1novels Chapter 256 : Corpse-Blood Realm (3)
Chapter 256 : Corpse-Blood Realm (3)
Chapter 256: Corpse-Blood Realm (3)
Once Cho-su regained his senses, Jang Woo-hyun briefly summarized how he had come to know Lee Ahn.
A Great Mage from the World of Magic and a Great Mage of the Corpse-Blood Realm.
At first glance, it sounded bizarre, but—
‘Because he’s Hyung-nim.’
‘Because it’s Woo-hyun.’
‘Because he’s the captain.’
The three of them shared the same thought and did not pay much attention to it. They were already friendly with the Wind-Passing Great Sage, a Great Monster of the Demonic Spirit Realm, so what else could possibly surprise them?
Jang Woo-hyun and Lee Ahn’s relationship was quickly sorted out, and the two continued talking.
“Lee Ahn, just how strong are you in the Corpse-Blood Realm?”
At the question, confidence filled Lee Ahn’s face. As he smiled, power and presence spread around him.
“I am one of the Eight Kings of the Corpse-Blood Realm. I bear the title Skeleton King. Skeleton King Lee Ahn. That is who I am.”
He proudly revealed his identity, but Jang Woo-hyun’s party showed almost no reaction.
“……”
The three of them were not from the Corpse-Blood Realm, but from the Central Heavens Realm. They had no idea what sort of position the Eight Kings represented.
“Hyung-nim, but if he’s called a king, then he must be someone important, right?”
In the quiet atmosphere, Jin Ha-un finally whispered softly.
Only then did Lee Ahn realize the issue and continue explaining.
“The Eight Kings are the representative powerhouses of the Corpse-Blood Realm. You can think of us as the strongest beings there.”
“That strong?”
Jang Woo-hyun asked in disbelief. Lee Ahn was certainly strong, but hearing that he belonged among the absolute strongest of the Corpse-Blood Realm felt strange.
Lee Ahn’s level was equivalent to the Realm of Wish among martial artists. Among cultivators, it was the Fusion Stage.
Above that still existed the Immortal Realm and the Great Ascension Stage, so discussing the strongest of the Corpse-Blood Realm at only that level sounded odd.
“The Corpse-Blood Realm is different from the Central Heavens. Though we are grouped together as the Eight Kings, we are not all equal in strength. The top three are comparable to Great Ascension cultivators, while the remaining five are around my level.”
“If the difference in realms is that great, then why group them together?”
Seo Ryeom asked, unable to understand.
“Because originally, we were all at the same level.”
“I still don’t quite understand. Explain it properly.”
“You first need to understand the state of the Corpse-Blood Realm. But before that, let me ask you something. You know why people ascend from the Lower Realm to the Middle Realm, don’t you?”
Lee Ahn’s gaze turned toward Jang Woo-hyun.
“Because you can no longer become stronger in the Lower Realm. The world itself does not allow it, and gathering Qi becomes difficult once you reach a certain level.”
Ascension differed from a cultivator’s Flight to the Heavens, where one was suddenly pulled away, but both ultimately faced the same limit.
“Correct. Compared to the Lower Realm, the Middle Realm possesses vastly richer energy. The same is true for the Corpse-Blood Realm. To you, this place may seem filled with poison energy, corpse energy, and death energy, but this realm is no different from the Central Heavens. For beings like me, the Corpse-Blood Realm is also overflowing with energy.”
“What does that have to do with the Eight Kings originally being equal?”
“Having energy does not mean everyone trains normally. There is a much faster method. And it has already become the standard here.”
“What method?”
Feeling uneasy, Seo Ryeom asked carefully.
“We devour one another. More precisely, we absorb each other’s power. The title Eight Kings only came into use recently. Originally, there were not eight, but ten. Depending on the era, we were once called the Twelve Kings or even the Eighteen Kings. It constantly changes with time.”
The reason beings of vastly different strength shared the same title—
Originally, they had all been at similar levels, but by devouring and absorbing one another, some rose to higher realms. That was why Lee Ahn, who stood at the Realm of Wish, was one of the Eight Kings, while others at the Immortal Realm level were also among them.
“So that’s why you devoured those bastards earlier? To increase your strength?”
The gigantic black skeleton had swallowed the enemy Jang Woo-hyun had been fighting in a single bite. If Lee Ahn’s words were true, then that too had been part of strengthening himself.
“No. That would not help me. I simply acted that way to kill him completely.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Another incomprehensible explanation followed, making Jang Woo-hyun frown.
“You can only increase your power by absorbing someone equal to or stronger than yourself. Absorbing weaklings is useless no matter how many you consume.”
