Chapter 102 : Divine Artifact

Chapter 102: Divine Artifact

When a high monk passed away, the sarira he left behind was regarded almost as a Divine Artifact.

It was because among all the objects and treasures of the Jianghu, it contained the greatest power to subdue demons.

Twenty years ago, when the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden, Jeong Ryeo-yeong, stopped the flooding of a river, was it not the sarira handed down by the Mount Emei Sect that played the greatest role?

Thus, in all Buddhist Sects, sarira were treated with the same importance as a Sect Leader’s Command Token, guarded with the utmost strictness.

This was why Sewoon had been taken aback when Great Master Gakgong appeared and handed him a box containing the sarira of the New Monk.

-……I cannot go against my master’s dying wish, so I will hand it over to you.

-But if your lacking skill causes you to lose it to the enemy, or worse, if you sell it away for mere money.

-On that day, I will come for you myself.

Great Master Gakgong had scattered the fierce gaze of a tiger as he issued his stern warning before leaving.

Thus, Sewoon had obtained the New Monk’s sarira almost by accident, yet he could not help but remain puzzled.

No matter how much he recalled the memories from before his regression, there had never been any mention of a sarira emerging after the New Monk’s cremation.

The only possible explanation was that Shaolin had tried to keep it a secret, but that made little sense.

At the time of the New Monk’s nirvana before his regression, the war with the Blood Cult was at its height.

Had the sarira truly appeared, it would have been used in battlefields as a material to resist or undo the Blood Demon’s dreadful sorcery.

The fact that reality had changed so drastically could only mean one thing.

‘……The New Monk must have left it behind to give me his final aid.’

He thought of True Monk Gongsung, who had once told him their ties in the secular world ended there.

Surely, leaving behind a sarira had not been an easy choice for the New Monk either.

Suppressing the surge of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him.

‘I will only use your strength to save more lives, Great Master.’

Sewoon slowly lifted the sarira in his hand into the air.

Chwara!

At once, all the Heavenly Threads spread across the air flew into Sewoon’s hand.

Woom!

The sarira resonated, radiating a brilliant light.

Then, the strands of the Heavenly Thread began to wrap around it with delicate movements, like a mother bird embracing her eggs.

Saaa!

Chaaaa!

A change occurred within the Heavenly Threads.

Just as the Ice Wheel Thread had once turned them white, this time the Heavenly Threads began to glow with a golden hue.

Not like the glitter of gaudy gold ingots, but more like the radiant light of dawn.

And it was not merely a dazzling spectacle.

Sewoon could clearly see it.

‘Unbelievable demon-subduing power—!’

It was not even fully complete, yet already it was exuding a terrifying power of subjugation.

They said the Dharma power accumulated by the New Monk Gongsung surpassed not only the world’s best but also the greatest of all time.

Seeing it for himself, Sewoon realized how true it was.

He could not help but marvel again and again.

‘This is a power different from the Invisible Dagger……!’

At first glance, the power of subjugation infused within the Heavenly Threads seemed similar to the Invisible Dagger’s function of Dispelling Evil and Revealing Righteousness. But their essence was entirely different.

The power of the Invisible Dagger was focused solely on ‘killing’ and ‘destroying’ unorthodox and demonic enemies.

Yet, the demon-subduing power within the sarira was rooted in ‘saving’ and ‘benefiting.’

With such a fundamental difference, the applications of this power were infinitely broader.

Most importantly, it was the most effective power to oppose great sorceries like Hyeollato’s spell, the very one that had brought the horrific Kaifeng Blood Massacre.

‘Hyeollato’s sorcery was only the beginning.’

Before his regression, the Blood Cult had manifested other spells, perhaps even more catastrophic than Hyeollato’s.

To prevent that calamity, Sewoon had to strengthen his demon-subduing power further.

‘Hah, I should have acted faster.’

Recalling the Kaifeng Blood Massacre, he could not suppress his bitter feelings.

His original plan had been to head to the Southern Barbarians once the Murim Alliance’s matters were settled, to obtain ‘that’ and acquire the demon-subduing power.

But the Blood Cult’s unforeseen move had nearly caused an even greater disaster.

Just as Sewoon was about to sink into self-blame, he steadied his mind.

‘No, this is not the time to dwell on the past. As long as I don’t repeat the same mistake, it is enough.’

Yes, in the end, he had obtained an even greater power of subjugation through the New Monk’s sarira.

It was then.

Chwarara!

The golden threads of the Heavenly Thread, which had stilled completely, stirred again.

At the same time, the Heavenly Thread began rapidly shedding its layers from around the sarira.

Sharara!

In an instant, all the Heavenly Threads had been withdrawn into Sewoon’s hand.

But to his shock, nothing was left behind.

The sarira had vanished without a trace, as though it had melted away.

Yet, there was no reason for sorrow.

Instead, a bright light appeared on Sewoon’s face.

‘It’s proof that I’ve completely absorbed it.’

Swoosh.

Then Sewoon pulled something out from his bosom.

A small, blackened fragment of iron appeared.

It was none other than the Treasure Weapon Dark Iron Finger, which he had forged to track down Hyeollato’s Cursed Object.

But something was strange.

Wooong!

It no longer felt like a high-grade Treasure Weapon.

The energy it emitted was utterly ominous, filled with cursed energy.

During its use to detect the Cursed Object, it had been completely tainted by Hyeollato’s sorcery.

A Treasure Weapon in such an irreparably corrupted state had only one fate—destruction.

Woooong!

As Dark Iron Finger exuded sinister qi in Sewoon’s palm.

Chwara!

