It was something no one had expected. The Chain of Cursed Words was, by its very nature, a binding of one's will through an oath. Like the bond with a Spirit Guardian, it was an order that could never be refused.
Therefore, neither the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master, In Seo-ok, nor Occultist Jo Ui-gong, who had received the oath, could have ever imagined such a thing would happen.
“Keuk!”
In Seo-ok’s eyes widened as if they would tear. Before he knew it, Mok Gyeong-un’s hand had pierced through his chest.
‘!!!!!!’
Reflected in In Seo-ok’s widened pupils was not Mok Gyeong-un’s dazed face, but one with the corners of his mouth twisted into a sardonic smile.
‘Th-this bastard, how?’
No matter how he looked at it, this was not the face of someone constrained by the Chain of Cursed Words. At that moment, the momentarily flustered Occultist Jo Ui-gong hastily chanted a binding curse.
Pak! Pak!
“Yeohwanmuseok jehwan-yeogyeong muuijia…”
Since he was bound by the chains, chanting the binding curse should have rendered him completely immobile.
“Keol-leok…”
Seuk!
Enduring the pain of his pierced chest, In Seo-ok moved his fingers to form a hand seal. Among the forbidden secret arts he knew, there was one that exhausted his vitality to drastically increase his regenerative abilities. However, “Ah, ah, you can’t do that.”
Udeudeuk!
“Heuaaak!”
A scream burst from In Seo-ok’s mouth. He had been trying to form a hand seal, but Mok Gyeong-un had bent all of his fingers backward. With his chest pierced, he couldn't even scream properly.
The pain was immense, but the thought that he might actually die drove him to desperately try and chant a curse with his mouth.
“Bi-gyeong…”
“Mouth!”
Pak!
“Keck!”
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un struck the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master In Seo-ok’s throat with the side of his hand, between his thumb and index finger. Hit in the throat, In Seo-ok coughed up blood in agony. He needed to perform the curse somehow, but Mok Gyeong-un gave him no opening at all.
‘Th-this bastard…’
Watching him suffer, Mok Gyeong-un sneered.
“An Occultist who can’t use curses is even more helpless than a common man, I see.”
Mok Gyeong-un’s mocking voice did not reach the ears of the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master, In Seo-ok. He had already completely lost his mind. The pain was so severe that he was on the verge of breathing his last.
Seeing this, Jo Ui-gong shouted with a contorted face.
“What? Why aren’t you being bound?”
To his shout, Mok Gyeong-un replied with a faint smile.
“Well now. I wonder why?”
There was no reason to explain it to him. Of course, the reason it hadn't worked was that the name Mok Gyeong-un was not his true name to begin with, making the oath of the cursed words meaningless. Occultist Jo Ui-gong glared at Mok Gyeong-un, his face hardening.
‘This baaastard!’
He didn't know what had happened, but the Chain of Cursed Words was ineffective against Mok Gyeong-un. Naturally, Mok Gyeong-un had no intention of revealing why it didn't work. With this, Jo Ui-gong made a swift decision.
Pat!
He had to put distance between himself and Mok Gyeong-un. The boy came from a martial family, so if the distance was too close, he himself would be in greater danger.
‘Forgive me.’
His master, the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master In Seo-ok, was already as good as dead. He had never taught the forbidden secret art of revival to any of his disciples, so there was no way to save him. As Jo Ui-gong increased the distance, he took something out from a pouch at his waist.
They were wooden dolls with talismans attached. Jo Ui-gong threw three wooden dolls labeled [Wood-Taking Curse] forward. And quickly forming a hand seal, he chanted a curse.
“Yuryeongrang yuryeongrang saengjaehwanggyo-godobang ogeumcheongi-wisintang myeonjaegyo-yasupungsang sasipaljeoljesai maeilhyang-gaengiseonsang hyeokhyeogyang-yang ilchuldongbang sinbu-ildan jorichabang obong, I serve the Great Supreme Elder Lord! By my command, act with haste!”
As soon as the chant ended, Pareureureu! the wooden dolls began to tremble madly, and soon, dirt from the ground clung to them. Then, the clinging dirt transformed into the figures of large men, two heads taller than an average adult male.
‘Hoh.’
The transformed wooden dolls took a stance, holding swords in both hands. Seeing this, a strange light glinted in Mok Gyeong-un's eyes. This was a magic art that Occultist Jo Ui-gong had not taught him.
