Chapter 248: The Chase
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Jin So-myeong, who was heading north of the Bright Blood Great Valley to go to the area where the humans lived, rolled his brain.
To shake off the Void Refinement stage Asuras, simply moving fast was not enough.
‘It is regrettable that the Infinite Void Formless Robe was ruined.’
A whopping 50 billion points of the Supreme Great Ability had gone into it, but it was completely shattered into pieces because of the mysterious pillar of light.
‘I must make a new one.’
He poured in all twenty million points of the Supreme Great Ability recovered while fleeing.
If he could deceive the senses of a Void Refinement stage expert, the difficulty of fleeing would be drastically lowered. There was a need to revive the Infinite Void Formless Robe.
‘Is it done?’
He closely examined the newly created formless barrier, the Infinite Void Formless Robe, but perhaps because it was hastily made, it was unstable.
Actually, although twenty million points of the Supreme Great Ability looked like a lot, at his current realm, it was merely an amount that would be recovered in two hours.
To craft a proper Infinite Void Formless Robe, he had to devote his heart and mind for a whole year.
‘Well, it is better than nothing.’
Wrapping the hastily made Infinite Void Formless Robe around him like a cloak, he kicked off the empty air.
While crossing the sky of the Bright Blood Great Valley, he searched his spatial pocket.
He quickly scanned if there was anything that would be useful when fleeing among the items organized by his clones.
‘Hmm?’
Ten corpses were placed on one side of his spatial pocket, but looking closely, they were not corpses but puppets that looked like Asuras.
‘They are 5th-rank puppets.’
A puppet was a marionette doll that moved as the cultivator manipulated it, and was useful in a pursued situation like now.
It felt like perfect timing.
To handle a puppet properly, deep research and skilled technique were required, but simply making it fly in one direction was something Jin So-myeong could also do.
Taking out the puppets and injecting spiritual power to disguise them so that they emitted a Qi as similar as possible to his main body. He put them back into his spatial pocket.
He intended to take them out one by one and use them as bait when necessary.
Taking his eyes off the puppets, he continued to search his spatial pocket.
‘Oh. There is also Cold Sharp Stone .’
Since there were many storage pouches he had obtained in the Sacred War, there were many useful items.
The Cold Sharp Stone was a 5th-rank mineral possessing a sharp Qi strong enough to slash the surroundings just by throwing it roughly, and was a good material for refining a sword.
To Wugeuk, who was groaning from the aftermath of unfolding the Moon-Burning Realm-Crossing, he gave the Cold Sharp Stone along with other spiritual objects related to sharp Qi and said.
“Since I do not know when I will have to fight, eat these and rest.”
Hum! Hum!
Watching Wugeuk who went to recover in the Secret Realm of the Mind, a good idea suddenly occurred to him.
Since Wugeuk gained the ability to store the Supreme Great Ability, it had been used quite usefully.
If so, what if Wugeuk became able to store the Qi amplified by the Moon-Burning Realm-Crossing?
If he could divide the Moon-Burning Realm-Crossing, which originally ended in one go, and use it two or three times?
Just imagining it was good.
‘It would be good even if I could store just the sword slash delivered in the Moon-Burning Realm-Crossing state.’
Jin So-myeong, who was lost in thought, shook his head.
Deciding to contemplate this problem later, he wore a temporary sword on his waist and focused on the current situation.
What should he do to delay the enemy’s pursuit?
‘First, I must grasp how great their tracking ability is.’
He summoned ten of his clones who were organizing the storage pouches.
Instructing some of the clones to head in different directions and leave traces as noisily as possible, and the rest to install traps by utilizing formations and bundles of talismans.
After mobilizing various means within the limit of not wasting time.
He kicked off the empty air again to cross the Bright Blood Great Valley.
‘It would be good if I could flee without any major incident, but it will probably be difficult.’
In order to break through the Bright Blood Great Valley and reach the human territory, he would collide with the Void Refinement stage Asuras at least dozens of times.
To get through those times well, he needed to rapidly increase his strength in the short term.
To be more precise, he had to digest what he had gained while fighting Ra-heuk at the risk of his life.
Clang!
At the moment he drew his sword and concentrated his mind.
A pure white light that burned like a flame enveloped the blade.
‘A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens.’
To face a Void Refinement stage expert possessing absurd strength, he had to awaken A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens into a Law Domain.
‘Just how did I do it…’
At the time of fighting Ra-heuk, he clearly handled A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens like a Law Domain, and even unfolded Yin-Yang Reversal.
