Chapter 311: What Caught the Bait
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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***
One day.
At the Dark Soul Mountain City, one of the foremost front lines fighting the Asuras every day, an unpleasant commotion arose.
“He came alone?”
The castellan responsible for the fortress frowned.
This was because, outside the fortress walls, an Asura possessing the Unity stage mid realm walked over clomp-clomp.
‘Seo Gyeom, why did that bastard suddenly visit alone…?’
The moment the castellan narrowed the corners of his eyes at the appearance of the enemy they had fought fiercely for nearly a year visiting openly alone.
Seo Gyeom, the Asura old man who approached close enough to reveal a blunt expression, shouted.
“Jin So-myeong! I heard the news that you bastard are sneak-attacking my brothers! If you are that strong, come on and try to kill me too!”
At the booming voice, the entire fortress wall trembled.
At the sight of him shouting loudly enough to shake the earth, the castellan grimaced.
To search for Jin So-myeong out of the blue…
“Even just a few years ago, you fled like a dog with its tail on fire, yet because you luckily obtained a fortuitous opportunity and grew strong, you run wild like an ignorant child!”
Amidst the gaze of countless human cultivators, Seo Gyeom, who sat cross-legged right in front of the fortress wall, openly closed his eyes.
“Jin So-myeong! If you bastard dare to have the guts, do not sneak-attack but challenge me proudly! Since I, Seo Gyeom, will face you one-on-one!”
It was a proud attitude as if saying to kill him if they could.
“That arrogant bastard…”
The castellan who was watching while frowning clicked his tongue.
He wanted to pour fire power to kill him for the preposterous outrage, but Seo Gyeom was quite strong, making it difficult to handle him easily even if the entire city stepped forward.
In addition, that he provoked while targeting Jin So-myeong of all people weighed on his mind.
Recently, all kinds of rumors about Jin So-myeong shook the human race.
Whether the rumors were true or false was uncertain, but as time flowed, the trend was that people who believed them to be true increased.
The future or hope of the human race.
This was because the people who saw Jin So-myeong in person claimed so with one voice.
‘Even if only one or two of the rumors are true, Jin So-myeong is not an existence Seo Gyeom can challenge.’
To challenge Jin So-myeong, who was known as an Unity stage-level powerhouse, so recklessly like that.
Was he crazy to die?
‘Surely an Asura Unity stage Dao Sovereign is not watching…?’
If so, it was right to flee immediately before getting involved for nothing, but that was difficult.
If an Unity stage Dao Sovereign was not watching, did it not mean they surrendered the city merely out of fear from a few words of provocation?
The castellan, who was frowning, called his subordinate.
“Inform the Three Great Sects including the Infinite Void Temple of this news. If it is them, they will have a way to contact Cultivator Jin.”
“Yes.”
How much time had passed?
Seo Gyeom, who did not even make a single movement while sitting cross-legged, snorted.
“To think you did not come even though I waited for a week. As expected of the human race, you are a coward. Good! I shall see when you bastard can muster courage.”
He closed his eyes again as if to see who would win, and the human cultivators watching from the fortress wall ground their teeth.
Even for arrogance, there should be a limit.
That someone who was nominally a Unity stage Celestial Lord engaged in this kind of childish provocation.
At that moment when they were grimacing.
“A fellow who does not even know his place.”
“…!”
Along with a streak of wind, a young man who appeared looked down coldly.
The moment Seo Gyeom, who was startled, tried to retreat as if bouncing off.
Slap!
As if swatting a bug, Jin So-myeong struck the crown of his head with a palm enveloped in white energy, and…
Seo Gyeom, who behaved arrogantly, stiffened and died instantly as he was divided into thousands of pieces.
“Ah.”
At the scene as if hitting a frozen lump of meat with a heavy hammer, everyone watching from the fortress wall gaped wide.
The silence was brief.
“Waaaaah!”
“Senior Jin came in person!”
To strike and kill Seo Gyeom, who possessed outstanding strength, in a single blow.
It was indeed exactly as the rumors said.
The people who had suffered from frustration for over a week cheered at the top of their lungs.
“…”
The young man who looked at the hundreds of thousands tightly packing the fortress wall parted his lips, but in the end did not say anything.
Turning his gaze as if ignoring them, he glared at the empty void.
“You are merciless. Not only did you use your subordinate as bait, but you even let him die.”
To whom on earth was he speaking?
The doubt was brief. The void wavered like a haze, and an Asura man clasping his hands behind his back appeared.
“Laughable. You killed him, yet you shift the responsibility to me?”
The man had an appearance so ordinary that he would not remain in memory no matter how many times one looked at him, but his shadow was different.
It squirmed like a snake with hundreds of heads, being extremely creepy.
Everyone who cheered while shouting Jin So-myeong’s name turned pale and shut their mouths.
Within the chilly silence as if the tempo was warped,
Gongya Dao Sovereign, one of the four pillars of the Asura Race, smiled brightly.
