Chapter 108: Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (8)
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Kwareung!
Jin So-myeong, who cast the Lightning Escape Art, rushed toward Wi Mun-seok.
The split second the distance between the two converged to zero.
The gaze of Wi Mun-seok, who was stopped in the exact posture of thrusting his staff, changed. Glaring in this direction with beast-like pupils, he began to move, albeit slowly.
Literally a single instant, in the time of a single blink of an eye, he broke free from the recoil of delivering the strike.
‘What an incredibly sturdy fellow.’
He was truly worthy of a Spell and Body Dual Cultivator who took close combat as his primary focus. It was an astonishing durability of the physical body.
He was a tenacious bastard. Even in that situation, Wi Mun-seok counterattacked by swinging his single remaining arm like a club.
However, no matter how sturdy his body was, there was a limit.
The time it took to reach him was truly a split second. Wi Mun-seok had not yet recovered to a perfect state, and…
for Jin So-myeong, that was sufficient.
The dharmic power running along his meridians transformed into Sword Qi.
The sharp energy raging in the form of a haze gathered at the tip of the blade, and its shape was like an awl.
The moment he gathered all the destructive power into a single point and stabbed toward the space between the brows without hesitation.
Pu-uk!
The sword advancing at rapid speed was blocked.
This was because Wi Mun-seok, who grit his teeth, let go of the staff and thrust his left palm forward like a shield.
He infused spiritual power into the sword that dug into the palm. He intended to amplify the sharp Qi and slice it apart in a single breath.
“Keuaaaak!”
At that moment, Wi Mun-seok, who roared like a beast, exploded his blood energy.
Thick veins bulged on his entire body’s skin, and his muscles expanded nearly twofold.
Although he intended to slice it off along with the palm, it was not easy. An immense pressure was felt as if caught between boulders.
‘What truly ignorant muscles.’
Even pulling the sword out was difficult. Because the swollen muscles clung onto and dragged the blade as if they were alive.
Since transitioning to a contest of strength like this was disadvantageous, he simply let go of the sword.
A sword cultivator letting go of their sword?
He had exactly that kind of look in his eyes, but he did not care. The only thing important in a fight was victory.
Moreover, his real sword was not the Heavenly Heavy Darkrock Sword but Mugeok.
A split second that sliced an instant.
‘Here is the branch point.’
The important moment where the winner and the loser were divided.
Summoning Mugeok who was imbued in the sword, he wrapped it around his fist.
Pit!
Just like throwing a jab, he contained everything he had accumulated in the lightly delivered fist.
Jjeong!
He struck the solar plexus, a fatal vital spot, but a sound of colliding with steel occurred. This was because a blood-red barrier formed on the fellow’s skin blocked the fist.
For a very brief moment. Wi Mun-seok, whose entire face had contorted perhaps due to pain, shot a sneer.
– No use!
Whether to break his fighting spirit, a voice transmission flew over mockingly.
He had delivered a strike to the vital spot of an enemy who was virtually defenseless, yet he failed to inflict proper damage.
Although it was a moment where it would not be strange for his will to be broken, Jin So-myeong’s eyes had no shaking.
This was because he had not believed he could kill him easily in the first place.
Hoo-oong!
Watching the pot-lid-sized fist flying toward his face in a counterattack until the very end, he barely twisted his head.
The straight punch carrying immense strength brushed past his earlobe.
Kwang!
A sound of air exploding was heard right next to him. If he had been hit by that fist, his head would have burst before he could even resist.
It felt like death had brushed past, licking the nape of his neck. It was chilling yet thrilling at the same time.
‘Am I going crazy?’
He answered the doubt that arose like a passing thought himself.
It is fine to go crazy. If only he could win.
Rather than retreating, he took a step forward instead, extending his fist once more.
The moment the red barrier formed on the skin and the fist collided.
With the feeling of becoming a sword himself, he poured out Sword Qi through Mugeok.
Jjeojeok!
A crack appeared in the red barrier. Although it was a tiny gap, it was sufficient.
Forcibly breaking and widening the gap where not even a needle could enter, he poured the lightning in his mind raised by the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art.
Chieeeek…!
Along with the sound of searing flesh, a pungent smell wafted.
He intended to burn the heart with the lightning Qi penetrated through the solar plexus, but even this was blocked.
“Keuuuk!”
This was because Wi Mun-seok, whose face contorted like a malevolent deity, resisted while even erupting spiritual power.
Pajijijijik!
