Chapter 138: Jaseung, Refuses

The evil will stood alone at the center of the battlefield where the fighting had ended.

Corpses rose like mountains, and blood flowed like a river.

The evil will understood. This place was the inside of Lee Jaseung’s heart.

It had tried to slip into his head and seize his brain, but Lee Jaseung’s heart had dragged it in instead.

It couldn’t tell how such a thing had happened. It could only vaguely guess that the iron resolve that had endured so much pain had somehow acted on its own.

Fwoooosh.

A wind heavy with the stink of blood blew through.

Banners pierced through comrades’ chests flapped in that wind. The place felt lonely and desolate.

Because the evil will was made only of women, the feeling pressed down on it even more.

Trying hard to sound bold, the evil will spoke.

— Is this your heart? Fitting for a man who craves power!

Even at its sneer, Lee Jaseung’s heart showed no response.

The evil will wanted to get out. The stench of blood from the corpses made it sick.

It flew up with a hop and left that place behind. When its body and mind moved as it wished, it recovered some composure.

Beyond the mountains of corpses lay a desert. Dry, barren sandstorms blew there.

It flew across the desert to get out. Sand stretched on without end.

— How can someone with such a bleak heart possess such a powerful will?

It couldn’t understand.

Past the desert came open fields. Rain fell there without stopping.

There was a valley ringed by cliffs, and there was a little path where only silence rested.

At the very center of that heart rose a mountain battered by a blizzard.

There, the evil will found footprints.

It was the first trace of a person it had found in Lee Jaseung’s heart that wasn’t a corpse.

Curious, it followed the prints up the mountain.

A small hut stood at the summit.

Peering through the window, it saw five people around a fire, drinking, laughing, and chatting.

Dan Woobin, Mujin, Ma Young-gi, Mook Young, and Baek Seolyoung. Whatever they were talking about, they were laughing brightly. The mood was the exact opposite of everything it had seen so far.

It was warm and familiar.

The evil will felt a surge of rage.

It tried to go inside.

But the door wouldn’t open.

It had wandered through Lee Jaseung’s heart as it pleased until now. It could go anywhere. Yet the door of this little hut wouldn’t open.

The louder the laughter grew from within, the worse its fit became.

Still, the door wouldn’t open.

— They’re off limits.

When it turned, Lee Jaseung was standing there.

The evil will snarled viciously.

— Don’t make me laugh!

It shoved the door as if to break it down.

The door didn’t budge.

It realized this wasn’t a door. It was Lee Jaseung’s will to protect those people.

— Even if not you, even if all of Jianghu comes charging, I won’t open that door.

— You don’t have to! I’ll break it down myself and go in.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The evil will hurled its whole body against it. The great grudge inside it turned into power and hammered the door.

But the door didn’t move at all.

It crashed into it dozens of times, and all of it was in vain.

At last, the evil will fell back, winded.

— Why. Why won’t it open?

But it already knew the answer.

A glance across Lee Jaseung’s heart made it clear. He was truly a lonely man.

That hut was the lonely man’s only place of rest.

In that hut rested the most important people in his life. They were his only hope and value.

No matter how great the grudge, it couldn’t shatter his resolve to protect that place.

— Selfish bastard! Filthy bastard! Petty bastard!

Before it knew it, the evil will had taken the form of a young girl, one who had been toyed with and sacrificed by Jang Wonso.

To the girl spitting sharp curses, Lee Jaseung spoke levelly, eyes deep.

— I’m sorry to you as well.

— What?

— I’m sorry I didn’t stop it in time. I’m sorry you guys were turned into this.

— …!

One reason he had set aside every other urgent matter to search for this sphere was a wish to keep any more victims from appearing.

— I’m truly sorry.

The evil will knew his heart was sincere.

The air around it thrashed like mad.

— Don’t make me laugh! Do you think a measly ‘sorry’ will soothe our deaths? Men like you who are drunk on power should all die!

A monstrous fury burst from its body.

