Chapter 194: Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass
===================
Translated by Frog in the Well
Read more at Nineheavens.org
===================
The remaining time until arrival was approximately nine months.
During this somewhat ambiguous time, which was long if considered long and short if considered short, what should he do?
While contemplating, Jin So-myeong scanned his sub-space.
He counted the treasures he had harvested but had not yet digested one by one.
‘I should leave the Red Dust Heart Lotus alone since I need to use it when challenging the Soul Formation stage later…’
A flower resembling a dandelion and a root plant shaped like a jellyfish came into view, but he skipped them; he had not yet found out the consumption methods and names of these Rank 5 spiritual herbs.
The next thing that caught his eye was the Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass, which was said to temper one’s Divine Sense.
‘The Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass. Let us go with this.’
He decided to invest the remaining nine months into this spiritual herb.
Since Divine Sense was a sense directly related to combat, the stronger it was, the better.
‘How much Supreme Great Ability will be needed to copy a Rank 5 spiritual herb? Since it is a Soul Formation-grade spiritual herb, it will probably be at least in the hundreds of millions.’
He nodded after inspecting the root of the Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass, which was about seventy percent restored.
One month later.
He began to pour 80 million Supreme Great Ability into the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability.
The tip of the root, which had healed in a split state, divided and new roots grew. It returned to a whole state as if new flesh was budding from a wound.
By the time he had invested roughly 30 million Supreme Great Ability.
A blue-green stem sprouted from the perfectly restored root, and when he invested 50 million more, fresh green leaves even grew.
‘Is it finished?’
Inspecting it with the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, it was still insufficient.
The moment he poured in more Supreme Great Ability recovered over a week, a reddish fruit resembling a wild raspberry finally formed.
‘It is done!’
He stared as if possessed at the Soul Formation-grade spiritual herb, the Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass, which had regained its whole appearance.
Since he had revived the spiritual herb that originally had only its root, now he just needed to copy it.
‘To copy it… it will take about 120 million Supreme Great Ability.’
Copying a Soul Formation-grade spiritual herb with a cultivation realm of the Nascent Soul stage required quite a lot of effort.
Of course, it was absolutely not something to complain about.
‘What is important is that it works.’
Although the process was somewhat complicated, at any rate, looking only at the result, had he not become able to obtain a Soul Formation-grade spiritual herb every two months?
And that too, a spiritual herb that tempered his Divine Sense, which was far more precious compared to other spiritual herbs.
Others could not achieve such a miracle even if they invested hundreds of years, let alone two months. It was something they earnestly wished for even in their dreams, but it was impossible.
One month and fifteen days.
While copying the spiritual herb whenever his Supreme Great Ability recovered, during the remaining time, he adapted to his physical body that had strengthened as the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art rose to Great Success.
‘It is done!’
After investing over a whopping one hundred million Supreme Great Ability, he succeeded in copying the Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass.
‘So this is a Soul Formation-grade spiritual herb.’
Staring intently at the Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass which had increased to two, he scanned his surroundings.
He saw the Rank 4 formation installed to prevent anyone from invading the cabin, and his clones standing guard with expressionless faces.
‘Limitless. Come out for a moment.’
Lastly, he even called out Limitless, who had been sleeping soundly in the spiritual herb field of the Secret Realm of the Mind, and requested its protection.
Buzz, buzz!
Thanks to the sharp energy absorbed at the Sword Pass of the Defeated Sage Dojo, Limitless, which had become even stronger, emitted a dazzling light and drew a circle.
Showing off its sharp energy that had grown strong enough to sting the skin, it was like a young child boasting about their height.
Jin So-myeong, who smiled as he watched Limitless circling around as if telling him to just trust it, closed his eyes.
Crunch!
He compressed the forearm-sized Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass with his spiritual power and swallowed it in a single bite.
The spiritual herb that melted in his stomach turned into golden energy.
The moment it flowed along his meridians and reached his forehead.
All the noise of the world shut off, and his vision expanded rapidly.
An endless ascent continued.
In a single moment, his consciousness, which had crossed the Nine Heavens to reach a supreme place, looked down upon the world.
“Ah…”
A lake where sunlight shimmered, a sandy beach dyed by the setting sun, a snowy mountain asleep in the mist, and a reed field waving in the wind.
The brilliant landscapes beneath the heavens were visible at a glance.
