Chương 745: Light and Salt (1)

"... Hoooh, what is this audacious momentum?"

Kwachijik!

Jin Wol-ryeong neutralizes Baek Geom's spell resting on Seo Gyeong's shoulder with her bare hand, and she sneers.

That is the gaze of a hunter.

The gaze of one who sees prey whose flesh has fattened just right for eating dwells in Jin Wol-ryeong's eyes.

And after locking eyes with Wol Ryeong for a while, Jin Wol-ryeong seems to think of something amusing. She sets Seo Gyeong down and reaches her hand toward the void.

Kuguguguk!

From inside her palm, attraction force activates and distorts the surrounding space.

Flash!

In an instant, the surrounding environment transforms.

Wol Ryeong immediately understands what this phenomenon is and breaks into a cold sweat.

All around is a desert of jagged heaps of scrap metal, bristling with countless sharp spikes.

All of Heaven and Earth is covered with masses of scrap metal, and as Jin Wol-ryeong flicks her finger, a circular formation one zhang in radius is engraved with her at the center.

"You make me interested. You—fight me, and if you make this incarnation of mine go outside this circle, then I will return this child to your arms, and at the same time tell you a secret that exists within this child. A secret of deification (神化) that even this child doesn't seem to know."

At those words, Seo Gyeong's face briefly shows disbelief, but it quickly settles, while Wol Ryeong's eyes gleam with interest.

'A secret of deification existing within Seo Gyeong? Does Seo Gyeong perhaps have a hidden bloodline? Could there be a reason behind Master's favoritism toward him all this time?'

It is a proposal that stirs much curiosity.

Above all, Wol Ryeong does not like the sight of Seo Gyeong being held at another woman's side.

Surely, at first, she merely desired Seo Gyeong in order to steal something from her master Baek Geom and draw her master's gaze.

But at some point, regardless of her master, she began trying to take Seo Gyeong for herself.

It is a small change she herself does not even realize.

"Will Senior really impose such petty conditions on a junior? My ability is no more than at the level of the Nascent Soul stage. If Senior will also seal your own cultivation, then I will accept."

"Oho, your eyes are brimming with greed toward this boy, yet is it fine if I just take him as my slave? You loser with neither dream nor hope."

Jin Wol-ryeong throws a taunt, but Wol Ryeong does not take the bait.

That level of bluff and insults are things she has already endured countless times from her master Baek Geom. Seeing Wol Ryeong remain calm at the insult, Jin Wol-ryeong smirks and speaks.

"Well, fine. I know well that you are not merely at the Nascent Soul stage, but I'll let myself be deceived this once. I won't use any cultivation of the Heaven Tribe or Earth Tribe. I won't even use the power of Heart Dao Blooming. I will face you only with the innate power of the Fighting Ghost Race royal bloodline, and with the basic form of Fighting Dance."

With those words, Wol Ryeong grips the radiance halberd and instantly breaks through the sound barrier.

Peong!

Wol Ryeong reaches Jin Wol-ryeong in an instant, slashes upward from lower right to upper left with her radiance halberd, and at the same time throws a kick.

But in that fleeting instant, Jin Wol-ryeong knocks the radiance spear aside with her fist and directly catches and plucks Wol Ryeong's leg.

Kwajijik!

Her ankle is torn out, but Wol Ryeong regenerates it swiftly, circles behind Jin Wol-ryeong, and again aims for her left shoulder.

Hwooong— Ududuk!

Just then, Wol Ryeong sees Jin Wol-ryeong's left arm bend backward against itself as it strikes toward her, and she flinches in surprise and retreats.

Kwaaang!

Jin Wol-ryeong's fist, bent in reverse and thrown back, releases such immense fist pressure that it shoots out a powerful shockwave aimed at Wol Ryeong.

Wol Ryeong narrowly avoids the shockwave, but Jin Wol-ryeong's fist pressure continues past her, slamming into a house-sized heap of scrap metal in the distance, blasting the two-story-sized pile away.

