Chapter 329: Overwhelming
===================
Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
===================
***
The forest filled with golden thunder Qi.
The clone Baek Gwang-il, who was training silently in the Thunder Light Forest, paused.
Boom…! Bang! Bang!
A foreign explosive sound echoed in the forest that was only filled with the sound of thunder, and he immediately grasped the situation.
Someone was trying to break the formation protecting the pavilion.
Who could it be?
There were largely two possibilities. Either it was the pioneering team that had entered the ruin late, or it was an Unity stage Dao Sovereign belonging to the Sacred Scale Alliance.
Narrowing his eyes, Baek Gwang-il sharpened his senses.
Bang!!
He gauged the explosive sound echoing outside and the faintly felt aura, but the momentum was too strong to be a Void Refinement stage cultivator.
‘It is the Unity stage.’
It was bad news.
If the opponent was Baek Myo-hwa, nothing much would happen, but if it was a Dao Sovereign belonging to the Sacred Scale Alliance, it would be difficult to even die peacefully.
How should he resolve this situation?
Normally, it would be over if he just crossed over to the Secret Realm of the Mind, but now it was outside the main body’s divine sense range. He could not use the Secret Realm of the Mind derived from the Supreme Great Ability.
Seeking a solution, Baek Gwang-il assumed the worst-case scenario.
Assuming that the opponent currently breaking the formation outside was an enemy, he began his response.
First of all, he was about to unfold the Boundless Sword Sky when he paused.
If the enemy was an Unity stage Dao Sovereign, it would be useless for him, as a clone, to unfold the Boundless Sword Sky.
If he used the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph he had recently learned in addition to the sword array, he might be able to inflict some damage, but calculating it coldly, there was no chance of victory.
If unfolding the Boundless Sword Sky would not change the outcome of the battle, it was only giving away information for nothing, so he should not use it.
Of course, that did not mean he could just stay still and be captured.
Pondering, Baek Gwang-il selected the divine abilities that he could use and immediately created a clone.
When the clone, created by investing a significant amount of the magic power he had accumulated over five years, unfolded the Thousand Transformations Art, the aura displayed outwardly grew as strong as the Void Refinement stage.
While letting the clone take his place, he himself concealed his presence using the Taixu Formless Robe.
After a while.
Crack…
An ominous sound was heard, and then the clear sky cracked like a fractured window pane.
And,
Boom!
A portion of the sky collapsed.
Black fog poured down from the blue sky, a scenery as if a hole had been punctured in the sky.
The man who appeared while breaking the sky scanned the forest filled with lightning, and before long, his gaze locked.
“Jin So-myeong?”
A gentle smile formed on the lips of the man who vaguely resembled a human but had scales growing here and there on his skin.
“Oh, it is truly a pleasure to meet you. I did not expect to meet you like this.”
“Do you know me?”
“How could I not know you? Hehe… Ah, by the way, since we met like this, we should introduce ourselves. I am Wi-ryeon.”
“I heard there is a person named Wi-ryeon among the Dao Sovereigns of the Sacred Scale Alliance; is that you?”
When the youth standing in the middle of the forest asked back while gazing blankly, Wi-ryeon burst into a wry laugh.
“Haha. You have a stiffer personality than I thought. Weren’t you taught to greet a senior first when you meet one?”
“I do not think we are on such terms.”
“That is true, but… I do not know how you survived in this harsh cultivation world with such a personality.”
Wi-ryeon, who smirked, stroked his chin.
“But I do not know why you want to oppose the Sacred Scale Alliance. Did you covet this ruin so much? Enough to risk your life?”
“…”
“Of course, I can understand your thoughts. You wouldn’t have wanted to lose the opportunity you found with difficulty. You might have believed that if you obtained an Integration spiritual object here and became a Dao Sovereign, you would be able to reconcile with our Sacred Scale Alliance.”
“Reconciliation… Well, the result would be roughly similar. Once I rise to the Unity stage, the Sacred Scale Alliance will no longer be a problem.”
“Huh. Aren’t you a bit too confident? Even if you become a Dao Sovereign, reconciling with the Sacred Scale Alliance will not be so easy.”
“We’ll see.”
When time passed, it was unknown who would wish for reconciliation.
“Mmm. At any rate, your rash remarks and actions are insolent, but…”
Wi-ryeon, trailing off his words, smiled as if showing mercy.
“If you beg for forgiveness even now, I will show leniency. Of course, you will have to receive punishment for your wrongdoings, though.”
As he stared blankly without even replying, the smile formed on his lips turned cold.
“Hehe… That stubbornness of yours, I truly like it. Please maintain that spirit. It won’t be fun if you break too easily.”
After a brief silence.
