Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 88

It was something no one had anticipated.

The incantation shackle was originally designed to restrain one’s will through self-oath, so like a servant spirit bound by a contract, it was absolutely impossible to disobey an order.

Therefore, neither In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, nor Diviner Jo Ui-gong, who had received the incantation oath, could have imagined such a thing would happen.

“Ugh!”

In Seo-ok’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

Somehow, Mok Gyeong-un’s hand had pierced through his chest.

‘!!!!!!’

In In Seo-ok’s widened pupils, Mok Gyeong-un was not wearing a dazed expression, but had the corners of his mouth raised in a grim smile.

‘This, this bastard, how did he…?’

No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t the face of someone pressured by the incantation shackle.

At that moment, the startled Diviner Jo Ui-gong hurriedly chanted a binding spell.

-Pak! -Pak!

“The Wheel Turns and the Stone Breaks, All Returns to the Mirror, The Meaningless Child…….”

With the shackle on, if a binding spell was chanted, he would be unable to move.

“Cough…..”

-Swish!

Enduring the pain of his pierced chest, In Seo-ok tried to move his fingers to form a hand seal.

Among the forbidden secret arts he knew, there was a technique that could rapidly increase healing power by exhausting one’s vital energy.

However,

“Ah, that won’t do.”

-Crack!

“Aaaaargh!”

A scream burst from In Seo-ok’s mouth.

As he tried to form a hand seal, Mok Gyeong-un had bent all his fingers backward.

Due to his pierced chest, he couldn’t even scream properly.

The pain was agonizing, but with the thought that he might really die like this, he desperately tried to chant a spell with his mouth.

“Bi-gyeong…..”

“Mouth!”

-Pak!

“Kuh!”

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un struck In Seo-ok’s uvula with the blade of his hand between his thumb and index finger.

In Seo-ok, hit in the uvula, coughed up blood and writhed in agony.

He had to somehow cast a spell, but Mok Gyeong-un didn’t give him a chance to do so.

‘This, this bastard…..’

Seeing him in agony, Mok Gyeong-un smirked and said,

“As expected, a diviner who can’t use spells is worse than an ordinary person.”

These mocking words from Mok Gyeong-un did not reach In Seo-ok’s ears.

He had already completely lost consciousness.

The pain was so severe that he was on the verge of dying.

At that sight, Jo Ui-gong shouted with a distorted face,

“What? Weren’t you being restrained?”

At his shout, Mok Gyeong-un smiled brightly and said,

“Who knows? Why could that be?”

There was no need to explain it one by one.

Of course, the reason it didn’t work was that the name Mok Gyeong-un was not his real name in the first place, so the incantation oath was meaningless.

Diviner Jo Ui-gong glared at Mok Gyeong-un with a fierce expression.

‘This bastaaaaaard!’

He didn’t know what was going on, but the incantation shackle didn’t work on Mok Gyeong-un.

Naturally, there was no way he would reveal the reason it didn’t work.

At this, Jo Ui-gong quickly made a decision.

-Pat!

He had to distance himself from Mok Gyeong-un.

Since the guy was from a martial arts background, if the distance was close, it would be dangerous for himself.

‘I apologize.’

His master, In Seo-ok, was already as good as dead.

Since he didn’t teach the forbidden secret art of resurrection even to some of his disciples, there was no way to save him.

Jo Ui-gong took something out of the pouch at his waist while distancing himself.

They were wooden figurines with talismans attached.

[Wooden Figurine Spell]

He threw three wooden figurines with that written on them in front of In Seo-ok.

And he quickly formed hand seals and chanted a spell.

“Ghost wolf, ghost wolf, the yellow bridge is alive and well, the five prohibited acts are the gods’ will, the face of the bridge is the wind and the beast, the four seasons and eight festivals are the sacrifices, the fragrant incense is offered daily, the fierce and the bright, the sun rises in the east, the god’s talisman is unparalleled, the kitchen is in the north, the five peaks, the great old lord, hurry up!”

As soon as the chant ended,

-Tremble!

The wooden figurines trembled like crazy, and then the soil on the ground stuck to them.

Then, the soil that stuck to them transformed into giant figures whose height was at least two heads taller than ordinary adult males.

‘Hoo.’

The transformed wooden figurines held swords in both hands and took a stance.

Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes sparkled with interest.

This was a technique that Diviner Jo Ui-gong had not taught him.