And,
as the sun set and night arrived, the world was dyed in darkness.
Amidst the silence as if sinking into the deep sea, the only thing remaining was himself.
In that place where even his five senses had vanished, only emotions were vivid: dazzling joy, ecstatic achievement, a dull nostalgia, and the anxiety surrounding him.
Within the bizarre ascent soaring above the Nine Heavens, he took a step back and contemplated himself.
He even forgot the flow of time.
After swimming in an instant that felt like eternity, when he suddenly regained his senses, he was already in the cabin of the flying vessel.
“…”
He felt dazed as if waking up from a long dream.
In a strange feeling difficult to express in words, Jin So-myeong, who sat blankly for a few minutes, took a deep breath.
Getting up to stroll around the cabin as if taking a walk, he released his Divine Sense.
40 km, 50 km, 60 km…
It easily surpassed his previous limit of 60 km to expand to 70 km.
“Indeed.”
Applause naturally broke out.
One might think the effect was not much considering he had consumed a Soul Formation-grade spiritual herb, but that was not the case at all.
Usually, the Divine Sense that a Nascent Soul Great Circle cultivator could possess was 50 km.
This meant Jin So-myeong was already in a state of having reached the limit achievable in the Nascent Soul stage, and since it meant he had developed even further, it was not something to be taken lightly.
‘Once I cross the minor realm and reach the late Nascent Soul stage, my Divine Sense will explode once more.’
Furthermore, this was not the end of the changes.
Should he say his senses had grown extremely sensitive? The detection power of his Divine Sense had upgraded.
If his Divine Sense had previously been a loose net through which fingers could pass, now it had turned into a dense silk that made it difficult to insert even a single needle.
As proof, the Hungry Ghost scale he was wearing as a necklace was now detected.
In the past, he could not perceive it with his Divine Sense even while looking at it plainly with his eyes, but it had changed.
It meant the ability of his Divine Sense to grasp his surroundings had grown far stronger, allowing him to see what was previously invisible.
‘Fortunately.’
He had been worried lately due to frequent surprise attacks from concealed enemies, but he relieved his concern.
Nodding in satisfaction, Jin So-myeong licked his lips.
The remaining time until arrival at the True Realm of Illusory Dreams was approximately half a year.
‘I should be able to consume it at least three more times.’
While waiting for his Supreme Great Ability to recover, he contemplated what to do and decided to condense his Blood Armor again.
As the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art rose to Great Success, the mnemonic for the Blood Armor Condensation Chapter also improved.
Since it would be far superior in many ways to the Blood Armor he previously used, there was a need to remake the Blood Armor.
The moment he focused his mind while chanting the mnemonic of the Blood Armor Condensation Chapter.
Krrrrk!
Along with pain that felt like grinding his flesh and bones whole, the Blood Armor condensed.
‘It hurts like hell.’
The pain of squeezing his physical essence remained the same.
How long did he endure?
Although the Blood Armor was successfully completed, the Blood Armor, which originally had a reddish energy remaining, turned completely pitch black.
He had reached the realm of the Dark Armor.
After inspecting the black barrier that vaguely resembled a shadow here and there, he rested deeply for now.
After recovering his body exhausted from squeezing his physical essence, he deformed the newly born Blood Armor into a circular oval shape like a shield and floated it in the air.
Chang!
He struck it with a sword coated in Sword Gang, but not even a scratch was made.
‘Ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators will not even be able to leave a scratch?’
While admiring, Jin So-myeong swung the sword again.
This time, he called out Limitless to amplify the sharp energy and even accelerated by casting the Lightning Escape Art.
Clang!
Excluding techniques that left aftereffects like the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration, only after exerting his full strength could he barely create a single hairline crack.
Just as he was letting out an exclamation at the durability that was far sturdier than expected.
‘Hmm…?’
The minute hairline crack healed in an instant and vanished without a trace.
‘It healed on its own?’
Along with joy, he realized that this was an effect caused by the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art rising to Great Success.
If the durability of the Blood Armor that could be deployed at the speed of thought was at this level… it could be considered immune to Nascent Soul-grade spells.
***
One day, as time passed.
One man and two women appeared on the outskirts of the Absolute Cold Ice Prison.
They were individuals selected by the Myriad Cultivators Alliance, who had deep karmic ties with Hong Seol for various reasons.
