novelnext Chapter 270 : Descent of the Malevolent God (1)
Chapter 270 : Descent of the Malevolent God (1)
Chapter 270: Descent of the Malevolent God (1)
Qiongqi’s soul was being absorbed into Sewoon as naturally as a small river’s current being embraced by a vast sea.
[No. I. Won’t. I am. Qiongqi. I will. Never. Submit.]
Even though most of his soul had already been absorbed, Qiongqi still struggled, shrieking viciously in resistance.
Pazzzz!
Paz!
In response to that resistance, terrifying demonic beast qi surged and bloomed within the space where Sewoon stood.
To think that even after his true body had vanished, he could still exert such demonic power with only the strength of his soul.
Truly, one of the Four Fiends was indeed one of the Four Fiends.
‘Fine. Let’s see how long you can keep thrashing about.’
But that was as far as it went.
Swaaaa!
Sewoon drew up even more of the Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi.
Then, using that power, he began to crush the soul of Qiongqi dwelling within him with even greater intensity.
“I’ll say it again. Submit.”
Kwad-deuk!
Kwajik!
The gruesome sound of flesh being crushed and torn echoed, as though something formless were being shattered.
Though it could neither be seen nor heard, there was no doubt that Qiongqi’s soul was experiencing horrific pain at that very moment.
The power pouring forth from the soul of a Great Demon Beast was wild and destructive, yet before Sewoon’s overwhelming will, it was no more than a child’s tantrum.
[…I am… one of the Four Fiends. I… do not… take orders from anyone. Kgh! I will not…]
Even so, Qiongqi refused to bow his pride as a god among demon beasts to the very end.
He looked like a defeated general of a fallen nation who would not surrender until his last breath.
Unfortunately for him, Sewoon was not someone who would praise such loyalty or resolve.
“Then you can just perish like this.”
Uuuuuung!
Jiiiiiiing!
In that instant, a chilling radiance burst forth from Sewoon’s eyes.
At the same time, the Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi transformed, carving out a bizarre fissure in the void.
It was not merely tearing space apart.
It was a rift to another world—one like the maw of a hellish starving ghoul—that devoured all vitality and erased it from existence.
The demonic beast qi emitted by Qiongqi began to be slowly sucked into that rift.
[?!?!]
Ssssss!
Chijijijik!
The qi that was drawn in vanished without leaving even a trace.
For the first time, Qiongqi was seized by extreme terror.
The demon beast immediately realized that, just as the insolent human had said, the moment he was pulled into that place, he would be completely annihilated.
It was the first time he had ever felt the fear of true extinction.
By nature, demon beasts did not die.
Even if they descended into the mortal world and were slain after being subjugated, they would return to the demon realm, recover over hundreds or thousands of years, and manifest once more.
But the power Sewoon was displaying now was on an entirely different level.
Certain death was waiting for him.
As the opponent grew noticeably quieter, Sewoon curled his lips into a cold, mocking smile and spoke.
“In the end, you don’t have a choice. It’s death or life.”
Qiongqi’s soul trembled violently. Sewoon drove the final nail in.
“Think carefully. Depending on how you behave, I might even release you freely someday.”
Qiongqi’s soul agonized over the choice again and again.
If he abandoned his freedom, he could live.
The only thing holding him back was his pride as a god among demon beasts.
Chijijijik!
There was no time left.
Not only qi, but even fragments of his soul were now being drawn into the rift of the other world.
At that moment, panic-stricken, Qiongqi screamed as if in a convulsion.
[I-I will… obey!]
At Qiongqi’s words, Sewoon replied coldly.
“Then crawl in and enter.”
[—!!]
Rage boiled within him, but at Sewoon’s command, Qiongqi’s soul submitted obediently.
Swaaaa!
Sewoon embraced Qiongqi’s soul as it crawled in prostration and absorbed it into himself.
In an instant, the surroundings were dyed in stillness.
Thus, since the birth of the mortal world and the demon realm—
For the first time, one of the Four Fiends submitted to a human and became his servant.
“Hoo… that should do it.”
Sewoon exhaled softly and muttered to himself.
