KABOOM! A tremendous shock wave erupted overhead. Mongryeon’s black robe and Wisaeng’s gray hanbok collided for an instant, making the earth around Gwisu Temple heave as one. Several nearby houses collapsed from the vibration. Yise nearly let his eyes be drawn to the sight on instinct—the earnest clash of great Core Formation Cultivators, whom he had never before faced directly. But he quickly came to his senses. He had a duty to find the survivors. He raced through Gwisu Temple, spreading his divine sense. Broader than when he had first reached Foundation Establishment, it swept across every corner of the temple. The result was despairing. The Dokkaebi were a people who naturally handled Demonic Energy, so he had to track Demonic Energy to find the living. But this land was so saturated with it that it was difficult to detect anything; everything he did locate was merely the Demonic Energy radiating from demonic practitioners. Yise cut down the demonic practitioner who charged him in a single stroke and hurried on. His Master had said there were survivors, so there had to be. The problem was finding them. Then he felt a strange discord in his mind. Among the Dokkaebi corpses scattered everywhere, there was no sign of the young Dokkaebi—not even Gong-ah. His breathing briefly stopped. The adult Dokkaebi must have instinctively evacuated the children first when the attack began. They had hidden the children and thrown away their own lives in exchange. Just as Gwaecheon and the Dokkaebi patrol had done. But where? Suddenly, Gong-ah’s voice flashed through his mind.

["Oh, right. We have a secret base behind the main hall. I’ll show you later!"]

Behind the main hall, beneath the Dokkaebi holy ground crowded with ancient tombs and stone statues, there was a small fox den. It was the children’s secret base, its entrance usually blocked by a rock. Yise had often hidden and played there with the young Dokkaebi when he was little. If they were there, the demonic practitioners’ murderous hands should not easily have reached them in this land so rich in Demonic Energy. Yise flew straight toward the young Dokkaebi’s secret base. When he pushed aside the firmly closed rock, he found Gong-ah, Ilchwi, Woljang, and the other young Dokkaebi trembling and embracing one another inside.

“Yise…!”

“What? It’s Yise!”

“Big Brother Yise?!”

When the door opened, the faces consumed by terror changed to relief the instant they recognized Yise. Yise, too, spontaneously offered thanks to the gods of heaven and earth—gods he did not even believe in—that they were safe. Gong-ah immediately flew into his arms. “It’s all right now. Master has come, so everything will be fine.” Yise reassured the trembling young Dokkaebi. At that moment, Gong Ilchwi suddenly shouted.

“Yise! Behind you!”

Yise immediately turned, spiritual energy coating the Yellow Grand Parasol. A bolt of lightning that had flown from somewhere scattered with a tearing hiss. After sending Gong-ah deeper into the cave, Yise confirmed the attacker’s face. Riding a Deathwind Black Tiger, someone looked down at him with a characteristically arrogant expression. It was a familiar face—the demonic beast tamer he had met on a previous mission, the one who had made him taste defeat.

“You.”

At Yise’s seemingly pleased expression, the demonic practitioner tilted his head. But whether the man recognized him or not was irrelevant. Yise was simply glad he could repay the debt.

“Come down.”

The moment Yise spoke, he fired the Water Arrow Art. The Deathwind Black Tiger failed to evade and was struck by the water arrow, its body bursting apart. As the demonic practitioner landed, their divine senses met. In that instant, Yise’s body closed in like lightning. The demonic practitioner’s face twisted sharply as he drew up Demonic Energy to gather thunder.

Dokkaebi Shadow-Gathering Demonic Art.

Thousand-Catty Strike.

The spell whose power his Master had first shown him unfolded from Yise’s hands. Drawing in the strength of every nearby shadow, Yise brought down his hand axe, its tremendous weight crushing the demonic practitioner. THUD! RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

At the same time, he began gathering primordial energy within the Yellow Grand Parasol. The past four years—the thing Yise had devoted himself to most was handling primordial energy while operating spells. It required him to use his divine sense to its limit, making his brain feel as though it would burst every instant and consuming a great deal of time before and after. But it was the new secret technique he had equipped as a one-strike finisher.

