Chapter 114: Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (14)
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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“Very well. Let us have a proper bout.”
The moment Jin So-myeong spoke those words,
Perfected Wuyang, who had been blinking his eyes very slowly, suddenly wore a stern expression.
“A proper bout? You impudent rascal. What kind of way is that to speak to your father?”
“I am not your son…”
“Silence! You need a lesson.”
Swish!
Simultaneously with the sharp sound of wind,
the iron beads that had been suspended in the air began to pour down. However, it was somehow different from before.
Some of the beads became slightly faster, and curves mixed into the trajectory that had been flying in straight lines.
And… just with that, the level of the spell completely changed.
Swish!
The moment he swung his sword to deflect the iron beads, some of the beads accelerated.
As if a fish dodging a harpoon, they swam smoothly through the air and evaded the sword.
‘This is insane.’
It was purely admirable yet absurd at the same time.
Since each and every one of the iron beads as numerous as pouring raindrops wriggled as if they were alive, deflecting them was not easy.
He responded by spreading his Sword Qi as widely as possible, but it was meaningless. Perhaps because the speed of the iron beads had increased, he could not block them with unfocused strength.
Thud!
In the end, his shoulders, forearms, thighs, and other places all over his body were battered. A frown naturally appeared on his face at the bone-ringing pain.
“What a sturdy rascal. You are tough enough to make hitting you satisfying! Uahahahaha!”
Had it been said that Perfected Wuyang had lived for sixteen hundred years?
An unspeakable class was felt from the spells he must have accumulated over the long years.
Such delicate spellcasting even while not in his right mind… literally, he had ascended to a realm where he handled spells like his own limbs.
However, his admiration did not last long.
“Hehe! Does it hurt? Of course, it must hurt! If you admit you were wrong, this father will let you off with three lashes of the switch. How about it? Eh? Eh?”
Thud-thud-thud!
It was fine to ignore the teasing of the crazy old man, but to be beaten one-sidedly frankly made him angry.
Should he say his head felt like it was gradually heating up?
Gritting his teeth, he continued to charge.
“Huh? Why has this rascal suddenly become so stubborn?”
When Jin So-myeong did not give up easily, the number of iron beads, which was already large, increased drastically.
“Did this father not teach you? Showing manners to someone stronger than yourself is the way to live long, and there is no need to be ashamed of it.”
Filtering out the nonsense, he gathered all his concentration.
He pondered how he could respond to the iron beads flying in while drawing complex trajectories.
‘…Let us calm down.’
He calmed his excitement down slightly.
He did not know how things had turned out this way, but he could not throw away such an opportunity.
The current situation was exactly like a Nascent Soul stage expert giving kind instruction.
Swish!
Trying to strike down with his sword only to cut empty air, attempting to dodge by bending his upper body only to fail and get battered, and getting hit again.
By the time his entire body was covered in bruises despite the overwhelming recovery power of the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art,
‘Ah.’
for the first time, he felt frustration.
Because he was hit too much? It did not mean that. It was simply because his body did not follow as he thought.
It was the same for his sword arts alone.
He felt certain he could swing faster, but it did not move well, as if he were flailing in water.
‘Is this my best?’
Simultaneously with the question, the answer that it was not returned. His instinct whispered that he could become sufficiently faster and sharper.
Swish!
He struck his sword down toward the bead flying at his flank. He tried to split it in a single stroke, but the bead turned its direction as if bouncing and struck his wrist.
Although he failed, he did not take it to heart.
He simply swung his sword toward the next flying bead.
Once, twice, thrice…
The exact same scene repeated. Even though the number of failures surpassed ten and reached the hundreds, the situation did not improve.
Then, just once.
Clang!
An iron bead was split.
‘Ah.’
A thrill ran down his spine. The single strike he had just swung was somehow different.
It had not grown stronger. It was simply that he had unleashed it while fully embodying all the strength he possessed.
‘This is my best.’
At the same time, he realized. He had not even known properly where his limit was until now.
While capable of exerting ten points of power, he had settled for eight or nine.
As he reached the mid Core Formation stage, his spiritual power surged. He had thought he had already finished adapting, but that was an illusion.
Had Perfected Wuyang not pushed him relentlessly, he would have realized this fact only much later.
His entire body felt light.
The frustrating feeling of being submerged in water vanished, and his mind and actual movements aligned perfectly.
Only now did it feel like he had completely settled into the realm of the mid Core Formation stage.
“Huh?”
Perfected Wuyang, who had been staring with wide eyes while even the iron beads stopped, suddenly smiled brightly.
“Excellent! Good! What a praiseworthy rascal!”