However, trying to recreate it again, it was not easy.
Perhaps because the realm amplified by the Moon-Burning Realm-Crossing had vanished, the sensation of that time was as blurry as a dream.
At that moment when he was searching his memory to regain the sensation that felt within reach but out of reach.
Ting!
He parried a silver needle that flew along with a blurry afterimage.
‘What is this.’
Inside the silver needle accurately split in half, something resembling internal organs wriggled.
He clicked his tongue at the disgusting sight that made his brow furrow.
‘It was a Thread Borer Insect .’
It was a troublesome monster insect residing in the Bright Blood Great Valley.
If it discovered a living creature, it tried to pierce the skin and dig into the body like a moment ago. If one allowed entry, it was a parasite that would rapidly penetrate all the way to the dantian to suck and consume spiritual power.
If left alone, it was an extremely disgusting fellow that would lay eggs in the dantian to even reproduce.
‘My Divine Sense is not on the weak side, yet to approach this close.’
When he examined the surroundings to find out how it happened, the violent water current flowing in the canyon caught his eye.
The silver water sparkling under the sunlight was truly dazzling.
It was a double-edged beautiful scenery, but could all of those be…
At that moment when he frowned at the instinctive revulsion.
Splash!
A violent spray of water arose, and water drops splashing in the empty air reflected the sunlight. It looked as if waves were crashing against a cliff, causing foam.
Although it was a beautiful sight worthy of being called a superb view, looking closely, one could not help but get goosebumps.
Because every single one of the tens of thousands of silver lights was a Thread Borer Insect.
At the moment when the water drops, no, the Thread Borer Insects splashing in the empty air poured down like arrows.
Hum…!
Flicking the blade with his finger to make a sword hum, he spread a sharp Qi carrying a low and heavy vibration.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The flying Thread Borer Insects all burst and died in the sound wave carrying the sharp Qi, but the offensive did not stop.
Every time the splashing waves hit, the Thread Borer Insects looking like silver needles poured down like rain.
‘There is no end.’
Since they continued to charge no matter how many he killed, he merely formed the Blood Armor into a spherical shape to seal off the surroundings so that not even a single drop of water could enter.
Ting! Ting!
Looking at the Thread Borer Insects bouncing off after colliding with the Blood Armor dyed in violet, his head naturally nodded.
‘As expected, it is useful.’
The Blood Armor had a fast activation speed and consumed almost no spiritual power.
Was that all? As it reached the Purple Eye Armor realm, it had become hard enough to ignore Soul Formation stage-level spells.
As it was a spell he favored, it had many uses in this way and that.
However, no matter how much the Blood Armor rose to the Purple Eye Armor, enduring a Void Refinement stage-level strike was impossible.
Thinking that it would gradually become useless as his realm rose, a feeling of regret rushed in.
‘It would be good if I could pull up its durability significantly.’
Should he remodel the spell so that he could strengthen it by using the Supreme Great Ability and various defense-related spiritual objects as materials like the Infinite Void Formless Robe?
Or, finding a cultivation art similar to the Blood Armor in the Upper Realm was also good.
At that moment when he was contemplating while breaking through the swarm of Thread Borer Insects that charged endlessly.
Rumble…!
The sky beyond the horizon turned red, and the entire canyon vibrated minutely. It was clear an explosion had occurred at a distance too far to reach with his vision.
‘They are here already.’
The reason for the sudden explosion was obvious.
The Void Refinement stage Asuras who pursued him all the way here had stepped on the traps he had installed in advance.
‘It is faster than I thought. Did they use a teleportation formation installed near the Bright Blood Great Valley?’
Estimating the distance between the place where the explosion occurred and this place, it was too close.
If it went on like this, it seemed he would be caught up before long.
‘It cannot be helped.’
Jin So-myeong, who was examining the nearby terrain while recalling the map, sharply bent the direction he was flying.
If someone had seen it, they would have been startled.
Because he left the relatively safe path and charged right into the middle of the Bright Blood Great Valley.
‘I must create a variable.’
Since he had no intention of being caught quietly, he had to risk danger.
Flying with all his might toward the deepest part of the Bright Blood Great Valley, the attacks of the Thread Borer Insects rapidly subsided.
At that moment when he was about to catch his breath.
Whoosh…!
The canyon where the violent water current was flowing suddenly widened, and a giant waterfall popped out.
