Originally, Mang-hon had subordinates known as Hidden Ghosts.

The method Mang-hon used to cultivate Hidden Ghosts was extremely cruel and inhumane.

He gathered young and talented boys and girls and subjected them to harsh modifications from an early age.

First, he completely erased their humanity.

After stripping away their ethics and sensitivity as human beings, he turned them into machines that existed solely to carry out orders.

Next, he trained them to perform missions.

Through surgical procedures and drugs, their bodies were enhanced.

Their limbs grew unnaturally long, and their skin turned a pale shade of gray.

They were considered ready once they resembled something no longer human.

The purposes of Hidden Ghosts were diverse.

Infiltration, espionage, assassination.

Their mastery was so extraordinary that, by using their stealth technique, which combined with sorcery, they could evade even the attention of Supreme Peak masters.

It was evident how skilled they were, as they freely moved in and out of the Wudang Sect, where martial experts were as common as blades of grass.

In the end, they met their demise at the Wudang Sect alongside the Heaven-Shattering Thunder.

In truth, it could be said that they were discarded by Mang-hon.

The disposal of Hidden Ghosts occurred once replacements were prepared.

Mang-hon’s new subordinates were those known as the Seventeen Spirits.

The Seventeen Spirits had appearances more similar to humans compared to the Hidden Ghosts.

Not only that, but they also possessed proper rationality and had even more advanced stealth techniques. It was said that two of them together could assassinate a Supreme Peak master.

Three of such figures had come to this place, the Azure Forest.

They precisely timed their approach when the Azure Forest Lord was away from White Cloud Peak, climbing the peak like spiders clinging beneath the stairs.

Not a single sound was made during the entire process.

—Careful. There are spells set to trigger an alarm.

The one leading at the front, the Fifteenth Spirit, came to a halt.

He had also received training in sorcery from Mang-hon.

After stopping the Sixteenth Spirit and the Seventeenth Spirit, he pulled something from his sleeve.

It looked like a pair of long chopsticks.

However, it was different—crafted from silver and engraved with red, intricate patterns.

The Fifteenth Spirit then took out a vial containing chicken blood and splashed it around.

Immediately, strange patterns appeared in the air before them.

—This is a formation designed to trigger an alarm when someone passes through it.

The Azure Forest was known for its mastery in sorcery and Qi Men Dun Jia.

Considering that the object in question was located in the Forest Lord’s residence, such meticulous security was only natural.

No matter how skilled the Seventeen Spirits were, they could not easily break through the Azure Forest’s techniques.

However, Mang-hon had already made arrangements for such situations.

The Fifteenth Spirit carefully pushed the silver rod into the center of the pattern.

Pajijijik—

The pattern in the air began to tremble.

The silver rod vibrated rapidly in midair, as if it were tightly gripped by something invisible.

Soon after, it burned completely black.

At the exact moment the alarm-triggering formation was dismantled, the Fifteenth Spirit swiftly retrieved the silver rod.

Although steam rose from his hand with a chiik sound due to the rod being scorching hot, he paid no attention.

He quickly surveyed the area below the peak.

—It seems we haven’t been detected. Move forward.

Fortunately, their infiltration had not been discovered.

The Seventeenth Spirit resumed their rapid ascent up White Cloud Peak.

Awaiting them at the top of White Cloud Peak was a single building.

Top Mountain Hall.

It served as the residence of the sect leader of the Azure Forest. Though not particularly extravagant, it was an impressive structure considering it was built atop such a high peak.

—So, we’ve reached the Land of the Enshrined Deity.

Only the followers of the Evil Cult referred to White Cloud Peak as the Land of the Enshrined Deity.

It was because the object they desired the most, the Enshrined Deity Box, was located at the top of White Cloud Peak.

However, breaching the security and stealing it was nearly impossible. Moreover, if it wasn’t the right time, there would be no point in forcefully taking it, so such attempts were rarely made.

—We’re going in.

But the purpose of today’s visit was different.

Since retrieving the Enshrined Deity Box, a massive iron chest weighing thousands of jin, was impossible, they intended to install something and return.

The item given by Mang-hon was securely kept inside the Fifteenth Spirit’s sleeve.

The structure of Top Mountain Hall was not simple.

Unlike its outward appearance, the inner corridors spiraled inward like a snail’s shell.

The Seventeen Spirits entered with the same stealth and caution as before.

They made no sound and remained alert for any formation arrays that might have been set to detect intruders.

Fortunately, no arrows came flying from anywhere, nor did the sound of an alarm bell ring.

However, as with climbing the stairs earlier, there were occasionally suspicious formations installed.

Luckily, the Fifteenth Spirit had two more formation dismantling rods given by Mang-hon.

These silver rods systematically deactivated each formation they encountered.

At last, they reached the deepest part of Top Mountain Hall.

What awaited them there was a massive iron door.

The door was so absurdly large that it was hard to believe it existed inside an otherwise ordinary pavilion.