'That body structure...'

Ududuk— Wol Ryeong sees Jin Wol-ryeong's bizarre bodily transformation and breaks into cold sweat.

"Our Fighting Ghost Race possesses far superior combat abilities compared to your Human Race. Without dharma treasures, without talismans, without formations, without gang fights, without pills, without pet demon beasts, without sacrificial offerings, without traps, without hostages, without poison, without slaves, without the help of high-ranking cultivators one knows of—when we fight one-on-one with only our pure abilities, our Fighting Ghost Race has always defeated the Human Race."

"..."

"The powerful bloodline power of the Immortal Beast that begins from the horns of the Fighting Ghost Race. A body far more suited for battle than yours..."

Jin Wol-ryeong's muscle-bound body swells even larger in an instant.

And Wol Ryeong realizes that Jin Wol-ryeong's left arm is far thicker than her right.

"Unlike your fragile Human Race, we are born with more than one spine."

"...?"

At that bizarre body structure, Wol Ryeong once again feels doubt.

"Beginning with the fundamental spine that supports the waist, depending on our individual talent, there exist additional 'battle spines' all throughout the body. The purer and thicker the bloodline of the Fighting Ghost Race, the more there are. Compared to other Fighting Ghosts, who have at most two or two and a half spines... I am born with four spines."

Udududuk!

Only then does Wol Ryeong notice two faint vein-like ridges rising along Jin Wol-ryeong's left arm.

'Insane... Her muscles are so thick I didn't even realize those were spines.'

Because Jin Wol-ryeong's muscles are so dense, Wol Ryeong did not notice that there are two spines lodged in her left arm.

'One basic spine in the waist. Another battle spine somewhere else in the body. And then these two battle spines in her left arm...'

Wol Ryeong quickly analyzes the so-called 'battle spines' of Jin Wol-ryeong, and her talent once again gives her the answer.

'These battle spines are overwhelmingly more flexible than ordinary spines. They are practically not spines, but bony tentacles. Moreover, they function more like muscles than like bones.'

She even wonders why such things are called spines at all.

'Because of the battle spines, the parts of the body containing them can freely alter their trajectory, and at the same time gain enhanced muscular power. And that punch just now...'

Wol Ryeong recalls the elasticity from Jin Wol-ryeong's fist and coldly analyzes her opponent.

'The elasticity that these battle spines have is at a ridiculous level. I must be especially cautious of the left arm...'

But she takes her thought one step further and grasps Jin Wol-ryeong's intention.

'... is what she wants, making me focus my attention on her left arm.'

Jin Wol-ryeong is no fool, so why would she kindly explain such theory to her enemy?

'The left arm is a feint. No, the very explanation of battle spines is a feint. The real hidden card lies elsewhere. Then should I immediately suppress it for now? No, she must be expecting at least that much.'

Countless simulated battle scenarios run through Wol Ryeong's mind.

The fate of war, iron, and victory endlessly feed her such talent.

Tadatt!

Wol Ryeong dashes toward Jin Wol-ryeong's left arm and thrusts her radiance halberd.

'I'll first pretend to suppress the left arm first, while actually discerning her real hidden card.'

Woo-wooong—

'And for that, there must be an actual threat to that left arm.'

Wol Ryeong's overlays her Integrated Dao Domain on her radiance halberd.

A dimensional canopy cloaks the halberd's blade, turning it into a weapon that severs space itself.

Though her strength is diminished for a year in the Earth Boundary Heavenly Domain due to the adaptation period, her realm itself has not fallen, so it is not that she cannot use the abilities of her realm.

Feigning as if she is digging into Jin Wol-ryeong's chest, Wol Ryeong suddenly swings her halberd downward to target her ankle, while at the same time kicking the ground to scatter shards of scrap metal toward Jin Wol-ryeong's eyes.