Simultaneously with the cry full of joy, the movement of the iron beads changed once more.
The beads, which had targeted only non-vital parts like the flanks or thighs, flew toward the space between his brows.
Ting!
The moment the blade struck down like splitting something in two collided with the bead that flew in like a bullet,
along with sparks blooming in the air, the iron bead split in two.
From this point, the situation began to improve little by little.
The number of times he was struck by the iron beads decreased noticeably, and his movements became faster and faster.
No, to be precise, rather than becoming faster, meaningless movements had disappeared, but the result was the same.
Ting-ting-ting-ting!
Hundreds, thousands of beads were split by the blade and returned to soil.
The moment Jin So-myeong, who had only been suffering one-sidedly, advanced for the first time,
“Splendid!”
Along with an extremely excited shout, the fragmented and scattered remnants of the beads gathered and transformed into human shapes.
Sand soldiers armed with armor, spears, shields, and bows surrounded Jin So-myeong.
Clang!
The moment he deflected an arrow that flew in as a surprise attack, the sand soldiers at the front thrust their spears.
It was a very exquisite joint attack.
Jin So-myeong, who narrowed his eyes, channeled his vital energy to amplify his physical strength. He ignored the recoil generated by deflecting the arrow and forcibly knocked away the spears.
‘Oh no.’
He tried to counterattack immediately, but a shield blocked the way, and a rain of arrows poured from the sky.
It felt, literally, like being surrounded by an army.
He tried to sweep them away all at once with the Wind Transformation Body Force, but it was difficult. This was because each and every sand soldier was at least at the Core Formation stage.
Swaeeek!
Looking at the spearhead thrust with the momentum to pierce his shoulder, he keenly felt his inadequacy.
He had to be faster. He was far from enough.
Simultaneously with his thirst, he found the answer. He awakened the lightning slumbering within his mind.
Kwang!
Enveloped in lightning, he dodged the spears. As he cast the Lightning Escape Art, it felt like the entire world had slowed down.
Seeing the spearhead graze his clothes and pass by, a certain idea suddenly came to mind.
‘Shall I try fighting while in the state of the Lightning Escape Art?’
The Lightning Escape Art was a technique that could be called unmatched under heaven regarding speed, but it had one drawback.
Namely, the longer the duration of maintenance, the more exponentially the consumption of spiritual power grew.
Thus, when using the Lightning Escape Art, he had to use it in short bursts.
Fighting while maintaining the Lightning Escape Art?
It was something he could not do during his days at the early Core Formation stage due to insufficient spiritual power.
‘I should try it.’
However, now was different. This was because the total amount of his spiritual power had increased drastically as he reached the mid Core Formation stage.
Three seconds.
This was the time he continuously maintained the Lightning Escape Art, unlike usual.
As a result…
half of his spiritual power vanished as if evaporating, and dozens of sand soldiers blocking his way exploded simultaneously.
Cut into dozens of fragments by slashes unleashed at an invisible speed, they fell apart.
“Hah.”
He threw his sword toward Perfected Wuyang, who was standing blankly and staring as if genuinely surprised.
At the same time.
For the first time since the battle began, he consumed his Supreme Great Ability.
The Supreme Great Ability currently remaining was roughly 80,000 points. Among them, he consumed 50,000 points all at once.
Solely for one purpose: to amplify his senses.
Swish!
Just before the sword that flew in a straight line touched Perfected Wuyang,
who had been wearing a satisfied smile, he vanished like a phantom.
‘Now.’
His concentration reached its peak. He sought to capture the split-second moment by mobilizing all of his senses amplified by the Supreme Great Ability.
Should he call it a premonition? Although he still could not know the exact reason, he could vaguely feel it.
Where Perfected Wuyang would appear.
Kwang!
Thus, he simply leapt. Before he could even make a proper judgment, he followed his intuition.
The lightning that burst with a thunderous roar drew a single line…
Tap.
His fist touched the solar plexus of the old man who appeared like an illusion.
Of course, that was all. It was just a normal fist containing no power whatsoever that had touched him.
However, what that signified was not light. To the extent that a silence flowed for quite a long time.
“…”
Perfected Wuyang, who looked down at his own chest, let out a hollow laugh and sat down with a thud.
“Oh, I am dying. You rascal have really grown so much. Playing with you now is too burdensome.”
Jin So-myeong, who was about to answer, paused.
This was because Perfected Wuyang’s complexion was truly terrible. There was not a single drop of color in his face.
He instinctively felt inside:
Perfected Wuyang would die soon. Because his lifespan was exhausted.
“Sigh, I am thirsty, is there nothing to drink?”