Whoosh!
While inspecting the surrounding terrain amidst the fiercely raging snowstorm, they nodded.
“It is certain. Here is the entrance of the True Realm of Illusory Dreams.”
“Mmm, it seems Daoist Ju and Cultivator Jin have not arrived yet.”
“They will arrive if we wait a little. By the way, since this is the outskirts of the Absolute Cold Ice Prison, it is too cold. How about we seek shelter from the wind first?”
Nodding without anyone having to go first, they quickly searched the surroundings thoroughly.
“How about that mountain range? If we dig a cave and block the entrance, we should at least be able to block the wind.”
“That is fine. Let us go immediately.”
Having dug into the middle of the snowy mountain, they quickly blocked the entrance, and the sole man in the group took out a handful of talismans.
Whoosh!
The bundle of talismans that turned to ash transformed into blue flames and clumped in the air, becoming a wisp of ghost fire.
Huddling around the ghost fire as if warming themselves by a bonfire, the cultivators let out sighs.
“Sigh. Now I feel alive.”
“Can you contact Daoist Ju? I would like to know when they will arrive.”
“I just tried, but perhaps due to the snowstorm of the Absolute Cold Ice Prison, the Voice Transmission Talisman did not work well.”
Once the cold was resolved to some extent, their topic of conversation naturally gravitated toward one.
Toward Ju Gwang and Jin So-myeong, who had not yet arrived.
“Mmm, they will arrive within a month at the latest, right?”
“They will if no unexpected accident occurs along the way.”
Just as a girl who seemed to have an active personality and a man with the appearance of a mid-thirty-year-old were chatting.
Chae Yeon-bi, the short-haired woman who had not spoken a single word until now, toyed with the sword tied to her waist.
“Jin So-myeong… Since he is a person of great renown, I wished to meet him at least once. I am looking forward to it.”
“That is right! I heard he is strong enough to transcend cultivation realms, so I am curious about his secret.”
The girl nodded in agreement, but the sole man in the group only smiled awkwardly.
“Why is that?”
“Mmm. Honestly, I have also heard rumors about Cultivator Jin, but… I do not know how many of them are true. There are too many stories that are hard to believe.”
As the gazes of the two women gravitated toward him, the awkwardly smiling man quickly continued speaking.
“Putting other rumors aside, they say he encountered a Soul Formation-grade member of the Insect-Armor Race and survived. Honestly, I find that a bit hard to believe.”
“What is the problem? The Soul Formation stage? Or the Insect-Armor Race?”
“Naturally both are problems, but if I must pick one, it is the Insect-Armor Race.”
The pausing girl tilted her head.
“The Insect-Armor Race is more of a problem than the Soul Formation stage?”
“It is said they possess a regenerative power so strong that the concept of a vital point does not exist. It means stabbing a vital point in an unguarded moment is meaningless.”
“Is the Insect-Armor Race such an amazing race? Why have I never heard of them?”
“It is because they are a race that vanished long ago. It is said they were so dangerous that cultivators of the Ancient Era joined forces to exterminate them.”
“Just how dangerous were they…?”
“Their tough survival ability is a problem, but their reproductive capacity is said to be immense. It is said that with just a single breeding nest, the entire continent would be covered in eggs in a month.”
Whether she imagined a continent covered in insect eggs, Chae Yeon-bi frowned in disgust.
“That makes no sense. By what means did the cultivators of the Ancient Era exterminate such a persistent race?”
“Well. I do not know up to that point either. If it is the Ancient Era, it must be at least one hundred thousand years ago, so how accurate would the records of that time be? Perhaps everything I said is incorrect information.”
Those who fell silent soon agreed.
One hundred thousand years was a time distant enough for rivers and mountains to change thousands or tens of thousands of times. It was difficult to even distinguish the truth of such ancient records.
Could it not be that a fairy tale created for young children accidentally survived to be regarded as actual lore or legends?
“Ah, of course, I am absolutely not trying to deny Cultivator Jin’s strength. Even if only half of the rumors are true, he is already a person possessing divine abilities strong enough to be counted among the top in the world.”
Just as silence flowed as all three of them were lost in their respective thoughts.
A powerful Divine Sense spreading from the sky swept over them. Someone had arrived.
Enjoyed the chapter?
If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!
Support on Ko-fi