Chapter 286: Pile of Life-Prolonging Stones

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Jin So-myeong, who stood alone in the quiet battlefield where only ash remained, closed his eyes as if meditating.

Reviewing the battle, he chewed on the moment he deployed Time Annihilation .

Time Annihilation was…

The ultimate that the phenomenon of speed could reach.

Between time and time that continuously flowed like a river.

It was a divine ability to slip into the interval, which would normally be impossible even to perceive, and walk inside the world that did not flow.

Power?

There was no need to speak.

Yin Cheon-ho, an Elder of the Dark Soul Demonic Sect which was one of the three great sects of the Stone Heart Realm, and a late Void Refinement stage cultivator, had his neck sliced without even being able to perceive.

What could block something occurring beyond perception?

As it was a master art forged by gathering all the divine abilities Jin So-myeong had mastered while cultivating until now, it showed an overwhelming power.

‘If only I can deploy this divine ability freely…’

Literally a leap.

He would become strong enough to be incomparable to the past.

Clang!

Recalling the moment he deployed Time Annihilation repeatedly, he drew his sword.

He tried to recreate that distant moment once more, but regrettably, it was not easy.

Of course, there was no reason to give up just because he failed once.

He just had to repeat until it worked.

He continued to attempt, and eventually, he was able to find out the conditions to deploy Time Annihilation.

First, an inherently strong physical body was the first.

The domain beyond perception. To move within the interval, a physical body trained to the limit was required.

Fortunately, this condition was not a problem.

Had he not reached the Great Success of the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art and mastered the Nine Successes Golden Body Art? The physical body strengthened through the Golden Body Dharma Image was strong enough to cleave a continent and evaporate a sea.

Besides a trained physical body, there were many things required.

The Blood Wings that underwent five circulations, and the immense Qi amplified by it was the beginning.

Accelerating by treading the Purple Lightning Escape Art with the Black Lightning possessing Unity stage-level power.

He had to cleave the interval, pierced through by the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, with A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens.

The domain beyond perception treading like that.

To maintain his sanity in that place, the Law Domain forged with the law of speed and the Infinite Void Formless Robe to loiter in empty space were required.

The Primordial One Qi was also important.

Without the Primordial One Qi that wove together numerous divine abilities, that process just now would be hundreds of times harder.

Although they were conditions so troublesome that one could conclude it was impossible, fortunately, most of the conditions were already achieved.

Except for exactly two.

Fleeing while treading the Purple Lightning Escape Art by completely digesting the Black Lightning, and the Blood Wings.

‘The Black Lightning… is nary short of resolved already.’

He deployed Time Annihilation while fighting within self-absorption.

What would that mean?

It meant he had dominated a part of the Black Lightning to tread the Purple Lightning Escape Art.

Since he had taken the most difficult first step, what remained was only to spend time to digest it completely.

Even at this very moment, the Black Lightning was melting into the Primordial One Qi little by little by the Chaos Origin Wheel.

Excluding the Black Lightning, the condition required to deploy Time Annihilation was only one.

The Blood Wings entering the fifth circulation.

To express it more concretely, the immense Qi amplified while repeating the cycles was required.

‘Although the Blood Wings are an extremely powerful divine ability…’

There was a fatal disadvantage.

It was that to exert maximum power, a warm-up time was required.

Of course, it was not a long time.

From the first circulation to the fifth circulation. A few breaths were sufficient.

‘The problem is when fighting a powerhouse.’

Usually, it did not matter at all.

Even when dealing with the Stone Heart race pack containing a mid-Void Refinement stage beast, it ended with only the second circulation.

However, against an enemy strong enough to require Time Annihilation, this disadvantage was fatal.

To a true powerhouse who could exchange hundreds of bouts in an instant, a few breaths were like eternity.

If they grasped that the Blood Wings became rapidly stronger as time flowed, they would try to settle the match in an instant.

‘Of course, such a strong enemy will not be common…’

Even so, since he had noticed the disadvantage, he wanted to improve it if possible.

‘Wait a moment, can I not just stay in the state of the Blood Wings normally?’

At the thought that suddenly arose, he shook his head.

No matter how much he thought, that was a crazy thing.

‘Is it not? It seems it would also be helpful to body tempering cultivation… Shall I try it once?’

Pondering for a moment, he decided to try it.

Since it would be a good thing if he succeeded, there was no reason not to try.

After recovering his body while resting for a moment. He triggered the law power in his heart to spread his Blood Wings.

How much time had passed?

Just as he was concentrating to maintain the state of the first circulation as long as possible.

Beep…!

