Soul Summoning Sword

Chapter 40: Bloody Poison Abyss (5)

Paaaahhhht!

The blue light of the Spirit Flow Core broke free from Gugwi’s control and went berserk.

The light enveloping his entire body pulsed like a heartbeat, shaking the whole cave.

‘Gatekeeper… awaken me….’

The whisper of the Manifest Demon Emperor pierced into Gugwi’s mind.

“No… no!”

Gugwi clutched his head and writhed.

It felt as if the consciousness of the Manifest Demon Emperor was trying to devour him.

“You are my vessel… my resurrection….”

“Don’t be ridiculous… Who’s your vessel? I am me!”

Gugwi gritted his teeth and shouted.

He tried to resist the whisper of the Manifest Demon Emperor, but the rampage of the Spirit Flow Core did not stop.

Thud!

At last, Gugwi dropped to his knees and collapsed. The unbearable pain of overloaded blood vessels pierced through his entire body.

“Gugwi!”

Yeon Sohye hurried over and supported him.

“Breathe calmly, slowly!”

“You fool, get a grip!”

Yun Seoha quickly unfolded the Soul Separation Technique. White energy streamed from her hand and sank into his Dantian, instantly moving to calm Gugwi’s Spirit Flow Core through the Twelve Circulations.

“Leader… I… my body feels strange.”

Gugwi spoke in a trembling voice.

“The Manifest Demon Emperor… he’s speaking inside me….”

“That’s just the remnant of the Spirit Flow Core. It’s not you!”

Yun Seoha answered firmly. Her Soul Separation Technique wrapped around Gugwi’s chest.

Flaaash… Flaaash….

The blue light gradually began to weaken. Yun Seoha supported Gugwi as she suppressed the rampage of the Spirit Flow Core.

“Endure it, Gugwi. You are the master of the Spirit Flow Core.”

“Urgh… the Spirit Flow Core… is this power a curse inside me?”

Gugwi muttered as the pain in his blood vessels gnawed at him.

“Father… why did you give me such a burden….”

“Are you going to collapse here like this? Don’t be absurd. After all the trouble you’ve caused us, you’d better make it up. Stand up.”

Yeon Sohye shouted as she shielded Gugwi with So Ryeonghwa’s mist. Her voice was laced with desperation.

Gugwi grasped Yeon Sohye’s hand.

“Tha… thank you. Just give me… a moment….”

Slowly, Gugwi regained consciousness. The pulsations of the Spirit Flow Core began to stabilize.

‘Perhaps the Spirit Flow Core truly belonged to the Manifest Demon Emperor… entrusted temporarily to the Gatekeeper? Even so… my power is mine to master.’

With a resolute expression, he rose to his feet.

‘Manifest Demon Emperor, you will not be resurrected.’

His father had stolen the Spirit Flow Core and the Soul Echo Manual when escaping the Heavenly Sound Cult, because the Cult Leader sought to resurrect the Manifest Demon Emperor.

That was all Gugwi knew. In truth, he didn’t even know what the Manifest Demon Emperor really was. But he was certain that the resurrection must never happen—just as his father intended.

Baaahhhm!

The necromantic patterns carved in the cave emitted their final light.

Sa Hyeollin staggered as she rose. Leaning against the wall, she appeared gravely injured. The Bloodfang Whip had already shattered, leaving only the hilt intact.

“Huff… huff….”

Her breathing grew rough.

“This power… if I cannot have it!”

Sa Hyeollin gripped the Blood Demon Jade with her left hand.

“Then all of you will die with me!”

She attempted a final counterattack with the Blood Bone Binding of the Blood Bone Insects.

The nine-section whip of the Blood Bone Insects scraped across the ground, releasing venomous insects as it hurtled toward Gugwi.

“Tch! So it’s not over yet….”

Gugwi sneered and unleashed the Celestial Cloud Strike.

Though Yun Seoha and Yeon Sohye stood beside him, his response was the fastest. The Spirit Flow Core was moving in earnest now. He could sense the Blood Bone Insects the moment they made Spirit Contact.

