Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 155 – Coercion (1)

The Society Leader’s first disciple, Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang, retracted his sword force, frowned, and said:

“Junior sister?”

‘!?’

Junior sister?

A glint appeared in the eyes of Mok Gyeong-un, who had been breathing heavily.

Na Yul-ryang had just called Cheong-ryeong the youngest apprentice.

If he referred to the junior sister among the Society Leader’s disciples, it meant the third disciple, Wi So-yeon.

‘Ah…’

Come to think of it, Wi So-yeon’s appearance greatly resembled Cheong-ryeong’s.

They looked so similar that they could be mistaken for sisters without any oddity.

The only difference was the unique aura emanating from their appearances.

While Cheong-ryeong gave off an arrogant, cold, and intimidating feeling, Wi So-yeon had a brighter and more lively atmosphere.

However, such subtle differences could only be clearly discerned by those who frequently saw the two or had an interest in them.

That seemed to be the reason for Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang’s reaction.

‘Junior sister?’

Cheong-ryeong also realized from his words that Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang had mistaken her for that mortal wench, Wi So-yeon.

At this point, her thoughts began to look in a different direction.

Originally, she had revealed her true form at the risk of some danger to save Mok Gyeong-un from the crisis.

Moreover, since it was still daytime and the energy of yang was overflowing, she had risen to the level of an Indigo Spirit, but she couldn’t fully exert her power.

As an example, she had unleashed a small-scale Blood Realm of the Ghost Realm that was difficult for the diviners inside the city to notice, but it quickly dissipated due to the energy of yang.

She could draw out more energy here and forcibly maintain it by expanding the radius, but that was extremely dangerous.

A high-level diviner might immediately notice.

However, a new path had emerged.

‘It might be possible.’

Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang was still confusing her with that mortal wench, Wi So-yeon.

No matter how much Na Yul-ryang pushed his own will, it would be difficult for him to act that way in front of his own junior sister.

It wouldn’t be long, but it was an opportunity.

-I will deal with this fellow. Escape to the old man who uses poisons, mortal.

She spoke so that only Mok Gyeong-un could hear.

Now, while he hadn’t noticed yet, was the only chance to escape.

Right at that moment,

“It’s been a long time since Master has been ill. Junior sister.”

As expected, Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang still thought of Cheong-ryeong as his own apprentice, Wi So-yeon.

Judging from his words about it being a long time, it was even better.

At least he wouldn’t notice right away.

‘There’s no need to engage in conversation.’

Otherwise, she would be exposed quickly.

So, Cheong-ryeong swung her long pipe like a sword towards Na Yul-ryang.

-Swish!

At this, Na Yul-ryang lightly dodged it by tilting his head back, then used his movement technique to take a few steps back and create distance.

“What are you doing, junior sister?”

-…

What was she doing?

Cheong-ryeong smirked, raised the corners of her mouth, and unleashed sword strikes with her pipe towards Na Yul-ryang.

It had been a long time since she had confronted someone with sword techniques after becoming a vengeful spirit.

No, had it been nearly a hundred years?

-Bam bam bam bam!

As Cheong-ryeong unleashed her sword techniques, Na Yul-ryang used his movement technique to dodge the trajectories of the sword strikes.

His movements were extraordinary, befitting an expert of the Transformation Realm who had broken through the bottleneck.

But at this moment, Cheong-ryeong’s sword strikes unleashed a sudden change.

-Swish!

Caught off guard by the sudden change from an unexpected angle, Na Yul-ryang, who had one hand behind his back, invoked his blade energy and blocked the pipe.

-Clang clang clang clang!

As the blade energy and the pipe created with spiritual power collided, Na Yul-ryang frowned.

Then he said:

“Your swordsmanship has improved greatly compared to before.”

-…

Cheong-ryeong silently unleashed another sword strike with her pipe.

Her pipe coiled like a snake around Na Yul-ryang’s blade energy and bent upward.

‘!?’

