The Soul-Harvesting Puppeteer - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 34
Fifth Highland Expedition II — Inheritance
Chapter 1
Dead in Han-eol’s hands, Gilit felt boundless fear and reverence before the transcendent power of the Spirit Clan’s master. Yet in secret, he coveted the Spirit Clan, envied them, and desired them still.
Among all his desires, what Gilit wanted most was the Blood Drop Library.
The Blood Drop Library bore the name of a library alone; it was no actual repository of books.
As a slave, Gilit had never so much as glimpsed this library, nor did he know how to approach it.
He had only caught wind of the Blood Drop Library while running errands for his master.
Yet the slave Gilit came to learn that this library was kept within Control Room No. 1 in Facility No. 1 at the continent’s heart.
Of course, there was no way for him, a slave, to reach Control Room No. 1.
In other words, the Spirit Clan’s Blood Drop Library was nothing but a cake in a painting to the slave Gilit.
‘But I can claim that cake.’
Han-eol began exploring Control Room No. 1 in earnest.
‘What could the Blood Drop Library look like? It’d be red, surely?’
Han-eol, peering about the interior of the control room, suddenly froze.
‘Ah, there it is.’
Among the dozens of bubble-like spheres drifting about the control room, one stood out to Han-eol—distinctly crimson.
Unlike the others, this red sphere was no larger than a thumbnail, and its surface bore no image whatsoever.
‘Is it broken?’
Han-eol, seized by concern, rushed forward and reached out his hand.
Whoosh—
‘Huh?’
The red sphere would not come into his grasp.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
No matter how Han-eol thrashed his hand about, he could not seize this tiny bubble-like thing.
On a whim, Han-eol touched another sphere—those responded readily to his touch.
‘What is this?’
Han-eol’s brow furrowed slightly.
Afterward, Han-eol stood motionless for a time, staring intently at the red sphere.
The nail-sized sphere bobbed in empty air, oscillating left and right as if to taunt him.
‘Could it be…?’
Recalling the nature of the Spirit Clan, Han-eol reached out not with his physical hand, but with the full-spectrum hand that existed in his Mental Image.
‘Oh! It works.’
The moment of contact—the red sphere burst like a bubble, flowing into his full-spectrum hand.
Yet the hand within his Mental Image did not take on a red hue.
‘Instead, something’s happening in my Upper Dantian.’
As Han-eol murmured, a pearl the color of blood entered his Upper Dantian and slowly orbited around his Spirit Fortress.
And the strange occurrences did not end there.
Whoosh!
The moment the red pearl appeared, the Golden Text Strings inscribed on the inner walls of the Spirit Fortress blazed with brilliant light.
When Han-eol wielded the Magic Circle, only the tail end of the text strings had responded.
But meeting the red pearl, the entire strings trembled with force.
The brilliantly surging golden radiance rose into empty space and burrowed into the red pearl.
As the red pearl and the Golden Text Strings combined, their two colors mingled, and the pearl transformed entirely into a bright crimson hue.
The pearl, its color thus changed, revolved around Han-eol’s Spirit Fortress at a constant speed—a truly wondrous sight.
Upon the pearl’s surface, mysterious characters rose in sharp relief, their appearance reminiscent of clouds and sun, moon and stars carved in abstract form.
Now that he thought of it, the crimson pearl evoked the sun in the heavens.
A yellow sea—the Spirit Sea—with a fortress—the Spirit Fortress—erected within it, and a crimson sun orbiting around: such was the vista before him.
‘My Upper Dantian is becoming more and more like a world unto itself.’
This thought crossed Han-eol’s mind.
And with it, he anticipated the transformations the crimson pearl would bring.
One revolution, two, three, …, six, seven.
When the crimson pearl had made precisely seven revolutions around Han-eol’s Spirit Fortress, a strange force suddenly emanated from it.
Whoooosh—
Han-eol’s consciousness was pulled into the pearl in the blink of an eye.
When Han-eol had first glimpsed the red sphere, it had been no larger than a thumbnail at most.
Even after it entered his Upper Dantian, merged with the golden radiance, and became the crimson pearl, the sphere’s size remained unremarkable.
Yet the space into which Han-eol’s consciousness had been drawn was vast beyond measure.
‘Where exactly am I?’
Han-eol stood bewildered.
Yet he felt no unease.
The strangeness of this space didn’t trouble him, nor did it feel threatening. If anything, it filled him with a sense of calm.
