Chapter 142: A Shocking Rumor

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Immediately after splitting the Yin Moon Old Devil’s Nascent Soul. Jin So-myeong swallowed blood with a pale face.

Simultaneously with the victory, the price of exploding everything in a single moment arrived.

The Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration cast with all his might had left his meridians in tatters, and the dantian where he poured out all his spiritual power laid bare.

It was even to the extent that as soon as his spiritual power recovered, it vanished as if evaporated, as if a hole had been pierced somewhere in his dantian.

‘Still, I won.’

Victory was always sweet. It was especially so the more one fought and defeated a powerful enemy whose victory or defeat could not be guaranteed.

Although his entire body turned into a mess, what did it matter? It was a hundred times, a thousand times better than losing and dying.

‘Huu. By the way, it hurts like hell.’

Having his meridians damaged was something he had experienced so much that it was bearable, but the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill was the problem. Befitting a pill said to allow one to momentarily exhibit Nascent Soul-grade combat power, its side effects were colossal.

Should he say his soul burned? The pain of his Golden Core, formed by the gathering of his Essence, Qi, and Spirit essences, half melting was horrific.

‘I will suffer for a few months.’

Thanks to practicing the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art specialized in regeneration, it did not seem like it would take twenty years to recover, but his internal injuries were severe nonetheless.

Forcibly suppressing the urge to faint this very moment, he surveyed his surroundings.

The sky where the red moon had risen returned to its usual state before anyone knew.

Numerous Golden Core merchants related to the Damun Kingdom stared at him with their jaws dropped, and their blank, unfocused pupils were filled only with absurdity.

The righteous sects, including the Medicine King Sect, looked alternately between Jin So-myeong and each other, not knowing what to do.

On the other hand, the demonic sects showed a slightly more nimble reaction. Most of them left the place without even looking back the moment the Yin Moon Old Devil died.

However, several people still remained on the spot and cast strange gazes. They stared at Jin So-myeong intently with narrowed eyes.

As if they were curious about what state he was currently in…

‘Anyway. Annoying flies.’

Ignoring them, he composed his body first. He stuffed various recovery pills, including Detoxification Pills, into his mouth as they came to hand, and pushed out the poison that attempted to necrose his organs.

Just as he tried to return his body condition to normal somehow.

*Thud!*

The clones that had been standing while tottering collapsed in a heap like puppets with cut strings. These weak fellows had fainted after launching merely a single shot of the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

‘No…’

What kind of feeling was it when he was grit his teeth and enduring pain while they comfortably fainted beside him?

It was a feeling of his head going numb, but he forcibly understood.

Since the clones were swept away by the shout laden with the Nascent Soul expert’s spiritual power, their internal injuries must be severe. Having even used the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration in that state, it was a wonder that they had stood until now.

He forcibly moved his body that felt like it would collapse even if he stood still. Just as he walked slowly and threw the clones into his sub-space.

His half-ruined Divine Sense felt something rapidly approaching, and the loosely relaxed string of tension tightened hard.

His body, which would not be strange even if it fainted right away, immediately assumed a combat posture, and he detected a demonic cultivator flying while raising an escape light.

‘An ambush?’

For a moment, he thought he was trying to attack upon seeing his ruined body, but that was not the case.

The place where the guy’s gaze was directed held the Yin Moon Old Devil’s corpse, with only the lower body remaining.

The moment the guy who flew at a fairly fast speed extended his hand, the storage pouch tied around the Yin Moon Old Devil’s waist floated gently in the empty air.

Simultaneously with seeing the figure trying to flee with the Nascent Soul-grade storage pouch.

Relying solely on the strength of his physical body, he threw the ten-thousand-catty Heavy Heaven Dark Ink Sword.

A single line was drawn.

The moment the sword that pierced the heart of the demonic cultivator trying to run off with the storage pouch collided with the ground,

*K-Boom!*

Along with the roar of a collapsing mountain, a large crater was gouged out. It was a matter of course that the physical body of the demonic cultivator pierced by the sword was shattered into pieces.

“…Heavens.”

“No, what, he even mastered body tempering to that level?”

Several cultivators who had been watching while glancing around left in droves with haggard faces.

Not everyone left.

The Medicine King Sect elder who had been hesitating in the distance approached with a cautious attitude, then opened his mouth.

“It seems your internal injuries are severe. Do you need help?”

What was he thinking? Was he trying to show goodwill since he was clearly a strong expert? He spoke toward the Medicine King Sect elder whose head seemed complex.

“I am fine for now. Ah! I have a matter to visit the Medicine King Sect in the near future, so I shall request it then.”

“You are visiting the Medicine King Sect?”

