Chapter 98 – Divine Sense Explosion

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The reward time that came after the work was finished.

To speak only of the conclusion, Jin So-myeong obtained five petals of the Golden Moonbright Grass.

Three petals of Un-bi’s share were added to the original reward of one petal, and Madame Ryeo packed one more saying he had struggled.

Five out of nine petals. It was more than half.

As it was more than enough for the price of struggling for one night, he was satisfied.

‘Five petals should be enough.’

If he consumed them after amplifying the effect with the Supreme Great Ability, his Divine Sense would become greatly stronger.

Perhaps he might have a late Golden Core-grade Divine Sense before long.

“Madame Ryeo. Thank you.”

“I am the one who is grateful. Actually, I wanted to pack more for you, but I definitely have a use for the remaining Golden Moonbright Grass.”

Madame Ryeo, who had regained her composure before he knew it like during their first meeting, smiled with her eyes.

Perhaps because she judged Jin So-myeong to be a trustworthy person, she was no longer excessively afraid.

At that time, Hye-gong, who had fainted and then woken up, spoke with an awkward smile.

“Ahem, I feel embarrassed since I did nothing… but as the Golden Moonbright Grass is absolutely necessary, I will receive it despite lacking shame.”

For reference, Hye-gong received one petal as promised, and Madame Ryeo, the original owner of the spiritual herb, took three.

Within a relatively harmonious atmosphere.

Hye-gong, who was feeling awkward, spoke in a serious voice.

“I heard Fellow Daoist Jin treated me. If you need my help, please seek me out anytime. I will do my best to help.”

“…I understand.”

Although he questioned if he would need help, he nodded just in case, and Hye-gong grinned.

“Haha. Good. Then I shall leave now. Since I plan to digest the medicinal efficacy in a quiet place nearby and return.”

Having said so, Hye-gong readily swallowed the Golden Moonbright Grass petal, then disappeared while traversing the sky.

The reason he consumed the petal with a body that was not even perfectly fine was roughly guessed.

By showing the appearance of using the single petal he possessed, he fundamentally blocked any possibility of the party coveting the Golden Moonbright Grass.

Although his caution seemed too excessive, he could not sneer at him as a coward.

‘Because the world is harsh. He could not help it.’

It would be Hye-gong’s own survival strategy.

Just as he shook his head and was about to leave gradually, Madame Ryeo held onto him.

“Fellow Daoist Jin. If you are by any chance thinking of returning to Vast Wilderness Immortal City, may I go with you? Once we arrive at the city, I will give you one more petal of the Moonbright Grass.”

“Not the Golden Moonbright Grass but just the Moonbright Grass?”

“Yes. Since it was plucked right before reaching a thousand years, the medicinal efficacy will be sufficient.”

An escort… since it was his way anyway, there was nothing difficult, but something was strange.

Why would the Moonbright Grass petal be in Madame Ryeo’s hand?

Suddenly, it came to mind that only nine out of the twelve petals that should have originally been there remained.

“Did you pluck that, by any chance, from the spiritual herb that transformed into the Golden Moonbright Grass today?”

“Correct. I harvested it directly a month ago.”

He was curious about the reason three petals were lacking anyway, but to think she had plucked it directly? It was hard to understand.

“Why did you damage an intact spiritual herb?”

“Because I judged that I could not bear it.”

“What do you mean by bearing it?”

“Ah, for the Golden Moonbright Grass, the range of fragrance spreading increases exponentially the more petals it has. If more than ten petals had remained, not only the Black Cloud Insects but also other things would have swarmed.”

He roughly understood from the following explanation.

The Golden Moonbright Grass was a Rank 4 Nascent Soul-grade spiritual object. As rare a treasure as it was, they did not know what danger would seek them.

Thus, she had damaged the petals. In order to lower the level of danger.

‘Should I call this wise?’

Her posture of only trying to obtain what was within her capability coolly, without being swung by greed, was mysterious.

