Soul Summoning Sword

Chapter 39: Bloody Poison Abyss (4)

Paaaahhh!

The blue light that burst forth from Gugwi’s chest illuminated the entire cave. It was so mysterious… like a small sun rising, a brilliant radiance spread in all directions.

Sa Hyeollin’s eyes widened in shock.

“This is… the heart of the Manifest Demon Emperor!”

She shouted in astonishment.

Her voice was mixed with desire and excitement.

Sa Hyeollin’s gaze completely changed. They were no longer the eyes of someone looking at prey. They were the eyes of a predator, burning with greed.

“No wonder! The order was to capture you alive, but… hehehe! This power, I’ll make it mine!”

Sa Hyeollin swung the Bloodfang Whip with a loud swoosh.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The Bloodfang Whip split into three and surrounded Gugwi. The serrated blades cut through the air with a grating sound. The serpent tattoo on her left arm ignited in crimson.

Baaang!

Sa Hyeollin pushed the Black Blood Sorcery of the Black Spirit to its extreme.

The nine-section whip of the black specter scraped the cave floor, spewing poisonous mist.

Ssshhheeeek!

The Bloodfang Whip and the poison mist completely encircled Gugwi. The serrated blades flashed from all directions, striking at him. Unlike before, there was no restraint in her attacks. These were strikes meant to kill.

Sa Hyeollin leaped into the air, unleashing a triple strike with her Bloodfang Whip.

Whiiish! Snap! Whooom!

The first attack targeted Gugwi’s head, the second his chest, the third his legs. The ten-zhang-long whip writhed like a serpent, slicing through the air with a hiss.

“Un Serim!”

Gugwi summoned the Master of the Cloud Flow Sect. And as soon as Un Serim made Spirit Contact, he immediately deployed the Cloud Flow Step.

Sshhheeek!

The serrated edge of the whip cut off a lock of his hair. A hair’s breadth.

Tatata!

Un Serim kicked off the wall and leapt toward the ceiling. The ground below was covered in the Black Spirit’s Blood Fog. The Spirit Flow Core repelled the poisonous mist, but he had no way of knowing what else might be hidden within it.

The Bloodfang Whip immediately followed toward the ceiling.

Snap!

The whip coiled around Gugwi’s ankle—no, Un Serim’s ankle. The serrated blades drilled in with a grinding sound, drawing blood.

“Got you!”

Sa Hyeollin smashed Gugwi down onto the ground.

Kwaaang!

A tremendous impact shook the cave floor.

From her throat, the Blood Demon Jade flashed red and exploded. She forcibly controlled the spirits, overdriving her soul-summoning weapon. In the eyes of the Blood Demon Witch, every living being around her seemed nothing more than an obstacle to claiming the Spirit Flow Core.

“Give me your heart!”

She screamed in a voice filled with madness as she charged at Gugwi.

‘…I’ll use it.’

Un Serim touched upon the explosive power within the Spirit Flow Core in his heart. He could no longer suppress it.

“With this power… I will protect everyone!”

Gugwi shouted, completely ignoring Yun Seoha’s warnings. It was the moment he abandoned the restraint on the Spirit Flow Core. In truth, these words were spoken by Un Serim, with whom he was in Spirit Contact.

Paaaahhh!

Blue light cascaded forth like a waterfall. It wrapped around Gugwi’s body, dyeing the cave in a fantastic azure.

The Soul Resonance with the Spirit Flow Core had been activated.

Baaang! Baaang! Baaang!

Countless spirits that had been asleep within Silver Moon Valley awoke. Not only Un Serim, but also General Madal, the Blood Spirit Warrior, the Black Wind Swordsman—powerful spirits appeared together. Spirit Control? Gugwi had even reached Spirit Control? Who was the Blood Spirit Warrior, and who was the Black Wind Swordsman?

“We fight together!”

Gugwi cried out as he thrust the Cloud Flow Spear. The spear became wrapped in blue light as it pierced through the air with a sharp whistle.

Thooom!

Gugwi pushed off the ground, shooting toward Sa Hyeollin like an arrow. He severed the whip biting his ankle with the energy of the Spirit Flow Core and instead rushed along the Bloodfang Whip toward her.

“Impossible!”

