Chapter 47: Everlasting Flame of Calamity (2)

Gugwi and Yeon Sohye took steps toward the west.

Sunlight seeped through the dense forest path, scattering in dappled rays that pierced the way ahead.

“The western ruins of the Black Forest Fortress… that’s too vague.”

Gugwi wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.

“It’s been over a hundred years since the Cloud Flow Sect was annihilated. Finding traces won’t be easy.”

Yeon Sohye, with her sword strapped at her waist, answered cautiously.

If one sought out a sect that had been destroyed for over a hundred years, ordinary people would call it a futile effort.

And indeed, in the eyes of the common folk, it seemed that way.

But for Soul-Summoners, it was different.

Where resentment lingered deeply, earthbound spirits were rooted. Souls that had entered the Realm of the Threshold but failed to ascend remained bound there. Even after decades, that truth did not change.

What Soul-Summoners sought was not something that could be seen with the naked eye—it was the net of resentment. All truths were hidden within that net.

The two chose their path instinctively, without even a map.

They walked while hiding their unease, but there was no certainty whether they were truly heading in the right direction.

Chirp! Chirp! Coo-roo-roo!

Birdsong echoed from afar.

As the sun set, the two hid inside a rocky cave. They lit a small fire and brought the day to an end.

“I don’t know anything about the Cloud Flow Sect.”

Gugwi sighed, hugging his knees.

“Where the site is, what’s left of it… Could it be that the Manifest Demon Emperor is like… a god to the Heavenly Sound Cult?”

“All Soul-Summoners… haaa!”

Yeon Sohye exhaled heavily, cutting herself off.

“What should I say about the Manifest Demon Emperor? He may be a spirit, but… perhaps he’s a god of death that we cannot dare to touch?”

She scratched her head.

“But even though we come and go through the Realm of the Threshold so often, there’s no one who claims to have seen or contacted the Manifest Demon Emperor. So I thought maybe both the Manifest Demon Emperor and the Spirit Flow Core were just legends. That is… until you appeared.”

Yeon Sohye’s voice trembled faintly.

“Up until now, we weren’t even sure if the Manifest Demon Emperor truly existed. But if the one who brought him forth was the Heavenly Sound Cult Leader… then perhaps there will be traces of the Heavenly Sound Cult at the site where the Cloud Flow Sect was destroyed.”

She gazed at the flames as she speculated, but with no solid clues, she fell silent.

“Shouldn’t we be worrying about something else first? If we keep wandering like this, we’ll end up in the hands of the Heavenly Sound Cult.”

Yeon Sohye poked the campfire with a stick.

Gugwi pulled out the Soul Echo Manual from his satchel.

“There might be more clues in here.”

Once he calmed his heart, a blue radiance enveloped the manual. But the inscription only repeated, ‘West of the Black Forest Fortress, the secret of the Cloud Flow Sect.’

“This isn’t enough.”

He sighed, closing the book.

“I’ll need to summon Un Serim in the Realm of the Threshold. That would be the surest way.”

“Can you actually converse with a spirit?”

“A few words, perhaps. It’s not mutual—only what the spirit wishes to say.”

“Pfft!”

Yeon Sohye laughed.

“At this point, nothing you say surprises me anymore. For us, speaking with spirits is impossible. We can command them, but to listen to them… Fine! I’ll stand guard, you enter the Realm of the Threshold.”

She nodded firmly.

In the darkness of the cave, Gugwi prepared the Illusory Name Command.

He calmed his heart, guiding the spiritual energy of the Nameless Martial Artist into his Dantian. Then he whispered:

“Un Serim.”

Blue light wrapped around his Dantian. His consciousness was lifted as his vision blurred.

He entered the Realm of the Threshold, where the Milky Way shone brightly above. The ground beneath his feet was cold, and the air pressed down heavily. Slowly, the shadow of Un Serim emerged from the thick darkness.

“Where is the Cloud Flow Sect?”

“Ggghhh….”

The spirit let out only a wretched groan, offering no answer to his words.

“I’m trying to free you from your resentment. You need to tell me where the Cloud Flow Sect is.”

