Chapter 161: Not a Single Thread Was Damaged
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Mok Ryu-jin, who had been hiding in a transparent state, finally revealed himself and glared at Jin So-myeong as if annoyed.
“Young Master Mok? What nonsense is that?”
Did he want to hide his identity? He flatly denied it, but it was not particularly meaningful.
Jin So-myeong, who had seen through the mask with his Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, was certain it was Mok Ryu-jin, and the same was true for the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast watching from the side.
The tiger enveloped in lightning glared at Mok Ryu-jin and growled.
“Mok Ryu-jin! How dare the Mok Clan kidnap my child! Are you not afraid of me slaughtering the low-level cultivators of your clan! Hand over my child this instant!”
After a brief silence, Mok Ryu-jin clicked his tongue as if things had become troublesome.
“Fairy Gu. Calm down. Your son is safe and well. If you just capture that arrogant bumpkin alive, I will return him immediately. I will also compensate you handsomely.”
“No need! Hand over my son right now!”
“Don’t be like that, and please help me just this once. With Fairy Gu’s strength, subduing an early Nascent Soul cultivator is a simple matter, is it not?”
“Shut up! Despicable human! If you do not hand over my child immediately, I will visit the Mok Clan and slaughter everyone in my path!”
“Sigh, is there a need for us to frown at each other? Please make a rational judgment.”
At the shameless response, the momentum of the lightning wrapped around the wings of the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast grew increasingly violent.
“You…! You kidnap my son and dare say such things!”
“If our clan gets serious, it will not go well for Fairy Gu either. In the end, you would be hunted down and killed. It is a simple matter that can be resolved just by dealing with that fellow, so do not act emotionally.”
Jin So-myeong, who was watching silently, burst into a chuckle.
Watching the two of them bickering while leaving him aside was utterly ridiculous.
‘Did he kidnap the offspring of the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast and order her to plunder the Myriad Treasures Tower’s consignment?’
It seemed he had played this trick to lure him, as he had been close to the Myriad Treasures Tower lately…
“Hahahahaha!”
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it was, so laughter burst out. Since he roughly understood what was going on, there was no need to listen any further.
*Sssring!*
The moment Jin So-myeong, wearing a smile, drew his sword, Mok Ryu-jin and the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast retreated.
“You…”
Mok Ryu-jin tried to say something, but he ignored it. What must be shared with an enemy was not conversation, but the sword.
*Whoosh!*
The Sword Gang surging along the blade, a brilliance resembling starlight, drew a single line, and
Mok Ryu-jin, his face heavily distorted, pulled out a bundle of talismans. The moment the fire dragon that burst out from the Rank 4 talisman clashed with the sword,
*Boom!*
An invisible shockwave swept in all directions. The rocky ground melted under the intense heat that spread with the shockwave.
Jin So-myeong had rushed toward Mok Ryu-jin, leaving the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast alone!
“Sigh. How annoying.”
Mok Ryu-jin, who widened the distance while scattering talismans, tapped his waist, and a puppet army numbering at least a hundred popped out and instantly formed ranks.
Wooden dolls holding shields, spears, and large falchions glared with fierce eyes.
Most of them exuded an aura at the Rank 3 level, but an early Nascent Soul-grade spiritual power was felt from the three bulky puppets guarding Mok Ryu-jin.
Indeed,
As a direct descendant of the Mok Clan, which was called a prestigious family, the means he possessed were not few. Ordinary early Nascent Soul cultivators would be rendered helpless before that puppet army.
‘This will be fun.’
In a way, this was his first proper fight since ascending to the Nascent Soul stage. Except, of course, for the Supreme Elder of the Black Night Palace, whom he had cleaved in a single strike using the purple lightning tribulation.
Just as the smile on his lips deepened,
Only one emotion was visible on Mok Ryu-jin’s face: annoyance.
It seemed he was displeased with the current situation of having to step forward himself… He looked forward to seeing how long that arrogant expression would last.
*Grind!*
The sound of something heavy twisting in midair rang out. It was the noise generated by the clash of Nascent Soul-grade Divine Senses.
He tried to extend his Divine Sense to inspect his opponent, but it was not easy. This was because Mok Ryu-jin also resisted with all his might.
Since Divine Sense had a characteristic of weakening the further it was from the body, it was not difficult to maintain control around one’s own body unless there was a massive disparity in Divine Sense.
‘Is it to prevent spatial teleportation?’
In battles between Nascent Soul cultivators, Divine Sense was even more crucial. If one did not firmly dominate the surroundings with Divine Sense, one’s vital points could be struck by a surprise attack flying in through distorted space.
‘I roughly understand how to fight.’
As expected, real combat was the best teacher. While contesting with Divine Senses, he quickly became accustomed to Nascent Soul-level combat.
*Boom!*
The moment Jin So-myeong, kicking off the empty air, rushed toward the puppets lined up in formation,
“Suppression Strike!”
