Chapter 132: Demon of Prayers (2)
The warriors of Beast Palace felt their guts sink as they looked at the piles of corpses lying behind them.
It was hard to believe.
So many subordinates who followed the demonic practitioner disguised with Pa Taho’s face had been hiding inside Beast Palace all this ti.
And to make matters worse, the entire Wolf Tribe, their long-ti brothers of Beast Palace, had betrayed them.
Had those corpses achieved their original purpose, the ones lying dead on the ground now would not have been them—but themselves.
Cold sweat trickled down the Beast Palace warriors’ backs as they turned their heads.
A single man stood proudly in their sight.
‘……Tang Sewoon!’
They couldn’t see how he had dealt with them due to their limited skill, but instinctively—they knew.
He had saved them.
It was the very mont when Tang Sewoon’s na was deeply engraved into the minds of every Beast Palace warrior.
‘As expected, the pinnacle of the Transformation Realm truly is the pinnacle. Against enemies below this level, the consumption of innate true qi while using the Invisible Dagger has decreased beyond comparison.’
After obtaining the Ink Blood, Sewoon had achieved trendous growth upon stepping into the pinnacle of the Transformation Realm.
Even though he had slaughtered countless enemies using the Invisible Dagger, the depletion of his energy was minimal.
His control and release speed had also strengthened to the point that he could annihilate dozens of enemies scattered apart all at once.
If he were to step beyond the Transformation Realm and into the Manifestation Realm soon, he couldn’t help but anticipate how much his power would rise.
“A, aah… how…?”
At that mont, the despairing voice of the Demon of Prayers echoed in his ears.
However, the man wasn’t staring at the corpses of his slain subordinates. He was looking at Umun Geol.
The Palace Head of Beast Palace, who had been clutching his chest in agony monts ago, now stood there as if nothing had happened.
Sewoon let out a faint laugh.
“What’s with that shocked face?”
“You…!”
“Did you think the Tang Clan—the very ancestors of poison—couldn’t handle a re Gu Poison like that?”
“!!”
So he had been freed from the pain all along!
At Sewoon’s words, the Demon of Prayers couldn’t help but acknowledge that his Gu Poison had been neutralized.
Moreover, seeing that Umun Geol had joined forces with Sewoon ant there was sothing else he could infer.
‘……There’s no way Umun Geol would betray
just because he was freed from his Gu Poison. That ans even the Male and Female Gu Poison planted in Umun Tak must’ve been removed as well.’
The Demon of Prayers let out an involuntary sigh of frustration.
He couldn’t understand it.
Wasn’t the Sichuan Tang Clan completely ruined?
And yet, in such a short ti, their dical skill had advanced to the point of eliminating the Male and Female Gu Poison—called the Absolute Gu, as it was said to be impossible to remove without killing the host?
“……Gu Poison?”
“T-The Palace Head had that terrible worm inside his body……?”
Hearing their exchange, the warriors of Beast Palace were struck with shock and confusion.
But that feeling soon turned into sothing entirely different.
Those arrogant demonic bastards had dared to plant a worm inside their king?
Fury burned in their eyes.
“Your Majesty!!”
“Give the order!! We’ll kill the enemy ourselves!!”
They were ready to charge at the Demon of Prayers and tear him limb from limb.
Before long, the lone Demon of Prayers stood surrounded by countless martial artists in the Heavenly Martial Stage.
Even if he were a Divine Thief, there was nowhere to escape from here.
Yet, not a trace of despair or fear could be seen in the Demon of Prayers’ eyes.
‘Never… will things go the way you want!!’
Instead, only an even stronger killing intent flared within them.
“Kihihi! You think killing a few of my subordinates ans you’ve won!!”
“……!!”
A hideous laugh burst from his mouth—and a grotesque scene unfolded.
Riiip!
Crack!
The corpses of the Jiangshi Sect warriors and the Wolf Tribe warriors that had been lying mangled on the ground suddenly opened their mouths wide.
Their jaws stretched unnaturally, grotesquely wide as if they would break apart.
