When Bu Eunseol paused his movement, Zhuge Seoun sent another voice transmission.
[I have a plan.]
He quickly continued the transmission.
[That person is likely a descendant of the Western Region Demonic Cult. The reason she was able to seize Lady Tang’s body must be due to the Black Soul Devouring Destruction Great Art.]
Zhuge Seoun had discerned that the Ten-Thousand-Li Treasure Ship was created through the Ten Thousand Spirits Blood Flesh Forging Technique, and from that he had identified her as a member of the Western Region Demonic Cult.
[Our family has passed down the Soul Shifting Great Art for generations. It is not the complete technique, but it should be enough to save Lady Tang.]
The soul is divided into the ‘Hun,’ which governs consciousness, and the ‘Po,’ which resides in the body and handles life activities and senses. The Soul Shifting Great Art could not actually transfer a person’s Hun and Po. It was a secret technique that precisely connected the ‘Po’ responsible for activity and sensation.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
The interior of the Ten-Thousand-Li Treasure Ship was like the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s main body, so even voice transmissions could be detected. Moreover, the Vajra Demon Ancestor was the supreme master of sorcery and great arts.
No matter how much Zhuge Seoun had trained in the Zhuge family’s mysterious secret techniques, it was nearly impossible for him to break her great arts.
So why was he acting this way?
“Lady Tang. Look into my eyes.”
Zhuge Seoun approached the Vajra Demon Ancestor. Using Void Painting with his hands, he drew talismans in the air, and with his feet he drew a formation on the ground.
Talismans in the air, a formation on the ground, and a person at the center—Zhuge Seoun himself.
The moment he completed the Soul Shifting Great Art, light flowed from the ground where the Vajra Demon Ancestor stood.
Ziiiing. Pffft.
A snort burst from the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s lips.
Not only did she possess secret methods to reverse any great art, she could also use mental illusions to suppress the opponent’s soul and body. The instant Zhuge Seoun approached and tried to use his technique, she immediately used mental illusion to instead invade his soul and body.
The Vajra Demon Ancestor frowned.
She had fully deployed the sorcery, yet an unpleasant sensation, as if her body had been dipped in filthy water, spread through her.
It was a strange feeling she had never experienced before.
Seeing the smile on Zhuge Seoun’s lips, she realized something had gone wrong.
“It’s done, Lord Bu!”
Zhuge Seoun shouted at that moment.
“I have switched senses with the demonic bastard who seized Lady Tang.”
“Switched senses?”
When the Vajra Demon Ancestor blinked, Zhuge Seoun grinned.
“Our family never had any Soul Shifting Great Art.”
Zhuge Seoun crossed his arms and laughed confidently.
“It is the Sympathetic Body Technique.”
The Sympathetic Body Technique was a refined secret art of the Zhuge family that forcibly linked pain by using the ‘Po,’ which governs life activity and senses.
In the past, when the military could not torture countless prisoners one by one, they sought the Zhuge family’s cooperation and used this technique to drag out confessions from stubborn men all at once.
“In truth, the Sympathetic Body Technique is not something that can succeed just because someone like me uses it. I don’t know the secret method to connect the Po.”
Zhuge Seoun smiled, showing his white teeth.
“But if I pretend to use the Soul Shifting Great Art, wouldn’t you, as the supreme master of sorcery, definitely use a technique to manipulate the ‘Po’ and reverse it?”
He had read the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s psychology and deliberately sent a voice transmission to Bu Eunseol as part of a plan to make the Sympathetic Body Technique succeed.
“So?”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor’s purple eyes flashed.
“What do you think you’re going to do?”
Zhuge Seoun did not answer and instead spoke to Bu Eunseol and Tang Gon.
“Subduing a demon like the Vajra Demon Ancestor is by no means easy.”
He put on a solemn expression.
“To save Lady Tang, we must inflict pain on her.”
Zhuge Seoun intended to torture himself to force the Vajra Demon Ancestor to abandon Tang Cheong’s body.
“Brother Zhuge.”
When Tang Gon made a worried face, Zhuge Seoun shouted.
“Do not hesitate!”
