Chapter 196: Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read more at Nineheavens.org
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When Yeo Mu-rin buckled his knees, unable to withstand the single sword strike, the assembly was swept with shock.

The moment everyone was out of their minds, the party concerned, Yeo Mu-rin, was in an even worse state. Even the focus in his eyes grew hazy, and he gibbered as if he could not accept it.

“How… This is impossible…! Just what did you do to be this strong!”

It was a desperate cry that erupted from a mixture of all sorts of emotions, but that was all.

Between those who aimed for each other’s lives, was there any need to answer one by one?

He was about to simply ignore him when suddenly a past memory flashed through his mind.

Was it on Sky Island?

He had heard a similar question in the past. He had been asked just how he had grown so strong.

What did I answer back then…

Right. He remembered.

“Because I staked my life on the tip of the blade.”

He had answered so.

Focus returned to the pupils of Yeo Mu-rin, who was slumped powerlessly.

“Ha, haha… To think that is the only reason…?”

His mouth, which parted as if to refute, closed again. Yeo Mu-rin, who closed and opened both eyes for a split second, sighed.

“Yes. You are right. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have challenged the Soul Formation stage even if it meant risking my life… It is so regretful that I could not even try, bound by the rules.”

Yeo Mu-rin, who poured out his inner thoughts as if filled with regret, hardened his gaze.

A split second.

Flames surged from Yeo Mu-rin’s dantian, and a distant energy flowed out.

He had burned his own Nascent Soul to convert it into spiritual power.

Jin So-myeong, who grasped the secret technique displayed by the opponent with the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, narrowed his eyes.

He knew it the moment he saw it.

That was a choice that invited death.

If one burned their Nascent Soul, which was no different from the source of their power, they would not be able to preserve their life even if they won this battle, yet there was no hesitation.

Gritting his teeth as if in pain, Yeo Mu-rin rotated both hands like a windmill, compressing the Five Elements energy into a single point.

Krrrrk!

An immense suction force erupted from the pitch-black dot generated between his two palms.

The moment the black dot, which had made the surroundings a vacuum in a split second, vibrated violently.

Boom!

The flash emitted like an explosion approached right in front of his nose.

Jin So-myeong’s response to the strike that Yeo Mu-rin had poured out even while risking his life was similar to before.

He deflected his downward-slashed sword upward to draw a diagonal line.

It was a single sword strike that was ordinary to the extreme, but the meaning contained within was completely different.

Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration Slash.

The spiritual power discharged from the heart circulated through the five viscera in an instant to transform into light.

A single line drawn along the tip of the sword divided the world in two…

And,

“Heh.”

Yeo Mu-rin, who let out a hollow laugh as if finding it absurd, turned to ash by the pure white flames and vanished.

Jin So-myeong, who silently watched the opponent’s end, exhaled a long, thin breath.

While adjusting his breathing, he checked the inside of his body, and it was in a highly favorable condition considering he had used the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

To the extent of an ordinary person running at full speed?

He felt exhausted, but there was no issue with continuing the battle.

‘It is certainly different, perhaps because the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art reached Great Success.’

Now he had become able to use the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration with only a slight strain.

Of course, deploying the Blood Wings to continuously circulate the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration within his body was a different story.

From what he had tested, based on circulating the five viscera once, he could endure up to two times.

The third circulation was…

He had almost died when he tried displaying it as a test on the flying vessel coming here. Jin So-myeong, who recalled the memory of that time, shook his head.

Brushing aside distracted thoughts, he first packed up the storage pouch left by the opponent.

Next, he checked the other companions, and for some reason, everyone’s expressions were similar.

The stiff and dazed look on them was identical as if drawn in a picture.

A single drop of cold sweat rolled down Ju Gwang’s forehead.

“What in the…”

In fact, while Jin So-myeong drew attention, he had planned to circle far around the battlefield to free the cultivators bound by the fire ropes.

But he did not even have the chance to try anything.

Without a single exaggeration, literally, in the moment he went ‘huh?’, the battle was over.

It was absurd.

Actually, it was not only Ju Gwang who felt such emotions. Everyone in this place was the same.

They stared at Jin So-myeong as if possessed, with their mouths open like someone who had witnessed a shocking sight.

To cleave a Nascent Soul Great Circle powerhouse, and one from the Sacred City at that, with just two slashes.

It was so shocking that they did not know how to react right away.

Ju Gwang, who was swallowing only dry saliva as if something was broken, opened his mouth belatedly.

“…It is an amazing divine ability. You are no longer at the level of the Nascent Soul stage.”

