Chương 832: Side Story - Being Ban Ta's Disciple (1)

"From today, you are my immediate disciple. You said you learned the Confucian Family Method, right? You will need social authority. From now on, I will make your name known throughout the Purple Gold Realm and build you social authority. First, come into Ban Ta Castle, and let's talk while having a banquet."

Makli Hyun-ah becomes Ban Ta's disciple, and at the same time, he is invited to Ban Ta Castle and is able to receive countless kinds of help from Ban Ta.

"Now, this is the specialty of the Purple Gold Realm, called fire-grilled sea cucumber."

"Th-This is..."

Makli Hyun-ah swallows his saliva as he looks at something like a lump made of black energy.

"Isn't it a ghostly creature?"

"That's right. The molting sea cucumber of the Purple Gold Realm is not a living creature, but something made as ghostly energy clumps together... a kind of natural Heart Demon. Should I call it the grudge the Purple Gold Realm itself holds... Anyway, you purify the poison energy through yang energy, and if you eat it through grilling over direct fire, it supplements what your body lacks."

Makli Hyun-ah hesitates as he looks at this black-colored lump that wriggles little by little despite being grilled over direct fire, but when he closes his eyes and eats it, a truly tremendous taste strikes Makli Hyun-ah's soul far beyond what he expects.

'Is it because it is a ghost creature...? It feels like it stimulates taste on the soul itself... What in the world is this taste...!?'

At the taste of the fire-grilled sea cucumber, a specialty of the Purple Gold Realm, Makli Hyun-ah can't even open his mouth and only marvels, and Makli Hweol, who is invited together as Makli Hyun-ah's close friend, also tastes the fire-grilled sea cucumber and, as if something comes to mind, closes his eyes and starts savoring the flavor.

It is then, Chiiiiiik...

"Huh?"

Makli Hyun-ah suddenly sees his own hand melting away.

"Wait, what is th-ueooooo... eoooooook..."

Terrified, Makli Hyun-ah tries to rise from his seat, but he is horrified as he watches his entire body, starting from his vocal cords, melt down black.

However, Ban Ta laughs heartily and comforts Makli Hyun-ah.

"Do not worry. If you want to become even better, you need to throw away what was there originally. The fire-grilled sea cucumber of the Purple Gold Realm, among them, the black fire-grilled sea cucumber that is praised as the supreme grade, causes complete transformation to happen immediately when you eat it."

Makli Hyun-ah, feeling dumbfounded, asks through mental speech.

[Does this thing called complete transformation originally mean melting away the body that was there and making it anew?]

"Of course! Do not worry. The newly made parts will become sturdier. Using your body as the material, the fire-grilled sea cucumber gifts you an even more perfected body, so it doesn't stop being your body."

As if those words are true, Makli Hyun-ah's arms and vocal cords begin to sprout again from within the black liquid.

"...! My skin... Huh, my voice too!?"

And Makli Hyun-ah notices that the skin of both his arms, his tendons and bones, and his throat voice are much clearer.

"A fire-grilled sea cucumber of ordinary quality takes a little time for the old body to melt down and the new body to sprout, but the black fire-grilled sea cucumber is different. The moment you eat it, your body's balance is set right, and a fleshly body optimized to accept perfect primeval energy is born."

"Th-There's such a thing...? Uh, but then why does Makli Hweol have no reaction at all?"

"Hm? Hmm..."

At Makli Hyun-ah's question, Ban Ta stares fixedly at Makli Hweol.

"This guy..."

After starting at Makli Hweol for a while, Ban Ta frowns and speaks.

"The black fire-grilled sea cucumber reconstructs the body only for people who have parts with problems in their body."

"...? Then did my body have a problem?"

"That is right. No matter what, a kid who doesn't learn Immortal Family Methods will have the balance of the Taiji and the microcosm inside the body broken, so there should be many problems. In other words, that fellow's understanding of the Immortal Family Method is extremely high, so as he raised his realm, he himself perfectly straightened out every imbalance inside his body by himself..."

