CHAPTER 417: THE GREAT BATTLE (4)

Heuk-am, Mang-hon, and Gwi-ryeong.

It is extremely rare for the three Cardinals of the Evil Cult to gather in one place.

It was the first time in nearly several decades.

They were here at Mount Kunlun.

Near the Crouching Dragon Basin, where hundreds of thousands of people were killing each other and shedding blood.

Mang-hon and Heuk-am fixed their gazes on Gwi-ryeong, who appeared last.

“So carefree.”

“Are you talking to me?”

Gwi-ryeong frowned her delicate eyebrows.

Even in that simple gesture, a sense of grace was felt.

There was no trace of the Two-headed Demon Brain in her elegant appearance.

But Mang-hon pretended to vomit.

“I can’t get used to that face of yours, who else would would I be talking to? The woman who failed her mission.”

“You spit on my face. Don’t you remember the disgrace you caused at Potala Palace?”

“…If it had been you who met Tathāgata , you’d have been dried fish.”

Mang-hon said that but seemed to be fuming.

He threatened that if they met again, he wouldn’t leave Śākyamuni alone, words close to boasting.

But Gwi-ryeong, who also looked unfavorably at Mang-hon, did not scold him.

Until now, they dared not oppose Śākyamuni Tathāgata who descended to the present world, but from now on….

When the new world, the Heaven of Severed Serpents, opens….

Heuk-am spoke in a deep voice.

“I smell Power Borrowing. Have the Honor Flower disciples of the Guardian Sect arrived?”

“Yes, but they’re confined and won’t be coming out.”

“Have you confirmed their deaths?”

“No.”

Even Heuk-am, who looked down on the world, was concerned about the Honor Flower Disciples of the Guardian Sect.

Because they too would become stronger when the Heaven of Severed Serpents opens.

Heuk-am nodded.

“Understood.”

“Sorry. I considered their ambush but couldn’t handle it decisively.”

“No.”

The relationship between Heuk-am and Gwi-ryeong was somewhat better than that between Mang-hon and them.

Mang-hon spat and grumbled.

“Why do you only show respect to Heuk-am? Do you think I’m a joke?”

“Yeah, did you two shack up with each other back in the day?”

“You vulgar bastard!”

Gwi-ryeong also couldn’t hold back her anger.

A dense murderous aura emanated from her.

The mountains and trees trembled, and intangible energy waves burst forth in streams.

Mang-hon, the target, did not remain still either.

Their energies collided in the air, creating a loud noise.

“Stop.”

Heuk-am firmly intervened.

“If you intend to ruin the grand plan, I’ll kill both of you here.”

“…You’re taking this way too seriously.”

Mang-hon was the first to lower his energy.

It wasn’t that he feared Heuk-aml. He was just waiting for this moment.

“The Shamanic Gu Formation is almost complete.”

Shamanic Gu is an ancient shamanistic curse method.

They cram numerous poisonous insects into a large jar.

The poisonous insects cannot escape the jar and eventually kill and devour each other.

The last surviving insect is reborn, filled with resentment and poison.

That jar is called a solitary jar or Shamanic Gu.

“There must be quite a lot of sacrifices.”

Gwi-ryeong smelled a fishy scent.

The smell of blood and incense was sensed around here.

Probably hundreds of sacrifices have been offered around Crouching Dragon Basin.

They are sacrifices to activate the Shamanic Gu Formation.

Mang-hon smiled grimly.

Ten coffins were placed beside him.

“Familiar, isn’t it?”

Gwi-ryeong flinched in surprise.

She could recognize the coffins.

They were old coffins that felt centuries old.

But the reality was different.

They were not hundreds but thousands of years old.

Gwi-ryeong recognized the unique style of the coffins.

“…These are the coffins of the sacrificed vassals.”

The ancient Yin and Zhou era, distant to the people of the current Central Plains.

As one of the last witnesses of that era, she understood the meaning of those coffins.

“Yes, those from the time when the heavenly path was open.”

