Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village

Two and a half years had passed since then—

Yeo Dongbin had slain exactly one thousand demons.

Shwaaaaa—

On the blood-soaked earth, Yeo Dongbin stood silently, gripping his sword. Before him lay things that had once been called "human," now twisted into repulsive forms in death. Or were they even dead? One had to question if they could be called "life" at all.

Yeo Dongbin was utterly exhausted at that moment. It wasn't mere post-battle fatigue; it was the weariness that came from truly realizing what he was fighting.

The Hetero-Races.

Those beings he had never truly grasped before—indescribably malevolent entities pouring secretly from other worlds, unleashing atrocities more heinous and terrifying than any yokai. Hundreds dying was a mere trifle; sometimes they created human ranches or living hells.

What was truly frightening was that these Hetero-Races were more cunning and powerful than yokai, making them nearly impossible to eradicate in many cases. Even Daoists and exorcists meant to vanquish yokai had become their lackeys.

An ordinary human would have given up after a dozen battles with the Hetero-Races. It was normal to go mad before the overwhelming malice from beyond, pretending ignorance and quietly trying to live on. No sane person could endure the reality of such abhorrent beings rampaging, treating humans like playthings.

But—Yeo Dongbin endured.

He was an unprecedented tenacious soul.

Even after defeat at the hands of the Hetero-Races, he endured the agony of bones and flesh shattering, staking his life to fight back, avenge, and win. Even biting them and hurling himself in self-destruction, he won. Yeo Dongbin repeated such desperate battles hundreds of times, his extraordinary survival instinct enabling a thousand demon-slaying journeys.

This time too, he had battled a powerful higher Hetero-Race ravaging a remote Sichuan village, fighting it all day to barely bring it down. He had liberated the village from massacre, but countless had already been devoured or turned into incubators for laying eggs.

"Urgh..."

Yeo Dongbin knelt under the pouring rain.

A small grass-leaf ornament.

It was a gift from a little girl he had seen smiling brightly in front of the village just days ago.

[Master exorcist! Are you here to save our village?]

[Master exorcist! Take this. It'll bring you luck.]

There was no basis for the grass ornament bringing luck. That girl had long been devoured as a meal by the higher Hetero-Race. Cannibal yokai ate humans for sustenance without much torment—but higher Hetero-Races ate for pleasure, a wicked breed.

That girl must have died in hellish agony.

Yeo Dongbin thought.

What reason could there be for a child to die so wretchedly?

Even an utterly depraved criminal torn apart by dismemberment wouldn't die more cruelly than that little one.

Why did this horrific, ignoble reality exist!

Tears streamed down Yeo Dongbin's cheeks—he couldn't tell if they were rain or something else.

Ugh... Uwaaaah..."

He wept soundlessly, clutching the grass ornament tightly. Until now, he had fought solely on the demon-like tenacity unique to him, refusing defeat against the Hetero-Races—but only now did he realize.

A happy life.

Wealth, glory, honor.

The worldly pursuits he had chased were mere illusions, compensations for the harsh life of an orphan.

In this mad world, such a life was utterly hollow, and he had come to feel that he would struggle in pain from birth to death.

He would change it.

He would change this insane world!

After that, Yeo Dongbin's mindset shifted. He still fought with his life on the line against the Hetero-Races, but a new flow dwelled in his sword. Not the domineering aura of dominance, but a clear, illuminating purity.

The Fire Dragon True Person noticed and asked.

[Yeo Dongbin. Your Heavenly Subduing Swordsmanship is changing.]

"That's right, Master."

[Don't you see the Heavenly Subduing Swordsmanship as the Overlord's Sword? Why change it?]

To that question, Yeo Dongbin replied.

"The Overlord's Sword cannot save humanity. The Supreme Overlord, incarnation of power pursuing only strength, ultimately saved nothing and secluded himself in the Heavenly Realm. It couldn't even protect the one he loved most."

[Then what sword do you think surpasses the Overlord's?]

"The Sword of the World."

Kukwang!

Behind Yeo Dongbin, a massive pavilion exploded. A colossal Hetero-Race had infested the entire structure as its lair, but Yeo Dongbin unleashed a new sword technique, slaying it in one strike. Intense resolve blazed in his eyes.

"I will become the World-Seeking Sword that encompasses all under heaven!"

Afterward, Yeo Dongbin's Heavenly Subduing Swordsmanship transformed daily. The powerful 96-form sequence crumbled one by one, losing form; sometimes even he didn't know what technique he was unleashing. But as its form waned, his sword didn't weaken—instead, it grew stronger day by day.

A year later, Yeo Dongbin realized his pursued sword embodied the Six Intents.

Heaven, Earth, Sea, Wind, Clouds, Rain.