It was the storage room hidden within Top Mountain Hall.

—This is the place.

The iron door had no handle and no keyhole.

The three members of the Seventeen Spirits clung to the smooth, metallic surface of the door.

Perhaps due to their knowledge of formation arrays, they soon realized that countless hidden mechanisms were embedded within the iron door.

Pressing the wrong part might reveal a keyhole, or worse, trigger an alarm, exposing their intrusion.

After about 15 minutes of deliberation, they realized that this was beyond what they could handle.

—Stand by.

At the Fifteenth Spirit’s command, the other two members stepped back from the door.

The Fifteenth Spirit retrieved something from his sleeve.

It was far more ornate than the silver rods they had used so far.

It was a golden rod shaped like a trident, with its tip split into three prongs.

And a small glass vial.

Inside the vial squirmed a bright, vicious-looking, red insect.

The Fifteenth Spirit first opened the vial and took out the insect.

—We shall summon Lord Mang-hon here.

But how could they possibly summon Mang-hon from such a distant place?

However, the other two showed no suspicion and immediately knelt on one knee.

It was as if they were waiting for their master.

The Fifteenth Spirit placed the insect on the rim of his ear.

The insect instinctively crawled into the dark ear canal.

Gajjak gajjak gajjak gajjak—

The sound of the insect burrowing into the ear would have echoed like thunder.

Yet the Fifteenth Spirit did not scream or attempt to remove it. He simply endured it in silence.

Whatever the insect was doing, a definite change began to occur.

Suddenly, the Fifteenth Spirit’s body started to tremble violently.

His eyeballs rolled wildly.

Only the whites of his eyes were visible at times, while his pupils darted in random directions.

The other Seventeen Spirits quietly awaited their master’s spirit descent.

In the silent chamber.

A low voice echoed, “You’re summoning something dangerous.”

It was a voice that felt extremely dangerous and cruel.

Strangely, it bore a threatening resemblance to Mang-hon’s voice.

The Seventeen Spirits raised their heads in confusion.

It had to be right after they had deactivated the stealth spell. They hadn’t sensed anyone approaching…

The Sixteenth Spirit lifted his head and was startled.

Standing behind the Seventeenth Spirit, who was kneeling across from him, was a man.

A young man with shadows cast over his eyes.

It was Dam Hyun, dressed in robes embroidered with five purple flowers.

He was holding a small sickle against the neck of the Seventeenth Spirit.

“Who are you?!”

The Sixteenth Spirit leaped up in shock.

With the Fifteenth Spirit still convulsing as he prepared for Mang-hon’s spirit descent, and the Seventeenth Spirit subdued, the Sixteenth Spirit was the only one left to respond.

However, Dam Hyun did not answer immediately. Instead, he smirked.

He recalled a scene from a novel he had once read.

There was a line he had always wanted to say—the villain’s chilling words upon confronting his enemy.

“Hahaha, a corpse is talking.”

The Sixteenth Spirit frowned.

He had no idea what Dam Hyun meant by that.

But at that moment, the Sixteenth Spirit felt it.

A sharp, deep pain pricked his neck—passing through like a cold whisper.

That ominous pain made him instinctively clutch his neck.

A bright red bloody line appeared on his increasingly hot neck, and soon, streams of blood flowed down his body.

The Sixteenth Spirit’s neck was cleanly severed.

Dam Hyun lightly curled the index finger of his left hand.

At that moment, a barely visible thread smoothly retracted into a device hidden within his finger.

It was Heavenly Silkworm Thread, something he had obtained from the snowy mountains.

Coated with powdered glass to maximize its cutting power, the thread had sliced through the Sixteenth Spirit’s neck in an instant.

With a satisfied smile, Dam Hyun spoke softly, “Don’t even think about running.”

As he brought the sickle closer to the Seventeenth Spirit’s neck, the latter flinched.

“I think I’ll have to run a little experiment on you.”

Instead of cutting the Seventeenth Spirit’s neck, Dam Hyun pressed his acupoint.

His intention was to render him unconscious by pressing the conscious acupoint.

However, Dam Hyun had not expected one thing— the acupoint pathways of the Seventeenth Spirit were unlike those of an ordinary human.

Puk!

The conscious acupoint could not be struck.

Moreover, as if defying human anatomy, the Seventeenth Spirit’s neck stretched eerily, just like his limbs had earlier.

Dam Hyun tried to cut the neck with his sickle, but the Seventeenth Spirit twisted his body horizontally and escaped.

With a swift movement, the Seventeenth Spirit hooked his arm around Dam Hyun’s ankle, throwing off his balance, and bolted away like lightning.

He fled in the direction from which they had entered the storage room.

“Oh my.”

However, Dam Hyun did not chase him.

It wasn’t due to arrogance.

From beyond the corridor came the sound of something charging.

Thud, thud. It wasn’t the sound of human footsteps.

It was the noise of a massive four-legged beast running at full speed.

