Chapter 121: Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (21)

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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“If you are a strong cultivator, prove it.”

At Jin So-myeong’s low words,

the man who blocked his way twitched his eyebrows and soon spat out a chuckle.

“Arrogant bastard. Anyone can tell just by looking at the difference in our cultivation realms, so why should I have to prove it? Don’t make a nuisance of yourself and leave the spiritual medicine…no, leave the storage pouch and get lost.”

“You talk too much.”

“…What?”

“If you covet my spiritual herbs, just attack. I will give you a clean death.”

As if he had heard something incomprehensible, the man who was wearing a blank expression glared as if he wanted to kill, but Jin So-myeong was still relaxed.

“Is there any need to hesitate? Once one of the two dies, we will know who the stronger one is.”

“…Do you think I care about someone like you right now?”

Whether he was annoyed, the man bit his lip as his gaze quickly scanned the surroundings.

Rather than Jin So-myeong, who pointed a sword right in front of him, he was wary of the other late Golden Core cultivators watching from a distance.

From Jin So-myeong’s perspective, it was an absurd action that made the back of his neck tingle. If he had set his mind to it, the man would have departed to the afterlife at this very moment.

‘If it weren’t for the secret realm, I would have cut him down with a single blade…’

Thinking of him as a pitiful puppet swayed by the mental restriction, he gave him one more chance.

“What a waste of time. If you aren’t going to attack, move aside.”

As Jin So-myeong walked forward without hesitation, the man, who was backing away in embarrassment, gritted his teeth.

“No, what on earth are you doing!”

The other two cultivators shined their eyes with expressions that said it was just as well. In a confrontation where they kept each other in check, moving first was a loss.

In this kind of situation, since he was saying he would fight first, there was no reason to stop him. Watching the fight, if they deemed it doable, they would not hesitate to launch a surprise attack.

‘If it is doable, that is…’

Just as Jin So-myeong, who was taking long strides, was about to fly up into the sky.

“Damn it. I’m properly entangled with a crazy bastard.”

The man clenched his teeth with a grinding sound, exploding his spiritual power that had reached the late Golden Core stage. Judging by the killing intent filling his eyes, he did not seem to have any intention of showing mercy.

That decided the man’s life and death.

Jin So-myeong, who looked up at the sky for an instant, spoke as if letting out a sigh.

“You won’t regret your choice.”

“Damn it! Of course I regret it! If I fight with you, those bastards who are just watching like rats from behind will target me first! Just how much of a loss am I suffering because of a bastard like you…”

Before the words could even finish, the head that was spitting out grievance and anger fell with a thud.

A single streak of sword light resembling moonlight. That was the end.

He could not even react.

Since he was even off guard at a close distance of less than thirty meters… it was a natural conclusion.

“…Ah.”

The eyes of the remaining two, who were looking for an opportunity to intervene, trembled violently.

An end with just one swing of the sword?

This was not the result they had expected. It was too different from their expectations. It was an unrealistic result to the point that they doubted whether they were dreaming.

The surroundings became quiet enough to hear the sound of swallowing saliva…

“Why. Do you still covet my spiritual herbs?”

The moment their gazes met Jin So-myeong’s. The two, whose faces became paler than a sheet of paper, bowed their heads without anyone having to say it first.

“How could that be! You seem busy, so please go ahead. We will absolutely not interfere.”

“The spiritual herbs naturally belong to the senior who arrived first. It is an extremely obvious statement.”

A drop of cold sweat rolled down the back of their necks.

Backing away hesitantly, it seemed that if only permitted, they would flee without even looking back.

Indeed, if they were in their right minds, there was no way they would attack even after seeing the scene just now.

Only the man who stepped forward first for no reason and became an example became pitiful.

“Hmm, it’s a relief that you have no interest in my spiritual herbs.”

Nodding his head, Jin So-myeong packed the ownerless storage pouch and then departed.

He planned to return to the restriction filled with spiritual Qi and raise his cultivation realm as much as possible during the remaining time.

***

Three months later.

A bizarre rumor circulated on the third floor of the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.

-Beware of the one who wears a dark-colored sword at his waist.

-He is a monster who cultivated both body tempering and the sword at the same time.

-He is only at the mid Golden Core stage, but he is absurdly strong.

-One Hand Severs Life. Swing the sword once, and the head flies off.

…

All of them were rumors about Jin So-myeong.

