Chapter 67 – A Horde of Demonic Beasts

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Twenty days had passed since Jin So-myeong jumped into the Jade Light Spring.

Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art (Experienced 199,999 / 200,000)

At the moment when the constantly rising proficiency had only 1 left,

Rumble!

the Jade Light Spring spat out lightning as if making a final struggle. A blue dragon that soared higher than the clouds struck down vertically.

The lightning energy that penetrated through the crown of his head seeped deep into his bones. It rampaged violently as if intending to cut off his breath altogether, but…

to the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art that had grown rapidly over the past few days, it was merely delicious prey.

The lightning in his mind raced through his meridians. He absorbed the blue lightning that had invaded without permission, without leaving a single bit behind.

And,

the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art reached the mastery stage.

“Ah!”

He could not suppress an exclamation.

This was because a powerful euphoria surged up his spine as the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art surpassed the wall.

A dragon shape was dimly reflected in the lightning in his mind, which had become visibly thicker.

The dancing-like flashing was as if expressing joy.

‘Good.’

He was very pleased because its spirituality seemed to have become stronger.

If it developed like this, perhaps the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art would move on its own and defeat enemies for him someday.

Flash!

Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art (Mastery 1 / 20,000,000)

Just when he was looking satisfyingly at the hologram that appeared before his eyes,

Boom!

a lightning whip poured down again from the Jade Light Spring. As it was a situation repeated countless times, he was about to absorb it skillfully but paused.

Without making any response, he observed the lightning energy stirring inside his body.

‘Something is different?’

Was it because he had reached the mastery stage? The lightning, which had at least been stinging, was not painful at all.

It was even as comfortable as being inside a warm blanket.

‘…Could it be.’

The moment he tried absorbing the lightning energy just in case,

the spiritual power inside his dantian increased!

An ability to absorb lightning and convert it into spiritual power had been generated.

“Oh.”

Estimating the speed at which his spiritual power increased, it was twice as fast as the Jade Well Lake.

Gulp…

Saliva pooled of its own accord. The Jade Light Spring spewing sinister light now looked like a lump of spiritual medicine.

*

Five days later.

‘Phew!’

Jin So-myeong, who spat out the turbid Qi, let out a satisfied groan.

[Realm]: 5th layer of Foundation Establishment

[Supreme Great Ability]: 3930 / 6000

He broke through his realm once more from the 4th layer in just a few days. Coming to the Soul Washing Land, which was called a cultivation holy land, he had truly grown properly.

‘The effect is outstanding. It is to the extent that I regret today is the last day.’

Looking at the Jade Light Spring, he stroked his chin.

He truly coveted this thunder-attribute spiritual spring. To the extent that if possible, he wanted to transfer it entirely to the Secret Realm of the Mind.

Splash!

While pondering a method, he dived to the bottom of the Jade Light Spring. He planned to observe what kind of structure the spiritual spring was formed of.

By the time he descended to a water depth of about thirty meters,

amid the slightly darkened environment, things like stars floating in the night sky were visible.

‘…Blue stones?’

232 in total. Observing closely, they were blue beads the size of a baby’s fist.

Crackle!

Judging by how they spewed lightning energy incessantly, these beads seemed to be the source of the Jade Light Spring.

He wanted to scan them with his Divine Sense, but it was impossible due to the restriction installed in the Soul Washing Land.

Tap.

When he approached closely and touched them, something like a transparent protective barrier was felt.

‘If only I could manage to take these beads…’

Had the Golden Core Sage not said it as well? That they could take whatever they wanted, as long as they had the ability.

He could replenish it with something better later after he reached the Golden Core stage.

Jin So-myeong, who inspected the restriction protecting the blue beads here and there, nodded.

Crackle!

300 Supreme Great Ability beads turned to powder, and

a hole was pierced in the perfect restriction.

Swish!

The moment he reached out his hand at a speed like a flash of lightning and gripped a bead,

a heavy resistance was felt at his fingertips.

He pulled it out by force using his physical strength that had reached Rank 2, but the blue bead kept trying to escape his hand as if to return to its place.

Using his Divine Sense to see what was going on, a minute connection was felt between the bottom of the Jade Light Spring and the bead.

Slash!

The moment he sliced even that connection with Sword Qi,

escaping from all restrictions for a moment, he put the blue bead, which had become vastly lighter, into his subspace.

‘Done!’

The energy of the restriction, which was restored before long, hovered here and there as if searching for the bead, but it was meaningless.

