Chapter 345: The Gardener
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Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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***
The Rank 7 sacred treasure, the Twilight Polar Sword.
It was the name of the sword Jin So-myeong received from the Sacred Scale Alliance.
‘A marvelous color…’
The blade was basically silver, but when light reflected off it, the color continuously shifted from golden-red to purple.
When swung rapidly, sword light resembling twilight was left behind like an afterimage, and looking at that mass of light, one’s divine soul would shake, making their mind go blank.
To summarize the ability possessed by the Twilight Polar Sword in a single word,
it could be called a sword that collapsed the boundaries of phenomena.
Put nicely, it was an experimental work, and put badly, it was a failure.
Should he say it aimed for too high an ideal?
If one properly wielded the Twilight Polar Sword, beyond collapsing the boundaries of phenomena, they could even flip statuses at will.
For example, if one collapsed the boundary between life and death, even a mere brush of the blade could lead to death.
And worthy of a Rank 7 magic treasure, the blade was also sufficiently sharp and sturdy.
But why was such a powerful sword called a failure?
In fact, this sword was crafted to shave off the enemy’s lifespan, and it actually succeeded.
It had become possible to shave off lifespan even with just a tiny scratch.
However, because that figure was too faint, it was meaningless in battle. It would only provoke the opponent’s anger.
That was why it was called a failure, but…
to Jin So-myeong who possessed Limitless, it was an irrelevant story.
That the ability to shave off lifespan could not exert its proper strength was because the rank of the sword was lacking.
But since Limitless could grow endlessly, this strange ability could also be developed to the extreme.
Therefore, even though he could have chosen other magic treasures, he selected this sword.
‘It also aligns well with my Yin-Yang Reversal.’
Even excluding the ability to shave off lifespan, he judged that it could be used usefully in actual battle.
Just as he was stroking the blade and nodding his head.
Buzz, buzz!
The snow-white cotton candy…no, Limitless…nestled beside him coaxed him to hurry and give it the sword.
“Ah, right. This is yours.”
It was Limitless that had demanded the Rank 7 sword from the Sacred Scale Alliance.
As he smirked and handed over the Twilight Polar Sword, Limitless, utilizing Sword Qi like telekinesis, floated the sword in midair.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Holding the longsword larger than its own body, it drew a large circle over ten times.
An extremely determined emotion was transmitted, like a general heading to the battlefield.
“Wait a moment, take this too.”
Condensing sharp energy to form a sword shape, he poured in all of his Supreme Great Ability.
!!!
Limitless, which greedily swallowed the sharpness crafted from the Supreme Great Ability, drew a circle dozens of meters wide and then crossed over to the Secret Realm of the Mind.
It went to absorb the Twilight Polar Sword and raise its rank.
He wished to watch from the side, but absorbing the Twilight Polar Sword would take at least a year.
Therefore, deciding to go and check whenever he had spare time, he concentrated on what would be good to do next.
‘First, I must try growing the Golden Yang Splendid Leaves and the Purple Cloud Immortal Herbs brought from the Sacred Scale Alliance.’
If he could mass-produce the two spiritual herbs, he could mass-produce cultivation pills.
In truth, the Golden Yang Splendid Leaves and the Purple Cloud Immortal Herbs given by the Sacred Scale Alliance were in a modified state so that they would not produce seeds.
So that even if the spiritual herbs were leaked, they could not be propagated.
Therefore, it should end with growing them once, but…
since he possessed the Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability, he had no worries.
He could revive even a spiritual herb of which only the root remained, so what kind of problem would a slightly modified spiritual herb be?
Restoring it to a perfectly fine state was a simple task.
The method of compounding the two spiritual herbs to make the Golden Yang Immortal Dew?
In truth, this was also somewhat classified, but since he had already obtained the recipe from the Sacred Scale Alliance, there was no need to worry.
‘After mass-producing the cultivation pills… I must raise the proficiency of the Nine Successes Golden Body Art.’
In the current situation, the method that could most significantly pull up his combat power was raising his body tempering realm to Rank 7.
***
A certain remote sea.
In that quiet and peaceful place where only the sound of crashing waves and honking sea birds existed.
Boom!!