An intense pain pierced his temples.

The energy that escaped control tore through his meridians, popped out of his skin, and devastated the surroundings.

‘Sigh… it doesn’t work.’

Concentration was a consumed resource.

Maintaining the state of the Blood Wings infinitely was not something that could be done by will.

‘My realm is lacking.’

For this to work, his soul and physical body had to become hundreds of times stronger than now.

‘Even so, it is not bad to do it once in a while as cultivation.’

Jin So-myeong, who recovered his injuries, fell back into thought.

Was there no other way to improve the disadvantage?

The Blood Wings were originally a domineering divine ability accompanied by immense injuries, but as his body tempering realm rose, the side effects were naturally resolved.

Of course, even now, minor injuries like severed meridians occurred. Even so, up to the fifth circulation, it was manageable.

There must definitely be a method to resolve the disadvantage of requiring warm-up time…

‘Should I train other organs besides the five viscera?’

Since he had mastered the Nine Successes Golden Body Art, it was sufficiently possible.

If he developed various physical organs like bones or the six bowels, the amount of energy amplified with a single cycle would increase rapidly.

Jin So-myeong, who recalled this and that method, folded his thoughts.

Resolving this problem slowly, he scanned the surroundings.

Since the fight was over, tidying up the battlefield and verifying the harvest was first.

The three Dark Soul Demonic Sect Elders.

No, the moment he absorbed Yin Cheon-ho’s storage pouch using the Secret Realm of the Mind divine ability.

He was able to discover so many treasures that they could fill the canyon.

When one became a Void Refinement stage cultivator, it was natural for hundreds of thousands of treasures to accumulate in one’s storage pouch.

Since checking them one by one was difficult, he called his clones to assign the sorting task.

‘There are many cultivation elixirs and spiritual herbs… Oh, is this a 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman?’

Around the time he was rapidly scanning items that were easy to grasp because he already knew them.

‘Wait a moment.’

Feeling something strange, he examined the 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman he had casually scanned again.

Amplifying his senses using the Supreme Great Ability, he unfolded the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye.

He stared intently at the 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman Yin Cheon-ho possessed.

A ferocious Qi that tore through space is felt from the talisman densely written with tiny spell characters.

Whether it was made recently, all characters were vivid and the energy harbored in the talisman was also full.

‘It is indeed a proper 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman… but I don’t know what is strange.’

Just as he was agonizing because he could not know even after looking for a long time.

Recalling something, he took out the 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman he had obtained in the Lower Realm, not the Upper Realm.

Placing the two talismans side-by-side to observe, a clue was finally grasped.

‘They are the same 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman, yet different.’

On the outside, Yin Cheon-ho’s 6th-rank Boundary-Breaking Talisman looked much more outstanding.

The characters carved on the surface were vivid and the energy was full, so it was obvious that it was a talisman made diligently by an outstanding talisman master.

On the other hand, the Boundary-Breaking Talisman obtained in the Lower Realm…

It was faded and blurry.

Even though it was a 6th-rank talisman, it was discolored as if faded under the sun, and the edges were cracked.

It was to the extent that it was difficult to even guess how old it was.

Nevertheless.

This was more outstanding. Something unknown that could not be recognized even now that he had ascended to the Void Refinement stage was contained in it.

‘It is a bizarre thing…’

Looking at the two talismans alternately, he packed them up well for now. He would learn about them in detail later when opportunity allowed.

Around that time.

The clones who were sorting the harvest delivered good news.

‘They say they found Life-Prolonging Stones?’

Checking with a welcome mind, white pebbles were piled up thickly.

“Oh.”

It was not one or two.

From ones about the size of a thumb to ones larger than two fists combined.

The Life-Prolonging Stones, which looked like white pebbles, exceeded one hundred before he knew it.

‘127!’

To think there were so many precious Life-Prolonging Stones.

Presumably, Yin Cheon-ho had come to the center as soon as he entered the secret realm and gathered only Life-Prolonging Stones.

‘I needed them, and it turned out well.’

In addition,

He also discovered a Dharma Treasure specially manufactured to track Life-Prolonging Stones.

It was a gray disc possessing the name Life-Seeking Compass , a Dharma Treasure specialized in finding the life breath harbored by Life-Prolonging Stones.

The difficulty of finding Life-Prolonging Stones in the Limitless Pure Land was drastically reduced.

There were also many minerals other than Life-Prolonging Stones.

If he had Wugeuk absorb all of these…

Treading the 6th rank was naturally possible, and the ability to store the Supreme Great Ability would also become drastically stronger.