Han-eol was glancing around when it happened.
Whoosh, whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
With a bright, lilting sound, Crimson Bubbles descended in neat rows.
Top to bottom—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Like persimmons threaded on a string, the Crimson Bubbles lined up in perfect formation, and then suddenly halted, suspended in the void.
The lowest bubble hung at the height of Han-eol’s chest.
Above it, the Crimson Bubbles rose in a line so close they almost touched, stretching upward into that vast distance.
What had first appeared to be an empty expanse was now teeming with countless Crimson Bubbles.
Han-eol—or rather, his mind, his consciousness—carefully extended a finger toward the nearest bubble.
Tap.
The moment his fingertip made contact, the Crimson Bubble burst.
In that same instant, knowledge poured into Han-eol’s mind in a flood.
Chapter 2
It was geographical information about the southwestern region of the 5th Continent.
The vast 5th Continent, beyond reckoning, had been divided into seven sections, and information about one of those sections now filled Han-eol’s mind to the brim.
The mountains and rivers of that place.
The demonic beasts that inhabited it.
The distribution of Demon Race forces across the region.
The ore veins and medicinal herb fields buried there, and much else.
Because Highland’s 5th Continent was so vast, the information didn’t extend to the most granular detail.
Still, the data was indexed at intervals of roughly several hundred meters, which meant Han-eol would now be able to navigate the southwestern reaches of the 5th Continent and collect resources freely with this knowledge alone.
‘Ugh.’
The sheer volume of knowledge contained in a single Crimson Bubble left Han-eol’s head pounding.
‘At this rate, I’ll die.’
Han-eol pressed both palms against his temples and rubbed them in circles.
The headache still wouldn’t fade.
His forehead even felt hot.
Of course, his physical body wasn’t actually feverish.
‘This isn’t my real body. I’m just here in spirit form.’
Han-eol tried to keep that fact at the forefront of his mind.
After a little time had passed, the headache subsided. The sensation of heat eased considerably.
‘Should I try again?’
Steeling himself, Han-eol reached out once more.
The space left by the burst bubble had been filled as the bubble above it descended into place.
When the lowest bubble burst, all the remaining bubbles stretched across that great height had shifted down by one position.
‘Each of those bubbles holds information? Good grief. When will I ever get through all of it? I’ll be a withered old man before I finish.’
Han-eol let the silly thought drift through his mind.
Yet his fingers moved without hesitation and burst the second bubble.
Whoosh!
This time, geographical information about the southern region of the 5th Continent streamed ruthlessly into Han-eol’s consciousness.
‘Argh.’
Han-eol shuddered again.
His actual eyes, hidden beneath closed lids, rolled rapidly beneath the sealed lashes.
Afterward, Han-eol burst the bubbles in sequence, absorbing the geography of the entire 5th Continent.
When he burst the eighth bubble, the history of the 5th Continent unfolded in his mind like a scroll.
In this vast realm, there were more than five Dominant Species among the Demon Race.
The most fearsome Dominant Species appeared to be the Spirit Clan.
‘Though, if the Spirit Clan was the one who built the Blood Drop Library, they probably wrote the history from their own biased perspective.’
Han-eol decided he couldn’t trust everything he learned here entirely.
Especially not the historical records.
In any case, the Crimson Bubbles contained not only the history of the Spirit Clan but also that of the other Dominant Species.
They even included portions of the history of the Gilit Clan and the Cape Clan, who were being exploited as slaves under the Spirit Clan’s dominion.
By spreading across the histories of the Dominant Species in such a sprawling fashion, no fewer than twenty bubbles were consumed just to cover the entirety of the 5th Continent’s content.
By now, Han-eol was exhausted.
‘Bah. General knowledge like geography and history is all well and good, but isn’t there something more practical? Something like methods to extend one’s life, ways to increase defensive power, techniques for facing distant enemies, methods to build Elemental Resistance, or how to craft various artifacts?’
That was what Han-eol truly wanted.
Fortunately, the Blood Drop Library did not disappoint him. Following the history of the 5th Continent, the secret teachings of the Spirit Clan began to flow forth.
‘There we go. This is exactly what I need.’
Han-eol let out a cry of triumph.
But his expression soon clouded over into bewilderment.
And with good reason.
The Spirit Clan were a peculiar variety of Demon Race—they existed as consciousness alone, without physical form, and were fundamentally alien to Han-eol and his kind.