Out of nowhere, a roaring sound like a bomb exploding resounded, and a middle-aged man with disheveled hair appeared.
Gritting his teeth as he traversed the void like crazy, he checked his rear, and his complexion turned noticeably dark.
“Damn it.”
Rapidly scanning the surroundings, he landed on an island as large as a continent in the middle of the sea.
When he roughly struck his storage pouch, one hundred and eight indigo iron pillars poured out.
Thump!
The iron pillars scattered in all directions were driven into the void and fixed, vibrating and resonating.
At that moment.
The sky, bright as broad daylight, was dyed with darkness.
Whoosh!
A heavy downpour poured from the dark clouds that gathered in an instant, and the entire sea boiled as waterspouts shot up here and there.
Rumble!
Just as thousands of waterspouts rising higher than the clouds began to rampage like crazy.
The middle-aged man, who deployed a formation and stood in battle readiness, glared at the sky.
“Damn it! Just why is the Heavenly Law Palace chasing me! What did I do wrong!”
Anger and resentment.
At the split second the fear he failed to conceal resounded.
The dark clouds covering the entire sky split to both sides, and sunlight poured down.
In that place, clearly opened like a broad boulevard,
a young man with a neat impression like a young nobleman appeared.
In the typhoon where rain and wind raged, without a single drop of water touching him, he said calmly:
“You may feel aggrieved, but what can you do? I am not a person who judges right and wrong.”
“What…?”
“A rumor was circulating. That you possess a Heaven-Defying Treasure.”
The middle-aged man, who slightly trembled at his fingertips, firmed his eyes.
“What kind of bullshit! You chased me just because of such nonsense?”
The middle-aged man was about to go crazy with grievance, but the young man was calm from beginning to end.
“I did not come to converse with you.”
Leisurely putting his hands behind his back, he continued without displaying any emotion:
“Just hand over the Heaven-Defying Treasure meekly. Then I will end it cleanly. In fact, torture is troublesome for me too. Searching the memories of an Unity stage cultivator is tiring.”
The gaze of the middle-aged man, who wore a bewildered expression, turned fierce.
“You…! A beard-less brat is truly arrogant beyond measure! Being at the mid Unity stage just like me! Do you think I fled because I feared a fellow like you!”
“Oh. Was it not so?”
“Humph. I fled because of that old monster who was following behind you. But now that old monster is nowhere to be seen.”
The moment killing intent flashed in his cold eyes.
Whoosh!
Sharpness was contained in the heavy rain pouring from the dark clouds.
Over hundreds of millions of raindrops became sharp as awls, rushing in while drawing a spiral.
The waterspouts that rose high into the sky also did not stay still.
Rumble!
Raising their rotation speed, they let out a bone-chilling roar.
A mountain peak on the island was sucked into that immense vortex, and unable to endure even a moment, it turned to powder.
As the Unity stage Dao Sovereign did his best, the peaceful sea turned into a hell in an instant.
In a scenery where it would not be strange if the world was destroyed right away.
The young man, who snorted, took a step forward.
At that extremely light movement,
all anomalies vanished.
Nay, an event several times more bizarre occurred.
First, the sea evaporated.
The water, vast enough to create a horizon, disappeared without a trace.
The dark clouds covering the sky also scattered to pieces and vanished,
Crash!
and the middle-aged man, who conjured the apocalyptic scenery, was slammed into the ground.
“Ugh! What magic power…”
As if trampled by something invisible and massive, he was buried deep in the ground and could not rise.
It was something that occurred solely because of the overwhelming difference in magic power.
“Do you think that because our realms are the same, our strength is also the same?”
At the mockery of the young man who descended leisurely from the sky while still keeping his hands behind his back, the middle-aged man gritted his teeth.
Crack!
A sound of joints twisting resounded simply by moving a tiny bit.
The moment he clenched his fist as if to do something.
“Humph.”
A snort as if it was pathetic followed,
Crunch!
and every single bone, including shoulders, limbs, and spine, was completely shattered.
Because the pressure weighing down his entire body grew dozens of times stronger.
“…!”
The middle-aged man, who was unable to even let out a groan, widened his eyes.
Around the time despair harbored in his eyes, which had turned red as all capillaries burst.