In that instant, Jin Wol-ryeong's sturdy leg presses down hard on the radiance halberd, and with lips forming the shape of 'pa,' she lets out a lion's roar.

"HAH!!"

Kugugugung!

The lung capacity of the Fighting Ghost Race seems to be utterly different from that of the Human Race, for merely exhaling the air in her lungs shatters not only the shards flying toward her eyes, but also everything in front of her instantly begins to crumble under the shockwave.

It looks much like the Dragon Wave of the Dragon Race.

But in that instant, Wol Ryeong sacrifices the arm holding the radiance halberd and dives into Jin Wol-ryeong's embrace, kicking straight upward toward Jin Wol-ryeong's left arm.

For a moment, her leg becomes overlaid with a dimensional veil and the Radiance Spirit Sword Formula, turning into a deadly weapon that cuts through all things.

Just then, Hwaruruk—

"...!?"

Wol Ryeong, startled by the glass-colored flames burning before her eyes, fails to sever Jin Wol-ryeong's left arm and quickly retreats backward again.

It does not matter, as this attack aimed at the left arm was nothing more than a feint in the first place.

"... I thought you said you would not use your cultivation."

"Hahaha, of course. Did I not say I would only use my racial traits?"

Woo-wooong— One of Jin Wol-ryeong's seven horns shines brightly in all of heaven's natural colors.

"This is my racial trait. Try blocking it."

Jjeoek— Immediately after, Jin Wol-ryeong opens her mouth, and from her mouth bursts forth the Dragon Wave used by the Dragon Race.

One of her horns shines golden.

Jjeooooooong!

A massive stream of radiance surges toward where Wol Ryeong stands, and Wol Ryeong bites her lips tightly upon seeing it.

'Why does a Fighting Ghost Race have the trait of the Dragon Race...?'

In the Heroic Spirit Realm of the Heavenly King Heavenly Domain where she lives, there is no Fighting Ghost Race, so she is momentarily flustered by Jin Wol-ryeong's bizarre move, but she quickly finds the answer.

'The greatest characteristic of the Fighting Ghost Race as a whole is not something like their battle spine.'

Even though Jin Wol-ryeong does not explain this time, Wol Ryeong swiftly analyzes and discovers the truth of the Fighting Ghost Race's bloodline.

'Those horns... through the horn it is possible... to steal and use the traits of other races!'

Her heavenly bestowed talent instantly sees through the secret of the Fighting Ghost Race, and she begins to form a strategy to counter it.

Seo Gyeong narrows his eyes while being held captive at Jin Wol-ryeong's side.

'I see. I thought something was strange.'

He thought Jin Wol-ryeong recognized him due to being similar in appearance to Seo Eun-hyun.

That is not the case.

Even if the outward appearance is completely identical, fate and history have already been woven to disguise him entirely as a 'different origin'.

For Star Shattering Esteemed Ones who are more sensitive to attraction force, it is all the more normal not to notice any commonality between Seo Eun-hyun and Seo Gyeong.

For them, it is not appearance but the traces of attraction force, fate, and history that matter.

And as he investigates up close how Jin Wol-ryeong recognized him, he finally discovers the answer.

Seo Gyeong.

No—Seo Eun-hyun withdraws his consciousness for a moment from Seo Gyeong's body and, through his main body hidden in the Twin Holding Heavenly Domain, gazes toward the darkness of the distant Outer Sea.

'Come to think of it, you did carry the feeling of the Fighting Ghost Race.'

When he first met the main body of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, he felt a faint lingering aura of the Fighting Ghost Race from him.

"... Are you related to the Fighting Ghost Race itself? Are you perhaps the creator of the Fighting Ghost Race? Or..."

Through Jin Wol-ryeong's back, Seo Eun-hyun recalls Gwak Am, who is provoking him all the way from the Outer Sea, and takes a deep breath.

"... is something that the Fighting Ghost Race longs for connected to you?"

The Fighting Ghost Race.

Oh Hye-seo.