“What kind of art is this?”
“As if I would tell a bastard like you.”
Jo Ui-gong shouted. Of course, he had no intention of telling him. This was a magic art he hadn't even shown his master, the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master In Seo-ok.
To deal with martial artists, he had carved them from a willow tree over a hundred years old, placed them in a shrine, and imbued them with his will over a long period to create the Willow Spirit Divine Generals.
It took an immense amount of effort to make just one; he had created three over the course of ten years. For Occultist Jo Ui-gong, it could be called his ultimate art.
“You traitorous bastard, release Master right now.”
Chak!
Jo Ui-gong formed a sword seal and pointed at Mok Gyeong-un.
Papak!
At that, the Willow Spirit Divine Generals rushed forward with incredibly swift movements and surrounded Mok Gyeong-un. Each one of them, in terms of evil spirit monsters, was stronger than a lesser beast. Of course, they didn't reach the level of a fierce Beast.
Still, he was confident that even the masters of the Peak Realm that martial artists spoke of would have a hard time dealing with three Willow Spirit Divine Generals stronger than lesser beasts.
‘The boy still lacks experience.’
He, on the other hand, had sparred dozens of times in preparation for fights against martial artists, thanks to his friendship with the Underworld Blade King. His master, In Seo-ok, had told him to spend that time honing his curse power, but Jo Ui-gong believed he needed to be somewhat prepared for battles against martial artists.
The result of that was the Willow Spirit Divine General.
‘... It was a mistake.’
Jo Ui-gong inwardly clicked his tongue. Blinded by the boy’s heaven-defying talent, he had taken him in, but that bastard was nothing short of a traitor that no one could control. Mok Gyeong-un smiled at him and said.
“I still have much to learn, Master.”
“Shut up! Who said I was your master?”
“Wasn't it ‘once a master, always a master’?”
Eudeuk!
Thinking Mok Gyeong-un's words were a mockery, Occultist Jo Ui-gong ground his teeth in disbelief. A disciple accepted into the sect had killed his Grandmaster. Such cases were by no means common.
“I was a fool to think I could control you.”
Pak! Pak!
Occultist Jo Ui-gong formed a hand seal, pointed at Mok Gyeong-un, and shouted.
“Kill him…”
“Ah ah. You shouldn't do that. If you keep this up, Grandmaster here might die soon. Would that be alright?”
Jo Ui-gong was dumbfounded by those words. With a hand piercing his chest, he was already a dead man. In fact, it was strange that he was still breathing at all.
How in the world could he be saved?
“It seems you’re trying to buy time, but it’s use…”
“Master. You seem to be trying to throw away the opportunity I’m giving you too easily.”
“What?”
What is this bastard babbling about now? As he was thinking this, Mok Gyeong-un spoke in a meaningful tone.
“I’m sure you want to be the next Grudge Killing Pavilion Master.”
‘!?’
At those words, Occultist Jo Ui-gong momentarily paused his order to kill the boy. What is he saying? Jo Ui-gong spoke in an ice-cold voice.
“Are you mad?”
“About what?”
“Are you trying to say that since Master is about to die, I now have a chance to become the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master?”
The situation was so absurd that a dry cough escaped him. Just because you covet a higher position, do you think killing your superior will make that seat yours? Besides, the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master, In Seo-ok, had three disciples.
Among them, the closest to being the successor was naturally Eldest Senior Brother, Sun-rank Occultist Jo Tae-cheong. Therefore, if their Master died, his chances would become even more remote.
“It seems you don’t have much attachment to the position.”
“Kill him!”
He felt he shouldn't listen to the boy any longer. He kept trying to beguile him with words, but this event had confirmed it. This boy had to be killed, no matter what.
He was not the kind of person he could control.
Papak!
As soon as the order was given, the three surrounding Willow Spirit Divine Generals simultaneously rushed toward Mok Gyeong-un. It was at that very moment.
Chwareureureureu!
Chains shot out from the ground and simultaneously bound the bodies of the Willow Spirit Divine Generals.
Kwaaaaaak!
“What?”
The one who did this was none other than the Green Spirit, Gyu So-ha. Damn you, Occultist. Did you think I’d let you touch my Master?
‘What?’