Na Yul-ryang immediately moved half a step back to dodge it.

As he dodged, Na Yul-ryang invoked his blade energy and pierced towards Cheong-ryeong’s chest with his hand.

But Cheong-ryeong easily dodged it and instead swatted the blade energy to the side.

-Bang!

‘This?’

-Thud!

Na Yul-ryang’s expression became quite serious.

That was because the youngest apprentice he knew was tremendous in internal energy due to her unique constitution, but her technique execution was still lacking.

But now, she was wielding sword strikes like an expert who had accumulated considerable practical experience.

Since she hadn’t received teachings after the Society Leader, her master, fell ill, there was no opportunity to spar, but her skills had improved tremendously for that reason.

-Swish!

In a moment of doubt, the pipe, imbued with sharp blade energy, pierced towards Na Yul-ryang’s forehead.

-Swish!

Na Yul-ryang flung his body back to dodge it.

Then, while maintaining distance from her, who kept trying to attack, he said with a sneer:

“As your eldest senior apprentice brother, I am deeply moved by your remarkable improvement in swordsmanship.”

-…

“Let’s stop now. I understand that your sword skills have greatly improved.”

-…

“Do you not want to engage in conversation with me?”

-…

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to engage, but she couldn’t.

She might be exposed through her voice or way of speaking.

However, Na Yul-ryang didn’t seem displeased by Cheong-ryeong’s attitude, but instead shook his head.

“Are you angry because your senior apprentice brother was trying to kill the fellow you were aiming for?”

-…

-Swish!

As soon as Na Yul-ryang’s words ended, she launched her body again.

She was confronting him as a human to give Mok Gyeong-un time to escape, but sparring with someone whose martial prowess was close to hers from her living days as a martial artist after a long time had inwardly excited her.

Even though she had been dead for a long time as a vengeful spirit, it seemed that her competitiveness as a martial artist still remained.

-Swish swish swish swish swish!

Her pipe, imbued with sharp blade energy, targeted Na Yul-ryang’s vital points.

Then, Na Yul-ryang immediately,

“You don’t know moderation. If that’s the case, I have no choice.”

-Swish!

He invoked his sword force, surpassing mere blade energy, and blocked Cheong-ryeong’s sword strikes.

-Clang clang clang clang clang!

When the blade energy created with spiritual power at the Blue Spirit level collided with the sword force, a strange phenomenon occurred.

Every time the energies clashed, a white flash erupted and a shattering sound spread.

It was a completely different phenomenon from when strong energies collided.

‘What is this?’

Doubt filled Na Yul-ryang’s eyes.

How could Wi So-yeon block the sword force he unleashed with 70% of his martial power?

And with mere blade energy at that.

Moreover, the white flashes that appeared whenever the blade energy and sword force collided, and the strange sensation transmitted were odd.

‘Different.’

It was difficult to understand what this was.

-Clang clang clang clang clang!

On the other hand, Cheong-ryeong, who was intensely exchanging sword strikes with Na Yul-ryang, also couldn’t hide her surprise.

‘He’s no ordinary fellow.’

Cheong-ryeong clicked her tongue inwardly.

She was unleashing sword techniques that followed the Society Leader’s Heavenly sword techniques, not her original ones, and although her spiritual power was somewhat limited due to the daytime, Na Yul-ryang’s skills were truly remarkable.

She was once called the true sword grandmaster alongside “that damn bastard” a hundred years ago.

Yet, Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang was keeping up with her level.

‘If another ten years pass, perhaps no one will be able to defeat this mortal bastard in swordsmanship.’

He possessed innate martial talent that couldn’t be denied.

The current Society Leader had indeed accepted an incredible person as his disciple.

It was worrisome.

Could Mok Gyeong-un catch up to this monstrous fellow in a short period?

Although there was a high risk since he was an expert of the Transformation Realm, it might be better to personally eliminate this bastard right now.

As she was about to unleash the Moon sword techniques to properly demonstrate her skills,

“I didn’t expect you to make me use this too.”

