Chapter 306: For Seo, Towards Seo (1)
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Chapter 306: For Seo, Towards Seo (1)
Kang Min-hee is looking at me.
No, her gaze is precisely directed towards my soul.
"What exactly happened to you...?"
"..."
Connecting through the Spirit Sealing Bodkin, she and I are linked at this very moment.
Although the connection will soon be severed, thanks to it, Kang Min-hee's Nether Perception can see more clearly into my essence.
"Huuuh..."
She creates an ice chair and collapses into it.
She looks extremely tired.
"You bastard...If you're going to show up, at least do it properly..."
Kang Min-hee curses with her eyes closed.
However, the corners of her mouth are lifted.
And then she falls asleep.
It's the effect of the Spirit Sealing Bodkin.
Kang Min-hee dreamt.
It was a dream about what happened on Earth.
In that dream, she was looking at a shadow in front of her dressing table.
She was glaring at the shadow in the mirror.
The shadow spoke.
―You are me. I am you. A shadow you created to protect yourself. Your talent is so immense that I was born naturally.
Kang Min-hee bit her lip.
Without responding to the shadow, she quickly applied light makeup and left.
The shadow is her talent.
A part of her power.
And she realized it.
Her talent had been fully absorbed when she entered the Black Ghost Valley that very day.
She had learned the Ghost Path Method from Heo Gwak and absorbed everything into herself.
It's a truth she had ignored until now.
The shadow is her own power.
And the shadow is already within her...
Therefore, the shadow can never appear before her again.
As she had awakened her talent and devoured it long ago.
When the memory she had subconsciously sealed was released, it healed her mind.
But was that the price?
Or was it a side effect of the Spirit Sealing Bodkin?
Or perhaps the prank of someone who had lost their mind?
Kang Min-hee, having released one memory, had to seal another.
The memory of seeing Seo Eun-hyun's soul inside Seo Li.
That fleeting memory was completely buried by the Spirit Sealing Bodkin embedded in her soul.
Kang Min-hee opened her eyes again.
Her last memory is that for some reason she had gone berserk, and Seo Li had intervened to stop her.
Although it felt like some memory had been sealed as a consequence, her distorted memory made her believe that the "sealed memory" was the cause of her berserk state.
Thus, Kang Min-hee vowed not to touch this seal until she grew strong enough to overcome her own rampage.
"What, Seo Li?"
After bidding Yeon Wei off, I speak as I return to Heavenly Cauldron Mountain.
Complaints are pouring in from Seo Li.
―Did you seal Kang Min-hee's memory?
"Her knowing your identity won't help her at all."
―It was not your place to meddle with her memory!
"It's to the extent she can undo it herself when she's ready. She'll think about it later when she grows stronger."
―Just why are you delaying the truth?
"I don't see why she needs to know it now. It's more important to send Jeon Myeong-hoon to the Nether Ghost Realm. There's no need to shake Kang Min-hee's mind unnecessarily."
―It's not about necessity.
"Everything in this world is just a matter of necessity."
―...
There's no contact from Seo Li for a while.
I click my tongue, wondering if I should treat Seo Li's paranoia as well.
It's then that I arrive at Heavenly Human Island.
"Master, it has been a while."
"Ah, is it Hong Fan?"
"Yes, the client from the Earth Tribe canceled the creation of the poison, saying something went wrong. Still, I got everything I wanted. Both the cultivation-scattering poison and the antidote. Hehe..."
"That's good. You're indeed useful, Hong Fan."
At my words, Hong Fan bows his head in gratitude before looking at me.
"But Master, you seem different from before?"
"Hmm, you think I've changed?"
"Yes. Are you not feeling well?"
"Hmmhmmmhmm...where do you think I'm unwell?"
"It seems there might be an issue with your consciousness. I can detect anomalies in the consciousness with the Formless Poison I developed that I injected into your upper dantian. But your consciousness waves are different from before."
"..."
I furrow my brows.
Hearing those words, I suddenly feel an overwhelming surge of annoyance and a murderous desire to kill Hong Fan.
But at the same time, I suppress that emotion with reason and thought.
Not only Seo Li but also Hong Fan thinks there's something wrong with me. In that case, there's a chance that I really do have a problem.'
I contemplate using the Spirit Sealing Bodkin on myself.
However, I feel that my mental issue is not merely a matter of a simple mental disorder.
'Well, fine. The reason I sought Tae Yeol-jeon in the first place is to obtain the Buddhist Family Methods to help with my consciousness.'
As I return to Heavenly Cauldron Mountain, I take out the Buddhist Family Method books I had received from Tae Yeol-jeon.