“What kind of technique is this?”

“Do you think I’ll tell you, bastard?”

Jo Ui-gong shouted.

Of course, he had no intention of telling him.

This was a technique he hadn’t even taught his master, In Seo-ok.

They were Willow Spirit Generals[1] created by carving a willow tree over a hundred years old, placing it in a shrine, and infusing it with spiritual energy for a long time to deal with martial artists.

It took a tremendous amount of effort to create just one, and it took ten years to create three of them.

For Diviner Jo Ui-gong, it could be considered his secret technique.

“You stubborn bastard, release the master at once.”

-Chak!

Jo Ui-gong formed the Geomgyeolji hand seal and pointed at Mok Gyeong-un.

-Pa pa pa pa pak!

Then, the Willow Spirit Generals surrounded Mok Gyeong-un with remarkably fast movements.

Each one of them was stronger than a Fierce Beast-level when it came to skill.

Of course, they were not as strong as a Monstrous Beast level.

Nevertheless, three Willow Spirit Generals stronger than Fierce Beasts were enough to take pride in being able to face even the Peak Realm masters spoken of by martial artists.

‘The guy still lacks experience.’

On the other hand, he had sparred dozens of times in preparation for battles with martial artists due to his friendship with the Underworld King.

His master, In Seo-ok, had told him to spend that time refining his spiritual power instead, but Jo Ui-gong believed that he should prepare to some extent for battles with martial artists as well.

The result was the Willow Spirit Generals.

‘……It was a mistake.’

Jo Ui-gong clicked his tongue inwardly.

Blinded by the guy’s innate talent, he had accepted him, but that bastard was nothing more than a mongrel who could not be controlled by anyone.

To him, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,

“You still have a lot to learn, Master.”

“Shut up! Who’s your master?”

“Wasn’t it said that once a master, always a master?”

-Grr!

Thinking that Mok Gyeong-un’s words were mocking him, Diviner Jo Ui-gong gritted his teeth, feeling absurd.

A disciple accepted into the sect had killed the Grand Master.

Such cases were absolutely rare.

“I was foolish to think I could control you, bastard.”

-Pak! Pak!

Diviner Jo Ui-gong formed hand seals and shouted, pointing at Mok Gyeong-un,

“Kill the……”

“Ah. It would be better not to do that. If you keep doing that, the Grand Master here might pass away soon. Are you okay with that?”

At those words, Jo Ui-gong was dumbfounded.

Once his hand had pierced through the chest, it was already a lost life.

Rather, it was strange that he was still breathing. How could he save him?

“You’re deliberately stalling for time, but it’s useless…..”

“Master. You’re too quick to throw away the opportunity I’m offering you.”

“What?”

What nonsense was this bastard spouting now?

As he was thinking that, Mok Gyeong-un spoke in a meaningful voice,

“You want to become the next Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, don’t you?”

‘!?’

At those words, Diviner Jo Ui-gong hesitated for a moment before giving the order to kill the guy.

What was he saying now?

Jo Ui-gong spoke in a chilling voice,

“Are you crazy, bastard?”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you saying that since the master will die, an opportunity has arisen for me to become the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing?”

It was so absurd that he let out a dry cough.

Even if one coveted a higher position and killed the person above, did he think that position would become his?

Moreover, In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, had three disciples.

Among them, the closest to being the successor was naturally the eldest brother disciple, Jo Tae-cheong of Bangwon.

Therefore, if the master died, the opportunity would become even more distant.

“I guess you don’t have much attachment to the position.”

“Kill him!”

It seemed he shouldn’t listen to the guy’s words any longer.

He kept trying to deceive him with words, but he had now become certain of one thing.

This guy had to be killed no matter what.

He wasn’t someone he could control.

-Pa pa pa pa pak!

As soon as the order was given, the three Willow Spirit Generals surrounding Mok Gyeong-un simultaneously charged at him.

At that very moment,

-Whoosh!

Iron chains erupted from the ground and restrained the bodies of the Willow Spirit Generals all at once.

-Kkkkkk!

“What?”

The one who did this was none other than the Green Spirit Gyu Soha.

-You damn diviner. You think I’ll let you touch my master?

‘What the?’

Diviner Jo Ui-gong frowned.

That Green Spirit had clearly exhausted a lot of spiritual energy and was in a state where he couldn’t exert such strength.

But somehow, his appearance had almost returned to normal.