Naturally, they were born into a state of perfect immunity to all physical attacks.
Beyond that, the Spirit Clan boasted near-total immunity to every form of elemental assault—flame, ice, lightning, poison, magnetic force, you name it.
There was only one thing the Spirit Clan feared.
Nothing in the world could frighten them except attacks on the spirit itself—direct strikes against the soul.
Therefore, the legacy techniques left behind by the Spirit Clan followed a predictable pattern.
Soul Barrier
Soul Spear
Soul Net
Body Snatching
:
:
‘Ugh. This isn’t it at all.’
Han-eol let his mind wander through the Spirit Clan techniques that filled his consciousness, then dragged both hands across his face in frustration.
‘Fine, these techniques are too abstruse to master on the spot. But what am I even supposed to use them for?’
Perhaps to the Spirit Clan, spirit-based offense and defense were more precious than anything else in the world.
Or perhaps, lacking bodies as they did, techniques for seizing the flesh of other creatures held great value for them.
Han-eol didn’t dispute this.
But the Spirit Clan’s techniques offered him little practical benefit.
Chapter 3
‘I can’t say for certain without trying them, but my Spiritual Form seems stronger than Soul Spear or Soul Net.’
That was Han-eol’s intuition.
Of course, Soul Barrier—a defensive technique against spirit attacks—did seem like it might prove useful to him.
‘That could come in handy someday. But the truth is, I need defense against physical blows and elemental magic far more.’
Among the Demon Races of Highland, those capable of striking an enemy’s spirit directly were exceedingly rare. This was a fact Han-eol had come to understand naturally as he absorbed the Spirit Clan’s historical knowledge.
‘At least on the 5th Continent and below… there doesn’t seem to be any species with that kind of special ability on the 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th Continents.’
Even Sam-mok-pal-mi’s fully mature form, Gilit, couldn’t land a direct strike on an enemy’s spirit.
So there was no pressing reason for Han-eol to devote himself to Soul Barrier right now.
‘Nothing here seems particularly useful. Hmph.’
Han-eol remained disappointed for a time.
Perhaps because his expectations had been so high, the letdown felt all the deeper.
Then, at last, something worth salvaging emerged.
Spirit Barrier
This was the name of the ability that made Han-eol’s eyes snap open.
The Spirit Clan had left an assessment: Spirit Barrier was merely a stripped-down version of Soul Barrier. They had rated it poorly on that basis.
Soul refers to the spirit.
Spirit also means spirit, but to be more precise, the emphasis falls on spiritual entities, holy spirits, and ethereal beings.
Han-eol nodded slowly.
‘I see. Soul Barrier is a defense that fortifies my own spirit to block external spirit attacks, while Spirit Barrier is a defense that commands external spiritual entities to protect both my body and spirit simultaneously.’
In other words, Soul Barrier is an ability specialized solely in spirit defense.
Spirit Barrier, by contrast, can defend both body and spirit, which at first glance makes it seem superior to Soul Barrier.
But in reality, it was not.
If Soul Barrier’s defensive power were quantified as 100, Spirit Barrier’s total defense power came to merely 20.
And even that 20 was divided: 10 for body defense and 10 for spirit defense.
For the Spirit Clan, who had no need for body defense, Spirit Barrier was an ability with cost-effectiveness reduced to one-tenth.
Beyond that, Spirit Barrier had the disadvantage of being consumable.
Since Spirit Barrier was a defensive barrier created by commanding external spiritual entities, when struck by enemy attacks, those spiritual entities would gradually be consumed and disappear in the collision.
And once that happened, Spirit Barrier became unusable for a time.
‘Until I command new spiritual entities and fill the barrier with them again—a depleted state, in other words.’
Han-eol grasped the characteristics of Soul Barrier and Spirit Barrier with ease.
Soul Barrier: specialized in spirit defense alone, non-consumable, and powerful.
Spirit Barrier: can defend against both body and spirit, but at the cost of being consumable and relatively weak by comparison.
No wonder the Spirit Clan treated Spirit Barrier as a stepchild.
Han-eol’s situation was different.
‘This. This is exactly what I needed. Not Soul Barrier—this.’
Han-eol began to master Spirit Barrier at once.
The Puppet Master Who Harvests Souls
Author |
Junon
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(주) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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No part of this book may be used in any form or by any means without the written permission of (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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