“Mhm? Why are you suddenly using polite language?”

At Jin So-myeong’s words as he sheathed his sword, Ju Gwang laughed awkwardly and coughed.

“Ah, sorry. I am drunk and not in my right mind. Ahem! By the way, is everyone okay?”

Ju Gwang, who moved hurriedly, freed the one man and two women bound by the fire ropes, and only then did they regain their senses and bow to Jin So-myeong.

“I am Chae Yeon-bi. Thank you for the grace.”

When Jin So-myeong waved his hand as if it was fine, she, who had short hair, spoke with a serious expression.

“Yeo Mu-rin was the enemy of our family. I do not know if I can be of help to someone who possesses such a strong divine ability like Cultivator Jin, but if by any chance you need my help, please let me know at any time.”

“Mmm… Understood.”

As he nodded, the girl and the man beside her also expressed their gratitude.

“My name is So Ye-rin.”

“I am Mu Hwi-rang. In fact, I have heard many rumors about Cultivator Jin, but, my. I did not know it would be to this extent.”

As soon as the introductions were roughly over, Ju Gwang chimed in and spoke.

“Let us leave the greetings at that and first prepare to enter the True Realm of Illusory Dreams. We do not know what situation Daoist Hong is in, and since the Sacred City might come to investigate this place, we had better hurry.”

“Let us do that.”

After cleaning up the traces of the battle and moving to another spot, Ju Gwang distributed pentagonal wooden plaques engraved with the sun and a crescent moon.

“As you all know, to enter the True Realm of Illusory Dreams, you must leave a marker outside.”

“What is this?”

“It is a Yin-Yang Token crafted as a pair of two. No matter how far apart they are, you can know the location of the matching token. Here, fellow Daoist Jin, you take one too.”

Jin So-myeong, who received the Yin-Yang Token, threw the wooden token engraved with the crescent moon far away as a test.

When he injected spiritual power into the matching sun wooden token, he felt the exact location of the crescent moon wooden token buried under the snow.

‘So this is how it works.’

When he nodded as if he understood, Ju Gwang spoke.

“Good. Then let us scatter individually to leave our markers, and meet back at this spot in half a day.”

“Understood.”

Since it would become difficult to escape from the True Realm of Illusory Dreams if someone tampered with the marker left outside, they decided to hide their markers in places only they knew.

Moving to a remote area through the snowstorm, Jin So-myeong selected a suitable mountain range and threw the crescent moon wooden token.

Rumble!

The wooden token, driven deep into the ground by his powerful physical strength, caused an avalanche.

Looking at the wooden token naturally buried under thick snow, he nodded.

‘This is enough.’

Divine Sense fails to play its role the more obstacles there are.

Since it was difficult to detect the wooden token even with his Divine Sense, which had reached 80 km after consuming the Nine Heavens Jade-Core Grass two more times, it would not be easily discovered by others.

Subsequently,

he traversed the sky to search for another remote area.

He rummaged through the junk piled in his sub-space, took out items similar to the Yin-Yang Tokens, and buried them here and there. This was because he had no intention of relying solely on the Yin-Yang Token Ju Gwang had given him.

And one last thing.

Stab!

He personally dug deep into the underground to create a cave, and squeezed True Blood from his fingertip.

He did not forget to install a formation in the cave either. To prevent the scent emanating from the True Blood from leaking outside.

‘Insufficient.’

He consumed five million Supreme Great Ability to strengthen the stealth effect of the formation, and only then did he feel relieved.

Other items could be lost for all he cared, but not the True Blood.

Since just the True Blood he had squeezed out contained four months’ worth of cultivation, it must absolutely not be wasted.

‘I must retrieve it immediately once I exit the True Realm of Illusory Dreams.’

After hiding a total of three drops of True Blood underground in the same manner, he took out the storage pouch he had packed earlier.

It was the one held by Yeo Mu-rin, who had been a Nascent Soul Great Circle cultivator belonging to the Sacred City; he looked forward to seeing what was inside.

The moment he absorbed the storage pouch using his Secret Realm of the Mind divine ability.

‘Oh, are these all spiritual herbs?’

Spiritual herbs planted in Rank 4 flower pots that maintained the vitality of spiritual herbs came out in a heap.

Scanning through them, most were items possessing special effects.

‘This seems to be a spiritual herb used for detoxification.’

Most were therapeutic spiritual herbs, and there were also toxic herbs that struck the divine soul or froze spiritual power.

‘There are almost no cultivation spiritual herbs.’

Was it because he had already achieved the Nascent Soul Great Circle? He did not possess any spiritual objects helpful for cultivation.

