain.
“HNGH!”
The voice belonged to Baek Un.
He sounded exhausted.
Jeok Wigang turned toward him.
Baek Un was staggering, too drained even to keep himself upright.
At this rate, the reanimated corpses might overwhelm him.
Jeok Wigang immediately threw a punch in that direction.
At that instant, the Necromantic Divine Demon felt his restraints loosen.
He could not let this chance pass.
He swiftly tried to sever the connection.
FSSSH—
As though its soul had been pulled free, the Living Corpse collapsed on the spot.
“Damn....”
Jeok Wigang had diverted his attention for only a moment to save Baek Un, yet the Necromantic Divine Demon had seized that tiny opening and escaped.
There was nothing he could do about losing him.
He could find him again.
He had placed the Heavenly Mechanism Seal on the man.
But he needed to hurry.
He could not allow anyone else to die unjustly at that monster’s hands.
*****
“HAH... HAH... HAH!”
Baek Un drew one ragged breath after another.
His inner power was nearly depleted, yet the reanimated corpses showed no signs of tiring.
How am I supposed to destroy them?
Before he could even catch his breath, they advanced again.
“Hngh!”
He tried to face them, only to discover a problem.
“My... my inner power....”
It was gone.
Could he fight the reanimated corpses without inner power?
Impossible.
Is this the end?
Ah... Perfected Lord of Supreme Purity. Have you abandoned Qingcheng...?
Overcome by despair, Baek Un stared blankly at the reanimated corpses charging toward him.
Then—
KWOOOOOO—!
FLAP— FLAP—
A tremendous gust engulfed the corpses and erased them in an instant.
“What?”
What just happened?
Am I dreaming?
Those monsters disappeared that easily?
Who did it?
Baek Un turned his head and saw Jeok Wigang.
He stood with one fist extended, wearing a faintly dissatisfied expression.
Could it be?
Did he erase them with nothing but fist wind?
Is that even possible?
How immense would his inner power have to be?
More importantly, Merchant Master Jeok is this strong?
Baek Un himself ranked among the hundred greatest experts in the martial world, yet he had struggled against those corpses. Jeok Wigang had annihilated them with nothing but fist wind.
The sight was so unreal that Baek Un wondered whether he was dreaming.
He turned and checked again.
Every Golden Corpse that had surrounded him was gone.
“Th-this....”
“Are you all right?”
Jeok Wigang had already approached him.
At the question, Baek Un nodded dazedly.
“A-are you unharmed, Merchant Master Jeok?”
“Of course. I’m perfectly fine.”
“Then... what martial art did you just use to destroy those vile reanimated corpses in a single move? Was it Shaolin’s Hundred-Pace Divine Fist?”
“It wasn’t anything special. I just threw a punch.”
“You... merely threw a punch, and it produced this much power?”
Baek Un could not believe him.
At least he should have said something plausible.
Assuming Jeok Wigang had a secret he did not wish to reveal, Baek Un decided to pretend he believed him.
“Remarkable. You destroyed in one move the very corpses that gave me such difficulty. I can scarcely believe what I witnessed was real.”
Even now, the scene remained difficult to accept.
The sight of Jeok Wigang smashing Golden Corpses apart as easily as sandcastles had been utterly beyond reason.
“Ah! Where is the necromancer?”
Baek Un urgently searched for the Necromantic Divine Demon and spotted the collapsed figure in the distance.
“Did you defeat him?”
Jeok Wigang shook his head.
“He escaped.”
“Escaped? Then what is that lying over there?”
“A Living Corpse.”
“A Living Corpse? Th-that accursed abomination.... You must destroy it at once!”
“I’m going to take it with me.”
“What do you mean? What could you possibly intend to do with that abomination?”
“There are some things I want to study.”
“Th-that could bring disaster upon you! If others learned of it, you might be branded an enemy of the entire martial world.”
Jeok Wigang winked at him.
“This is something only the two of us know. All you have to do is pretend you never saw it, Sect Master.”
“Of course I will, but how do you intend to carry it away?”
“You don’t need to worry. I’ll take it without anyone knowing.”
Does he intend to wrap it up like cargo and transport it with the merchant company?