Suspicion rises in Ban Ta's eyes.

"But is such talent naturally possible? He is at the half-step Four-Axis stage, but even so, he's still only at the Heavenly Being stage..."

☯

"Hmm... Well, is he really an incredible genius? Will you not become my disciple too?"

"Hoho... I am grateful for the praise, but for now I want to wander around unaffiliated and broaden my knowledge."

"Hmm, well... Normally, I would have tried to recruit you into Ban Ta Castle, but today is the day I received a direct disciple, so I will allow it with a broad heart."

Thinking it over, Ban Ta decides that Makli Hweol does not seem suspicious, and continues enjoying the feast.

At the violent flavor of the fire-grilled sea cucumber, Makli Hyun-ah stuffs fire-grilled sea cucumbers into his mouth, and Ban Ta watches that sight and smiles with satisfaction.

"You eat so heartily, disciple. Still, eat slowly. If you overconsume, as a side effect, the reconstruction time for some parts can become sluggish."

"Th-Thank y—hheup!"

Makli Hyun-ah keeps chewing and swallowing the violent taste of the fire-grilled sea cucumbers amid the strange sensation of his body melting away in places and newly sprouting again.

'W-Was my body really this full of problems...? This is like my whole body is being reborn anew... Is it because I didn't learn Immortal Family Methods that I have this many problems...?'

Tudududuk, tududuk!

While Makli Hyun-ah keeps putting the wriggling black lumps into his mouth, he suddenly feels something strange in his chest.

"Uh."

"Is there some problem, Daoist?"

Makli Hweol looks at Makli Hyun-ah's expression and asks in puzzlement, and Makli Hyun-ah, with a slightly stiff expression, rubs his chest.

"... My nipples... melted away, but they aren't being reconstructed..."

"Hoho... pohuhup..."

At those words, Makli Hweol, who always keeps his way of laughing unified to just one, can't hold it in and turns his head away, and Ban Ta laughs heartily and comforts Makli Hyun-ah.

"See, what do I tell you? If you overconsume fire grilled sea cucumber, I said there will be side effects. Ahahahaha! Do not worry. The reconstruction time just slows down; in the end, it will reconstruct again."

"Ah... I see. Thank you."

With this unpleasant side effect, Makli Hyun-ah stares at the last lump of fire-grilled sea cucumber placed on his plate.

'It's not like nipples matter whether they regenerate slowly or not... And Master says it's slow to reconstruct, but in the end it becomes normal again... So isn't it fine if I eat one more?'

As Makli Hyun-ah recalls the violent taste of the fire-grilled sea cucumber, his hand trembles, and in the end, he can't endure it and brings the fire-grilled sea cucumber to his mouth one more time.

'After eating just this, I'll stop. Still, I have to at least eat everything I put on my plate.'

And finally, when Makli Hyun-ah swallows the last fire-grilled sea cucumber in full.

"... Huh?"

Makli Hyun-ah suddenly gets a hollow feeling down below.

He goes blank for a moment, stares downward with dazed eyes, then looks at Ban Ta.

"M-Master...?"

"Mm? Hahahaha!"

Ban Ta looks at Makli Hyun-ah, realizes what has happened to him, and laughs loudly.

"Do not worry too much. Like I said again, it's only that the reconstruction period has grown long from overconsumption. As time passes, the molting sea cucumber will reconstruct all the defects and imbalances of your body. With your realm, you can shoot through spatial transmission anyway, so isn't it fine even if you don't have a hole like that?"

"No... it is possible, but... No, still..."

With what had been there now gone, Makli Hyun-ah feels an extreme emptiness, and at last he breaks free from the addiction to the violent taste of the fire-grilled sea cucumber.

'This is dangerous. Now I really have to stop eating it...'

Since the other foods at the banquet are also delicious, Makli Hyun-ah tastes the other foods while cold sweat streams from his forehead.

