CHAPTER 360: GREAT DESERT YELLOW DRAGON (1)

Ruuuuumble—

As the Great Desert Yellow Dragon drew closer, the sound it made grew louder as well.

At first, it was hard to gauge its size.

It was still quite far away, and it had been tunneling underground as it approached.

As it swam through the earth with its massive body, the surface bulged upward. The rising ground was easily large enough to be called a hill.

It was likely large enough to devour all the lamas of Potala Palace in a single meal.

“That’s massive,” Yi-gang muttered to himself.

Just as it was with humans, size in the case of yokai was directly tied to their power.

A monster of that scale could crush an entire village with a single thrash of its body.

He wasn’t sure if it was truly a dragon, but if it was a yokai, then it was a great yokai among great yokai.

Yi-gang focused his mind.

He could sense the energy of a dragon.

And the aura emanating from the approaching Great Desert Yellow Dragon was…

‘…I cannot tell.’

「I can’t either.」

He couldn’t be certain. It felt like the energy of a dragon, yet also like purely violent yokai energy.

There was one thing that was certain.

“This is bad.”

Even if only half of the Mad Wind Army’s words were true, the Great Desert Yellow Dragon was clearly incredibly dangerous.

It was a monster that even Absolute masters had failed to subdue.

Yokai that devoured humans grew stronger the more they ate.

That was because the human body carried a spiritual essence that animals lack.

If this monster had consumed countless humans while ruling the Great Desert, it would be immensely powerful.

Its size alone made it nearly impossible for anyone to face it.

“I thought we had weathered all storms…”

The Dalai Lama sighed in regret.

The Divine Monk was dying, and the Dalai Lama along with the lamas had lost their strength.

Aside from them, Yi-gang was likely the strongest—but his internal energy was depleted and his side had been torn open.

The only ones to rely on were Hyun Mu and Hyun Cheok.

Though they braced themselves to fight with solemn faces, they didn’t look confident at all.

“Don’t. It seems like there’s nothing you two can do.”

Even the Divine Monk said so.

No matter how strong the Four Great Vajras may be, how could they face a monster that swam through solid earth like a fish?

In Yi-gang’s mind, there was only one answer.

He glanced down at Bodhidharma.

‘Many people will die. There’s nowhere to run.’

「I see.」

‘Will you help us?’

To face such a massive monster, one would need to match its scale.

「That would be best.」

Bodhidharma dropped from Yi-gang’s arm with a light tap.

When Bodhidharma appeared before the masters at Mount Song, he had overwhelmed all the Absolute masters there.

Even Seomun Jae, the Unorthodox Union Leader, couldn’t so much as swing his sword before being subdued.

Scattering leaves to deal with the spies from the Evil Cult wasn’t even worth mentioning compared to that.

Bodhidharma had shown Seomun Jae a glimpse of the future.

He revealed what would happen if the two of them clashed with the full extent of their true strength.

Sensing his own defeat, Seomun Jae had withdrawn his sword.

But the reality was a bit different.

Bodhidharma could not unleash his full power.

As a millennium-old imoogi, he had long since transcended humanity.

He could not recklessly use his strength.

Just as an immortal could not descend freely into the mortal world, Bodhidharma too was bound by the laws of causality.

But now?

Bodhidharma had taken human form.

A young man with curly black hair—

With golden irises, appearing like a prince from the kingdom of Kanchipuram.

The Dalai Lama and the lamas all brought their palms together in unison.

“The karma you all had gathered for the World-Honored One.”

The karma the lamas were preparing to offer by burning their very souls—due to the interference of the wandering spirits, only half of it had been offered.

The rest remained imbued in the vajra stone, following the old rituals.

Bodhidharma made a request.

“Give it to me.”

He asked for the karmic offering tied to causality.

The Dalai Lama stared into Bodhidharma’s face.

Half of the rinpoches who had offered to the World-Honored One had already passed on.

Even among those who remained, including the Dalai Lama, their condition was dire… and once something was offered, it could not be reclaimed.

The real dilemma was whether it was permissible to give what was meant for the World-Honored One to Bodhidharma instead.

The Dalai Lama hesitated for a moment.

Since it wasn’t a decision to be made lightly, Bodhidharma waited for a moment.

After a short pause, the Dalai Lama brought his palms together and bowed his head.

“So be it.”

Bodhidharma nodded and joined his palms in return.

The gesture was so natural and solemn, it could not have been more graceful.

“With this vow,” Bodhidharma swore as a seeker of the Dharma, “I shall defeat that wicked demon and save the lamas and sentient beings of this place.”

Bodhidharma received the karma of the lamas.

Yi-gang and Bodhidharma began to walk.

The Potala Palace they had just been in now lay behind them.

Bodhidharma appeared as a young man.

Yi-gang suddenly realized he had never heard the full story of Bodhidharma’s past.

There was something extraordinary about his appearance.

And it wasn’t just that his facial features were exotic.

His ornate attire especially stood out.

Beneath his curly hair and long eyelashes, he wore distinct accessories.

The long necklace was made of gemstones he had never seen before.

“That necklace—what is it made from?”

“It was carved from coral on the shores of Baga.”

“You remember it well.”

Yi-gang had asked out of simple curiosity, but the answer was more detailed than expected.

After a brief silence, Bodhidharma replied, “It was a gift from my mother when I was a child.”

At those words, the reality struck him.

Bodhidharma had spent over a thousand years as an imoogi, and even before that, he had been a legendary figure across the Central Plains.

