Chapter 331: Emergency

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Simultaneously with a bolt of lightning striking down,

the battle ended.

‘I won.’

Although he had used the simplified Burning Moon Dao Realm stored in Wuji, at any rate, he had defeated an Unity stage Dao Sovereign without consuming his lifespan.

Because it was proof that he had grown, he was naturally delighted.

Jin So-myeong, who enjoyed the lingering aftertaste for a brief moment, stabilized the energy boiling in his dantian and meridians.

Since the battle was over, he had to check his physical condition first.

‘Hmm… It is reasonably fine. Not bad.’

It was not that there were no injuries, but considering that he had fought an Unity stage Dao Sovereign, they were on the favorable side.

His heart, which had been burst by the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph, was already regenerated, and his spleen and lungs were regenerated by about one-fifth.

Although he was fatigued because a large amount of vital energy was consumed during the regeneration process, it was quite bearable.

Except for the stuffiness of not being able to breathe, that was.

At any rate, having confirmed that there were no major issues, there was something he had to do immediately.

He unfolded the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph: Blood Glyph Bone Engraving Chapter.

Before the energy amplified by bursting his five viscera could evaporate, he engraved it into his bones.

How much time had passed?

‘It worked.’

Sensing that the power he could exert with the same amount of vital energy had grown stronger, he opened his spatial pocket.

He retrieved the lightning swords he had installed during the battle and took out a spiritual herb good for recovering vital energy.

‘Whew, now I can finally breathe a little.’

As he chewed on a reddish vine like jerky, his depleted vital energy gradually filled up.

This vine was a Rank 7 spiritual herb named the Blood Warming Vine , which he had obtained from the storage pouches of the Asura race Dao Sovereigns.

However, in truth, the Blood Warming Vine was not a spiritual herb to be eaten so lightly.

As one of the core ingredients of the Heaven-Turning Reviving Pill, a medicinal pill for recovering from the side effects of the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph, it was an extremely precious spiritual herb.

Normally, he would have to eat it sparingly after careful consideration, but…

that was a story that had nothing to do with him. Since he had already copied several of them, he ate them comfortably.

‘Will it take about three years to become completely fine?’

As he was inspecting his physical condition, a wry laugh suddenly escaped him.

It was something he realized at some point, but absurdly, most of his injuries were self-inflicted.

The wounds created due to the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph and the Genesis divine ability were far greater than the damage suffered from Wi-ryeon.

The loss of three of his five viscera, his meridians being in tatters, and his dantian being half-charred were all because of Genesis and the Heart-Shattering Blood Glyph.

‘Well, at this rate, it’s a cheap price to pay.’

It was a very cheap price compared to having fought and won against a high-realm enemy, an Unity stage Dao Sovereign.

‘Is the simplified Burning Moon Dao Realm left with enough to swing the sword once?’

Gauging his remaining energy, it seemed he could either unleash a Burning Moon Slash once, or unfold the Genesis divine ability for a very brief moment.

‘Ah, right.’

He was about to finish his inspection when he paused. There was one more thing he absolutely had to confirm.

The old wooden dharma treasure that the Taixu Sacred Venerable had given him.

The moment he grasped the treasure engraved with the two characters ‘Silent Life’ (寂命).

A very large full moon, a moon shining so clearly as to be dazzling, was felt.

‘Indeed, my lifespan has decreased.’

The moon. No, the life force harbored by the Silent Life Token had decreased.

Calculating the life force contained in the Silent Life Token in terms of lifespan, it was roughly 1.1 million years, but compared to the last time he checked, it had decreased by about 900 years.

Just by fighting the Unity stage Dao Sovereign, a significant amount of life force was consumed.

Why?

‘Because I killed an Unity stage Dao Sovereign with a Void Refinement stage cultivation?’

In all likelihood, the speculation he had made in the past seemed correct.

The Great Ascension stage cultivators were monitoring the entire upper realm through some sort of means, and it seemed that the life force of the Silent Life Token was used to block that means.

‘Is it in a way where if I do something that catches the eye of the Great Ascension stage, the consumption of my lifespan increases?’

His brow furrowed naturally.

This was because currently he was merely standing still, yet his lifespan was constantly being consumed.

‘So my very existence is the problem.’

Estimating the lifespan consumed each year, it was projected to be roughly 300 years.

And predictably, this figure would grow larger as his realm rose.

It meant that even if he did nothing and only breathed, the lifespan contained in the Silent Life Token would be depleted in three thousand years.

