Heavenly Inquisition Sword

Episode 309: “Clearly, It’s a Sorcery Technique”

Yeon Jeokha stared at the sky with astonished eyes. It wasn’t just the seven-colored radiance that baffled him, but also the horrendous sounds that seemed to be emitted by monsters. The roars were so intense that they resonated within him, reminding him of the monsters he had faced before.

The strange thing was that the stone colossus also seemed affected. Instead of focusing on Yeon Jeokha, the colossus directed all its attention towards the seven-colored radiance. As everyone watched the spectacle, a massive creature emerged through the radiance, heading towards the colossus.

It was a blue serpent dragon, approximately one hundred meters long.

“What the hell?!”

Yeon Jeokha was dumbfounded. Despite the surprise, the dragon seemed familiar to him.

“Could it be… Cheongsa?”

Since last year, he had dreamt of riding a blue dragon. He had named it Cheongsa because of its bluish body.

“Could it be that the Cheongsa dragon from my dreams has taken form as a spirit sword?”

The idea was absurd. Spirit swords take shape from the user’s intention. It made no sense for a dragon he barely remembered to take form. But he couldn’t find any other explanation.

As he pondered, the dragon coiled around the stone colossus.

“Grrrrr!”

The dragon fell like lightning and wrapped around the colossus. Despite its size, the colossus was completely encircled and crushed by the dragon.

The sound of stones being crushed echoed. The colossus tried to pry the dragon off with its hands, but the dragon squeezed tighter, causing the stones to break continuously.

“Aaaah!”

The colossus screamed in pain as flames erupted from its mouth, but the dragon did not release it. In the struggle, the scorpions surrounding the colossus were crushed, staining the sand green with their toxic fluids.

As the dragon rolled and fought with the colossus, Namgung Yeon and Old Shim approached Yeon Jeokha.

“What is that dragon?” asked Namgung Yeon, not taking her eyes off the dragon.

She had seen Yeon Jeokha throw the dagger and thought the dragon was his doing.

“It doesn’t seem like a spirit sword. What do you think it is?”

The dragon seemed too real to be a creation of intent. Its scales, worn with time, made anyone think it was real.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

Old Shim chimed in.

“What?”

“The dragon came out of your dagger. You must have learned some sorcery technique, right? It clearly seems like sorcery.”

“I haven’t learned anything like that.”

Yeon Jeokha shook his head. He only knew some stories from the Three Immortals of Kunlun, but nothing he could use as sorcery. If it were that easy, everyone would be a sorcerer.

“Then why is your face purple?”

“What? My face?”

“It looks like you’ve been hit. You have a black eye.”

“No one has touched me.”

“Good. Take care. It would be a shame if you died after rejuvenating.”

“Don’t worry. If I see things going bad, I’ll flee immediately.”

As he spoke, Old Shim gently rubbed his eyes, trying to relieve the fatigue. He had experienced things he had never seen before, which justified his exhaustion. He slightly moved his shoulders and neck to ease the tension.

Then, the dragon bit the head of the colossus.

Crack!

A stone chunk the size of a human head broke off under the dragon’s powerful jaws. Surprised, the colossus spewed flames inside the dragon’s throat.

However, the dragon continued biting the colossus’s head undeterred.

Crack, crack!

The colossus’s head gradually crumbled under the pressure of the dragon’s fangs. The fight was one-sided.

Finally, the dragon opened its mouth and swallowed the colossus’s head. The colossus desperately pounded the dragon’s mouth with its hands.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

But the dragon remained unmoved and shook its head from side to side as if trying to break the colossus’s neck.

Crack!

In the end, a horrible sound came from the colossus’s neck. It couldn’t withstand the dragon’s force.

Poof!

The colossus disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Yeon Jeokha, Namgung Yeon, and Old Shim looked around with wide eyes.

At that moment, someone fell between the two pillars.

It was the Bodhisattva of Vajra, one of the Eight Emperors.

He was breathing heavily and continuously vomiting blood.

“Cough! Cough!”

Suddenly, Namgung Yeon lunged towards him, pointing her sword at his neck.

“Are you the guardian of the Earthly Portal?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Deactivate the formation immediately.”

“Just kill me.”

The Bodhisattva of Vajra closed his eyes in resignation. Namgung Yeon looked at him coldly.

“Do you really think we don’t know that these pillars are the formation pillars?”

The Bodhisattva of Vajra’s eyes snapped open.

“You already know, so why are you making this demand?”

“We don’t just want to deactivate this portal but the entire formation of the Eight Celestial and Earthly Trigrams.”

A sigh escaped the Bodhisattva of Vajra’s lips.

She was right.

If they destroyed the Earthly Portal, the entire formation would slowly collapse. But deactivating it was different; by deactivating just one of the portals, the entire formation would lose its power instantly.

“You know a lot. Are you the Incomparable Among Ten?”

“Yes. In any case, the formation is broken. There’s no need for more deaths. This is also for your own good.”

“Do you want to spare my life?”

“We didn’t come here to kill.”

“Hahaha…”

The Bodhisattva of Vajra let out a dry laugh.

Talking about death in these circumstances seemed ridiculous.