Wi-ryeon, curling up one side of his mouth, extended his finger.
Hum!
The world Qi that gathered like a whirlwind rushed toward the youth.
Just before being surrounded by the world Qi tightening from all directions.
Rumble!
The youth enveloped in lightning kicked off the ground.
In an instant, he escaped the encirclement and traversed the forest at the speed of a beam of light.
“Haha. Quite capable.”
Wi-ryeon, who leisurely clasped his hands behind his back, snapped his fingers.
Crack!
Right in front of the youth who was kicking off the ground frantically, the world Qi compressed and turned into a massive fortress wall.
Just before collision.
The youth, stepping so hard that the ground shattered, changed direction.
It was a natural response, as he would collide if he kept going straight.
However…
The direction he turned was a bit strange.
“Hmm?”
Exactly the opposite. He charged toward Wi-ryeon who stood with his hands behind his back.
Rumble!
The thunder Qi wrapped around the youth spewed brilliant light, and his speed doubled.
Becoming a streak of lightning, he rushed forward and thrust his hand-blade.
Although it was a sudden surprise attack, Wi-ryeon did not panic. He merely laughed while leisurely keeping his hands behind his back.
Right at that moment.
On the hand-blade that was at best at the Void Refinement stage, a blindingly pure white light arose.
Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration: Penetration.
The divine ability that had slain countless enemies aimed for the heart, and Wi-ryeon, narrowing his brow, struck away the hand-blade.
In that split second.
…………………!
The youth who was delivering the strike was enveloped in light and triggered a grand explosion.
He had self-detonated by converting all his energy into the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.
How much time had passed?
“Tsk.”
Wi-ryeon, not even a hem of his clothes damaged, swept his hand roughly.
He raised a wind to disperse the dust, but the expression that had been full of playfulness was now stiffly frozen.
Narrowing his brow, he examined the back of his hand that had struck away the hand-blade, and a microscopic scratch, barely visible, was present.
“Well, how about that. I thought it was strange, but it was indeed a clone…”
Glancing back to examine the exit behind his back, he clicked his tongue.
He intuited that while he was playing with the clone just now, someone who had been hiding had slipped out.
“Yes. It wouldn’t be fun if it ended too easily.”
He spoke so, but his pride was hurt.
Because whether he had let his guard down or not, it was an undeniable fact that he had been played by a mere Void Refinement stage cultivator’s trick.
Firmly tightening his jaw, Wi-ryeon blocked the entire surrounding space.
The moment he clenched the palm he had stretched out forward.
The energy scattered in all directions compressed into a single lump.
When he snapped his fingers, a pure white streak of light shot out from the sphere made by mixing various energies, and surprisingly, it was the energy left behind by the clone’s self-detonation just now.
Following that, he summoned a hornet with ten antennae and commanded.
“Chase.”
As he fed it the newly extracted energy, the antennae that had been wriggling like tentacles came to a sudden halt.
The hornet circling the surroundings left the forest and began flying in a certain direction, and Wi-ryeon, clasping his hands behind his back, followed behind the hornet.
*
At the same time.
Baek Gwang-il, who had escaped the Thunder Light Forest, was flying with all his might.
While sending a signal to the main body that a problem had occurred, he created one more clone.
Handing over a bundle of talismans that were in his emergency storage pouch, he instructed.
“Hide in the most remote place possible and dig a trap.”
Leaving a clone might provide a clue for tracing, but more than that, it was more important to figure out whether the opponent was chasing or not.
How much time had passed?
Just then, as he was raising his speed to the maximum while even using the Blood Wings.
Bang…!
Along with the faintly heard sound of an explosion, his connection with the clone was severed.
It meant Wi-ryeon was tracing him through some sort of means.
Estimating the distance from where the explosion resounded, Baek Gwang-il summoned ten additional Golden Core-grade clones.
The moment he gestured toward the clones.
The Golden Core-grade clones each summoned one hundred Qi Condensation-grade clones.
The thousand or so clones that multiplied in an instant kicked off the ground simultaneously. Without any order, they scattered in all directions.
***
Three months later.
Wrapping his entire body in the fog gathered through the Black Cloud Scripture, Wi-ryeon, who was secretly traversing the sky, gnashed his teeth.
‘I finally found you. You rat-like fellow.’
Finding Jin So-myeong running away while unfolding the Lightning Escape Art, a sudden annoyance surged in him.
This was because he had spent three months just unraveling the clones the fellow had scattered.
Staring at Jin So-myeong in the fog, he extended his finger.
The black fog filling the surroundings gathered silently and became a sharp awl.
Fwip…!
Flying in a straight line, just before piercing the spine.
Rumble!
The lightning wrapped around Jin So-myeong dyed red, and his speed rapidly increased.
