CHAPTER 359: WAR, BUDDHA, PALM (7)

The Dalai Lama now truly believed it was the end.

The descent of Śākyamuni Buddha had failed. That wicked Cardinal had ultimately severed the circuit of the ritual.

And yet, the World-Honored One did not turn a deaf ear to the desperate call of the lamas.

He manifested His right hand directly and pressed down on that Cardinal.

The manifestation of the Tathāgata’s Divine Palm—something only heard of in legends.

The Dalai Lama shed tears at the sight of it as well…

Contrary to the expectation that only bloodstains would remain, Mang-hon was still alive.

Though his body was a bloody mess and clearly far from intact…

Shuk—

Yuje Lama, who had rushed forward to subdue him, had his neck severed. Mang-hon had merely reached out and swung his arm.

Dalai Lama Jinam Gyatso slowly closed his eyes.

It seemed that he and Potala Palace had reached their end.

This too must be fate.

No matter how fiercely he had struggled…

The moment he resolved to release the last reserve of dormant power within his crumbling body and opened his eyes—

The Dalai Lama saw it.

Someone had appeared behind Mang-hon.

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize him.

Yi-gang, whom he had sent to the underground of the palace not long ago, was now standing there.

He had made sure to see him off properly, even completely sealing the entrance to the labyrinth.

How he had gotten here, now soaked to the bone, was a mystery.

Yi-gang’s eyes flashed a vivid blue.

Mang-hon hadn’t noticed Yi-gang’s appearance.

It was understandable. Mang-hon’s physical condition was far from normal, and Yi-gang’s approach was utterly stealthy.

Yi-gang was planning a surprise attack.

Realizing this, the Dalai Lama didn’t even glance in Yi-gang’s direction.

The other lama monks also silently prayed they wouldn’t give anything away to Mang-hon.

But in truth, such worry was unnecessary.

Yi-gang’s surprise attack—

No, it was questionable if it could even be called a surprise attack.

His strike was far too fast.

A white flash burst from Yi-gang’s back.

Come to think of it, none of the lama monks had ever seen Yi-gang wield a sword before.

Yi-gang’s sword moved almost as fast as sound.

With the Qi Sword Control Technique, he pierced through Mang-hon’s back and sliced his waist clean in two with his Sword Aura.

The Dalai Lama could see it clearly.

Yi-gang was now knocking on the wall of the Absolute realm.

“D-did he take him down?!” one of the lamas shouted.

‘Mm…!’

The Dalai Lama felt an ominous unease at those words.

And that unease soon became reality.

His chest had been pierced and his waist cut clean through—he should, by all means, be dead. Yet from the cross-section of his severed torso, swarms of insects came pouring out.

Like a lie, Mang-hon’s body reattached itself.

He reached toward Yi-gang with a ghostly expression on his face.

Yi-gang seemed to dodge swiftly, but—perhaps startled—he raised his sword to block.

An explosion burst out from the blade, and Yi-gang was blown far back through the air.

Thankfully, he got up immediately.

Seeing that, the Dalai Lama shouted, “Now, go!”

They absolutely could not miss this opportunity.

Not a single lama hesitated upon hearing the Dalai Lama’s command.

Unlike the bandits trembling in the corner, they all charged at Mang-hon in unison.

“You bug-like—vermin!”

Flames poured from Mang-hon’s mouth.

Literally.

Crimson fire spewed continuously from his mouth like a yokai, and several lama monks were engulfed in the blazing heat.

It must have been agonizing, yet the lamas clung to Mang-hon with reckless resolve, disregarding their lives.

“Aaaargh!”

As Mang-hon swung his claws, the monks’ chests split open, and vividly red insects latched onto them, exploding violently.

Still, the lamas managed to inflict damage on Mang-hon little by little.

Those whose bodies caught fire died while clutching even just the hem of Mang-hon’s trousers.

The flames Mang-hon had ignited ended up burning him as well.

Their desperation was beyond words.

And then, Yi-gang joined the fray.

Brilliant Sword Aura rang out like thunder.

Through the gaps fiercely carved out by the powerless lamas, his sword stabbed straight in with a shuk, twisting deep.

Mang-hon’s was split open from his collarbone down to his sternum.

This time, Mang-hon was prepared, so even Yi-gang’s Sword Aura couldn’t cleave him in two.

But Yi-gang, too, was using a different method than before.

Even if his body were cut, if it simply reattached itself…

“…I call forth the mighty thunder of the heavens.”

He recited an incantation.

The yokai Qi of the Heavenly Thunder White-Tail Fox flowing through Yi-gang’s body was on a completely different level than before.

Right on cue, the ceiling had blown open.

Still swirling in the sky were the five-colored clouds left behind by the Śākyamuni Buddha’s Pure Land of Martial Victory.

The power contained in those clouds imbued the technique of Thunder God’s Movement Art.

