Chapter 264: Time to Reap the Rewards

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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He pursued the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, which had fled immediately upon sustaining a tiny wound that was no different from a speck of dust compared to its massive body.

However, catching up to it was not as easy as he had thought.

The Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard was fast enough to make it hard to believe it possessed a size as large as a mountain range.

Was it not naturally born with lightning and even able to cast the Lightning Escape Art? In a way, it was only natural.

Furthermore,

From a certain moment, the spiritual Qi drifting in the air felt sticky and began to bind his limbs.

‘Is this its Law Domain?’

He put forward the sword imbued with A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens.

He pursued the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, slicing through the spiritual Qi that tried to tightly wind around his whole body like a spiderweb.

‘If it is this direction… it seems to be trying to hide in a stone cave.’

Since he could not let that happen, he did his utmost to increase his speed.

If a Void Refinement-grade Ancient Ominous Beast held out inside a stone cave that had hardened over thousands of years, breaching it would be nearly impossible.

He flew with all his might, forcibly shaking off the persistent spiritual Qi.

Just as he was somehow maintaining the distance that was widening by the moment,

The Blood Wings entered the fourth circulation,

And the sticky energy binding his limbs was no longer a hindrance.

The profound power leaking through his pores; just by coming into contact with the energy amplified by the Blood Wings, it scattered to pieces and lost its power.

Kwareureung!

A thunderous roar shaking heaven and earth vibrated through the desert.

While the two bolts of lightning chased each other, the distance between them narrowed rapidly.

And so, finally.

‘Caught you.’

He swung his sword toward the spine of the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, which had drawn close enough to be within arm’s reach, and

Chwaak…!

The blade wrapped in pure white light sliced through the giant neck.

This was an event that occurred with the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard’s stone cave close enough to be visible to the eyes.

The moment the cleanly severed head was falling away from the body.

A bizarre thing happened.

The flesh and bones reconnected and became perfectly fine in an instant.

‘Undying Body? No, the feeling is a bit different.’

Should he say it looked as if time had been rewound to return to before it was wounded?

Just as he narrowed his eyes at the strange phenomenon,

Peoseok!

One of the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard’s tails withered away, then turned to dust and disappeared.

‘Did it heal the wound by sacrificing its tail?’

Occasionally, there were beings that stored immense life force in a part of their body like that and used it like a consumable item in critical moments.

The Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard had a total of two tails left.

Did that mean he had to kill it two more times for it to die completely?

Simultaneously with grasping up to that point,

Keureureu…!

The Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, which had instantly regenerated the fatal wound of its neck being severed, glared at him.

Was it angry at the fact that it had almost died?

The eyes of the fellow, who had only fled because a single claw was sliced off, changed completely.

The moment ferocious murderous intent dwelled in pupils larger than an ordinary building.

Kwareureung…!

Along with a roar as if a volcano were exploding, a dazzling flash covered the world.

Front, back, left, and right, all at the same time. The streaks of lightning that shot out in all directions solidified like crystals, and the stickily melted spiritual Qi responded to it.

More than tens of thousands of crystal pillars rotated as if swirling, then poured down toward Jin So-myeong.

Watching the strike containing an immense energy that made his skin prickle.

He composed his breathing and submerged his mind.

Deeply. Even deeper.

Cooling his blood, which had been heated by the battle, he sharply honed his senses.

Contemplating over the past decade or so to contain the phenomenon of speed in his Law Domain,

As a result,

He vaguely recognized the existence of a certain sensation, and realized that if he could only grasp it, he could achieve a great leap.

He forgot all of the noisy surrounding environment.

He looked only at the sword in his hand and the target to be cut.

Tantalizingly close. He groped for the unknown sensation that had drawn close enough to feel within grasp.

The moment he felt his concentration had reached its peak,

With the mindset of reaching out toward the unknown, he struck down with his sword diagonally.

And,

Nothing happened.

He had failed.

‘Ah.’

What was lacking? He had failed to reach the sensation he was yearning for.

Like the wind passing through fingers and departing, the unknown sensation vanished, leaving only a lingering resonance.