The world then and now is vastly different.

Moreover, even though they were sacrificed, they were vassals.

They are on a different level from ordinary humans.

Unlike the weakened and declining humans now, their power was incomparably strong.

Gwi-ryeong swallowed nervously.

She could not tell who the vassals inside were.

Only Mang-hon, who prepared the ritual, would know.

The coffins were placed on strange patterns.

Mang-hon grabbed the ring hanging from his lips.

“Greet them, it’s been a while.”

Then he mercilessly tore off the silver ring.

Blood spurted up.

A shamanistic power swept around him.

At that moment, the nails of the coffin, rusted and stuck for a long time, twitched.

Clang- clang-

The nails came out by themselves and rolled on the floor.

It was a terrifying sight, but the Cardinals calmly watched.

Eventually, the coffins opened.

Inside were dried, mummified corpses.

Those corpses, which should have been dead, slowly rose.

It didn’t take long for all ten corpses to stand.

Their large builds were not noticeable in the coffins but became clear now.

They were about a head taller than tall people, roughly eight feet tall.

Their dry, rotten eyelids opened, revealing gray-white eyeballs.

They looked extremely menacing.

The ancient mummies seemed ready to attack the Cardinals at any moment.

They all knelt on one knee simultaneously.

“…Lords…”

Their dry, cracked vocal cords produced a metallic sound.

“Why… have you… called us…?”

Gwi-ryeong somehow sighed in relief at the sight.

There was no one familiar to her.

The mummy who spoke first raised his head and looked at Crouching Dragon Basin.

Surprisingly, he smelled the blood.

“…Do you intend to use us as blades…?”

“To kill … and offer them…?”

If ordered, they seemed ready to rush into the battlefield immediately.

Moreover, the vassals of the Yin and Zhou era would show tremendous power even in the fierce fight of those masters.

But Mang-hon did not order them to fight.

“No, you are the sacrifices.”

The vassals trembled at those cold words.

“…Oh.”

However, the emotion on their faces was clearly joy.

“Finally… the time… has come.”

No tears came from their dried eyes.

They knelt and stretched out their necks.

Mang-hon raised his sword and beheaded them with a single stroke.

Thud.

In an instant, only ten headless corpses remained.

Surprisingly, bright red blood flowed from the severed necks.

The ancient blood flowed thickly and evaporated instantly.

The vassals of the Yin and Zhou era who had slept in coffins for thousands of years without dying.

They fulfilled their duty by having their necks cut here at Mount Kunlun.

The evaporated blood turned into a red, eerie energy and gathered into the sky.

At that moment, a translucent barrier began to form over the entire Crouching Dragon Basin.

Like a red egg.

Or like the jar used to make Shamanic Gu.

Crouching Dragon Basin was isolated from the outside.

“…Ready.”

The Shamanic Gu Formation.

Blood, blood, blood.

Blood flowed in the Crouching Dragon Basin.

The armored cavalry formed a battle formation and swept through the Demon Cult members.

The warhorses carrying armored cavalry were extremely heavy.

Crash!

Even the demon warriors skilled in martial arts were trampled and their heads smashed.

But even armored cavalry are not invincible.

One transcendent demon warrior leapt high into the sky instead of being trampled by hooves.

A sharp spear thrust toward him.

“Kap!”

The demon grabbed the spear shaft instead.

“Huh, huh!”

The demon approached the armored cavalry’s face.

The demon drove an axe into the cavalry’s forehead.

Screech!

Using a thousand-pound weight, he stomped down, breaking the strong warhorse’s back.

Even experienced armored cavalry had never encountered such an attack.

As horses and corpses tumbled, passing horses tripped and fell.

Losing mobility, armored cavalry would become ordinary soldiers.

“I’ll tear your head off!”

The Demon Cult members, drunk on blood, swarmed like rats.

The limbs of the fallen armored cavalry were torn off.

“Aagh!”

Screams filled the air.

