Chapter 337: Demon Immortal (1)

"What's this?"

A snake with eyes as white as a snowy field.

The moment I saw the snake, chills surged through my entire body.

The fact that there was a snake inside an otherwise normal person was shocking enough—but more than that, I had seen this snake before.

No—more precisely, I had seen it before my regression.

I remembered it clearly.

That snake had appeared in the hidden underground tower beneath Mount Tianshan in Xinjiang, where the Sword Immortal Chronicles were sealed—and then suddenly vanished.

The snake now in my grasp had the same eyes as that one.

Hiss hiss—!

A normal snake would squirm to escape when grabbed.

But this one… was staring at me strangely.

As if it was trying to make eye contact.

At that moment, the restrained brain general let out a low, cracked laugh, his face flushed red.

"Keuhuhu…"

"…What is this snake?"

Instead of answering my question directly, the man said something completely unrelated.

"The master is watching everything."

"Don't spew nonsense. Answer me!"

Crunch!

"Guh!"

I clenched my grip tighter.

Blood vessels bulged in the man's face, as if he might suffocate at any second—but he still wore a crooked smile.

He glared at me with bloodshot eyes and rasped out his words.

"H-He will… soon… rise… When… the master… awakens… y-you… will be… finished…"

"I told you—that's not going to happen."

With a twisted grin, he murmured,

"…It's too late."

Where in the world was this certainty coming from?

"So you're playing hardball. Fine."

Looks like I'll get more answers by killing him and absorbing his soul essence (魄).

Getting information like this is pointless.

I began to draw in my internal energy.

And that's when it happened.

Crack-crack-crack!

"What the…?"

The snake in my hand suddenly twisted its head.

It shouldn't have been able to move—it was tightly restrained. But it twisted its own bones to move.

Then the snake and the brain general locked eyes, like they were exchanging a glance.

At that instant—

CRACK!

The brain general's head exploded in my grasp.

It happened so fast, I had no time to react.

What's worse, as his head burst, the blood droplets shot toward me like blades, as if guided by some technique.

I leapt back, deflecting the incoming attack with my energy.

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!

But it wasn't over yet.

The man's body began to swell—and then exploded as well.

This was on a whole different scale than the head explosion.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Everywhere his blood splattered, the walls of the chamber corroded and crumbled, destroying everything in its path.

The resulting shockwave collapsed the entire tomb around me.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—!

In that brief window, I had only one option.

Whoosh!

Using instant movement (축지법), I escaped the tomb of King Pyeong.

As I emerged, I saw the center of the tomb cave in, collapsing in on itself.

"What the—?"

"T-The tomb! It's collapsing!"

The sudden destruction caused the royal guards stationed at the tomb to rush in.

"Damn it."

Whoosh!

I used instant movement again to relocate.

Now I was deep in a dark forest, far from the tomb.

I took a short breath—not from exhaustion, but from shock at how fast everything had happened.

Then I looked at the snake I was still holding in my left hand.

Its neck had twisted completely—its bones mangled—and it hung limply, dead.

But something had changed.

Its eyes.

They were no longer white.

Now they had a brown tint.

I tossed the dead snake to the ground and paused to think.

A curse, maybe?

That seemed likely.

Maybe this was all the doing of that Ma-Seon (Demon Immortal), the being the man had called his master.

Even I can control people using the Saryeon Sword.

If that's possible, then this snake may have been part of a similar spell.

Wait—if that's the case…

> "The master is watching everything."

That means…

"Damn it!"

I don't have time to sit here thinking.

I must head to the location indicated on the stone chamber map—immediately.

If the so-called Demon Immortal saw everything through the snake's eyes…

Then he knows where I'm going.

---

Taihu Lake, Jiangsu Province.

The third largest freshwater lake in the Central Plains has a few scattered islands.

One of them is a small island called Yuantouzhu (literally, Turtle Head Island).

It's said to resemble a large turtle poking its head out of the lake—hence the name.

I'm currently flying there using Sword Flight atop my Namcheon Steel Sword.

I've never been there before, and my instant movement has a distance limit—so this was the only way.

> "I see it. Doesn't seem like much besides some trees."

I agreed with Sodam Sword's comment.

If something was hidden there, the island sure looked too small.

But the map on the floor of the stone chamber clearly pointed to this place.

"I'll know once I get there."

After landing, I searched every inch of the small island.

The scenery was beautiful enough to be a tourist spot, but I couldn't find any particularly good place to hide a secret.

The fact that there was even a dock for boats made me question it more.

Would a place holding the secret to immortality be this accessible?

> "Hey… could there be a cave or tunnel underground?"

A cave?

I had thoroughly searched, but there was nothing of the sort.

If there had been, I would've noticed it the moment I set foot.

The map clearly pointed to this island. So why was there nothing?

Just as I was getting frustrated—

Rumble-rumble—!

The ground beneath the island began to tremble subtly.

Even the trees and shrubs were shaking—it was obvious now.

From within the tremors came a low, resonant sound.

I focused my senses.

Flash!

And dashed toward the source of the sound.

> "Where are you going?"

"Wait a second."

I definitely hear a resonating sound.

It echoes like a voice inside a cave.

Soon, I discovered large trees intertwined like branches tied together.

I had passed by earlier since nothing seemed unusual, but between those branches, I spotted a narrow gap.

It was just wide enough for a child to fit through.

— Could it be... there?

If my ears aren't wrong, that echo came from there.

With time running short, I didn't hesitate—I immediately cut down the large tree.

— Chwak! Keeeeee! Thud!

When the tree fell, the gap widened significantly.