Although the waterfall large enough to fill his vision was a grand sight, there was no room to appreciate it.
Under the waterfall.
Because there was a living creature possessing an overwhelming presence that caught his eyes.
A giant body reaching dozens of kilometers in length.
A tortoise possessing dark green skin was chewing on something like red seaweed. Just looking at it, it was a Void Refinement stage-level demonic beast.
‘…Is it an Ancient Ominous Beast?’
No reason was felt in the pupils large enough to be used as a playground.
It was assumed to be an Ancient Ominous Beast whose instinct was extremely developed instead of reason.
‘I must bypass it.’
In the midst of being busy being pursued by trackers, he could not squabble with an Ancient Ominous Beast.
At that moment when he killed his presence and was bypassing it far away.
The tortoise chewing on the spiritual herb grasped, then moved its large pupils to look accurately this way.
‘Ah.’
After a split second of silence.
Boom!
The waterfall defied gravity to soar into the sky, then turned into a whip and struck down.
It was absurd. Did it seriously detect a distance over 1,000 kilometers just now?
Furthermore, to attack without hesitation as soon as it saw. Despite looking like a tortoise, it was extremely bellicose.
There was no time to complain.
The moment he perceived the whip striking down like a thunderbolt, reflexively, he unfolded A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens.
Uppercutting diagonally with the sword enveloped in pure white light, he kicked off the ground.
At the moment when he retreated as if bouncing by utilizing the repulsive force.
BOOM—!
A shockwave swept, and the cliffs on both sides of the canyon turned into dust, forming a basin in an instant.
Jin So-myeong, who was chuckling at the absurd power, paused.
‘Rather, since it became like this…’
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Toward the tortoise that charged while causing violent water spray, he launched the Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm.
The Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm that flew while tearing through the empty air struck the tortoise’s head, but…
Clang!
Only the sound of striking metal rang out, and there was no particular effect.
Although it was a spell into which he had poured his strength in his own way, it could not deliver even a speck-like wound.
Roar!
It merely made the thoroughly angered tortoise increase its speed.
‘It is done.’
It was not that the matter went wrong. Because his original purpose was indeed to make the tortoise angry.
Boom! Boom!
While hammering the head with the Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palms launched consecutively.
Secretly squeezing out a drop of True Blood, he took off the Infinite Void Formless Robe he was wearing like a cloak and wrapped it around the True Blood.
Launching the Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm again to cause a noisy explosion, he flicked his finger.
Hiding the True Blood, wrapped in the Infinite Void Formless Robe so that its Qi would not leak, in the vicinity, he kicked off the empty air.
Like that,
He returned exactly along the path he had come. Hanging the thoroughly angered Ancient Ominous Beast behind him like a tail.
While increasing his speed with all his might, he concentrated.
At that moment when the judgment that it was about time to meet the Void Refinement stage Asuras was made.
Roar!
Ignoring the tortoise’s roar filled with anger, he concentrated his mind.
He harmonized with the True Blood hidden in the waterfall, and
Flash…!
The surrounding scenery completely inverted.
He had returned to the waterfall by utilizing the True Blood like a Blood Spirit Clone.
The joy of shaking off the Void Refinement stage-level Ancient Ominous Beast was also brief.
‘Cough!’
A pain that turned his head pure white arrived.
Before he knew it, the meridians of his entire body were severed strand by strand, perhaps because he was attacked by the tortoise while concentrating his mind.
‘Whew, if I had been even slightly later, I would have died.’
Swallowing pills good for supplementing vital energy while connecting his severed meridians.
BOOM!
Along with an immense explosive sound, the entire Bright Blood Great Valley shook.
Seeing that, he instinctively knew.
That the thoroughly angered tortoise and the Asuras had collided.
‘I succeeded.’
Since the ill-tempered ones had collided with each other, a pleasant thing would probably occur.
Although they would not be able to drag much time since the difference in strength was extreme, it felt like he had found a useful method to delay the pursuit.
At that moment when he was about to leave immediately with a smirk.
Something occurred to him, and he examined the red seaweed the tortoise had been eating.
‘…It is a 5th-rank highest-grade spiritual herb.’
As it was full of vital energy, it was perfect for body tempering cultivation.
Clang!
He immediately drew his sword and wound it.
While rapidly harvesting the mountains of red seaweed, he admired.
‘As expected of a dangerous place, it overflows with treasures.’
Although he would suffer a bit, if things went well, it seemed he could reap a lot of harvest in the Bright Blood Great Valley.
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