Lee Jaseung didn’t avoid that razor edge. He endured the pain.

Someone had to bear it.

The evil will raged like a wounded beast. Teeth and claws bit, tore, and raked him, and Lee Jaseung accepted it in silence.

At length, the evil will stopped moving.

It understood. It would be extinguished here. This man with the iron will would never simply let it go.

— Don’t kill me. Please.

— …

— Let me live here too.

At its plea, Lee Jaseung shook his head.

— There’s no place here for you to live.

His words were cold, but his actions were warm. He wrapped the evil will in an embrace.

— I’m sorry.

Tears stood in Lee Jaseung’s eyes. He pitied them, the girls dragged off and robbed of life.

But he couldn’t accept them, and he couldn’t just let them go.

Woong-

The Myriad Yin Orb began to tremble.

No one stood inside the Buddha Hall. The Golden Buddha and the four other statues kept their eyes closed and showed no response. Their role was to block intrusions from outside.

Woooong!

The Myriad Yin Orb shook as if it might explode at any moment.

Rumble—!

The sphere, which had been quaking as if it would shoot into the sky, suddenly went off with a crash.

When the dust settled, Lee Jaseung stood there.

He had reproduced perfectly the resurrection the Golden Buddha had shown earlier.

No, it wasn’t reproduction. It was a creation. This resurrection carried a meaning completely different from the last.

Lee Jaseung had changed. His eyes were clearer, and at the same time deeper. He had advanced one more step.

He did not accept the evil will of the Myriad Yin Orb.

He had clearly had a chance to accept that innate true essence. If he had, his extreme Yin Qi would have increased tremendously.

But if he took into his body the innate true essence of women who had died unjustly, he’d become no different from Jang Wonso.

If that happened, they wouldn’t have suffered at the hands of the villain Jang Wonso. In the end, they would have suffered at the hands of the world itself.

He truly prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

That wish of Lee Jaseung’s turned misfortune into a blessing.

The evil will read his sincerity. Not a selfish intent to take it in and inflate his Qi, but a will to protect them.

As a man, and as a human being, he was apologizing in Jang Wonso’s stead.

The instant it felt that, the Myriad Yin Orb exploded.

With that blast, the evil will was extinguished.

Thankfully, they didn’t sink into some deeper darkness. They all rose to the sky.

Lee Jaseung prayed they would achieve Buddhahood and go to a good place.

After that ordeal, Lee Jaseung’s martial realm rose a full step, as if by a lie.

His skill, which had been inching forward within the fourth substage of the Transcendent Peak Realm, leapt in an instant to the third substage.

It was something that could have taken years, even decades. By undergoing an experience hardly any human could endure, he’d achieved a miracle.

The moment he set foot on the third substage, his depleted Qi refilled completely. His extreme Yang Qi swelled back to five hundred and forty years worth.

As Lee Jaseung reappeared, the Golden Buddha’s eyes flashed open.

In the next moment, with a blaze of motion, Lee Jaseung’s figure cleaved the air.

Smash!

The Golden Buddha, just getting to its feet, slammed backward and crashed down. Lee Jaseung had closed the distance in a blink and lashed out with a merciless kick. The force was no joke. The Golden Buddha staggered and rose.

Glancing at the other four statues, Lee Jaseung shouted.

“Quit pretending to sleep and open your eyes!”

His force of spirit made the entire hall ring.

All four statues opened their eyes at once.

It wasn’t only his Qi that had recovered. By climbing to the third substage of the Transcendent Peak Realm, Lee Jaseung understood something naturally.

He knew exactly how to deal with these cursed things.

He drew Asura and Dream Phantom at the same time.

Chiiiiik.

Asura, filled with extreme Yang Qi amounting to five hundred and forty years worth, began to glow red as if it had been plunged into flame.

Tstsstssts.

Dream Phantom, filled with extreme Yin Qi of one hundred and eighty years worth, exhaled a killing chill and froze the air around it.