Zhuge Seoun tore his sleeve and stuffed it into his own mouth.
He nodded.
Bu Eunseol drew his Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
He unleashed the Martial Mist and Waves once more. The moment it touched the mist containing natural energy, the Vajra Demon Ancestor let out a pained groan.
“Kaahhh!”
With a roar like a beast, white smoke began to pour from Tang Cheong’s mouth.
The mass of mental illusion that controlled another person’s body according to one’s will was spreading out in the form of white mist. Zhuge Seoun’s eyes turned white, and his body began convulsing violently like an aspen tree.
Because of the Sympathetic Body Technique, he was feeling the same pain.
“This isn’t enough.”
Zhuge Seoun shouted to Tang Gon while gritting his teeth.
“Are you going to give up on Lady Tang like this, Family Head?”
At that moment, Tang Gon let out a battle cry.
“Haaap!”
He kicked Zhuge Seoun in the back.
It was not a simple kick. Using the Tang Family Linked Eighteen Kicks, he relentlessly struck Zhuge Seoun’s vital points on his back.
Thud!
After being struck eighteen times by kicks powerful enough to shatter boulders, Zhuge Seoun tumbled forward. This time, Bu Eunseol struck to suppress Zhuge Seoun’s pressure points.
However, perhaps because he had inherited the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s power, the points were not suppressed at all.
In that instant, Tang Gon leaped into the air and began unleashing the linked kicking technique again. It looked less like martial arts and more like a gang of thugs trampling someone.
Tears welled up in Tang Gon’s eyes, but he could not let Zhuge Seoun’s sacrifice be in vain.
“Are you just going to watch?!”
Tang Gon shouted at Bu Eunseol with tear-filled eyes.
“Step on him already!”
“Hurry!”
Thud! Thud!
In the end, Bu Eunseol and Tang Gon spent an entire quarter-hour stomping and kicking Zhuge Seoun. They would never have dared do this to Tang Cheong’s body, but they believed that Zhuge Seoun, who had trained his body for a long time, could endure it.
Even the strongest cannot withstand a beating, they say?
Lying on the ground and constantly being beaten, the Vajra Demon Ancestor—who was feeling Zhuge Seoun’s pain exactly—began to let out screams.
When had she ever suffered such brutal beating and torture?
Moreover, the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s true body was female. Unlike Zhuge Seoun, who had a sturdy, muscular body, she possessed a delicate physique, so the pain felt far greater.
“Stop…”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor tried to speak, but Bu Eunseol and Tang Gon were so focused on stomping that they did not hear her.
“Stop it!”
Finally, the Vajra Demon Ancestor jumped up and shouted.
But immediately Bu Eunseol’s fist struck her face, and Tang Gon’s linked palm strike drove into her lower abdomen.
“I will release all the mental illusions.”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor finally surrendered.
“I will return the body!”
Bu Eunseol and Tang Gon exchanged bewildered glances.
The origin of the demonic path, one of the Seven Great Demon Lords.
Despite the dishonorable title of ‘Greedy for Life,’ how could someone so frivolous and afraid of death exist?
“How can we trust those words?”
“I will restore her consciousness right now.”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor pointed at her own—no, at Tang Cheong’s—body.
“Without this lord’s permission, her consciousness will never awaken.”
“Fine.”
When Tang Gon stopped moving, she struggled to place both hands on her dantian and brought her index and middle fingers together, moving them up and down. Then the light engraved on the ground where the Vajra Demon Ancestor stood disappeared, and a pale liquid spurted from the fallen Zhuge Seoun’s mouth.
The Sympathetic Body Technique had been undone.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t be able to undo a youngster’s Sympathetic Body Technique?”
Because Bu Eunseol and Tang Gon had beaten her without pause, she had not been able to move. But even in that brief moment, she had managed to dispel Zhuge Seoun’s technique.
“You fools.”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor laughed scornfully.
“This entire secret vault is like my own body. Did you really think it would be difficult for me to seize your bodies?”
“I will catch you again and torture you.”
At Tang Gon’s words, the Vajra Demon Ancestor laughed.
