Chapter 283: Succession of Battles
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Six Void Refinement stage-level Stone Heart race beasts.
To be more precise, it was one mid-Void Refinement stage and five early-Void Refinement stage beasts.
Habitually trying to calculate his chances of victory, he simply stopped.
‘Well, I will not die.’
To achieve 6th-rank body tempering, he needed to throw his body into danger.
The moment he openly approached the Stone Heart beasts, which looked exactly like normal mountains and were hard to distinguish.
Rumble…!
The earth shook as if an earthquake had occurred, and the six mountains raised their bodies simultaneously, becoming giant monkeys.
Rugged muscles that looked like blades would not even pierce and a ferocious eye-glow.
Forearms, shoulders, forehead, flanks, and so on. The armor covering various parts of their entire bodies drew his gaze.
The moment his eyes met with the giant monkey whose build was uniquely large among the six, standing double in height.
Roar!
Simultaneously with a roar that seemed to pierce his head.
The remaining five, excluding the giant monkey, charged all at once.
Crackle!
As their heavy builds rushed like arrows, the surroundings were devastated merely by the wind pressure.
Around the time the giant trees possessing thick roots were plucked and sent flying as if they were weeds, Jin So-myeong, who was in the center of the racket, gripped his sword hilt.
Clang!
Along with a sharp metallic sound, a single line was drawn in the air.
A neat straight line as if drawn with a ruler.
The white line that was brilliant enough to be dazzling divided the world in two, and
The upper body of the monkey that had charged fastest to strike down its fist split in two along with a cracking sound.
A single swing.
The monsters that were six became five.
Around the time the giant monkey whose heart was cleaved transformed into a pile of soil and collapsed.
Boom!
The monkeys that charged while bursting the pile of soil that was their kin struck down fists larger than typical buildings.
Simultaneously.
Turning his gaze at a feeling of his spine turning cold, he saw a boulder flying at an incredible speed.
Its diameter alone was 30 meters, and it was so fast that it was heated bright red due to friction with the air.
The mid-Void Refinement stage giant monkey, which was the only one that did not charge, had plucked and thrown the boulder that was embedded in the ground.
‘As expected.’
It was different from one-on-one. As the number of enemies increased, the danger surged.
Blocking a single attack was not the end.
If he responded even slightly incorrectly, he could be crushed to death under the succession of strikes poured unilaterally.
Although it was a situation where he could lose his life if he made a mistake…
‘Exactly what I wanted.’
It was rather good.
While smiling brightly enough to show his teeth, he triggered the law power inside his heart to spread his Blood Wings.
The Blood Wings he spread upon treading the Void Refinement stage were also different.
Rumble!
A distant strength is felt from the law power galloping along his meridians.
Although he felt as if his reason would be paralyzed under the boiling blood and overflowing energy, the cool sword hilt grasped in his palm cooled the heat.
Within a perfectly appropriate sensation that was neither too hot nor too cold.
The Void Refinement stage-level strike, harboring the power to cleave even a continent, became close enough to reach if he merely extended his hand.
Against the succession of strikes pouring down like a shower.
First, he used the Law Domain to slow the speed of the fists.
Leaving behind the early-Void Refinement stage monkeys whose speed slowed down rapidly,
He woke up the Golden Body Dharma Image that was asleep in his mind.
A moment.
He extended a straight punch toward the thrown stone that had flown right before his nose.
He had intended to smash it in a single blow and deal with the early-Void Refinement stage monkeys captured in his Law Domain step-by-step, but…
‘This…’
A strength that could by no means be lightly looked upon was contained in the thrown stone that looked like a normal boulder.
The moment the fist of the Golden Body Dharma Image and the thrown stone clashed.
Rumble!
A shockwave swirled along with a roar loud enough to make his eardrums tingle.
A draw.
Indeed, should he call it worthy of the mid-Void Refinement stage?
Clearly, it had merely thrown a normal boulder, but because a mysterious Qi was condensed, it was as sturdy as a typical Dharma Treasure.
Boom!
Looking at the second thrown stone flying like a cannonball, he took a step back.
As a distant strength was contained in a simple thrown stone, it was a master art in its own right.
He needed to respond properly.
Tap.
The moment the sword thrust like a needle drew a tiny circle.
The white barrier that stretched from the sword tip blocked his front, and a space thinner than a sheet of paper expanded infinitely.
Yin-Yang Reversal .
The thrown stone that flew while making a wind-breaking sound was blocked by the thin barrier and could not advance.
That was also brief.
Crackle…!
The thrown stone that vibrated violently began to advance little by little.
And simultaneously.
The early-Void Refinement stage monkeys captured in his Law Domain twisted their bodies like crazy.
“Ugh.”
His head spun at a dizzying vertigo.