Consequently, the awl that was meant to pierce the spine penetrated his flank and lodged into the ground.
‘…A Thunder Tribulation ?’
The Thunder Tribulation was a lightning bolt that struck down when some unlucky races broke through major realms, and it was a considerably sinister energy.
Unfolding the Lightning Escape Art with such overbearing thunder Qi was a deed of half-risking one’s life.
‘He is completely insane. He is a guy for whom it wouldn’t be strange to die at any moment.’
It was to the point of wondering just how on earth he had reached the Void Refinement stage with such a state of mind.
At any rate, seeing Jin So-myeong frowning as if in pain eased his anger a little.
Looking down at Jin So-myeong who was still fleeing, he spoke.
“I had high expectations since they said you were a powerhouse comparable to the Unity stage, but it is disappointing. Even if I evaluate generously, you are merely at the level of a slightly outstanding Void Refinement stage.”
At the same time Wi-ryeon shook his head.
Thud!
The awl formed by gathering the black fog pierced his left forearm.
“You dare to rebel against the Sacred Scale Alliance with merely that level of skill? Tsk tsk. Try babbling that in front of me again.”
Wi-ryeon, who wore a sneer, snapped his fingers, and five awls flew in succession.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
His flank, left shoulder, earlobe, elbow. Holes were pierced in all sorts of parts.
While becoming bloodied, Jin So-myeong did not resist and only ran, except for just once.
He only avoided the one aimed at his thigh.
Just before the awl pierced his thigh, he spun like a top, swung his left hand like a shield, and struck away the awl.
In exchange, his left hand was torn off entirely, but even in the midst of that, Jin So-myeong utilized the recoil to prevent his speed from slowing down.
‘Well, look at that.’
It was astounding. Looking at it now, the fellow was only avoiding things that could affect his mobility.
Seeing such cold judgment devoid of any emotion, he intuited.
‘Was that a clone as well?’
It was something to click his tongue at, but it did not matter. Since this clone was special unlike other clones.
A stealth technique that could cause him to lose trace with just a bit of carelessness, and a physical body in which the aura of a demonic beast was felt.
It was clearly a clone crafted with great care.
Capturing a clone made with such effort would be of great help in tracing the main body.
‘I should wrap this up soon.’
He had played around with him while getting accustomed to the Black Cloud Scripture in which he had recently initiated, but any more was a waste of time.
Rumble…!
The moment he raised his magic power, the atmosphere seethed.
The number of awls formed by gathering fog exceeded one hundred in an instant, and
Fwip…!
they flew drawing parabolas, then rushed in simultaneously from all directions.
Just as the skewers that flew as if surrounding him in all directions were about to pierce Jin So-myeong.
Bang!
Jin So-myeong’s skin cracked, drops of blood spilled, and the blood condensed in the void formed the shape of wings.
At that moment.
Jin So-myeong, whose energy was amplified nearly tenfold, accelerated rapidly and broke through the encirclement in an instant.
“Hmph.”
It was a talent worthy of admiration, but it was merely at the level of the Void Refinement stage nonetheless.
Just as he sneered and was about to finish it off.
As if squeezing out his last ounce of strength, Jin So-myeong, who had been sprinting frantically, suddenly vanished like smoke.
Around the time he frowned at the strange phenomenon that occurred without any warning signs.
“My clone has incurred a debt to you.”
A calm voice echoed from beyond the thickly settled fog, and
Jin So-myeong, with one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, walked out.
“You…”
The startled Wi-ryeon concentrated his magic power on his pupils.
He was different.
Unlike the bloodied clone, his clothing and skin were perfectly intact, but it was not such a minor difference that was being referred to.
He was clearly at the Void Refinement stage, yet for some reason, it was incredibly unsettling.
“If one has incurred a debt, one must repay it.”
At the warning of his intuition accumulated over long years of training, his mouth went completely dry.
He intuited that he was not an opponent to be taken lightly, but losing in momentum to a mere Void Refinement stage cultivator was unacceptable.
“Ha. Your clone was like that, and now you too are completely insane. No matter how outstanding you may be, a Void Refinement stage is ultimately a Void Refinement stage…”
“You babble too much. Stop talking useless nonsense and let’s fight first.”
Jin So-myeong, who cut him off decisively, grabbed the hilt of his sword.
Sheeeing…
At the moment the blade resembling moonlight was revealed to the world.
He did not even blink,
he did not lower his guard either,
yet Jin So-myeong, wrapped in black lightning, appeared right before his eyes.
There was no sequence to his movements. Distance had also lost its meaning.
The moment he perceived it, his forehead was already about to be pierced.
It was a scene as if… time had been severed.