“Dark Spirit Sect….”

Un Serim spoke only what he wished, not what Gugwi wanted to hear. At times, it felt like a real conversation, as if meaning passed between them. But then—

Ssshhhhht!

Suddenly, pitch-black darkness swallowed the valley.

And then, a single point of white light pierced through the void. Beginning faintly like a star, the light gradually grew larger.

‘Who?’

A spirit had appeared—that much was clear. But who was it?

The glow spread gently, revealing a form.

The outline of a soul emerged, wrapped in a subtle radiance. White light rippled like waves around the spirit’s body. Softer than moonlight, warmer than candlelight, the glow embraced him.

The spirit’s face gradually came into focus.

Particles of light danced like brushstrokes, sketching out his features.

Shining alone in the darkness, the sight was both mysterious and sorrowful. Like a lonely moon rising in the night sky.

The radiance pulsed, waxing and waning like a heartbeat.

The light breathed in rhythm with the soul’s breath.

That white glow pushed away the darkness, creating a small sanctuary. Like a single flower of light blooming at the boundary of life and death.

“Who are you?”

“West… Three Peaks… Hoaapji.”

The white glow spoke with a trembling voice.

“West. Three Peaks. Hoaapji. Is that where the Cloud Flow Sect is? But who are you?”

“Once… altar of madness… Dark Spirit… curse….”

Gugwi’s eyes sharpened.

Though the words were difficult to grasp, he listened intently. He knew how rare it was to speak with a spirit at this level. At the very least, one needed a bond like the one he shared with his father to exchange words.

“West. Three Peaks. Hoaapji. An altar of madness. Dark Spirit—does that mean the Dark Spirit Sect? And a curse? What curse? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Gugwi’s heart pounded.

“Death….”

The voice of the glowing spirit faded, whispering one last time.

“Be careful….”

Saaaah!

Suddenly, the light melted back into the darkness.

Un Serim appeared again.

“Ggghhh… ghhh… Dark Spirit Sect. Revenge….”

Still, he spoke only what he wished. Sometimes it seemed like dialogue, but then it broke down again. Gugwi understood. He was consumed by a storm of rage, to the point the Gatekeeper could no longer be seen.

“Rest now. I’ll go and see. Whatever lies there.”

Gugwi gazed at Un Serim with the same warmth as if sending the Nameless Martial Artist to ascend.

“Haaah!”

He gasped for breath as he awakened from the Realm of the Threshold.

“What happened? Your face is pale.”

Yeon Sohye gripped his shoulder.

“West. Three Peaks. Hoaapji. That’s where we must go.”

Gugwi passed on the clue.

“Haa! Amazing. Did you really converse with a spirit? How is that even possible?”

“No. I didn’t converse with Un Serim… A strange spirit came and told me. Is that even possible?”

“A strange spirit?”

“It seemed like a woman. She looked very sorrowful.”

“Sorrowful? That’s even stranger. Inside the Realm of the Threshold, emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure disappear. The anger we see is just karmic flames transformed. A spirit shouldn’t look sorrowful.”

“So you’re saying such a thing shouldn’t happen? Coming into contact with a strange spirit.”

“It does happen. But afterwards, you have to either synchronize with the soul or annihilate it. Something must be done.”

“Mm! Then this must also be because of the Spirit Flow Core. It feels like there’s a curse of the Dark Spirit Sect at the Cloud Flow Sect’s site. I don’t know exactly what it means… but Captain, even you might be in danger.”

Gugwi hesitated about letting her come along.

“Hmph! I’m already entangled. The Cold Wolf Sect, the Blue Blood Unit, and the Heavenly Sound Cult. I got marked by all three just by sticking with you. So don’t call me Captain. The moment I chose this path, I was already cut off as Captain of the Shadow Blood Unit. By the way—you know what the Shadow Blood Unit does, right?”

“Monitoring initiates and exterminating evil spirits.”

Yeon Sohye’s gaze was firm.

“We’ve become evil spirits. If they say so, then so it is. From now on, we’ll have to fight against the Shadow Blood Unit’s members. No… we will fight them. Be prepared.”

