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Chapter 304: Protection (護) (6)
Kikiging―
A pitch-black claw tears through the air.
I roll backward swiftly, evading Kang Min-hee's attack.
Shukang―
In an instant, her attack brushes past where I had been, slicing through the terrain of the Cold Yin Marsh.
A chilling blue aura rises visibly where her attack passes.
'Damn it.'
If it hits, I die.
I can feel that clearly.
Even using the Formless Sword and the Mad Lord's circuits with this body only brings to the Heavenly Being stage.
There's no way I can block soone at the Four-Axis stage.
'Did she realize that I'm Seo Eun-hyun?'
It doesn't seem like that.
I glance at her intent.
'The dark crimson intent of hatred...is deeply subrged.'
If she knew I ca as a clone, anger would have flared up rather than hatred.
That ans only one thing.
'Did she mistake for soone else?'
That is the only possibility.
I hurriedly retreat and shout at Kang Min-hee.
"Grand Elder, why are you doing this? Could it be a misunderstanding?"
Kang Min-hee sneers.
"It can't be a misunderstanding. That darkness...this sense of déjà vu...and those familiar actions... You are that being."
"What do you an by 'that being'?"
"Well, did you ever have a na? I don't really know. I always called you the shadow. Sotis you mimicked my mother, sotis my father, sotis a friend, and sotis a complete stranger. Isn't that your identity? This ti too, you're mimicking soone I don't know."
'Damn it.'
It's clear.
She's mistaken for soone else, not Seo Eun-hyun.
Soone who bears a darkness as thick as the form of death I wield.
'She's smart, but she sotis trusts her intellect too much and jumps to strange conclusions. That's Kang Min-hee's flaw.'
Hence, a year and a half before we arrived at Ascension Path.
We fought because of that, and she ended up pushing a project that caused considerable losses for the company.
'Well, thanks to that, I ended up morizing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so it wasn't entirely a loss…'
Anyway.
Occasionally, she would make mistakes by relying too heavily on her genius.
This seems to be one of those tis.
'Judging by her state, she won't listen even if I explain.'
Kwagwagwagwang!
The slash from her attack flies over Cold Yin Marsh's horizon, exploding in a burst of blue light that dyes the sky.
Ghostly energy and the cold freezes my entire body.
My movents begin to slow.
Kang Min-hee approaches for close combat, extending her claws to stab my right arm.
At the sa ti, she shortens the length of her claws, grabs my collar with her right arm, and yanks towards her.
'This is, leg sweep!'
She seems to grasp the flow of force, and I begin to fall under her force.
Kang Min-hee was capable of everything.
Work, exercise, foreign languages, you na it.
She was a jack-of-all-trades, excluding interpersonal relationships and morality.
One of the famous anecdotes about Kang Min-hee was this:
When Jeon Myeong-hoon was a Deputy, he once visited Oh Hye-seo's apartnt where she was hosting a small party with female colleagues.
He tried to subtly sexually harass Kang Min-hee while flirting with her, and the story goes that Kang Min-hee imdiately grabbed Jeon Myung-hoon and threw him to the ground.
After that, Jeon Myeong-hoon ended up with a broken ankle and was prescribed six weeks of recovery.
There was a ti when that guy hobbled around on crutches and couldn't even glance in Kang Min-hee's direction, making it an undeniable incident.
'Oh Hye-seo told about this, I think?'
According to Oh Hye-seo's testimony at the ti, after breaking Jeon Myeong-hoon's ankle, Kang Min-hee casually smoked a cigarette while hailing a taxi to send him to the hospital.
Jeon Myeong-hoon, embarrassed, claid he needed crutches because of a car accident, but thanks to Oh Hye-seo, everyone in the departnt knew the real story.
Kim Young-hoon and Oh Hyun-seok considered reporting it, but since neither side said much, the incident was quietly swept under the rug.
'As expected, she's strong.'
Kang Min-hee is strong.
Before coming to Ascension Path, although couldn't use internal energy as a mortal, she already possessed the skills of a first-rate martial artist..
I twist my body in midair, plant my feet into the ground, and then propel myself towards Kang Min-hee with a double palm strike.
As the Blood Demon Suppressing Sea Light activates, a vast sea of blood begins to form between my double palms and her, allowing to break away from her.
And then, I realize sothing.
'Kang Min-hee….'
Tsstss
A thread of her intent aims for my neck.
I break into a cold sweat, hastily evading the following strike of her attack.
At so point, she has reached the peak through her own efforts using the judo she learned back on Earth and her combat experiences involving her ghost claws.
