Chapter 788: Then, Under the Light? |
From within the pitch-black hole, Gaye, the Priestess Palace Master, shot out.
She frowned, panting heavily. The sensation of her body being transported was an unpleasant experience she had never gone through before in her entire life.
“Haah, haah.”
In front of the breathless Gaye stood the Dark Palace Master.
At the very center of the space, the Dark Palace Master sat cross-legged, surrounded by the Five Great Scholars of the Dark Palace, each with a hand extended outward.
Sasasasak—
Their outstretched hands formed various seals.
Each time they did, thin threads of smoke rose from their fingertips, weaving strange patterns and incomprehensible symbols in the air before vanishing.
Every time those symbols appeared, a single glowing character emerged on the floor beneath where the Dark Palace Master sat.
And the space wasn’t occupied by only them.
On one side, two old men sat side by side. The two were identical, as if they were twins.
The absolute masters of the Dark Palace, known as the Dark Twin Supremes.
They were Dark Elder and Black Elder.
Both were over a hundred years old, the two whom the Dark Palace Master had treasured and preserved for the final moment.
Even Gaye, who had long served the Dark Palace Master, was seeing them in person for the first time. One would expect her to stare at them longer—but instead, her eyes were fixed on the opposite wall.
On that wall was the image of a man, painted so vividly it almost seemed alive.
Her gaze was drawn there because the being in the painting was far more mysterious than anyone else in the room.
Sensing her stare, the man on the wall turned toward her and smiled. His expression was so lifelike that, despite having anticipated it, Gaye’s heart sank in shock.
The Dark Painting Spirit.
It was the first time she had ever seen with her own eyes the Dark Palace’s secret weapon that she had only heard about in rumors.
The man in the painting began to move slowly. It was as if the world inside the wall was his own realm—he walked within it.
When he passed behind the Dark Palace Master, he tiptoed lightly, taking great care not to disturb him.
Then, reaching the opposite wall, he crept up behind the Dark Twin Supremes and waved mischievously.
Without even turning, Black Elder swung his hand.
Puhk.
His palm force struck the wall hard, but by then, the man within the painting had already vanished.
Gaye lost sight of him in an instant.
Where had he gone?
Just then, from the corner where two walls met, he suddenly slid out and reappeared.
Though his demeanor seemed playful, Gaye knew very well.
The being most cherished by the Dark Palace Master, alongside the Dark Twin Supremes, was none other than the Dark Painting Spirit. That alone showed how terrifying and powerful it was.
But they were not the only ones. On this very ship and around Dongting Lake, every master of the Dark Palace had been mobilized. It was as if the Dark Palace Master had staked his very life on this battle, pouring out all the power he had accumulated over the past three hundred years.
A fight of life and death with the Demonic Cult—one that would decide who lived and who perished.
At last, the Dark Palace Master, who had kept his eyes closed, slowly opened them.
Gaye spoke to him.
“You summoned me without my signal. Why did you do that?”
Though her tone was polite and composed, it carried strong discontent.
She had been forced to yield completely to Geom Mugeuk’s words. She hadn’t been able to argue back even once—yet the Dark Palace Master had pulled her out of that place.
The Dark Palace Master had seen and heard everything that had transpired in the guest room.
He did not ask, ‘Were you planning to stay longer and say something more to the Young Cult Leader?’
Instead, he pointed out the truth of her emotions.
“Why were you so angry?”
The moment she let herself be drawn into Geom Mugeuk’s psychological game and felt anger, she had already lost.
“Had you stayed longer, you might not have returned. Did you not see how swiftly the Young Cult Leader found you? Did you not experience how, the instant he arrived, he overturned your heart?”
It meant that if she had lingered any longer, she might truly have died by Geom Mugeuk’s hand.
Just as she had been unable to refute Geom Mugeuk earlier, Gaye could not argue with the Dark Palace Master now.
Because, at that moment, she had indeed been furious.
When Geom Mugeuk had asked whether she wanted to kill the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion, the question had pierced right through her heart. And when he had said that it wasn’t about her ability to prophesy or not, it had made her feel stripped bare.
“Do you know what I find lacking in you?”
“What is it?”
“It would have been better if you weren’t a Priestess.”
“!”
It was the first time the Dark Palace Master had ever said such words.
“That title of Priestess—it’s making you act unlike yourself.”
The emotion that welled up within her at that instant was the same kind she had felt toward Geom Mugeuk earlier. It was the kind of feeling that made one flare up in indignation—yet left no room for rebuttal.
“That title is everything I am.”
“Is that truly so?”
The Dark Palace Master looked at her with eyes that seemed to pierce through her very heart.
“Are you implying that if I weren’t a Priestess, I would have become a truly wicked woman? I’m sorry, but from the beginning until now, I have aided you as a Priestess, my lord. I follow not your will, but the Heavenly Will.”
She wanted to add one more thing.
I am someone connected to the heavens.
She should have been able to say it proudly.
But she couldn’t.
Even now, at such a critical moment, the heavens had shown her no sign.
