Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1329

The Blood Sect’s offensive was terrifying. The Blood Sect’s forces, having prepared for the conquest of the continent for a long time, were powerful enough to overturn the martial world several times over. Naturally, the Three Demonic Clans were included in those forces. The northern part of the continent was pushed back in an instant. Even the venerable Shaolin [a famous Buddhist monastery known for its martial arts] had no choice but to retreat. The Blood Sect, while launching a swift offensive, aimed to destroy Shaolin first. Their goal was to wipe out not only their base but also all the martial monks and secular sects under Shaolin’s banner, leaving none behind. If they were to destroy Shaolin, the spiritual pillar of the martial world, the shock would sweep across the continent. It also meant that the Blood Sect’s conquest of the continent would become much easier. However, the Blood Sect’s conquest of the continent did not reach the south. At that time, when all the people of the world were groaning, when countless commoners were trembling in fear and seeking divine intervention, it was at that moment that Cheon In-ryong appeared. “Hah! Hah!” Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had suffered a fatal wound in a bloody battle with the martial forces, retreated towards the main base. There was no other way. ‘Young Sect Leader.’ Even in that state, he thought of Cheon In-ryong. ‘He’s incredibly, truly incredibly strong!’ The Young Sect Leader was strong. He was strong beyond imagination. With a power that no one could understand, he swept away the Blood Sect’s elites in a matter of days, and then, together with the martial forces, he crushed the Gwanghyeol Demonic Clan and overturned the Sinhwa Demonic Clan in an instant. In the process, five of the Blood Sect’s Thirteen Blood Kings, also known as the Thirteen High Priests, died. Two of the dead Blood Kings were killed by the top masters of the martial world, but three were killed by the Young Sect Leader. Moreover, it wasn’t a series of individual battles; he faced all three at once and sent them to hell in ten moves. It was the power of a god. The Young Sect Leader’s figure, emitting a spectrum of colors as he defeated the Blood Sect’s masters, clearly showed what a true martial god was. And seeing that scene, Yeon Ho-Jeong finally realized. The power of hell lurking beyond the spectrum of colors. The eerie energy that had begun to be tinged with gold was a new divine art based on the Five-Colored Hell Art. He had finally made the worst demonic art in the world, which humans could not even dare to learn, and even semi-immortals could not master, his own. ‘I’m really going to die like this.’ His inner energy was running out. Even with the Blood Drinking Art, his wounds were not healing. His life force was also being depleted. If he didn’t receive treatment in time, he would truly die. ‘I don’t want to die anymore.’ He had lived with the mindset that it didn’t matter if he died. But not now. He would definitely live. He would live, and live again, and live again. So that he could refine himself until he could stand proudly before the Young Sect Leader. The Young Sect Leader who betrayed him, the Young Sect Leader who insulted him. Yet, to stand proudly before the Young Sect Leader to whom he still swore allegiance. ‘No, that’s not it.’ Yeon Ho-Jeong realized that he had been deceiving himself for a long time. And it was the Young Sect Leader who had made him realize that. ‘I will not live only to face the Young Sect Leader.’ He wanted to rise to the same position as the Young Sect Leader. That feeling was genuine. But it wasn’t because he wanted to be recognized by the Young Sect Leader. ‘If the Blood Sect without the Blood Sect Leader or the Young Sect Leader is like an empty shell, then that position is vacant.’ The vacancy of the divine seat. The one who first sets foot in the place where the seed of god has disappeared can soon become a new god. And Yeon Ho-Jeong felt a strong desire for it. Enough to treat even his loyalty to the Young Sect Leader as ‘trivial’. After thinking about it for a while, he finally saw the main base. “……!!” The color drained from Yeon Ho-Jeong’s face. The main base’s forces were devastated. It was incomprehensible. The Young Sect Leader had faced the Blood Kings with the martial forces half a day ago. Naturally, the Young Sect Leader could not have arrived here before him. Then, did the martial forces attack the Blood Sect’s main base and annihilate it? Did those guys have that much power left? “You’ve come.” Startled, he turned his head and saw a warrior with grotesquely twisted limbs looking up at him. He was wearing the uniform of a lower-ranking warrior. It was not a tone or expression that he could dare to use with him. However, Yeon Ho-Jeong could tell. The unknown madness that was cast in the warrior’s eyes. A man with a blind goal, even more so than the Blood Sect Leader Cheon Gwak-ryong, who wanted to achieve his long-cherished wish even if it took generations, was there. “Clan Head……?!” “As I thought, my eyes were right. You survived to the end.” Even though he was dying, his voice did not waver. “How on earth?!” “I stole the Soul Transfer of the Mad Blood and the Fire Essence of the Divine Fire.” “……!!” Yeon Ho-Jeong felt a chill run down his spine. The Mad Blood’s Soul Transfer and the Divine Fire’s Fire Essence were both methods to achieve immortality. All of them were rebellious techniques created for the Blood Sect. However, neither the Mad Blood Soul Transfer nor the Divine Fire Essence had been completed. They hadn’t even shown any proper progress, let alone completion. That was what Yeon Ho-Jeong knew. To steal techniques that were so incomplete that it was embarrassing to even call them unfinished and then force his soul into another’s body? “Mad Blood and Divine Fire had ambitions no less than ours. The Soul Transfer and Fire Essence techniques had already made considerable progress. Although not yet complete.” “Then… does that mean they were also aiming for the Sect Leader’s position?” “Would it be just the Sect Leader’s position?” The Blood Sect’s dominion over the world. One way or another, they were children of the Blood Sect. Aside from the desire to make their own family the main base of the Blood Sect, their desire to achieve the Blood Sect’s dominion over the world was genuine. “Mad Blood and Divine Fire are stronger than us. But we have a skill that is not inferior to them. Do you know what it is?” “……” “It is the Immersing Heart Eye.” “Immersing Heart Eye……?” “It’s not something you can learn by studying like the Soul Transfer or Fire Essence techniques. It’s something you’re born with, like the divine power of the Divine Fire.” He couldn’t understand what he was saying at all. “There’s no time to explain. If you accept me, you’ll naturally come to know.” “……?!” “Just know this one thing. You are the one who was born with the most outstanding Immersing Heart Eye in the history of the Evil Yin Clan. Among the hundreds of children I’ve fathered, there was no one like you.” “……” “It’s an ability that fits so well with the identity of the Evil Yin.” The Clan Head laughed. It was still a chilling laugh. “Accept me. I will enter you and live another world with you.” “I have one question.” Yeon Ho-Jeong regained his composure. Even while he was dying. “Has the Young Sect Leader arrived?” “Yes.” “……!” It was the first time Yeon Ho-Jeong had seen it. The Clan Head was afraid of someone. The emotion that appeared in the Clan Head’s eyes was clearly fear. “The Young Sect Leader was much stronger than I expected. His strength was beyond description. He had already far surpassed the realm of humans and was wielding the power of a god.” “……” “As long as he exists, the Blood Sect will not be able to conquer the world. At least not in this generation.” “……” “But we can. If I enter your body and produce those who are born with the talent of the Immersing Heart Eye, and we grow our power over generations, the Blood Sect will surely…!” “I will ask.” Yeon Ho-Jeong made a gamble of a lifetime. “Is your goal for the Evil Yin to become the master of the Blood Sect, or is it to preserve your own life?” “……?” “You said there’s no time, so you must answer quickly.” A bizarre glow appeared in Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes. It was the madness of the Clan Head of the Evil Yin Clan, surpassing even the first Mugan Jisu [a legendary figure known for his madness]. The Clan Head, who had been staring blankly at Yeon Ho-Jeong, burst into laughter. “Your