There were those who did not quietly watch their deaths.

Two masters from the Murim Alliance rushed there.

They were brothers who looked exactly alike.

Despite their large builds, they wielded long greatswords.

The tips of their greatswords scraped the ground.

Sparks flew clearly along the traces.

The two greatswords were soaked with river water.

Their sword technique was the Five Tiger Gate-Cutting Sword of the Peng family.

The Demon Sect members were thrown by the storm of blades.

Severed limbs soared high then fell to the ground.

The Peng Twin Tigers, Peng Gu-in and Peng Gu-hwi, unleashed their martial arts without reserve.

Despite the chaotic battlefield, a three-zhang radius no-man’s zone was created.

They came to rescue the fallen armored cavalry.

The corpses of demon warriors, some dismembered, covered the armored cavalry.

They tried to clear the corpses to rescue the cavalry.

Soon, the face of an armored cavalry opening his eyes appeared.

“He’s dead.”

But it was a severed head.

All the armored cavalry were dead.

“Heh heh heh.”

“Damn it, haha!”

For some reason, the Peng Twin Tigers laughed.

As sons of the Peng family, they knew chivalry.

Was the blood of the battlefield intoxicating them?

No, it was too much to be just that.

Though it was still midday, the sky was red.

Crouching Dragon Basin was surrounded by a red barrier.

Yet few noticed it.

The Peng Twin Tigers’ eyes shone clearly with red energy.

They advanced back into the battlefield.

There were few in the Demon Cult who could match these two Transcendent masters.

They swung their greatswords, again and again.

Until human blood and oil stuck thickly on the Peng family’s path.

While they were swinging their swords in a trance-like state.

Suddenly, their swordsmanship was blocked.

Their temples heated up with tension.

They heard someone’s voice near their ears.

Reflexively trying to cut the opponent’s neck, they felt a sharp electric shock throughout their body.

Peng Gu-in regained his senses for a moment.

“You wild boar bastards!”

In front of them was Dam Hyun, covered in blood.

Some of the blood was from others, some from his own wounds.

“Get a grip! Tell them to take you to your leaders!”

“You have to stop! Dying in battle only fills the Evil Cult’s belly!”

Dam Hyun shouted.

He lost most of his internal power while helping Yi-gang.

Stopping the Peng Twin Tigers in that state was almost a gamble for Dam Hyun.

But even that seemed useless.

The sharpness that returned to Peng Gu-in’s eyes gradually faded.

Eventually, his eyes turned red again.

He pushed Dam Hyun away and jumped back into the battlefield.

Dam Hyun cursed.

Though Do-meng sacrificed his life to create an escape for him to leave the Crouching Dragon Basin, Dam Hyun did not leave.

If this continues, everyone inside the basin will die.

Since the barrier enveloping Crouching Dragon Basin formed, most warriors inside lost their sanity.

It won’t take long for all hundreds of thousands to die.

Their deaths will soon become materials for something.

Dam Hyun could not remain idle.

“What, what should I do…?”

But even staying, there was nothing he could do.

He tried to evacuate people but had no way to control the already insane crowd.

He wanted to meet Baek Ryu-san, the head of the Othordox-Unorthodox Alliance, but couldn’t find him.

The translucent barrier was gradually darkening into a murky red.

Should he leave this place even now?

“…How.”

Dam Hyun’s eyes blurred with despair.

Helplessness crushed his entire body.

Then.

He felt something scratching his front collar.

Dam Hyun absentmindedly lifted his collar.

Cheongho, who had been calm enough to seem unhurt, quickly jumped out.

He swiftly jumped onto Dam Hyun’s head.

“Kling!”

Then he looked in one direction and cried.

Dam Hyun turned to look that way.

「There…」

Cheongho jumped out because he sensed a familiar energy.

The Heavenly Thunder White-Tailed Fox siblings.

Beyond the barrier, blue foxes could be seen.

“Yi-gang?”

Yi-gang, who was riding on one of those foxes, as well.