Soon after, there was a loud crashing sound.

What appeared next was a fox with blue shimmering fur.

It had grown to the size of a large tiger, with two white tails emitting flashes of blue lightning—the Heavenly Thunder White-Tailed Fox.

Cheongho had caught the Seventeenth Spirit in its jaws.

Although the Seventeenth Spirit struggled to break free, Cheongho shook its head mercilessly, just like a tiger rendering its prey unconscious.

Eventually, the Seventeenth Spirit fainted on the spot.

Just as Dam Hyun smiled slyly, preparing to praise Cheongho for a job well done—

The trembling Fifteenth Spirit suddenly glared with wide-open eyes.

“You bastard… Who are you?”

The irritated tone in his voice was anything but ordinary.

There was no doubt—another presence had taken over the Fifteenth Spirit’s body.

Dam Hyun recognized it immediately, having once witnessed Yi-gang’s possession.

Mang-hon, possessing his subordinate, instantly grasped the entire situation at a glance.

“A mere sorcerer dares to ruin my plan?”

He realized that the Seventeen Spirits he had sent had successfully infiltrated the storage room of White Cloud Peak, and that this was, in fact, a trap set by the Azure Forest.

However, what puzzled him was how Dam Hyun had learned of the plan beforehand, and how those tedious Azure Forest Taoists had orchestrated such a bold trap.

There was only one thing Mang-hon knew for certain.

To restore his wounded pride, he had to kill the arrogant Taoist standing before him.

Mang-hon raised a finger, pointing at Dam Hyun.

“You and that filthy, lowly beast… I will—”

“Shut up!”

Dam Hyun roared at Mang-hon with a sudden outburst.

Mang-hon was momentarily stunned.

“Filthy beast? Disgusting bug-loving freak. One day, I’ll catch you, kill you, and throw you into a cesspit. You can live with the maggots you love so much.”

“Y-you…!”

Never in his life had Mang-hon heard such vile insults. He was furious.

Just as he prepared to unleash the deadliest killing intent he could muster at Dam Hyun—

Blue flames engulfed the Fifteenth Spirit’s entire body.

Even as Mang-hon tried to unleash his killing intent, his body shattered into pieces this time.

Puh-eong!

There was no way for him to possess burning pieces of flesh.

Dam Hyun chuckled mockingly.

“Heh, pathetic bastard.”

Then, from the direction where Cheongho had come, an elderly man with an impressive white beard appeared, holding a sword.

It was Im Gi-hak, the Forest Lord of Azure Forest.

Strangely, ash and bloodstains clung to the blade of the sword he had drawn.

“Why did you bother provoking the bishop of the Evil Cult?”

“Because that guy spoke rudely.”

“Had I not stepped in, you wouldn’t have fared well.”

“If the Forest Lord hadn’t been here, I would’ve been more cautious.”

The Forest Lord gave a bitter smile at Dam Hyun’s rarely obedient demeanor.

However, he had no intention of reprimanding him.

After all, the success of such a bold plan was solely thanks to Dam Hyun’s proposal.

“Now we’ll be able to analyze how Mang-hon moves.”

“We’ll have to take a good look. I’m curious about what trick he used to transform people.”

Analyzing the captured Seventeenth Spirit and the items the Fifteenth Spirit had carried would undoubtedly help in understanding the Evil Cult.

Dam Hyun let out a low chuckle.

Before he knew it, Cheongho had returned to its original small form. He picked up Cheongho and held it in his arms.

Cheongho did not resist and snuggled quietly.

Soon, elite martial artists from the Azure Forest, responding to the signal, arrived and cleaned up the storage room.

“Come, let’s have a chat.”

Despite Dam Hyun having completed his mission, the Forest Lord did not let him leave.

Though Dam Hyun looked like he wanted to return, he soon obediently followed the Forest Lord’s words.

The Forest Lord led him to his own residence.

There, he poured a cup of tea.

“…This tea smells a bit off.”

Dam Hyun sniffed the tea cautiously.

“It’s Da Hong Pao, a fine tea. The smell comes from fermentation.”

“I’m not so sure about that…”

Dam Hyun reluctantly took a sip of the tea.

The Forest Lord spoke in a low voice, “Yi-gang is searching for a dragon.”

“Pfft!”

The Forest Lord calmly handed over a handkerchief.

Dam Hyun wiped the tea that had dripped from the corner of his mouth.

“I heard he embarked on a journey to Tibet with a noble companion to find the dragon.”

“Why does that guy always get to do all the fun stuff alone?”

“I’m sorry to ask without giving you time to rest,” the Forest Lord said seriously, “But could you go and help Yi-gang? It won’t be an easy task. Creatures neither human nor yokai run rampant in Tibet…”

Dam Hyun accepted without even letting the Forest Lord finish his sentence.

“Of course!”

Even Cheongho eagerly nodded.

The Forest Lord could only respond with a bitter smile.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep