Chapter 323: By All Appearances, My Senses Seem Fine (2)
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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***
Meanwhile, a certain cave filled with sticky swamp.
“Ugh…”
A member of the Beast Soul Race, who had deer antlers on his head, was kneeling on a rectangular altar made of stone.
He, who was staring blankly only at the empty air with a lost mind, was surprisingly a Void Refinement stage cultivator.
A transcendent who could cleave even a continent with a single gesture of his hand, why was an entity more precious than a country’s emperor doing this?
The reason could be known soon.
Growl…
Red eye lights rose in the darkness, then the rough breathing sound unique to beasts echoed, and an entity so massive that its head touched the ceiling appeared.
The muzzle crowded with fangs closely resembled a crocodile, but its legs were bizarrely long.
Clatter.
The scales covering its entire body collided with each other, making a metallic sound.
The spines that sprouted along the spine were frighteningly sharp, making it look like a monster that crawled out of a nightmare.
Sssss…!
The monster, which approached while drooling acid strong enough to melt rocks, blankly looked down at the antlered member of the Beast Soul Race.
“I gave you a chance to escape, so why are you still there?”
Although it was a ferocious appearance that could be called a monster, a clear intelligence was held in the vertically long slit pupils.
“Don’t tell me you gave up?”
At the calm voice coming out of the crocodile mouth, the member of the Beast Soul Race, who was staring only at the empty air with a lost mind, parted his lips with difficulty.
“Dao Sovereign. Please show mercy and kill me.”
“Tsk, already broken. No fun.”
Sharp claws sprouted from the forelegs that were bizarrely long to be called a crocodile.
The moment they swept past the Beast Soul Race’s shoulder.
Slash!
With a single light movement, the left arm of the Void Refinement stage cultivator fell with a thud, and picking it up, the crocodile swung it back and forth as if playing with a toy.
“Why would I kill you? If I keep you alive, I can use you as a snack like this.”
The eyelids of the member of the Beast Soul Race trembled.
Crunch!
Watching his own left arm being chewed like beef jerky, he gritted his teeth.
Veins bulged on his sole remaining right arm, but in the end, he could not resist.
Just when he was dropping his head while unable to overcome the sense of despair.
“Wi-ryeon. Where did you bring a useless toy from again?”
At the words of the Imugi who appeared in the empty air, the crocodile called Wi-ryeon smirked.
“I made a round around Dark Heaven Xuan. I caught quite a lot this time. Shall I give you one as well?”
“No need. More than that, what happened to the matter of tracking the Golden Rune Fox Clan? I heard they organized a pioneering team and left for the Ancient Wilderness.”
“It is going well, so do not worry. I have already attached a few of the underlings.”
Wi-ryeon, who was boasting grandly, raised his claws.
He stabbed the glabella of the member of the Beast Soul Race, who was listening blankly beside him, to death, then spoke in a serious tone.
“By the way, is it true that the Golden Rune Fox Clan possesses a treasure that can achieve defying heaven?”
“Who knows. We will find out once we check.”
“I hope it is true. Then our Sacred Scale Alliance’s power will become several times larger.”
Wi-ryeon, who was revealing his greed blatantly, spoke while licking his blood-stained claws.
“That bitch Baek Myo-hwa won’t hand over the Heaven-Defying Treasure obediently, right?”
“Therefore, we must utilize the Golden Rune Fox Clan to pressure her.”
“Good. Let’s see how long that persistent bitch can hold out. Heh…”
Wi-ryeon, who was smacking his lips while even drooling, tapped his beast-taming pouch, and a Void Refinement-grade demonic beast bound by iron chains popped out.
“Tsk, starting again.”
The Imugi, who clicked his tongue, left the cave, and the demonic beast resembling a whale developed a fit upon feeling the Unity stage-grade energy.
Wooowoo!
It struggled as if asking to be saved while bound by iron chains, but the smile hanging at Wi-ryeon’s mouth only turned thicker.
***
Again the Ancient Wilderness.
Jin So-myeong, who detected the swarm of strange birds beyond 120,000 km, narrowed his eyes.
Just when he was watching when Tae-ok of the Wa-oh Race would react, the swarm of strange birds drew closer moment by moment.
From 100,000 km to 70,000, 50,000, 30,000, 20,000 km.
