Chapter 420: The Battle for the Core (2)

The huge body of the dragon lay dead on the ground of the Ice Palace.

Black blood oozed out from the severed part of the body where the heads had disappeared from.

What was unusual was the sparks which were bouncing little by little as if lightning was still flowing.

Crackles! Crackles!

Everyone stared at it blankly, knowing that approaching it would be difficult.

They tried to take the blood from the area of the body closest to them, but they hesitated to touch it.

But even more disturbing was,

‘This is the blood of the Dragon Turtle!’

‘It is said that those who take the blood will gain great power. Opportunities like that don’t come easily.’

There was no one among the warriors who didn’t display greed for the blood.

And such a reaction was natural.

And if they could take this back to Yulin, it would create a mess for them, such a strange sight that the blood of a Spirit Beast was in front of them, and they wanted it.

There was only one problem.

“How about someone tries the dragon’s blood first? Legend says that it can increase the internal energy, but we don’t know if that’s the truth, right?”

Chul Yi-myeong, the third seat of the Black Shadow force, spoke as the others agreed.

In such a situation, it wasn’t uncommon for most of them to covet the blood.

Moyong Kang objected to that.

“No.”

At the words of Moyong Kang, everyone turned stiff.

Most of them wanted to consume the dragon’s blood, but their commander was against it.

To that, Moyong Kang spoke in a serious voice, as if he was warning them.

“The blood of a spirit beast isn’t something that can be consumed so easily.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that you all think that you can have it and…”

Even before he could finish speaking.

Crackle!

“Kwaack!”

A scream erupted from the North Sea Ice Palace’s side.

The people of Yulin looked over there with puzzled expressions, and Moyong Kang spoke as if he didn’t have to see what was happening.

“Heard that?”

“What’s that?”

“What do you think? People die if they take the blood of a spirit beast without diluting it, the body can’t take the raw energy. Would you like to scream like that too?”

A member from the Black Shadow force, who kept an eye on the North Sea Ice Palace warriors, rushed back to report.

“Haa, did you hear that? Someone from the Ice Palace took the blood and then lightning qi engulfed his body and he turned into black soot.”

“Unbelievable!”

Woong!

Moyong Kang’s words were indeed true.

Everyone looked at him in amazement.

It was natural for Moyong Kang to know that taking the blood from the spirit beast would have side effects.

It was because, while the Yan Dynasty was doing well, they defeated a two-headed dragon.

“How did Leader Moyong know?”

“… ages ago, the ancestors of my clan caught a dragon spirit.”

“Ah! Then, does the leader know how the blood of a spirit beast needs to be consumed?”

Everyone looked at him with anticipation.

However, Moyong Kang shook his head.

No one in the Moyong family was able to consume the blood of the dragon spirit which they killed.

“You don’t know?”

“… I am sorry, but I have no idea either. Because it was stolen before we were able to try.”

“Stolen? Ha!”

According to the records, the dragon had a qi attribute.

It had sparks around it, and it was impossible to get close to the body, so the warriors left to look for a means to move it.

However, when they returned in the middle of the night, the core, which was supposed to be covered in lightning sparks, disappeared.

“Did the Moyong family catch the culprit?”

“… we tried, but we couldn’t.”

Rather, both units which were sent to search for the thief ended up getting annihilated by the criminal.

So, all the military forces of the Liaoning were mobilized to drive the criminal into a valley of Neungbong Mountain, but then he disappeared.

As if he evaporated into the sky.

The only trace the criminal left behind was that he was a master of a clan that had never existed in the Wulin.

Everyone was puzzled at the sight of the criminal’s sword use.

“It’s like the story of someone from the Blade God Six Martial clan, like the Blade God.”

Because that was the only awing sword technique that the warriors were aware of.

“Well, you might think so, but it happened a long time ago.”

It was a long time ago, even before the establishment of the Blade God Six Martial clan.

“To be honest, it wasn’t the Blade God, but it looked similar to the techniques of the Sky Demon Order. It isn’t that important. I’d rather try and find a way to move this sooner… huh? Where is lieutenant Mak?”

