Chapter 54 – Secret of the Limitless Divine Sword

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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***

Just how many people had Jin So-myeong cut down while fleeing with all his might?

Due to his rapid speed, the terrain constantly changed. He crossed not only canyons but also rivers as wide as the sea.

“Block him! You must absolutely not let him escape!”

Irritation surged at the faintly heard shouting.

The pursuit of the Thousand Corpses Sect was far more persistent than expected.

In particular, it was highly tricky that they immediately noticed and reacted even when he changed direction.

‘This won’t do. I do not know how they are tracking me, but I must resolve that first.’

Otherwise, it seemed he would not be able to escape from this situation.

Gauging his spiritual power, of which about half remained, he came to a stop. He intended to fight a battle while he still had the strength to resist.

“…”

Jin So-myeong, who contemplated something for a moment, took out a red round pill from his sub-space.

The Rank 1 Longevity-Extending Pill.

Without hesitation, he tossed the secret elixir that extended lifespan into his mouth.

Suppressing the dense vital energy spreading from inside his stomach, he waited silently when,

“Whew. It has been a long time since I had such tiresome work. Young Master, since I even used my lifespan to track that fellow, you must reward me properly.”

“Haha. Do not worry. That fellow is a sword cultivator.”

“A sword cultivator? What does that matter…”

“I recently practiced a secret technique, and with this secret technique, I can refine a sword cultivator into a living Jiangshi while maintaining the Sword Qi they possess.”

“Ho. If it succeeds, it will be helpful when dealing with the Giant Sword Sect. In particular, that fellow seems quite strong, so he will likely become a good Jiangshi.”

“Though I do need to do some experimentation with a living Foundation Establishment sword cultivator…”

The disciples of the Thousand Corpses Sect, who had gotten close enough to be visible, surrounded Jin So-myeong.

It was not easy.

There was a large crowd of over twenty people, and since a few mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators were also visible, it was even more bleak.

‘…Still, I know who I must kill.’

At the moment when he glanced at the old man in a gray long robe complaining that he had used his lifespan to track him,

the Young Master, who arrogantly raised his chin, evaluated Jin So-myeong openly as if he were a caught fish.

“The Giant Sword Sect fellows have too fierce personalities, so capturing them is not easy. However, since that fellow is a rogue cultivator, he will know the value of his life.”

“Indeed.”

“Hey. If you understand, give up now. Even if you become a Jiangshi, isn’t it better than dying. …Hm?”

At the moment when the Young Master mocked him, twisting the corners of his mouth,

Jin So-myeong suddenly extended his hand.

“You.”

Pointing at the fellow with his finger, he spoke calmly.

“Out of everyone here, I will make sure to kill you.”

“…Ha! As expected of a sword cultivator, unable to grasp the situation— Ugh?!”

The Young Master, who was snorting, twisted his body in shock. It was due to the hidden energy that shot out from Jin So-myeong’s fingertips.

A gray bead shot toward the heart grazed the fellow’s shoulder and passed by.

The Young Master, distorting his face, leaped back, and several disciples guarded him.

“Young Master! Are you alright?”

“I am fine. It only grazed me.”

Jin So-myeong chuckled toward the Young Master, who was groping his own body with an uncomfortable expression.

He shouted as if to let everyone who surrounded him hear.

“What you were just hit with is a hidden weapon refined from pill toxins. If it even grazes you, breaking through realms will become several times harder.”

Startled, the disciples took a step back one by one with uneasy expressions.

“…Pill toxins?”

“The poison generated from consuming medicinal pills? He refined a hidden weapon with that?”

The firm siege network loosened up significantly.

Nobody wanted their cultivation to become difficult due to pill toxins. That was a truly terrible thing.

“It is a bluff! Where in the world would such a hidden weapon exist! Everyone, do not worry and maintain the siege. Even if it is true, I will resolve it somehow…”

At the very moment the Young Master bellowed to maintain morale,

Rumble!!

Out of nowhere, lightning struck.

Along with intense heat that melted the earth, dark red lightning wrapped around the Limitless Divine Sword.

Sizzle…!

A chilling sound was heard from the ground melted by the aftermath alone. The startled Thousand Corpses Sect disciples retreated in leaps and shouted.

“The fellow is struggling desperately! Widen the distance!”

“Protect the Young Master!”

Being demonic cultivators tempered by war, they were agile. In an instant, they built a solid defensive formation to protect the Young Master.

However, the place Jin So-myeong targeted was not that side in the first place.

Boom!

Simultaneously with the lightning emitting a brilliant flash, his figure disappeared.

He charged toward the old man in a gray long robe who was watching from a distance.

“No!”

Several disciples who reacted late tried to block him, but it was already too late.

Rumble!

