Chapter 47 – Foundation Establishment-Grade Storage Pouch

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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【Consuming 10 Supreme Great Ability spheres will preserve the contents.】

“Absorb.”

The moment Jin So-myeong emitted his will while looking at the storage pouch left by the Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivator.

A mysterious wave swallowed the storage pouch, and the sub-space expanded rapidly.

The space, which was originally eight or nine pyeong, became ten times wider.

‘Oh!’

At this size, even large demonic beasts could be put in whole.

The joyful Jin So-myeong scanned the newly created items.

He was curious what treasures the Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivator would possess.

He first opened a few wooden boxes, and a fishy smell wafted out. They were filled with the corpses of unnamed insects.

‘Ugh.’

It was disgusting that they wriggled slightly as if they were alive. Leaving them in a sealed state again, he threw them into a corner of the sub-space.

“Sigh.”

He had roughly anticipated it from seeing the old Foundation Establishment monster’s combat style, but now it was almost certain.

‘He was a demonic cultivator who practiced a demonic path cultivation method.’

While leaving the insect corpses alone and continuing to search, at that moment.

‘It is a jade slip!’

He picked up the fist-sized jade stone and paused just as he was about to place it to his forehead.

Thinking about it, since he now possessed Divine Sense, there was no need to place it directly to his forehead.

The moment he focused his Divine Sense on the jade slip.

Hundred Demons Control Art .

Starting with the five characters, numerous oral formulas followed.

‘A cultivation method compiling the secret transmissions of controlling a hundred fiends.’

For some reason, it felt unpleasant, but he did not stop scanning it.

He had to know what kind of cultivation method it was to choose whether to learn it or not.

‘It is certainly powerful.’

The one handled by the old Foundation Establishment monster whom Jin So-myeong had killed was just a single Rotting Shadow Fiend that controlled the power of decay.

Yet he was that strong.

It was difficult to even imagine how powerful he would be if he controlled all one hundred fiends.

However, the Hundred Demons Control Art had severe side effects.

‘To think one’s mind twists every time one controls a fiend.’

If one employed a Rotting Shadow Fiend, one would feel pleasure every time one killed.

If one’s resolve was even slightly weak, they would fall into pleasure and become a historic slaughterer.

“…”

He did not feel inclined at all.

Setting aside whether the power was strong or weak, the fact itself that his mind would twist did not please him.

‘If I lose my sense of self, I will become a slave to the cultivation method. What meaning is there in becoming strong.’

Toss.

Losing interest, he set down the jade slip. He reached his hand toward a jade slip other than the Hundred Demons Control Art.

As a result of examining every single jade slip meticulously without omission.

One point he was inwardly curious about was resolved.

‘Only by opening the Ghost Eye can one see the resentment smeared on a soul.’

Jin So-myeong did not forget what the old Foundation Establishment monster had said. He had definitely said he chased him upon seeing his disciple’s resentment.

It meant there was something that he, as he was now, could not detect.

He had been curious about this point, and came to know what was going on through the jade slip.

‘Resentment…’

Negative emotions. This was a field specialized for demonic cultivators.

They could carve a mark by pouring all kinds of ill will toward the opponent just before death.

As it was a curse desired while facing death, it was tenacious and vicious, and such energy was a highly useful resource for demonic cultivators.

‘Sigh.’

Now demonic cultivators who saw the resentment smeared on Jin So-myeong’s soul would drool and rush at him.

It was practically no different from having a bounty on him.

‘This has become troublesome.’

It was not that there was no solution.

If he learned a demonic cultivation art, he could instead utilize this resentment to handle powerful spells.

‘Or… I can detect the resentment and detach it directly.’

If his Divine Sense became stronger than now, the resentment smeared on his soul would also be visible.

At that time, it was also possible to slice it away using Sword Qi.

In any case, since there were many solutions, there was no need to worry too much.

‘Next are spirit stones?’

Rummaging through the sub-space, Jin So-myeong was disappointed.

This was because the number of spirit stones was too small.

‘Only 47?’

For the wealth of a Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivator, it was too small. As much as his expectations had been high, his energy drained.

Just as he clicked his tongue and was about to move on, he paused.

Something was strange.

That each and every spirit stone emitted a brilliant color…

‘Mid-grade? Could they be mid-grade spirit stones?’

Swish!

The moment he pulled out a thick spirit stone and gripped it in his hand.

His body trembled.

High-density concentrated spiritual Qi was felt. Absorbing just this one was far better than most spiritual medicines.

It was certain.

It was definitely a mid-grade spirit stone, a precious resource said to be used only by Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivators!

‘It’s a jackpot.’

Ordinary spirit stones were actually called low-grade spirit stones. One had to gather more than a hundred low-grade spirit stones to exchange for one mid-grade spirit stone.