A thousand years.
Seeing the senior who had lived through that vast span of time sitting on the dirt floor and whimpering like a child made him feel… somewhat strange.
Jin So-myeong, who was silent for a moment, sat down in the exact same posture as the old man. Keeping his eye level aligned, he lowered his head.
“Thanks to you, I have learned a lot.”
“I asked if there is nothing to drink. I am thirsty.”
For some reason, there was no strength in Perfected Wuyang’s voice. To him who stared intently, Jin So-myeong held out the White Jade Immortal Heart Herb.
“If you eat this first, I will give you something worth drinking.”
“Huh?”
The old man, who brought his nose to the Rank 3 spiritual herb highly effective against heart demons, knitted his eyebrows.
“It looks tasteless?”
“If you do not eat it, there is also nothing to drink.”
“Tsk, bad rascal. To bully me.”
Perfected Wuyang, who made all kinds of faces, grabbed and ate the White Jade Immortal Heart Herb, but there was no particular effect.
The old man’s pupils were still blurry.
‘As expected, it won’t work with a Rank 3 spiritual herb.’
To restore the broken mind of a Nascent Soul stage expert, a Rank 4 spiritual object was required at the minimum.
Fortunately, Jin So-myeong had the fruit of the Ten Thousand Souls Tree.
However… was there any reason to give the fruit of the Ten Thousand Souls Tree to a person who would die soon?
Before long, the rosary worn on his left wrist heated up red.
Chiiiik!
He felt an intense heat as if getting burned, but his flow of thought did not stop.
Even if Perfected Wuyang ate the fruit of the Ten Thousand Souls Tree and regained his senses, he would not live long anyway.
His life would end after leaving behind a single sentence of a will. Consuming a Rank 4 spiritual object just for that? Frankly, wasn’t it a waste?
Strictly speaking, Perfected Wuyang was merely a complete stranger. It was true he had received quite a bit of help from sparring with him, but that was all.
For a brief moment.
A sticky desire boiled within his mind, but Jin So-myeong’s expression was tranquil.
‘It is not my emotion.’
Was it thanks to his senses sharpened by battle?
Even before the rosary worn on his wrist could warn him, he detected the desire trying to color his mind. Because of that, he could step back and look at the tricks of the mental restriction.
What was a single fruit?
What was more important was that he had gained a valuable experience thanks to Perfected Wuyang.
When he encountered a Nascent Soul stage expert as an enemy in the future, today’s experience would be of truly great help.
“Friend. I ate it all. Give me something to drink now.”
Perfected Wuyang, who swallowed the White Jade Immortal Heart Herb, held out his palm as if telling him to keep his promise, and he placed the fruit of the Ten Thousand Souls Tree on it.
“What is this! You said you would give me something to drink!”
To the old man who glared like a betrayed person, he spoke with a smile:
“If you eat that, the feeling of thirst will disappear a bit.”
Perfected Wuyang, who was furrowing his face as if about to get angry, paused. Sniffing at the fruit of the Ten Thousand Souls Tree, he smacked his lips.
“…This looks somewhat tasty.”
Munch!
The moment he took a bite after hesitating for a long while,
“Mmh?!”
The old man’s eyes grew wide. The way he trembled all over as if a thrill were running through him made him resemble a person who had gained enlightenment.
Don’t tell me he had already regained his senses? The effect was incredibly fast…
“This is delicious!”
The fruit of the Ten Thousand Souls Tree vanished in an instant.
He devoured it so deliciously that it brought an appetite just from watching.
‘Ha.’
Just as he was admiring his eating show skills,
the old man, who was even licking up the fruit juice smeared on his fingers as if the taste of the fruit pleased him, stopped dead.
A vast span of time dwelled in his vacant gaze.
It was simply just that, but the atmosphere completely changed.
“…”
Within the silence where even sound seemed to watch his expression,
Jin So-myeong, who stared intently at Jin So-myeong, quietly stood up and placed his hands behind his back.
Like a person who had forgotten how to speak. He looked up at the empty sky for a truly long time.
Should he call it lingering, or lighthearted?
It was a complex expression containing numerous emotions, but for some reason, Jin So-myeong felt like he knew what his feelings were.
‘He is feeling embarrassed.’
Wouldn’t he be looking back at what kind of actions he had done by now?
Perfected Wuyang, who had been setting the mood while looking at the empty air for quite a long time, suddenly burst into laughter.
“Is this the result of struggling for a thousand years? Truly… what a whimsical life. Is it not, talented Daoist?”
The old man, who spoke in a cheerful tone, cast his gaze toward this side.
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