Like so, Makli Hyun-ah spends a day within a banquet that begins at first with the tremendous gourmet pleasure of new food, but in the latter half leaves him fretting anxiously while minding the organs that disappeared.

The next day arrives.

Summoned to a training ground in Ban Ta Castle, Makli Hyun-ah goes through the procedure of directly receiving proof from Ban Ta that he belongs to Ban Ta Castle.

"This is the seal that proves your affiliation with Ban Ta Castle. Stamp it onto the ascension plaque."

"Thank you, Master..."

Makli Hyun-ah stamps the spiritual energy seal Ban Ta made for him directly onto the ascension plaque, and thanks to that, he enters Ban Ta Castle's affiliation for certain.

'So this is the not-recommended method Ancestor Makli Cheon-sa spoke of.'

With this method of being acknowledged directly under Ban Ta, Makli Hyun-ah's name is not registered in the Immortal Registry, which seems to be why Makli Cheon-sa, who views becoming Ban Ta's disciple unfavorably, said she does not recommend this method.

'Aside from that, Ancestor Makli Cheon-sa said it's foolish to become the disciple of Sacred Master Ban Ta... Tsk. I don't know if it's really to that extent.'

It is when Makli Hyun-ah is thinking about Makli Cheon-sa's warnings.

Paaat!

Above Ban Ta's hand, a clump of black energy gathers together.

"Ah, that is..."

"Sit down. As starting today you are my disciple, there is no need to do anything else. From now on, I will look closely at your cultivation, so you only have to sit and keep cultivating straight through and quickly reach the Sacred Vessel stage."

"Understood. But, that thing in Master's hand..."

"It is social authority power. Isn't it the power of the Confucian Family Method you cultivate?"

"Master also learned the Confucian Family Method?"

"Hahahaha, as if."

Ban Ta laughs heartily and flicks his finger, and the pitch-black clump of social power in Ban Ta's hand instantly changes its appearance into a lump of spiritual energy.

"...! Wh-What in the...?"

Makli Hyun-ah opens his eyes wide, not knowing whether spiritual energy and social power are forces that can convert into each other, nor how it is possible.

"Disciple. How much do you know about the social authority you handle?"

At Ban Ta's question, Makli Hyun-ah thinks it over carefully and ponders.

And he is able to realize one thing.

'I have never thought about the nature of social power until now...'

"I apologize. Until now, I practiced the Confucian Family Method without really knowing."

"There is nothing to be sorry about! You are my disciple, so do not be intimidated. Listen well. First, including the Confucian Family Method... there is the Heaven-Earth Immortal Family, Heart Dao Blooming, Shaman Family, Buddhist Family, Naming Family, Legalist Family, Yin-Yang Family, Vertical-Horizontal Family (縱橫家), Eloquence Family (說家), and so on.

To understand the fundamental [power] that the many Immortal Cultivation systems of the Hundred Schools wield, you must understand the structure of this world well."

"The structure of the world...? No, before that, why are there so many cultivation systems...?"

"There are so many that they are collectively called the Hundred Schools. Before One Qi of the Primordial Chaos..."

Suddenly, Ban Ta, who brings up the word 'One Qi of the Primordial Chaos' to explain something, seems irritated about something and shakes his head wildly.

"... Enough. The story has gone off track. Anyway, that isn't what's important. You must understand well how the structure of this world is formed to understand the source of powers well, and understanding that source will help you perform your method going forward."

"Yes, I understand."

"In this world there is something called the Three Planes. Do you understand planes?"

"Yes, I roughly understand. If the height of water is called the water level, then it's a term that comes from asking how you express the height differences of dimensions..."

"Right. As you know, in this world there are three large planes. The Plane of Fate. The Plane of Qi. The Plane of Soul. These are also said to be the planes corresponding to Heaven, Earth, and Heart, respectively."

Ban Ta's explanation continues.