And the Great Mountain Supreme Deity.

Seo Eun-hyun, with the intuition of an Immortal Beast King, discovers the subtle link connecting those three and recalls a single term.

"... Noble Blood True Sea Radiance Body (貴血眞海光身)."

Great Immortals are beings who can know of matters ten billion light-years away while merely sitting.

And Seo Eun-hyun and Gwak Am are beings of the Governing Immortal rank, surpassing even Great Immortals.

As if in response to Seo Eun-hyun's reaction to finding the correct fragment, the lingering trace of the Splitting Heaven Mantra surges from the Outer Sea.

—You deserve praise.

Though no actual voice is heard, Seo Eun-hyun feels as if that reaction is Gwak Am speaking those words to him.

Woo-wooong— The bloodline of Seo Eun-hyun, fused with the True Blood of the Owner of Names, Pangu, analyzes the information contained within the [Name] of what is called Noble Blood True Sea Radiance Body.

'Remove... the character for body (身)...'

The Noble Blood True Sea Radiance Body does not simply mean the qualities of the legend of the Fighting Ghost Race.

Therefore, the character that signifies the body must be removed.

Then, what remains is: Noble Blood True Sea Radiance (貴血眞海光).

Seo Eun-hyun frowns slightly at the unpleasant feeling brought by the name True Sea Radiance (眞海光).

It is the same name as the innate true method of the being who once slaughtered all his friends and lover.

[TL/N: Same Hangul but different Hanja from Yuan Li's method.] In a world where the Owner of Names and the power of names exist, for the names to be the same is never a coincidence.

"Noble Blood True Sea Radiance... Is it perhaps the origin of the Blood Demon Suppressing Sea Light...?"

The authority of the Immortal Beast King traces back through the past, and the remnants of the Pangu True Blood read the information of the names within that past.

'The method created to recreate the Fighting Ghost Race's legend of the Noble Blood True Sea Radiance is the exclusive Fighting Ghost Race method 'Fighting Devil True Sea Radiance'. That Fighting Devil True Sea Radiance, reinterpreted as a devilish art and made easier for humans to learn, became the Blood Demon True Sea Light handed down in Yuan Li's Yuan Clan...

'Yuan Li's Blood Demon True Sea Light is a method that extracts the souls of the Sea Demon Race and refines them into dharma treasures.'

Sea.

Refining.

Soul.

Various clues analyze themselves within Seo Eun-hyun's mind, and he quickly reaches one conclusion.

'If I trace back the power of the Blood Demon True Sea Light, and compare it with the connection between Oh Hye-seo and the Great Mountain Supreme Deity...'

"... Outer Sea. So that is it."

He recalls the power of the Great Mountain Supreme Deity, who borrowed the power of the chaos within the Outer Sea to exert even greater strength there.

The Outer Sea, the world of chaos also called the Salt Sea (鹹海).

"The Noble Blood True Sea Radiance Body itself is an illusion that does not exist. But the 'Noble Blood True Sea Radiance'..."

Wo-woong— Seo Eun-hyun's gaze turns toward the rippling Outer Sea.

He breaks into a cold sweat.

"It means your Immortal Art or Mantra... that lets you seize the chaos of the Outer Sea."

It is not without thought that Great Mountain captured Oh Hye-seo.

Seo Eun-hyun now understands why at first the Great Mountain Supreme Deity sought to challenge the Audience Chamber together with the Underworld, but later when the situation changed, he suddenly departed for the Outer Sea to recite the Splitting Heaven Mantra.

All were deceived.

Kugugugugu!

Seo Eun-hyun's main body trembles.

:: You...:: At first, the Great Mountain Supreme Deity did not possess the Noble Blood True Sea Radiance Body.

But after capturing Oh Hye-seo, who was born with the authority closest to it, and seizing that authority in his grasp, he departed without hesitation for the Outer Sea.

:: You are... seizing the Outer Sea, the chaos itself...!::