Sa Hyeollin gasped, forming the Eight-Directional Formation of the Bloodfang Whip.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

From eight directions, the Bloodfang Whip lashed toward Gugwi simultaneously. The serrated blades sliced through the air, weaving a net. But Gugwi’s Cloud Flow Spear was faster.

Whiish! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The spear tip shot out like lightning, batting away each whip one after another.

Spear and whip collided head-on. The serrated blades tried to entangle the spear, but the blue glow of the Spirit Flow Core shattered them as if crushing them outright.

Crackkk!

The serrated blades broke one by one. The weapon Sa Hyeollin had been so proud of was rendered powerless before the Spirit Flow Core.

“How… how can this be?!”

Sa Hyeollin cried out in disbelief as she summoned both the Blood Bone Binding and Dark Poison Smoke simultaneously.

Two spirits charged from either side, swinging their nine-section whips.

Swaaaash!

The spear wrapped in blue light tore through the poisonous mist and thrust toward Sa Hyeollin. At the same time, General Madal and the Blood Spirit Warrior launched supporting attacks from either flank. A three-pronged assault.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The joint attack pressed down on Sa Hyeollin.

Her nine-section whips shattered to pieces, scattering across the ground.

“Your poison arts will soon collapse as well!”

Gugwi declared, unleashing a flurry of attacks.

Whoosh! Zziik! Huuuuk! Ssshhheek!

The spear split into dozens, pouring down like a storm. Each strike left behind a trail of blue light, cleaving through the air.

Sa Hyeollin desperately defended herself with the Frenzied Dance of the Bloodfang Whip.

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap!

She whipped wildly, forming a barrier, but Gugwi’s attacks were far stronger.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The spear smashed into the cave walls, sending shockwaves rippling through the cavern. Stone dust rained down like a waterfall.

“This is the power of the Spirit Flow Core!”

Gugwi roared, driving Sa Hyeollin back.

She slammed against the wall with a crash, spitting out blood.

“Khugh… such power…”

But at that moment, Gugwi’s vision suddenly began to blur. Signs of overload.

‘Ah! No… I must finish this… I have to finish it…’

His will was earnest, but his body trembled, his limbs stiffening.

“Finish her! Now that it’s come to this, you must kill her!”

Yun Seoha shouted furiously.

Gugwi had revealed the Spirit Flow Core, and the Blood Demon Witch had seen it… she must be killed. Thankfully, she was injured. With luck, they might just succeed.

Yeon Sohye blocked Sa Hyeollin’s vision with So Ryeonghwa’s mist and joined in the attack with the Silver Spirit Sword Technique. From the tip of her sword, a flash of silver light erupted.

Jjiik! Jjiik! Jjiik!

Yeon Sohye’s sword unleashed a triple strike toward Sa Hyeollin’s side. But Sa Hyeollin desperately blocked it with the Bloodfang Whip.

“With just this much, you think you can touch me?”

Sa Hyeollin sneered as she swung the whip back at her. Yeon Sohye evaded by a hair’s breadth using the movement technique of the Gale Spirit Guest.

“You brat, you’re still far too lacking!”

“I know that too!”

Yeon Sohye shouted through gritted teeth. She was weaker than Sa Hyeollin, but she did not give up.

Yeon Sohye deployed So Ryeonghwa’s Silver Mist Formation.

Paaaahhh!

Silver mist swirled and enveloped Sa Hyeollin. It was a soul-summoning art that completely obstructed her vision.

“How many times are you going to use this! Annoying pests!”

Sa Hyeollin sensed the aura of spirits with the Blood Demon Jade and swung the whip. The Blood Demon Jade pursued, amplified, and tore apart spiritual auras… the Bloodfang Whip tracked Yeon Sohye even within the mist.

“Danger!”

Yun Seoha summoned Baek Soryeong and deployed the Silver Wind Fan Line.

Whuuuuush!

The wind blew, pushing Sa Hyeollin’s whip aside. Thanks to that, Yeon Sohye narrowly survived.

Yun Seoha summoned Kang Mukran at the same time. Baek Soryeong and Kang Mukran flanked Sa Hyeollin from both sides.

Kaaak! Kaaak!

Two crows flew above her head, harassing the Bloodfang Whip.

“Annoying vermin!”

