Chapter 29 :

Chapter 29

Act 4: The Bamboo-Tube Beauty (10)

‘First, I need to close the distance.’

Yise hurled the small axe in his hand with all his strength.

The hand axe spun through the air toward the retching Kim Siwon, but despite being struck head-on, Kim Siwon did not suffer so much as a scratch.

He had not even attempted to block it.

“You think a petty trick like this will...!”

Kim Siwon reached into his clothing and pulled out a talisman.

The talisman became saturated with golden energy before shooting toward Yise.

Sensing its ominous force, Yise immediately raised his black-iron shield to block it.

The moment the talisman touched the shield, however, it split apart like a net and attempted to engulf it.

Before the sticky net could spread from the shield and entangle his body, Yise threw the shield to his left and continued charging toward Kim Siwon without slowing down.

Only about three steps remained between them.

One step.

Another talisman flew from Kim Siwon’s clothing.

The talisman twisted into a sharp point like a narwhal’s horn and pierced Yise’s left palm.

More precisely, Yise had raised his palm to block it.

Another step.

The keen blade of the Meridian-Severing Dagger—the treasure he had carefully kept concealed since leaving the Spirit-Guarding Temple—glinted in the sunlight.

The final step.

The Meridian-Severing Dagger flew directly toward the demonic cultivator’s neck, aiming for his carotid artery.

However, just before the dagger pierced his neck, Yise’s body burst into flames.

“Honored elder!”

Only after hearing the Bamboo-Container Maiden’s scream did Yise realize that he had been struck by an unknown spell.

His entire body was engulfed by a raging inferno. Through his distorted vision, he saw Kim Siwon glaring at him while holding a crimson magical treasure.

The flames pouring from that treasure were burning him.

‘It’s hot...’

The agony was so intense that his advance stopped instantly and his reason seemed ready to evaporate.

He had believed that six years of grueling training had made him accustomed to every kind of pain, but the searing agony was more severe than anything Yise had ever imagined.

At that moment, the support he had been awaiting arrived.

Splash!

A massive sphere of water crashed down upon Yise’s head.

The flames disappeared.

Heat still rose from his body in shimmering waves, and his entire body burned as though it remained aflame, but his vision quickly cleared.

Only then did Yise realize that he was drenched from head to toe.

It was water-attributed magic.

Seol Ryeong must have regained her senses and used one of her ritual implements.

Right.

The daughter of a noble clan, who possessed no shortage of ritual implements, was supporting him from behind.

Yise thrust the Meridian-Severing Dagger toward Kim Siwon’s neck.

However, Kim Siwon desperately raised an arm and blocked him.

The Meridian-Severing Dagger failed to penetrate his arm.

An ordinary blade could not pierce skin protected by a cultivator’s spiritual energy.

Knowing this, Kim Siwon had estimated Yise’s cultivation realm and blocked the dagger with his arm.

“You half-witted excuse for a Daoist can’t even infuse spiritual energy into a weapon...!”

The corners of his lips rose in a sneer.

Just as he began considering which ritual implement he should use to dispose of Yise, Yise’s other hand seized his exposed wrist.

His grip strength was certainly impressive.

No—his physical abilities, spirit, and judgment were all outstanding.

Kim Siwon understood that Yise was an exceptional talent.

The boy merely lacked one thing: proper reverence for a cultivator in a higher cultivation realm.

“Is this everything you prepared, you insect—”

Kim Siwon raised his spiritual energy, intending to unleash the most powerful spell he could use.

The nauseating energy twisting his vital energy and blood circulation was finally beginning to subside. Now he would show the brat the true difference between their cultivation realms.

However, Yise was not his only opponent.

The girl who had been obstructing him from behind with low-quality talismans attacked him again.

A massive sphere of water struck his face like a hammer.

As if that were not enough, the water soaking his body immediately froze.

Perhaps because they were especially effective against his fire-attributed ritual implement, the water- and ice-attributed talismans posed a far greater threat to him.

“You’re only delaying the inevitable!”

However, Kim Siwon failed to realize what change Seol Ryeong had created within Yise by buying him those few moments.

Hummm.

Golden spiritual energy suddenly shimmered around Yise’s arm.

When Kim Siwon realized what it meant, he was rendered speechless.

The young man had clearly been at the Second Star of the Energy Refinement Realm when Kim Siwon examined him.

He should not have known how to release spiritual energy outside his body or infuse it into a weapon.

Yet the spiritual energy inside Yise was gradually surging outward and beginning to envelop the Meridian-Severing Dagger.

Moreover, it was energy of heaven and earth that was purer and denser than Kim Siwon’s own spiritual energy.

“Impossible! You damned butchers...!”

Yise tightened his grip on the Meridian-Severing Dagger, his eyes bloodshot and crimson.

The capillaries beneath his skin stood out fiercely, looking ready to burst at any moment.

Thrust!

At last, the blade of the Meridian-Severing Dagger pierced Kim Siwon’s forearm.

His plan to seize Kim Siwon’s life in a single strike had failed, but this was enough.

