My SSS-Rank Clone Talent: I Level Up Endlessly!-Chapter 117:

"Alright, I promise."

Gang Ryeong pointed his arm directly at her forehead, black haze swirling as it formed a pistol.

But for some reason, he couldn’t pull the trigger, even though he had become an expressionless monster.

There seemed to be one last shred of morality gawking at him.

Jian Ruxue looked at the pistol and spoke, still with a gentle smile:

"Are you going to turn me into one of the Jiangshi?"

Gang Ryeong nodded, his finger ever so close to pulling the trigger, but the gap felt infinitely far from it.

"Shoot me, child. My Sword Will has already been damaged, and I am as good as dead already."

Bang!

A jet‑black flash burst from his pistol and punched straight through her skull, leaving a ragged, blood‑soaked hole.

Her eyes dulled, all life draining away.

Every last ounce of strength fled her body.

A crimson pool spread across the floor, its surface reflecting his image back at him.

Gang Ryeong stared down at his own reflection: a slight figure shrouded in darkness, a demon risen from the depths of hell.

"I... I hate myself," he whispered.

He knew he should feel remorse for killing the woman who had saved him without hesitation, grief for the murdered children, fury toward Jin Hyuk, the perpetrator of it all, anger at the cruelty of the Shadow faction.

But Gang Ryeong felt nothing.

This emotionless state completely confused him.

"Is this a side effect of merging with the death energy?"

Unlike with all his previous possessions, Gang Ryeong had actually merged completely with this body.

If this body died, even his Ghoul form would be affected, and, if not killed outright, would be severely injured.

Even his severed head had now been fully reattached.

He tightened his fist.

The air hissed and distorted around it.

Gang Ryeong could faintly feel it: instead of a body that should have been on the verge of destruction, his was rapidly gaining strength.

Death energy circulated through him, constantly fortifying, and then fusing with his very being.

His entire complexion was as pale as the moon, as if he were a dead corpse.

These strange changes stunned him.

A blue prompt appeared in front of him:

[Your body has merged with Death itself]

[You have gained a unique skill: <Reaper’s Physique>]

Before he could even properly look at the blue prompt, Gang Ryeong’s body’s change was complete.

The death energy that had gathered inside him formed a core in his dantian.

At the same time, in his mind, a giant ghost‑like figure floated.

This ghost‑like human figure was something that Gang Ryeong was quite familiar with because this was ...

"My ghoul form?"

That’s right, it was exactly the same as his ghoul form; however, this image was larger.

"Is this my Will? Did I form my Will so easily?"

Gang Ryeong was stunned for a moment.

His eyes gradually returned to the real world from his mental image.

Then he began to carefully sense the death energy in his core.

His dantian had already formed.

All the death energy had settled into his dantian without leakage.

He could use this death energy as much as he wanted, without restraint.

"This will be perfect for me," he muttered coldly.

This energy was the bane of all living things, and he could very well have the chance to kill an even higher‑ranked martial artist, just as he had killed Jin Hyuk.

He casually extended his hand, and black haze surged and shaped itself into a pistol.

Gang Ryeong then used the death energy from his core to form the bullets for it.

It was unlike anything he had used before.

"The concentration of the death energy is at least ten times higher than before," Gang Ryeong calculated in his heart.

He casually pointed at one of the walls and fired.

Bang!

The moment the shot left the muzzle, his hand jerked back violently from the recoil, while the wall was pierced straight through and the bullet continued on, undaunted.

After some time, a muffled explosion sound, followed by death energy leaking out everywhere.

"This... this could very well kill any living being easily."

Then Gang Ryeong tried to manipulate his Will.

A shadow in the shape of a human appeared behind him.

In an instant, the surroundings churned and turned eerie.

There were many bugs in the ground.

The instant Gang Ryeong released his Will, they all froze on the spot and died at that very moment.

"A plague," Gang Ryeong muttered as he watched.

If he remained in this condition, he could never go near any human, heck, not even any living being or they would die instantly.

"I have to think of a way," he sighed.

Gang Ryeong’s eyes went to the hunched old man in his undead form:

"I am wiping out your consciousness."

"Wait, didn’t you promise ..." The hunched old man screamed in pain as his last shred of consciousness was removed by Gang Ryeong, and he became completely subservient.

Then Gang Ryeong closed his eyes, connecting to the abyss of death.

He was still in his ghoul form, but he noticed a change: he had grown significantly larger than before.

The moment he appeared here, two souls rapidly approached him, one gentle and the other fierce with unwillingness.

These two souls were Jian Ruxue and Jin Hyuk.

Looking at the two souls, Gang Ryeong outstretched his palm toward Jin Hyuk first.

The moment he did, his vision changed:

"How dare you, brat? How dare you?"

A roar filled with resentment sounded.

Gang Ryeong looked at Jin Hyuk, who was staring at him ferociously.

"I will strip away all your skin and kill you." Jin Hyuk appeared in front of him and severed his head without moving a single muscle.

Then he started to grind Gang Ryeong until he was completely reduced to meat paste.

"Ho... ha..." Jin Hyuk took ragged breaths. His eyes were filled with excitement.

"Are you done?" Gang Ryeong’s voice came from behind him.

"Huh?"

Jin Hyuk mechanically turned around to look at Gang Ryeong, who was completely fine, not a single injury on his body.

"Although this feels like reality, this is just our mind space after all, where the Will resides for the martial artist, how could I die?"