Chapter 294: A Difficult Situation
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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The deepest part of the Limitless Pure Land.
Three men, including Jin So-myeong, were traversing the void at a tremendous speed.
They were heading toward the exit to leave the secret realm, but the faces of the other two, excluding Jin So-myeong, were a little strange.
They turned as pale as a sheet of paper and could not even breathe properly.
There was no problem even when they first began to fly through the sky.
It was because the flying speed of the three was similar, but this state did not last very long.
As Jin So-myeong’s injuries, which were severe enough to expose his bones, rapidly improved, his flying speed became insanely fast.
Ultimately,
the speed difference that opened up in an instant reached a point where they could not possibly keep up.
“Fellow Daoist Jin! Can’t you go a bit slower? If we fly like this, I will truly die.”
Jin So-myeong faltered at the shout of Ha Do-jin, who had suffered severe injuries from Gwang-rim.
“I am sorry, but to arrive at the exit within time, we must go even faster than now.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Once just a meal’s time passes from now, the exit of the secret realm will completely close.”
“Only a meal’s time is left…?”
At the words that the exit would be blocked even if just thirty minutes passed, not only Ha Do-jin but even Jeok Song’s complexion stiffened.
Although they perceived that the flow of time was strange thanks to Jin So-myeong’s explanation and the changes in the sun, it was because they had not yet grasped to what extent it was actually warped.
Briefly pondering, Jin So-myeong held out the Beast-Taming Pouch.
“Just go inside here. I will let you out once we arrive at the exit. Ah, Elder Jeok, if it is difficult for you as well, please go inside the Beast-Taming Pouch.”
Ha Do-jin, who let out a hollow laugh, nodded, and Jeok Song, who was hesitating, also agreed.
Flash!
The two men turned into light and disappeared into the Beast-Taming Pouch, and Jin So-myeong, who was left alone, was enveloped in black lightning.
While accelerating using the Black Thunder,
he poured the constantly rising Supreme Great Ability to recover his internal injuries.
Looking at the Supreme Great Ability recovering by billions every second, it was fascinating while simultaneously drying his mouth.
It was because the recovery speed of the Supreme Great Ability having accelerated abnormally meant that the time outside was also flowing at a tremendous speed.
‘I must hurry…’
RUMBLE!
He accelerated to the point where his barely recovered skin tore again, and after a long while.
He was able to arrive at the secret realm exit Jeok Song had mentioned.
Simultaneously,
he could discover a man and a woman confronting each other across a formation.
‘The man is an elder of the Infinite Void Temple… and the female side is an Asura.’
She was the woman who had been together with Gwang-rim in the undersea cave that was the entrance of the Limitless Pure Land, but unlike then, her skin was purple now.
Furthermore, looking at her now, he was acquainted with that Asura woman.
A connection. No, should he say they had an ill relationship?
Long ago, when Jin So-myeong had just ascended.
He was swept by the Nine Heavens Wild Wind and fell into the Asura territory, and somehow participated in the Sacred War.
There, he was exposed as a human and chased all the way to the Bright Blood Great Valley, and one of the Void Refinement Stage Heavenly Lords who chased Jin So-myeong at that time was none other than that woman.
“It has been a long time. Should I say I am glad to see you?”
“…!”
The man and woman, who were confronting each other while staring at one another, were startled.
When Jin So-myeong, who appeared along with black lightning, opened the Beast-Taming Pouch, they twitched their shoulders, and joy and sorrow crossed at the figures of the two people popping out of the Beast-Taming Pouch.
“Elder Jeok! Fellow Daoist Ha! You were safe!”
The Infinite Void Temple elder, who shouted in surprise, reacted relatively mildly.
“H-How…?”
The Asura woman stood frozen and could not even speak properly.
The avatar of the Integration Stage Dao Sovereign. To think the two men whom Gwang-rim should be holding onto appeared here?
“Could it be… No, there is no way. That is impossible.”
Not only did her complexion turn pale, but her pupils fluctuated wildly, looking like someone who witnessed an utterly unbelievable sight.
Around the time disbelief settled in her eyes.
The Infinite Void Temple elder, who received the situation through a transmission, cried out in fright.
“Did that monster-like Asura die?”
“Nonsense! Do not lie!”
The woman, who was talking to herself out of her mind, shrieked, but that did not change reality.
“Gwang-rim is dead.”
“Sir Gwang-rim… lost?”
“Yes. I won.”
Strangely, the Asura woman could not deny Jin So-myeong’s words.