No forms existed—only intent. He wondered if it was the Formless Sword, but it differed greatly from the world's formless sword qi. He realized that by embodying nature's intent, the sword manifested accordingly in that instant.

As Yeo Dongbin grew rapidly, his demon-slaying accelerated. Breaking through to absolute mastery, he felled more higher Hetero-Races, and tales of the Heavenly Subduing Swordsmanship and Yeo Dongbin spread across the world.

Even against higher Hetero-Races too much for him alone, his comrades, the Eight Immortals, joined forces. Yeo Dongbin barely used spells, but his fellows were spell prodigies, supporting him fully. United, no yokai could stand against the Eight Immortals.

One day, as Yeo Dongbin headed alone to save a small village, someone blocked his path.

"Long time no see, Yeo Dongbin."

"You... Sanggwan Wana."

Sanggwan Wana, who had sent him from the battlefield to Mount Yeo in the past, appeared out of nowhere. As Yeo Dongbin grew wary, she spoke.

"I thought you'd become the world's greatest Sword Ghost, then succumb to demonic nature and become my subordinate upon turning yokai... But you're overcoming this chaotic era in your own unique way."

"Do you desire this world's chaos?"

"I desire balance alongside chaos. Just enough for us to intervene..."

Sanggwan Wana's eyes gleamed.

"You must suspect it too. Even if you slay every higher Hetero-Race and great yokai on this land, it's fleeting peace. The true [Rulers] see this world as a lid, transcending good and evil, awaiting an age of annihilation."

"......"

"My master seeks to save humanity from utter extermination in that era. His will is true human justice, acknowledged by Emperor Gongson Heonwon as humanity's king."

"I don't follow."

Then the Fire Dragon True Person projected an illusion and bellowed.

[What nonsense! Expected from Changhil's dog!]

"Fire Dragon True Person."

[My disciple won't fall for such drivel. Begone.]

Sanggwan Wana smiled oddly.

"Is that so? You know best that the Heavenly Realm is a hypocrite's nest of the slyest villains... Can you swear it's better for your disciple to ascend there than join us?"

[......]

As the Fire Dragon True Person hesitated, Yeo Dongbin said firmly.

"So what?"

"Yeo Dongbin. Join us. My master promises power equal to ours."

"I refuse."

"A pity..."

Kwagwang!

Yeo Dongbin soon unleashed the Fire Dragon Divine Sword's power against Sanggwan Wana. She raised her hostility, refusing to let him pass easily, forcing a fight. But mid-battle, he realized her hidden power was immense—he would lose at this rate.

Pububuk!

"Urk."

Sure enough, Yeo Dongbin was ambushed by a horde of yokai Sanggwan Wana secretly summoned, paralyzed. He shook them off hastily, but the fatal opening left him sprawled by her hand.

Kung!

Though defeated, Yeo Dongbin thought this his end, but Sanggwan Wana spared him, saying.

"That level of power can't disrupt our plans. Die pointlessly saving humans in despair's yoke."

Her voice dripped mockery.

After defeat by Sanggwan Wana, Yeo Dongbin recovered and continued slaying yokai on his adventures. As his demon-slaying neared a dozen years, he learned wicked sorcerers behind the yokai rampage sought to summon one entity.

"A dragon?"

Gathered with the Eight Immortals, all wondered. A dragon summon was sudden—dragons were sacred, benevolent; its meaning unclear. Then Jang Gak-ro, the eldest, now just below Great Thunder Immortal after advancing from Earth Immortal, spoke gravely.

"Heavenly intel says it's no heavenly dragon we imagine. It's an apocalyptic colossal dragon that destroys and resets this world."

Eight Immortal Han Sang-ja asked puzzled.

"Why summon that, those sorcerers?"

The youngest Eight Immortal and Yeo Dongbin's disciple, she.

"...Not sure. Perhaps to revive demonic forces after our demon-slaying weakened them."

Then nearby Eight Immortal Jo Guk-gu tapped his jade tablet, speaking calmly.

"From Luoyang intel, those sorcerers are backed by Wu Zetian. Deep ties, I wager."

"Really? Wu Zetian rules central plains now..."

"Hmm. Human power means little—why ally with such dangerous sorcerers?"

As the Eight Immortals pondered Wu Zetian, sorcerers, and the colossal dragon, Yeo Dongbin thought differently.

The summoned colossal dragon surely tied to Sanggwan Wana.

And... unprecedentedly immense.

Their current crisis sense wouldn't even register.

"I have a request."

Realizing defeat inevitable, Yeo Dongbin proposed to the Eight Immortals.

"Before the colossal dragon manifests, help me complete the Six Intents Holy Heaven Diagram. And request aid from the White Lotus Church too."

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