The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan-Chapter 465: Those Who Returned

“That can’t possibly be possible.”

Someone muttered that.

It was probably one of the Taoist Flower Disciples or Honor Flower Disciples.

No one voiced agreement, but it seemed those present agreed inwardly.

‘I will bring down Zhang Sanfeng, the Heavenly Demon, and Bodhidharma here, so they can fight alongside Azure Forest.’

Sun Wukong said that.

However, descent was not an easy thing.

That was true both for those who used Power Borrowing, and for the Azure Forest’s Honor Flower Disciples.

Recalling the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King who had aided the Evil Cult proved it.

Even possession, the act of moving by taking over a human body, was difficult.

It was so dangerous the caster could die from the burden.

Descent required immense preparation, and that was why even in a situation this critical, Azure Forest could not attempt it.

Not for lack of will, but because of practical difficulty.

Yet Sun Wukong was that confident.

To descend and act on the mortal world like the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, was an extremely unique case.

It was possible because Sun Wukong was the one and only being who had ascended to the heavens with a living body.

“What is there that can’t be done? There is nothing impossible for me, the greatest in spells under heaven and earth!”

Sun Wukong said confidently, raising the dragon pearl high.

Yi-gang stared up at Sun Wukong blankly.

The one most shocked by Sun Wukong’s assurance was Yi-gang.

The spirits who had been with him.

They would descend into reality and help Yi-gang.

It was something to be truly grateful for.

Even if he had no idea how it was possible.

“But there is no body to serve as a medium for descent, and no preparation either, is there? Whether that can be done…”

Yu Jeong-shin, flustered, asked Sun Wukong those things.

He was right. To attempt descent now, they needed at least a medium.

Like how the Seven Great Immortals who tried to revive the Heavenly Demon had prepared a new body.

“Look!”

But Sun Wukong only grinned, as if he had been waiting for that question.

「That bastard, don’t tell me…」

Nezha’s eyes widened, as if he had realized something.

Sun Wukong slowly raised a hand to his head.

What he touched was the golden circlet on his head.

The golden ring Tripitaka had used to control the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

That golden circlet, the smallest prison in the world, slid off far too easily in Sun Wukong’s hands.

“…Why are you staring so hard?”

“No, I’d heard the golden circlet was something you could never take off, but you took it off so easily.”

“After finishing the journey to the West, I became the Victorious Fighting Buddha, so of course I took it off then. Now I just… just wear it.”

Sun Wukong’s voice was oddly timid.

Yi-gang’s sharp eye caught something odd in that moment.

Perhaps from how long he had worn it, the fur where the circlet had sat was a subtly different color.

No, from the start, fur of a different color had grown in a vertical line along his brow.

Especially vivid golden fur had grown in a clump at the brow, and in its center was a clear mark.

A round patch where pink flesh showed…

“…A bald spot?”

“Gal!”

A fierce gust blew from Sun Wukong’s roar.

Several third-generation disciples in front of him tumbled across the ground.

He clicked his tongue and carefully plucked four strands of golden fur around the patch.

“These don’t even grow back… Anyway, they’re my clones.”

Sun Wukong said that, then blew gently on the hairs.

The hairs drifted like dandelion fluff before a breeze.

Four golden clones formed.

No, could you even call them clones?

The clones Yi-gang had seen before had been identical to him, but these were not.

They were smooth, with no facial features, no distinguishing traits at all.

「He’s made up his mind too.」

Nezha seemed to recognize what they were.

When Yi-gang glanced at Nezha, he explained about the clones.

「They’re clones made by ripping out pieces of that bastard Sun Wukong’s own divinity. Four of them, and even that monkey will have trouble bearing it.」

Those smooth-looking clones were not merely the product of a spell.

They were true split-divinity avatars, made by splitting off part of Sun Wukong’s divinity.

“Heh. What would a prude like you, Nezha, know about romance.”

「Crazy bastard.」

Sun Wukong looked more drained than before.