"Standard Immortal Family Methods aim to start from the Plane of Qi and rise sequentially up to the Plane of Fate. Whether you build up in the Plane of Qi or pull in the Plane of Fate is where the divide between the Earth Tribe and the Heaven Tribe lies, but there is no change in the fact that you rise sequentially. But the Confucian Family Method and Naming Family Method you learn are the opposite."

"The opposite, meaning...?"

"The power of the Naming Family takes as its foundation that fate is contained in the name, and it is a method that makes you begin cultivation from the Plane of Fate."

"Pardon...?"

Makli Hyun-ah gapes his mouth at the scale of the method, which is more immense than he expected.

'No, that's possible?'

"Up until now, you most likely cultivated by gathering and accumulating energy into names... but the might of the Naming Family Method lies in that, through a [name], you can directly distort and twist fate."

"E-Even though it's a method you can only cultivate up to the Core Formation stage?"

"The maximum cultivation progress of a method is not what is important. What is important is whom that method places its foundation upon. If you are going to rule the Purple Gold Realm in the future, you must also know well about other Immortal Cultivation systems, so from now on I will explain in detail."

Ban Ta steadily explains to Makli Hyun-ah about the beings each method takes as its foundation.

"The basic Immortal Family Method takes as its foundation the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos and the Immeasurable Life Buddha. Before that... um, you don't need to know this. Anyway, as much as they take their foundation in the world's fundamental beings, they are powerful and universal.

"Next, the second most universal Heart Dao Blooming takes as its foundation the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos and the being called the Golden Speed.

"The Buddhist Family Method, which is just as universal as Heart Dao Blooming, take as its foundation the two Buddhist Twin Venerables called the Wheel Imperial Venerable and the Axle Imperial Venerable. Sometimes there are sects that see the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos as the foundation instead of the Axle Imperial Venerable, but... anyway.

"Next, the third most universal Shaman Family Method takes as its foundation a being called the Immortal Beast King, and this too is sometimes treated as the One Qi of the Primordial Chaos."

"..."

Makli Hyun-ah keeps starting to feel uncomfortable, thinking that the being called One Qi of the Primordial Chaos seems to be mixed into far too many method systems.

'What kind of octopus arms are those?'

"In the case of the Eloquence Family Method, it is a bizarre method that, based on illusion techniques, deals with adjusting roles that match a story, and it takes as its foundation a being called the [Owner of Liberation].

"The Vertical-Horizontal Family Method is a system that, based on the divine path, gathers the faith of believers and cultivates... It takes as its foundation forgotten beings, so even I don't know it well.

"The Yin-Yang Family Method is a method based on dual cultivation, wielding the powers of yin and yang, and it takes as its foundation two divine progenitors called the [Ignorant One] and [Blue Bird].

"The Legalist Family Method is a method based on formations, distorting laws and rules and creating and deleting them, and it takes as its foundation the Underworld's [Ten Kings].

"And in the case of the Confucian Family Method and Naming Family Method you learned..."

As Ban Ta is about to explain whom the Confucian Family and Naming Family methods are founded upon, he stops speaking for a moment as if thinking about something.

"They take as their foundation beings called the [Mountain Divine Spirit]... and the [Owner of Names]."

For some reason, Makli Hyun-ah feels that Ban Ta's face stiffens a little and then relaxes again when he mentions the Mountain Divine Spirit.

Wo-woong!

And before Makli Hyun-ah can even feel puzzled, Ban Ta swings his hand, uses an illusion to show a basic schematic of the three planes, and dots the diagrams here and there to show which method bases itself on which plane as it cultivates onward.

"The Immortal Family Method, Legalist Family Method, Shaman Family Method, as you can see, start cultivating from the Plane of Qi.

"But on the other hand, the Naming Family Method, Eloquence Family Method, and the Yin-Yang Family Method start from the Plane of Fate.

"And Heart Dao Blooming, Confucian Family Method, Vertical-Horizontal Family Method, and the Buddhist Family Method start from the Plane of Soul and cultivate from there."