The Limitless Divine Sword wrapped in lightning drew a half-moon,

and the old man who tracked Jin So-myeong turned into pieces of flesh without even leaving a scream.

“Eek!”

Although the Young Master’s face crumpled like a broken glass window, Jin So-myeong’s complexion was not entirely bright either.

‘Five years flew away in that blow just now.’

Although a brilliant radiance erupted from the lightning mixed with Sword Qi, this was a light that burned his lifespan.

He must absolutely not drag it out.

Growing impatient at the rapidly disappearing Rank 1 Longevity-Extending Pill energy, Jin So-myeong swung his sword.

Boom, boom, boom!

He scattered Sword Qi mixed with lightning in all directions.

Because someone frightened by the wild momentum retreated, the siege network naturally collapsed.

“What are you doing! Block him! Even at the cost of your lives, block him!”

The Young Master shouted like mad, but how could that be easy?

Nobody tried to stand in front of him.

Whoosh!

He converted all the remaining Longevity-Extending Pill energy into blood energy to accelerate.

It was finished if he widened the distance like this and hid using the Stealth Orb.

Slash!

At the moment when he cut down a nameless cultivator who was retreating in confusion and broke through the siege network utilizing his strong physical body,

“Eek! Useless fellows! Once we return, I will punish everyone severely!”

Simultaneously with the Young Master gritting his teeth and tapping his waist,

an ominous black coffin popped out.

Creak!

A sound like moving a heavy rock was heard. A corpse rotting smell drifted from the slowly opened coffin.

The moment the pale-looking man sleeping inside the coffin opened his eyes,

Thud!

a heavy energy pressed down on his shoulders, making him almost cough up blood.

He was shocked because he had felt this kind of intimidation only once in his life.

‘Rank 3! It is Golden Core-grade energy!’

His feet, which had been moving ceaselessly, froze solid.

He felt like a pinned insect. It was hard to even budge a hand under the unknown pressure.

He forced his creaking head to turn and stared at the Young Master.

No, the fellow was not what was important right now.

The corpse-like man who appeared from the coffin, standing right next to the Young Master, was the culprit of this situation.

“Absurd. Did you wake me up just to capture a mere kid like that.”

“Corpse King. I have no face, but please. Ah! You must absolutely keep him alive.”

“Tsk. Seeing your father’s face, I will grant the request.”

When the pale man with no trace of blood extended his hand, he felt as if the entire world was collapsing.

The energy tightening from all directions pressured him, making it hard to even breathe.

‘Ugh!’

Even his spiritual power shrank under the energy he could not resist at all, but he did not give up.

He could not be captured tamely like this.

He made up his mind to resist with all his might without thinking about the aftermath.

Grit.

He bit his tongue to awaken his fading consciousness, and ran wild the five viscera that had evolved into spiritual organs.

Going beyond the already depleted Rank 1 Longevity-Extending Pill energy, he sacrificed his actual lifespan to draw up the Supreme Great Ability.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

In an instant, Sword Qi that reached an uncontrollable state soared along the blade.

At the moment when he forcibly swallowed the rising blood and tightly gripped the Limitless Divine Sword wrapped in brilliant light,

“No, that is not how a sword is used.”

along with a clear voice that was suddenly heard,

the Limitless Divine Sword slipped from his grasp and floated into the air on its own.

The smooth movement was so natural that he only perceived it after losing the sword.

“Ah.”

Jin So-myeong, who looked down at his empty hand, raised his gaze.

A robe as white as snow, red pupils. Long hair that reached her waist and fluttered in the wind.

The figure of the woman who appeared like an illusion and held the Limitless Divine Sword was engraved as if stuck in his eyes.

A strange presence dominated the entire battlefield.

Nobody dared to move. Even the man who had reached Rank 3 was the same.

“Isn’t the waste too severe? A sword is…”

From top to bottom.

A ordinary single strike, not even holding Sword Qi. That was the end of it.

“must be concise.”

Not to mention the Rank 3 who had been flaunting his terrifying momentum, all the remaining nearly twenty cultivators,

were split vertically and fell to the ground.

With a single lightly swung sword, the world fell silent…

The only ones remaining were Jin So-myeong, the mysterious woman, and the Young Master who was shivering in fear.

The woman, who glanced at Jin So-myeong with her red pupils, clicked her tongue.

“What is that state of yours? Do you intend to fight and die?”

“…”

“Actions become habits, and eventually nature. To think you tried to exchange your life with such an idiot.”

As she snapped coldly and lightly brushed her hand, a warm energy permeated Jin So-myeong’s lower abdomen.

Startled, he caressed the vicinity of his dantian; the spiritual power that had been running wild due to the rampage from consuming lifespan grew peaceful.

The woman who appeared from the Limitless Divine Sword had done something for him.