But there was no hesitation in his actions.

“Yinglong’s dragon pearl will make a fitting offering!”

Yinglong’s dragon pearl slowly dispersed.

As it broke into clusters of light, it split into four streams.

The dragon pearl’s power was absorbed into the four clones, which had no will yet and were still nothing but dolls.

And then, descent began.

First, the gentle breeze that had been blowing slowly stopped.

The insects that had been chirring, and the mountain birds that had been singing, fell silent all at once.

A complete stillness with not a single sound.

Only then did it feel clear how full the world had been with sound.

Koong, koong, koong, koong.

One after another, the clones lifted their heads.

At some point, facial features had taken shape on their faces.

Not only that. They were clothed as well.

The one standing at the very front was a man in clean, simple daoist robes.

A middle-aged Taoist with rough facial hair, and gentle eyes like an ox, the Wudang Sect’s grand master.

“…Priest.”

Zhang Sanfeng let out a hearty laugh.

And the man beside him.

Black hair, thick brows.

Striking features and a tall build that made his noble birth feel unmistakable. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Yet eyes dark, as if something inside was twisted.

“We’re seeing each other again sooner than I expected.”

It was the Heavenly Demon, who had once made the entire Central Plains tremble in fear.

And the man beside him.

“Cause and ties connect, and so the fruit is made…”

A figure you would never see in the Central Plains.

With unusually long arms spread, he had once been born a prince of the Fragrant Land.

He abandoned everything and returned to the Buddha’s law, came to the Central Plains solely to save all beings, and became an imugi.

“We part in Tibet, and meet here in Namman.”

Bodhidharma, who had ascended after becoming a dragon, stood there in the form of a young man.

They.

They who had only floated as souls had gained bodies and returned.

Yi-gang felt so full it seemed his chest would burst.

Something flashed through his mind.

There had clearly been four clones Sun Wukong made.

One more soul had come for Yi-gang.

Zhang Sanfeng, the Heavenly Demon, and Bodhidharma had already descended.

Then the remaining one was surely.

Surely…

“No way.”

It could only be the Immortal Divine Sword.

The swordsman who descended last.

That old swordsman lifted his head and looked at Yi-gang.

“Grandfa…”

Yi-gang quickly composed his expression.

The one before him was not the Immortal Divine Sword.

“S-Sword Emperor.”

“Ahem. It has been a while.”

Jang Gyeong, Wudang’s Sword Emperor who had been called the Greatest Sword Under Heaven.

He, who was said to have ascended while alive, had appeared here.

He was certainly not close enough for Yi-gang to call him grandfather, so an odd awkwardness lingered for a moment.

“I have crossed hands with one called Heuk-am before. Since they brought down the world and Wudang, I could not stay idle, so I came.”

Both Zhang Sanfeng and the Sword Emperor were like heroes of Wudang.

Wudang’s survivors, the Nine Palaces swordsmen, all knelt before them at once.

“We pay our respects to the Grand Master and the Great Founding Ancestor!”

Their shouts boomed.

With those four spirits and Sun Wukong standing together, it seemed there was nothing to fear.

“Good, good. Now it begins.”

Sun Wukong grinned.

“You mean the Priest’s ancestor?”

Zhang Sanfeng was right beside Yi-gang.

Zhang Sanfeng had been with him for a long time, but having him beside him with a living body felt strange.

“I met him.”

Zhang Sanfeng grinned.

Color rose in Yi-gang’s face as well.

“Really!”

“Yes. Truly, as you said, he was an extraordinary man.”

First were Zhang Sanfeng and the Heavenly Demon, who had said they would hide from the eyes of the Heavenly Realm.

Yi-gang was curious how they had appeared with the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven’s help, so he asked what had happened.

He did not expect to hear news of the Immortal Divine Sword there.

“Unfortunately, he could not come here. He said he was busy preparing other things for you, Priest.”

“What things?”