The fellow’s spiritual power and lightning bit at each other like crazy, trying to overwhelm the opponent, but they were neck and neck.
‘Heh, what a truly monster-like body.’
Even when such a collision occurred inside his physical body, the fellow did not blink an eye.
Although it was an astonishing sight, Jin So-myeong continued to move without hesitating even for a moment.
What he had aimed for in the first place was this exact situation itself.
The split second his movements became extremely slowed down due to being paralyzed by the lightning.
Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.
He unleashed the domineering divine ability that had turned even a Golden Core cultivator into ashes back in his Foundation Establishment days.
Kung, kung, kung!
Spiritual power erupted from his heart which pulsated regularly. Around the time the energy galloping along the meridians passed the spleen and reached the lungs.
An incomprehensible destructive power was imbued in the exponentially amplified energy.
Lightly.
Flowing like water naturally, he extended the fist raised along with a gentle breeze.
On the surface, it appeared to be the exact same punch as earlier, but inside it was contained a divine ability capable of annihilating even a mountain.
“…!”
Did he feel something the moment the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration was cast? Wi Mun-seok’s expression froze completely.
The moment a dragon-like pattern was revealed on his entire body’s skin.
Kugugugung!
The fellow’s momentum amplified several times in an instant. Even the lightning Qi rummaging inside his body was pushed back in one breath. Breaking free from the paralyzed state, he regained his speed.
In this situation, what Wi Mun-seok chose was not evasion but a counterattack.
He thrust his straight punch wrapped in a dragon shape against the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration and…
the most powerful strikes each possessed collided head-on.
………!
An intense light swallowed all sounds.
‘Ah.’
Jin So-myeong, whose consciousness had been cut off for a split second, snapped back to his senses in startlement.
Opening his eyes amidst a pain that felt like a hammer striking his nerves, a massive scooped-out pit was visible.
Forcibly moving his jaw, into which not a shred of strength entered, he bit the tip of his tongue.
Treating the stinging pain as a lifeline, he forcibly gripped his mind that was about to grow distant.
‘What happened to the fellow?’
The moment he regained consciousness. He examined the enemy first.
Wi Mun-seok, who clashed with him, was literally stuck in the ground in a tattered state; centered around his right arm, a portion of his upper body had vanished as if scooped out.
Judging by the minute wriggling, he appeared to be still alive.
‘To think he didn’t die even after taking the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.’
No matter how much of an enemy he was, at this point, it was simply admirable. Jin So-myeong, who clicked his tongue in wonder inwardly, examined his own bodily state.
‘…At least my limbs are still attached.’
Jin So-myeong was also not normal. Being a mess was the same as Wi Mun-seok.
His entire body’s skin was bright red as if burned, and cracked severely like a drought-ridden rice field. Was that all? His left hand, which had delivered the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration, was bent in a direction it should not be.
By the time he grasped the situation up to this point.
Ludicrously, the thought that entered his head was just one.
‘I won.’
Actually, it was not an incorrect statement.
Although both were fallen on the ground unable to even stand up, he had mastered the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art.
What was the greatest advantage of the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art? It was indeed overwhelmingly outstanding regenerative power.
‘Huu.’
For now, he focused on breathing.
Gathering the bottomed-out spiritual power, he converted it into blood energy. He connected the torn meridians and regenerated the damaged muscles and bones.
How many seconds passed?
Pudeudeuk!
The left arm that had been bent in the reverse direction returned to a normal shape. Along with a throbbing pain, sensation at his fingertips began to be felt.
It was a recovery speed fast enough that if Wi Mun-seok, who was still in a fainted state, had seen it, he would have broken out in a cold sweat.
Going on like this, it was obvious who would win, but he did not let his guard down.
‘Where is the remaining fellow?’
The enemy was not only Wi Mun-seok.
Cultivators on the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace side totaled 3. Since he had dealt with one by ambushing at the same time the battle began, he had to verify what the remaining one was doing.
Kwang!
He turned his gaze toward the faintly heard sound of an explosion.
The 3 people including Madame Ryeo were pressing the cultivator on the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace side, and despite fighting 3 against 1, it was neck and neck.
Was it because the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace cultivator was strong enough to face 3 people? That was not it.
‘Are they poisoned?’
The 3 were spilling black blood from their mouths, and looking at them at a glance, they were not in a normal state. Probably the poison or restriction infused when they were employed as slaves had flared up.