Thinking about it, the logic made sense. If the strong could endlessly absorb the weak, then no one would remain alive in the Corpse-Blood Realm. The strongest individual would have devoured everyone already.
Lee Ahn continued.
“By ordinary methods, it is impossible to completely kill a being of the Corpse-Blood Realm.”
Most beings in the Corpse-Blood Realm had already died once or prolonged their existence through all kinds of forbidden arts and great techniques. Because of that, they did not die easily. They could revive over and over again.
“If you’ve fought cultivators before, then you’ve probably seen them revive or possess monstrous regeneration. The creatures here are far worse than those cultivators. Even if you kill them before your eyes, they quickly revive again. That’s why I merely used a method to ensure complete destruction.”
Lee Ahn continued explaining several more things.
“Even if you kill and absorb an opponent, you do not gain all of their power.”
“You absorb only a portion of it, while the rest scatters back into the Corpse-Blood Realm.”
“And the Corpse-Blood Realm, despite its name as a world of blood and corpses, creates new beings from that power.”
“They are creatures called Corpse Ghosts or Hungry Ghosts. At the bottom of the Corpse-Blood Realm, they devour one another and grow.”
“And eventually, those that survive become new members of the Corpse-Blood Realm. That is how this world sustains itself.”
A world completely different from the Central Heavens Realm.
Even the way the world itself functioned was different.
The Central Heavens Realm was mysterious, but fundamentally not that different from the Lower Realm. Ordinary lives existed there, and some pursued martial arts or sorcery.
But the Corpse-Blood Realm was different. Everyone devoured one another and absorbed power to grow stronger. Rather than a proper world, it resembled hell itself.
“If they constantly target and devour one another, and cannot absorb all of the stolen power, then it makes sense why they have fewer powerhouses than the Central Heavens.”
The Eight Kings represented the strongest of the Corpse-Blood Realm.
Among them were five at the Realm of Wish and three at the Immortal Realm.
Compared to the entirety of the Central Heavens Realm, or even just the Central Heavens Martial Realm, their numbers were lacking.
The Central Heavens Martial Realm possessed the Six Great Heavens at the Immortal Realm and the Ten Thrones at the Realm of Wish.
“That is not all.”
As Lee Ahn spoke, everyone’s attention focused on him.
“Some of them attack other worlds.”
The beings of the Corpse-Blood Realm invaded other Middle Realms, abducting cultivators and other races to steal their vitality and power. The world they invaded most often was the Central Heavens Realm.
“The ones who settled in the Corpse-Blood Realm are the worst kind even among cultivators. They make the cultivators of the Central Heavens seem innocent by comparison. You can think of them as being no different from the cultivator I just turned into my subordinate. Even the cultivators of the Central Heavens would find dealing with these monsters troublesome.”
As Seo Ryeom listened, something puzzled him.
“You say the Corpse-Blood Realm attacks the Central Heavens Realm? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
Despite his extensive activity in the Central Heavens Martial Realm, Seo Ryeom had never once encountered a cultivator from the Corpse-Blood Realm.
“Of course not. They do not attack the martial side. That place has a guardian.”
The guardian who protected the Central Heavens Martial Realm. The Sword Heavenly Lord.
The guardian who defended the Central Heavens Martial Realm from monsters, cultivators, and other beings also repelled invaders from foreign worlds.
That was why those in the Central Heavens Martial Realm had never encountered cultivators from the Corpse-Blood Realm.
“That’s why I crossed into the territory of cultivators instead of the Central Heavens Martial Realm. I could not face the guardian who protects the martial world.”
As he listened, Jang Woo-hyun developed another question.
“Something about this sounds strange. Don’t beings from the Corpse-Blood Realm lose their strength when they go to the Central Heavens Realm? Just like you did?”
“Ah, my case is different. I’m not originally from here, so I had to clash directly with the world itself. But cultivators are different.”
Unlike Lee Ahn, who came from the World of Magic, the cultivators apparently had their own methods.
“There is a method called Domain Erosion, or World Erosion. They create a passage or gate and overlap the Corpse-Blood Realm with the Central Heavens Realm. Then they can use their power without much difficulty. Sometimes the cultivators of the Central Heavens entering the eroded domain are the ones unable to use their strength instead. Which reminds me……”
Lee Ahn paused briefly, drawing everyone’s attention.
“……You all came here through a passage they created, didn’t you? Am I right?”
---
At Lee Ahn’s question, Jang Woo-hyun explained how they had ended up there. The other three added details afterward.
“As expected. What that man named Hyeonwol created was a kind of passage leading into the Corpse-Blood Realm.”
“Then why did Ha-un’s attack work when nobody else’s attacks could?”