Leaving behind the woman who staggered from shock,
he examined the super-large formation installed centering on the exit.
‘They blocked it properly.’
The formation, which looked like a reddish barrier, was in a state connected to the secret realm exit,
and it was designed in such a way that if one tried to break the formation, the passage leading outside would collapse first.
Although it was a formation he saw for the first time, he could find out a lot of information merely by looking closely in concentration.
It was because the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye, whose potential blossomed from the fight with Gwang-rim, read more possibilities than before.
‘Did they take the exit hostage, so to speak?’
The reason why the Infinite Void Temple elder could not go outside and was only confronting her was understood.
If one attacked the formation carelessly, the exit would collapse first before the formation broke.
‘Even so, I do not think that woman will step aside nicely…’
While frowning, he sent a transmission to Jeok Song.
-Are there no other exits near here?
-None. Even the closest place requires flying for several days.
The situation had become troublesome.
Just as he was clicking his tongue inwardly and pondering a solution.
The Asura woman, who had been out of her mind, suddenly raised the corners of her eyes sharply.
“You bastards must have also noticed that the flow of time in the Limitless Pure Land is abnormal. Once just a tea’s time passes from now, all the exits within the secret realm will be blocked.”
Had she noticed something while installing the formation connected to the exit? She knew it in far more detail than expected.
“A tea’s time? Hmph! You should make nonsense within limits.”
When the Infinite Void Temple elder, who had not yet properly grasped the situation, snorted, Jeok Song spoke with a grave complexion.
“That Asura’s words are highly likely to be true.”
“…Yes?”
“Because Fellow Daoist Jin also made a similar judgment.”
As the elder, who opened his eyes wide, looked as if asking if it was true, Jin So-myeong nodded his head for him.
“How could that be…”
Just as the flustered elder’s face turned blank.
The voice of the woman, whose eyes harbored toxicity, continued.
“However, since I also do not wish to be trapped in the secret realm, I will make a proposal.”
“…”
“Fight each other until only one of you survives. If you do, I will open the exit for you.”
“Ha, what nonsense.”
“If I open the exit in the current situation, isn’t it obvious that you bastards will kill me?”
“…So you will lower our power?”
The corner of the Asura woman’s mouth rose in a smirk.
“If you wish to ponder, do as you please. However, just know that even at this very moment, dozens of days are passing on the outside.”
The expressions of the elder who spoke as the representative and the group stiffened tightly.
It was naturally not that they took the Asura woman’s proposal at face value. It was merely because they clearly realized that the situation had turned nasty.
Just as everyone frowned.
Shh-ring.
A cold metallic sound that was goosebump-inducing echoed.
Jin So-myeong, who looked alternately at the formation and the exit, drew his sword.
“Fellow Daoist Jin?”
Watching the flustered Jeok Song and Ha Do-jin try to say something, he shook his head.
“It is a cheap trick to stall time, so there is no need to listen. Everyone, prepare to attack with all your might.”
“What do you…”
Before the words could even finish,
he took a step forward and brought down his sword.
“…!”
A snow-white line was drawn across the forehead of the Asura woman, who had doubted it would happen, and she was split apart just like that.
Without even being able to react, let alone resist, she was cleft along with the formation.
At that decisive choice. The mouths of those watching gaped open.
No, to kill her just like this?
Just as they were staring with round eyes in bewilderment.
Jin So-myeong, who split the formation with a single sword slash, shouted rapidly.
“Everyone, snap out of it and attack!”
He pulled out the Rank 6 Boundary-Breaking Talisman and activated it immediately.
He poured the energy of the talisman toward the void where the spatial crack, the exit that disappeared as the formation broke, was located.
And,
the energy stored in Limitless.
while letting the Blood Wings, which entered the fifth circulation, flow through his meridians, he unfolded the Simplified Moon-Deducing Dao Scripture.
An instant.
He contained the energy, which became strong to the point of being dizzying, solely at the tip of the sword.
Along with A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens, he poured all of the Supreme Great Ability to amplify the sharpness.
The single sword strike containing his full power stabbed the space shaken by the Rank 6 Boundary-Breaking Talisman, and the offensive of the group who quickly snapped out of it followed behind.
CLAAAAANG…!
Spells to force open the exit struck the void.
How long did the roaring sound that raged with the momentum to tear apart heaven and earth continue?
Soon, all directions fell silent.
“…Hah.”
“How could this be.”
Sighs leaked out from here and there. It was because even though the entire group combined their strength, the spatial barrier was still solid.
A very tiny scratch.