Occultist Jo Ui-gong frowned. That Green Spirit had clearly exhausted a great deal of her spiritual power and should have been unable to display such strength. But now, her form had almost returned to its original state.
‘What in the world did he do?’
It wasn’t nighttime, and it wasn’t a situation where she could have regained her spiritual power. While he was unable to understand, Mok Gyeong-un grabbed the head of the dying Grudge Killing Pavilion Master, In Seo-ok. And then, Pak!
‘!!!!!!!!!’
He ripped the heart right out of his chest. It was utterly shocking. Since becoming an Occultist, he had seen all sorts of hideous things and countless corpses, but to see the master who had taught him the occult arts have his heart torn out while still alive… his feelings were beyond words.
‘Th-this bastard is truly…’
As he stood there, dumbfounded, Mok Gyeong-un’s lips twitched as he spoke.
“I’ll give you one last chance.”
“What?”
“If you take the hand I’m offering, even now, you will have nothing to lose, Master.”
“... No matter what words you use to deceive me, I won’t believe…”
Kwajik!
At that moment, the heart in Mok Gyeong-un's hand was crushed. Then, Mok Gyeong-un shoved the crushed heart into the mouth of the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master In Seo-ok, who had just stopped breathing. Seeing this, Occultist Jo Ui-gong’s pupils trembled.
The moment he saw it, he had an idea of what Mok Gyeong-un was trying to do.
‘The Six Souls Summoning Art?’
The Six Souls Summoning Art. It was a forbidden secret art for creating a living corpse ghost. When one who has just died is fed the blood of his own heart, the very source of his being, and the yin energy of the recently deceased is gathered in one place to perform the art, this is born.
A living corpse ghost. The being is transformed into something befitting that name. However, a living corpse ghost is even more difficult to create than an ordinary corpse ghost or a corpse puppet.
‘Its usefulness is too low.’
That was because to create a single living corpse ghost, one had to kill nearly thirty people and gather their energy. Moreover, the living corpse ghost had too many weaknesses. It had to periodically kill people to replenish the yin energy of the dead, otherwise its body would rot, making it extremely inefficient.
It required endless sacrifices for a living, breathing corpse with no will of its own, so it became a magic art forbidden by the Council of Thirty-Six Divisions. Of course, this wasn't an issue for the Occultists of the Grudge Killing Pavilion, who practiced forbidden arts to begin with, but, “Ha!” Occultist Jo Ui-gong clicked his tongue.
How could he possibly turn the Pavilion Master into a living corpse ghost now? He needed to kill thirty people to fill the body with their death energy to replace the heart, but even if he killed everyone lying here, there were only ten of them.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
Instead of a talisman, Mok Gyeong-un formed the hand seal of a cursed word. And he began to chant the curse.
“Takhwadoyo ogeumsiyogong yagyeoseongyeongjung ilipbyeonsipman…”
‘It’s a foolish act. Without burying the recently dead nearby to gather their yin energy, you can never create a living corpse ghost…’
Kkumteul!
It was at that moment. The body of the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master, In Seo-ok, whose head was being held by Mok Gyeong-un, moved. Seeing this, Occultist Jo Ui-gong’s eyes went wide.
What in the world is happening?
“Eueueueu…”
Then, it even made a sound with its mouth. That phenomenon, blinking with its upturned white eyes, was the sign of it becoming a living corpse ghost. At the sight, Jo Ui-gong was at a loss for words.
‘Impossible.’
The condition of the yin energy of the dead hadn’t been met, so how could such a thing be happening? While he watched, the pupils in the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master In Seo-ok’s eyes suddenly returned. Mok Gyeong-un then let go of his head.
Kung!
The staggering In Seo-ok then stood up straight on his own.
“M-Master!”
Occultist Jo Ui-gong called out to the Grudge Killing Pavilion Master. In Seo-ok slightly turned his head at the call, then turned his gaze toward Mok Gyeong-un with a blank face. Then, he staggered forward and knelt on both knees.
‘!!!!!’
Seeing this, Occultist Jo Ui-gong was truly and utterly horrified. Without meeting the condition of the yin energy of the dead, he had actually succeeded in the Six Souls Summoning Art.
‘This bastard is…’
As he stood there, bewildered, Mok Gyeong-un turned his head, smiled at Occultist Jo Ui-gong, and said.
“Do you still not want to take the opportunity?”
The moment he heard that, goosebumps rose all over his body.