The treasured Meridian-Severing Dagger was among the greatest of spirit treasures, granting death to Energy Refinement Realm demons the moment its blade touched them.

As though it had been starving all this time, the Meridian-Severing Dagger began devouring Kim Siwon’s demonic energy.

Realizing that the demonic energy inside him was disappearing, Kim Siwon turned deathly pale and tried to reach into his clothing with his other hand. However, Yise’s grip held his wrist firmly in place.

Yise reinforced his forehead with spiritual energy and smashed it into Kim Siwon’s nose.

“Aaargh!”

Kim Siwon screamed and fell backward.

Yise pulled out the Meridian-Severing Dagger and immediately drove it into the pit of his stomach.

“Im... possible. Advancing your cultivation realm in the middle of battle—”

“Bamboo.”

With the demonic cultivator completely subdued, Yise called to the Bamboo-Container Maiden.

She flinched.

“Do you have any final words for him?”

“I’ll assume you don’t.”

“My name!”

The Bamboo-Container Maiden suddenly raised her voice.

Sensing his approaching death, the cultivator blinked twice and looked toward the spiritual monster, who had clasped her hands together.

“My name is... Geuma.”

Her voice was damp with tears.

The Bamboo-Container Maiden—Geuma—haltingly delivered the words that would become her final farewell to him.

“It is the name you gave me... with the meaning that I was precious and noble. It made me so happy. So very happy.”

The life began fading from the demonic cultivator’s eyes.

What had he been thinking in his final moments?

Did he lament his failure to achieve immortal cultivation?

Did he regret following them?

Or did he still cling to life?

His ragged breathing stopped.

Yise partially raised himself, pulled out the Meridian-Severing Dagger, and stabbed Kim Siwon once each in the head, neck, and heart.

At first glance, his actions appeared cruel. However, Yise had heard that certain demonic arts allowed practitioners to conceal spare lives within their vital organs.

Even with their thorough preparations, the difference between their cultivation realms had been unmistakable, and Yise’s injuries were severe.

He could not afford to make another idiotic mistake.

As if that were still not enough, he picked up the small axe that had fallen nearby and prepared to bring it down upon Kim Siwon’s throat.

As he usually did with demons, he intended to sever the head, display it, and present his grisly trophy.

“Yise!”

“That’s enough. Stop there. You can do that much, can’t you?”

Yise halted his arm at Seol Ryeong’s shout.

Then his eyes met those of the spiritual object watching him.

The Bamboo-Container Maiden stared at the demonic cultivator’s corpse with tears streaming down her face, wearing the expression of a helpless fool.

Yise spat.

Fragments of burned skin mixed with saliva and blood fell to the ground.

“Seol Ryeong. We can perform spirit purification on a demonic cultivator too, right?”

“Yes, we can... More importantly, are you all right? Your body...”

“Will you do it, or should I?”

Unable to bring herself to say that she would do it while standing before Yise with his skin burned black, Seol Ryeong shook her head.

Yise took the Purification Rod in his hand and recited the incantation formula of the Demon-Extermination, Spirit-Purification, and Energy-Refinement Art.

The demonic energy remaining in Kim Siwon’s body was purified and drawn into Yise.

After he absorbed a certain amount, the flow of purified energy stopped.

This time, however, the remaining demonic energy was pulled into his body without being purified.

‘...The remaining demonic energy isn’t dispersing.’

The Grand Martial Path had clearly taught that the amount of demonic energy one could purify at once was limited by the cultivation realms of both the cultivator and the prey.

However, Yise had not expected the unpurified demonic energy left behind to be absorbed directly into him.

Rather than mentioning it aloud, Yise roughly tore the luxurious pouch from Kim Siwon’s clothing. He then took out the Demon-Sealing Album and recited the incantation formula once more.

Kim Siwon’s corpse was drawn into the album and engraved upon its pages like an illustration.

Their surprise at the wondrous sight lasted only briefly before their attention shifted toward the demon who remained.

Now, the entire truth had been revealed.

Kim Siwon had been alive.

However, he had merely used her to obtain her spirituality and discarded her once she had outlived her usefulness.

Eventually, he forgot righteousness and became a demonic cultivator. Then, after she had become a spiritual monster, he falsely claimed that he wanted to find her so he could exploit her once again.

Perhaps the betrayal of the master she had trusted was too great a shock, because Geuma’s body was becoming visibly transparent.

She would soon transform completely into a demon and lose her reason.

“......”

Seol Ryeong remained silent.

“That’s what happened.”

Yise summarized the situation briefly.

It felt disgusting, as though he had personally severed the final thread of hope she had clung to.

The wounds carved into her during all those years of waiting had accumulated and festered like pus, only to finally burst in the name of truth.

“I’m sorry.”

Geuma remained frozen in place, staring blankly into the distance for a long time. Then tears began falling from her enormous eyes.

“Waaah...”

The tears of a being who had now become a demon shimmered mournfully.

“I’ll perform a spirit-consoling rite so that even after becoming a demon, you can enter the Gate of Reincarnation without accumulating evil karma. Don’t worry.”

Seol Ryeong gently patted her in consolation.

“I...”