His expression was flushed with excitement.
In truth, even he had been unsure whether this would be possible.
But in the end, he succeeded.
Capturing Qiongqi would undoubtedly lead to a tremendous increase in power when facing the Blood Cult.
Swaaa!
The art of Appearing and Vanishing Like a God or Ghost faded away.
Sewoon returned from the demon realm to reality.
Once more, the scene of the cave filled with white breath spreading into the air unfolded before him.
The rift through which he had entered the demon realm had completely vanished.
Immediately, Sewoon sensed how much time had passed while he was inside the demon realm.
His brow furrowed.
“Already two days. More time passed than I expected.”
By his own perception, the battle with Qiongqi and the capture of his soul seemed to have taken no more than about an hour.
Yet outside, several times that amount of time had flowed.
It was regrettable, but unavoidable.
The flow of time between the demon realm and the mortal world was entirely different.
Sewoon’s expression grew solemn.
In two days, the battlefield in Shaanxi must have become far more dire.
“I’ll have to hurry.”
In Sewoon’s eyes, there was nothing but a clear objective and cold determination.
Swick.
He reached into his robes and drew out an item.
A grotesque grimoire bound in human skin revealed itself.
The Compendium of Sorcerous Bodies.
Those words were clearly inscribed on its cover.
It was the spellbook containing forbidden sorcery that the Heaven-Piercing Sect Leader had concealed until the very end.
The reason Sewoon had come to this place.
‘To create the strongest Jiangshi—one capable of sweeping away every Jiangshi of the Blood Cult.’
To achieve that purpose, Sewoon boldly opened the grimoire.
From the very first page, grotesque illustrations accompanied descriptions of countless forbidden sorceries.
A curse was embedded within it—one that would drive an ordinary martial artist mad merely by reading—but Sewoon showed no abnormal reaction as he calmly absorbed the sorceries and selected among them.
And upon reaching the final page, he found the grand spell he had been searching for.
“Descent of the Malevolent God.”
This was it.
However, there was one difference between this and the other sorceries.
This spell contained only a hypothesis proposed by the one who authored the book.
But that did not matter to Sewoon.
‘I can make it succeed.’
Upon ascending to the Life and Death Realm, it was not only his martial prowess that had evolved.
His mastery and comprehension of sorcery had also risen dramatically—on par with his martial arts.
Sewoon moved deeper inward, passing beyond where he had been standing. The dreadful cold that had been tormenting his body grew even more intense.
Preparations for the grand spell were already complete.
The reason he had come to this cave was precisely for this ritual.
“The soul is prepared. All that remains is a body worthy of the vessel that will descend.”
Originally, this cave had not been an ice cavern. It had been the opposite.
This place had once been a sulfur cave, engulfed in unbearable heat—but due to what Sewoon had brought with him, the environment had been completely reversed.
“Still, the body’s vessel surpasses the soul’s grade by too wide a margin. That, too, becomes a problem.”
Sewoon walked toward a massive block of ice placed at the center of the cave.
Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi surged from his hand, enveloping a colossal ice crystal larger than a human body.
Within the ice, the body of a man was revealed.
An unknown man with a cold, merciless expression, appearing to be around thirty years of age.
The body was intact, as if alive—without even the smallest blemish on the skin.
Yet no energy, no life force of any kind could be sensed from it.
Only an empty shell remained.
Sewoon’s gaze settled upon him.
“Isn’t that right, Master.”
There was only one person Sewoon would ever call master.
That was right. The body before him belonged to the Heavenly Demon.
It was identical to the Heavenly Demon Sewoon had seen within the mental space.
Waiting countless years in the form of a soul for his eventual meeting with Sewoon, the Heavenly Demon had abandoned his body—sealed within an ice crystal.
‘This corpse is the shell Master left behind. And this body alone is the only vessel capable of containing one of the Four Fiends.’
Once bound to a body, the flow of time could no longer be endured.
After driving the Demonic Cult forces out of the Heavenly Demon Cavern, Sewoon had retrieved this ice-sealed body alone with Nameless.
