Absolute Regression

I stood in the middle of the training ground with my eyes closed.

The Soaring Sword Art had surpassed the wall of Ten Star Greatness and entered a new realm through the duel with the Sword Supreme.

Previously, whenever I thought of the Soaring Sword Art, it was tightly woven without a single error from start to finish. Now, it felt as if that tightness had loosened. As doubts arose about the previously perfect forms, my confidence waned.

I slowly drew the Black Demon Sword and began to perform the initial forms of the Soaring Sword Art. This didn’t mean that my previous skills had disappeared or diminished.

Brilliant sword light filled the training ground. What would this splendid martial art look like when it achieved the Twelve Star Greatness?

Ultimately, my goal was the Twelve Star Greatness of the Nine Calamities Demon Art.

Therefore, I hoped that experiencing the Twelve Star Greatness of the Soaring Sword Art would be a great help in achieving the Twelve Star Greatness of the Nine Calamities Demon Art in the future.

Just as I finished a round of training, Seo Daeryong rushed over to report.

“An urgent situation has arisen.”

“I think you need to see it for yourself.”

Seo Daeryong guided me to a nearby mountain.

There, enforcement martial artists were already on the scene, controlling the surroundings.

Special Investigator Gok Myung, who had arrived earlier, reported with a grave expression.

“More than ten freshly buried bodies have been found.”

The problem was that they were not ordinary.

“All the corpses are missing their hearts.”

“Fuck.”

The moment I heard that the hearts were missing, I thought of one particular great technique.

The Heart and Soul Reaping Technique.

It is a great technique that absorbs life energy from a person’s heart, known to be extremely cruel in its process. It involves extracting the heart from a living person.

And there was only one person in our sect who might use such a technique.

Soul Reaper Demon Supreme.

When I returned to retrieve the Secret Demonic Soul, there was a brief rumor that Soul Reaper Demon Supreme was using the Heart and Soul Reaping Technique to gather ghostly energy.

However, it was merely a rumor, and the truth behind it was never revealed. At that time, I was solely focused on obtaining the Secret Demonic Soul, so I had no time to investigate further.

‘Could that rumor have been true?’

The thought of extracting a living person’s heart made me frown. But what truly angered me lay elsewhere.

Seo Daeryong cautiously reported.

“However, upon examining the corpses, it seems they were not trained in martial arts.”

“Are you saying they were ordinary people?”

“Yes. They were mixed together without any distinction between men and women…”

Seo Daeryong added with a sigh.

“And among the bodies… there are children too.”

In that moment, my mind became freezing calm and my heart turned cold. This was the thing I despised the most.

Martial artists harming those who are untrained, especially children. This was utterly unreasonable, one-sided violence.

Among martial artists, it didn’t matter if there were ambushes or gangs; it was just a chaotic battleground for those who had thrown themselves into the brutal world of martial arts.

In truth, I’m not exactly a righteous person, but for some reason, I cannot tolerate this kind of situation.

What if these corpses were victims of the Heart and Soul Reaping Technique?

When I returned to the main sect to find the Secret Demonic Soul, I heard rumors that the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme had been practicing the Heart and Soul Reaping Technique. This meant he had been committing this for decades. There could be thousands, or even more, victims.

If that were the case… suddenly, the face of the old man who sent me back came to mind. Revenge was important, and so was my life.

‘Understood. Regardless of anything else, I’ll stop this first.’

At that moment, another investigator came and reported.

“Look at this.”

What he brought was a fan. Upon unfolding it, it revealed indecipherable language and bizarre drawings.

“It is a ghost fan used by ghost sorcerers.” (EN : It’s a trap)

It was a fan used by the disciples of the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme in their sorcery.

“Where was this found?”

“It was found with the corpses.”

This further confirmed that it was the doing of the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme.

Yet, I had my doubts.

Would someone tasked with disposing of the bodies drop the fan and leave?

“Where is the herbalist who found the bodies now?”

“He is waiting over there.”

“Let’s go.”

But the herbalist had disappeared somewhere. (EN : Knew it)

“It seems he got scared and ran away. I will search for him immediately.”

I had a feeling we wouldn’t find him.

Something about this didn’t seem natural.

Even in our main cult, it’s impossible to openly conduct the great technique that involves extracting a living person’s heart. Therefore, the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme must have handled matters related to the great technique very thoroughly.

But for the bodies to be discovered by an herbalist and the fan to be dropped there? Impossible. Someone discovered the burial site and made sure it was found.

“Now that we’ve found evidence, we should go to the Western Illusion Formation and investigate the owner of this fan, right?”

Seo Daeryong was visibly frightened.

“Are you scared?”

“Yes. The Soul Reaper Demon Supreme is the most terrifying figure in the main sect.”

“Why?”

“If I fall victim to the ghost sorcerers, they will steal my soul. I’d rather die cleanly by the sword than be controlled like a zombie and meet a miserable end.”

“What should we do? You have to come with me to the Western Illusion Formation tomorrow.”

“I’m quitting the Underworld Pavilion today. Ah, I really don’t want to go.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll bring some enforcement martial artists. Choose a few who are strong in martial arts.”

Seo Daeryong shouted.

“Those people will go mad and kill me!”

Someone had gone so far as to manipulate evidence to inform me that the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme was practicing the Heart and Soul Reaping Technique. Whether it’s true or not needs to be verified, but I thought of one person behind this manipulation.

‘Sa Woojong.’

Sa Woojong, the right-hand man of the One-Slash Sword Supreme.

There was a decisive reason I suspected him.

It was because of his memorable end, which I recalled when I first saw Sa Woojong.