‘…What a pity.’

He had intended to take a step forward using the senses heightened by battle as a stepping stone, but the result was not good.

It meant he had missed a golden opportunity to launch a counterattack, but he had no regrets.

How could one always succeed?

Since failure was like a shadow that followed challenges, it was merely a process he had to undergo countless times to move forward.

The important thing was to keep trying nevertheless.

Thus,

The price of failing the challenge arrived.

The lightning Qi emitted by the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard grew rapidly in scale, eventually filling heaven and earth. It felt like watching a typhoon made of crystal fragments instead of wind.

The crystal fragments that rushed toward him in a swirling vortex melted like candle wax, then stuck to various parts of his body, including his limbs.

Belatedly, he coated his skin with the blood armor to block the sticky, melting lightning Qi, but it was not very meaningful.

Kkwadeudeuk!

It felt as if the external atmospheric pressure had soared tens of millions of times in an instant.

The blood armor, crushed by the immense pressure, shattered at once, and he became unable to budge even a single finger.

Pajijijijik!

A dazzling flash was emitted from the lightning Qi stuck to his skin.

‘Keu-euk.’

Should he say it felt like being buried in lava?

Actually, because he possessed the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body, a spiritual body that extremely raised resistance to lightning Qi, the lightning Qi itself was bearable.

However, the heat generated by the lightning Qi was the problem.

As the crystal fragments that had melted like candle wax pressed down on his skin, it was painful enough to make a groan escape naturally.

Chiik!

If he were an ordinary Soul Formation cultivator, he would have already burned down to a handful of ashes, but thanks to the Blood Wings, which had entered the fourth circulation, he could endure it.

The weak energy that had initially departed from the heart was amplified by several hundred times before he knew it, becoming a power so mighty that it caused shudders.

Just by emitting the energy racing along his meridians through his pores, he could endure the surrounding pressure.

Just as he was enduring while gritting his teeth tightly,

The Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard also did not back down, as if noticing that now was the golden opportunity to kill him.

Kkwadeudeudeuk!

A noise as if a massive chunk of iron were being forcibly twisted by an overwhelming power echoed.

The moment a tense confrontation unfolded between the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, which was trying to crush him somehow, and him.

Hwareuk!

The chunks of lightning Qi that were pressing in from the surroundings evaporated in an instant.

The moment the Blood Wings entered the fifth circulation.

All problems became trivial.

‘Ah…’

The tense balance crumbled in an instant.

He had not even emitted his energy intentionally. The uncontrolled energy had merely leaked out while bursting his meridians.

Even though that was all…

The chunks of lightning Qi that were enclosing the surroundings like a prison vanished entirely. They evaporated like ice put in a furnace.

Did it intuit the upcoming future at the ridiculous sight?

Looking at the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard trying to flee in a seizure-like state, he clasped his hands, and

Kwaaaaang!

The colossal palm plunging from the sky, the Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm, pressed down on its massive body.

Was it thanks to the energy amplified as he entered the fifth circulation?

The Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm, which he usually used for checking the enemy, displayed an absurd power.

An instant.

The eyes of the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, which was struggling under the pressure of the giant palm, turned fierce, and it shot out its tongue.

To choose a counterattack rather than fleeing in the final moment.

It was a fighting spirit worthy of a Void Refinement-grade Ancient Ominous Beast, but he had no intention of showing mercy.

In fact, his current state could not be said to be very good either.

He was drawing closer to death by the moment.

As an aftermath of the Blood Wings entering the fifth circulation, his physical interior was half-collapsed and even his mind became hazy.

Forcibly making his vision clear as it tried to blur, he concentrated.

Sswaek…!

Narrowly dodging the spiked tongue by a hair’s breadth, he took a step and dug into its embrace.

From left to right.

Seogeok!

With a single horizontal slash, the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard’s neck fell.

One of the remaining tails turned to powder and regenerated rapidly, but this time, he did not just stand by and watch.

By the second sword struck down vertically, the massive mountain-like body was split in two, and before the flesh split wide to the left and right could reconnect, he dug into the interior.