He was overwhelming the opponent without exchanging many moves, yet sweat poured from Yise’s body like rain. It was a situation in which the demonic practitioner, driven onto the defensive, could only find it strange. The practitioner moved back and forth, forming hand seals, but before the thunder was complete, the Black Phosphor Axe flew toward his hands.

The primordial energy within the Yellow Grand Parasol was complete. Yise feinted with the hand axe, then drove the Yellow Grand Parasol straight into the demonic practitioner’s waist. Just as the practitioner hurriedly wrapped himself in Demonic Energy to block, the abdomen touched by primordial energy melted away. Without a trace.

“...?”

Unable even to scream, the demonic practitioner lost a third of his body and slammed into the ground without knowing why he was dying. Yise crushed his head with the hand axe, then turned around. Inside the secret base, the young Dokkaebi stood with their mouths slightly agape. In their eyes, Yise looked like an entirely different person.

Instead of saying anything, Yise began closing the entrance with the rock. Demonic practitioners who had sensed the battle were approaching one after another.

“Stay inside.”

After giving the brief instruction, he sealed the entrance and stood before it, steadying his breathing. He would never let anyone enter.

Divine sense came from the approaching demonic practitioners. Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners. The ones who had first attacked Gwisu Temple had been Qi Refining practitioners, but every one appearing now was at Foundation Establishment. The ambush operation seemed to have ended.

‘Could the Spirit Turtle Corps have been wiped out?’

No. That couldn’t be. The Spirit Turtle Corps had Gong Wol-ah, Gwisu Temple’s second-in-command and Master of Spirit Turtle Hall. She was an early-stage great Core Formation Cultivator who had only just reached Core Formation, but she was still at Core Formation. Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners could not possibly contend with her. The opposite was likely true: Hall Master Gong Wol-ah had arrived, and the Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners had begun fleeing toward this place.

‘Just hold out a little longer.’

Yise charged the demonic practitioners rushing him with the resolve not to give up even one step.

* * *

The demonic practitioners came without end. When he dealt with one, two charged; when he dealt with two, three charged. Before long, five Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners surrounded him, leaving not a single uninjured spot on Yise’s body. He could easily contend with even a late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic practitioner one-on-one, but two or more were difficult to subdue. His robe was soaked through with blood. A hole gaped where a blood spell had pierced his shoulder, while his flank burned from thunder. Even so, Yise did not fall.

“What a monster.”

One demonic practitioner muttered involuntarily. Yise looked as though he might collapse at any moment, yet the demonic practitioners were the ones dying whenever they relaxed their guard. His divine sense was only at early Foundation Establishment, but he handled spells more skillfully than those who had reached Perfection. Worse, whenever they were struck by an invisible attack, their heads burst apart in an instant. Since they did not know what was attacking them, they could not recklessly press their numerical advantage.

While the demonic practitioners hesitated in fear, Yise swallowed a Healing Pill and cast the Living Wood Art. It was a wood-attribute spell that rapidly heightened the body’s regenerative ability—a spell that could tend his wounded body in place of practicing energy circulation. The wounds the demonic practitioners had struggled to inflict closed, and the torn flesh drew together.

“Damn...”

Only then did they realize that fear had made them commit a mistake, but Yise had already steadied his breathing and regained his rhythm in battle. Just as the Black Phosphor Axe was about to cleave through the air, a will-o’-the-wisp flying from somewhere burst the demonic practitioner before him.

“...!”

A Dokkaebi wearing a sedge hat, followed by Dokkaebi in Daemudo robes who landed behind her. They were Gwisu Temple’s elite warriors—the Spirit Turtle Hall and its Hall Master, Gong Wol-ah. Gong Wol-ah slammed her spiked iron club into the ground, and the Demonic Energy that burst out tore the remaining demonic practitioners apart. One move. With that single move, the remaining Foundation Establishment demonic practitioners vanished from the earth.