For some reason, the Medicine King Sect elder, who turned pale in sudden shock, swallowed his saliva.

“Could it be that you have a bad… connection with our Medicine King Sect?”

“…I simply wish to make a pill refining request.”

“Ah! A pill refining request! Aigo, that is of course welcome. Please come anytime.”

The Medicine King Sect elder, whose face brightened completely, hurriedly left, saying that the wounds looked critical and he would not disturb his rest.

*

On the mountain peak turned to ruins due to the battle.

A day passed before anyone knew.

Jin So-myeong, who recovered to the point of being able to move around, checked his body condition first of all.

‘Although the internal injuries are severe… if considering only combat capability, it seems similar to myself before fighting the Yin Moon Old Devil.’

It was thanks to the River and Cloud Sword Art reaching Minor Success and being able to perceive the distortion of space.

That his combat capability was similar even in a state of severe internal injuries meant that as his wounds healed, he would become incomparably stronger than before.

‘It was worth fighting while taking risks.’

Just as he nodded and checked his body condition.

He discovered a tiny crimson flame remaining in his dantian.

‘…Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill?’

It was definitely the energy of the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill, the Rank 4 pill that had provided immense energy by burning the Golden Core.

However, the flame was extremely small and precarious.

Should he call it the last remaining ember from a blazing bonfire? It felt as if it would disperse and vanish right away.

Just as he watched the tiny flame that was dispersing after finishing its role without much thought.

‘Wait a moment. Isn’t this a Rank 4 flame?’

At a thought that suddenly popped up, he concentrated his senses to observe the flame properly, and was certain.

‘I’m right! A Rank 4 flame!’

To discover the flame absolutely necessary when refining the Nascent Condensation Pill here!

It seemed that one of the ingredients of the Extreme Fire Spirit-Ascending Pill was a Rank 4 flame. Although he did not know the name, the fact that it was a Rank 4 flame was important. He was overjoyed, but there was a problem.

‘It is too small.’

He grew anxious naturally. Looking at the flame that seemed about to disperse soon made his mouth feel dry.

He tried injecting spiritual power that had begun to recover slowly, but the response was weak. Far from reviving, the flame continuously shrank.

The flame that was originally the size of a fingernail had before he knew shrunk to the size of a grain of rice.

How should he revive it? While pondering methods, he injected all of his Supreme Great Abilities that recovered while resting, but…

‘The amount is insufficient.’

He had consumed all his Supreme Great Abilities to fight the Yin Moon Old Devil.

The Supreme Great Abilities currently usable numbered only 50,000, which recovered while resting. Just in case, he tried consuming them all, but it was insufficient to revive the Rank 4 flame.

Still, if there was a redeeming aspect, it was that the flame that felt as if it would disperse at any moment regained stability.

Although it was still the size of a grain of rice, it seemed it could hold out for at least a day or two.

‘It is a pity.’

Although it seemed he could maintain the flame if he continuously consumed Supreme Great Abilities as they recovered, he could not do so. The Supreme Great Abilities had many places to be used even if not for the Rank 4 flame.

Pondering this and that method, Jin So-myeong put aside his concern for the Rank 4 flame for now.

Currently, he remained right in the place where he had fought the Yin Moon Old Devil. Since he recovered to the point of being able to move around, there was a task that had to be handled urgently.

It was to prepare an escape route in preparation for the enemies who would visit before long.

“Baek Gwang-il, Baek Dan-il.”

Calling out his clones who were resting in the Secret Realm of the Mind, he handed down instructions.

“You guys stay as far away from me as possible for the time being, and flee immediately when I give the signal.”

“Understood.”

“Take along the juniors who are still fainted and scatter in all directions as much as possible, and ah! When fleeing, do not spare the Rank 3 Transfer Talismans either.”

The Rank 3 Transfer Talisman was one of the harvests obtained from the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda, a talisman that upon use teleported one to a random location a hundred li away.

The clones, who nodded with expressionless faces, cast the Thousand Transformations Art to change their appearances. Then, they split to the east and west respectively and drew away.

The bodies they were using were Blood Spirit Clones. It meant they could only operate within the 10km range of his Divine Sense, but it was not necessarily required to be strictly so.

If they went outside the Divine Sense range, it merely increased the consumption of mental power and spiritual power, and could be endured for a brief moment.

That is to say… the escape method Jin So-myeong came up with was as follows.

If an unmanageable enemy visited, the clones staying at the outskirts of his Divine Sense would simultaneously use Rank 3 Transfer Talismans to widen the distance as much as possible, and Jin So-myeong, who remained as bait, could select an appropriate clone and escape.

