Chapter 347: The Deceased (9)

Ghost River Domain.

A branch of the Black Ghost Palace.

Within a Nether Crossing Ship, the captain of the ship and Blue Grand Elder, Cha Jo-gwi, admires his garden while tilting a skull-shaped cup.

Observing the withered flowers and trees lining the garden, carrying the unique charm only found in the Nether Ghost Realm, he chuckles softly.

"Hmm, judging by the ghostly energy of Heaven and Earth, it seems that friend Baek Rin has found his breakthrough."

He speaks to his lieutenant beside him.

"When he returns, that guy will once again try to persuade us to invade the White Yin Domain. How do you think he will convince us this time?"

The lieutenant, a female ghost dressed in mourning clothes, ponders for a moment before speaking.

"He will probably explain the dangers posed by the cult established in the White Yin Domain, logically detailing how this cult poses a threat to the entire Nether Ghost Realm. He might also mention the benefits of acquiring the Void Spirit Pond of the White Yin Domain while suggesting that attacking the White Yin Domain would dent the pride of the Underworld Ghost Palace and Penglai Island, which consider the domain their inviolable territory."

"Tsk, tsk. It's weak, too weak. Although I listen to him due to the favor received during the Heavenly Being stage, honestly, such flimsy arguments won't persuade the palace. Perhaps, if he persistently continues to make the same argument for 500 or 600 years, the palace might see his will and dispatch a small force but..."

"Indeed, that seems likely."

Cha Jo-gwi takes another sip of his drink and asks.

"Then, in your opinion, what would it take for the palace to grant his request?"

"Hmm, perhaps if he hands over all the secret arts of White Vein Gate to the palace, swears to become a slave of the Black Ghost Palace, and expresses his willingness to participate in [the experiment]...then it might be possible."

"The experiment involving the erosion under the gazes of Entering Nirvana True Persons? Tsk, the higher-ups are overly obsessed with pointless endeavors. Where can we find a lunatic willing to be voluntarily corrupted? Even the slaves hesitate to participate despite the promise of liberation."

"Haha. So, in essence, it is practically impossible."

"Indeed, it seems so. Now, how should I deal with this friend who will keep coming to me, whining for the next 500 or 600 years..."

As Cha Jo-gwi tilts his cup again, a loud explosion erupts.

Kuang!

Dust clouds rise from one corner of Cha Jo-gwi's garden.

"Just in time."

Clicking his tongue, Cha Jo-gwi speaks to Baek Rin, who emerges from the dust cloud exuding menacing ghostly light.

"Yes, congratulations on recovering your realm, my friend. As you requested before, I've spread the rumor that the Black Ghost Palace will soon designate the Wuji Religious Order in the White Yin Domain as a heretical cult and move to exterminate them. However, as I mentioned before, it's just a superficial rumor. To truly persuade the palace, it will take several hundred years, so there's no need to rush. Let's have a drink together and..."

"I will offer everything from the White Vein Gate."

"...Huh?"

"And I will become a slave of the Black Ghost Palace. If that's still not enough, I will endure anything, everything!"

A crimson red ghost fire blazes in Baek Rin's eyes.

In his left hand, he holds a crumpled record book.

[Please, I beg you! Please exterminate that monstrous devilish cult that devoured my comrades!!!]

Cha Jo-gwi stares blankly at Baek Rin for a moment, then meets eyes with his lieutenant.

"...Hmm. For now, contact the palace."

"Emergency! Emergency!!!"

In the basement of the Wuji Religious Hall, my 38 eyes gleam with light as I remain in my Ghost King Transformation.

A follower Wuji Religious Order with a curse doll body runs to me and reports.

"Currently, from the north of the White Yin Domain, the Black Ghost Palace is moving a Nether Crossing Ship with three Blue Grand Elders and thirty Black Grand Elders towards the White Yin Domain!"

"C-Cult Leader! It's an emergency! We've received news that from the south, the Underworld Ghost Palace is moving one Integration Ghost King and ten Four-Axis Ghost Kings towards the White Yin Domain!"

"Cult Leader!!! Penglai Island is advancing from the east with one Integration Ghost King and fifteen Four-Axis Ghost Kings towards the White Yin Domain!"