‘What kind of trick did he use?’

It wasn’t night, and there was no situation to obtain energy to recover spiritual power.

As he couldn’t understand, Mok Gyeong-un suddenly grabbed the head of the dying In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing.

And then,

-Pak!

‘!!!!!!!!!’

He ripped out the heart that was inside the chest.

It was truly shocking.

After becoming a diviner, he had seen all sorts of gruesome things and countless corpses, but seeing his master who had taught him magic having his heart ripped out while alive, his feelings were beyond words.

‘This, this guy is really……’

To the dumbfounded Jo Ui-gong, Mok Gyeong-un said, twitching his lips,

“I’ll give you one last chance.”

“What?”

“If you take my hand even now, you won’t lose anything, Master.”

“……No matter how you try to deceive me with your words, I won’t believe……”

-Squish!

At that moment, the heart in Mok Gyeong-un’s hand was crushed.

Soon, Mok Gyeong-un shoved that crushed heart into the mouth of In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, whose breath had stopped.

Seeing this, Diviner Jo Ui-gong’s eyes trembled.

Because the moment he saw this, he could guess what Mok Gyeong-un was trying to do.

‘Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique?’

Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique.

It was a forbidden secret art for creating Living Corpse Ghosts.

If one fed the blood of one’s own heart, which could be considered the source of oneself, to someone who had just died, and gathered the negative energy of those who had not been dead for long in one place and performed the technique, this would be born.

A living corpse ghost.

It would transform into a being befitting that name.

However, Living Corpse Ghosts were even more difficult to create than ordinary Corpse Ghosts or Jiangshi.

‘The effectiveness is too low.’

That was because in order to create a single Living Corpse Ghost, nearly thirty people had to be killed and their energy gathered in one place, and Living Corpse Ghosts had too many weaknesses.

If they couldn’t periodically kill people and fill themselves with the negative energy of the dead, their bodies would rot, so their effectiveness was extremely low.

Endless sacrifices were required for a living corpse without its own will, so it became a technique banned by the Thirty-Six Valleys of Bangwon.

Of course, this wasn’t a problem for the diviners of the Primal Killing Pavilion, who originally practiced forbidden techniques, but,

“Ha!”

Diviner Jo Ui-gong clicked his tongue.

By what means was he going to turn the Valley Master into a Living Corpse Ghost now?

Thirty people had to be killed, and their corpse energy had to be filled in the body to replace the heart, but even if he killed all the collapsed people here, there were only ten of them.

-Pak! Pak! Pak!

Mok Gyeong-un formed incantation hand seals with his hands instead of talismans.

And he began to chant a spell.

“Purify the Earth and Nurture the Golden Corpse, The Weak Enters the Fairy Realm, One Transforms into Ten Thousand……”

‘It’s a foolish act. Unless you bury the newly dead around and gather their negative energy, a Living Corpse Ghost absolutely cannot…..’

-Twitch!

It was at that moment.

The body of In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, whose head was being held by Mok Gyeong-un’s hand, moved.

Seeing this, Diviner Jo Ui-gong’s eyes widened.

What on earth was happening?

“Uhhh…..”

Then, he even made a sound from his mouth.

Those symptoms of blinking his rolled-back white eyes were the signs of turning into a living Corpse Ghost.

At that sight, Jo Ui-gong was at a loss for words.

‘Impossible.’

The negative energy of the dead was not sufficient, so how could this happen?

As he was thinking that, at some point, the pupils in In Seo-ok’s eyes came back to life.

Then, Mok Gyeong-un released his hand from the head.

-Thud!

The staggering In Seo-ok soon stood up straight with his own strength.

“Ma, Master!”

Diviner Jo Ui-gong called out to In Seo-ok, the Pavilion Master of Primal Killing, like that.

At that call, In Seo-ok slightly turned his head, then shifted his gaze toward Mok Gyeong-un with a dazed expression.

Then, he staggered over and knelt on both knees.

‘!!!!!’

Seeing this, Diviner Jo Ui-gong was truly shocked beyond words.

Without fulfilling the condition of the negative energy of the dead, he had really succeeded in the Six-Person Spirit Summoning Technique.

‘This guy is……’

As he was bewildered, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head, smiled at Diviner Jo Ui-gong, and said,

“Do you still not want to take the opportunity?”

The moment he heard this, chills ran down his entire body.