Chapter 371: Pseudo-Immortal Treasure

Jin So-myeong tapped his scabbard.

Before making a hasty decision, he pondered once more.

Was it right to dig up a treasure of unknown identity?

He did not even know if it was truly a Heaven-Defying Treasure, and even Gon-ak, a True Spirit, had warned that it was ominous.

Extreme danger could be brought about.

“Information is lacking.”

Nothing was certain. In this kind of situation, whatever choice he made, he ultimately had no choice but to leave it to luck.

There were quite a few available options currently, but they all had clear advantages and disadvantages.

First of all, continuing to wage guerrilla warfare was not bad either.

If he pushed the enemies who had been injured by Genesis, he would be able to inflict a significant blow.

Digging up the treasure of unknown identity was also fine.

From the perspective of waging guerrilla warfare against a majority, the more variables there were, the more favorable it would be.

“Or I could hide my body for a while and focus on cultivation.”

Originally, cultivating in such a chased situation was almost impossible.

Accumulating dharmic power naturally made one’s energy unstable, and uncontrolled energy had no choice but to leak outside.

If he could not completely conceal his presence, he would be immediately tracked down. Cultivating in that situation was extremely difficult.

However, in his case, the situation was different.

Did he not have the Secret Realm of the Mind? It was also possible to cultivate secretly without worrying about energy leaking.

If he raised his realm by just one more level in the future, he would reach the 4th layer of the Unity Stage.

It meant he could break through the minor boundary and reach the mid-stage, which would make him at least twice as strong as he was now.

“Would it take about ten years?”

If he could somehow hold out for exactly ten years, his strength would surge, and his chances of winning would rise incomparably compared to now.

Like this, there were several options, but not all of them had only advantages.

One must not forget that the entrance to this secret realm was currently open.

If he dragged out time like this, the enemies might bring in reinforcements.

No matter how he looked at it, stalling for time was a bad move.

It was right to settle it in a short period of time. And to do that, a variable was needed.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a situation like this. No, is it the first time?”

Usually, when confronting an enemy, the more time dragged on, the more advantageous it became, but this time his position was different.

This was because the probability of the enemies’ strength growing was higher than him becoming stronger through cultivation.

Anyway, since he had made a decision, he did not hesitate.

He decided to go to where the True Spirit Gon-ak was and look into the treasure buried underground.

*

When he went to find Gon-ak, good news welcomed him.

“You have come. The preparations have just been finished.”

He said that the preparations to dig up the treasure, which was assumed to be a Heaven-Defying Treasure but whose identity was not yet understood, were finished.

“Already? Did you not say it would take half a day?”

“Thanks to you drawing their attention, I was able to move boldly. Thanks to that, it finished quickly.”

“Ah.”

“I have created cracks in the sand wall surrounding the treasure. It can be opened at any time.”

“That is great. By the way, could a disturbance arise when collapsing the sand wall?”

“Probably. I do not know what is inside the sand, but since it will not be an ordinary item, a great disturbance will likely occur.”

It was possible that no disturbance would occur at all, but that was not necessarily a good thing.

Because it would mean there was a high probability of it being an insignificant item.

“Let us rest for a moment and open it immediately.”

“You seem to have just returned from fighting, will you be okay?”

“Yes. Anyway, the enemies will not be intact either.”

If they were going to cause a disturbance anyway, now was the perfect time, since the enemies had been hit by Genesis and had not yet recovered.

A moment later.

He replenished the consumed Silver Lightning and fully recovered from his minor injuries.

Except for the fact that not much of his Supreme Great Ability remained, he could be considered in a fairly perfect state.

“I am ready. Please begin.”

“If what is buried down there is truly a Heaven-Defying Treasure, a massive turmoil might occur, so be careful.”

“Yes.”

Gon-ak, who had warned him in a serious tone, seeped into the ground.

How many seconds had passed?

Rumble…!

The entire secret realm shook. The vibration, which was faint at first, rapidly grew larger.

Just as he was swallowing dry saliva at the disturbance that felt as if the sky were collapsing.