Although the third floor of the secret realm was wide enough to be called another world, the radius of activity of the Golden Core cultivators was likewise wide, so the rumors had no choice but to spread.

Under these circumstances.

Bang Sa-cheon, whom Jin So-myeong would have called a snake-faced man if he had seen him. He narrowed his eyes while looking at the restriction near the horizon.

Just as he was peeking at the restriction where Jin So-myeong was cultivating, whatever he was thinking.

A hairy man with a husky voice approached and expressed annoyance.

“Damn it. To think finding a decent restriction is this hard. What is wrong with the secret realm this time?”

“It is probably because of that sword cultivator. While everyone was hesitating to gauge the situation, didn’t he sweep clean all the restrictions nearby? If you want to find a restriction, you will have to go to a completely different region.”

“Damn it. He is running wild as if the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda is his own house. Is that guy that strong? To the point that no one can touch him?”

At the hairy man’s words as he violently crumpled his face, Bang Sa-cheon burst into laughter.

“You are misunderstanding something.”

“Hm?”

“It is true that the sword cultivator is strong, but that is not the only reason they don’t touch him. That guy is already marked.”

“Marked? Just who is he marked by?”

“By all the Golden Core cultivators in the secret realm.”

“By everyone…?”

Bang Sa-cheon wore a sneer.

“That sword cultivator, yes. They call him One Hand Severs Life. How many restrictions has One Hand Severs Life broken?”

“Well. Rumor has it he broke dozens.”

“Dozens… Well, the rumors might be exaggerated, but it is true that he broke quite a few restrictions.”

“Damn it. I’m damn envious!”

“There is absolutely no need for that. As I said earlier, that man is already marked.”

Bang Sa-cheon, who was wearing a cold smile, continued speaking.

“Originally in a secret realm, you have to be cautious even when breaking a single restriction. Because it is extremely dangerous if someone attacks while you are breaking a restriction.”

“Naturally. What about it?”

“However, One Hand Severs Life broke the restrictions without any hesitation, as if throwing such common sense to the dogs. A few people attacked him, but they all died to a single sword.”

“A single sword…”

As the hairy man sighed as if fed up, Bang Sa-cheon curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Thanks to his monster-like skills, no one touched One Hand Severs Life. Do you know what happened as a result?”

“…Since no one stopped him. He smashed the restrictions whenever he saw them.”

“Then imagine. Just how many Rank 4 spiritual herbs would be inside One Hand Severs Life’s storage pouch right now? Perhaps there is even a Nascent Soul spiritual object.”

At the mention of a Nascent Soul spiritual object, greed flashed in the hairy man’s eyes, and Bang Sa-cheon said with a fishy smile.

“One Hand Severs Life. Overconfident in his skills, that arrogant man ended up becoming a living treasure chest himself.”

“A living treasure chest…?”

“Yes. When the time comes for the secret realm to end, everyone will try to kill him.”

“Heh.”

The hairy man, swallowing dry saliva, raised his gaze.

In the sky, which was high enough to be dizzying, eagles, fire birds, hawks, and so on. Dozens of winged beasts were flying around.

Since there was no way there would be ordinary beasts on the third floor of the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda, those winged beasts were all demonic beasts driven by cultivators, in other words, spiritual beasts.

All kinds of Rank 3 spiritual beasts were monitoring the restriction where One Hand Severs Life was cultivating.

“Indeed. One Hand Severs Life is now as good as dead.”

Whether he found it hard to calm his excitement, the hairy man who was pacing around froze.

“Wait. What if One Hand Severs Life uses up all the Rank 4 spiritual herbs? What if he eats them all?”

“Talk sense. By what skill can a Golden Core cultivator digest a Rank 4 spiritual herb? At most, he would have eaten one or two.”

“True.”

“What we need to do now is to grow our strength as much as possible in preparation for the final battle. First, make contact with the owners of those spiritual beasts. I need to ask them if they have any intention of cooperating.”

“Understood. I will move right away. Ah! By the way, when would it be best to strike One Hand Severs Life?”

“Half a year later. Right before the secret realm ends.”

Bang Sa-cheon sneered.

In the final month of the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda, the foolish sword cultivator’s life would also end.

***

Meanwhile.

Inside the restriction monitored by dozens of winged beasts.

Jin So-myeong munched on a vine with a pure white skin as if it were a squid leg.

‘This is a bit tough.’

This vine was a Rank 4 spiritual crop with the name Pure-Refining Spiritual Vine, and according to what Madame Ryeo told him, it had the effect of increasing the purity of spiritual power.