Tap, tap—

I tap the armrest of my seat.

[Which force moved first?]

"The Black Ghost Palace!"

[So, the Black Ghost Palace's movement incited the others to act.]

"Yes, but all three forces are currently coming with the pretext of exterminating the heretical cult in the White Yin Domain."

[So, they plan to wipe us out first and then have a three-way battle amongst themselves for the White Yin Domain.]

Ghost fire ignites in my eyes.

'Five at the Integration stage, 55 at the Four-Axis stage. Moreover, the Black Ghost Palace is bringing a Nether Crossing Ship...the Underworld Ghost Palace and Penglai Island are also expected to bring something equivalent...'

I smirk.

[That's sufficient.]

With this much, it's enough to carry out the grand plan.

[Do not be afraid. I will protect you all.]

I rise from my seat.

[Hong Fan, the time has come. Prepare yourself.]

"Yes, Master."

Hong Fan approaches the Void Spirit Pond and begins connecting the Void Spirit Pond to the dragon vein of the White Yin Domain using the attraction force previously prepared.

Boom, boom, boom!

I pass by the followers and exit the basement of the Wuji Religious Hall.

Boom!

Upon reaching the front of the Wuji Religious Hall, I use a voice transmission talisman to call the Chief Law Protector, Left and Right Law Protectors, and all the Guardian Ghost Kings.

[Assemble.]

Kuarururung—

Jeon Myeong-hoon, with six shadows trailing behind, descends from the sky amidst flashing red lightning.

Next, accompanied with rumbling footsteps, Oh Hyun-seok approaches in his Giant Transformation while emanating purple aura.

Click, click, click

Kim Yeon appears, carried on a palanquin held by numerous cursed dolls.

Even Yeon Jin, who had been sleeping, comes running in a hurry.

Flash, flash!

Twelve Guardian Ghost Kings, emitting ghostly energy, line up before me.

[Everyone listen.]

I shout, my 38 eyes gleaming with light.

Kim Yeon relays my voice, linking with the formations installed throughout the White Yin Domain to spread my words.

[Currently, three of the four major forces of the Nether Ghost Realm—Underworld Ghost Palace, Penglai Island, and Black Ghost Palace—have designated us as public enemies and are coming to exterminate us.]

I feel the entire White Yin Domain tremble at my words.

However, I continue, undeterred.

[Heed my words.]

Kugugugugugu!

Six shadows erupt from beneath my feet.

Crack, crackle—

The shadows imbued with black lightning.

Those shadows contain my death aura.

Kwaang!

When I stomp my foot, the shadows beneath me spread across the entire White Yin Domain.

During the day in the Nether Ghost Realm, no one can perceive my death due to the gazes from the sky.

However, through the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body, I can indirectly, very subtly, emit my deathly aura.

Shaaaaaaaa—

The ghostly creatures of the White Yin Domain covered by my shadow fall silent in an instant.

Though they can't directly sense my death, they instinctively feel fear and quiet down.

If I revealed more of my death aura, they would go berserk and flee the White Yin Domain, but I managed to control it just enough to prevent that.

[A specter is haunting the Nether Ghost Realm.]

Flinch!

The expressions of Jeon Myeong-hoon, Kim Yeon, and Oh Hyun-seok become a bit strange, but I continue speaking without concern.

[That specter has many names. It is nothing other than what you are feeling right now.

[The first name of the specter is Violent Death and Untimely Demise (橫死夭折). You have all met Violent Death, have all met Untimely Demise, becoming ghostly creatures with a grudge and reaching the Nether Ghost Realm. Still, you have always tried to avoid the attraction force of the Netherworld because you wanted to live proper lives. However, even in the Nether Ghost Realm, it was always difficult to escape the attraction force of death. You feared the day you would be pulled by the attraction force to the Netherworld for judgment. That is why our cult provided you with physical bodies so that you could enjoy stable lives.

[The second name of the specter is Disease (疾病). You no longer have physical ailments because you are already dead. However, at the moment of death, you harbored a deeply ingrained grudge, becoming ghosts wandering the Nine Heavens. That deeply ingrained grudge is the disease of the heart. I, too, have harbored such a grudge several times. While I cannot understand your grudges completely, I can understand your pain to some extent. Where does the grudge of you ghosts come from? It comes from the life you have lost. That is why our cult has accommodated you so while limited, you can find a semblance of true life.

