The red thread connected them, signifying that their souls were now linked.
The spirit, now reduced to a shikigami/familiar - a supernatural being controlled by its master - was furious at this outrageous situation. It screamed and tore at its hair in frustration, even threatening Mok Gyeong-un.
However, when the spirit tried to strangle Mok Gyeong-un, it suddenly recoiled in shock, releasing its grip. To their surprise, red handprints appeared on the spirit's pale neck.
'Could it be?' Mok Gyeong-un realized something. For some unknown reason, it seemed that if the master was harmed, the shikigami shared the damage.
'So that's why.' He now understood why the Monk had developed black spots all over his body. It was because the damage inflicted on the spirit by the blood droplet attacks had also affected him.
'I see.' He could now comprehend why shikigami followed their masters. With their souls connected and sharing harm, they had no choice but to eliminate anything that threatened their master.
Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un could understand why the spirit reacted so strongly. How infuriating it must be for such a proud being to become essentially a slave. Even as a mere soul, it would be enraged.
But that was the end of it. Mok Gyeong-un didn't care whether the spirit was indignant or furious. He was satisfied that he had achieved his goal.
'A Blue-grade spirit.' In terms of rank, it was the fifth out of seven levels, close to a high-level vengeful spirit. Unlike the yellow-grade Demonic Monk, a Blue spirit that had existed with its grudge for over a hundred years could affect not only living beings but also inanimate objects.
Mok Gyeong-un wanted to confirm this. But first...
He addressed the still fuming spirit, "Now that you've become a shikigami, what should I call you?"
The spirit remained silent.
"Isn't it a waste of time to keep acting like this?"
Mok Gyeong-un sighed. Seeing the spirit huffing and refusing to make eye contact, he shook his head.
"Then I suppose I can call you whatever I want."
Still no response.
"How about 'idiot'? Would that be okay?"
"How dare you!" The spirit, who had been avoiding eye contact, suddenly whipped its head around.
Mok Gyeong-un chuckled and said, "I guess you don't like that either."
The spirit's eyebrow twitched menacingly.
"You dare to toy with me, you miserable mortal?"
"If you don't want me to toy with you, then give me a proper name to call you by."
"I have no name to give to a worthless mortal like you."
With that, the spirit turned its head away again.
Mok Gyeong-un inwardly clicked his tongue. While it wouldn't be a threat to him, he realized controlling this spirit might prove quite challenging.
"Well, if you won't tell me, I'll just have to come up with something on my own."
The spirit remained silent.
"Since nothing particular comes to mind, I'll call you Blue Spirit."
Mok Gyeong-un decided to use the spirit's grade,Blue, as its name. The spirit slightly furrowed its brow, seemingly annoyed but too proud to suggest its real name or title.
'I'll have to coax it slowly,' Mok Gyeong-un thought. It would be meaningless to have obtained a Blue-grade spirit if he couldn't use it.
Without showing his thoughts, Mok Gyeong-un approached something on the ground. It was a book with its human skin cover torn off.
Picking up the book, he asked, "You must know what's written inside, right, Blue Spirit?"
"Who are you calling Blue Spirit... huff." The spirit waved its hand dismissively, clearly not wanting to engage in conversation. She picked up a pipe from the ground and began puffing on it, apparently quite the smoker.
Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue and flipped through the book. His eyes widened in surprise. The writing inside seemed to be done in blood.
'Interesting,' he thought. A human skin cover and blood writing - most people would be too repulsed to even consider opening such a book. Of course, Mok Gyeong-un wasn't bothered by such things.
However, that wasn't the issue. The characters inside were jumbled, making it difficult to interpret. Mok Gyeong-un frowned at the chaotic arrangement of words.
'Why are they arranged so haphazardly?' The words were also more abstract than usual, similar to what he had recently seen in the Yeonmok Heart Transformation method. While that text had described breathing and energy circulation methods, the parts related to mental techniques were composed of abstract words, almost like poetry.
'It's similar, but even more complex,' he thought. Thirty characters were randomly arranged. No matter how he tried to combine them, they formed meaningless sentences.
Suddenly, he heard a snicker. Looking up, he saw the Blue Spirit shaking her head while puffing on the pipe, her expression saying, "You'll never figure this out, even if you're reborn a hundred times."
Ignoring this, Mok Gyeong-un stared intently at the characters. After a while, he spoke:
"Hmm…Without Despair Rely on the mind of the other form ."
Blue Spirit's mocking expression froze. Noticing this reaction, Mok Gyeong-un deduced that he had correctly combined the first two sentences. However, to avoid giving away his success, he continued to the next part without showing any change in his expression.
"Before Nothingness,There must have been a form…What seems to be may not actually be"
Her expression hardened further, furrowing her brow. It seemed the latter sentences were correct as well.
Connecting the remaining six words in the most fitting way he could sense, Mok Gyeong-un continued:
"The Demon stands in the way of the good..But the ultimate blood has the power to reverse all."
The moment he finished speaking, there was a crushing sensation in the center of his abdomen, and the book in his hand grotesquely crumpled.
'What in the world?' Mok Gyeong-un was baffled. The book had contorted, its pages bunching up towards his palm as if trying to adhere to it.
Then he heard Blue Spirit's voice:
"How did you master the Attachment?"
"Pardon?" Mok Gyeong-un looked up to see Blue Spirit's surprised face before she quickly turned away, seemingly determined not to engage in conversation.
Puzzled, Mok Gyeong-un asked, "What's the Attachment? Is it related to why the book became like this?"
She remained silent.
"When the book crumpled, I felt a slight tightening sensation below my navel. Is that related too?"