Leaving his regret behind, he ordered his clones to transplant all of them to the Secret Realm of the Mind.

Subsequently, he inspected the next harvest, but the storage pouch was emptier than expected. Put bluntly, he had less wealth than Jin So-myeong.

Rather than poor… should he say it felt frugal?

‘Or he might have left all his precious belongings behind before fighting me.’

The Spiritual Treasure he did have was shattered during the battle. The only one left intact was a single one.

The Soul-Illuminating Truth-Returning Mirror.

It was only the mirror that forced one to reveal their true appearance.

To think the harvest is this small despite defeating a Nascent Soul Great Circle cultivator.

Jin So-myeong, who was licking his lips, examined the jade slips.

‘These are…’

He saw about a dozen jade slips that had become glossy from how often they had been used, and they all contained the exact same cultivation method.

The basic cultivation method distributed by the Star-Shattering True Monarch for Qi Condensation cultivators.

‘The Five Elements Qi Condensation Art?’

At first, he thought there were several identical cultivation methods, but looking closely, the content was slightly different.

‘Did he gather all the Five Elements Qi Condensation Arts circulating in the market?’

If he were to guess the reason…

He wondered if the man had wished to restore the intact Five Elements Qi Condensation Art as it was originally transmitted.

‘It is something unnecessary for me.’

Setting aside the Five Elements Qi Condensation Art, he moved on to other jade slips.

Five Extremes Heaven-Returning Art, Circulating Merging…

Spells dealing with the Five Elements continued on, and there were many useful ones.

‘Five Extremes Single Flash. This is similar to the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.’

It was a spell that converged the Five Elements energy into a single point to emit a flash of a split second, a considerably powerful secret technique.

Of course, compared to the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration, it was lacking in many ways.

The Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration allowed him to accumulate more spiritual power normally, and as the circulation continued, the energy amplified endlessly, making it overwhelming in terms of destructive power.

Still, it was worth referencing, so he read it meticulously.

He felt that researching the Five Extremes Single Flash would help him control the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

‘I will look at the rest later. Shall I head back soon… Mhm?’

Just as he was rummaging through the jade slips.

He discovered a spell that suited his fancy enough that he wished to register it in the proficiency system for the first time in a while.

The Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel.

It was a secret technique in which five attributes rotated to form a ring, and generated an immense suction force at the center to suck in everything existing within a radius of ten thousand zhang and return it to nothingness.

Jin So-myeong, who quickly scanned the jade slip using his vast Divine Sense, nodded.

‘At this level, the Supreme Great Ability will not be wasted.’

He registered it in the proficiency system immediately, but the cost required to enter was substantial.

A whopping 30 million Supreme Great Ability.

【Spells】

Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel (Entry-level 1 / 1 million)

He registered it for now, but checking why the cost was so expensive, the cultivation method had changed considerably.

He had become able to display it not with pure Five Elements Qi, but with the Five Elements Divine Thunder. Since the power would grow stronger if lightning Qi was infused, it was naturally good.

‘Shall I try using it once?’

The moment he clasped his palms while converting his spiritual power into the Five Elements Divine Thunder.

Crackle…!

Colorful halos of light shimmered on the pitch-black dot generated in empty air.

Inspecting closely the rainbow-colored brilliance causing electrical discharge, it was lightning Qi mixed with various attributes.

Whoosh!

The fiercely raging snowstorm was sucked into the vortex originating from the black dot.

The moment he cut off the spiritual power consumed to maintain the Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel.

Boom!

The black dot, which fluctuated while repeating contraction and expansion in a split second, exploded.

As the accumulated snowstorm and cold energy erupted, heaven and earth froze in all directions.

After practicing a few times, he was able to know the advantages of the Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel.

The closer the distance was, and the longer the spell maintenance time was to absorb more, the stronger the destructive power of the Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel grew.

‘Decent.’

While imagining how to utilize it in combat, he invested more Supreme Great Ability. The Entry-level stage was too slow and weak, making it difficult to use in actual combat.

Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel (Proficiency 1 / 10 million)

…

Five Elements Shattering Annihilation Wheel (Mastery 1 / 1 billion)

The spell he had entered just a moment ago reached the Mastery stage in an instant. He had become as skilled as if he had practiced for easily several decades.

Snap!

As he snapped his fingers, a black dot was generated in empty air.

He was satisfied with how it was activated in an instant as soon as he resolved to. At this speed, it was fully viable in actual combat.

‘Now I should head back soon.’

The half-day they had promised was almost up. It was time to enter the True Realm of Illusory Dreams.

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