Forty-seven mid-grade spirit stones were practically equivalent to 4,700 ordinary spirit stones.

‘This is how it should be!’

He barely suppressed the cheer that tried to burst out naturally. Leaving behind the laughter leaking out, he continued to search the sub-space.

‘A sword?’

Pulling it out from the sub-space, he examined it closely.

At a glance, it was not a Rank 1 dharma treasure. It was unusual that it floated in the air by itself while emitting a desolate energy.

He tried injecting spiritual Qi, but fitting for a Rank 2 dharma treasure, it did not react.

This was because Jin So-myeong’s level was insufficient.

‘Hmm… There was a reason why the old monster used spells as his main focus.’

If the spiritual Qi consumption was this large, it could not be used inside the secret realm where the realm was restricted to Qi Condensation.

Jin So-myeong, who was scratching his chin, glanced down.

Looking at the Limitless Divine Sword hanging at his waist, his mouth felt bitter.

This sword would eventually fail to keep up with his training and become a nuisance.

Just as he felt somewhat regretful.

Buzz!

A clear sword cry echoed. The slightly vibrating Limitless Divine Sword revealed a faint spirituality.

“…You want to eat it?”

The Limitless Divine Sword’s intention was clear. It wanted the Rank 2 flying sword floating before it.

He was slightly taken aback. This was because he did not expect the Limitless Divine Sword to manifest its will.

It felt as if the faint spirituality had suddenly grown stronger.

‘Could it be that it absorbed that pure white flame along with me?’

After thinking for a moment, Jin So-myeong picked up the Rank 2 flying sword.

The moment he carefully brought it close to the Limitless Divine Sword.

Crack!

The Rank 2 flying sword split. There was no time to even react.

As he collected his flustered mind and inspected it, the Rank 2 flying sword had turned into scrap metal before he knew it.

It had completely lost its spirituality and become ordinary scrap metal.

“Hah.”

It was absurd, but he was not angry. Had the Limitless Divine Sword not given him great help in the meantime?

What changes occurred in the Limitless Divine Sword that had absorbed the Rank 2 dharma treasure was more important.

Shring…

He closely examined the pitch-black sword darker than a shadow.

The clean blade, enough to reflect his face, was still the same. Carefully stroking the sword face, he took his stance.

Swish!

A simple downward strike.

A surprising result returned from an ordinary strike that did not even contain Sword Qi.

Rumble!

A tree that was ten meters away split diagonally.

A thick log, too large for an adult man to wrap around with both arms, was cut by a simple sword wind.

‘…Could it have reached the Rank 2 level?’

The change that occurred in the Limitless Divine Sword was simple yet powerful.

It had become sharper and sturdier!

Jin So-myeong, sheathing the sword carefully, smiled. With a satisfied heart, he stroked the scabbard and wore it at his waist.

Next, he continued to examine the storage pouch, and there were many miscellaneous dharma treasures besides the Rank 2 flying sword.

Scanning through, he nodded.

‘Not bad. There are many useful things.’

His favorite was an orb that concealed presence.

This bead named Stealth Orb activated just by holding it on his person, and was effective even at the Foundation Establishment level.

Since it was a Rank 2 dharma treasure, it could not be used inside the secret realm, but there was a high probability it would be extremely useful once he left.

‘Good.’

After examining the entire sub-space, he left the place.

It was to gather as many treasures as possible until the secret realm closed.

***

Before long, a month had passed since the secret realm opened.

‘It ends today.’

Jin So-myeong, who was smiling, scanned the sub-space.

The space, which had increased tenfold, was full. It was packed with various demonic beast meats and spiritual herbs.

Since he had also obtained two more Foundation Establishment spiritual objects, making it seven in total, it went without saying.

With this amount of resources, it would be sufficient to train until he reached Foundation Establishment.

‘I should head out soon.’

With a motion.

After disguising himself as an ordinary rogue cultivator by wearing the Faceless Mask.

He headed toward the exit he had found a few days ago.

The exit was a spacious hill, and as a faint crack shimmered in the air, it seemed it would open soon.

Gazing at the hill where hundreds of people had already gathered, he walked forward confidently.

“…Alone?”

“He looks quite strong.”

All kinds of gazes flew his way, but he did not respond to each one. He simply placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and quietly closed his eyes.

Just as the searching gazes withdrew one by one at his calm attitude, at that moment.

A whispering voice was heard.

“He looks like a rogue cultivator at a glance… shall we rob him?”

“Nonsense! Can’t you tell by looking? He’s a sword cultivator.”

“…A rogue cultivator is a sword cultivator? Can one cultivate Sword Qi without proper teaching?”

“Quiet. A fellow like that is a headache. Don’t touch him.”

Glance.

