Chapter 141: Nascent Soul-Grade Combat Strength

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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It was hot.

This was the first thought Jin So-myeong had after consuming the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill.

The crimson flames originating from the Rank 4 pill attempted to melt his Golden Core.

Even before he could shudder at the dreadful heat that felt as if his soul were melting, a massive energy surged like a rampage from the Golden Core enveloped in flames.

The immense energy, amplified to dozens of times its usual amount, ran wild as if to tear apart his meridians, leaking through the pores of his entire body.

*Krrrrk!*

He had merely emitted the overflowing energy, yet the earth cracked and empty air distorted. It was that absurd of an energy.

He felt as though he would be intoxicated by a sense of omnipotence, but he absolutely could not let that happen.

‘I cannot drag this out.’

It was a power with significant side effects.

He felt like he understood why one had to focus on recovery without being able to do anything for twenty years after consuming the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill.

If one were intoxicated by the power and ran wild, and the Golden Core, which was no different from a cultivator’s foundation, completely melted, one would become a crippled person.

At the same time,

He realized that the effect of the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill was not as powerful as the rumors. It merely amplified the amount of spiritual power to the Nascent Soul level, but did not grant the sensation of perceiving and twisting space.

‘It is a pill that merely raises the level of spiritual power to the Nascent Soul stage for a very brief moment…’

Just as he barely controlled the energy that ran wild like a wild horse and regained his composure.

The Rank 4 Spiritual Treasure that the Yin Moon Old Devil had brought out, the mirror enveloped in gray mist, seeped into the empty air and disappeared, then spread a strange wave.

In an instant, the sky was covered by a black curtain.

‘Is that the Yin Soul Dream Painting Mirror?’

It was definitely the Yin Moon Old Devil’s lifebound Spiritual Treasure, which became famous as he slaughtered countless enemies.

The sky, which was as bright as broad daylight, was instantly dyed in darkness, and a red moon rose where the sun had been.

A dismal wind blew. Ghosts, which began to appear one by one, burst into bizarre laughter while giggling.

‘Ugh.’

The crowd of ghosts, whose numbers swelled in an instant, reached no less than tens of thousands. As they flew here and there while dancing, his head felt like it would burst.

Screams were heard from all directions.

The Thousand Corpses Sect disciples, who were complacently spectating near the horizon, had their heads explode and died merely from hearing the laughter of the ghosts.

Giggle-giggle-giggle-giggle!

The bizarre laughter that continued endlessly gouged his mind. It was a feeling of stabbing his temples with an awl.

Swallowing the blood that welled up and settling his churned stomach, Jin So-myeong converted the energy amplified by the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill into lightning Qi.

*Bzzt!*

A thick bundle of lightning surged and stretched in all directions. The bright yellow lightning became a whip and tore apart the dancing ghosts in an instant.

As the laughter subsided, his throbbing head felt much better.

“Fat chance!”

The moment the Yin Moon Old Devil bellowed.

The ghosts that had been shattered into pieces by the lightning turned into white mist and encroached on all directions, and the atmospheric temperature began to drop rapidly.

Was it because the Yin Qi had grown stronger? The subsided laughter of the ghosts became even louder.

‘…The longer this drags out, the more disadvantageous it becomes.’

It was a structure where eliminating ghosts strengthened the Yin Qi, making the remaining ghosts stronger. Even the coldness that encroached on the surroundings seeped into his body, attempting to freeze his joints.

The Yin Moon Old Devil was famous for being proficient in prolonged warfare. He had heard that he grew stronger the longer he fought, and he felt like he knew the reason why.

Just as he pushed out the coldness that penetrated his body using lightning Qi and exploded the ghosts that rushed forward with bared claws.

*Shik…!*

A skewer that appeared after distorting space tried to pierce his left eyeball.

Simultaneously with barely avoiding it by bending his waist back, hundreds of flying needles rushed in succession.

The Yin Moon Old Devil, who had seized control of the surroundings by scattering the Ghost Dance, began to pour out a full-scale offensive.

To make matters worse, dark red blood poured from the sky like rain, which was a fatal poison that made one’s mind dazed merely from smelling its fishy odor.

Just as he enveloped his entire body in the Blood Armor, a secret technique derived from the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art, to block the poison and coldness, and scattered lightning Qi to melt the flying needles.

“…Dreadful.”

“Ugh!”