Mok Ryu-jin, shouting like thunder, formed hand seals, and several puppets began to beat giant drums.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The gradually intensifying drumbeats shook his insides, but pain was familiar to him. To Jin So-myeong, who possessed a robust body, it was merely a trivial attack that could be ignored.
“…Why is there no internal injury?”
Perhaps because he had endured the drumbeats so easily, embarrassment flashed across Mok Ryu-jin’s face.
*Crash!*
The puppets blocking the path split apart the moment they touched the sword. Perhaps because they were strengthened through a formation, each one was sturdy for a Rank 3, but that was all.
Once, twice, three times…
With just five swings of his sword, about fifty puppets were hollowly smashed to pieces.
“…!”
Was it different from his expectations?
His face freezing stiff, Mok Ryu-jin hastily tapped his storage pouch, and dozens of additional puppets appeared along with a platinum-colored wheel tinged with purple light.
“Seal!”
An invisible pressure pressed down on his shoulders while the newly emerged puppets threw nets to obstruct his movements.
In an instant,
The platinum-colored wheel floating in the air split into three and attached itself to the backs of the Rank 4 puppets guarding Mok Ryu-jin.
The three Rank 4 puppets moved as if they were one body. The moment the bulky wooden dolls clasped their hands like monks,
………!
A brilliant pillar of light shooting down from the sky flew toward the crown of his head.
At the same time, an unpleasant noise similar to tinnitus rang out. A stinging pain was felt between his eyebrows, and his vision distorted.
To suppress movement and target the soul and the physical body simultaneously.
It was a quite powerful coordinated attack, but it was meaningless. The moment the blood energy surging from his dantian galloped along his meridians,
*Boom!*
The pressure weighing down on his shoulders shattered at once. The same went for the nets that flew in with the momentum to cover the sky. They were helplessly cut apart, unable to withstand the sharpness gathered on the Sword Gang.
The moment he was released from the restraint, he kicked the ground, and the vertically plunging pillar of light could not even chase his afterimage.
“What!”
Was it a strike he had prepared with great effort? As even the additional puppets were cut down in a few slashes, Mok Ryu-jin’s eyes shook violently.
Mok Ryu-jin, stepping back hesitantly, grit his teeth and let out a shout.
*Rumble!*
The three Rank 4 puppets merged into one and exuded a mid Nascent Soul-grade aura. A crushing pressure that was four to five times stronger weighed down on his shoulders, and a pillar of light that had thickened enough to swallow an entire mountain targeted the crown of his head.
Fierce offensives poured down, but the moment Jin So-myeong was enveloped in lightning, all attacks lost their meaning.
“…!”
Under the slashes swung at a speed that could not even be seen, the puppets were sliced apart in an instant. Now, only a single Rank 4 puppet remained to protect Mok Ryu-jin.
The composure before the start of the battle was nowhere to be found;
Mok Ryu-jin, who had been dazed for a moment, grit his teeth. In the brief moment when a silent resolution settled in his eyes, which were trembling as if an earthquake had occurred,
His Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye saw the future.
‘Self-detonation?’
The puppet debris scattered in all directions exploded simultaneously. Although it was an explosion powerful enough to change the terrain, it could not pose a threat since he had already predicted it.
*Rumble!*
Two palms enveloped in lightning, red and white, clashed together.
The super-large spell that appeared in midair, the Yin-Yang Great Hand Seal, blew the puppet debris far away.
*Boom!*
At the same time, a massive explosion occurred, shaking the heavens.
Although his vision distorted under the intense heat, unfortunately, the power was dispersed. It failed to reach Jin So-myeong, who wore blood armor all over his body.
“Is this the end?”
Jin So-myeong, quietly staring while holding a single sword, was in a state where not a single thread of his clothes was damaged.
Mok Ryu-jin, opening his mouth in a dazed expression, could not even answer properly.
“How, how did you know?”
Was he surprised that he had blocked the final self-detonation without any damage?
It was thanks to reading the possibilities that would unfold in the future with his Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, but there was no reason to tell him that.
The fellow’s fingertips trembled slightly. He did not know what he was feeling, but at least he did not seem to accept defeat gracefully.
Mok Ryu-jin, violently distorting his face, threw a handful of talismans.
A dark red fire dragon made of lava, an icy spear cold enough to lower the atmospheric temperature, and so on. Splendid spells poured from the bundle of talismans, but he sliced through all of them with a single sword.
The Rank 4 puppet, which was his last line of defense, was no exception either. It split vertically before the Sword Gang.
“Damn it!”
Cursing coarsely, Mok Ryu-jin abandoned even his body and began to flee as a Nascent Soul. After seeing the overwhelming speed of Jin So-myeong, who used the Lightning Escape Art, he seemed to judge that there was no hope in just fleeing.