At that moment, she let out a sigh as if some difficult matter had arisen, and swung the sword,

Clang!

and the void split open.

Beyond the crack split along the sword’s trajectory, an exotic scenery was visible. It had connected to a place he did not even know where it was!

At that astounding authority, Jin So-myeong, who was about to say something, shut his mouth.

Because there was too much he wanted to ask, he did not know what question to ask instead.

“I will send you to a distant place, so leave. Since I have revealed my power, there is nothing good in remaining here.”

Whoosh!

Jin So-myeong faltered at the intense suction force generated from the crack.

He felt as if he would be sucked in by the strange pressure. He could know whose power it was without asking.

‘Ugh.’

Forcibly resisting the suction force, he looked straight at the woman who appeared from the sword and asked.

“Limitless Divine Sword…? No, how should I call you!”

He had only asked for a name, but there was no answer. She, who was silent for a long time, turned away completely.

Did it mean he did not even have the right to know?

For some reason, his strength drained. Just as he was inwardly disappointed,

– My name is Hong Seol.

A voice as cold as a sword rang in his head. It was a voice transmission using Divine Sense!

After that.

without even having the gap to ask any question, Jin So-myeong was sucked beyond the spatial crack…

Hong Seol glanced away.

She stared with cold eyes at the Young Master, who was trembling and could not even raise his head.

“What are you doing standing there blankly.”

“…Y-Yes?”

“Get lost! Go and wait for the day you will die by my disciple’s hand.”

The Young Master, whose face turned pale, fled in a hurry, and Hong Seol, left alone, slowly shifted her gaze.

Staring at the place where Jin So-myeong had departed, she exhaled a sigh.

“Without trials, one cannot reach the Dao… I hope you survive.”

It was unknown who she was speaking to.

At first listen, it seemed like an advice to Jin So-myeong, but somehow it also felt like a promise to herself.

She, who murmured alone, glared at the sky and then vanished like an illusion.

***

Meanwhile.

Jin So-myeong, who was sucked into the void crack, grabbed his throbbing head.

‘Ugh.’

His field of vision shifted rapidly, making it impossible to gather his wits.

From a volcano where a giant slept to a green plain, and an ancient castle covered in snow. The scenery constantly changed.

He instinctively realized: he was currently moving to an extremely distant place.

Just as he was forcibly suppressing the feeling of wanting to vomit,

“Ah.”

his spinning field of vision snapped to a halt. Jin So-myeong, who arrived in a dense forest before he knew it, suddenly gathered his senses.

He hastily scanned the surroundings, but there was nothing that looked dangerous.

Chirp… chirp…

Judging by the faintly heard bird sounds, it was clearly a place where living creatures could live.

Slightly relieved, he inspected his body condition.

There was no particular place that hurt, but since he had run wild by consuming his lifespan, he had to check thoroughly.

【Jin So-myeong】

【Lifespan】: 22 / 210

【Realm】: Foundation Establishment 2nd layer

【Supreme Great Ability】: 72 / 1500

【Divine Ability】:

【Cultivation Method】: Omitted

【Spell】: Omitted

There was both good news and bad news.

His lifespan had slightly decreased, becoming two hundred and ten years.

‘Whew. Excluding the Rank 1 Longevity-Extending Pill, did it decrease by about three years.’

It was a relief at least.

If the woman who appeared from the Limitless Divine Sword, Hong Seol, had not helped, he would have had to pay a far greater price.

‘Just who was she? An expert sealed inside the Limitless Divine Sword?’

If so, when did she wake up?

From the moment he encountered the pure white flame in the Red Cloud Secret Realm?

Or thanks to absorbing dozens of dharma treasures?

All kinds of doubts and minor worries arose, but honestly they were not important at this point.

As he caressed the vicinity of his dantian, he felt spiritual power that had increased 1.5 times.

‘Foundation Establishment 2nd layer.’

Because Hong Seol forcibly stabilized the energy exploded by consuming his lifespan, his realm rose.

Swish!

When he extended his sword finger, the Sword Qi he learned from Hong Seol lingered at his fingertips.

The moment he subsequently infused the spiritual power accumulated through the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art,

Crackle!

the Sword Qi wrapped in lightning emitted a wild momentum, but… something was lacking.

Naturally, the single strike she deployed came to mind.

Recalling that scene, which was practically engraved, all distracting thoughts vanished and only a single thought remained.

I want to learn it.

He wanted to practice that sword strike, which was even more chilling because it was so quiet.

“…Can I call you Master?”

Jin So-myeong, who murmured without even knowing it, gave a bitter smile.

As if she would, when she had barely even told him her name.

Looking at his waist where the Limitless Divine Sword had disappeared and only the scabbard remained, he kicked off the ground.

He had to grasp where this place was first.