The blue bead was already in his subspace. No matter how outstanding the restriction was, the situation had ended long ago.

Buzzing…

Eventually looking at the quieted restriction, he turned his gaze. He saw the floor packed with blue beads. There were still many.

‘Let’s take ten… no, about twelve.’

A short while later.

Jin So-myeong, who inspected the twelve blue beads now in his subspace, smiled broadly.

With just these beads, he would be able to create his own Jade Light Spring in the Secret Realm of the Mind.

‘The scale will be a bit small, but it will be enough for me to use alone.’

Splash!

After finishing all his business, he came out of the water and looked at the Jade Light Spring.

Rumble…

The thunder that had made his hair stand on end felt weakened for some reason. The blue light that flashed incessantly also visibly dimmed.

This was because it had been constantly absorbed by Jin So-myeong over the past twenty-five days.

It would probably take several decades to recover its original state…

Suddenly, the many blue beads still remaining and other attribute spiritual springs also crossed his mind, but he shook his head.

‘This is enough. The time is almost up anyway.’

Because his Supreme Great Ability was depleted, it was also hard to gather more.

Honestly, it would be a lie to say he had no regrets, but he did not overdo it.

Anything too excessive was not good. At least enough for the next generation to consume had to be left behind.

Of course, this was a choice made because he liked Sky Island quite a bit.

Flop!

He sat cross-legged and meditated. He controlled the spiritual power that had grown rapidly over the course of a month.

Did about thirty minutes pass?

Buzzing!

The atmosphere fluctuated, and an unidentified suction force was felt.

Flash! Along with a dazzling light, his vision blurred.

What the slight nausea meant was clear. The time limit had ended, and he had been teleported out of the Soul Washing Land.

‘…Huh?’

However,

he could not help but be flustered as he saw the scenery revealed after the dazzling flash cleared.

Screeech!

Kyak, kyak!

Along with a grating screech, an acrid burning smell was detected.

The peaceful scenery of Sky Island was nowhere to be seen.

Dozens of demonic beasts were trampling a village that had turned into ruins…

Screeech!

A strange bird with the body of an eagle and the head of a chicken spat fire, turning a three-story pavilion into ashes.

“…”

Although there were no people as if they had already evacuated, it was not a pleasant sight.

Grr? Awoooo!

At that moment, a wolf that sniffed its nose as if detecting something howled, and their gazes gravitated toward him instantly.

Kyahaaak!?

The demonic beasts rampaging in all directions bared their teeth.

The ones emitting killing intent rushed forward without anyone needing to say it first, and…

they all died from a single strike of lightning.

He swept away the demonic beasts with the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art that had reached the mastery stage.

He compared the map in his head with the ruined village, and it seemed to be a small village near Filial Moon City.

‘I don’t see the other people who entered the Soul Washing Land.’

Since their respective locations were different, the places they were teleported out to also seemed different.

In any case, the important thing now was to grasp the situation of Sky Island.

While frowning, he flinched.

– You human bastards like turtles! Do not hide in the formations like cowards and come out! Let us have a fight!

The atmosphere vibrated humingly.

A voice loud enough to hurt the eardrums echoed in the sky.

A place so far away that even a decent building would look like a dot.

A Rank 3 Demonic King, who appeared to be a mix of a crocodile and a human, provoked while scattering wild momentum.

– Very well. I happened to be curious about how tough your hide is.

Simultaneously with the voice cold as a sword, the forepaw of the rampaging crocodile Demonic King fell off with a thud.

– Urgh!?

It was cut by a sharp slash that flew in silently!

Along with a fountain of blood bursting from the severed ankle, the Demonic King’s eyes turned sinister.

Thud!

The leg that was falling to the ground exploded. Turning into blood, it returned to the Demonic King and regenerated in an instant.

Although it was an unbelievable regenerative power…

Gwang-myeong, the Golden Core sword cultivator who appeared before anyone knew, wielded his sword. It was sliced again.

– Kyaaaak! You bastard!

Every time the blade, which was tiny compared to the massive Demonic King and not even as big as a toothpick, sprayed light, a scream mixed with pain echoed.

The crocodile Demonic King who had provoked confidently was driven to the brink of death in an instant.

– Stop!

Another Rank 3 Demonic King that appeared from somewhere joined forces, but Gwang-myeong did not push back.

He displayed the overwhelming combat power of a sword cultivator against multiple opponents.

Every time a silver line formed in the air, the Demonic Kings were busy retreating.

But it was not that they were powerless beings.

Boom!