“How could I ever thank you?”

“Buy me a meal.”

Yeon Sohye smiled brightly.

To the west, there were two places with the name Three Peaks: Mount Sambong and Sambong Valley.

They chose Sambong Valley first. It was closer than Mount Sambong.

No… there was another reason. An instinctive reason he couldn’t explain.

Gugwi sensed a subtle change in his heart and Dantian. The blue light of the Spirit Flow Core trembled faintly, pointing the way.

“This way.”

Gugwi chose his path by instinct.

“Is this really right?”

He muttered to himself, but the stronger the feeling from the blue light, the more confident he became.

“It must be. Your Spirit Flow Core has done mysterious things more than once.”

Yeon Sohye marveled.

Gugwi lightly climbed the valley rocks using Cloud Flow Step.

“This feeling, it must be… ah!”

He cut himself off mid-sentence and suddenly turned around.

From behind came a piercing wail of a Living Spirit.

Screeeech!

The Bloodscent Fiend of the Black Blood Unit activated Soul Transformation. Living Spirits with crimson eyes swarmed in. The Living Spirits within the blood orbs sensed the remnants of the Spirit Flow Core and growled.

“They’ve already caught up!”

Gugwi shrank his body low.

“The Spirit Flow Core is both medicine and poison. It shows us the way, but it also draws pursuers. Stay calm. I’ll block them.”

Paaang!

Yeon Sohye unfolded the Silver Spirit Technique. A silver mist spread over the valley, blurring the vision of the Living Spirits.

“There he is!”

The Bloodscent Fiend sensed Gugwi’s presence through the fierce reaction of the Living Spirits. Though Gugwi wasn’t yet visible, he was certain he had tracked him correctly. But then—

“Damn! Those bastards!”

The Bloodscent Fiend hastily gathered up his blood orbs.

The Blue Blood Unit was right on his heels.

They too had clearly followed the traces of the Spirit Flow Core left by Gugwi.

“Clashing here would be troublesome.”

Ssshhhht!

The Bloodscent Fiend hid himself deep in the shadows.

The moment he concealed himself—

Ssshht!

The Captain of the Blue Blood Unit appeared at the valley entrance, leading Am Ilho.

“The Soul-Summoning energy stretches this way.”

Am Ilho cut through rock with the Five-Form Sword Technique, carving open a path. His sword sliced the wind with a sharp cry. By cutting through obstructing formations, the Soul-Summoning energy could be read much more clearly.

“Don’t just chase the direction. Catch the man.”

The Captain of the Blue Blood Unit spoke coldly.

“Too close.”

Gugwi stilled his breath, concealing his presence with the Spirit Flow Core.

“Don’t move.”

Yeon Sohye enveloped them in So Ryeonghwa’s silver mist.

The Captain’s gaze swept the valley.

Yeon Sohye pulled Gugwi into a crevice with Flowing Willow Storm.

Am Ilho’s sword qi brushed past nearby, but the Spirit Flow Core’s blue glow erased all traces.

‘This Spirit Flow Core… just how far do its limits go…’

Gugwi was once again astonished.

Yeon Sohye’s Silver Spirit Technique cloaked the two of them. Silver mist wrapped their bodies, erasing their presence. Over that, the Spirit Flow Core’s blue radiance layered on. In that instant, a perfect concealment barrier was completed.

Am Ilho’s sword qi lashed out. The sharp force cut the air, sweeping past where they hid. But the sword qi flowed through without obstruction. It neither struck nor deflected, as if it had only sliced through empty air. To him, it must have felt like nothing stood in its path.

“Strange.”

Am Ilho muttered.

He had clearly felt someone’s presence nearby, yet nothing was caught by his sword qi.

The combination of the Spirit Flow Core and the Silver Spirit Technique erased their very existence. Even their physical forms seemed to dissolve into nothing. With no obstacle, the sword qi passed through. There was no way they could be discovered.

It was perfect concealment.

“Now hurry. Quietly….”

Yeon Sohye urged.

Taking cover within the mist, the two slipped deeper into the valley.

The sound of tearing sword qi faded into the distance.

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