A five-colored bolt of lightning struck down upon Yi-gang’s sword.

Rumble!

Even Yi-gang hadn’t anticipated such divine synergy.

The countless bugs clinging to Mang-hon’s body were electrocuted and swelled grotesquely.

As the insects scattered and fell, what remained was Mang-hon’s pitiful form, eyes rolled back in their sockets.

Yi-gang gripped the Shooting Star Fang tightly and slashed downward.

Ududuk!

At the same moment he severed Mang-hon’s right arm, the already-split waist came apart once more.

Kuung!

Mang-hon’s upper body fell limply to the ground.

Yi-gang, not letting down his guard, aimed the Shooting Star Fang at his neck. White Fang floated silently, aiming at Mang-hon’s heart.

Even having lost all four limbs, he was not someone to let your guard down around.

“Hoo, huuk.”

Yi-gang exhaled roughly.

Blood dripped from his nose in thick drops.

He wiped it with his sleeve, but the bleeding didn’t stop.

Even so, the hand aiming at the neck did not lower.

“W-when did this happen…?”

The Dalai Lama let out a dazed sigh.

At Yi-gang’s side, there was a wound as if a shell had grazed him.

A chunk of flesh was missing, as if someone had ripped it out by force.

Blood continuously flowed from the wound, and a glimpse of pink intestines peeked through.

Mang-hon had swung that deadly claw of his until the very last moment.

They shuddered to think what might have happened if they had faced him head-on.

The Dalai Lama ordered the uninjured to tend to the wounded.

Yi-gang was the top priority.

There was no immediate way to treat the chunk torn from his side.

All they could do was stop the bleeding and wrap it in bandages to keep the organs from spilling out.

Even then, Yi-gang didn’t blink an eye as he kept his sword trained on Mang-hon.

At last, Mang-hon opened his eyes. As expected, even having his waist severed hadn’t killed him.

When he saw Yi-gang, he chuckled darkly.

“So you… you were the true adversary…”

Yi-gang remained silent, his eyes cold.

“S-so they found it… The Guardian Sect was lucky… They found it faster than we did…”

“Was it you? The one who set off the Heaven-Shattering Thunder. The one who poisoned the records of Sage Sanfeng.”

“Hehehe, this generation is clever.”

Mang-hon cackled at Yi-gang’s words, which recalled past events.

The moment he mumbled something, Yi-gang’s sword stabbed the tip of Mang-hon’s throat.

“Don’t try anything foolish.”

“…You’re sharp.”

Yi-gang had studied spell arts alongside Dam Hyun.

A sorcerer could still cast something even if only their mouth remained.

Yi-gang also knew that Mang-hon had just whistled a note that normal people couldn’t hear.

“I’ll give you a useful piece of information, you arrogant brat.”

This opponent was the Cardinal of the Evil Cult.

It might be filled with lies and deception, but there was no harm in listening.

“Azure Forest… don’t trust your sect. The Guardian Sect is only pursuing its own goals.”

“Still better than trusting you.”

“Yes, hehe, I suppose so. But…” Mang-hon spoke with a tone of certainty, “No matter what, the opposing Spirit shall soon resurrect. Your Forest Lord knows it too. It’s an unavoidable fate.”

In other words, it was a predetermined future, a claim that the Evil Cult would inevitably triumph.

“Then the Emperor’s world will collapse, and the age of mankind will end. When that time comes… you’ll understand too.”

His words carried a seductive sweetness, as though trying to lure someone in.

“That the righteous side… is ours…”

Puk!

Then White Fang, aimed at Mang-hon’s chest, pierced straight through his heart.

Yi-gang murmured with an utterly undisturbed expression, “I told you not to spout nonsense.”

“Heh… heh…”

While trying to speak, Mang-hon clicked his tongue repeatedly and swirled his eyes unnaturally.

The trick to cloud Yi-gang’s mind had been seen through.

“The… the Great Desert Yellow Dragon…”

Yi-gang’s brow twitched.

“The Great Desert Yellow Dragon… will devour… you all…” Mang-hon spoke as if casting a curse.

The Great Desert Yellow Dragon—this was the third mention of a dragon since this journey began.

It was tiresome by now, but not something that could be ignored.

The “monster” the village chief had mentioned and the suspicious earthquakes—

With his heart burst open, Mang-hon finally drew his last breath.

As Yi-gang sheathed his sword, an ominous sensation stirred within him.

And right on cue, Bodhidharma warned him.

Following his instinct, Yi-gang chanted the Sutra of Inexhaustible Mind and Body.

When his spirit eye opened, he saw it—something faint and gray shot out from Mang-hon’s head and rose into the sky.

He immediately knew it was a soul remnant.

It wasn’t something one could just reach out and grab.

For some reason, Yi-gang instinctively swung his sword.