As the four Void Refinement stage-level Stone Heart beasts struggled like crazy to escape the Law Domain, one-third of his law power vanished as if evaporating.
Suppressing the groan that was about to leak, he flicked his sword.
Bending the trajectory of the thrown stone that was captured by the Yin-Yang Reversal,
Thud!
He completely blew away the upper body of the monkey that was struggling to escape the Law Domain.
Now, the remaining enemies were three early-stage and one mid-stage.
Within the chaotic melee, he had killed two before he knew it. Around the time he discharged his Divine Sense to grasp the situation.
Screech!
A noise as if steel was twisting echoed, and his law power vanished as if evaporating.
‘Up to here.’
Against the rapidly consumed energy, he released the monkeys captured in the Law Domain and withdrew.
There was nothing good about fighting a test of strength head-on against an existence possessing an overwhelmingly giant body.
Around the time he kicked the ground to widen the distance.
Boom!
The monkeys that escaped the influence of the Law Domain charged like crazy.
Whether they did not care that their kin next to them had died, they charged headlong without even sparing their own lives.
Although it was a ferocious onslaught that threw away defense entirely, he responded calmly.
He twisted the trajectory of the fist with the side of the sword positioned diagonally.
Making the attacks of the two head toward each other.
Swish!
Avoiding the fist trying to burst his face by a hair’s breadth, he dug in.
He narrowed the distance while stepping on the forearm of the monkey, who could be called a giant, as if it was flat land.
Just as he was about to penetrate the heart, the critical spot of the Stone Heart race.
Rumble…!
A noise as if something heavy was moving echoed, and his entire body was pulled back sharply.
‘What.’
It was the feeling of being tied and dragged by an invisible net.
As he fell before even having time to resist, he hurriedly turned his gaze, and
He was able to see an immense suction force occurring from the boulder that had achieved a draw with the Golden Body Dharma Image and fallen to the ground earlier.
Before even grasping the cause properly,
Chirrrk!
The sand scattered by the mid-Void Refinement stage giant monkey poured like a grapeshot.
The intuition heated by battle whispered.
It was not something to look at lightly just because it was sand.
A power to penetrate even a fortress wall like a sheet of paper was contained in every single one of those sand grains.
The moment he perceived that.
The boulder he had deflected using the Yin-Yang Reversal earlier bent vertically and shot up into the sky, then plunged down like a meteor. The trajectory that bent as it pleased and returned was highly bizarre.
Furthermore, the remaining three monkeys he had not finished properly did not stay still either.
Like slaughter machines designed only for the annihilation of the enemy, they charged blindly and poured out fists.
Around the time he was about to kick the ground to widen the distance.
He changed his mind along with an instinctive judgment.
Had not the thrown stone deflected by the Yin-Yang Reversal returned while drawing a bizarre curve? It was useless to avoid it half-heartedly.
‘I must just destroy it.’
The Blood Wings that had entered the second circulation before he knew it.
He guided half of the energy galloping along his meridians to his palm.
Unfolding the Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm, he blocked the sand scattered like a grapeshot.
Simultaneously,
He controlled the Golden Body Dharma Image to deal with the three monkeys pouring out fists.
‘Sigh.’
It was a truly chaotic melee.
While reviving his concentration that was about to be disrupted with a single short breath, he focused on the boulder plunging like a meteor.
He had tried to slow it down through the Law Domain, but for some reason, it did not work well.
The moment he narrowed his eyes.
Crackle!
The trees that were plucked entirely and sent flying were sucked into the boulder and crushed flat.
‘Could it be… it handles gravity?’
It was not a simple thrown stone. It was a master art harboring a divine ability that twisted laws .
Although it was a scene where it would not be strange to lose one’s spirit…
He did not hesitate at all.
Sometimes, a path that looked dangerous was the safest path to life.
Toward the boulder plunging like a meteor,
Boom!
He charged conversely and thrust his sword.
He poured all his mental power into A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens that burned like a flame along the blade.
The keen Qi tempered using the life-and-death struggle as a whetstone. Gathering that, he harbored it at the sword tip, and
Crack!
Along with a repulsive force as if hitting his wrist with a hammer, he was able to drive his sword into the boulder.
Gripping his half-shattered wrist joint with his left hand, he swung the sword down.
Clang!
Slicing the giant boulder like a meteor in two,
Rotating like a top, he scattered slashes. He blew away the head of the monkey that had approached right next to him and extended a fist before he knew it.
Rumble!
The moment he deployed the Purple Lightning Escape Art to become one with purple lightning.
Was it thanks to his spirit elevated by battle?
He took a step further within a burning sensation as if scorching.
The Law Domain and the Purple Lightning Escape Art forged by capturing the phenomenon of speed. He wove the two into one.
The moment he divided a brief instant.
A short, truly short moment where one could not even blink.