Makli Hyun-ah understands which plane the methods he learned start from.

'So the Naming Family Method uses the power of the Plane of Fate, and the Confucian Family Method uses the power of the Plane of Soul...'

"Then the Confucian Family Method's suppression of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy... is it ultimately a phenomenon where the Plane of Soul suppresses the phenomena of the Plane of Qi?"

"Yes, your understanding is excellent! What a clever kid you are...!"

Ban Ta praises Makli Hyun-ah lavishly and ruffles his hair.

Suddenly, Makli Hyun-ah realizes that the three method manuals he found each symbolize a plane.

'Naming Dao Conferring Gods Canon is Fate, Pacifying Myriad Demons Under Heaven Survey is Soul... and Canvas of Myriad Forms and Star Genesis is, as a Shaman Family Method...'

The Shaman Family Method is a cultivation system that starts cultivating somewhere between the Plane of Qi and the Plane of Soul.

'Is this the Plane of Qi...?'

In the cultivation world, it is said.

A being who pierces through the three planes and transcends life and death is called a True Immortal.

In other words, if Makli Hyun-ah only learns the methods assigned to him that symbolize the Plane of Fate, the Plane of Soul, and the Plane of Qi, then the difficulty of Makli Hyun-ah piercing through the Three Planes of Qi-Soul-Fate drops exponentially.

He feels as if some transcendent being is arranging him onto a strange path.

Tak— Suddenly, at the feeling of the hand that is ruffling him giving his head a light tap, Makli Hyun-ah looks up at Ban Ta.

"Don't worry about useless things. You are my disciple. No matter what being arranges you onto what path. As long as you have come as my disciple, no one will dare touch you."

"Master…"

Suddenly, Makli Hyun-ah feels the same warm feeling from Ban Ta that he felt from Jegal Mikhail.

'That said, lately Jegal Mikhail... hasn't he been a bit quiet?'

Feeling that Jegal Mikhail, who has been cheering him on recently, seems to have grown quiet, Makli Hyun-ah listens to Ban Ta's continued explanation.

"Anyway... your Confucian Family Method is an authority that belongs to the Plane of Soul. A person's acknowledgment is an interaction that occurs between heart and heart. The 'social authority' generated through that 'acknowledgment' can be used as much as you like even if you are not someone who has learned the Confucian Family Method, as long as you understand the workings of the Plane of Soul."

Tududududu— When Ban Ta lightly presses down the hand that is dyed in black light, the training ground's Heaven and Earth spiritual energy is strongly suppressed.

"The fire-grilled sea cucumber that I fed you yesterday is a kind of ghost creature. And a ghost creature is, in the end, an existence closely connected to the Plane of Soul. A lot of the ghostly energy from that fire-grilled sea cucumber from yesterday is still left in your body. Sense the ghostly energy inside your body, and try generating social authority through the power of that ghostly energy."

Wo-woong— With the hand he uses to tap Makli Hyun-ah's head, Ban Ta knocks on his baihui point.

At the same time, Makli Hyun-ah is able to enter a world filled with all of the heavens' natural colors, where the entire world is covered in clouds, and golden winds blow from place to place.

'This is...'

As Makli Hyun-ah looks around, Ban Ta's voice rings in his ears.

[I have made the ghostly energy in your body resonate to temper your mind so you can see the Plane of Soul directly with your own eyes. While watching the workings of the Plane of Soul directly, let us start with cultivation that slowly applies ghostly energy into social authority.] [Yes! Master!] Makli Hyun-ah feels as if the cultivation method of the Confucian Family Method, which has been blocked in gloom until now, is brightly illuminated.

Because the Confucian Family Method is a non-mainstream method, if he doesn't know something, he always has to study on his own, think it through, and ponder it, and only then can he barely raise his realm.

But Ban Ta, even though he did not learn Confucian Family Method, has the ability to guide Makli Hyun-ah to the right place with nothing but the insight and experience he possesses.