And from inside those gaping mouths—
Crackle!
Scroll-like, yellowish papers shot out, rolling out like unfurling scrolls.
“Hiieek!!”
“?!?!”
They were talismans—made of Huánghuái Paper, with spell formations drawn in blood.
Wuuuum!!
Shaaah!
The talismans that flew from the corpses’ mouths began to emit strange, eerie light.
The blood within the talismans spilled onto the ground, drawing a sinister sorcery formation.
In an instant, the earth warped like a heat haze. The Beast Palace warriors’ minds flashed with one realization.
‘Storage Talismans!!’
A sorcery tool that could store objects—the Storage Talisman.
They didn’t know what might co out, but one thing was certain: it must be stopped at all costs!
That was the thought that struck every warrior’s mind the mont they saw it.
Clang!
Shaa!
“Stop it!!”
“Destroy it!!”
Boom!
Kwang!
The warriors of Beast Palace swung their fists with ferocious power at the talismans radiating bizarre energy.
At that very mont—Sewoon moved as well.
Shraaa!
Still gripping the Heavenly Net that bound the Demon of Prayers, he pulled hard while gathering the full force of his spirit into his other hand.
Adding montum to the pull, he intended to crush the man’s skull in a single strike.
Wuuuum!
Shaaah!
The power of Demon-Subduing Force, which had previously inflicted unbearable agony upon the Demon of Prayers, now shone even more brilliantly.
Normally, this was an attack the Demon of Prayers could never have blocked.
‘Light can be smothered by an even greater darkness, just as good can be devoured by an even greater evil!’
As his body was being dragged toward Sewoon, the Demon of Prayers let out a mad grin—
Crunch!
—and bit down on the Blood Pill hidden in his molar.
The liquid within the Blood Pill flowed down his throat.
Sssaaah!
Boom!
At that mont, an overwhelming surge of demonic qi burst wildly from the Demon of Prayers’ body—far beyond what it had been before.
Inside the Blood Pill he had hidden for his final mont was condensed “Blood of Ten Thousand Corpses (萬屍血).”
Flash!
The Demon of Prayers, who had been dragged forward, poured his demonic qi into the Yongcheon Acupoints on the soles of his feet.
Screee!
Crack!
The floor of the Heavenly Martial Stage shattered, lines splitting across the ground.
The black threads of the Heavenly Net stretched taut.
Repelling all the power of the Demon-Subduing Force, the Demon of Prayers stopped being pulled and stood his ground.
“Kihihi, the power… it’s overflowing!!”
Letting out a mad roar, the Demon of Prayers crossed his qi-imbued arms in an X-shaped slash.
Ting!
Ting!
Unable to endure the demonic qi, the Heavenly Net snapped apart and recoiled back toward Sewoon.
Seeing this, Umun Geol’s face twisted in shock.
‘……What the hell!!’
The power amplified by the Blood of Ten Thousand Corpses had pushed him beyond the threshold of the Manifestation Realm.
A supre demonic master who had fully mastered the Manifestation Realm had manifested before their eyes.
To reach complete mastery of the Manifestation Realm was to attain a martial prowess strong enough to contend for a place among the Ten Great Experts of the world.
Even that alone made the situation dire—yet the surrounding circumstances were turning even more against them.
In the end, the warriors of Beast Palace had failed to stop the effect of the Storage Talismans.
And from within the completed sorcery formation, what began to erge were—
[Grrrraaaah!!]
[Grrrhh!]
—no less than thirty Jiangshi (僵尸).
Even to the ear, those voices were not human, but terrifying howls that filled the air.
“J-Jiangshi!!”
“They’re coming!!”
“Everyone, hold the line!!”
A scene of utter chaos, a battlefield of carnage, unfolded before their eyes.
‘So, he finally brought them out.’
Only Sewoon shone with anticipation—as if he had foreseen this very mont.
The Demon of Prayers flicked his long lizard-like tongue, overlooking the battlefield with arrogance.