“I merely gave an opportunity to correct a mistake. Due to a few who missed Jin So-myeong a hundred years ago, our Asura Race is placed in a troublesome situation. However…”
Gongya Dao Sovereign, the Asura who stared intently at the young man, stretched out his hand.
Crack!
Narrowing the corners of his eyes while pulling close the neck gripped tightly enough to make a sound of bones breaking.
“Who are you to impersonate Jin So-myeong?”
As magic power surged, the young man’s transformation spell was forcibly released, and his true appearance was revealed.
He was a man with a desolate impression, who was clearly not Jin So-myeong no matter who looked.
“Keugh, who am I…?”
The man, who let out a groan as if in pain and gasped for breath, rolled up the corners of his mouth nonetheless.
And,
he gripped Gongya Dao Sovereign’s forearm with both hands. Tightly, as if never to let go.
Ssshh…
The moment Gongya Dao Sovereign raised one eyebrow at the pure white frost covering his forearm.
“I am Cheong Yeon-hwi, a descendant of the Twelve Stars Sect that perished together with your Asura Unity stage expert fifty thousand years ago.”
Boom!
The body of Cheong Yeon-hwi, who wore a mad smile, exploded like a bomb.
Turning into pure white flames enough to make it difficult to look directly, it enveloped Gongya Dao Sovereign.
Was it because it was a flame bloomed by burning his soul?
A fierce chill surged from the flame that should normally be hot.
Gongya Dao Sovereign, whose entire right arm was covered in frost before he knew it, frowned.
“This chill…”
At that moment when he struck away the persistently clinging pure white flame.
The void wavered, and eight cultivators appeared to surround the vicinity.
Gongya Dao Sovereign, who slowly turned his head to scan the surroundings, laughed mockingly upon seeing the woman standing at the absolute front.
“Truly venomous. You will sacrifice all of these people?”
“To protect the human race, there is no choice.”
When Fairy Yeongwol, who had been silent, answered in a faintly trembling voice, a middle-aged man with a robust impression cut in.
“What guilt would the Dao Sovereign have? We chose it ourselves.”
“Foolish things. You try to throw away your lives on the roadside.”
As Gongya Dao Sovereign clicked his tongue, Fairy Yeongwol’s complexion turned dark, but the expressions of the others became rather brighter.
“Haha! Since I was born as a descendant of the Twelve Stars Sect and lived in luxury all my life, going like this is not bad either.”
“What luxury. I only suffered terribly. Since my family has long since been ruined.”
“Well, that is too bad. It must be regrettable to die.”
“It is infuriating, but it cannot be helped.”
The twelve Unity stage cultivators who offered their lives when the human race almost went extinct in the past.
The seven survivors among the descendants of the Twelve Stars Sect, who rose to the late Unity stage after thousands of years of cultivation, bloomed a brilliant flame.
The secret technique of burning life to cross boundaries.
Unfolding the Moon-Deducing Dao Scripture, they poured out their last sparks…
***
Meanwhile, Jin So-myeong, who left the ruins that were completely devastated and left with only ashes, narrowed his eyes.
‘Why is it so quiet?’
He was returning after devastating the base guarded by a late Unity stage Asura, and it was to the point of being strange how smoothly the matter was concluded.
He had been extremely tense thinking he would ninety-nine times out of a hundred clash with an Asura Dao Sovereign, yet there was no problem at all.
Was he lucky?
A few days passed within a strange silence.
Crossing the desert as wide as a vast ocean and returning to the human territory, he took the teleportation array.
He returned to the Infinite Void Temple, but…
“A battle broke out between Unity stage Dao Sovereigns?”
“Yes. In its aftermath, Dark Soul Mountain City, the 6th-rank immortal city, turned to powder.”
The Infinite Void Temple disciple guarding the teleportation array delivered the shocking news.
“…Tell me in detail how it happened.”
“About a week ago, an Asura named Seo Gyeom dared to mention Senior Jin and threw a cheap provocation.”
He visited Dark Soul Mountain City alone and poured low words, which was openly an enticement tactic.
The thought of Gongya Dao Sovereign who used Seo Gyeom as bait was roughly expected. Since he had nothing to lose whether the enticement worked or not, he would have attempted it with a light heart.
However, as Fairy Yeongwol and the descendants of the Twelve Stars Sect stepped forward, the situation changed.
The descendants of the cultivators who perished together with the Unity stage Dao Sovereign with only twelve people in the past.
Since they, who had maintained their lineage over fifty thousand years, and Fairy Yeongwol joined forces, the chance of victory was overwhelmingly high for this side.
“So what happened?”
“That is…”
The Infinite Void Temple disciple, who could not answer easily and stammered, wore a bitter expression and let out a deep sigh.
“Regrettably, they say they could not kill Gongya Dao Sovereign.”
“Heh.”
“Still, it is not that there is no achievement. Because Gongya Dao Sovereign unfolded the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph, he became unable to move for at least four thousand years.”