[The third name of the specter is Anxiety (Suffering from Concern, 憂患). You, or rather, us all, cannot help but fear our fate. Unless we are special beings, we must always face our death at the end of our fate. Knowing that death, that terrifying thing which causes us to lose everything, is our final destination, anxiety is born. Therefore, our cult has provided the maximum welfare and benefits to help you forget this anxiety even if only for a short while.

[The fourth name of the specter is Poverty (貧), the fifth name is Weakness (弱), and the sixth name is Hatred (惡). The fourth, fifth, and sixth are the same. Our cult has improved your impoverished circumstances, provided strong bodies for the weak, and ensured fair governance to prevent hatred from blooming.]

Heo Gwak once said to me,

That the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body is a devilish art that no one has ever mastered.

[Yes, we have given you as much as we could. But! I will speak honestly at this moment.

[All of that was merely for my own self-satisfaction.

[All of that was merely a drug to momentarily hide your pain.

[All of that was merely a deception we provided, a brief and fleeting tease.]

The Six Extremes (六極) are said to be concepts opposite to the Five Blessings.

However, unlike the Five Blessings, the Six Extremes have no corresponding axes.

The axes of the Six Extremes are nothing more than imaginary concepts.

Just like the concept of Ultimate Pinnacle created by the martial enthusiasts of the previous Head Realm,

The Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body is a delusion (妄想) trying to realize an imaginary concept.

That's why no one could ever master it.

When I practiced according to the formula of the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body, I instinctively knew.

Whether it's me or Jeon Myeong-hoon, this method could never be fully mastered.

Therefore, it could never surpass the completed method of the Taiji Quaking Lightning Body.

[Simply put, it was merely my own arrogance and imagination that I presumptuously judged and arbitrarily provided what I thought might be needed by you, the residents of White Yin Domain. Perhaps I, and the Wuji Religious Order, have wielded arbitrary violence and irresponsible power under the pretext of eradicating this specter with six names that haunts the Nether Ghost Realm. There must have been those who were dissatisfied with the Wuji Religious Order's rule over the White Yin Domain. Some may have felt it was tyranny. I fully accept all of that. Surely, our methods were tyranny and oppression to some. Therefore, I will not force you.

[I repeat. Now, the Underworld Ghost Palace, Black Ghost Palace, and Penglai Island, the three major forces of the Nether Ghost Realm, have declared the Wuji Religious Order of White Yin Domain an enemy and are coming to exterminate us.

[Hear this.

[We are a heretical order, a devilish cult that has tormented you under the pretext of a possibly nonexistent ghost. Therefore, escaping this devilish cult to pursue liberty now that the three major forces are at our doorstep is not a sin or betrayal. The puppet bodies we gave you can still be used for a long time with proper maintenance. Those who do not wish to experience another violent death and untimely demise should escape from the White Yin Domain. We will not pursue you, nor will we force you. Once again, escaping from White Yin Domain, ruled by this devilish cult, is not a sin or betrayal. Everyone, protect what is precious to you.]

The concept of 'pain' opposite to 'blessing' (福) is merely the indication of the absence of blessings.

It is not something with substance.

That's why the Six Extremes Yin Thunder Body can never be mastered.

But...I have been tormented by this unsubstantial something all my life.

This thing that torments us despite having no substance is indeed the true specter, the true great ghost.

That is why I only wish that this unsubstantial ghost will not harm my precious ones.

[As when you became ghostly creatures, do not experience the pain of losing something again. Only the mad who wish to arbitrarily chase away the ghost wandering the Nether Ghost Realm with their own methods with this crazy cult leader...]

Yes, I am merely someone struggling to chase away an unsubstantial ghost.

[...Stay here.]

I am merely someone out of their mind, haunted by a ghost.

I am merely a foolish deceased.

Translator Notes: 'A specter is haunting the Nether Ghost Realm' is a reference to 'A spectre is haunting Europe' from The Communist Manifesto.