“I’ll do as you ask.”

The Bodhisattva of Vajra agreed readily.

Anyway, the Leader must have already known that they had broken the formation.

It didn’t matter if one or ten escaped. The result would be the same.

Their lives were in her hands.

The Bodhisattva of Vajra took out two talismans and threw them at the pillars.

The talismans touched the pillars, and they turned to sand.

Suddenly, a powerful wave of energy emanated from where the pillars had stood, forming concentric circles.

In the blink of an eye, the landscape changed.

The desert disappeared as if by magic, revealing the Five Peaks Mountain once more.

At some point, the dragon had also returned to being a dagger.

Just when they thought everything was over, Old Shim, with a look of astonishment, began to stagger as if he were drunk.

“What? What?”

Confused, Old Shim waved his hands in the air. Yeon Jeokha, who was nearby, quickly grabbed him by the arm.

‘What? Why is his body so hot?’

Something was wrong. Observing Old Shim’s face, he saw that the skin under his eyes was turning from purple to black.

“Sister! It seems Old Shim is poisoned.”

Namgung Yeon quickly sealed the Bodhisattva of Vajra’s acupoints and approached Old Shim.

The man who was perfectly fine a moment ago now looked like a terminally ill patient.

‘Could it be the scorpions’ venom?’

As she examined him, Namgung Yeon let out a sigh.

There was a pea-sized hole in Old Shim’s back.

The holes on his front were covered by his undergarments, but the back was exposed.

Unfortunately, both his outer and undergarments had dissolved, allowing the venom to penetrate his skin.

Namgung Yeon looked at the Bodhisattva of Vajra.

“He’s poisoned by the scorpions. Do you have an antidote?”

“I don’t have one. But the Leader should have it.”

With these words, Yeon Jeokha carried Old Shim on his back.

“Let’s go!”

Just as they were about to leave, a group of people emerged from the forest on both sides of the mountain path.

They were the Three Immortals of Kunlun and the Leader of the Mugeuk Sect, Jang Mudeok.

Covered in blood, Jang Mudeok spoke in a firm but calm voice.

“I knew it would be you. If anyone could solve this, it would be you.”

Yeon Jeokha quickly assessed Jang Mudeok and the Three Immortals of Kunlun. Fortunately, although they had cuts and bruises, none seemed to be poisoned.

Finally, the last member of the group, Guiyeong Ja, appeared, with only one arm remaining.

“Damn two-legged pigs bit me,” he remarked without showing signs of pain.

“What happened to Hyuk Muchun?” Yeon Jeokha asked.

Guiyeong Ja responded without flinching, “He was devoured.”

Nodding, Yeon Jeokha began to ascend the mountain.

Old Shim’s breathing was weakening, so time was of the essence.

Jang Mudeok looked at the Bodhisattva of Vajra with curiosity.

“Who is that?”

“He’s the guardian of the Earthly Portal of the Eight Celestial and Earthly Trigrams formation. By the way, Old Shim is poisoned.”

At that moment, Jang Mudeok’s attention shifted to Yeon Jeokha, who was carrying Old Shim.

“The antidote?”

“The Leader has it.”

“I understand.”

Jang Mudeok understood why Yeon Jeokha had quickly left without saying anything. He knew they needed to act fast and that they had already done what was necessary.

“This must end here, right?”

Namgung Yeon nodded, bowing before turning to move forward.

Before she could advance, Jang Mudeok stopped her.

“The Incomparable Among Ten has an important mission. Do you intend to abandon the expectations of the Justice Alliance?”

Jang Mudeok’s gaze became piercing. He didn’t care about the lives of Yeon Jeokha or Old Shim, but Namgung Yeon was crucial for the Justice Alliance, an exceptional warrior necessary for their goals.

“The greatest purpose for me is Yeon Jeokha.”

“What if I decide to take you by force?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t do that. My sword would change direction.”

“I understand.”

Jang Mudeok stopped insisting. Yeon Jeokha and Namgung Yeon quickly disappeared from sight.

“Such a powerful thing is affection,” Jang Mudeok murmured as he clicked his tongue. Then he turned to the Three Immortals of Kunlun.

“What will you do?”

The Immortal Taiyi observed Jang Mudeok with an enigmatic expression. It seemed that Jang Mudeok intended to continue towards the Fairy Temple.

“Do you intend to go to the Fairy Temple, Master Jang?”

“That’s right. I can’t allow the Incomparable Among Ten to face that danger alone.”

Taiyi didn’t hesitate.

Without Jang Mudeok, the Three Immortals of Kunlun would have perished in the formation.

“We, the Three Immortals of Kunlun, are exorcists. We do not fear demons, do we, disciples?”

“Correct.”

“We’ve come this far; we must see it through to the end.”

Taiyi and Tairyeong nodded.

Jang Mudeok turned his gaze to Guiyeong Ja.

“Bah! Our hatred for the Leader of the Yoomyung Cult is not as great as yours. My mission is over. See you at the Justice Alliance.”

Guiyeong Ja turned and left without looking back.

Jang Mudeok and the Three Immortals of Kunlun swiftly headed towards the mountain’s summit.