The Golden Cores who had secured a safe distance and watched as soon as the battle broke out vomited blood.

Realizing that they were not safe at all even though they were already dozens of li away, their expressions turned into absurdity as they widened the distance like crazy.

“Just how on earth does that guy endure such poison?”

“It is absurd. Is he truly a Golden Core?”

They marveled at the very fact that a battle was established between a mere Golden Core and a Nascent Soul stage. Normally, even if one consumed a pill like the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill, a Golden Core was ultimately just a Golden Core and could never contend against a Nascent Soul.

Disbelief burst out from here and there, but it did not reach Jin So-myeong’s ears.

It was because he was pouring all his nerves into wielding the sword.

*Crunch!*

Resisting the poison and coldness that tried to lead him to death at every moment, he struck away the hidden weapon that appeared right before his nose by distorting space.

Had it not been for the Lightning Escape Art that he maintained without stopping for even a single moment since the battle began, fatal attacks that he would have died from without even being able to react poured relentlessly.

*Pfft!*

The sound of an ice spearhead piercing his collarbone, right above his heart, was distinct.

In a fleeting instant of less than a single second, the wounds stabbed and slashed numbered seventeen.

He crossed between life and death several times in a single moment. Although he was somehow holding on thanks to the overwhelming speed of the Lightning Escape Art, if he kept going like this, he would not escape death.

As powerful as the Minor Success stage Lightning Escape Art was, its consumption of spiritual power was severe.

Although the battle had barely begun, half of his spiritual power had already vanished as if evaporated. This was so even though his energy was amplified dozens of times by the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill.

‘I won’t even last a minute.’

Was it thanks to the death that drew closer at every moment?

Sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. The blades called the five senses grew sharp continuously.

He could vaguely feel it.

The spatial sense that he had polished while observing the Illusionary Void Spirit Flower for over ten years. That it was right on the verge of blooming.

Something like a new sensation attempted to sprout from his ticklish glabella.

However,

Time was insufficient. At this rate, before the transformation was completed, and before the filled vessel overflowed, his spiritual power would be depleted and he would die.

Therefore, right now.

Following his instincts, he poured the vast amount of one million Supreme Great Abilities into amplifying his senses without hesitation.

‘Ah.’

As if a blind person opened their eyes, as if a deaf person heard sound.

The senses forged while crossing between life and death reached an unprecedented domain, and finally, it was visible.

The infinite ocean spread around him, the thing named space, became so vivid that it felt within his grasp.

And also,

The true authority hidden within the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, a divine ability related to the senses, was manifested.

He read the time not permitted to humans, the future. It was merely a fleeting instant of less than a few seconds, but he clearly saw it.

The divine ability said to pierce through all possibilities of all creation entered a new domain.

Countless possibilities deriving from a single action.

In some future, a certain version of him failed to endure the penetrated coldness and froze to death.

While avoiding a hidden weapon, he was caught by a ghost and eaten alive.

Believing in his poison resistance and letting his guard down, all his nerves and muscles rotted away.

Failing to detect a secretly flying dagger, the back of his neck was pierced.

He swung his sword like crazy to hold on and on, but eventually his spiritual power hit rock bottom and he was captured alive.

…

Amidst the disastrous deaths too numerous to count, just one path leading to victory was visible.

In that case, what remained was merely to walk along that path.

*Shik…!*

He saw a single iron skewer that would appear as if teleporting through distorted space.

‘My left cheek… no, is it trying to pierce my dantian?’

Since he could see it, he could avoid it. He could avoid it perfectly without even a shred of damage.

However, he did not do so, following the future seen by the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye.

*Pfft!*

He took the hit properly.

He grit his teeth and endured the pain. Having his lower abdomen where his dantian resided pierced by a dark red iron skewer created by condensed toxic Qi was by no means pleasant.

…Of course, he was not truly stabbed in the dantian.

He condensed his Blood Armor on his lower abdomen, twisting the trajectory of the iron skewer extremely minutely. That was to say, so that he would not die instantly, and so that it would narrowly miss his dantian.

Even so, a fatal wound was a fatal wound.

The iron skewer that dug into his stomach turned into toxic Qi, causing his internal organs to rot.

While suppressing the poison spreading from within using lightning Qi, he examined the Yin Moon Old Devil’s expression, and the guy’s gaze seemed to speak as follows:

As expected.