“I was simply playing along with your rhythm. Did you really think…”
Suddenly her body began to tremble.
The continuous exposure to the Martial Mist and Waves had greatly shaken the mental connection, and Zhuge Seoun’s Sympathetic Body Technique had also damaged her body. As a result, the connection point controlling Tang Cheong’s body had become quite loose.
“Success.”
Having grasped the situation, Zhuge Seoun smirked.
“The great art is about to break. Lady Tang should wake up soon.”
Yet the Vajra Demon Ancestor laughed lowly.
“Have you forgotten? This place is a space created by this lord?”
At the same time, a strange light rose from Tang Gon’s body.
“I cannot seize another person’s body and mind like the True Demon.”
Ziiiing.
Her eyes began to turn purple.
She had already begun to take control of Tang Gon’s body.
“Using the illusions here, connecting to this lord’s mind is entirely possible.”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor glared at Bu Eunseol.
“Just not with you.”
Bu Eunseol’s mind had reached an unfathomable level, and like a monk, it remained unshakable, making invasion impossible. But she could enter Tang Gon or Zhuge Seoun here anytime.
“You pests.”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor, now controlling Tang Gon’s body, spoke triumphantly.
“Now you all—”
But before she could finish speaking, she suddenly reached out and placed her hand on her own heart.
Tang Gon was resisting the control and attempting to commit suicide.
“What are you—?”
Unlike the panicked voice of the Vajra Demon Ancestor, Tang Gon’s eyes burned with determination.
“My friend…”
Tang Gon momentarily pushed away the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s power and spoke in his original voice.
He was willing to die for Bu Eunseol, and if it was Bu Eunseol, he could entrust the Tang family to him without worry and die in peace.
“Take care of the rest…”
The moment he tried to stab his heart,
Ziiiing.
The Vajra Demon Ancestor quickly severed the connection point controlling Tang Gon’s body.
Tang Gon’s death would not mean her own death, but if he committed suicide in this state, it would be like forcibly ripping out roots embedded in the ground.
A portion of her power that had fused with Tang Gon’s body through mental illusion would suffer severe damage.
Ziiiing.
This time, Zhuge Seoun’s eyes began to turn purple.
“What ridiculous people. Even so—”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor could not continue speaking.
Zhuge Seoun had taken out the judgment tablets from his waist and was trying to stab his own heart.
“What is this?”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor, controlling Zhuge Seoun, grabbed the right arm holding the tablets with his left arm and spoke furiously.
“Are you not afraid of death?”
True to his position as the young master of the Zhuge family skilled in strategy and secret arts, Zhuge Seoun firmly suppressed the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s power and spoke.
“I am just an unknown junior compared to the Command Lord or the Family Head.”
Zhuge Seoun grinned.
“If I can deal a blow to the great and mighty one of the Seven Demon Lords, wouldn’t that be an honor instead?”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor was flustered.
Not only Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun, but Tang Cheong also cherished Bu Eunseol like her own life, so she would naturally be willing to die for him.
In short, her power no longer worked on them.
As a result, the energy of the Vajra Demon Ancestor that had been corroding Zhuge Seoun’s body grew extremely weak.
“Greedy for life…”
Bu Eunseol instantly understood the meaning of that title.
Life and death.
It was the fundamental truth of all living beings, and one that could not be defied.
Yet the Vajra Demon Ancestor had been given the title of the Greedy-for-Life Demon. It was not that he had lived from the beginning of time or avoided death.
‘Not petty and weak, but drawing his power from others’ longing for life.’
The Greedy-for-Life Demon, who could not be killed by any means. The source of that power was the desire for life—the longing to continue living that every human possessed.
When she became completely unable to use the power of life-greed, a groan full of fear escaped the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s lips.
Thud, crash.
In the end, both Tang Cheong’s body and Zhuge Seoun’s body collapsed like logs.
The Vajra Demon Ancestor had finally abandoned Tang Cheong’s body.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol instinctively realized something.
The Vajra Demon Ancestor’s true body must be in that blood cave where countless martial artists had been gathered like exhibits.
“Wait here.”