‘If you were to know of this in the other world, you would surely be furious… but please forgive me just this once, Master.’
Guilt and remorse intertwined within Sewoon’s heart, yet he could not stop.
All of this was to stop the Blood Cult—to save even more lives.
As for the master’s wrath over committing such an act, Sewoon vowed to pay the full price for his sins when they met again in death.
Sewoon then opened the Compendium of Sorcerous Bodies in his hand.
“□□□□□.”
Sewoon’s voice reverberated through the cave.
Yet the word he spoke could not be properly heard.
It was not a word that existed in this world.
Fsssh!
Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi erupted explosively from Sewoon’s body.
Golden radiance filled the cave as the forbidden sorcery was finally unleashed.
Kwarrrrr!
Tzzzzk!
At Sewoon’s gesture, the soul of Qiongqi was dragged out from within him.
The soul of Qiongqi struggled violently, but Sewoon forced it into the Heavenly Demon’s body through sheer will.
[Gr—GRAAAAGH?!]
The soul of Qiongqi screamed in unbearable agony.
The pain occurred because the Heavenly Demon’s body resisted—as if it possessed its own will.
Though it was nothing more than an empty shell after the soul had departed, the Heavenly Demon’s body resisted fiercely, as though alive.
Yet Sewoon, exerting all his strength, continued forcing the soul of Qiongqi and the Heavenly Demon’s body into alignment with Golden Heaven Divine Harmony Qi.
‘Kgh…!’
As time passed, Sewoon’s brow tightened.
Though he was using the sorcery recorded in the Compendium of Sorcerous Bodies, it was far from easy.
The longer it dragged on, the greater the tremendous burden placed upon his body.
[KYAAAAAAH!!]
Qiongqi was also suffering excruciating pain.
This was clearly not a good situation.
Just as Sewoon wondered whether he had underestimated the Heavenly Demon’s body—
Ssssshh!!
Suddenly, as if a lie, a single voice reached his ears.
—Tsk. You really are a disciple who needs constant attention until the very end.
Sewoon was stunned.
It was a familiar voice.
‘What…?!’
This should have been absolutely impossible.
He wondered if he was hallucinating—
Ssssshhh!
At the same time, the rejecting force pouring from the Heavenly Demon’s body vanished.
No—it did not vanish.
Rather, it transformed into something that aided Sewoon’s will.
Ssssshh!
Pitch-black Demonic Beast Qi began pouring out from the Heavenly Demon’s body.
‘Are you… helping me…?’
Sewoon’s chest tightened.
In such an extreme situation, it was possible he was merely hearing things.
But Sewoon firmly shook his head.
He could feel it—this was undeniably the Heavenly Demon’s aid.
‘You have given me this chance. I must see it through!’
Kwarrrrrrr!
Guided by Sewoon, Qiongqi’s destructive Demonic Beast Qi began to assimilate with the Heavenly Demon’s body.
The powers of two colossal beings collided—and through that collision, a new existence was being born.
‘Just a little more… just a little more.’
And finally—
The moment Qiongqi’s soul was completely absorbed into the Heavenly Demon’s body.
It was no longer the Heavenly Demon.
Nor was it Qiongqi.
It was the strongest Jiangshi to ever exist in Murim history—born from the union of the Heavenly Demon’s overwhelming body and Qiongqi’s destructive soul.
‘Malevolent God Jiangshi—!’
The Malevolent God Jiangshi opened its eyes.
KUUUUUUNG!
The combined aura of Demonic Qi and Demonic Beast Qi erupting from its body shook the entire cave.
Yet the being did not act.
Thud.
Thud.
It merely bowed its head toward Sewoon and knelt on both knees.
“…….”
Qiongqi had now become a perfect weapon—one that obeyed Sewoon’s command with absolute loyalty.
Sewoon smiled faintly.
All preparations were now complete.
“We are going to Shaanxi.”
At Sewoon’s quiet command, the Malevolent God Jiangshi raised its head.
Within its gaze remained only resolve—to obey Sewoon’s orders.
“And there, we will wipe out the Blood Cult entirely.”
With that, Sewoon completed his bone-chilling command.