When one became a Nascent Soul, one was freed from the constraints of the physical body and became twice as fast as usual, but it was still futile.
Just as he was about to chase him down and kill him,
*Rumble!*
Thunder resounded from the heavens, and Mok Ryu-jin, who had been desperately fleeing while even teleporting, froze in midair as if nailed to the spot.
The Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast, flying like an arrow, roughly snatched Mok Ryu-jin’s Nascent Soul.
“Aaargh! Fairy Gu! Please do not do this! If you kill me, my clan will…”
“Shut up! Where is my son!”
*Rip!*
Sharp claws pierced the Nascent Soul like skewers, then ruthlessly tore off his left arm.
“Aaaaargh!”
Mok Ryu-jin’s face distorted miserably. He was in so much pain that he could not even speak properly.
“T-There, I put him in my Beast-Taming Pouch, in the Beast-Taming Pouch… Keh-heck!”
A mother whose child was threatened had no mercy. Mok Ryu-jin’s Nascent Soul died by being eaten alive after its limbs were torn apart.
Having finished her revenge, the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast glared at Jin So-myeong with eyes full of killing intent.
“Damn human! Get out of the way!”
The fierce tiger, rushing in with thunder, slammed down its claws.
She seemed to target the Beast-Taming Pouch hanging from Mok Ryu-jin’s body, but there was no way Jin So-myeong would just watch it happen.
The blade gathered with Sword Gang collided head-on with the claws that were ripping through space, and
*Boom!*
The surrounding area was devastated by the shockwave scattering in all directions. Rocks larger than average buildings turned to dust and scattered, and a massive crack was engraved on the ground like a scar.
Just as the fierce tiger enveloped in lightning scattered a sinister eye light,
A super-large palm formed by the mixing of Yin-Yang, the two types of lightning, white and red, slapped and blew away the house-sized Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast.
At the same time,
Jin So-myeong, who kicked up Mok Ryu-jin’s Beast-Taming Pouch rolling at his feet, absorbed the Beast-Taming Pouch entirely using his Secret Realm of the Mind divine ability.
“No!”
As the Beast-Taming Pouch turned to powder, the anger of the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast reached its peak. Due to the bolts of lightning stretching in all directions, everything in sight was blackened to the point of being scorched.
However, that anger did not last long.
This was because Jin So-myeong had taken out a tiny creature that resembled a kitten.
“Is this child your son, Fellow Daoist?”
“…!”
A kitten. No, when he grabbed the young Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast by the scruff of its neck and lifted it, the dangling fellow cried fiercely.
*Kyaong! Kyaaang!*
It flailed its short legs tipped with tiny claws.
Perhaps because it was newborn, the fellow, who was not even at the Qi Condensation stage, scratched as if telling him to let go, showing a very sharp temper.
“What a cheeky fellow.”
When he chuckled and let it go, it looked bewildered.
*Kyang?*
Blinking its pea-sized eyes, it slapped the back of Jin So-myeong’s hand, then pattered its small wings, which were barely half the size of a palm, and flew quickly back to its mother.
Hiding behind its mother’s back, it babbled something, as if asking her to scold Jin So-myeong.
“…Why did you just release him?”
“Are you dissatisfied because of that? Then attack. I was just wondering how strong a demonic beast born with lightning would be.”
The silent Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast carefully inspected her son and nodded. Having confirmed that there was no problem, she completely subdued her aura.
*Kyaong!*
She gave a knuckle flick to the kitten, who was still pointing at Jin So-myeong and babbling something, and then embraced it in her chest.
“My name is Gu Wi-ryeong. What about you?”
“Jin So-myeong.”
“I shall remember it.”
The Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast let out a long howl as if sending a signal, then flapped her huge wings and departed in an instant.
And,
A large feather crackling with deep blue lightning fell from the sky.
“Hmm…?”
The energy contained in the feather was extraordinary.
It was a treasure called a Rank 4 lightning-attribute spiritual object in the world. Since there was a drop of blood on the root of the feather, it seemed to have been plucked just now.
‘Is it a reward for releasing her child safely?’
It was an unexpected harvest.
After carefully observing the feather of the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast, he sealed it in a jade box and put it away safely.
Next, around the time he picked up Mok Ryu-jin’s storage pouch and roughly cleaned up the traces of the fight,
“Fellow Daoist Jin!”
Du Geum-bo and No Un-taek, who had left to retrieve the consignment, appeared.
However, whatever hardships they had suffered, their clothes were torn to tatters, and their faintly revealed skin was blackened by lightning.
Flying in with a shabby appearance like defeated soldiers or people who had barely survived, they halted.
“No, how can you be so perfectly fine after facing the Dark-Thunder Azure-Heaven Beast?”
Particularly, No Un-taek, whose eye sockets had hollowed out due to internal injuries, could not hide his shocked feelings, looking in disbelief at Jin So-myeong, who did not have a single thread of his clothes damaged…
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