The Unity stage Dao Sovereign, who was the most important military force, became unable to move for four thousand years?
Not being able to kill Gongya Dao Sovereign was regrettable, but it was a considerable achievement.
“The damage suffered by the human race?”
“First of all, the Twelve Stars Sect descendants who participated in the battle… all died in battle.”
“All of them?”
When Jin So-myeong paused and asked back, the Infinite Void Temple disciple sighed.
“Yes. And the cultivators guarding Dark Soul Mountain City also died as they were caught in the Unity stage-level battle. This is my guess, but perhaps Gongya Dao Sovereign, driven to a crisis, used them as human shields.”
“…”
“Fairy Yeongwol also suffered internal injuries, but fortunately, she announced that she will be able to recover in ten years.”
Jin So-myeong, who remained silent for quite a long time, let out a sigh.
“Understood. Is there no other news?”
“There is not much except that the war has entered a lull due to the matter I just mentioned.”
“I see. Thank you for delivering the news.”
“Do not mention it.”
Sending away the Infinite Void Temple disciple, he fell into thought.
The four thousand years gained by the sacrifice of the Twelve Stars Sect descendants. With this, the direction of the war was completely overturned.
Four thousand years.
It was not a small amount of time.
Since it was sufficient time for a new Unity stage cultivator to be born in the human race.
At least, it was enough to fill the vacancy of the Taixu Sacred Venerable whose lifespan was ending.
Although it was regrettable that the Twelve Stars Sect, which had maintained its lineage with difficulty, suffered a fatal blow, thanks to their sacrifice, the future of the human race became visibly bright.
Exactly ten years from now.
If they only held out until Fairy Yeongwol recovered from her injuries, the Asuras had no choice but to give up the invasion and retreat.
‘Rather, our human race might even counterattack…’
The situation improved drastically.
However, why was that? Although he did not know the exact reason, he did not feel refreshed.
Was it due to the news that the descendants of the Twelve Stars Sect, whom he had never properly met, and the cultivators guarding Dark Soul Mountain City all died?
‘If they were going to fight like this, it would have been better to contact me and go together.’
Did they perhaps not even contact him out of worry that he might die or be injured during the fight?
Was the Asura Dao Sovereign who unfolded the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph that strong?
Jin So-myeong, who let out a sigh, paused while heading to the cave dwelling lent by the Infinite Void Temple.
This was because, while heading toward the dense cave dwelling area, he discovered Ha Do-jin standing blankly by the lakeshore.
He thought of just passing by, but approached.
Because A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens, which Ha Do-jin had unfolded when hunting the Thunder-Pattern Hermit Lizard in the desert in the past, suddenly came to mind.
“What are you doing here?”
Ha Do-jin, who paused, wore a bitter smile and shook his head.
“It is nothing. I just felt frustrated upon hearing the news that the Twelve Stars Sect descendants were wiped out.”
“Hmm.”
“Do you know that? In fact, I am also a Twelve Stars Sect descendant. Well, since my family has long since been ruined, it has no particular meaning, but.”
“…So that was the case.”
Seeing him unfold A Single Flash Lightens the Heavens, he had wondered, and his guess was correct.
“But why am I here acting miserable? To not smear the family name, I should have gone to fight Gongya Dao Sovereign and died.”
Ha Do-jin, who laughed self-mockingly, shook his head and looked at the empty lake.
“Should I say it is absurd? Laughably, I did not even know they were going to fight Gongya Dao Sovereign. They did not even visit me.”
“…”
“Did it mean an early Unity stage is useless? Well, thanks to my terrible strength, I saved my life, so it is truly fortunate. Heheh.”
Ha Do-jin, who murmured in a cracked voice, looked at his own eyes reflected on the water surface.
“Do you know what I am most curious about right now?”
“Well.”
“If they had truly visited, would I have dared to go to die? That question does not leave my mind…”
***
After listening to Ha Do-jin’s grumbling, Jin So-myeong returned to his cave dwelling and sat in the pavilion installed next to the valley.
In any case, since the situation had changed a lot, he needed to re-formulate his plans, but…
his head was complicated. Even looking at the trickling clear valley water, it did not improve.
At that moment when he let out a sigh.
“Have you been well?”
Suddenly, the sky split open, and a gaunt old man, the Taixu Sacred Venerable harboring a faint smile, appeared.
Startled, Jin So-myeong stood up from the pavilion and greeted him.
“Yes. I have been doing well without any trouble.”
“Fortunate.”
“Well, but I heard that Senior is confronting the Insect-Armor Race in the Green Garden Realm. Is it fine for you to be here?”
“Do not worry. Since I have taken my own measures, it is fine to talk for a moment.”
“Ah… if so, that is fortunate.”
The Taixu Sacred Venerable, who smiled brightly, sat opposite the pavilion and said in a serious tone.
“I came because there is something I must absolutely tell you. I felt that if it is not now, there would be no opportunity.”