Every time a shockwave erupted, all the clouds visible in his sight scattered.

To affect even this place which was incredibly far. he could tell how powerful a force was colliding outside the formation.

Just as Jin So-myeong was blankly watching the battle outside the sky,

– Gwang-myeong! Do it in moderation and return. The enemies are many!

he snapped back to his senses at the voice of the Rank 3 formation master, Hyeon Jin-ja, whom he had heard a few times.

‘Fortunately, the formation is intact.’

Although Rank 1 and 2 demonic beasts were sweeping Sky Island, the formation was not pierced.

The name of the formation installed on Sky Island was the Inverse Polar Rigid Lock Formation.

It was a formation specialized in blocking Rank 3 and higher Demonic Kings whose existence was large, functioning on a principle similar to a strainer.

Since it was realistically impossible to prevent all demonic beasts from entering the wide Sky Island, this formation had been selected.

‘For now, let’s return to the city.’

Sky Island, which had been the home of humans for several thousand years, could not collapse easily.

Just when he set his direction and flew toward Filial Moon City,

Boom!

his Divine Sense that had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage detected a faint explosion sound.

Someone was fighting at a distance not even visible because it was beyond the horizon.

***

A pack of nearly a hundred demonic beasts surrounded five or six cultivators and poured attacks.

Who was advantageous or disadvantageous was clear. The situation was that one-sided.

On the human side, everyone was a Qi Condensation cultivator except for exactly one person, but as for the demonic beasts, those at the Foundation Establishment level alone exceeded fifteen.

“Aaargh! Lady Ha Yul-hee. What do we do now! The bastards are constantly flocking in!”

The only Foundation Establishment cultivator among the humans.

Ha Yul-hee, who had fought Jin So-myeong in the finals, yelled.

“Shut up! You useless bastards! Do not act distractingly and just pray instead!”

She bit her lips while glaring at the demonic beasts surrounding them from all sides.

Controlling ten intact shields obtained newly at some point, she blocked the pack of demonic beasts and pondered seriously.

How she could escape from this situation.

At that time, the young man who was trembling in fear behind Ha Yul-hee shouted.

“Th-The Elegant Wind Fan! Can you not just use the Rank 3 Magic Treasure!”

“…I cannot because of you guys.”

“Yes?”

“I mean, I cannot control it yet. If I use the Elegant Wind Fan, all of you will die too.”

At the words spoken while pouting her lips, the complexions of the Qi Condensation cultivators turned pale.

This was because they realized the situation was much worse than they thought.

“And… it doesn’t seem like it can be resolved with the Elegant Wind Fan either.”

Ha Yul-hee’s gaze shifted slightly. Toward the monkey commanding the demonic beasts while wielding a pure white shinbone.

The late Foundation Establishment stage monkey with four arms bared its fangs and shouted,

“Kieek! The child of the Lord of Sky Island! If we kill that bitch, the Great King will bestow a grand reward! Keep pressing her!”

Thump! Thump! Thump!

As the monkey beat a crude drum made of leather, a bizarre sound wave erupted.

Every time the sound that made the heart fluctuate spread, the eyes of the demonic beasts grew increasingly red.

Screeech!

From sharp stone spears, burning flame rings, to toxic fog emitting a fishy smell.

All kinds of spells poured toward the energy barrier generated by the shields.

Buzzing! The wildly fluctuating energy barrier reflected the innate divine ability of the demonic beasts.

Thud! About ten Rank 1 demonic beasts died at once, but their momentum was as strong as ever. Rather, it grew rougher as time went on.

If it was a living creature, it was normal to fear death. However, that fact did not apply to these demonic beasts.

Kyaaak!

Awoooo!

Shedding blood-red eye light, they charged ignorantly like slaughter machines without emotions.

Even the numbers did not decrease. This was because the demonic beasts that heard the commotion and came kept replenishing.

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

The monkey’s arms swelled as if about to explode.

It beat the drum at a speed not even visible, and as if responding to the peak of the drum sound, the demonic beasts threw themselves frantically toward the shields.

Like puppets being controlled.

“Never stop! Do not give her time to rest!”

It was exceptionally despicable that, despite being at the highest realm, it only hid behind the demonic beasts and ordered them…

However, that tactic was clearly effective.

“Ugh…”

Under the spell bombardment pouring down like heavy rain, blood flowed from the corner of Ha Yul-hee’s mouth, unable to endure.

Just when cracks formed one by one on the sturdy shields,

Rumble!

a streak of lightning struck down from the sky.