After chewing for a long time, Jin So-myeong, who swallowed the Pure-Refining Spiritual Vine, operated the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art.

The domineering energy generated from the Rank 4 spiritual herb tried to tear his meridians apart, but he endured.

After digesting it completely, he even drank the Splendid Peach Red Wine in succession.

A hot energy rose from his stomach. It felt as if sparks would fly out if he exhaled.

“Keugh!”

His forehead wrinkled of its own accord.

The Splendid Peach Red Wine, a drink that quickened the conversion speed between vital energy and spiritual power, was truly damn bitter.

To the point that when he first drank it, he even suspected it might be poison.

‘Just how on earth did senior Perfected Wuyang call this sweet while drinking it? It is so bitter that my tongue is almost tingling.’

Could he have forcefully endured the bitterness and drunk it cheerfully just to show off?

Somehow, it seemed like that gentleman would have done so. Because he was a person who did not lose his playfulness until his final moments.

“…If he had said it was bitter, I would have at least given him a snack.”

Jin So-myeong, who wore a faint smile, shook his head. He focused on cultivation again.

For the past three months, he accumulated spiritual power with all his heart and soul.

According to the original calculation, he should have reached the 6th layer of Golden Core long ago, but he was still at the 5th layer of Golden Core.

‘The speed of accumulating spiritual power is gradually slowing down. Could it be a bottleneck?’

A bottleneck meant that cultivation progress was blocked for various reasons.

‘Is it the side effect of rising in cultivation realm too quickly?’

Although he was not sure, he felt it vaguely. Right now, he needed time to adapt to the rapidly risen cultivation realm.

It seemed he needed to rest a bit. Or overcome the bottleneck through a different experience.

‘It is a bit of a pity.’

If others had heard this, they would have hurled curses. Honestly, rising from the 2nd layer to the 5th layer of Golden Core in just half a year was already a miracle.

‘It’s a bit awkward to just rest. I should practice spells.’

With the thought of learning a new spell after a long time, he scanned the hundreds of jade slips piled up in his sub-space once again.

For reference, these jade slips were gifts from the bandits he met after entering the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.

‘What is lacking in me right now?’

Amidst various worries, he rummaged through the jade slips.

A spell that brought heavy rain to cause a flood, a spell that combined fire and earth attribute spiritual Qi to erupt a volcano, and so on…

After examining numerous spells meticulously, he chose the one he liked most and registered it in the proficiency system.

Afterward, concealing his presence, he came out of the restriction.

‘Gosh, there are truly damn many.’

Gaze was felt from all directions. All sorts of bastards were monitoring the restriction where he was cultivating.

It seemed that because he broke too many restrictions, he had become the target of greed…

‘They are doing foolish things.’

He was not afraid at all.

A ragtag crowd had no meaning no matter how many there were. Right now, the only existence that could threaten him was a Nascent Soul stage expert.

As proof of that, even though he, who unfolded a stealth technique, was leaving the restriction, no one noticed.

Swish!

Arriving at a remote mountain range after flying for a long time, Jin So-myeong concentrated his mind.

The name of the spell he was going to use from now on was the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal.

It was a spell obtained at the beginning of the secret realm from a cultivator dressed as a scholar who handled cold energy.

In fact, the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal exerts its proper power only when both cold energy and hot energy are handled.

Since the scholar at that time could only handle cold energy, he could not bring out even half of this spell’s potential.

‘But I have the Five Elements Divine Thunder.’

The lightning capable of containing all attributes belonging to the five elements. If it were the Five Elements Divine Thunder, it would be able to bring out all the potential of the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal.

Crackle!

A loud thunder awakened the quiet mountain range.

A crimson lightning red like lava, a pure white lightning more pure than a snow-covered field.

Yin and Yang.

The two energies located at opposite extremes clashed constantly as if to swallow each other.

The moment the two lightning bolts that raced along his meridians passed his shoulders and gathered in his right hand.

Thud. Very lightly, he spread his hand as if pushing the void.

Rumble!

A roar as if the entire world were collapsing rang out. The mountain so high that clouds hung on its waist turned into a flatland with a single blow.

As the swirling dust cleared, a giant palm print stamped on the flatland, which had been a mountain just a few seconds ago, was revealed.

‘…It is much more powerful than I thought.’

Needless to say. The Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal was a spell specialized in wide-range attacks.

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