Looking at the gradually decreasing lifespan, his mouth felt bitter.

Even at this very moment, the lifespan of someone nameless was burning.

What should he do?

Should he avoid conflict as much as possible and live with bated breath to save his lifespan?

“…No. Even if I do so, it is meaningless.”

Even if he avoided fights and only raised his realm, it had no meaning whatsoever.

What could he possibly cleave with such a mindset?

The answer came out when he thought of the reason why the Taixu Sacred Venerable had given him the Silent Life Token.

Did he give him the Silent Life Token so that he would tremble in fear watching his lifespan decrease?

There was no way.

He had given it to him to use as a stepping stone to achieve Silent Life.

That was why he was the Successor.

The important thing was to fulfill the will.

Although valuing his lifespan was also good, what was far more important than that was achieving his goal.

Therefore…

the answer was simple. Before his lifespan was depleted, before the end drew near, he just had to rise to the Great Ascension stage and sever the mandate of heaven .

Advancing forward straightforwardly was what he had to do as the Successor.

Placing the tightly grasped Silent Life Token in his breast pocket, he turned his gaze.

At any rate, since he had also inspected his physical condition, it was now time to confirm his harvest.

First, he examined Wi-ryeon’s corpse, and thin scale-like things were mixed here and there among the pitch-black ashes.

‘Well, to think they are intact even after hit by that bolt of lightning?’

To maintain their perfect shape in the thunder Qi in which even an Unity stage Dao Sovereign could not hold out and melted away.

It meant they were sturdy beyond imagination.

He was about to secure them as they seemed useful, just then.

Crumble!

The scales that touched his fingertips turned into black fog and dispersed.

‘This is…’

It was a familiar sight.

The way they dispersed into fog when touched was similar to the plants and trees in the Thunder Light Forest.

He tried various methods to secure the scales buried in the ashes, but he could not secure a single one.

Although it was slightly regrettable, he decided to just forget about it.

What could he do about an event that had already passed? Rather than that, he focused on other harvests.

‘Anyway, as long as I have the storage pouch… No, wait a minute.’

A sudden doubt flashed in his mind. Would a storage pouch be intact in the powerful firepower of Genesis?

He quickly scanned the surroundings.

He rummaged through the ashes that used to be Wi-ryeon, but no matter how much he searched, no storage pouch was visible.

‘Well, to think of it.’

In all likelihood, the Genesis divine ability seemed to have burned even the storage pouch.

Actually, in a way, it was only natural.

Even Wi-ryeon, who possessed a tough physical body, had melted, so how could the storage pouch hold out?

A bitter smile escaped him naturally.

This was the problem when the power of a divine ability was too strong.

‘Is this the price for using an uncontrollable divine ability… Mmm?’

His regret was brief.

He discovered something shining with golden light beneath the piled-up ashes.

It was five thin, flat golden rods bound together by a string, causing his eyes to widen dramatically.

‘A Profound Glyph Jade Slip?’

It was an unexpected harvest. He carefully picked it up and examined it here and there, and to his surprise, there was not even a single hairline crack.

It was perfectly intact even in the firepower of Genesis.

‘Well, was this such a sturdy object?’

As he was sincerely surprised and admiring it, he paused.

He checked the other Profound Glyph Jade Slip in his spatial pocket, the one on which the Time-Flows-Like-Water Formation was recorded, but its condition was a mess as if it would shatter immediately.

Even though it was a Profound Glyph Jade Slip made of the same material, this one was on the verge of being smashed.

Seeing it in a state where it seemed it would break at a mere tap, he had no choice but to naturally harbor a doubt.

‘Just what on earth did this Profound Glyph Jade Slip undergo to end up so ruined…?’

Jin So-myeong, who narrowed his eyes, looked toward the center of the city.

As he drew closer to the center, there were more ruins; could it be related to that?

‘I will know once I go.’

Putting his doubts aside for a moment, he focused on the newly obtained Profound Glyph Jade Slip.

[If you wish to write characters, you must know how to grind ink.]

[The Black Cloud Scripture is the method for that.]

As he was reading the jade slip, he paused before he knew it.

Merely how to grind ink?

Normally, the preface of a spell was bound to be grandiose, but the Black Cloud Scripture was incredibly plain.

Rather, a peculiar anticipation arose from that conciseness.

His interest piqued, he read the jade slip with concentration, and was able to tell what kind of spell the Black Cloud Scripture was for.

‘It is literally the knack of handling the Black Cloud.’