A fishy smile formed on the mouth of the Yin Moon Old Devil, who had been engaging in battle seriously as if facing an enemy of equal status.

The mind that had been tightly wound was loosened. To put it another way, he let his guard down.

In a way, it was actually just a momentary gap that was nothing special.

A brief moment that could not even be called a split second.

It was merely that, but he gambled everything on that single moment. He threw away everything he had accumulated so far.

*Rumble!*

Into the Lightning Escape Art cast with all his might, he poured all of the remaining 900,000 Supreme Great Abilities. Even that was not enough, so he added the Wind Transformation Body Force, the Wind Control Art, and his strong body tempered through body tempering.

Just for one thing: swiftness.

He did his absolute utmost to move even a speck faster.

In a world that slowed down to the point of stopping, a single ray of light resembling a meteor drew a line.

He swung his sword for the first time at the Yin Moon Old Devil, who had been pouring out attacks unilaterally from far away.

“…!”

Was it because of the unexpected speed? The Yin Moon Old Devil, who seemed slightly flustered, vanished with a *swish* right before the sword reached him.

That split second.

Reading the flow of distorted space, he intuitively felt where the guy would appear.

‘Now.’

The second sword. With the mindset that he would end it with this.

Faster than the Yin Moon Old Devil who moved by distorting space, he swung his sword before the guy could even appear.

Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration Slash.

At the same time the Yin Moon Old Devil who popped out of the empty air was astonished, a blindingly white line split the world.

“…”

The urgent battlefield fell silent, and a momentary hush flowed.

How many seconds had passed? The Yin Moon Old Devil, who moved his mouth, spoke as if chewing his words.

“It is unfair.”

What was he so resentful about? He felt like he roughly knew what he meant.

Since he probably had many things he could do, yet was defeated without even showing his proper power, it made sense that he could not accept the result.

However, victory and defeat were originally like that. They were decided in the blink of an eye.

Just as Jin So-myeong, who did not even bother to reply, was suppressing the recoil of using the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

*Whoosh!*

A pure white diagonal line formed on the Yin Moon Old Devil’s upper body. Right before the pure white flames that began to spread little by little completely swallowed his upper body.

Grit his teeth, the Yin Moon Old Devil abandoned his body damaged by the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

*Thud!*

His lower abdomen exploded, and a translucent infant that looked exactly like the Yin Moon Old Devil popped out. The soul body, commonly referred to as the Nascent Soul in the world, had abandoned the hopeless physical body and escaped.

“You bastard! I will definitely make you regret this!”

The Nascent Soul, which had abandoned the physical body and become an entirely spiritual existence, was incredibly fast. Because it had already suffered a fatal wound, it was not in a normal state, but its speed of fleeing alone was stupendous.

In an instant, it widened the distance from Jin So-myeong and traversed the sky.

At that moment,

Existences that no one had paid attention to, the clones whose spiritual power amounted to merely the Foundation Establishment stage, blocked the Yin Moon Old Devil.

“Impudent! Get lost!”

The shout laden with spiritual power became a shockwave and devastated all directions. If they were ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, that would have been enough. They would have met a horrific end with their bodies exploding.

However, Jin So-myeong’s clones were not mere Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Despite their complexions turning pale from suffering internal injuries, they did not take a single step back. On the contrary, they extended their fists, and

There was light.

The divine ability that forged destruction, ten shots of the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration, poured toward the Yin Moon Old Devil’s Nascent Soul.

“Urgh!”

Half of the upper body including the right shoulder, the leg vanished below the left thigh, a wide-open solar plexus, and so forth.

“D-Damn it.”

The Yin Moon Old Devil, ruined by the blows poured out by the clones, tottered in midair.

Grit his teeth, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and whipped his head around. Flailing his sole remaining left arm, he cried out in a hurry.

“W-Wait…”

He desperately tried to say something, but it was useless.

*Slash!*

For Jin So-myeong, who had composed his body from the recoil of the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration before anyone knew, appeared and struck down his sword enveloped in Sword Astral, vertically cleaving the Yin Moon Old Devil’s Nascent Soul…

An extremely long silence flowed.

The moment Jin So-myeong descended to the ground. Drops of blood that flowed down his forearm dripped from the tip of the sword.

Only then did the Golden Core Sages, who had been swept by shock, exhale their held breath. Very slowly and long, as if awakening from a dream.

Victory and defeat were decided.

However, it was not the result they had imagined.

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