Bu Eunseol activated his movement technique and returned to the main hall.
Tang Gon watched for a moment, then left Tang Cheong and Zhuge Seoun behind to follow Bu Eunseol.
He chose to protect his friend’s life rather than stay with Tang Cheong, whose recovery time was uncertain.
Bu Eunseol arrived at the blood cave, but no one was moving yet.
He immediately raised his Void Heart Command and Heavenly Mind Heart Sutra, but could detect nothing.
“Is she here?”
“Probably…”
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“But I cannot sense her at all.”
“You cannot sense her?”
Tang Gon’s eyes flashed.
‘It is only natural that this friend cannot detect it.’
The Vajra Demon Ancestor’s mental illusion could not invade Bu Eunseol’s body, so he would not even notice its presence.
But the illusion had once entered Tang Gon’s body. That was why he could sense that alien energy.
After all, once great masters sensed an alien energy, they never forgot it.
‘But the moment I point it out, or the moment I send a voice transmission, she will move her body.’
If the decisive strike missed?
Knowing that Tang Gon could detect his mental illusion energy, the Vajra Demon Ancestor would constantly shift her position. There was also a high chance that the martial artists trapped in the glass tubes would be attacked and killed.
If that was repeated?
In the end, it could only be resolved by killing everyone here.
‘This is the only way.’
Tang Gon raised his internal energy and poured it into the ring on his right hand.
It was a treasured artifact wrapped with the legendary spirit creature, the Flood Dragon Silk.
‘Tang Family Death Slash.’
The previous family head, Tang Tae, had drawn inspiration from the blade techniques of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade and combined all of the Tang family’s hidden poison techniques to create the Slash of Death. He had passed the secret and enlightenment to Tang Gon, who named the technique the Tang Pae Death Slash after his father.
Tang Pae had also passed the mysteries of this martial art to Bu Eunseol due to its origins.
‘He will definitely understand my intention.’
When he finally infused internal energy into the Flood Dragon Silk, a faint light appeared. The moment Tang Gon raised his power to its limit, Bu Eunseol looked at him.
Tang Gon said nothing and simply nodded.
Had their hearts connected?
Bu Eunseol gripped his sword hilt and began raising his internal energy with all his strength.
‘Please let it succeed.’
Brilliant light spread from Tang Gon’s finger.
Three lines of death that split the air simultaneously pierced three separate spots among the endlessly lined glass tubes.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol’s eyes changed.
Swoosh.
With a resonant sword cry like a dragon’s roar,
Slash!
Brilliant light poured from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Harmony.
He unleashed the maximum destructive power he could produce by pouring all his internal energy at once.
Chiiiik.
Black smoke began to rise from the bodies of the wretched martial artists trapped inside the glass tubes.
One martial artist opened the tube and came out, but soon began vomiting black blood.
It was a woman of small stature with an extremely dirty appearance and filthy skin.
She was the true body of the Vajra Demon Ancestor.
“How did this happen?”
The Vajra Demon Ancestor muttered in disbelief.
“You never even exchanged voice transmissions.”
This entire blood cave—no, the whole secret vault—was like his own body.
Therefore, she could immediately detect any voice transmission and move her body instantly.
But those two had only exchanged glances. How was this possible?
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“Brother Tang detected you. He marked three points: the tube where you were standing, another point of the same line, and the point where those two lines intersect.”
He continued while sheathing his sword.
“That created a perfect rectangle with three corners. The remaining empty fourth corner of that rectangle is where you were hiding.”
The moment Tang Gon fired the three Tang Pae Death Slashes, Bu Eunseol instantly understood it was to indicate the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s location.
He realized the empty point—the last remaining corner of the rectangle—held the Vajra Demon Ancestor and immediately unleashed Harmony there.
Because he trusted Tang Gon more than his own life and fired without the slightest hesitation or doubt, it succeeded.
“I will definitely kill you.”
As the Vajra Demon Ancestor glared at Bu Eunseol, her body melted into a pool of blood.
Chiiiik.
Thus, one of the Seven Great Demon Lords, the Vajra Demon Ancestor, finally drew her last breath.