'As expected, I made a good choice by becoming this person's disciple. Why does everyone disdain the chance to become such a wonderful master's disciple?'

Just as Makli Hyun-ah holds respect for Ban Ta and, as Ban Ta says, tries to dismantle the structure of the ghostly energy and convert it into social authority.

[... Huh?] Suddenly, Between the countless clouds and golden winds that fill the Plane of Soul, Makli Hyun-ah discovers a pitch-black warship hiding its body.

And when Makli Hyun-ah's eyes meet the girl riding that warship, his eyes widen and he calls her name.

[[NorthernTakbu]... Ahn Geum?] [... Ah. I got caught.] Immediately after.

Black light flashes, and Makli Hyun-ah realizes he is already up on the top of the enormous black ship.

Kugugugugu!

His contact with Ban Ta cuts off, and as his mind returns to reality again, Makli Hyun-ah looks around.

Before he knows it, a massive battleship is inside the training ground, and at the prow, Ahn Geum in black palace robes looks down at Ban Ta and shouts something he cannot understand.

'I'll be taking the disciple. Then goodbye."

The next moment.

Black light flashes, and Makli Hyun-ah realizes the battleship has already left Ban Ta Castle again.

"Th-This, what is this?"

"Impressive, right? This is Eye Domain, one of the Purple Gold Eight Domains away from Ban Ta Castle. This is an artifact called the Nether Crossing Ship, and when it combines with my ability, I can even slip into Ban Ta Castle and come and go however I want..."

"No, wait, that's not what I'm talking about! Why did you kidnap me!?"

"Mm... explaining it is a pain. Just sleep."

Ahn Geum picks at her ear and lets Makli Hyun-ah's words go in one ear and out the other, then sends something pale at Makli Hyun-ah, making his eyes feel heavy.

"... U-Uuugh..."

Makli Hyun-ah tries to resist with the Confucian Family Method, but this pale haze itself seems to be an existence that surpasses the Heavenly Being stage, so even the Confucian Family Method cannot easily drive it out.

In the end, Makli Hyun-ah falls asleep under Ahn Geum's touch, and Ahn Geum blows energy into the Nether Crossing Ship's controls and murmurs.

"Now then, I should run before Ban Ta chases after me. Even if it's me, I can't ignore a Sacred Vessel."

Paaaatt!

At Ahn Geum's operation, bright light circles through the entire Nether Crossing Ship and connects toward a faraway dimension.

"Target, Radiance Heavenly Domain. Nether Crossing Ship lau—" And just as Ahn Geum and the Nether Crossing Ship are about to leave for a distant Heavenly Domain, Kwagwagwagwang!

Transparent sword energy flying in from somewhere hits the side of the Nether Crossing Ship head-on, and in an instant makes tens of thousands of glass corals grow.

Kugugugugung!

The lights covering the Nether Crossing Ship refract and reflect through the glass corals, blocking the Nether Crossing Ship's function that is preparing interdimensional transfer.

"This is... Lee Seo-ah? I see, Ban Ta..."

Ahn Geum understands why Ban Ta kept a calm face even while his disciple was being taken away.

Ban Ta Castle, training ground.

There, Ban Ta, who suddenly had his disciple kidnapped, clicks his tongue and looks in the direction Ahn Geum moved.

"Being too merciful is a problem too. For nearly ten billion years, I acted too kindly, saying I will calm conflicts. But now that I have a disciple I must protect, do I need to be a little stricter..."

What Ban Ta looks at is the direction Ahn Geum moved, but what he sees is a far higher-dimensional form.

Countless possibilities of fates and souls move before Ban Ta's eyes, drawing curves and straight lines.

Ban Ta has long since tied together Lee Seo-ah's fate heading toward Ban Ta Castle and Ahn Geum's fate.

The two of them fight and wear each other down, and Ban Ta has no need to waste mental effort on their brawling. Once their strength is drained, he only needs to bring his disciple back.