The black-robed Palace Master, who had been watching her with an unreadable gaze, slowly nodded.
“I was careless. Pay it no mind, and calm your heart.”
How could one so easily recover from the pain of having their very existence denied?
It was then—
Sseuseuseuseu—
From the floor, Hwe, the Dark Palace Master’s right-hand man, emerged.
“All preparations are complete.”
Immediately, a dark aura began to rise around the Dark Palace Master. It was a darkness far denser than anything seen before.
“Today’s battle will decide our fate. Do not let a single one of those Demonic Cult bastards escape alive!”
The rising darkness enveloped the Dark Palace Master’s entire body.
“From this moment forth, I declare the commencement of the Holy Dark War!”
---
When one reached Geom Mugeuk’s level of mastery in martial arts, certain things could be understood at a glance.
Judging by the skill that had whisked the Priestess Palace Master away so seamlessly earlier, and by the level of demonic energy currently spreading—
“It seems the Dark Palace Master is here.”
At the mention of the Dark Palace Master, the expressions of the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme and the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion stiffened.
It wasn’t as though they hadn’t considered the possibility—but the true mastermind behind all of this had finally revealed himself. The Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion felt her heart sink again at the thought that she had originally planned to come here alone.
Huuu—
The black energy that had seeped across the floor of the corridor began to spread into the room like mist.
The Greed Annihilation Art, unleashed personally by the Dark Palace Master, inspired fear merely by sight alone.
“What happens if we’re exposed to that energy?”
At the Mistress’s question, Geom Mugeuk shook his head as if even he couldn’t be sure.
“At the very least, don’t forget—this is a dark demonic art that feeds on human desire.”
It was a warning to fortify their minds.
“Since we know it’s a trap, shouldn’t we escape now?”
The Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion didn’t want the Young Cult Leader to be endangered because of her. After all, this meeting had come about because of her in the first place.
“The dark energy has likely already spread throughout the entire ship.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s reply, the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme suggested,
“Then why don’t we destroy the cabin wall and break our way out?”
Her thought was that even if they were to fight, it would be better to do so outside the ship.
But that, unfortunately, was impossible.
“Unless we dispel the Greed Annihilation Art, we can’t escape from this place.”
As if to prove it,
Geom Mugeuk lightly extended his fist toward the cabin wall.
There was no sound from his punch—
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
—but a hole burst open in the wall and continued to bore straight through.
Twuung.
A strange, muffled impact echoed at the end.
The Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion and the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme stared at the hole. At its far end, black smoke churned restlessly. Even with that immense punch, it hadn’t broken through.
The ship was completely surrounded by the Dark Smoke of the Greed Annihilation Art.
“Even if one could break through that with a stronger force…”
If it were the perfected Nine Calamities Demon Art, it could certainly be broken.
If one were to unleash the Heavenly Demon World Annihilation toward an empty wall—everything would vanish without a trace. Naturally, the Greed Annihilation Art would also be destroyed.
But there was a reason that couldn’t be done.
“If we forcibly destroy the Greed Annihilation Art, everyone on this ship will die instantly.”
The art had already become intertwined with every soul aboard. The demonic technique itself was constructed upon their desires.
“The Priestess Palace Master must have waited for us in the final chamber for that very reason.”
The Soul Reaper Demon Supreme immediately grasped Geom Mugeuk’s meaning.
“She wanted to link that dark demonic art to us as well.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“Exactly. That’s why she sat there so calmly in the most hidden place—to buy time. She must have expected us to take longer to reach this point.”
But because Geom Mugeuk had gone straight to the shipmaster and come directly here—and because, once inside, he had immediately driven out the gamblers and gone straight to the matter at hand—
“Fortunately, we haven’t been deeply entangled with the Greed Annihilation Art.”
The Soul Reaper Demon Supreme couldn’t help but feel great admiration.
Had it been him, he would still have been searching for the Priestess Palace Master in the lower-level gambling halls, dancing right into the enemy’s plans.
“So even if we force our way out, we might live—but everyone else on this ship will die.”
No matter how lost these people were in their gambling, they couldn’t simply be left to die. Among them were martial artists of the Water Dragon Gang and sailors who knew no martial arts at all.
Moreover, the Water Dragon Gang belonged to the unorthodox faction. Considering the relationship with the Unorthodox Alliance, they couldn’t be left to perish.
“If we don’t break this demonic art soon, everyone here will have their desires consumed as fuel for it. Their true energy will dry up, and they’ll die without even realizing what’s happening to them.”
That was the terrifying aspect of the Greed Annihilation Art—its ability to absorb every trace of human desire.
“And if we delay too long, it’ll start to affect us as well. It’ll draw out our desires, too.”
The Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion couldn’t immediately recall what her own desire was.
Of course, she had thoughts about how she wished to live—but that didn’t seem to fit the word “desire.”
The Soul Reaper Demon Supreme, however, knew exactly what her desire was.
To become the supreme Demon Supreme. To become the greatest among the Young Cult Leader’s demon generals—the one he treasured most.
