Chapter 124: One Against a Hundred (2)

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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At the same time as killing nearly twenty Golden Core cultivators with a surprise attack.

“Kill him!!”

The entire sky was filled with spells.

Over thousands of sharp flying swords, multicolored flames, ice spears emitting cold energy, and so on.

A variety of spells, too diverse to describe individually, poured down like rain. Even from behind, the earth rose up, blocking his path of retreat.

He felt their intention to prevent him from escaping, but he did not care. From the very beginning, he had absolutely no intention of backing down.

As he concentrated his mind, a reddish energy barrier emerged all over his body.

Enduring the ferocious spells, which would cause fatal injuries with just a touch, with his body, far from backing down, he ran toward them instead.

“Uh-uh?”

“Block him!”

Trailing the spells that chased him with unrelenting precision behind him, the moment he dug into their midst.

Rumble!

The surroundings were completely devastated, and numerous people lost their lives.

Just for the crime of being close to Jin So-myeong, they were caught in their comrades’ bombardment and turned into pieces of flesh.

‘…This is more effective than I thought?’

He had merely dug into the crowd, but over ten Golden Core cultivators died.

He had originally intended to just cause moderate confusion, but perhaps because these bastards were not comrades to begin with, they did not hesitate to attack each other.

‘True. In the first place, if it weren’t for me, they were in a relationship where they would have killed each other.’

His eyes flashing, Jin So-myeong kicked the ground.

Like a school of minnows meeting a predator, he tenaciously dug between the scattering enemies.

“These foolish bastards! Just who are you attacking…cough?!”

A nameless man who was spitting out curses turned to ash as he was swept up by a pillar of fire.

Crackle!

Casting the Lightning Escape Art, he swept through their midst in all directions.

“Lightning spell! It’s not a lightning-attribute Magic Treasure, but a real lightning spell!”

Grand chaos.

The constantly flying spells targeted him, and the Golden Core cultivators in the vicinity were caught in it, dying or suffering fatal injuries.

After he tore through their midst about four or five times, the somewhat sturdy siege collapsed in an instant.

Within the leeway created for an instant.

He adjusted his breathing first. His hotly heated heart thumped, but he tried to be as calm as possible.

‘They are nothing but a ragtag crowd… No, are they deliberately killing each other right now?’

He had to keep in mind that they were not comrades from the beginning.

Since their goal was to survive until the end and claim the storage pouch, it was natural to kill competitors whenever an opportunity came.

‘It will be most dangerous when all the riffraff die and only the elites remain to try and kill me.’

Roughly six-tenths of his spiritual power remained, and about half of the enemies were dead.

Quickly rolling his eyes to scan the surroundings, an unexpected sight was seen.

‘Oh. That guy was still alive.’

The snake-faced man who grabbed the storage pouch thrown as bait. He was currently in the middle of trying to escape while forming a defensive array with about a dozen comrades.

‘I thought he would die quickly, but he is enduring better than I thought.’

His skill was decent. If left alone, it seemed he might even break through the siege and escape.

At that time when he was watching that appearance while stroking his chin.

Feeling his hair stand on end, he immediately leaned his upper body back.

Fwit!

The claws that grazed his forehead by a hair’s breadth struck the void.

‘…If hit, my head would have exploded.’

While he paused his footsteps for a moment, Rank 3 spiritual beasts that seemed confident in close combat rushed in.

A fierce tiger with wings, a giant python with a carapace, and so on.

Rank 3 demonic beasts, who originally should have been called Demon Kings, had become spiritual beasts and rushed in according to their owners’ commands.

Roar!

Toward the fierce tiger trying to strike his crown with its claws, he swung his sword.

Slash!

At the moment of cutting its ankle and simultaneously digging in to pierce its heart.

The corpses of the Golden Core cultivators littered in the vicinity swelled up and exploded before he could even avoid it.

The red mist that surged from the corpses swallowed him in an instant.

‘Poison?’

A sickening fishy smell pierced his nose. The moment he realized what kind of attack it was, a headache arose.

His vision distorted, and his meridians stiffened hard. The circulation speed of his spiritual power began to slow down rapidly.

‘It is a deadly poison, not an ordinary one.’

To think he was affected despite having strong poison resistance from practicing the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art. As expected of a poison utilizing Golden Core corpses, it was fatal.

“Crazy. He didn’t die even after being hit by the Death Blood Poison?”

Someone muttered as if dumbfounded,

and the others, who realized that Jin So-myeong was poisoned, poured out spells.

A vortex created by gathering sharp winds, fire feathers coloring the entire sky, coldness creeping up along his ankles…

Looking at the spells cast solely in the hope of his death.