A hemispherical barrier of demonic qi stood firmly around his body.
Upon reaching complete mastery of the Manifestation Realm, one could freely alter the form and nature of one’s enhanced qi.
The Demon of Prayers had twisted his demonic qi into the strongest of shields, wrapping his entire body in it.
It was his ultimate defensive martial art—Thousand Corpse Turtle Armor (千屍龜護甲)—one that not even another master of equal level could easily scratch.
‘Heh heh, Tang Sewoon. Seems you have no ans to deal with this either.’
The Demon of Prayers sneered at Tang Sewoon.
When he had deployed the Thousand Corpse Turtle Armor, Sewoon had imdiately stopped attacking and instead turned to aid the warriors of Beast Palace.
‘Kuhuhu, useless. Do you think you can defeat my masterpieces?’
There was an old saying in the martial world: a true master hides thirty percent of his ability.
And what the Demon of Prayers had hidden was none other than those Jiangshi.
Using a sorcery of the Blood Cult that annihilated the soul residue within the host’s corpse, the Storage Talismans had released a total of thirty Jiangshi.
Each one had been selected from among the Demon of Prayers’ finest creations.
The first twenty-seven were Monstrous Jiangshi (怪僵尸)—corpses of humans fused with the blood and souls of yokai.
Their outer skin was so hard that blades and swords could not pierce it.
Their aggression drove them to charge relentlessly until their enemies were dead.
Their combat strength rivaled the very peak of the Supre Master Level—but their greatest advantage lay elsewhere.
[Grrraaa!]
The Monstrous Jiangshi made from Bloodsucking Bats absorbed blood and drained the qi from their victims.
[Gueeegh!]
The ones made from Human-Faced Spiders released deadly poison from their flesh.
Yes—each Monstrous Jiangshi exploited the unique traits of its yokai component, driving the Beast Palace warriors into dire straits.
“They can’t be handled alone! Face them using the Combined Formation!!”
“Anyone poisoned, fall back!!”
“Support your comrades!!”
However, even those Monstrous Jiangshi paled in comparison to the remaining three masterpieces.
They were the Extinction Jiangshi (滅殭屍)—the pinnacle creations the Demon of Prayers had succeeded in producing only three of throughout his entire life.
Boasting defensive power surpassing blade and sword immunity, rivaling the Diamond Indestructible Body.
Unlike martial artists who had to restore their qi through circulation, these Jiangshi could freely use demonic qi far beyond normal limits, pre-infused into their bodies.
And moreover…
‘They can fully use the martial arts they possessed in life!’
Unlike the other Jiangshi who fought with brute strength, the Extinction Jiangshi wielded martial arts as they rampaged.
And the martial artists whose corpses beca their materials were not people to be taken lightly.
Slash!
Shaaah!
A dazzling sword light flashed across the battlefield, tearing through the air.
It was none other than Sword Immortal (劍仙子) Jongri Hoek of the Zhongnan Sect, who had once revived the fallen sect before mysteriously disappearing.
Now, his corpse—turned into a Jiangshi—was unleashing the Thirty-Six Swords of Heaven and River (天河三十六劍).
Fwoosh!
Whoosh!
The second Extinction Jiangshi burned with blazing flas in both hands.
It was the corpse of Dan Huisho (段輝小), forr Vice Palace Head of the Southern Sea Sun Palace, who had once been the assassination target of the Gate of Assassins.
Stolen after his death, his body had been remade into a Jiangshi that now exuded blazing Yang Fire Qi through the Extre Fla Radiance.
Taaah!
Shaaah!
And the final Extinction Jiangshi—
The only female among them, and without a doubt, the Demon of Prayers’ most powerful masterpiece.
‘Good. Kill him now!!’
Ssshhh!
Shaaah!
The last Extinction Jiangshi lunged toward Sewoon, wielding an elegant sword art derived from the Mount Ei Sect’s reverse principles.
At that mont—
“Now, Umun Tak!!”
‘……Umun Tak??’
Sewoon shouted a na he had not expected in the slightest.
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