Before it could even regenerate the wound by sacrificing its last remaining tail,

Chwaak!

He snatched out the fully exposed inner core with his bare hands.

Before the Void Refinement-grade Ancient Ominous Beast pushed to its limit could even devise any trick, he cleanly cut off its breath.

Holding the dripping inner core, he met eyes with the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard.

How many seconds had passed in the silence?

Koong!

The Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, which was glaring as if feeling resentful, collapsed, and its body, split in two, was buried in the sand.

‘…I won.’

The Blood Wings reaching the fifth circulation.

Having unfolded it for the first time in real combat, it was ridiculously strong.

It ended so overwhelmingly that it was hard to believe they had fought on equal terms until then.

Although his entire body was a mess and there were some twists and turns in the middle,

In any case, he won.

Without relying on the Moon-Reflecting Blade Canon, which consumed an immense lifespan, he fought head-on with a Void Refinement-grade existence and won.

The thrilling sense of achievement, which could not be exchanged for anything, was only brief.

As if waking from anesthesia, the price of wielding such mighty power belatedly arrived.

To put it vulgarly, it really hurt like hell.

‘Hoo… it has been a long time since my meridians became such rags.’

Was this the first time since achieving Great Success in the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art?

Because he had been injured too many times while fighting formidable enemies, he was confused.

‘It is fine. Let us recover first.’

After properly tucking away the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard’s inner core in his spatial pocket, he consumed the Supreme Great Ability to unfold the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability.

Tending to his half-ruined, ragged physical body, he swallowed spiritual herbs and medicinal pills.

How much time had passed?

Only after recovering to the point where moving was not an issue did he turn his gaze.

Looking at the corpse of the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard, a giant mass buried deep in the sand due to its weight, he meticulously packed it without leaving even a single drop of blood.

An Ancient Ominous Beast that had reached Void Refinement was no different from a treasure from head to toe, so he must never miss it.

‘The vital energy contained in the flesh is incredibly abundant… just eating this would raise my body tempering realm to the 6th rank.’

It seemed there would be no shortage of body tempering cultivation resources for the time being.

He was extremely satisfied, but the harvest obtained this time was not the end.

The stone cave made of crystals where lightning Qi wavered.

This place, which had been the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard’s nest, was also one of the harvests.

What would be the reason the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard specifically settled down in this desert?

Of course, it was because a spiritual vein existed.

‘Is it 6th-rank low-grade?’

Furthermore, this stone cave was made of minerals solidified from lightning Qi.

Simply put, it meant it was a mass of lightning Qi, which would be of great help in cultivation if he could only absorb it.

‘It is a perfect place to cultivate for the time being.’

If there was one problem, it was that entering the stone cave was not easy.

Carefully examining the crystal cave, he tapped the scabbard.

‘Should I just break it and go in?’

No matter how hard a substance was, if one kept pounding on it, it was bound to eventually collapse.

Although the crystal cave reinforced over thousands of years was incredibly sturdy, it would eventually break if he hammered it constantly for several months.

It was different from when the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard was alive.

Had the being that would hide and hold out inside the stone cave not disappeared? Now, breaking down the stone cave became a problem that could be solved by pouring in time and devotion.

‘Hmm… but it feels like a waste to actually break it.’

A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens and Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

Even Jin So-myeong, who possessed ridiculous divine abilities, had to suffer for at least several months to break this stone cave.

How useful would it be if he could freely enter and exit such a hard crystal cave?

Even thinking about it again, it was a pity to damage it.

‘Should I learn the Golden Body Dharma Image first?’

If he was lucky in the process of entering the Golden Body Dharma Image, he might obtain the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard’s divine ability.

If only he succeeded, a way to enter and exit the crystal cave might arise.

‘Good.’

Since there was no reason to hesitate, he tried immediately.

Sitting cross-legged on the bare ground, he pulled out the jade slip detailing the Golden Body Dharma Image.

He planned to focus on learning the Golden Body Dharma Image while tending to his injuries for the time being.

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