“He didn’t tell me either, so I don’t know exactly.”

The Immortal Divine Sword had clearly attained Buddhahood in Azure Forest long ago.

He did not seem to be active as an immortal in the Heavenly Realm, and yet he was still moving for Yi-gang even now.

He had thought so since receiving the hand mirror he left behind, and it made his heart race.

“Look at this.”

Yi-gang took the hand mirror from inside his robe.

Then he explained what he had heard from Baek Do-yeom.

That the Immortal Divine Sword appeared in his great-grandmother’s dream and asked that this mirror be delivered.

“He said to take it out and reflect it in an urgent situation…”

He had taken it out even when fighting the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, but nothing happened. It seemed special, but he could not find what was special about it.

Hearing Yi-gang, Zhang Sanfeng looked at the mirror and examined it from every angle.

“Was that so? To reflect it in an urgent situation… It feels like that wasn’t exactly what he said.”

“You heard it?”

“No, I only caught a glimpse of it. …For now, keep it with you. It will help, for certain.”

Zhang Sanfeng didn’t give a clear answer either.

Yi-gang looked at the hand mirror again and quietly stared into it.

Only his own pale face was reflected there.

Disappointed, Yi-gang put it back into his robe.

“Don’t worry too much. If you survive in good health, won’t a chance come someday?”

Zhang Sanfeng smiled kindly.

Yi-gang smiled back.

He did not bother mentioning that Yinglong had prophesied he would die with his heart pierced.

“Jinin, take care as well.”

“I will.”

Those who had descended, starting with Zhang Sanfeng.

They had once been born human and transcended death, but now they were not free from death.

If they died while descended, they would die forever.

“However, only when I, too, keep annihilation in mind can I truly give my all.”

Zhang Sanfeng spoke more like a martial man than a man of the Dao.

“As I said, those three Cardinals are dangerous bastards. All that useless proselytizing and expanding their influence was to get their hands on causality.”

Sun Wukong and Yu Jeong-shin stood at the front.

“They will have spread a domain around themselves. Ordinary Power Borrowing won’t even be usable near them. And here.”

Sun Wukong pointed to a part of the rough map drawn on the ground.

“I actually shrank my body to the size of an ant and went to recon. But only up to here.”

The Evil Cult’s main headquarters was inside the cliff. The point Sun Wukong indicated was the entrance into the cliff.

“Inside, you can’t even use spells. It looks like one of the Cardinals is personally maintaining a powerful binding curse. So that even the Heavenly Realm can’t interfere.”

The Evil Cult was wary not only of Azure Forest, but even of the heavenly gods.

And their defenses were not small.

When Sun Wukong finished, Yu Jeong-shin picked up next.

“We split into three groups.”

They had only one objective.

“The Evil Cult Leader is said to be in a vulnerable form right now.”

A “vulnerable form.” What did that mean?

“It’s said that he’s not in the shape of a person or animal. Crushed like a lump of flesh, wrapping around the Sealing Box.”

At that horrifying account, the disciples’ expressions twisted.

But it was clearly true. Bodhidharma, who had relayed it, was giving a small nod.

“Our goal is for someone who can use Aura Qi to kill that cult leader.”

So the goal was infiltration.

“One group, including Crown Prince Nezha and Do Seon, will approach from above the cliff.”

It was the group that included Dam Hyun.

They would circle around to the top of the cliff, then drop down as if falling, attempting to infiltrate.

“The remaining two groups will infiltrate from the front and enter the cliff’s ravine.”

Most of the force, more than half of it, would go in from the front.

Because in truth, there was only one proper route.

However, being discovered was as clear as day.

How could that be infiltration?

“When the battle intensifies, Group One will help Group Two enter, even if they have to give their lives.”

Yi-gang was in Group Two.

Group One would give up their lives if needed, to help Group Two infiltrate.

“Then, we move out.”

Fortunately, it was a dark night with no moon.

The Azure Forest disciples sank into the darkness.