“Hall Master Gong Wol-ah...”

With a furious expression, Gong Wol-ah ignored Yise and smashed open the entrance to the fox den with one finger.

“Doksu, Mongmok, Dogyeom. Take the children and go to Halla’s refuge.”

“Yes.”

Only after the three Dokkaebi warriors lifted the children and disappeared from sight did Gong Wol-ah turn her gaze to Yise.

“You’re going back to Daemudo.”

“I’ll fight with you.”

“With us? You?”

Gong Wol-ah gave him a sharp, disdainful look. “Does Daemudo plan to take credit after sending only you?”

“...”

Yise understood where Gong Wol-ah’s anger was directed. At Daemudo’s main mountain, which had left its ally to be attacked. He did not answer. He only looked at her with unwavering eyes.

Gong Wol-ah frowned briefly, then belatedly noticed the corpses of the demonic practitioners scattered around them. More than ten bodies. Her gaze returned to Yise.

The human boy Mongryeon had taken in. He was not an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator. And he was the one who had protected the Dokkaebi children without retreating, even until he was covered in horrific wounds.

Gong Wol-ah clicked her tongue.

“Follow me.”

“Thank you, Hall Master.”

“Don’t call me Hall Master. I’m not one anymore.”

“... Yes, Senior.”

Gong Wol-ah was about to lead Yise and the Dokkaebi warriors toward the battlefield where Mongryeon and Bihyeong Rang fought. But the aftermath of a clash suddenly poured down, and Gong Wol-ah hurriedly cast a defensive spell to protect those behind her. The battle was so fierce that even an early-stage great Core Formation Cultivator could not easily dare to intervene.

“This won’t do. Scatter and deal with the remaining stragglers. You’ll only get in the way.”

“Yes.”

“Be careful not to get swept up in it.”

The Dokkaebi warriors answered immediately and slipped away. Yise, however, did not move. He kept his eyes fixed on the battle between Mongryeon and Bihyeong Rang raging in the distance. Just as Gong Wol-ah was about to tell him to go as well, another clash sent shock waves through the air. She hurriedly blocked them with primordial energy, then suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to protect Yise and turned toward him.

‘He’s fine?’

Yise stood straight, holding a talisman in his hand—a talisman that temporarily blocked primordial energy. But how had he used it at exactly the right moment? At his realm, he should not even have been able to see the collision of primordial energies.

Gong Wol-ah rose into the air toward the clash overhead, and Yise followed aboard the White Luan Boat.

The closer they came, the more clearly he felt the battle’s ferocity. Mongryeon’s spiked iron club struck Bihyeong Rang repeatedly, while Bihyeong Rang stepped back and released primordial energy with a single gesture. It was clearly a fierce battle, yet something had begun to go subtly wrong.

‘... Master is losing.’

At first, the two had clashed evenly. But with every exchange, the balance shifted further toward Bihyeong Rang. An unidentified black sphere floated behind him. It was continually weakening Mongryeon’s strength.

‘Could I get close enough to destroy it?’

If he could eliminate only that, perhaps Master could seize the advantage. He was just about to gather primordial energy when Bihyeong Rang’s body scattered like mist, then condensed again behind Mongryeon. His hand pierced straight through Mongryeon’s solar plexus from behind.

“... Sister!”

“... Master!”

Gong Wol-ah and Yise screamed at the same time. Wisaeng’s hand pulled a black-glowing spherical crystal from inside Mongryeon’s solar plexus.

A golden core.

Mongryeon’s golden core had been extracted. Wisaeng began devouring the Demonic Energy from it, and Mongryeon’s body, now without its golden core, fell toward the ground. Gong Wol-ah and Yise accelerated at once, neither waiting for the other.