Except for the small scratch caused by the sword strike Jin So-myeong launched, they could not make any dent.
“…”
While silence continued at the despairing result, Ha Do-jin shouted.
“No, instead of standing still like this, we should go and look at other exits. Who knows?”
Looking at the scratch made in the void, Jin So-myeong, who was estimating how thick the spatial barrier was, shook his head.
“There are no other exits.”
“…Could it be?”
“It is already late. Just a moment ago, twenty years passed since we entered the secret realm. That is why I broke the formation by force.”
“Ah.”
Now, there were no exits remaining in the secret realm.
They were trapped.
In that place where it became quiet as everyone shut their mouths, he composed his breathing and managed the recoil of having poured out his full power.
Storing the Blood Wings in Limitless, he estimated how much of the Moon-Deducing Dao Scripture’s energy remained.
‘About two slashes would be possible.’
It was something he realized while pouring out a single sword strike just now, that using the Simplified Moon-Deducing Dao Scripture in units of slashes was efficient.
‘Should I call it the Moon-Deducing Slash?’
Around the time he was recuperating his body state in that manner.
“What do we do now?”
“How about moving around the Limitless Pure Land and looking for a place where the spatial barrier is at least thin?”
“It seems like a decent method, but… it seems too much time will be consumed.”
The group members, who admitted the fact that they were trapped, began to search for solutions.
“By the way, Fellow Daoist Jin. To what extent is the flow of time actually warped?”
“As far as I have grasped, even if we stay here for just one day, dozens of years will have passed on the outside.”
“Heh! Dozens of years in just one day…”
[Lifespan]: 260 / 9,502
Calculating based on the speed at which the Supreme Great Ability recovered, roughly every one hour, three years passed on the outside.
“Looking for a place where the spatial barrier is thin will likely be difficult. Too much time will be consumed.”
“Then shall we recover and attack the void again?”
Just as they were discussing various methods with serious expressions.
Crunch!
Their gazes were sharply drawn to the sound of something being chewed and swallowed.
“…?”
Jin So-myeong, who could be called the main character…no, the culprit…of the noise, gestured as if sorry for interrupting, and then continued to swallow something.
What on earth was he eating?
Jeok Song, who at first thought he was eating recovery pills to treat his injuries, blinked his eyes.
Because no matter how he looked, it was not that.
“Cultivation pills…? Could it be you are accumulating spiritual power right now?”
“Yes. We cannot waste time, can we?”
Instantly, everyone’s faces turned into expressions as if looking at a crazy person.
It was natural since he was swallowing cultivation pills in an urgent situation.
“…I see. I think I know why Fellow Daoist Jin is so strong.”
Even at the gazes treating him as an eccentric person, Jin So-myeong did not stop.
Leaving behind the group that was plotting a way to escape again, he continued to swallow pills.
Because the cultivation efficiency was going crazy, whether due to the warped flow of time.
‘Spiritual power is accumulating like crazy.’
Even though only thirty minutes had passed since the abnormal phenomenon occurred, the energy accumulated in the Chaos Origin Wheel was completely digested.
If spiritual power accumulated at the current speed, he would have reached the 5th Layer of the Void Refinement Stage even if just two or three hours passed.
Of course, this bizarre cultivation speed was not free. The price was considerably high.
【Lifespan】: 260 / 9,502
Even though he was 258 years old just before fighting Gwang-rim, he had become 260 years old before he knew it. Even at this very moment, he was aging at a tremendous speed.
‘It is not simply that the flow of time is out of joint.’
To make the cultivation speed bizarrely fast, and furthermore to age the mind and body rapidly…
Jin So-myeong, who was staring at the sun floating loftily in the sky, narrowed his eyes.
‘What should I do to leave the secret realm?’
While endlessly swallowing pills with his mouth, he pondered diligently in his head.
‘Should I raise my realm to the Great Circle of the Void Refinement Stage, and then attack the void again?’
He had roughly grasped how thick the spatial barrier was when he attempted to pierce the exit earlier.
It was a thickness worth trying to pierce if his realm became just slightly higher.
However, the time to be consumed in cultivation weighed on his mind.
If he went outside after becoming the Great Circle of the Void Refinement Stage, hundreds of years might have already passed.
‘Ah! That’s right.’
Come to think of it, there was an existence in the sub-space to ask for advice.
Gon-ak.
If it was the True Spirit who declared that the entire Limitless Pure Land was his body, he might be of help.
He immediately deployed a clone to visit Gon-ak, explained the situation, and asked for advice.
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