At any rate, the situation was not bad. If time flowed like this, victory was guaranteed.
At moment when he was about to focus on recovery again.
The cultivator on the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace side who was fighting the 3 people suddenly grit his teeth. Glaring in this direction as if having made up his mind, he kicked off the ground.
He seemed to intend to kill Jin So-myeong before he could recover!
“No!”
Bearing the spells poured out by the panicked Madame Ryeo with his bare body, he rushed like crazy.
“Keuaaaak!”
Ignoring even his right ear getting sliced while charging fiercely, he appeared like a beast that lost its cub.
In the fellow’s pupils filled with murderous intent, only Jin So-myeong was contained.
The split second the distance narrowed moment by moment.
Closing his eyes quietly, Jin So-myeong focused.
Pasak!
100,000 golden beads floating inside his mind vanished in one breath, and an intangible wave swept his entire body.
In an instant, the recovery speed tempered by the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art increased explosively. He had used the Supreme Great Ability saved for a time like this!
Before a single blink of an eye, the severely cracked skin restored as if turning back time.
Kkwaak!
Beginning with the grip strength that returned silently, his entire body’s muscles recovered.
The moment Jin So-myeong, who recovered combat power at a monster-like speed, sprang up.
The speed of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace cultivator charging like a malevolent deity slowed down gradually.
100 meters, 50 meters, 20 meters…
The steps that slowed as the distance narrowed eventually came to a complete halt.
“…”
Alternately looking at the still-fallen Wi Mun-seok and Jin So-myeong, his pupils fluctuated.
His voice trembled finely as if having seen a dumbfounding sight.
“How are you already…? Just what kind of divine art did you master to have such strong regenerative power?”
His murderous intent vanished completely. What remained to the fellow was only doubt and terror.
He stared at Jin So-myeong, who had recovered to a normal state at least on the surface, as if he were a monster. Knowing well about body tempering, he seemed to consider it an unscientific, absurd matter.
“Is that the end of your last words?”
“…”
For a very brief moment. The fellow who was standing blankly firmed his gaze.
He charged with an expression prepared for death, and seeing that mettle, Jin So-myeong finished him with a single stroke.
Seogeok!
As he swung his right hand enveloped by Mugeok like a sword, a silver Sword Qi resembling moonlight drew a line in the air.
Teolseok.
The moment the headless corpse collapsed.
Jin So-myeong kicked off the ground. He rushed toward Wi Mun-seok, who was just waking up and struggling to stand up.
“Eeek!”
He was a truly venomous fellow. Wi Mun-seok counterattacked even in that midst, swinging his single remaining arm like a club.
Naturally, it had no particular meaning.
Starting from the crown of the head, passing through the dantian to the groin. He struck down Sword Qi and split him vertically.
He killed him cleanly without any room for revival.
***
At that exact hour Jin So-myeong clashed with Wi Mun-seok’s group.
A commotion arose in the deepest part of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace, which had been silent to the point of boredom.
“What did you say just now?”
The Supreme Elder of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace. When the muscular old man asked back as if it was absurd, the disciple who was breaking out in a cold sweat squeezed his eyes shut.
“Elder Jeok’s Soul Lamp has gone out.”
A Soul Lamp was a special Magic Treasure with an appearance similar to a candle flame, which was a lamp containing a portion of the divine soul.
Although it had several effects, it was an item primarily used to confirm the life and death of a disciple located far away.
That was to say.
Simply put, that the Soul Lamp went out meant the owner of the Soul Lamp had died.
“Elder Jeok… has died?”
As if unable to believe it, the Supreme Elder, who was blank for a long time, grit his teeth.
Contorting his face wildly and holding back his anger, he glared at the disciple.
“There is no falsehood in your words, correct?”
“How this disciple report a lie? I rushed over immediately after seeing the Soul Lamp go out.”
“…”
“Well… it seems he met with disaster in the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.”
The Supreme Elder’s breathing grew rough.
When the old man, whose appearance made one believe he was closer to a beast than a human and forged from steel, flew into a rage, the surrounding earth fluctuated.
“Just what was Great Elder Wi Mun-seok doing to let Elder Jeok die!”
What would the disciple know? As he merely hung his head low without being able to say anything, the Supreme Elder who had been shouting with a flushed face jumped to his feet.
“I must see for myself.”
Transforming into a ray of light, he soared into the sky.
He intended to go to the hall where the Soul Lamps were kept and verify it directly with his two eyes.
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