“It’s the same reason I mentioned earlier. Since your friend is classified as dead, the passage did not reject him. That gate was not created for martial artists of the Central Heavens Realm, but for the creatures of this world.”
“Do you think he made the passage to escape?”
At Jin Ha-un’s question, Lee Ahn shook his head.
“I doubt it. If he intended to flee, he would have hidden somewhere and created the passage in secret. He would not have done it so openly.”
“Then was Hyeonwol’s goal something like the Domain Erosion you mentioned?”
“I’m not sure. I do not know his exact objective. But if the passage was created using the power of that Guardian God, then it is not some small crack or gate like ordinary Corpse-Blood Realm cultivators create. It may fully connect the Corpse-Blood Realm and the Central Heavens Realm. Part of the Central Heavens Realm itself might even become the Corpse-Blood Realm.”
Hearing that two Middle Realms could partially merge caused everyone’s expressions to harden.
“But then why didn’t Hyeonwol attack Hyung-nim directly before disappearing? Wouldn’t that have been far more dangerous?”
“He could not attack.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“That man named Hyeonwol. You said he possessed multiple bodies, correct? Bodies that did not even feel like Projections, but true bodies themselves.”
Instead of replying, Jang Woo-hyun nodded.
“In that case, there is a high chance that his true body is here. Or at the very least, the body closest to his true self.”
“You mean Hyeonwol belongs to the Corpse-Blood Realm rather than the Central Heavens Realm?”
“Exactly. Judging by this, he has prepared for a very long time. From the beginning, he intended to move his base here. Then the passage he prepared makes perfect sense. He is expanding the domain of the Corpse-Blood Realm.”
Hearing that Hyeonwol had established roots in the Corpse-Blood Realm and planned this for a long time, Jang Woo-hyun fell into thought.
The fighters of the Radiant Light Sect believed Hyeonwol would open a new world, yet in the world he sought to create, there was no place for other sorcerers. He had acted solely for himself from the very beginning.
“Even if he targeted you, there would have been no need to attack. If you had not met me, you would have died before long.”
A martial artist from the Central Heavens Realm could not survive in the Corpse-Blood Realm. The world itself rejected them, making even breathing difficult.
Without Lee Ahn, Jang Woo-hyun would have died as well. Hyeonwol had no reason to concern himself further.
Yet Jang Woo-hyun had survived.
A chance encounter had saved him and his companions.
Jang Woo-hyun looked at Lee Ahn for a moment before turning his gaze toward Jin Ha-un and Cho-su.
Companions who had followed him without hesitation.
Like Lee Ahn, they too had remained beside him because of accidental encounters.
Jin Ha-un, whom he met while hunting monsters, had helped him fight against the Demonic Cult. That encounter became the beginning of a bond that continued even after Ascension.
The kindness he had shown to the Beastkin children he first met after Ascending led him to Pung So-bong and Gwak Yu-chan, and through them, he eventually met Cho-su.
The two who rushed in without caring for the consequences the moment he was in danger.
‘Is this what fate means?’
Jin Ha-un, Cho-su, Lee Ahn.
Bonds born from small encounters were helping Jang Woo-hyun. Because of those connections, he had been able to continue moving forward and overcome countless crises.
A faint smile appeared on Jang Woo-hyun’s face. And he felt gratitude toward his companions.
At that moment, a gruff voice interrupted.
“Captain, I feel like I’m the only one being left out here. That’s just my imagination, right?”
At Seo Ryeom’s sharp remark, Jang Woo-hyun’s smile deepened further.
If new bonds had brought them this far, then now was the time to move forward again.
“Can you find Hyeonwol?”
“You ask obvious questions. Did you forget who I am? I told you already—I am one of the Eight Kings of the Corpse-Blood Realm.”
“As if I’d forget.”
“If I had to guess, Hyeonwol did not orchestrate all of this alone. There is definitely someone in the Corpse-Blood Realm working with him. We just need to find that bastard.”
Lee Ahn sounded completely confident that he could locate them quickly.
Jang Woo-hyun also had no intention of remaining in the Corpse-Blood Realm for long. He planned to deal with Hyeonwol swiftly and return to the Central Heavens Realm.
“Then let’s get moving, my friends.”
Lee Ahn snapped his fingers.
Snap! The small sound strangely echoed and spread in all directions.
A moment later—
The gloomy sky split apart as a gigantic ship woven entirely from bones descended.
Instead of oars, dozens of skeletal arms rowed through the air as though swimming.
Standing proudly before the bizarre ship, Lee Ahn spoke.
“Welcome to the Corpse-Blood Realm, martial artists of the Central Heavens Realm.”
Thus began Jang Woo-hyun’s party’s true entry into the Corpse-Blood Realm.