Before long, it drew close enough to touch his Divine Sense directly, but Tae-ok still had no reaction.
“…”
Jin So-myeong, who was tapping his scabbard, glanced askance.
In fact, it was not that Tae-ok alone did not react. Everyone on the deck was identical.
They only scanned the surroundings diligently, but did not detect that the swarm of strange birds was coming.
Was it a strange thing?
Well, in a way, it was a highly normal thing.
Originally, to scan a radius of 10,000 km, one must possess an Unity stage-grade Divine Sense. 10,000 km was by no means an easy distance.
There was no particular problem. It was just a pity.
‘If they used a search-type secret transmission, they would be able to scan about several times the distance of their Divine Sense…’
Around that time.
The swarm of strange birds drew close to 8,000 km, and Tae-ok, who was scanning the front with eyes shimmering in blue light, winced.
“A swarm of Bone-Winged Birds has appeared in the front. Everyone, prepare.”
At the voice echoing on the deck, the gaze of the Void Refinement stage cultivators was focused to the front, and soon after, the vicinity of the horizon began to be dyed black.
“Hah. They are truly Bone-Winged Birds.”
“It is a species I see for the first time, are they dangerous demonic beasts? Most seem to be of the 4th rank or below.”
“They have no intelligence, but that is why they are more annoying demonic beasts. Once targeted, they are crazy bastards that rush until they die, so do not let your guard down.”
“Mmm, troublesome bastards.”
“Still, it is a relief that there are only a few Void Refinement-grade Bone-Winged Birds. If we suffer some trouble, we will be able to handle them.”
Around the time the guard-standing Void Refinement stage cultivators grasped the situation.
Creak!
A bone sound as if joints were twisting pierced their ears, and soon after, the bow of the sailing vessel was buried in the swarm of Bone-Winged Birds.
Each one was as large as a house, and thousands of Nascent Soul-grade Bone-Winged Birds collided against the outer wall of the sailing vessel.
Gwoooo…!
The array enveloping the sailing vessel shook minutely, but that was all. Not even a scratch as small as a speck of dust occurred. Worthy of a high-grade array, it was extremely solid.
Still, it was early to be relieved.
Boom, boom, boom!
Because the Bone-Winged Birds had no end. The swarm of strange birds that densely filled the sky pounded without rest.
Following the Nascent Soul-grade, when even the Soul Formation-grade Bone-Winged Birds stepped forward.
Inhaaaale…!
Tae-ok of the Wa-oh Race inhaled.
He pulled in the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual Qi like crazy, and his belly swelled up like a mountain.
The moment his abdomen was expanded to the limit.
The air mass spat out by Tae-ok flew to the very center of the Bone-Winged Birds, and
Kaboooom!!
It caused a massive explosion enough to make the ears numb.
An intangible shockwave swept in all directions, and tens of thousands of Bone-Winged Birds caught in the explosion plunged to the ground.
It was a considerable power.
Among the Bone-Winged Birds swept away just now, the Soul Formation-grade alone exceeded hundreds.
It was a strike worthy of the Void Refinement stage in name and reality, but…
it was lacking to sweep away the Bone-Winged Birds that exceeded tens of millions.
Even, some of the Bone-Winged Birds that were plunging to the ground even flew up again.
“Tsk.”
Tae-ok, who clicked his tongue with dissatisfaction, clapped his hands, and a vortex arose.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Sharp wind that turned into the shape of carriage wheels ripped apart the Bone-Winged Birds, and Bone-Winged Birds of the ten-thousand unit plunged to the ground.
The other Void Refinement stage cultivators also did not just watch.
Whoosh!
The flames that spread in a fan shape turned the area into a fiery hell, and a mountain peak that appeared in the empty air crushed tens of thousands of Bone-Winged Birds.
Boom, boom, boom!
Every time the heaven and earth spiritual Qi fluctuated, hundreds of thousands of Bone-Winged Birds died.
More than twenty Void Refinement stage powerhouses pouring out dharmic arts was truly a grand sight.
However, should he say…
he could not understand a little.
Jin So-myeong, who was parting his lips, narrowed his glabella.
‘Are they serious?’
Watching the brilliant dharmic arts poured out by the Void Refinement stage cultivators, he could not help but have doubts.