Swiisshhh!

The spear tip shot forth like lightning, shattering the nine-section whip to pieces. The energy of the Spirit Flow Core spiraled around the spear, unleashing overwhelming might.

“No… not like this….”

Sa Hyeollin recoiled in despair.

Bang!

The spear tip pierced into Sa Hyeollin’s chest. She coughed up blood and staggered backward.

In that instant, Yeon Sohye slipped in from the right and struck with her sword.

Slaaash!

Her blade pierced through Sa Hyeollin’s side. Using the swift steps of the Gale Spirit Guest, she closed in and delivered the blow.

“Gaaahhhk!”

Sa Hyeollin screamed and dropped to her knees.

“Not yet… I still…!”

She tried to raise the Blood Demon Jade again.

Yun Seoha hurled Baek Soryeong.

“Kraaahk!”

The white crow pecked Sa Hyeollin’s wrist. The Blood Demon Jade slipped from her grasp and rolled across the ground.

“Sa Hyeollin, stop! Stop it. It’s already over.”

Yun Seoha’s voice rang with certainty.

“What… is over…? The Manifest Demon Emperor… this power….”

Sa Hyeollin muttered as she spat blood, then collapsed.

Dead. Her breath ceased. All of her Spirit Union souls drifted into the Realm of the Threshold.

From outside the cave, the voices of the Black Blood Unit echoed.

“The Lord of the Seven Armies has fallen!”

“Retreat!”

The sounds of the attack halting and the enemy scattering filled the air.

With Sa Hyeollin’s defeat, the morale of the Black Blood Unit shattered completely.

Yun Seoha approached Gugwi. Her eyes were mixed with anger and worry.

“Gugwi.”

Her voice was low, as if suppressing fury.

“Why do you keep ignoring my warnings? You saw what happened with Sa Hyeollin!”

Her voice trembled.

“I told you not to use the Spirit Flow Core! Before, maybe it would’ve ended with just your death. But now, it will erupt into a full-scale war between the Heavenly Sound Cult and the Sect of the Soul-Summoners. And it’s because you just used the Spirit Flow Core!”

Gugwi lowered his head.

“I apologize, Leader.”

He had not thought that far. He had only believed there was no way out without the Spirit Flow Core… but now he realized it might ignite an all-out war between the Heavenly Sound Cult and the Sect of the Soul-Summoners.

“Escape first. We’ll deal with the rest later.”

She turned away as she spoke.

“Remember this. Next time I truly won’t forgive you. If you’re told to die, you should know how to die! If you refuse to think of the whole, then be expelled and leave.”

Ruuumble!

The ceiling of the cave began to collapse. Sa Hyeollin’s self-detonation had destabilized the entire Silver Moon Valley.

“This way!”

Yun Seoha borrowed the last power of the necromantic patterns to open a secret passage.

Grrrng!

Faint light shimmered across the engravings, revealing a gap in the wall.

It was the passage reserved for their final escape. Gugwi hadn’t needed to use the Spirit Flow Core—there had been a last resort.

They hurried through the narrow tunnel.

“Watch your head!”

Yeon Sohye pushed Gugwi’s head down as she spoke.

Boom! Boom! The sounds of the cave collapsing thundered from behind.

“Faster, faster!”

Yun Seoha shouted as she led them.

When they emerged, the night air brushed against their skin. Mist drifted through the forest, blurring their vision.

“We’re heading to the Blood Spirit Cave. We’ll regroup there first….”

Yun Seoha lowered her voice as she outlined the escape route.

The three stepped onto the misty forest path. Damp leaves squished beneath their feet.

Then it came.

“Awoooooo…!”

A mournful wail seeped in from the distance.

Yun Seoha froze. Her hand rose into the air, halting the group.

“It’s the Blood Poison Demon Spirit.”

Yeon Sohye’s voice trembled.

A chill crawled down Gugwi’s spine. He knew the Blood Poison Demon Spirit could track the aura of Soul-Summoning Arts. Once it caught a scent, it would pursue them endlessly.