The temporary leader of the Black Shadow force, Mak Wijong, was nowhere to be seen.

At the question of Moyong Kang, 3rd seat Chul Yi-myeong pointed to the huge defense line created for Chun Yeowun.

“The lieutenant went there with a few others saying that he would bring us the core of the dragon.”

“What? When?”

“It hasn’t been that long.”

At the words of the 3rd seat, Moyong Kang turned nervous.

According to the records, the core of a Dragon is supposed to be full of qi.

Obviously, it would have a lot more qi than a two-headed dragon, so how are four to five people going to bring it out?

‘He left without even reporting it to me.’

It was strange, but he had to hurry up.

If they touched the core in haste, they would turn into black soot, just like the warriors of the North Sea Ice Palace.

“They shouldn’t. Hurry up! Miss Jegal!”

“Yes leader.”

“I think we need the help of your warriors. Come over with everyone.”

The warriors and scholars of the Jegal clan who mastered the Book of Qi and All Knowing⁽¹⁾.

With them, Moyong Kang thought that he would be able to move the core.

“Leader Moyong… really wants to go there?”

Jegal Sohi asked as she looked at the Demonic Cult’s side.

It was natural what she was concerned about.

Moyong Kang took a deep breath and answered.

“Phew. It is better to take the core away from the body instead of letting the Lord of the Demonic Cult take it away. Did you see his power? We can’t let that happen.”

At those words, Jegal Sohi’s complexion darkened.

The Lord of the Demonic Cult seemed like he was the strongest in the current Wulin.

However, if he ends up taking the core and the blood of a Spirit Beast, the balance of power in the Wulin will be completely destroyed.

The world will be under the foot of the Demonic Cult if that happens.

“… understood.”

Jegal Sohi thought about it and agreed with Moyong Kang.

She thought it would be better to take away the core for the sake of the future of Yulin.

“Hurry.”

Moyong Kang hurriedly led the troops and headed for the hole.

Meanwhile, on the Ice Palace’s side.

Crackle!

“Kuak! Save… me!”

Pst!

A man whose body was covered in sparks was shocked to death.

Everyone who looked at that had bewildered expressions on their faces. They paid the price for their greed and excitement.

“Why?”

Even Dan Jucheon couldn’t understand the reason.

He could feel the raw qi flowing in the blood of the dragon. He could feel how strong people would become if they had it.

He, too, thought that taking it would increase their internal energy, so why were people dying because of lightning.

“King. It seems like we should stop. Why not freeze the blood and disperse the qi first?”

He nodded at the words of elder Seol Young-gwi.

They had already confirmed what would happen from the two people who tried and died.

It felt like it would be better to reduce the qi and then ingest the blood.

“… that would be better. Are the elders okay with it?”

“I think so too.”

“What the 1st elder said is correct.”

At the question from Dan Jucheon, everyone nodded their heads.

But one person didn’t answer.

“Elder Won?”

They looked, but couldn’t find the sixth elder, Won Sangho.

Two elders had died, and elder Seol Yi-jeong was near the ice cave, but the man who had been here until a moment ago disappeared.

It was suspicious, but Baek Gojung of the Snow Sword troops rushed in to report.

“Deputy king. The Yulin men are heading into the underground tunnel right now!”

“How!”

Their purpose of heading into the underground was obvious to everyone.

“They are going for the core.”

The most important thing was the core.

The core is where the raw natural power of the spirit beast is gathered, a true treasure.

“King! We must not let them get it.”

“We need to head there right away.”

The elders, who knew that the situation wasn’t favorable for them, asked their deputy king to act.

Dan Jucheon, who had the same idea, made the elders and the warriors move to the underground.

And ordered Baek Gojung of the Snow Sword troops.

“Leader Baek. Go to the ice cave and tell the elders there to follow the tunnel which the dragon drilled all the way here.”

“Yes!”

Dan Jucheon felt that it was fortunate that they didn’t lose too many warriors.

If they went into the underground tunnels and the Yulin warriors were indeed there, and Elder Seol Yi-jeong brings in another 500 warriors from the cave, they could attack the Yulin from both sides. If that all happened, then the core would belong to them.