Awakening the lightning inside his mind, he completely burned away the toxic Qi that interfered with the flow of his spiritual power.

At the same time, he wrapped lightning around both hands spread to the left and right.

The moment he clasped his hands together as if praying, his hands dyed by the brilliant lightning, pure white and red.

Rumble…!

Three palms larger than Mount Tai appeared and blocked the sun.

The super-large spell capable of easily turning a city into flatland, the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal enwrapped in lightning, dropped and crushed all kinds of miscellaneous spells.

The thing that fell like a meteor eventually reached the earth, and…

Ruuuumble!!

Literally, heaven and earth were turned upside down. The shockwave swept through, and all the pouring spells were blown away.

The dazzling lightning storm created as the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal exploded blocked his vision. Due to the clash powerful enough to distort the void, even his Divine Sense lost its proper function.

For that instant.

Jin So-myeong, who captured the opportunity, shined his eyes.

Was it thanks to his senses honed by battle? He instinctively realized how to act to gain an advantage.

He cast the Thousand Transformations Art, a disguise technique that could transform into a thousand forms. He disguised himself as one of the cultivators who had died as the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal exploded just now.

The moment his vision cleared as the lightning storm subsided.

Everyone was flustered because Jin So-myeong had suddenly vanished.

“…Could he have died?”

“How could that be! He must have hidden himself! Everyone, be careful!”

At that time when everyone could not move readily and kept watch on the surroundings.

Jin So-myeong, disguised in the appearance of a rogue cultivator, a middle-aged man in his late forties, raised a finger and pointed at someone.

“That guy is trying to run!”

In an instant, gazes turned violently.

The faces of the snake-faced man’s party, who were desperately trying to leave the battlefield, crumpled violently.

Because after all their hard work to almost break through the siege, their attention was focused by Jin So-myeong’s single word.

“A Nascent Soul spiritual object! He is trying to run with the Nascent Soul spiritual object!”

Half-playfully, he instigated by babbling whatever came out of his mouth.

“Wa-wait! Everyone, calm down and… cough!”

The head of the man who tried to calm the chaos flew into the void.

Because Jin So-myeong, who had concealed his presence before anyone knew, approached stealthily and swung his sword.

“Betrayers! They said they would divide the storage pouch, but they are trying to monopolize it for themselves?”

“Let’s kill those guys first!”

“It’s a misunderstanding! No, I say it’s a misunderstanding!”

Was the pouring attention too burdensome? The snake-faced man’s party members began to fall one by one.

The snake-faced man, who became bloody in an instant, gritted his teeth.

Whether he was deeply aggrieved, he glared in all directions with bloodshot eyes and threw the storage pouch he was tightly holding into the void.

“Waaaait!!”

Within the instant of silence, the cracked voice of the snake-faced man shook the battlefield.

“Everyone, calm down and let’s kill One Hand Severs Life first! Otherwise, we will all die first!”

Hurriedly speaking, he formed hand seals.

Clatter!

Binding Jin So-myeong’s storage pouch floating in the void with iron chains, he shouted.

“Everyone, cast a sealing spell on the storage pouch. Then no single person will be able to take it away as they please.”

“…”

“Our numbers have also decreased, so there is no need to fight among ourselves now! First, kill One Hand Severs Life! Then, the survivors can divide it!”

Watching him, Jin So-myeong admired. To think he could create a way to live within this mess.

‘An outstanding fellow is indeed outstanding.’

Although he wanted to even applaud him, he could not leave it be. If the chaos quieted down, it would be disadvantageous to him.

Giving up on concealing his presence, he swung his sword with full force.

Slash!

Simultaneously with the sensation of parting bone and flesh, three or four heads flew into the void.

“It’s that guy! That guy is One Hand Severs Life!”

As if cursing the enemy who killed his parents, the snake-faced man, whose face was distorted like a malevolent deity, shrieked at the top of his lungs, but he ignored it.

‘About twenty remain.’

The remaining spiritual power was roughly three-tenths. The consumption of spiritual power was high because he cast the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal three times in succession.

‘It is close.’

Jin So-myeong, who was pondering whether he could kill all the enemies with his remaining spiritual power, narrowed his eyes.

Even though over eighty people had already died, there was no panic on their faces.

Should he say it felt as if all the clumsy ones died and only the elites remained. Although the number of people had decreased, they seemed to have become more threatening existences.

The survivors gathered in groups of three and five and formed a defensive barrier. It seemed they had finally begun something akin to cooperation.

Crackle!

Casting the Lightning Escape Art, he accelerated. Choosing the closest guy, he stabbed for his brow, but it was blocked.