And within that gap, there was a hole leading downwards—so deep, it felt like looking into an abyss.

This must be the place.

— Whoosh!

Without delay, I jumped in.

It was far deeper than I expected—my body continued to fall.

— This place gives me the creeps.

Probably because I can't see even a single speck of light.

Focusing my innate energy into my eyes, I could see that I was surrounded by cliff-like walls.

That's when the voice of Namcheon Cheolgeom echoed in my mind.

— Unhwi, I can see the bottom.

Just like he said, a hole in the ground came into view.

From within that hole, a green light was shining.

I adjusted my descent speed with inner energy and steered toward that hole.

— Whoosh!

As I passed through the hole, a vast cavern came into view, its ceiling filled with stalactites and glowing orbs illuminating every direction.

At the center stood a large stele-like monument, and in front of it was a being sealed with golden-lettered chains all over its body.

— Is that… him?

Seems like it.

Thank goodness—seeing it still sealed means I'm not too late.

In that case, there's no need to hesitate.

— Crackle! Whoooosh!

I immediately unleashed Blood Demonization, Lightning Adaptation, and True Blood Iron Body.

My entire body was surrounded by red lightning, illuminating the cavern with a crimson glow.

Since using Thunder Wall Heavenly Escape might cause the cavern to collapse, I chose one of my best techniques: the secret final 7-move form of the Sacred Name Sword Art, called Twelve Celestial Swordscapes (十二天景劍).

— Swish swish swish swish swish!

As I descended, I unleashed a peerless sword technique infused with red lightning.

Twelve strikes formed a seamless, dazzling pattern, rushing toward the being standing before the stele.

— Creak! Creak!

As I charged in, an irritating sound echoed in my ears.

I didn't know what it was, but I had to take that thing down immediately.

The being raised its head.

What I saw were eyes like those of a snake—completely inhuman.

The gaze was chilling, as if it could pierce through everything, but I focused solely on one thing:

"Cut it down!"

That's when the creature's bony hand moved.

Very slowly.

I aimed to cut through both the hand and the body with the Twelve Celestial Swordscapes.

Then it happened.

— Clang!

The creature's hand grabbed the Namcheon Iron Sword, which was wrapped in red lightning.

!?

The power in that sword was layered with multiple forces—it shouldn't be something that could be grabbed so easily.

But shockingly, its hand held the blade.

— Rumble rumble rumble! Crack crack crack!

The ground beneath the creature cracked and caved in more than ten jang (30 meters).

Yet the creature's hand holding the sword didn't even flinch.

I tried attacking its head to make it let go of the sword.

But as it lightly moved its hand—

— Woom!

A massive wave formed in the air, and not only did I lose grip of the Namcheon Iron Sword, I was also flung away by that force.

— Unhwiiiiiiii!

Like a cannonball, I slammed into the cavern wall.

— Boom!

"Urgh!"

I was embedded more than five jang deep.

Moisture seeped from behind me.

It felt like the bones in my back were crushed, but I endured the pain and barely managed to move.

— Fsssssshhh!

As I pulled myself from the wall, water gushed out behind me.

Maybe because this cavern is located deep beneath Taeho Island, it seemed to be surrounded on all sides by freshwater.

Crawling out from the wall, I looked at the creature standing before the stele.

— Are you okay?

No, I'm not.

I feel nauseous, like I'm about to vomit.

Even though I hadn't used my Demonic Awakening, I attacked with full power—yet I took the damage.

I never imagined a monster like this could exist.

— What now?

What do you think?

At this point, I don't care if the whole cavern collapses.

I'll unleash the full might of Thunder Wall Heavenly Escape and kill it.

If such a creature were to revive with immortality and escape to the world, no one could stop it.

— Goooooooooo!

I pushed myself further and triggered my Demonic Awakening.

The lightning turned blood-red, and my power exploded.

— Zap! Crackle crackle crackle!

With a flash movement, I stretched my sword-hand technique toward the creature.

A line of black lightning shot straight toward it.

Its speed was so great that even top-tier masters could barely track it—it pierced the creature's chest in an instant.

— Pop pop pop pop pop!

— It worked!

I know.

This is my chance—I can't miss it.

I thrust my sword-hand toward the ground.

— Crackle crackle crackle! KABOOOM!

At that moment, blood-red lightning burst from the floor, forming a reverse thunderbolt.

It was the third secret form of Thunder Wall Heavenly Escape Sword Art, called Reverse Heaven Light Thunder (逆天光雷).

— Crackle crackle crackle!

The creature, impaled in the chest, was engulfed by the surging blood-red lightning, its figure growing faint.

— Rumble rumble rumble!

At that moment, freshwater gushed up from the cracked floor.

Probably due to the lightning fracturing the ground below.

As the water surged in, sparks of red-black lightning danced across the flooded floor.

— Rumble! Thud! Thud!

The lightning striking the ceiling caused stalactites to rain down.

It felt like a natural disaster had hit this place.

I could no longer see the creature's form in the lightning, but I didn't stop.

— The water's rising really fast.

Just like Sodam Sword said, the water had already reached my knees.

It wouldn't take long to reach my thighs.

But I had to ensure the creature was truly destroyed.

Even if this place collapsed, I could escape with teleportation.

— Thud!

Using all my power pushed my body into overload.

It felt like every vein in me was about to burst.

Then it happened.

— Whoosh! Puk!

It happened in the blink of an eye.

I staggered and dropped to my knees.

— Splash!

Water sprayed up, soaking me.

— U-Unhwi!

The voice of Namcheon Iron Sword echoed in my mind.

Its blade had pierced straight through the center of my chest.