The young man, who approached right before him, lightly kicked his fist with his toe.
Thud!
The part above the wrist. Flesh and bone disappeared as if evaporating, and the round pill he had been desperately grasping was revealed.
“You should have handed it over earlier. Making me use strength for no reason.”
The young man, who floated the pill into the air, narrowed his eyes.
“Is this the Immortal-Extinguishing Pill?”
Examining the pill with his eyes flickering with blue light, he turned his gaze. Looking at the empty void, he said:
“How is it? Is it truly a Heaven-Defying Treasure?”
Who was he speaking to?
The doubt did not last very long.
Because the empty void fluctuated and a large crane appeared, on which an old man was lying stretched out.
The old man, Gok Man, who was sipping wine from a calabash bottle, glanced at the Immortal-Extinguishing Pill and shook his head.
“How could that be? It is a fake, not the genuine article. Even if consumed, it will only amplify magic power three or four times and end there. Although it is a fairly useful object, it is not a Heaven-Defying Treasure.”
“Tsk. A pity.”
“Yoo Cheon. Have I not told you several times? The Heaven-Defying Treasures remaining in this world are all fake. So you do not need to work too hard.”
As the old man’s uniquely slow words ended, the young man called Yoo Cheon flicked his fingers.
Snap!
Snuffing out the breath of the middle-aged man who was still alive and squirming, he snorted.
“If there truly are no Heaven-Defying Treasures, why would the superiors employ people like us? Since they exist somewhere, they painstakingly maintain a faction.”
The goal of the Heavenly Law Palace, the organization they belonged to, was clear.
To verify and dispose of the Heaven-Defying Treasures circulating in the world.
If the Heaven-Defying Treasures were all fake, the Heavenly Law Palace had no need to be maintained.
Thus, Yoo Cheon’s doubt was reasonable.
The silent old man let out a sigh.
“I also had times when I thought like you. But it is not so.”
“…”
“With three million years ago as the last, there are no Heaven-Defying Treasures in this world. It has already been decided so. And… the reason the elders employ us is not because of that.”
Around the time Yoo Cheon narrowed his eyes, a self-mocking voice followed:
“We are just gardeners.”
“Gardeners? What do you mean by that?”
“When raising a tree, occasionally a single branch sprouts out. Have you seen it?”
“…”
“That is precisely what we do. Trimming the branch that popped out so it looks good. So that it does not harm the aesthetics of the garden.”
Yoo Cheon frowned as if he could not accept it, but the old man’s tone was unchanged.
“It is neither more nor less than that, so do not get too worked up.”
“Humph. Yet you yourself cultivated up to the late Unity stage. It means you searched for the Heaven-Defying Treasure harder than anyone. Otherwise, how would you have afforded those massive cultivation resources?”
“…”
“And yet you tell me to leisurely fish for time. I am sorry, but I cannot do that.”
The old man simply nodded without a word and did not bother to refute.
At the peaceful sight of him only sipping wine, Yoo Cheon, unable to bear it, spoke as if snapping:
“Since all senior did today was follow loosely and drink wine, today’s merit is entirely mine. Do you understand?”
“Do so.”
As he nodded as if it was nothing, Yoo Cheon’s face crumpled violently.
“Damn it. You are truly shameless. Just how long do you intend to act lazy? Do you know that I handled all missions alone over the past three hundred years?”
“…Did I do that?”
“Yes. You did.”
“I am sorry. But what can I do when I am old and even raising my body is difficult? Let our capable junior trouble himself a bit.”
Yoo Cheon closed his eyes tightly. Just as his long-cultivated patience was being tested.
The transmission talisman in his chest delivered a message.
Yoo Cheon, who paused to examine the transmission talisman, narrowed his eyes.
“They say another person possessing a Heaven-Defying Treasure has appeared. It is strangely frequent lately.”
Information about Baek Myo-hwa and Jin So-myeong was contained in the transmission talisman; handling Baek Myo-hwa was assigned to another team, and their share was Jin So-myeong.
“Ho. Judging by the divine abilities he possesses, they say the possibility of him having a Heaven-Defying Treasure is extremely high.”
Yoo Cheon, who was reading down the information about Jin So-myeong, curled one corner of his mouth.