Sa Hyeollin unleashed the Whip Rotation Strike.

Whiiiiiiish!

She spun the whip above her head, driving the crows away. But in that instant, Yeon Sohye and Yun Seoha launched a joint assault.

Zziik! Whuuush!

Sword and fan flew at Sa Hyeollin together.

Kwaang! Kwaang!

She raised the whip to block, but the impact forced her backward. Normally, such an attack would have been nothing, but the injuries she had dismissed as minor turned out to be serious.

“Khugh!”

Blood spilled from the corner of her lips.

“You dare, you wretches…”

Despair flickered across her face.

The blow from Gugwi’s Spirit Flow Core had been severe. The core did not attack flesh or spirits—it struck directly at the origin. Her physical injuries were not grave, but her soul-summoning arts had plummeted to the bottom.

The Blood Demon Witch summoned the Blood Bone Binding with a look of despair. It was her last resort.

She screamed in a voice filled with madness.

“If I can’t have it… then you all die!”

As she deployed the Self-Destruct Formation of the Blood Bone Binding, countless poisonous insects spewed out of the Bloodfang Whip.

The insects swelled red and all transformed into living bombs.

“Everyone, get back!”

Yun Seoha shouted urgently.

Brrrrrr! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The insects exploded in succession. The cave shook violently as though gunpowder had detonated. Fist-sized rocks tumbled from the ceiling, and cracks split across the walls.

Gugwi spread the Spirit Flow Core barrier.

Paaaahhh!

A blue shield enveloped Gugwi, Yeon Sohye, and Yun Seoha, but the self-destruction unleashed by Sa Hyeollin was beyond imagination.

Cracks spread across the shield as it trembled.

At that moment, a strange voice whispered in Gugwi’s ear.

‘Gatekeeper… awaken me…!’

Gugwi was startled.

‘This is… the Manifest Demon Emperor?’

Something stirred deep within the Spirit Flow Core. A vast consciousness was awakening from a long slumber.

Though the voice was unfamiliar, Gugwi instinctively recognized it as the Manifest Demon Emperor. Not because he knew him directly—but because the Spirit Flow Core, the emperor’s very heart embedded in his chest, resonated with its master’s voice.

‘No! You must not come out!’

This too was instinct. Not a conscious thought, but something that welled up like a dream.

Baaang!

The Blood Demon Jade exploded crimson, driving the spirits into frenzy. Cracks spidered across the cave’s soul-summoning patterns. The Spirit-Sealing Formation that had endured for hundreds of years collapsed.

“This is the end!”

Sa Hyeollin unleashed the Death Strike of the Bloodfang Whip.

Whiiiiiiish!

The whip extended ten zhang, targeting Gugwi’s neck. The serrated blades flew like lightning.

But Gugwi’s Spirit Flow Core erupted in dazzling radiance.

Paaaahhh!

The blue light exploded like a sun, swallowing Sa Hyeollin’s attack whole.

“Arghhh!”

She screamed as she crashed into the wall. The Bloodfang Whip shattered into fragments.

Gugwi too had reached his limit.

“Damn… I’ve used too much…”

He dropped to his knees, muttering. As the core overloaded, his vision blurred. His legs gave out entirely, and the cave spun around him.

He braced himself desperately against the wall to avoid collapsing.

“Do you think this is the end? The Heavenly Sound Cult… will learn of this power!”

Sa Hyeollin spat blood, grinning twistedly.

From outside the cave, footsteps echoed.

Thoom… thoom… thoom…!

The Black Blood Unit, who had been waiting at a distance, sensed the situation turning dire and began charging in all at once.

“You fool, I told you not to use it!”

Yun Seoha supported the collapsing Gugwi.

Yeon Sohye struggled with So Ryeonghwa’s mist and swift footwork, but she could not last much longer.

Ruuumble!

The cave ceiling began to collapse. The overload of the Spirit Flow Core had destabilized the entire Silver Moon Valley.

At last, the Spirit Flow Core inside his heart ran wild, slipping beyond Gugwi’s control.

Paaaahhh!

The whisper of the Manifest Demon Emperor filled his mind.

‘Gatekeeper… awaken me… the time has come…’

“No!”

The Spirit Flow Core shook Gugwi’s heart.