Chapter 125: Rumors

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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‘A monster. I provoked a monster.’

The snake-faced man, Bang Sa-cheon, felt dizzy as he looked at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

‘How did it end up like this?’

Every time One Hand Severs Life swung his sword, a short scream rang out. It meant someone’s life had ended.

For the first time in his life, Bang Sa-cheon deeply realized what it felt like to have his soul depart.

‘Where did it go wrong?’

Over half a year, he gathered numerous Golden Core cultivators and swarmed toward One Hand Severs Life.

Until this point, he thought everything had gone well.

No matter how strong he was, a Golden Core cultivator was still a Golden Core cultivator. How could a large group of over a hundred people not handle a single person?

It was as easy as crushing an ant.

Before the fight began, he was slightly flustered when One Hand Severs Life handed over the storage pouch, but it was not a big problem.

Rather, he thought it was just as well.

It was impossible for over a hundred cultivators to divide a single storage pouch. It was necessary to reduce the number of people.

Because of that, he thought there was no problem.

However…

From the moment over fifty people died in vain, he felt something was strange. Because they died too fast, far too fast.

‘To think he even mastered a lightning spell.’

There was only one reason why a problem occurred.

Because One Hand Severs Life was strong, far too strong.

Gradually feeling a sense of crisis, the survivors tried to cooperate and kill him in earnest, but…

they only realized it was already too late. One Hand Severs Life slaughtered them instead.

“Ah.”

Bang Sa-cheon, who was floundering in the past, flinched and trembled.

Because something hot poured onto his face.

The head of his comrade next to him flew off, and the fountain of blood that surged touched his cheek. The hot warmth that soaked his face dragged him back to reality.

Slash!

A Sword Qi so fast that only a blurry afterimage was visible flew.

Limbs, not even known whose they were, floated in the void, and screams mixed with pain and fear constantly struck his eardrums.

“Crazy! That guy is a monster!”

Eventually, someone who could not endure screamed and fled, but One Hand Severs Life did not react.

The moment One Hand Severs Life left the one who fled alone.

The morale that was barely maintained shattered completely. Four more Golden Core cultivators additionaly fled.

“No!! Everyone, pull yourselves together! Do you think One Hand Severs Life is fine?! That guy must also be tired! Endure!”

Bang Sa-cheon, who forcefully revived his fighting spirit, shrieked to the point that the veins stood out on his neck.

There was still hope.

One Hand Severs Life was not a monster wearing human skin. Ultimately, he was merely a human, so he would tire eventually.

Therefore, if they endured just a bit more,

if they endured…

Ah. Why.

Not yet, is it still not enough?

Why does he seem to be getting faster and faster? Just how much spiritual power does he have?

…It was certain. He became stronger. As if he had even raised his cultivation realm.

Bang Sa-cheon gritted his teeth.

This was unfair! How could he get stronger the more he fought!

Those who fought alongside him fell one by one as corpses.

A certain old man, who boasted a neat beard, struck down a tobacco pipe that seemed to be his Natal Magic Treasure, and a blade enwrapped in lightning slashed and passed through his chest.

A burnt smell hovered, and a short scream mixed with pain was heard.

Thud!

His upper body, including his head and shoulders, slid diagonally and fell to the ground.

‘Ah…’

The fighting spirit he had forcefully revived vanished without a trace. The dyeing of hope into despair took only an instant.

If One Hand Severs Life swung his sword, someone died.

There was no exception.

They died even if they blocked, and they died even if they tried to avoid. Even if they risked their lives to counterattack, the result was the same.

Within the continuous unrealistic scenes.

What made Bang Sa-cheon most despondent was One Hand Severs Life’s expression. During the fierce battle where it would not be strange for anyone to die, was he not smiling as if he were enjoying it?

‘Does this…’

make sense?

Bang Sa-cheon froze stiff. He had given up. His mind was broken by the unbearable shock.

Without doing anything, just standing still,

with his brain that did not even work well, he counted the number of remaining people.

Ten, nine, eight…

Ah! Three died simultaneously. Now five.

Four, three, two… Wait, two?

‘Everyone died except me?’

The last remaining two were One Hand Severs Life and Bang Sa-cheon himself.

“Ha, haha. Hahaha!”

Even the reason he could become the last survivor was absurd. Because he gave up everything in the middle and stood still, he survived the longest.

Over a hundred Golden Core cultivators faced a single person, but…

‘We lost.’