Boom!

The rocky mountain where the Heaven-Defying Treasure was buried split into thousands of pieces, and a pillar of earth soared.

To think that a rocky mountain, which would require ten Unity Stage Dao Sovereigns to pour out spells for over a month to break, was shattered in an instant…

Reflexively, he unfolded his Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye,

“Ugh.”

His eyes almost burst.

Bloody tears flowed. He gritted his teeth amid the pain of his optic nerves burning up.

He restored his half-ruined eyes with his Myriad Flows Restoration divine ability and furrowed his brow.

He concentrated to grasp the identity of the object that had popped out while shattering the rocky mountain.

“An hourglass…?”

A glass vessel shaped like a slender-waisted gourd.

An instrument that measures time by dropping sand contained in the upper glass.

The object seen in his blurred vision was clearly an hourglass.

“A Pseudo-Immortal Treasure?! No, that can’t be!”

In an instant.

A massive vortex arose centering on the hourglass.

Whaaa…!

All the heaven and earth origin Qi within his field of vision was sucked into the hourglass.

A spiral vortex, which had rapidly grown, covered the sky.

Just as he opened his eyes wide at the astonishing sight extending beyond the horizon.

“Ugh.”

The energy flowing along his meridians fluctuated and went wild on its own.

Even the energy slumbering in his dantian tried to pour out, all because of the suction force generated by the hourglass.

Just as he frowned.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

The disturbance gradually grew, and the spiritual herbs scattered throughout the mountain range exploded with pop-pop-pop sounds.

They instantly turned into gas and were sucked into the hourglass, causing cold sweat to flow on its own.

Gritting his teeth tightly, he focused on managing his energy.

“This…”

It was dangerous.

The suction force grew larger and larger, to the point where it felt like all his energy would be stripped away if he let his guard down even slightly.

While he was enduring with all his might.

An immense amount of energy flowed in from beyond the horizon.

He could not help but be startled by the truly massive amount of energy, but soon realized it was a very familiar energy.

The Dao Sovereigns he had fought until just now.

It was the energy contained in the golden beads they possessed.

Seeing that sight, a smile came to his face without his realization.

Thinking that the enemies were also suffering from the suction force made his mind a bit more at ease.

He was curious about what the enemies beyond the horizon looked like, but he did not have the leisure to check.

Whaaa…!

The vortex covering the sky showed no signs of stopping.

How long did he endure the endlessly strengthening suction force?

Around the time his mind was growing hazy, the absorption that felt like it would last forever ended…

And the hourglass flipped.

* * *

“Ah?”

His hazy mind woke up at a small grain that touched and fell off his cheek.

The moment his consciousness returned.

His blurred vision became clear, and a bizarre landscape was visible.

Pitter-patter.

Something was pouring down from the sky.

Would it feel like this if a sudden heavy snowfall occurred in midsummer?

Golden powder was endlessly pouring down from the cloudless sky.

“…Sand?”

Looking closely, it was not gold powder but sand.

He raised his dharmic power to unfold a barrier.

Blocking the sand grains that poured down heavily like snowflakes, he pondered deeply.

What on earth had happened?

Tracing his memory, he recalled the hourglass that had sucked in a massive amount of energy with immense suction force.

At the brief moment he was struggling with all his might to avoid having his energy stripped away.

At some point, the hourglass flipped, and when he came to his senses, it was now.

“Has the hourglass… vanished?”

As if it had evaporated, no trace of it could be seen no matter how hard he searched.

Frowning, he turned his gaze.

He looked around to grasp the situation, and first of all, the location had not changed.

It was still the rocky mountain where they had dug up the hourglass, the treasure assumed to be a Heaven-Defying Treasure.

“What has changed? Ah, the temperature has risen.”

Sweat droplets forming on his forehead trickled down.

The cool weather had suddenly become hot, to the extent that it was burdensome even though he possessed a body comparable to a True Spirit at the Unity Stage.

The rapidly rising temperature.

The suddenly pouring sand.