Bu Eunseol looked down at the Vajra Demon Ancestor’s melted corpse with a strange light in his eyes.
“Is it over?”
When Tang Gon asked, Bu Eunseol withdrew his gaze, turned around, and nodded.
“It seems so.”
“That’s a relief.”
Bu Eunseol, turning his head, said.
“Go see Lady Tang. She should have recovered by now.”
“Ah.”
Letting out a short exclamation, Tang Gon hurriedly went to where Tang Cheong had fallen.
There, he saw Tang Cheong slowly getting up.
“Cheong-ah!”
As Tang Gon approached with a wide smile, Tang Cheong ran to him and hugged him tightly.
“You came to save me, Brother.”
In truth, the siblings had not been very close.
Tang Gon was gentle, while Tang Cheong was lively and possessed talent that even surpassed his. Moreover, during the period when Tang Gon had been depressed, Tang Cheong had tried to move him according to her will.
Although she liked his gentle nature, she could not abandon the idea that ‘a man must be strong,’ and had occasionally looked down on him.
But Tang Gon’s potential far exceeded Tang Cheong’s expectations.
After meeting Bu Eunseol, his hidden talent blossomed and he grew endlessly without limit. After becoming the family head, he tried to mend their awkward relationship by treating her warmly and taking care of her.
Because their father’s will had been not the revival of the family, but to take care of the people around them.
Having learned that Tang Cheong harbored unrequited love for Bu Eunseol, Tang Gon used all his connections to place her as the leader of the Cheongcheon Hall. He thought that if Bu Eunseol stayed there as Seon Woojin, they would naturally grow closer.
However, contrary to expectations, Bu Eunseol no longer actively worked as Seon Woojin and only quietly helped the Azure Heaven Alliance using his shadow.
As a result, Tang Cheong became increasingly depressed and unfairly resented Tang Gon.
But upon learning that Tang Gon had abandoned the family and risked his life to save her, she reflected on her past behavior and belatedly realized how much he truly cared for her and how spoiled she had been.
“I’m sorry.”
Tang Cheong said in a choked voice.
“For making you go through hardship, Brother.”
“It’s alright. Isn’t that what this older brother is supposed to do?” Tang Gon gently patted the back of the downcast Tang Cheong. “You don’t need to worry about anything.”
“Still, I obtained this.”
She took out a small wooden box from her bosom and spoke with a sigh.
“That’s why I fell into the trap and lost consciousness.”
Tang Cheong had discovered the location of the Heavenly Yin Immortal Fruit and, in her overwhelming joy, had neglected her surroundings. The Vajra Demon Ancestor had used that opening to approach and inject mental illusion into her.
“Brother, please give this to the Lord.”
Tang Cheong held out the wooden box with an embarrassed face.
“Tell him to eat it before it’s too late.”
“What?”
Tang Gon looked dumbfounded.
“You should eat it. Why would you give it to him?”
“What’s so great about my ugly face that I would eat something like this?”
Tang Cheong said shyly.
“Of course the Lord should eat it.”
Even if she had not been chosen by Bu Eunseol, she wanted to protect his beautiful appearance forever.
“In truth, I tried to uncover the secrets of the Ten-Thousand-Li Treasure Ship for him, but my abilities were lacking.”
Tang Cheong lowered her head.
“This place was the body of someone with strange demonic arts. My specialties and abilities were completely useless.”
“Cheong-ah.”
Tang Gon felt a pang in his chest.
Tang Cheong had originally been a brave and intelligent girl who feared neither heaven nor earth.
Who could have imagined that his fearless little sister would fall so deeply in love and become someone so pure that she would risk her life entering the Ten-Thousand-Li Treasure Ship to restore her beloved’s honor and build his support base?
“This…”
Tang Gon gave a lonely smile and held the wooden box back out to Tang Cheong.
“Give it to him yourself.”
“Huh?”
Instead of answering, Tang Gon turned around.
A gray figure was slowly walking toward them from the passage.
It was a man with an appearance so beautiful and radiant that it felt divine.
It was Bu Eunseol, who had undone his disguise.
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