‘If I move dozens of kilometers at once and change my appearance with the Minor Success stage Thousand Transformations Art, even a Nascent Soul stage expert would find it difficult to track me.’

Of course, he intended to have a fight regardless of who visited under normal circumstances, but since a disaster like Nascent Soul stage experts launching a group surprise attack might occur, he had to prepare.

‘Though there won’t be a case where Nascent Souls swarm in droves just to catch a single Golden Core.’

Subsequently, he slowly surveyed the mountain range that was the headquarters of the Thousand Corpses Sect.

Perhaps because it was a land where a high-grade Rank 3 spiritual vein flowed, it was a much better place than expected.

‘I should stay here for the time being.’

Selecting a quiet mountain peak where a five-story pavilion was built, he pulled out a massive amount of Rank 3 formation magic treasures piled up in his sub-space and began to install them around it.

Because they were simple formations made so that even non-formation masters could install them, their defensive power was not outstanding, but he compensated for the lacking quality with quantity.

The number of storage pouches obtained from the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda alone exceeded a hundred. Magic treasures related to formations were extremely numerous.

‘Seventeen in total. This much is enough.’

Centered on the small mountain, nearly twenty Rank 3 formations were installed.

Although a Nascent Soul stage expert could crush them all in less than a minute, it was sufficient for Jin So-myeong if he could buy a brief moment of time for the clones to use the Rank 3 Transfer Talismans.

Having prepared minimum safety measures, he fell into thought.

‘I do not know when the guys trying to kill me will visit.’

Around when would a reaction come? It could be much faster than expected, or conversely, slower.

The problem was that the land itself was absurdly vast.

Just for the news to spread consumed quite a bit of time. Although teleportation arrays existed, because most teleportation arrays were monopolized by colossal forces, not just anyone could use them.

Also, perhaps because the cultivation world was a world of long-lived species living for hundreds of years, the concept of time was very different from his previous life on Earth.

For example, if the Black Night Palace’s Supreme Elder were in closed-door cultivation, he might hear the news of the Yin Moon Old Devil’s death only after a few years.

Of course, the death of a Nascent Soul stage Great Elder was a super-large event, so unless it was an exceptionally important cultivation, the news would be conveyed.

In any case, due to various reasons, it was difficult to estimate when the enemies would visit.

Therefore, what he had to do now was to recover his body condition as soon as possible, and focus on cultivation to advance toward the Nascent Soul stage.

Because the best countermeasure against enemies was ultimately growing one’s strength.

Just as Jin So-myeong tried to sit in the place where spiritual Qi was thickest and focus on recovery, he paused.

‘Ah, I should open the Yin Moon Old Devil’s storage pouch first.’

He looked forward to what would be inside the Nascent Soul-grade storage pouch obtained for the first time.

Befitting a Nascent Soul-grade storage pouch, a restriction was installed so that no one other than the owner could open it carelessly, but because he possessed the Secret Realm of the Mind divine ability, it could be resolved simply.

[An absorbable space-attribute spiritual object has been discovered. Do you wish to absorb it?]

[By consuming 100,000 Supreme Great Ability beads, the contents can be preserved.]

He wished to agree immediately, but currently his Supreme Great Abilities were at rock bottom.

‘Let us hold out for just two days.’

The current maximum limit of Supreme Great Abilities was 1.9 million. The recovery amount in a single day alone exceeded 60,000.

Around 100,000 could be recovered in less than two days.

***

Meanwhile.

Medicine King Sect elder Seomun Jin, who was returning to the sect in a hurry, doubted whether he had had a dream.

‘Just what on earth is this?’

A Golden Core and a Nascent Soul engaged in battle.

Yes, a battle.

A clash that originally should have ended as a unilateral slaughter developed into a battle. That alone was surprising enough, but…

‘A Golden Core won? Against a Nascent Soul?’

He saw it directly with both eyes, but he simply could not believe it. Could it be that he had fallen for the Yin Moon Old Devil’s trick and seen an illusion?

Elder Seomun Jin, who was returning to the Medicine King Sect with his mouth hanging open blankly, snapped out of it.

Thinking about it, now was not the time for this.

‘He definitely said his name was Jin So-myeong.’

Who he was and where he came from, what his personality and reputation were. He had to find out as quickly as possible.

Pulling out a handful of Voice Transmission Talismans, he began to contact all sorts of people.

-Investigate Jin So-myeong right this moment!

-Even a minor rumor is fine! Gather as much information as possible! It is an urgent matter, so hurry!

While pouring out orders to the disciples below him, he told the Medicine King Sect elders to hold a meeting immediately.

It was because he had to share the shocking event he experienced today with the elders.

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