When Jin So-myeong looked in their direction, the expressions of the whispering men froze stiff.

Smiling awkwardly, they fled just like that.

Was it thanks to that? The annoying gazes vanished completely.

From then on, it was comfortable.

Waiting for a long while for the exit to open while quietly meditating.

Rumble!

Along with the vibration of the earth shaking, the crack in the air expanded rapidly.

A dark vortex formed, just like when they entered the secret realm.

“It’s open!”

“Ugh. We can finally leave this tedious place!”

The waiting cultivators threw themselves toward the vortex one by one.

Jin So-myeong also ran after them while keeping guard over his surroundings.

Flash!

Simultaneously with a slight dizziness.

A scenery similar to a month ago unfolded.

What was visible as soon as he exited was a massive crowd.

The gazes pouring down as if targeting prey were blatant. In particular, some covert gazes were definitely Foundation Establishment-level Divine Senses.

“…”

His brow furrowed at the vivid greed.

Ordinarily, he would have been received the help of the Red Yang Sect’s Foundation Establishment elder here at the end, but the situation had changed.

He felt that staying with the Red Yang Sect now would bring more harm than benefit.

Looking around, Jin So-myeong moved according to his plan.

Approaching the Golden Core sword cultivator from the Giant Sword Sect, he cupped his hands.

“Senior. I have gathered five Foundation Establishment spiritual objects. I would like to exchange them for a Foundation Establishment Pill.”

“Hmm.”

The brow of the Golden Core sword cultivator, who was only nodding his head with arms crossed, twitched.

Opening his eyes slowly, he stared straight at Jin So-myeong. Scanning even the sword worn at his waist, he smiled faintly.

“Did you cut down a demonic seed?”

“…Yes.”

After hesitating for a moment, Jin So-myeong answered honestly.

This was because he did not think he could deceive a Golden Core sword cultivator who had reached the 3rd realm.

“Well done. Those pests must be cut down whenever they are seen. Had it not been for the agreement, I would have killed them long ago…”

Fortunately, the result was good.

The attitude of the Golden Core sword cultivator, who had seemed uninterested in the affairs of the world, changed.

He did not know the reason, but it seemed he liked him.

‘Is it because I killed a demonic cultivator?’

While pondering the relationship between the Giant Sword Sect and demonic sects, at that moment.

A low voice was heard.

“Since you have gathered the Foundation Establishment spiritual objects, I will give you a choice. Right now, a demonic seed’s resentment is smeared on your soul. If you wish, I will slice it away. However, in this case, I cannot give you the Foundation Establishment Pill.”

He shook his head to the Golden Core sword cultivator looking at him intently as if telling him to decide.

“Senior, I am sorry, but I need the Foundation Establishment Pill more.”

“Good! A sword cultivator should be like that.”

The Golden Core sword cultivator who replied briefly closed his eyes again. Though he wore the same expressionless face as before, for some reason he seemed to be in a good mood.

It seemed he liked the choice Jin So-myeong had made.

‘…No, if you shut your mouth like this, what am I supposed to do?’

Even though he had not been able to exchange for the Foundation Establishment Pill yet, the Golden Core sword cultivator stiffened like a stone statue and entered meditation.

Just as he was worrying whether he should disturb the meditating senior, at that moment.

A Giant Sword Sect disciple who approached quietly whispered.

“Daoist Friend. Come this way. You can give the Foundation Establishment spiritual objects to me.”

“…Right here?”

“Yes. It is fine.”

He glanced at the Golden Core sword cultivator, but there was no response. It was an implicit agreement that the disciple’s words were correct.

The moment he pulled out five Foundation Establishment spiritual objects from the storage pouch he wore for disguise.

The gazes of everyone waiting at the exit focused intently, and.

“Argh!”

A tearing scream was heard.

At the same time, a fountain of blood erupted from the eyes of a certain old Foundation Establishment monster.

The tottering old monster trembled with a pale face.

“Groan… Thank you for your mercy.”

Even though he had become blind in an instant, he did not get angry. Rather, he bowed his head repeatedly and expressed gratitude.

“Hmph.”

Only after hearing the cold sneer of the Golden Core sword cultivator did he realize what had happened.

He had sent a warning to someone who coveted the Foundation Establishment spiritual objects that had become the property of the Giant Sword Sect.

Cultivators who had been looking in this direction turned their heads in terror.

“Daoist Friend. Here is the Foundation Establishment Pill. If you wish, I will escort you to the nearby market.”

“Ah.”

Jin So-myeong, who was staring as if possessed at the Golden Core sword cultivator’s strike, snapped out of it.

He carefully received the jade box offered by the Giant Sword Sect disciple.

The Foundation Establishment Pill.

He had finally obtained what he had wished for awake or asleep!