Suddenly, the strands of the Heavenly Thread coiled around it once again.

The Heavenly Threads encasing the corrupted Treasure Weapon began to glow with a gentle golden radiance.

The resonance of Dark Iron Finger quieted within moments.

Chwarara!

Finally, when the Heavenly Threads disappeared after finishing their work—

“Ah.”

Sewoon stared down at his palm and let out a heartfelt gasp.

Saaa!

The once-tainted Dark Iron Finger had returned to its original brilliance.

With the newly gained power, he had succeeded in achieving complete ‘Purification (淨化).’

Sewoon instinctively realized it.

The function of purification was only the beginning—the power contained within these Golden Threads was far more diverse and superior than that of the Illusory Sound Thread.

As he beheld the new strength of the Heavenly Thread, only one name came to his mind.

Sewoon muttered softly.

“Extinction Thread (寂滅絲).”

A thread that extinguished the flames of delusion.

It was the name most fitting for the power the New Monk had left him.

Ssshh!

At that moment, the color of the Heavenly Thread, which had manifested its power, began to scatter again.

Sewoon’s Extinction Thread was still far from complete.

‘Because, unlike the Pursuit Thread or the Ice Wheel Thread, it doesn’t yet bear a spell formation that creates greater harmony.’

For now, he had left the spell formation blank.

It was because he did not yet possess a technique befitting the Extinction Thread.

‘……There is only one spell suited for this power.’

And he had already decided what it would be.

What surfaced in his mind was the forbidden sorcery he remembered from before his regression.

A power so formidable that even the Blood Cult had been wary of it.

Now, it had been entrusted to those who did not even know its worth—

To none other than the Shrine Maiden Sect Leader and the Heaven-Piercing Sect Leader.

Even if the Divine Thief were to return, it was an existence that could never be stolen.

But Sewoon felt no trace of concern.

‘Because in the Jianghu, nothing is absolute.’

A cunning gleam flickered in his eyes.

“I-I’m so sorry, immortal lady.”

At a shabby hut on the outskirts of Kaifeng, a middle-aged woman bowed her head repeatedly to a young lady far younger than herself.

“Oh, what are you saying, Elder? Please get up quickly, your back will hurt.”

The beautiful young woman, appearing no older than twenty, was flustered as she helped the woman rise, almost embracing her.

The middle-aged woman was dressed in worn, plain clothes, clearly a commoner. But the young woman—anyone could see she belonged to the child of a noble family, unsuited to such a place.

“I feel so ashamed. My life is so wretched that I could only host you in such a shabby home, immortal lady…”

“But I’ve been sleeping so well here these past nights. And please, don’t call me an immortal lady, it embarrasses me.”

“But you are one! You saved my child with your feathered robe!”

“N-no, I really am not! Please don’t call me that, it’s embarrassing!”

As the woman said, the young lady’s attire was indeed unusual.

Her sleeves were so long that one might worry they would drag across the ground.

Some time later, the middle-aged woman finally departed.

Her gratitude must have been immense, for even as she left, she kept turning back, bowing deeply again and again.

“Oh dear, you must be so tired, yet you even bring me things like this…”

As soon as the young lady stepped inside, she saw a basket stacked high with steaming boiled potatoes.

She picked one up, still piping hot, and bit into it without even peeling the skin.

“Mmm. So tasty.”

A look of pure happiness lit her face.

It was a humble, genuine sight—one that no one would imagine of the Vice Sect Leader of the Shrine Maiden Sect, known among the Nine Dragons Four Phoenixes as the Spirit Phoenix, a young successor of a prestigious sect.

Indeed, the food shared after a day spent helping others was the most delicious.

Seo Surin thought so as she popped the last remaining potato into her mouth.

It had already been four days since she had come to Kaifeng with her master to aid the commoners.

In that time, she and her master, the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden, had dedicated themselves entirely to helping those suffering from the aftermath of the Blood Massacre’s sorcery.

Recalling the traces of that sorcery, Seo Surin’s face darkened.

‘…Master said there was no way the Heaven-Piercing Sect could have produced such sorcery.’

When her master had examined the dreadful marks of that spell—so close to a calamity—Seo Surin had seen an expression she had never seen before.

For the first time, the master who had even stopped the flooding of the river looked fearful.

Seo Surin had been shocked.

‘Then who could have done such a thing…?’

As she was lost in thought—

Ssshh.

Chwaa!

She suddenly spun around, flicking her sleeve behind her.

It was a flawless execution of the Flawless Heavenly Garment’s strike.

Her cheerful expression vanished completely.

There had been no presence, no qi.

But Seo Surin had acted on instinct, reacting to a strange sense of unease her innate Dharma power detected.

‘…No one?’

Indeed, no one was there.

Her sleeve strike had only cut through empty air before returning to her.

‘Must have been an illusion—’

She thought she had only been imagining things from fatigue.

But as she turned back, goosebumps erupted all over her body.

She froze as though she had turned to stone.

…What?

Beside the once-empty potato basket lay unfamiliar items.

A black blood-colored robe, a mask, and a letter.

She instantly drew all her qi, but still sensed no presence.

She let out a faint groan.

It was the realization that the intruder had already held her life in their grasp.

Slowly, she picked up the letter.

If they had meant to kill her, they would have already done so.

She had to confirm their purpose.

As soon as she read it, her eyes shook violently.

-Two days later, gather at the Blue Ape Bookstore.

-But do not speak of this to anyone.

What shocked her was not the content.

It was the seal stamped at the end of the letter.

‘The Alliance Leader…?!’

It was unmistakably the seal of Murim Alliance Leader Yoo Jinhak.