No matter how strong their fates are, the two of them at mere Integration level are not even targets Ban Ta bothers to mind or get angry at.

Beyond the attraction force of fate that is connected to Ahn Geum, Ban Ta glares at the True Immortals of that faraway Radiance Heavenly Domain.

"I'm talking to you. Listen well. Do not touch my disciple. Do not violate my opportunity. Do not insult me. I... do not make me use my strength..."

Ban Ta's purple pupils glint dangerously.

Kugugugugu!

A massive sword radiance flashes.

From behind the sword radiance, a woman in white martial attire appears.

She is Lee Hyun-ah's sibling, Lee Seo-ah.

"Where are you taking my younger brother, you traitor?"

"Hah, you can't even say thank you to the person who saved your younger brother for Ban Ta, and you say that?"

"Shut up. Ban Ta's disciple or the Immeasurable Life Buddha's slave, it's all the same, isn't it?"

"You still don't understand that this side has the higher ceiling. Well fine, there's no point arguing with a lunatic."

Ahn Geum wears a gloomy smile, takes out a talisman strip, and slaps it on.

A strange yin wind rushes in, and pale spirits fill Heaven and Earth.

"Get lost. Unless you want to be trampled pitifully like last time!"

At Ahn Geum's gloomy smile, Lee Seo-ah answers with a smile full of killing intent, solidifies glass-colored flames, and forms a glass sword.

"Back then, my balance was lacking, so I didn't force it and I gave you the advantage. But aren't you misunderstanding something?"

"What misunderstanding? I am at the Grand Perfection Integration stage, and you are at the Grand Perfection Four-Axis stage. The gap in realm is absolute. Let's see if you can break through this Million Wandering Souls Formation and..."

Kwaaang!

But the next moment, Ahn Geum is baffled as she sees Lee Seo-ah's two hands gripping her head, and Lee Seo-ah's knee closing in on her face.

'There was no sign of space folding...?'

Kugugugung!

Smashed by Lee Seo-ah's knee and bounced off the Nether Crossing Ship, Ahn Geum hurriedly pulls out dharma treasures, but for some reason she feels goosebumps over her entire body and an overwhelming sense of despair.

'Wh-What is this...? Why, despite the gap in realm... is this oppression...?'

Ahn Geum's judgment is fast.

'Whatever it is, she is someone who got her hands on a strong power. I can't let my guard down. Don't let my guard down.'

Tsuaaaat!

By Ahn Geum's innate divine power, the position of one wandering soul at Ahn Geum's side swaps with the position of Makli Hyun-ah, who lies unconscious in the Nether Crossing Ship.

'Don't let my guard down. Take a hostage and fight.'

Ahn Geum smiles as she widens the distance from Lee Seo-ah while twisting her grip around Makli Hyun-ah's throat.

"Stop! If you follow me, I will leave your younger brother's body covered in curses that can never be washed away. I absolutely won't kill him, so..."

And right after, Ahn Geum reads in the celestial energy that something is wrong.

'Ah... did I touch her reverse scale?'

Kiiiiiiing!

Lee Seo-ah's expression is hard to see.

But Ahn Geum breaks into a cold sweat as she watches the transcendent killing intent she feels from Lee Seo-ah take a black, tangible form.

And she is horrified to find Lee Seo-ah already closing in on her.

'I laid down the Wandering Souls Formation... and I still can't sense her moving again...'

Before Ahn Geum can even place a curse on Makli Hyun-ah, Lee Seo-ah's sword tears off Ahn Geum's four limbs.

Kwaduk!

Immediately after, with her face caught in Lee Seo-ah's grip, Ahn Geum can see something rising behind Lee Seo-ah through the gaps between Lee Seo-ah's fingers.

It is a Three Great Ultimates, blazing brightly in glass-colored flames.

"Let me show you the power of the Four-Axis stage Three Great Ultimates."

The glass-colored Three Great Ultimates spins within all of the heavens' natural colors, and it begins to pour down hundreds of thousands of sword energies like rain.