desire is much deeper, sharper, and greater than mine.” “Is it the Blood Sect? Or is it your life?” “There’s no need to ask. You already know the answer.” Yeon Ho-Jeong smiled. It was the moment he transformed from a human into a demon. “I do not wish to accept you, Clan Head.” “But you would like to accept my power and knowledge.” “It is for the sake of the Blood Sect’s dominion over the world.” “And for you to become a god.” “They are the same thing.” “I have only now realized that you, not I, were the one to bloom the flower of the Evil Yin.” He was smiling even as he acknowledged the moment of his demise. He had felt fear in the face of the Young Sect Leader’s incomprehensible power, yet he thought nothing of his own death. That was the Evil Yin. The belief, the conviction, that even if he died, one of the many seeds he had sown would one day become the best. That madness was similar to Cheon Gwak-ryong’s madness towards his successor. “Place your hand on my Baihui point [the crown of the head, a vital point in traditional medicine].” Yeon Ho-Jeong moved his hand obediently as he was told. The Clan Head shouted. “You must achieve the dominion of the Evil Yin!” “Rest assured and sleep peacefully.” “Kuhahaha!” The Clan Head’s body shone brilliantly. Whoosh! Something that had escaped through the Baihui point spread throughout Yeon Ho-Jeong’s body. ‘Ah!’ A moment that could be believed to be divided into hundreds, thousands of pieces. Yeon Ho-Jeong saw it. The Clan Head’s desire. Yeon Ho-Jeong understood it. The Clan Head’s skill. Yeon Ho-Jeong accepted it. The Clan Head’s knowledge. And Yeon Ho-Jeong realized. ‘Immersing Heart Eye.’ It was the power to manipulate people by digging into their hearts. It was an innate ability of many rulers since the beginning of time. In fact, many people are born with such abilities, whether great or small. Those who manipulate others with powerful authority, those who make others submit with a gentle nature, those who make others submit to them without even realizing it through friendliness. The qualifications of a ruler. A human among humans. Passing on the cycle of life through generations is eternal life. The Evil Yin accelerates that cycle, creating numerous lives in one generation, and puts those who are born with the Immersing Heart Eye into the Mugan Cave to select the most talented one. Those who are born with the Immersing Heart Eye have different abilities. Some can manipulate people’s words and thoughts with their speech, some with their gestures, some with their eyes, and some with their personality alone. Therefore, the more proficient one is in the Immersing Heart Eye, the more exponentially their spiritual power develops. The enlarged spiritual power has the power to make the upper dantian [an energy center in the body] the main dantian, just like those sorcerers. Then what about me? ‘My Immersing Heart Eye is like the sea.’ Yeon Ho-Jeong knew how the Clan Head had used the Soul Transfer technique, and how he had extended his life with the Fire Essence. The Clan Head’s abilities were limited to just keeping his life going. But he, with a much deeper spiritual power than the Clan Head, could revive his dying body. Whoosh! Fire energy gathered. He formed it as easily as if he had been training it his whole life. Crack! Crack! His body twisted in various places and then returned to normal. The more it did, the more his life force filled up. At that moment, Yeon Ho-Jeong realized another thing. ‘The Fire Essence consumes spiritual power.’ However, he, who possessed a more magnificent spiritual power than anyone else, would not have his upper dantian collapse even if he used the Fire Essence once or twice. However, in the end, the Fire Essence was just a half-baked skill. Since the beginning, the button was buttoned wrong, so even if he held onto it for hundreds of years, he would not be able to escape this harm. ‘Ah!’ Knowledge, the past, the future, all came in. ‘The Young Sect Leader knew. That I had the Immersing Heart Eye.’ Even if he didn’t know what the Immersing Heart Eye was, he knew that being with him would shake him. That’s why he had pushed him away. To protect himself from being shaken. ‘You were truly the greatest god of all time.’ Yeon Ho-Jeong closed his eyes. And. The Mind Sword Synchronization was broken.