Most of the individuals on the deck would be races that achieved a civilization incomparable to the human race.
For some reason, he could not feel even a little threat.
“…”
Pushing the Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye to its utmost limit, he scanned the dharmic arts dyeing the sky in detail.
First, one thing that was certain. There was no problem in their dharmic arts.
On the contrary, they were outstanding enough to have no flaws to pick.
The power compared to the consumed dharmic power was strong, and the casting speed was fast. It was certain they were overall well-polished dharmic arts.
However…
that was all.
They were neither overwhelming nor special.
If an Asura who unleashed the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph faced them, he felt like he could beat to death four or five of the identical realm.
Suddenly, a single memory flashed by.
[After obtaining the Light-Moon Silent-Life Dao, the human race is no longer a weak race.]
[It is a race strong enough to compete even with the powerful races beyond Northern Mang Xuan. I will guarantee that.]
The words of someone of unknown identity, who came in the appearance of Taixu Sacred Venerable and spoke about the Great Ascension stage, came to mind.
An assurance full of certainty.
Just when he was chewing over the words spoken by someone he did not even know was an enemy or an ally.
The member of the Beast Soul Race whose forehead had goat horns sprouting, who was pouring out dharmic arts right next, paused.
Staring intently at Jin So-myeong who was still standing still, he narrowed his glabella.
“Daoist, is there some problem?”
“…It is nothing major. Because I had something to think about for a moment.”
Did he not feel anything strange even after seeing the surrounding scenery?
Seeing the man who expressed doubt only toward him, he judged that watching further was meaningless.
Letting out a small sigh, he awakened the Primordial One Qi sleeping inside his dantian.
Hummmm…!
The energy that crossed Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. The Primordial One Qi gathered as if vortexing, then converged into a single speck of a dot.
While compressing the Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm, which achieved Great Success, into the shape of a bead,
he injected the cold Qi stored in the Chaos Origin Wheel, a portion of the cold Qi originating from the 7th-rank spiritual plant Snow Flower Tree Honey.
“Mm…?”
Simultaneously with the eyes of the man who spoke to him widening.
The Chaos Sky Shattering Annihilation Palm bead, which was dark red, was dyed pure white.
Ting…!
Flicking that thing which resembled a pearl with his middle finger, he shot it up to the sky.
The bead that flew while drawing a pure white solid line turned into light.
An extremely bright light.
A flash so cold that it was dazzling filled the sky.
And,
the bone sound generated as the Bone-Winged Birds moved was cut off flatly.
Sshhh…
Cold Qi flows.
Every single one of the swarming strange birds. They froze pure white exactly in the appearance of flapping their wings.
While coming flying according to inertia in a frozen state, losing thrust, they plunged to the earth.
There was no exception.
There were also a few Void Refinement-grade Bone-Winged Birds, but the result was identical. Far from resisting, they could not even react.
“…”
“…”
Exactly in the posture of pouring out dharmic arts, the pupils of the Void Refinement stage cultivators, who were frozen like stone statues, trembled violently.
In the bizarre silence where only the sound of blinking eyes was heard.
Boom, boom, boom!
The frozen lumps that poured down like rain collided with the ground and shattered.
“Ah.”
The Void Refinement stage cultivators, who were blankly staring, snapped back to their senses.
And they realized.
In a single move, the sky that was pitch-black became clean.
*
At the same time, Baek Myo-hwa, the patriarch of the Golden Rune Fox Clan who was sitting cross-legged in the quiet cabin, paused.
Her lips parted very slowly, then her pupils dilated.
“What on earth…”
An absurd, preposterous thing occurred.
In her eyes, as she scanned the outside by releasing her Divine Sense, absurdity was held.
Jin So-myeong, who drew her attention since departure, in that single light move thrown by his hand, the swarm of Bone-Winged Birds that filled the sky was erased.
Jin So-myeong was by all appearances a Void Refinement stage, but the dharmic art unfolded from that hand was in name and reality at the Unity stage level.
“…”
The scene shown by her senses and her common sense collided.
At the feeling of her head turning empty, her glabella, as she only blankly parted her lips, frowned.
Jin So-myeong was by all appearances no ordinary entity.
For such an incomprehensible entity to join the pioneering team. She could not distinguish whether this matter would be a gain or a loss.
Because something special did not necessarily mean something good…