If I learn these methods, I will be able to clearly identify what is wrong with my consciousness.
But then.
Hong Fan, looking at the Buddhist Family Methods, asks with a puzzled expression.
"Master, what are those?"
I rack my brains and reach one possible conclusion.
'Could it be Hong Fan's past life...?'
Hong Fan is an ancient soul.
That's why he appears elderly and speaks in an old-fashioned manner.
Maybe Hong Fan had met Tae Yeol-jeon in his past life.
As I sort out my thoughts, Hong Fan suddenly says to me.
"Master, do you have the Buddhist Family Methods she gave you?"
"Uh, yes. I do, but...?"
"Please give them to me. I want to have them. At least, let me smell her scent from them. Please, I beg you."
In a daze from his desperate plea, I hand the Buddhist Family Methods I received from Tae Yeol-jeon to Hong Fan.
Hong Fan, taking all the books from her, holds them close and closes his eyes as if recalling something.
"...Well, I need those methods too, so bring them back to me later."
"..."
Hong Fan doesn't respond.
'I thought he was a useful person, but to be so swayed by emotions like that.'
I feel a strange sense of disgust towards Hong Fan and return to my cave residence.
Then, I frown as I see someone standing in front of my cave residence.
"...What is it? Why are you here?"
It's Seo Li.
He used a spell to change his face to look like mine and is waiting for me in front of my cave residence.
Seo Li looks at me and speaks.
"You seem to be in a bad mood, main body."
"...Yes. I suffered a loss because Hong Fan acted out of line."
"Then shouldn't you be making an annoyed face?"
"What about my face?"
Seo Li glares at me and says.
"Aren't you smiling?"
"...I'm smiling?"
Tststst!
Seo Li conjures a mirror with a spell and shows it to me.
In the mirror, despite my bad mood, I am wearing a surprisingly gentle smile that even shocks myself.
"Main body, don't you think something is strange at this point? Both Hong Fan and I felt something strange about you. And even though we have never made such an unpleasant face when feeling bad, you are now."
"...They say smiles bring good fortune."
But even I can tell that is a flimsy excuse.
'Why am I like this?'
I'm perplexed.
Seo Li looks at me with a cold expression and says,
"Main body. I will seal you in your cave residence."
"...What?"
Chuarurng, Chuarung!
Around Seo Li, sealing spells like the Spirit Sealing Bodkin, Five Elements Blood Curse Banner, and Black Ghost Curse Banner appear.
"Since you need to enter secluded cultivation to reach the Four-Axis stage anyway, consider it as secluded cultivation in your cave residence. I will handle your external activities with my clone body. I will also reach the Four-Axis stage first in Black Ghost Valley and share my insights, so don't engage in any activities from now on."
"...Who are you to tell me what to do?"
"I am yourself."
"..."
I ponder for a long time.
Indeed, I have been acting strangely lately.
"Wouldn't it be better for me to move around and find consciousness methods?"
"Well. I think it's better for you to observe yourself in a sealed state."
"Hmm..."
I think it over rationally.
Indeed, Seo Li's words make sense.
Logically, it's the right move.
But for some reason, I don't like it.
However...
'What does it matter if I don't like it? Emotions are...'
After organizing my thoughts, I smile gently and spread my arms.
"Alright. That seems like the best course of action. Seal me. Please carry on with the plans I intended to execute in my original body."
"...Understood."
"Then I shall go inside."
I enter my cave residence obediently, and Seo Li calls out to me from behind.
"Main body."
Bo-woong—
Seo Li draws out the Formless Sword and performs a sword dance before speaking.
"Draw out the Formless Sword."
I smile and draw the Formless Sword, mimicking Seo Li's simple sword dance.
"...I see. Then, stay sealed for about a thousand years."
"I shall."
Clang, clang, clang!
Spirit Sealing Bodkin, Five Elements Blood Curse Banner, Black Ghost Curse Banner, and various other sealing spells made with devilish arts envelop my cave residence.
Before the seal is completed, I hand over a token indicating full authority to my clone and then I am completely confined.
Judging by the structure of the seal, it will be released in a thousand years.
I will have enough time to slowly challenge the Four-Axis stage within the seal.
I sit cross-legged in the darkness, smiling brightly.
After sealing him, I use the clothing spell to completely change my clothes to white.
Only after seeing that disgusting expression of his did I realize.
That thing is no longer the main body.
"Seo Hweol, what have you done?"
That thing is now Seo Hweol.
For the next thousand years, I need to find a proper way to kill Seo Hweol.
***
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