Unlike Kim Yeon, who received my help through Tribulating Heavens Beyond the Path, or Oh Hyun-seok, who has the Unique Holy Body and trained while being beaten into a atball by Azure Tiger Saint, or Kim Young-hoon, who has a talent specialized in martial arts, she reached the pinnacle realm purely through her own efforts and aptitude.
'Indeed, a genius.'
'This is driving crazy.'
I click my tongue internally, focusing my consciousness on Seo Li.
An imnse situation is unfolding on Seo Li's side, and shocking revelations are pouring out in front of .
"Are you saying you were engaged to Hon Won?"
"Yes. We were engaged for mutual benefit rather than affection. Although Hon Won has withered since, he was quite handso when he was younger, so I didn't mind. He also seed to have considerable affection for ."
Yeon Wei continues her story.
"At first, it was more friendship than affection. Or rather, we realized we shared a comrade's bond after capturing the Black Dragon King. Our compatibility was quite good…. If our relationship had continued, our comradeship might have developed into romantic feelings. Until Hon Won fell in love with another woman."
A bitter expression crosses her face.
"Hon Won told he fell in love with another woman from the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and apologized. I was a bit disappointed but accepted it. After all, a marriage of affection would bring more benefits to the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect than a political one, so I was willing to break off the engagent. And…I wanted to see who this bold disciple was that stole his heart."
In front of is the shocking past of Hon Won and Yeon Wei.
On the other side, the relentless chase between Kang Min-hee and Seo Li.
I quickly analyze the situation, trying to understand who Kang Min-hee mistook Seo Li for.
Strangely, my thoughts beco unusually clearer, and I feel like I can see the web of relationships among people.
How can I twist these relationships to gain the most benefit?
Such thoughts and plans seem to pour out endlessly.
'A strange feeling.'
I wonder if I always possessed this talent.
I examine this web of relationships and begin to trace back the 'shadow' figure Kang Min-hee kept ntioning.
Then, while backtracking through this network, I feel sothing strange.
The person she calls the shadow is sothing that has been with Kang Min-hee since 'Earth.'
That ans it's one of the Enders.
But the characteristics she described match 'Seo Eun-hyun.'
Yet, Seo Eun-hyun is different from the 'shadow.'
'What is this? Who exactly is the shadow?'
I instruct Seo Li to ask Kang Min-hee a few questions.
Following my command, Seo Li delivers the lines I had written on the spot to Kang Min-hee.
"Huhu, Colleague Kang. Why are you doing this? Wasn't it just a joke? I guess you disliked the prank I pulled when we first joined the company?"
[You…you really are that bastard. It wasn't just the company. Throughout my entire life! If it weren't for you! By now, I would have…I would have gotten along well with that person!]
Kang Min-hee transforms into a 8-foot ghost and attacks even more ferociously.
'Judging by Kang Min-hee's reaction, it's soone who influenced her even before the company. Kang Min-hee lost her father, so her mother? No, I once t her mother, and she wasn't the type to say such things. In that case...'
I quickly run through my thoughts and reach a conclusion.
'Kang Min-hee has so kind of ntal illness that even I wasn't aware of. Due to this ntal illness, she constantly sees hallucinations and tries to explain her misfortunes through them. She's now mistaking Seo Li for her hallucination.'
Until now, I thought I was the one who needed to be treated.
Looking back, it seems like an overreaction, but there must have been a reason for my judgnt.
However, now it appears that the one needing treatnt is not , but Kang Min-hee.
Then, I am startled by Yeon Wei's next words.
"The na of the disciple loved by Hon Won from the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect was Cheon Ra (Heavenly Net). There is no female disciple with the na Cheon Ra in our Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect. I even checked among male disciples who had learned gender transformation thods, but there was no one. I even contacted the main sect in the Head Realm at that ti. However, there was no such person in the Head Realm either. Hon Won...had developed a ntal illness, creating and loving a non-existent woman."
"…!?"
The shocking revealed truth leaves dumbfounded.
'So, because of a ntal illness, he fell in love with a nonexistent woman from the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect, and due to this ntal illness, he tried to kill and Jeon Myeong-hoon, claiming we failed to protect the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect?'
For a mont, I feel a surge of irritation towards Hon Won, but then I sense sothing strange.
A cultivator at the Integration stage is not simply a powerful monster.
Having a vast and expanded consciousness ans perceiving, understanding, and growing ntally just as much.
Reaching the Integration stage ans it's not easy to go mad.
Their minds have grown too strong for that.
So, what could cause soone like Hon Won to develop a ntal illness?
"Why did he develop a ntal illness?"
Yeon Wei looks up at the sky for a while.
From her intent, I sense a hint of bitterness, a trace of regret.
And a touch of fear.
"I searched far and wide to find out why. The process of finding out was so arduous it's hard to describe... But to cut a long story short, I discovered the reason for Hon Won's ntal illness when I went to the Nether Ghost Realm."
'Hon Won, who created a nonexistent woman and fell in love with her.'
I feel a strange sense of overlap between him and Kang Min-hee, who is currently fighting Seo Li.
She, too, is hating sothing nonexistent.
'Maybe there's a clue to solving Kang Min-hee's issue?'
I focus on Yeon Wei's words.
"Why did he develop it?"
"…God."
"God...?"
"Hon Won developed a severe ntal fracture by directly facing a great higher being that could be called a god (神). Facing such an overwhelmingly powerful existence, even in a dream, can cause ntal issues."
A great higher being.
A True Immortal.
In other words, just like Hon Won, Kang Min-hee's ntal illness might be related to a True Immortal.
"And...whether it was due to the influence of that higher being, I'm not sure, but the Bright Cold Realm tried to erase any traces of the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect and so others. Under the orders of Baek Woon, I erased the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect with my own hands. Then, using the sacred artifact of the Yin Soul Ghost Sect and the secret arts I learned in the Nether Ghost Realm, I forcibly sealed and treated Hon Won's mind."
From Yeon Wei's mouth, the secret history from 40,000 years ago flows out.
"And the cured Hon Won ca to firmly believe that I had killed his true love. His mory was distorted during the treatnt process. You know what happened afterward. I used the sacred object of the Yin Soul Ghost Sect to weaken Hon Won's realm and inflicted a fatal wound, forcing him to recuperate at the Heaven-Earth Palace."
This is the truth from 40,000 years ago.
Under the orders of Sacred Master Baek Woon of the Bright Cold Realm, Yeon Wei destroyed the Golden Divine Heavenly Thunder Sect with her own hands and attempted to treat Hon Won.
Although the treatnt succeeded, the cost was that Hon Won's mory was distorted, leading him to believe that Yeon Wei had killed his true love and attempt to kill her.
I watch Yeon Wei, whose intent is tinged with bitterness, and think,
'How tragic.'
Then suddenly, a bizarre thought cos to mind.
'Is Hon Won the tragic one, or is Yeon Wei the tragic one?'
For so reason, I feel that Hon Won, whose mind was toyed with by a great existence, to be the more tragic one.
'Damned main body. Kang Min-hee is going even crazier!'
After I said Colleague Kang whatever, Kang Min-hee's eyes completely turned and she charged at .
'Speaking of which, is Hon Won the tragic one? I feel that Yeon Wei, betrayed by her lover, is more tragic...'
This is a bizarre difference of opinion between the main body and .
Bo-oong!
Chwaaaak!
Kang Min-hee's ghost claws tear into my belly, gouging out a deep wound.
'This won't do.'
If this continues, I will die.
Dying isn't the problem, but losing the identity I had established in the Black Ghost Valley will be painful.
'I even made an agreent as Seo Li to go to Lofty Dragon True Person's storage scroll. I can't let this opportunity slip away…!'
Absolutely not.
I quickly think.
Yuan Yu's Blood Body is practicing Heaven Tribe thods.
It's possible to use Entering Heavens Formless Sword and the Mad Lord's circuits.
But it hasn't mastered Earth Tribe thods.
'Without the harmony of Heaven, Earth, and Heart, overcoming the two-realm difference is impossible.'
In this situation, how can I win against Kang Min-hee, who is not open to any persuasion?
How
As I ponder this,
I suddenly observe the Ghost King-transford Nascent Soul within my body.
'Wait, is that possible?'
It seems like a crazy idea, but I sohow feel it might be possible with Seo Li's body.
If overcoming a two-realm difference is impossible, I just need to make it a one-realm difference.
In other words,
'While escaping from Kang Min-hee, I will imdiately elevate this body to the Heavenly Being stage!'
Wo-wo-woong!
Absorbing the yin energy around and the ghostly energy from Kang Min-hee, I quickly begin refining my mind with the formulas for the Heavenly Being stage.
'I'll rise to the Heavenly Being stage!'
Right now, imdiately!
Translator Notes: 8-foot ghost (팔척귀신) is a term referring to a ghost from a Japanese ghost story. Basically, the ghost has long hair, wears a wide-brimd hat, and has twisted joints.
Editor Note: If you're curious, the original Japanese na is 八尺様 (hasshaku-sama). Funnily enough, it looks like it isn't actually from ancient Japanese folklore or anything but rather a thread on 2chan's occult board made in 2008, which I did not expect at all.
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