That might keep it from being discovered, but Baek Un was still worried.
What if the Living Corpse caused others to misunderstand Jeok Wigang?
What would Baek Un do then?
He considered the question for a moment, but there was only one answer.
Even if it meant relinquishing his position as Sect Master of Qingcheng, he would defend Jeok Wigang.
While he was lost in those thoughts, a black sphere appeared beside Jeok Wigang.
Jeok Wigang picked up the Living Corpse and tossed it inside. The sphere swallowed it whole, then vanished without a trace.
What did I just see?
Baek Un blinked several times before staring at Jeok Wigang.
“W-what did you just do?”
“It’s a form of sorcery called subspace. If I place it in there, I can carry it away without anyone knowing.”
That was no human ability.
Baek Un gazed at Jeok Wigang in awe.
“You truly are... the Per—”
“I’m not.”
Jeok Wigang’s firm denial silenced him.
Yet Baek Un’s suspicions did not disappear.
He was an expert of the Profound Realm, and even he had struggled against those reanimated corpses. How could he possibly regard someone who erased them with an ordinary punch—not even a martial technique—as human?
And that was not all.
Jeok Wigang had shown him the miraculous power °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of subspace, something Baek Un had never witnessed before in his life.
Baek Un asked no more questions.
He would simply worship him in his heart.
Jeok Wigang had appeared at the precise moment Qingcheng was at its lowest and extended his aid. Then, when the sect faced destruction, he had saved it with a single punch.
If that was not the Perfected Lord of Supreme Purity, then what was?
Even if he was not, it did not matter.
The fact remained that Jeok Wigang was Qingcheng’s savior.
Baek Un merely needed to repay that grace.
He smiled warmly as he watched Jeok Wigang survey the area.
Then, as though suddenly remembering himself, he hurried over.
“Is there anything I can do to assist?”
“No. I’m just checking whether any reanimated corpses survived.”
How meticulous.
Baek Un’s eyes overflowed with affection as he looked at Jeok Wigang.
“I don’t think there’s anything left to worry about.”
“Is that so? Ha ha ha.”
“Yes. The Azure Dragon Vein has stabilized, so it shouldn’t erupt again.”
“Thank you. I cannot imagine how Qingcheng could ever repay this debt.”
Jeok Wigang smiled.
“If my subordinate considers you family, then you are my family as well. There’s no need to say such things.”
Baek Un was deeply moved.
Jeok Wigang took such meticulous care of even a single subordinate.
In Baek Un’s heart, Jeok Wigang had already become the Perfected Lord of Supreme Purity.
“Let’s return. Everyone must be worried.”
“Indeed. Today, I shall have Qingcheng’s finest dishes prepared for you.”
Jeok Wigang shook his head at the sudden increase in Baek Un’s politeness.
He had the distinct feeling that remaining here would lead to something troublesome, so he decided he needed to leave as quickly as possible.
“No. I need to pursue the man who escaped before another day passes.”
“You speak as though you know where he went.”
“I planted some of my energy in his vengeful spirit. But I didn’t place it in him directly, so if he gets too far away, I may lose track of it.”
Baek Un did not understand a word of that.
“So you planted your energy in him and must catch up before he travels too far?”
“Yes.”
“Which direction did he go? I will guide you.”
“This way....”
Jeok Wigang closed his eyes and concentrated.
“Hmm.... He’s moving quickly.”
It was astonishing.
Jeok Wigang could sense an enemy’s movements from such a great distance.
Is there any limit to his abilities?
Baek Un could not help wondering.
“Let’s see. The distance is roughly....”
Jeok Wigang frowned as though the calculation were complicated.
“About two hundred and forty li?”
Baek Un looked in the direction the Necromantic Divine Demon had fled and alternately raised his fingers as he calculated.
“A place roughly two hundred and forty li from here would be Mount Emei.”
“Mount Emei?”
“Yes. The Emei Sect, which has close ties to Qingcheng, is located there.”
“The Emei Sect is... composed entirely of nuns, isn’t it?”
“That is correct.”
“Ah.... I think I know why that bastard fled there.”
“Why is that?”
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