It was a hard-to-believe fact, but the result was so.

Laughing like a madman, he suddenly had a doubt.

Was he even a Golden Core cultivator in the first place? Could it be that a Nascent Soul stage old monster played with us?

Since incomprehensible information kept being injected, he felt as if his mind was crumbling.

It would be easier if he just fainted. But as a Golden Core cultivator in name, he could not even faint.

‘A monster, a monster… I provoked him for nothing. If I knew he was this strong, I wouldn’t have even laid a finger on him.’

At that time when he was chewing over the bitter regret that came after grievance.

One Hand Severs Life, who approached silently, pointed his sword dripping with blood at him.

If that sword was swung, he would die.

Realizing that, his mouth opened without his realization.

“The storage pouch.”

“…Hm?”

“Was the storage pouch real?”

One Hand Severs Life, who paused, chuckled as if dumbfounded.

“It’s already all over, and you are curious about that?”

“Since I will die anyway, I want to know.”

When he barely answered in a cracked voice as if squeezing it out, One Hand Severs Life, who wore a strange smile, swung his sword.

There was no pain.

The place the sword aimed was not Bang Sa-cheon’s neck, but the storage pouch sealed in the void.

The storage pouch, freed from the chains, flew while drawing a parabola and landed in Bang Sa-cheon’s hand.

“…”

He tried to examine the contents, but as expected of a Rank 3 storage pouch, a basic restriction was placed, so he could not open it.

Looking at One Hand Severs Life, he snapped his fingers.

‘Ah! It opened.’

Thanks to the owner of the storage pouch releasing the restriction, he could examine the contents.

However…

Since the situation had reached this point, he thought there would be nothing to make him angrier.

But it was a misunderstanding.

The moment he saw the completely empty storage pouch.

“……”

His chest felt tightly blocked and stuffy as his mind turned white.

At least,

at least shouldn’t the jade box be there? If he had a shred of conscience, he should have done so.

“Yo-you…!”

He deeply felt what it meant for blood to boil. At the intense emotion experienced for the first time in his life, his entire body trembled uncontrollably.

“Aaaaagh!! You son of a…”

Of course, it had no meaning. Because before he could even let out a cool curse, his head was cut off…

*

Thud!

Jin So-myeong, who cut down the last enemy, the snake-faced man, muttered within his heavy breathing.

“I won.”

He fought against a hundred enemies of the same cultivation realm and won.

While enjoying the emotion derived from the sense of accomplishment, pain arrived late.

Lowering his gaze, he saw his forearm torn by something sharp.

‘What a mess. There isn’t a single fine place.’

Since he endured most attacks with his bare body after his spiritual power was exhausted, his entire body was covered in wounds.

Spitting out the blood pooled in his mouth, sizzle! Along with the sound, smoke rose from the ground.

‘Haha.’

Probably half of the blood currently flowing through his veins was poison.

After resting for a moment and recovering the strength to move, Jin So-myeong raised his spiritual power.

Using the spiritual power recovered thanks to the Secret Realm of the Mind, he gathered the corpses scattered in all directions in one place.

Rumble!

After striking down fire-attribute lightning to turn the pile of corpses into ash,

he packed all the over a hundred storage pouches.

‘There are truly so many. It will be a bit of a struggle to inspect them one by one.’

Of course, organizing the harvest was always a happy thing.

Looking at the piled-up storage pouches, a laugh came out of its own accord.

***

Time passed, and the period for the people who entered the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda to come out arrived.

More anxiously than anyone else,

the Supreme Elder of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace, who had been waiting solely for this time, moved immediately.

Employing hundreds of disciples, he investigated what happened inside the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.

As a result,

he received crazy, unbelievable news.

“So… what you are saying is that Great Elder Wi Mun-seok was done in by a bumpkin sword cultivator from some unknown continent?”

“It is not certain. I am telling you that there is such a possibility judging by the circumstances.”

The Supreme Elder, whose face turned red and blue, glared as if he wanted to kill the disciple who was reporting.

“One Hand Severs Life? Facing a hundred people alone? How absurd. I would rather believe he was done in by a Nascent Soul stage old monster.”

“…I apologize.”

At the intense gaze that seemed to pierce like a sword, the disciple, who possessed a robust build, did not know what to do like a guilty person.

Actually, from the disciple’s perspective, he was aggrieved. It was hard to believe for him as well.

However, what could he do when the circulating rumors said so?