While guessing what these two implied, he narrowed his eyes.

“It seems the concentration of heaven and earth origin Qi has also lowered.”

Was it because the hourglass had sucked in a massive amount of heaven and earth origin Qi?

The concentration of heaven and earth origin Qi in the air had lowered by about ten percent.

Other than that… he could not tell what exactly had changed.

Tapping his scabbard, he spoke to Gon-ak, who was frowning next to him.

“Senior. Just now, you saw the hourglass and called it a Pseudo-Immortal Treasure. By any chance, were you referring to a Rank 8 magic treasure?”

“…I am not certain either. However, no matter how I looked at it, it did not seem like an ordinary Rank 7 magic treasure.”

“Mmh.”

Was that hourglass truly a Rank 8 magic treasure?

Certainly, its energy was indeed extraordinary.

Had he not almost gone blind trying to inspect it with his Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye?

Just as he was chewing over the moment he faced the hourglass.

Gon-ak, who was carefully examining the surrounding ground, frowned.

“This is not good… The connection with the outside has been completely cut off.”

“The connection is cut off? What do you mean by that?”

“Although this place is a secret realm, it was not a perfectly independent space. There was an energy transmitted through the earth, but that has disappeared.”

The connection with the outside was cut off.

While pondering what this meant, he opened his mouth.

“The Dao Sovereigns chasing me had kept the entrance of the secret realm open by force. By any chance, does it mean that has disappeared?”

“No. It is far more serious than that. It is not just at the level of the entrance being blocked, but it feels completely severed from the outside.”

“Severed… First of all, how about we check what happened to the entrance of the secret realm?”

“That would be good. Let us go right away.”

When he went to the entrance of the secret realm with Gon-ak, the enemies, including the Heavenly Law Palace, were all gathered there.

“Is where they are standing right now the entrance?”

“Yes. But currently, the entrance has vanished entirely.”

Where the entrance used to be was blocked by a glass-like transparent barrier, and beyond the barrier was filled only with pitch-black darkness.

Certainly, it seemed that something bizarre had occurred because of the hourglass.

“By the way, everyone’s condition is not good.”

They were exchanging words with serious expressions, and their complexions were haggard.

It was not difficult to guess the reason why they were like that.

In a state where they were injured by the Genesis divine ability, they had their energy stripped away by the hourglass, which resulted in this.

His head nodded on its own.

Although it was something that occurred unintentionally, the deterioration of the enemies’ condition was a very good thing.

“Should I launch a surprise attack now?”

Just as he was debating because it seemed he could inflict a significant blow.

The remaining three hundred or so puppets lined up at a regular distance and formed a massive array.

Watching the Dao Sovereigns standing at the center of the array raising their dharmic power, he instinctively knew.

“Are they trying to pierce the entrance open again?”

Rumble…!

As three hundred Rank 7 puppets and over thirty Dao Sovereigns poured out their dharmic power, heaven and earth convulsed.

“…At that level, whether it’s a restriction or whatever, it will be shattered in one blow.”

The swirling energy was so dense that the five-colored brilliance of heaven and earth origin Qi was clearly visible to the naked eye.

If all that energy was gathered at a single point and poured out, a secret realm restriction would likely be shattered in an instant.

“Let us interfere.”

“Hmm?”

Gon-ak seemed to hope that they would pierce open an exit, but he shook his head.

“If the entrance is opened now, it will be disadvantageous to us. Let us think about escape later.”

“…I understand. Then I will draw their attention first, so step forward at the appropriate moment.”

“Understood. However, since all of them possess formidable skills, please be careful.”

“Do not worry. Anyway, this body is just a clone, so it does not matter even if I receive a fatal wound.”

After briefly exchanging their plan, they immediately kicked off the ground.

He did not know what kind of changes had arisen due to the hourglass, but at any rate, the situation was not bad.

“I must make a proper mess.”

While secretly narrowing the distance, he unfolded his Lightning Insight Spell-Breaking Eye.

He debated where to aim to inflict the most fatal blow.