Under the command of the deputy king, Baek Gojung and lieutenant Oh Young hurriedly went to the cave where the elders were.

Baek Gojung, who arrived right away, entered the cave.

But as soon as he went down, something strange happened.

“What is this?”

“Leader… this is the smell of blood.”

A foul odor that tickled their nose wafted from the underground cave.

A strange chill crept down Baek Gojung’s spine as he went down, but when he reached the last level, he was in shock.

“H-how did this happen?”

Five hundred men that were supposed to be there guarding the Adularia stones. Were in the form of numerous corpses scattered far and wide with traces of fierce fighting everywhere.

A single glance was enough to know that five hundred bodies were there.

This didn’t mean that the battle happened when the dragon broke out.

“Who the hell raided this place?”

Judging from the cuts on the corpses, they must have collided with an armed group of people.

“Leader here!”

While examining the bodies, Oh Young found footprints that headed somewhere.

And that place was,

“This…”

The tunnel the dragon dug.

It looked like someone raided the place when the battle happened outside and went into the underground tunnel.

Whoops!

“Who the hell entered this place?”

Baek Gojung, unable to contain his anger, ground his teeth.

Then, he quickly contained his anger.

“You must go back immediately and report this to the deputy king!”

“Bu, but leader, you?”

“I will track them, hurry up. Only then will they be able to know!”

“Yes!”

Baek Gojung looked at Oh Young, who exited from the cave, and then he hurriedly entered the tunnel.

Crackle!

Lightning qi, which flowed through his body’s meridians.

In order to control it, Chun Yeowun focused on his breath.

The most effective method was something he had learned while controlling the Sky Demon Force, but with his current body, he chose to use the method he used for the Twenty Four Demon Sword.

It wasn’t the greatest one, but it had the greatest effect when meditating.

In a situation where it was difficult to control his body and the lightning, nothing else could be done.

“Kuak!”

Crackle!

Every time he inhaled, sparks from the lightning qi flashed all over his body.

The unfamiliar qi simulated his meridians and disrupted the flow of energy in his body, but the Sword Force of the Sky Demon was protecting him.

If it wasn’t for that, which was in his Dantian, the lightning qi could never be controlled, and Yeowun’s body would have burst.

‘If Nano protected my meridians through self healing, this would be a lot quicker.’

The Sword Force of the Sky Demon didn’t have the speed.

However, Yeowun would try to hurry up, but if he did so, the meridians in his brain would be damaged, and the lightning qi would run wild.

He never thought that something would go wrong with Nano

The moment when he was focusing on the qi.

Crack!

[Error! Error! An error… has… occurred… in… the… system]

‘Nano!’

At the sudden voice of Nano in his head, Yeowun called out for it.

However, Nano didn’t respond and kept repeating, error, error.

‘Nano. Are you hurt?’

He asked with concern, but suddenly something changed in Chun Yeowun’s vision.

Though his eyes were covered, his pupils saw white light particles and the augmented reality opened.

‘Why augmented reality?’

Crackle!

[vi… video… devi… device… lock is… temporarily… released… need… to… fix… system… error… self… recovery…]

Crackle!

Nano’s voice got cut off, and a space that he never saw before opened up in the augmented reality.

It was a phenomenon that Nano used in the past for Chun Yeowun. It was the 3D (Three Dimensional) augmented reality.

‘Where is this place?’

In front of Chun Yeowun, a different world appeared.

There were many devices that displayed three-dimensional images around, and space was entirely filled with unknown machines.

There was only one thing he was familiar with, the picture of heaven, which was written in red letters and background, which symbolized the Sky Demon Order.

Below it was something written in English, not Chinese, but English which Nano had injected into Yeowun’s head.

[Sky Corporation Development Room.]

At the incomprehensible view, Chun Yeowun looked at the white particles, which showed something above the augmented reality.

[AD Year 2940.12.24]

‘What the hell… what is this recorded video?’

Editor’s Note

⁽¹⁾ Before anyone asks, “All Knowing” is the full name of the technique. We don’t know what they are “All Knowing” about. We will have to wait until the author hopefully clarifies it in the future.