‘What?’

At that moment,

-Swish!

Na Yul-ryang’s right pupil, which had been gray-white, suddenly turned silver.

‘His pupil?’

What kind of phenomenon was this?

As she was wondering, Eldest Young Master Na Yul-ryang suddenly flung his body back to create distance and said:

“You… What the hell are you?”

-…

There was a reason why Na Yul-ryang reacted this way.

He had a special ability.

It was something that had emerged long ago when the blood of a strange being, not human, had fallen into his right eye.

When he concentrated his true energy on his right pupil, he could see the vulnerabilities and the flow of energy in others.

Although he couldn’t maintain it for long due to the pain whenever he used it, it allowed him to easily overpower even experts a level above him.

Na Yul-ryang called this opened eye of his the Penetrating Eye[1].

However,

‘What is this?’

Na Yul-ryang couldn’t understand as he looked at Cheong-ryeong.

While most martial artists who had cultivated martial arts had bright and warm energy, she had no energy at all.

No, there was energy, but it resembled the gloomy and chilling energy that briefly rose when someone was killed.

It was so bizarre that he wondered if she was really a living human being.

With suspicion, Na Yul-ryang said:

“Are you… really Wi So-yeon…”

-Flinch!

‘!?’

At that moment, Na Yul-ryang stopped mid-sentence and turned his head.

It was in the direction where Mok Gyeong-un was.

‘What?’

Thanks to that, Cheong-ryeong naturally turned her head as well, and she discovered Mok Gyeong-un still lying on the ground.

She had been so focused on fighting the fellow that she hadn’t noticed, but why hadn’t he escaped?

Hadn’t she barely managed to create an opportunity for him?

-Mortal! I clearly… Huh?

At that moment, Cheong-ryeong frowned.

That was because her ghostly eyes saw Mok Gyeong-un’s Death Qi condensing and undergoing a change.

Cheong-ryeong’s mouth slightly opened.

‘Ha!’

This change occurring in Mok Gyeong-un’s body.

Unlike the normal flow of energy circulation, the Death Qi was circulating through the reverse acupoints, condensing and then spreading throughout his entire body.

It passed through the essence[2] in the lower elixir field, and then gathered in his chest for the second time before spreading, which was the qi in the middle elixir field, with the Death Qi moving through the yin in the reverse acupoints.

‘Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown…’

What Mok Gyeong-un was currently performing was none other than the phenomenon of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

However, it was different from the typical Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

Originally, the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown was called the Three Yang Gathering at the Crown, where the yang within yin, the yang within yang, and the yang within yin and yang, these three yangs, headed towards the inner origin and returned to the heavenly palace, which was called the ancestral source.

But since Mok Gyeong-un used the reverse acupoints, it was the opposite.

‘Three Yin Gathering at the Crown[3]!’

It was the yin within yang, the yin within yin, and the yin within yin and yang.

In other words, the three yins were heading towards the inner origin, and the heavenly palace was reversely returning, which was the ancestral source.

‘…Mortal, you?’

Mok Gyeong-un was not yet at the stage to gain enlightenment.

He hadn’t even reached the pinnacle of the transcendent realm, so he couldn’t fully comprehend the qi.

Yet, such Mok Gyeong-un was currently performing the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, no, the Three Yin Gathering at the Crown, to break through the bottleneck on his own.

In other words, he was forcibly trying to break through the bottleneck, not through enlightenment.

‘How in the world?’

At the moment of wonder,

-Swish!

Na Yul-ryang launched his body like lightning.

‘I have to kill him.’

Until now, Na Yul-ryang had been extremely relaxed.

But through the Penetrating Eye, he felt wariness for the first time upon seeing the strange change in Mok Gyeong-un.

An eerie energy that was not normal, but only briefly seen in the dead, was reversely circulating throughout Mok Gyeong-un’s body, trying to create the three yin flowers.

How could this make sense?

He instinctively felt that he had to stop this bizarre phenomenon.