That was her desire.
“Come, let’s get out of this room first.”
By then, the black aura had already crept halfway across the chamber.
Geom Mugeuk examined the wall behind them.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!
He struck it, creating a large hole big enough for a person to pass through. Beyond the wall lay another corridor.
Geom Mugeuk turned to the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme and said,
“To break the Greed Annihilation Art, we must find the Dark Palace Master. I’ll search for him. In the meantime, please protect the Mistress. And avoid that black mist as much as possible.”
The Soul Reaper Demon Supreme nodded with steady confidence.
“Don’t worry, Young Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk moved toward the encroaching black mist.
“Will you be all right?”
At the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion’s worried question, Geom Mugeuk smiled.
“To find him, I must go to the source of this darkness.”
The Dark Palace Master would be at the heart of that black energy.
Raising the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique to its extreme, Geom Mugeuk stepped into the black mist.
In an instant, the darkness swallowed him whole.
---
The Demonic Buddha stared at the Drunken Demon in disbelief.
The Drunken Demon, who had been gulping down wine, tilted sideways and eventually fell asleep—snoring loudly, even at such a critical moment.
He’s sleeping while drunk at a time like this?
Is he insane?
The Demonic Buddha gave him that exact look—but then, faintly, he smiled.
It was all thanks to the Young Cult Leader.
Ever since they had spent time together, the Drunken Demon had changed. And seeing him like this made the Demonic Buddha smile. And besides, the one on that ship was the Young Cult Leader—so there was no need to worry.
But then, as his eyes happened to rest on the Ship of Wealth and Honor, the Demonic Buddha’s expression suddenly froze.
“Hey, wake up!”
At his urgent shout, the Drunken Demon’s eyes snapped open.
“Look there!”
Following the Demonic Buddha’s gaze, the Drunken Demon’s eyes widened as he leapt to his feet.
From the Ship of Wealth and Honor, a massive dark aura was emanating, black smoke rolling around the vessel in waves.
Their eyes met, and both nodded at once.
Whiiiiiish—
Their figures shot toward the Ship of Wealth and Honor. The ominous energy was far too immense to simply think, ’Geom Mugeuk will handle it.’
As the two dashed across the water’s surface using Water-Walking Steps—
Twuung!
They were suddenly repelled backward by something unseen. There was an invisible barrier ahead, long before they could reach the ship.
“It’s a formation!”
At the Drunken Demon’s shout, the Demonic Buddha examined the barrier before them.
“The Celestial Night Demonic Domain!”
A barrier-type demonic technique of the Dark Palace.
Particularly when cast at night, its strength multiplied severalfold—an impregnable barrier that no one could breach.
Splash!
The Drunken Demon dove underwater.
But even beneath the surface, the barrier extended downward. The Ship of Wealth and Honor was completely enclosed within a massive, transparent, spherical formation.
The dark energy from the ship and this barrier itself—both were supreme-level dark demonic arts.
Even though they had already deployed Blood Lotus and stayed alert in the area, the fact that they hadn’t noticed the barrier being formed meant that this entire encounter had been an elaborately prepared trap.
“We must find a way to break through the barrier and reach that ship.”
At the Demonic Buddha’s words, the Drunken Demon was the first to strike.
Swaaaang!
Puuung!
His powerful palm strike slammed against the barrier.
The barrier wall dented deeply, then bounced back to its original state.
“Let’s do it together.”
This time, both the Demonic Buddha and the Drunken Demon launched palm strikes simultaneously.
But even with both their combined attacks, the barrier didn’t break.
“We’ll need to find the method to break it first.”
However, since the barrier was a massive, spherical formation encompassing the entire Ship of Wealth and Honor, finding its weak point wouldn’t be easy.
And if that weak point happened to be beneath the surface? In this pitch-black water, finding it would be nearly impossible.
The Drunken Demon drew his dagger and infused it with inner energy.
Shiiiiiik—
Twuung!
But even the dagger failed to pierce the barrier—it bounced off with force. The barrier was formed by an immense power.
At that moment, the Demonic Buddha recalled another possible way to break it.
“The Celestial Night Demonic Domain grows stronger in darkness, doesn’t it?”
“That’s what I’ve heard.”
“Then, what about under the light?”
The Demonic Buddha’s gaze sharpened—and then, golden light began to radiate from his body.
Hwaaaaaak!
Not only the people on nearby boats, but even those on the lakeshore saw that dazzling light.
The Demonic Buddha gathered the radiance in his palms, focusing it into a beam that shot straight toward one point of the barrier.
The Drunken Demon’s dagger flew toward the spot illuminated by the light.
Shiiik—
Puuuk!
This time, the dagger lodged into the barrier.
But it was only embedded—not torn. The Drunken Demon drew up his inner energy to the limit.
Hwaaaaaaaaaaak!
The golden light pouring from the Demonic Buddha grew so bright that it was impossible to open one’s eyes.
“Now!”
Jiiiiiik—
The Drunken Demon’s dagger began to rip the barrier open.