At the very least, would it not be able to store about 150 billion points?

Jin So-myeong, who smiled in satisfaction, stroked his chin.

Leaving aside that he would have Wugeuk absorb the Life-Prolonging Stones, where should he use the life breath inside them?

If he refined and absorbed it properly, his lifespan would increase by units of thousands of years…

Suddenly,

The agonizing thoughts he had earlier came to mind.

If he combined his strength with Wugeuk, could he not improve the disadvantage of the Blood Wings?

Wugeuk, his Natal Spiritual Treasure, could also store the Supreme Great Ability.

If so, could it not also store the Blood Wings that entered the fifth circulation?

To express it more concretely, could it not store the A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens amplified through five circulations?

If this worked, he could enter the state of the fifth circulation at any time.

The warm-up time required to exert his full strength would be drastically reduced. When fighting a powerhouse, his chances of victory would rise rapidly.

‘Will it work?’

Pondering, it seemed possible.

If he made a wish by consuming the life breath contained in the Life-Prolonging Stones, he might even be able to store the realm amplified through the Moon-Reflecting Blade Canon, let alone the Blood Wings.

‘Well… let us pull up Wugeuk’s grade to the 6th rank first.’

How domineering was the power of the A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens that underwent five circulations.

To bear this, Wugeuk’s grade had to rise.

“Wugeuk. Come out for a moment.”

Calling Wugeuk, who was harbored in the sword, a bundle of light looking like a squishy bun popped out and rolled on the ground.

Whirrr…

Because it was exhausted from successive battles, it could not even fly.

Looking at Wugeuk who was completely drained while amplifying the keen Qi during the fight, he gave a large amount of Supreme Great Ability after a long time.

Like giving a restorative herb, he poured in the Supreme Great Ability.

How much time had passed?

Wugeuk, which was limp on the ground, flew up as if springing and regained its energy.

Like a puppy welcoming its owner, it circled around him with high spirits.

To it, who rejoiced while making the clear sound produced when a sword vibrated, he gifted numerous 6th-rank minerals including the Life-Prolonging Stones.

“Take all of these to your nest and absorb them.”

!!!

To it, which stiffened as if asking if it was true, he nodded his head.

Did it instinctively feel that it could soon reach the 6th rank?

Looking at Wugeuk circling around and rejoicing, he chuckled for some reason.

And simultaneously.

The thought arose that a sword cultivator should perhaps live like Wugeuk.

Without thinking complexly, slightly simply.

“…”

Leaving behind the thoughts that suddenly arose,

He took his eyes off Wugeuk, which was moving the minerals to its nest using sword Qi like telekinesis.

He still had much to do.

Scanning the harvest the clones were sorting, there was a Jade Slip written with a mysterious secret heritage.

‘Three Mysteries Returning to the Source Art ?’

It was the secret heritage Yin Cheon-ho had used at the end of the battle, a divine ability to split one’s soul into three to make them into avatars respectively.

There were disadvantages and advantages.

First, because one soul was divided into three, one’s spirit and emotions became unstable, and the cultivation speed also slowed down rapidly.

As it possessed fatal disadvantages, the advantages were also great.

‘Because the three became one, his realm rose.’

Furthermore, this advantage also worked when breaking through a great realm.

If all the avatars created by the Three Mysteries Returning to the Source Art reached the Great Circle of the Void Refinement stage, there was also a possibility of treading the Unity stage when the three became one.

Although he could not guarantee it would definitely work, just having the possibility made it an outstanding secret heritage.

‘Is it one of the methods to become a Unity stage Dao Sovereign…?’

However, the disadvantages were too serious.

Both the spirit becoming unstable and the cultivation speed slowing down were fatal.

Furthermore, once merged into one, they could not be divided again.

Is that why? He could know the reason why Yin Cheon-ho was angry to the point of trying to kill him.

Presumably, Yin Cheon-ho had intended to become a Unity stage Dao Sovereign through this secret heritage.

However, since he blew away the only opportunity while fighting him… even while dying, he must have been on the verge of going crazy from regret.

Jin So-myeong, who clicked his tongue, stroked his chin.

To master the Three Mysteries Returning to the Source Art as it was was a bit much, but if he pondered the principles contained in the secret heritage well, there seemed bound to be achievements.

For example, merging with the Golden Body Dharma Image or the Blood Spirit Clone?

He did not hope for the effect of treading a great realm. Being helpful to battle was sufficient.

‘I must research it slowly.’

There were still many treasures left by Yin Cheon-ho.

What other harvest would there be? His eyes that moved this way and that headed toward the beast-controlling pouch.

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