This city.

That was to say, the name of the black fog that encroached upon the Dark Heaven Academy was the Black Cloud, and the method of creating or controlling the Black Cloud was written.

He had been puzzled by how Wi-ryeon handled the black fog at will, and it was entirely thanks to him having learned the Black Cloud Scripture.

Jin So-myeong, who carefully read the jade slip, stroked his chin and nodded his head.

The moment he grasped the void.

Swish!

The Black Cloud that gathered like a whirlwind became a sword, spewing a sharp energy so intense that his skin stung.

Looking at the sword whose entire body from the hilt to the blade was ink-colored, he admired it.

‘I just made it lightly as a test, but it is sharper than I thought.’

Hum…!

As he flicked the blade with his middle finger, the sword chimed.

He liked it as he felt a heavy resilience and a moderate elasticity.

‘It is a superb sword.’

He struck it with all the physical strength he possessed having reached the peak of Rank 6, yet not even a small scratch was made.

Swish! Swish!

After swinging the sword made by condensing the Black Cloud a few times, he let go of the hilt, and it reverted to black fog and scattered in all directions.

Following that, he snapped his fingers.

He raised a wind while embedding the subtle principle of the Black Cloud Scripture, and the thickly settled black fog dispersed, clearing his vision.

‘Indeed.’

His head nodded naturally.

He felt that if he mastered the Black Cloud Scripture properly, it would be extremely useful when exploring the Dark Heaven Academy.

He intended to register it in his proficiency system immediately, but unfortunately, he could not do so.

‘To think it demands two trillion as the registration cost…’

Currently, the maximum capacity of his Supreme Great Ability was 1.9 trillion.

It meant that even if he waited a month to fill his Supreme Great Ability to the brim, it wouldn’t reach two trillion…

Fortunately, there was a way.

Currently, the Supreme Great Ability that Wuji could store was roughly 300 billion.

When he went to the Limitless Pure Land in the past, it had expanded significantly thanks to absorbing a massive amount of the Life-Refining Stones.

If he joined forces with Wuji, he could meet even the absurd demand of two trillion.

‘I just need to wait one month.’

He decided to register it in the proficiency system after a month when his Supreme Great Ability was fully filled.

By the way, perhaps because he recalled the Limitless Pure Land, the True Spirit Gon-ak sleeping in his spatial pocket came to mind.

He had lost consciousness due to revealing his true form while escaping the Limitless Pure Land, and that was already thirty years ago.

Even though quite some time had passed, he had not regained consciousness yet.

To a True Spirit possessing a lifespan of at least hundreds of thousands of years, thirty years would be nothing but an instant, but to him who had only lived for a few hundred years now, it felt too long.

‘To make him wake up faster… would it help if I brought him a soil-attribute spiritual object?’

He decided to obtain high-rank spiritual soil when he had the chance and pile it in the spatial pocket where Gon-ak resided, then cleaned up the battlefield and left the place.

He had briefly paused his steps due to Wi-ryeon who suddenly came looking, but his goal remained unchanged.

He headed toward the center of the city. To find the Integration spiritual object.

***

The Sacred Scale Alliance was a force powerful enough to possess as many as five hundred Unity stage Dao Sovereigns.

Its scale was so large that the races belonging to it exceeded one thousand when all combined, and precisely one of the top three races in such a Sacred Scale Alliance was the Crocodile Flood Dragon Race .

And…

“H-How can this be? Why this?”

In such a Crocodile Flood Dragon Race, a shocking event occurred.

In the pavilion where the soul tablets of the Unity stage Dao Sovereigns were gathered.

One of the soul tablets suddenly shattered to pieces, and on that soul tablet, the two characters ‘Wi-ryeon’ were written.

What this meant was clear.

“Wi-ryeon Dao Sovereign has passed away…?”

The face of the man who looked at the soul tablet split into hundreds of pieces went blank.

Except for the Great Ascension stage, the most noble existence under the sky.

An Unity stage Dao Sovereign, who had reached a mythical realm and was no different from a demigod, had died.

It was not that a war had broken out, nor had a dangerous secret realm opened.

He had suddenly died without any warning signs.

“No. There is no way this could be?”

Something was wrong.

No matter how much he thought, he could not comprehend what on earth had occurred.

The man, who stared blankly at the completely smashed soul tablet, suddenly snapped out of it.

Hurriedly running outside, he burned a voice transmission talisman.

He had to report this matter to the leader of the Crocodile Flood Dragon Race, the Patriarch.