"Hah..." The Blue Spirit sighed, seemingly exasperated.
She knew that Mok Gyeong-un had never practiced martial arts and was certain he wouldn't be able to understand this. After all, it typically required a considerable level of attainment or enlightenment to even grasp the concept.
Yet, surprisingly, Mok Gyeong-un had managed to combine the thirty characters to form the first incantation.
She glanced at Mok Gyeong-un. Despite not wanting to converse due to being made a shikigami, her curiosity grew. She wondered if Mok Gyeong-un truly understood what he had done.
After some contemplation, she spoke:
"Hey, mortal."
"It's Jeong... no, Mok Gyeong-un."
"What?"
"Call me Mok Gyeong-un."
Blue Spirit scoffed and replied, "Mortal."
It seemed intent on not using Mok Gyeong-un's name. Mok Gyeong-un shrugged, not particularly caring as long as they could communicate.
She took a puff from the pipe, exhaled smoke, and asked, "Mortal, do you remember that sensation from earlier?"
"Sensation?"
"Yes."
"I'm not sure what you mean."
She stared at the confused Mok Gyeong-un, shaking her head.
"Well, I suppose it's impossible for a lowly mortal to master the Method of Attachment so easily..."
Before she could finish, the book in Mok Gyeong-un's hand crumpled further, adhering to his palm.
Mok Gyeong-un's eyes lit up with understanding.
'Ah?'
As she had suggested, he recalled the sensation and mentally recited the incantation while focusing. Once again, the paper crumpled and stuck to his palm.
It was a fascinating phenomenon. As he did this, he felt the area below his navel tighten slightly again. Not only that, but he also felt a tightening sensation in the blood vessels of his arm, centered on his palm.
Mok Gyeong-un looked at her and asked, "What is this?"
Blue Spirit looked at Mok Gyeong-un, clicking her tongue in disbelief and muttering, "...To see something in death that I never saw in life."
"Pardon?"
"...It's nothing."
"What do you mean by nothing?"
"Never mind, mortal."
"Since we've become bound by fate, why don't you open up a little?"
"Open up? Ha! I, the great one, have become a shikigami to a lowly mortal like you, and you expect me to open..."
"Hup!"
Before she could finish, Mok Gyeong-un clenched his fist. The veins on the back of his hand and wrist were now bulging prominently.
Blue Spirit's hand trembled. Due to their soul connection, Mok Gyeong-un's pain was transferred to her.
She shouted, "Hey, mortal! Stop breathing and clear your mind!"
"Huff, huff!"
"I said stop breathing!"
At the spirit's cry, Mok Gyeong-un forcibly held his breath. He tried to clear his mind of the incantation he had been unconsciously reciting by thinking of other things.
Her eyes narrowed as she observed Mok Gyeong-un. His concentration was remarkable.
What had just happened was a phenomenon caused by failing to control the Method of Attachment properly. Normally, one would be so engrossed in the incantation that it would be difficult to break out of that state without someone else's help.
Yet Mok Gyeong-un was managing to break free on his own with just a single piece of advice. It was truly astonishing.
"Haah." Finally, a steady breath escaped Mok Gyeong-un's lips.
Blue Spirit clicked her tongue at this sight.
Mok Gyeong-un asked, "Why did that happen just now?"
"...It's because you failed to properly control the Method of Attachment."
Surprisingly, she answered politely this time, contrary to expectations.
Mok Gyeong-un chuckled and said, "Are you going to explain properly now?"
"Hmph! I'm only trying to prevent you from doing something useless again and causing me harm."
Mok Gyeong-un narrowed his eyes at the spirit's gruff tone, then shrugged. It didn't matter to him either way, as long as his curiosity could be satisfied.
"What exactly is the Method of Attachment?"
"It's exactly what it sounds like. It's a method to pull and attach things."
"You mean like what just happened?"
"Yes."
"But why did my stomach hurt, and why did my blood vessels feel swollen?"
"Because you're pulling without anything there."
"What do you mean?"
Blue Spirit, looking at the puzzled Mok Gyeong-un, pointed her pipe at something.
It was the corpse of Jo Il-sang, hanging limp and lifeless. Having been hung upside down and beheaded, all the blood had drained, leaving the body extremely pale.
"Try it there," she said.
"On this?" Mok Gyeong-un approached the dead Jo Il-sang and poked it.
The spirit nodded.
Mok Gyeong-un didn't understand why she wanted him to use the Method of Attachment on the dead Jo Il-sang, but he complied without question and placed his palm on the corpse.
She urged, "No, not there."
"What?"
"The energy might have dispersed after death, but try it on the dantian area."
"By dantian, do you mean the area below the navel in the abdomen?"
"Do I have to explain every little thing to you?"
"...Well, I don't know much about this."
The spirit snorted and puffed on her pipe, blowing out smoke.
Mok Gyeong-un took a light breath and placed his palm on Jo Il-sang's dantian. Then he mentally recited the incantation for the Method of Attachment:
As he recalled the sensation...
Pak!
The skin around Jo Il-sang's dantian suddenly adhered to Mok Gyeong-un's palm. The feeling was different from when the book had crumpled, but it didn't seem particularly unusual.
Or so he thought at first.
At that moment, something began to penetrate his palm. It was a warm energy.
'What's this?'
He could clearly feel the energy entering his palm and flowing through his blood vessels.
Eventually, the warm sensation flowing through his blood vessels even warmed up his swollen abdomen.
As he was enjoying this pleasant warmth, the spirit spoke in a triumphant voice:
"Can you feel it? That's the wonder of the Method of Attachment. You can pull and attach anything. Even qi is no exception."