The sturdy energy barrier made by over ten people cooperating blocked his sword. Based on immense spiritual power, it enveloped 360 degrees in all directions, leaving not a single gap.

He tried attacking a few more times, but the result was the same.

At that time when he was frowning and pondering a way to break it.

Whoosh!

The entire ground burned up. Along with the sound of cutting the wind, a swarm of thumb-sized fire birds rushed in.

It was not an attack with great power, but it continued ceaselessly, leaving no time to rest.

‘To exhaust my spiritual power?’

Their intention was guessed. It seemed they planned to dry him to death by pouring out minor attacks while keeping their defense firm.

‘Not good.’

If he dragged out time like this, it was naturally disadvantageous.

Although he ran here and there to create a gap and swung his sword, it was blocked by the energy barrier every single time.

He amplified the weight of the Heavenly Heavy Darkrock Sword to 100,000 jin. He struck down as if swinging a hammer, but the energy barrier only vibrated as if it would collapse, without breaking.

‘The power is lacking.’

Perhaps because it was an energy barrier made by over ten people cooperating, it was sturdier than he thought.

In many ways, he felt frustrated as if he was lacking that final touch.

In a situation like now, he could not use the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration either. If the surviving enemies counterattacked when he fell into exhaustion, he would be struck without even being able to resist.

“Everyone, endure just a bit more. He is also human, so he will soon tire.”

“Damn it, to think killing just one fellow would be this hard.”

Avoiding and striking down the swarm of fire birds that clung like shadows, he fell into thought.

Actually, the method to resolve the current situation was much simpler than he thought.

Inside the restriction Ryeo Jeong was currently guarding, a blood spirit clone was waiting.

‘I left it as insurance.’

Of course, how could he face a hundred people alone without preparing a path of retreat?

The blood spirit clone could swap positions with the main body at any time.

Therefore…

He just had to swap positions with the clone in a relatively safe place, recover his spiritual power inside the restriction, and then fight.

Although the bastards who realized the situation would attack the restriction, that was all.

If Ryeo Jeong, a formation master, did her best, she would be able to buy enough time for him to recover.

It was a very safe and certain method, yet…

he did not like it.

“That guy seems tired?”

“His movements have certainly slowed down. Kekek. Bastard! I will tear you to death.”

Hearing the murmuring filled with relief and joy made him feel even more so.

Due to a sudden impulsive thought that came to mind…

he just went ahead and did it. He destroyed the clone inside the restriction, which was no different from his path of retreat.

At the same time.

The one-tenth of his strength consumed when summoning the blood spirit clone returned.

‘Ah!’

It was thrilling to the point that his fingertips trembled. Although it was a strength of merely one-tenth, to his physical body and dantian exhausted from continuous battles, it was no different from the water of life.

‘This is it.’

The moment he regained 100% complete strength, he realized.

Even though it was clearly an unreasonable decision that threw himself into danger.

‘This is correct.’

He had such a conviction.

Ruuuumble!

Enwrapped in lightning, he became a single streak of light.

Squelch! Along with the sound of something being pierced, the Golden Core cultivators maintaining the energy barrier spat out blood.

“How!”

“Impossible! He became stronger?”

A single weight, the tightly maintained balance broke.

The instant that split a second.

The Sword Qi that became one with lightning slashed and parted the energy barrier.

Crack!

The small gap expanded in the shape of a turtle shell, and the entire energy barrier shattered like a glass window.

“…!”

Facing the eyes dyed with panic and fear. He dug into their midst.

The moment he struck down his sword and split someone nameless vertically.

Fwit…!

A dagger passed in front of his eyes.

Within the slowed-down world of extreme concentration, the purple venom smeared on the sharply honed blade glinted. His own reflection in the venom was as clear as looking in a mirror.

What would have happened if he had been hit?

When he thought so, the corners of his mouth went up without his realization.

If he lost, he died.

That obvious fact was incredibly pleasing. He felt as if something that had been lacking was filled.

Only now did it feel like he was truly fighting. His five senses were honed like blades.

His spiritual power had long been exhausted.

He squeezed his physical body, which had reached Rank 3 high-grade, to its limit. Every time he swung the Heavenly Heavy Darkrock Sword, whose basic weight reached 10,000 jin, someone died and died again.

Occasionally, fatal attacks targeting his vitals flew in, but he was rather delighted.

‘Ah!’

The fierce battle became a flame and tempered his soul.

He felt the bottleneck, the shackle that held his ankles, vanish without a trace.

With the feeling of becoming a wolf that had dug into a flock of sheep. He slashed and slashed again.

Within the chaotic battlefield where they killed and were killed, ironically, he enjoyed incomparable freedom.

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