Loitering leisurely through that place that someone would not even perceive, he swung his sword.
Slash…!
A short cutting sound passed through the battlefield, and the upper bodies of the two monkeys that charged past the Golden Body Dharma Image were divided diagonally.
The moment he accelerated to the extreme by weaving the Law Domain and the Purple Lightning Escape Art. He sliced the two in a single strike.
Pajijik…!
Harboring purple lightning, he turned his gaze.
Toward the mid-Void Refinement stage giant monkey, the only one standing.
Should he call it a subordinate?
Even though all its kin collapsed, the giant monkey did not withdraw. Rather…
Roaar!
After roaring roughly to the extent that the surrounding earth was divided merely by the soundwave, it charged like crazy.
Clang!
Every time the giant body made of rock and the blade clashed, a shockwave swirled.
What clashed fiercely was not only the sword and the fist.
Rumble!
The spaces dominated by each other. The Law Domains of the two repeated clashing incessantly to swallow each other.
‘It is sturdy.’
It was different from the early-stage ones that could be sliced like tofu. The giant monkey’s body was solid enough to nary be easily sliced.
Around the time they divided dozens of exchanges in an instant and fought fiercely.
The early-Void Refinement stage Stone Heart beast that was collapsed with its neck severed stood up as if springing, and its arm swung like a whip rushed toward his back.
‘Ah.’
He was startled. Come to think of it, because the Stone Heart race was made of soil and rock, they did not die unless their heart was shattered.
The momentary second.
Clearing away the confusion that shook his mind, he merely concentrated.
‘I will bear it.’
With the determination to take one hit, he concentrated on the giant monkey in front of his eyes.
While swinging his sword down as if dividing into two,
Crack!
Elevated spirit. Gathering all his concentration, he cleaved it vertically.
The moment the giant monkey whose eye-glow was extinguished was divided left and right.
To prepare for the strike flying toward his back, he gnashed his teeth, and
An unexpected situation occurred.
Pajijik!
The Black Lightning suppressed inside his dantian shot out and devastated the surroundings.
‘Oh no.’
It was an accident that occurred while pouring all his concentration into cleaving the giant monkey.
The monkey that was moving even after its neck was blown away was swept by the Black Lightning, and turned to ash in an instant.
In a way, it was a relief, but because it was an unintended situation, Jin So-myeong was also not fine.
The Black Lightning that shot out like a downpour severed the meridians of his entire body strand by strand.
“Hah.”
Compared to all the injuries he had suffered while fighting the Stone Heart race combined, this single accident left a larger wound.
Around the time he quickly deployed the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability to connect the severed meridians and gathered the Black Lightning that was running wild as it pleased.
There was no longer anything moving in the surroundings.
It was quiet as if there had never been a racket.
The victory was decided.
His sense of achievement at winning against six Void Refinement stage-level beasts was brief.
Belatedly, his original purpose came to mind.
He realized the fact that he had not broken through 6th-rank body tempering.
‘Was it slightly lacking? It is regrettable.’
Even so, it was not that there was no harvest.
Weaving the Law Domain and the Purple Lightning Escape Art, a quite plausible technique shot out.
‘It accelerated much more than when simply using the Purple Lightning Escape Art.’
If he developed it well, a decent master art seemed bound to be born.
Jin So-myeong, who recalled his memory, tidied up the battlefield.
First, closely packing up the hearts of the Stone Heart race that were of great help to cultivation, he swept his eyes over the surroundings, and his head nodded automatically.
‘It is indeed a Life-Prolonging Stone vein.’
To be exact, it was an open-pit mine.
Once he cleared away the soil covering the surface, white pebbles about the size of a jujube lay scattered here and there.
The treasure called a vessel containing lifespan. It was clearly the Life-Prolonging Stone .
Rumble!
Raising law power, he turned the earth upside down. Blowing away the soil on the surface, he selected only the white pebbles inside the ground.
‘Is it fifteen in total? It is not bad.’
The sizes of the Life-Prolonging Stones were all different.
The large ones were about the size of two fists, and the small ones were about the size of a thumb.
‘The Supreme Great Ability Wugeuk could store was about one billion points. If I have it absorb all the Life-Prolonging Stones I harvested now, presumably…’
It would be able to store at least twenty billion points.
Along with a smile that formed automatically, he shot sword Qi toward the ground.
Around the time he was digging the ground to see if there was a Life-Prolonging Stone he had missed.
Feeling a tingling sensation at the back of his head, an oddly bothersome sensation, he turned his gaze.
“Yin Cheon-ho?”
His eyes met with the three men riding the three-headed snake, the demonic beast harboring a mid-Void Refinement stage Qi.
They were watching in a concealed state at a distance that could not even be reached by Divine Sense, and just by looking, their intention was impure.
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