“Find a cave. Any cave. As long as it hides us!”

Yun Seoha quickly shifted direction.

The wailing drew closer and closer.

Gugwi’s heartbeat grew erratic. Even the pulsations of the Spirit Flow Core seemed to call the spirit toward them.

“Awooo… oooooh…!”

They slipped beneath tree shadows as they moved. Each time their feet brushed a twig, their whole bodies flinched.

“There!”

Yeon Sohye pointed to a small cave between rocks.

Inside, the air was thick with damp earth and chilling cold. As the three crouched down, their shoulders pressed together.

Outside, the sorrowful wail spread through the night.

“Awoo… oooooh…!”

Gugwi closed his eyes and suppressed the aura of the Spirit Flow Core. Deep in his Dantian, the blue light stirred, but he barely sealed it away. Yun Seoha raised the Soul Separation Technique, severing the aura inside and outside the cave.

They held their breath. Yun Seoha mouthed the words.

‘Even your breathing.’

Dark shadows seeped past the entrance. The form of the Blood Poison Demon Spirit wavered like smoke as it drifted by. Its mournful cry seeped into the rock, stabbing into their bones.

An entire shichen passed.

At last, its presence receded, and the forest’s silence returned.

After carefully checking outside, Yun Seoha nodded.

“Whew! That improvisation worked. But don’t trust it too much. At best, it’s fifty-fifty. Today, the Blood Poison Demon Spirit must’ve been weakened.”

Relief softened her voice.

The sun sank behind the western mountains, spilling red light through the forest. The three halted amid dense underbrush.

“There’s Blood Spirit Herb!”

Yeon Sohye’s eyes gleamed.

From a crack in the rocks, a herb with crimson leaves emerged. She carefully uprooted it.

“Let’s tend to the wound first.”

She examined Gugwi’s shoulder. The cut from Sa Hyeollin’s Bloodfang Whip still seeped with dark energy. Crushing the Blood Spirit Herb, she applied it to the wound.

“Ah….”

Cool medicine seeped in, drawing out the poison.

Relief flickered across Gugwi’s face.

Yeon Sohye rummaged through her pack and took something out—pieces of patterns once carved in the Silver Moon Valley cave. She must have collected fragments that broke off, yet strangely, faint necromantic energy lingered in the stones.

“Absorb this energy. It’ll help.”

She murmured as she handed over the fragments.

The last gift of Silver Moon Valley.

They found a rocky cave to use as a temporary shelter. Yun Seoha gathered dry branches and lit a fire. Crack! Crack! Sparks danced, casting shadows on the cave wall.

In front of the fire, Gugwi spread the Soul Echo Manual across his lap. The firelight flickered over the letters.

‘The Dark Spirit Sect….’

His finger halted on a page. Records of the Cloud Flow Sect’s annihilation stared back at him—his father’s secrets tangled with the Dark Spirit Sect’s schemes.

From deep within the Realm of the Threshold, the voice of Un Serim echoed.

‘Prevent the resurrection of the Manifest Demon Emperor….’

The chilling urge pierced Gugwi’s chest.

Yun Seoha, staring at the fire, spoke.

“Now that the Spirit Flow Core has appeared… the Heavenly Sound Cult will spiral out of control. They’ve been holding the boundary until now… but you understand? It’s now a battle where the side that seizes you wins. Even the Cold Wolf Sect won’t leave you be, sigh….”

Her voice was heavy with worry.

If a full-scale war between the Sect of the Soul-Summoners and the Heavenly Sound Cult broke out, chaos would consume everything.

The one who possessed the Spirit Flow Core would be the victor.

Which meant, at present, Gugwi was unable to properly wield it.

“For now, all we can hope is that the Black Blood Unit didn’t see the Spirit Flow Core.”

Yun Seoha sighed, her face darkened.

“……”

Gugwi couldn’t speak a word.

The fire crackled, shadows of the three wavering across the wall. An owl hooted in the distance.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m on your side.”

Yeon Sohye forced a bright smile as she patted Gugwi’s shoulder.