Since he could not make a false report, he had merely spoken exactly as it was.

“Whew… tell me in more detail. What did One Hand Severs Life do?”

“First, the number of Golden Core cultivators who ascended to the 3rd floor from our Frost Smoke Continent is estimated to be twenty-two in total. Among them, seven are said to know nothing because they active in completely different regions.”

Up to here, it was the usual Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda. There was nothing strange.

“Fifteen accepted the proposal of a man named Bang Sa-cheon and went to snatch One Hand Severs Life’s storage pouch, but… as a result of the clash, except for two who fled in the beginning, all died.”

“…Just how is that possible?”

“Right before the battle, One Hand Severs Life held the storage pouch high to focus attention, and then…”

The muscular youth sweated profusely as he diligently explained the information obtained through inquiries.

The Supreme Elder, who was listening silently with a frown, muttered without his realization.

“A sword cultivator, body tempering, and he even mastered lightning spells? Nonsense! Does that even make sense?”

“Tha-that, to speak honestly, this disciple also finds it hard to believe.”

At the appearance of the disciple who hung his head low despite doing nothing wrong, the Supreme Elder forcefully calmed his anger.

‘Just how on earth did he master all those cultivation methods?’

Practicing multiple cultivation methods simultaneously was absolutely not an easy task.

Since the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace was also a sect that trained in Spell and Body Dual Cultivation, they knew better than anyone how difficult it was.

If it were a shallow, clumsy cultivation method, there was at least a possibility.

But a sword, lightning spells, and body tempering at the same time? It was an impossible task without even having to think about it.

However,

on the off chance that such an existence truly existed…

‘He must be a genius blessed by heaven.’

Perhaps, a Battle Immortal, considered a hollow legend, had been born.

Thinking up to here, the Supreme Elder sighed.

To think they had become enemies with an existence who might be a Battle Immortal!

He even resented the deceased Great Elder Wi Mun-seok. Far from being a strength to the sect, how could he hand over such a burden?

‘Sigh…’

He forcefully swallowed the sigh that tried to escape.

If only such a genius were a disciple of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace. If they made him the successor, the strength of the Dragon Elephant Demonic Palace would become several times stronger…

Although it was incredibly regrettable to the point of driving him crazy, there was nothing he could do.

Since they had already become enemies, all that remained was to kill each other.

With his eyes tightly closed, the Supreme Elder, who had been silent for a long time, spoke.

“That fellow used the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal? Is that not the secret technique of the Ice Flower Palace?”

“Yes. However, the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal used by One Hand Severs Life is said to be based on lightning spells, unlike the Ice Flower Palace.”

In an instant, the Supreme Elder’s pupils trembled finely.

‘He used the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal with lightning spells?’

Could his talent be so outstanding that he could dismantle and reconstruct a spell in detail?

His fingertips trembled finely, but he soon regained his composure. He could not show an anxious appearance in front of his disciple.

“…It does not matter. Contact the Ice Flower Palace and feel out their relationship with One Hand Severs Life. If they are unrelated, subtly inform them that their secret technique has been leaked.”

“Understood!”

“And find out which continent One Hand Severs Life is from as quickly as possible. Since his talent seems extraordinary, we must take measures before it is too late.”

The Supreme Elder’s eyes turned menacing.

Since he was at the Nascent Soul stage, it did not matter no matter how outstanding One Hand Severs Life’s talent was.

If only he could find him, he would be able to kill him…

***

Leaving the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda was not difficult.

One just had to wait for one year to pass. Then, no matter where one was, they would automatically be teleported to the region they entered from.

On the day they returned to the Dead Soul Wilderness in such a manner, Jin So-myeong parted ways with Ryeo Jeong.

She headed somewhere other than Vast Wilderness Immortal City, saying it was to treat someone.

‘She probably plans to use the Myriad Souls Wood fruit. I hope it goes well.’

Since they each had their own paths to go, it would be hard to continue helping her, but wishing her well was not a difficult thing.

In any case,

returning to his comfortable cave dwelling in Vast Wilderness Immortal City after a year, Jin So-myeong slept through three days and nights. He enjoyed a sweet rest after a long time.

The moment he woke up with a clear mind and opened his sub-space.

“Ah…!”

A thrilling energy surged, as if he had drunk carbonated water.

Without a single exaggeration, literally looking at the treasures piled up like a mountain made his mouth water.

Finally, the time had come. It was time to organize the immense harvest obtained from the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.

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