Astonishingly, he had been caught by the Soul Reaping Technique and tried to kill the One-Slash Sword Supreme, only to be killed himself. How could I forget the incident where the most loyal subordinate tried to kill his master under the influence of the Soul Reaping Technique? (EN : Girls are scary when angered, but it was his fault anyway)

After his death, it was revealed that he had harbored romantic feelings for the Sword Supreme. The person who cast the Soul Reaping Technique was never discovered. People gossiped about it as a tragedy of unrequited love and then forgot.

Another reason I thought it was Sa Woojong.

Coincidentally, I had a three-day martial arts match with the One-Slash Sword Supreme recently. That event must have triggered something in Sa Woojong.

‘He’s trying to either get me killed fighting the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme or keep me too occupied dealing with him to pay attention to the Sword Supreme.’

I don’t know how he found out about the burial site and stole the fan, but he successfully pushed me towards the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. This case was something that I couldn’t overlook as the Lord of the Underworld Pavilion.

But Sa Woojong wouldn’t know.

By pushing the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme forward, he also stepped onto the stage himself.

* * *

The next day, I headed to the Western Illusion Formation with Seo Daeryong and the enforcement martial artists.

Since we had given prior notice, a ghost master was waiting to guide us at the Western Illusion Formation.

“I am Yeocham. Please follow me.”

We followed Yeocham as we walked.

After walking for quite some time, as we entered a garden, I stopped in my tracks.

“Wait a moment. I sense a ghostly aura.”

I halted my subordinates and scanned the surroundings. The ghostly aura was due to the ghost flowers planted in the garden.

“It’s because of the scent those flowers are emitting.”

Yeocham was startled. Only a master with extremely keen senses could detect the ghostly aura of the ghost flowers.

“If someone who isn’t a ghost master gets exposed to the ghost flowers’ aura, their internal energy won’t flow smoothly for a while, and they will be more susceptible to soul-reaping techniques. They might even experience hallucinations or, if unlucky, fall into a state of inner demon. I don’t want my subordinates to suffer such a fate.”

As I was about to release a sword energy from my Black Demon Sword to cut all the flowers at once, Yeocham shouted.

“Please wait a moment. I can suppress the scent of the ghost flowers for a short while.”

He took out a small cylinder from his chest and placed it in the middle of the garden. Smoke rose from the cylinder, attracting the ghostly aura around it.

“Now, please hurry through!”

I quickly passed through with my subordinates.

“If I hadn’t mentioned it, we would have entered carelessly and ended up exposed to the ghostly aura.”

“I apologize.”

Yeocham bowed his head at my reprimand. Knowing that he was also under orders, I did not press him further.

At that moment, Seo Daeryong spoke softly from behind me.

“Thank you for considering us, Leader.”

Looking back, I saw that not only Seo Daeryong but also the enforcement martial artists were grateful. Without me, they would all have been affected by the ghostly aura.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

“Yes!”

Ghostly aura was emanating from the various statues and towers around us.

No sooner had I noticed it than Yeocham moved to suppress the ghostly aura.

I understood why Seo Daeryong feared the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. The journey to meet him was already life-threatening.

We eventually reached the center of the Western Illusion Formation.

The houses built there had a peculiar appearance. Most of them looked like snail shells, structures formed of overlapping circles, unlike anything seen elsewhere in the Central Plains.

This was Seo Daeryong’s first time here, and he initially marveled at the exotic appearance. However, it wasn’t long before he complained of feeling unwell. The buildings here made one dizzy just by looking at them.

I told Seo Daeryong and the enforcement martial artists to walk with their eyes closed. They walked in a line behind me, each with their hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them, eyes shut.

Amidst the strange buildings stood a conical-shaped structure. This was where the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme resided.

His room was the epitome of dizziness. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all covered with swirling patterns. Just being in this room was enough to make one feel nauseated.

In the center of the room sat the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme.

Soul Reaper Demon Supreme Yasuo.

Even in the past, I had felt that he looked quite ordinary. If you went to Maga Village right now, you could find at least ten people who looked just like him. How could someone so ordinary be in such a dizzying place?

He seemed to symbolize that those who bewitch others always appear ordinary.

“I greet the Demon Supreme.”

I bowed politely and greeted him.

Before the regression, I had no particular connection with him. Even when I returned to the cult to find materials for the Great Regression Technique, I had no significant interaction with him. But one thing was clear. He was the one who survived the longest among the Eight Demon Supremes.

“Welcome, Second Young Master.”

His voice echoed from all directions. It seemed to come from the left, then from the right.

“What brings you to the corners of the world?”

This time, it sounded like a whisper from behind.

The confusion he caused could be seen as the beginning of his soul-reaping technique.

“I am here to investigate an incident.”

Then the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme stared at me intensely.

Suddenly, the black of his pupils expanded. Staring into his entirely black eyes made me feel drowsy. My subordinates, who had come with me, were likely not in their right minds either.

“Impressive.”

The voice echoed in my mind like a cave echo.

“I often hear that I have a firm mind.”

Of course, it was partly because of that, but primarily thanks to the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique. The technique activated on its own, preventing any demonic energy from invading my mind and spirit. However, since my mastery wasn’t deep yet, the situation would change if the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme used his full power.

Before this unnecessary battle of wills could escalate, I quickly stated the purpose of my visit.

“About ten peculiar corpses were found, and among them was an item belonging to a soul conjurer.”

“What kind of item?”

I showed him the fan.

Each soul conjurer seemed to have their own unique item. As soon as he saw the fan, the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme called for someone.

“Summon Neunghyu.”

Ordinarily, I would have had many questions, but they were omitted. Even though I emphasized that the corpses were peculiar, the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme didn’t ask what was peculiar about them. This meant.

‘He already knows what kind of corpses they are.’

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