Though it wasn’t imbued with Sword Aura, the arc he drew through the air was so graceful it could be called beautiful.

Slash—

A portion of the soul remnant was sliced and scattered into the air.

But the soul remnant itself vanished into the sky.

For some reason, Yi-gang had the feeling that this Cardinal named Mang-hon hadn’t been fully destroyed.

“Yi-gang! You’ve come!”

At that moment, the Divine Monk came running over.

The Four Great Vajras were supporting him.

Mang-hon had stretched out his time infinitely—he had been trapped in a state akin to confinement.

But with Mang-hon’s death, he was now free.

Taking in the situation around him, he quickly grasped the entire picture.

True to the man who had built today’s Murim Alliance, the Divine Monk understood everything after a few swift questions.

When he heard that Yi-gang had cut the soul remnant, he let out a deep sound of approval.

“Well done! I sensed from the beginning he was scheming for the future.”

Though trapped in slowed time, the Divine Monk had still been able to perceive his surroundings.

And he saw Mang-hon help the Seventeen Spirits escape.

A strange move. In a moment of extreme crisis, he had made sure to evacuate his closest agents first.

The Seventeen Spirits had dispersed in an organized manner.

It was as if they were carrying out separate orders.

“He acted like it didn’t matter if he died. And if he was a reincarnator like you…”

Mang-hon might have reincarnated somewhere once more.

There was no telling when he might regain his strength and return.

The Divine Monk felt relieved, while the Dalai Lama was filled with regret.

“At least we managed to inflict damage—that’s something.”

“If it were the World-Honored Tathāgata, that foul being would’ve been annihilated completely…”

In truth, standing upright was difficult.

The wound on his side was severe. Having burned through his inner energy like water, his dantian was completely emptied.

It had been a short battle, but he had poured out everything he had in a fierce clash.

Still, he couldn’t relax and collapse just yet.

What bothered him were Mang-hon’s final words.

「The Great Desert Yellow Dragon …」

The Great Desert referred to the Taklamakan Desert of Xinjiang.

It meant the Yellow Dragon that lived there.

It seemed to be the name of the monster Mang-hon had brought from the desert.

Yi-gang figured out a way to learn more about the Great Desert Yellow Dragon.

He’d beat the information out of the terrified bandits still huddled in the corner.

The lamas bound the bandits and forced them to their knees.

The Four Vajras personally interrogated them.

“What is the Great Desert Yellow Dragon?”

To that question, the bandits all reacted with a clear and unified response.

“A monster, it’s a monster! That thing is…!”

A massive dragon in the desert.

The dragon that crawled beneath the ground was said to be as large as a sandstorm, and each time it fed, it devoured an entire village whole.

Judging by the description, it seemed to be a creature comparable in size to Bodhidharma’s true form.

Yi-gang quietly asked Bodhidharma, ‘Have you ever heard of the Great Desert Yellow Dragon?’

Through the Divine Eye, Bodhidharma had once gathered stories about dragons in search of such rumors.

「My perception doesn’t extend to Xinjiang. I cannot hear everything, after all…」

But Yi-gang already knew that the Six Divine Powers weren’t omnipotent.

Perhaps in an attempt to save their lives, the bandits poured out every detail they knew with fervent desperation.

“Our Mad Wind Army even avoids the Great Desert Yellow Dragon. It’s far too dangerous…”

However, Yi-gang didn’t take their words at face value.

「It’s probably just a big yokai or something.」

‘I think so too. If it was docile enough to be brought all the way here, it might not be that dangerous.’

That had been his assumption based on past experiences.

But then, something one of the bandits said caused Yi-gang’s expression to harden.

“The High Spirit Palace Master, an Absolute master in the cult, attempted to subjugate it with ten elders. They only came back severely wounded and failed to capture the Great Desert Yellow Dragon.”

Yi-gang knew well the level of power an Absolute master possessed.

Moreover, those ten elders were likely at the peak of martial arts—and yet they still failed.

That meant, dragon or not, the entity was something truly formidable.

Yi-gang pressed the bandit to confirm the truth of his words, but every single one of them gave the same answer.

And then, coincidentally, another tremor was felt.

Only this time, unlike before, the quake showed no sign of stopping.

One bandit gave further testimony.

“That thing… it eats people. The Cardinal promised it… all the lamas of Potala Palace as a feast.”

“What did you say?”

“S-sorry!”

“No, keep talking.”

“We heard… when the time comes, the monster… the Great Desert Yellow Dragon will come here.”

Yi-gang left the bandit behind and walked away with a limp.

The wall had been blown wide open by the aftermath of the Tathāgata’s Divine Palm, so he could see outside immediately.

Drdrdr—

The tremor was echoing from far beyond.

「Is that it?」

A monster that shook the earth.

From underground, something massive was approaching Potala Palace.

The bulging, undulating ground showed its imminent arrival.