Yet even someone like him had once been human—and a child.

“…A delusion,” Bodhidharma said as he then tore the necklace from his neck.

As the string snapped, the gemstones scattered with a clatter.

And naturally, the gemstones, which had never truly existed, dispersed like smoke the moment they hit the ground.

“There was no need for that, was there?”

“You’re right. Whether I wear an illusion around my neck or not makes no difference.”

Bodhidharma’s current form, slightly taller than Yi-gang, was not his true self.

He was merely taking the shape of someone familiar.

His original body was that of a massive imoogi.

But even in that false body, there was something real—his golden eyes.

Bodhidharma’s eyes, once already mystical in hue, now shone like blazing gems.

That began after he received the karma offering from the lamas.

Only Yi-gang and Bodhidharma had emerged onto the plains beyond the rear palace of Potala Palace.

They walked a long way before finally stopping.

It was a broad plain, free of any obstructions.

“This place should do.”

“It feels a bit narrow, but it’s the best option.”

Yi-gang was slightly pale from losing too much blood.

He couldn’t join the battle, but following Bodhidharma was all he could do.

He had served as the medium when Bodhidharma received the karmic offering through the law of causality.

That had only been possible because Yi-gang was not only skilled in martial arts but also trained in sorcery as an honor flower disciple.

“Step back,” Bodhidharma said.

The tremors had grown so strong that it was hard to hear clearly, but Yi-gang retreated.

Up ahead, waves of soil surged toward them.

A massive monster was swimming underground as it approached.

“Phewwww…”

Bodhidharma exhaled deeply and began to enlarge his body.

The young man instantly transformed into a gigantic serpent.

And then he grew even larger, reaching a size truly worthy of the name imoogi.

He continued to grow.

Big enough to coil around and snap a full-grown tree with ease.

Rrrrrrrumble—

Then to the size of a hill.

And finally, large enough to coil around a mountain peak.

Sunlight poured down on Bodhidharma’s body.

He realized something.

How long had it been since he’d felt sunlight on his scales?

Ilryong Valley had always been shrouded in mist.

Bodhidharma looked at the scales covering his body.

‘So this was my color.’

His black scales glistened in the sunlight.

Not in dull tones—but flashing with a brilliant iridescence of five colors.

All the scales on his body bristled like a wave and then settled down.

Bodhidharma turned his head to look ahead.

The wave of soil had come right up close.

In his golden eyes, and behind his head, dozens of mandalas floated into view.

Now that he had received the law of causality, he could fully wield his true power.

He could sense the presence of the monster approaching from underground.

‘Great Desert Yellow Dragon?’

So it called itself a Yellow Dragon.

A monster bearing the name of the most noble among dragons.

He hadn’t expected much.

After all, a true dragon wouldn’t crawl through the earth devouring humans.

If such a dragon existed, it would be the most wicked of its kind, and Bodhidharma, as vowed, would destroy it.

Indeed, there was a reason the bandits of the Mad Wind Army had feared it.

Its presence was that of a great yokai—an incredibly powerful one at that.

Bodhidharma opened his massive mouth and spoke, “Show yourself.”

The Great Desert Yellow Dragon did just that.

It must have been moving from far deeper underground than expected.

The force with which the earth swelled upward was anything but ordinary.

It was clearly something even larger than Bodhidharma.

And finally, tearing through the earth that had risen like a hill, “it” revealed itself.

A mottled brown hide—nothing that explained why it bore the name Yellow Dragon.

There were no shining golden scales to be seen.

No horns to summon lightning, no white beard, and nothing like the wise eyes of a true dragon.

In fact, it didn’t even have what could be called a face.

Where a face should have been, there was only a massive, pitch-black hole.

That gaping maw, as if to swallow everything, was its true identity.

Its circular mouth was filled with thousands of razor-sharp teeth, twitching as if alive.

It must have burrowed through earth and stone using that.

And likely swallowed people, horses, even whole villages whole.

“You’re supposed to be a dragon…?”

Its squirming grayish body—

Along its sides, hundreds of vestigial leg-like protrusions.

It was certainly less a dragon and more like…

A worm.

“A sand worm of the desert, huh,” Yi-gang’s bewildered voice rang out.

The Great Desert Yellow Dragon—or rather, the massive sand worm—had no eyes, yet it roared directly at Bodhidharma with perfect aim.

Kwieeeeeeeeeek!

It was as if its hunger had been provoked by the presence of such a large prey.

The roar was one completely devoid of intelligence.

And upon realizing the true identity of what was called the Great Desert Yellow Dragon, Bodhidharma didn’t feel anger or humiliation.

“How hollow.”

Emptiness.

Bodhidharma felt a deep, overwhelming sense of futility.

He couldn’t quite understand why.

In the past, encountering a desert worm that dared to falsely bear the name of a dragon would have sparked rage.

A massive shadow fell over Bodhidharma’s body.

The ancient creature that had devoured all within the Great Desert now opened its greedy maw wide and descended.

“So hollow.”

Though Bodhidharma was soaked in that hollowness, he of course had no intention of letting such a worthless worm consume him.

The mandalas shone brightly.

And then, the complex secrets of the Buddhist arts unleashed their power.

Slaaash!

The sand worm’s maw split open from side to side.

The amount of blood pouring from the vivid crimson gash was immense.

It was, quite literally, a rain of blood.

“So very hollow.”

The sand worm’s body, already torn in half, was ripped apart again—and again.

The terror of the Great Desert was being utterly shattered by a single imoogi.