Such a personality was not common among cultivators. This was because a person who was satisfied with what was given found it hard to raise their realm.

Perhaps if it were Jin So-myeong, he would have challenged the complete Golden Moonbright Grass, whatever the outcome.

“It is a meaningless word now… but actually, I judged that we should have left only six petals, not nine.”

“Six? Isn’t that too small?”

“No. With Un-bi’s and my strength, that much was appropriate. However, Un-bi kept stopping me, saying it was absolutely possible. As something felt strange, I hurriedly sought people to help.”

“Ah.”

“I thought that if I brought allies, Un-bi would not act hastily… Sigh.”

She, who was lamenting while looking at the sky, harbored a bitter smile.

Did she say they were friends of thirty years?

It did seem like it would be painful to be betrayed by such a person. She might even fall into distrust of humans.

“My, I am sorry. I spoke unnecessary words. Shall we return immediately?”

“…Let us do so.”

However, true to a cultivator, Madame Ryeo did not bury herself in emotions. He returned to Vast Wilderness Immortal City together with her, who had cheered up.

***

Ten days later.

A man and a woman appeared at Vast Wilderness Immortal City’s south gate.

The youth wearing a gray martial arts uniform and carrying a sword was Jin So-myeong, and the beautiful woman with a voluptuous figure was Ryeo Jeong.

The expression of Madame Ryeo, who looked somewhat tired, bloomed wide. Only after seeing the city gate did she feel completely relieved, not hiding her laughter.

“Fellow Daoist Jin. Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I arrived safely at the immortal city.”

“I only did as promised.”

“That is what is important. It would be truly convenient if everyone kept their promises well like Fellow Daoist Jin.”

Her tone was much more friendly than during their first meeting.

Even the vigilance that had remained completely disappeared, and upon arriving at the immortal city, her trust in Jin So-myeong seemed to have risen even further.

Madame Ryeo, who handed over the escort reward, the Moonbright Grass petal, spoke.

“Fellow Daoist Jin. Are you by any chance planning to enter the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda? If you are strong like this, there will not be greatly dangerous things.”

“I have not decided for sure yet.”

“Hmm, if you are going to enter, how about going together with me?”

“Well… if Madame Ryeo has decent information, I will think about it.”

“Information?”

“A map inside the secret realm, or something like that.”

“How demanding of you. The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda changes every time it opens, so how would I find out decent information?”

Then it could not be helped. As he shrugged his shoulders instead of answering, Madame Ryeo glared at him.

“Fine. If your mind changes, seek me out. Since my formation skill will be of help in dismantling restrictions in the secret realm.”

Watching her leave while waving her hand, he moved his steps.

In the cave dwelling’s cultivation room he returned to after a long time, he lined up the harvests obtained this time.

‘Let us see.’

First, he checked the item of the demonic cultivator wrapped in the cloak, but regrettably, there was no item that satisfied his heart.

Although there were a few dharma treasures, all of them were related to spiritual insects, so he had no interest.

‘Insect-Avoiding Rare Liquid? This is usable at least.’

Shaking the small jade bottle small enough to be wrapped in his palm, he felt a sloshing liquid.

According to the jade slip possessed by the demonic cultivator, if one applied this Insect-Avoiding Rare Liquid to their body, they would not be attacked by insects.

As the effect was said to last for one day with just a single drop, it was a fairly decent item.

‘Is it like a scent that marks one as the same kind? That was the secret why he was not attacked by the Black Cloud Insects.’

It was an item he had not seen in the Vast Wilderness Immortal City market. It meant it was not an easily obtainable item.

Click.

Opening the jade bottle containing the Insect-Avoiding Rare Liquid, he estimated how much remaining amount there was.

‘Roughly seven drops? Let us keep this instead of selling it.’

Next was the turn of Un-bi’s storage pouch.

Although a restriction was set, opening was easy. Consuming ten units of the Supreme Great Ability, he absorbed it whole including the contents.

He inspected the newly created items in his sub-space, and as expected of a cultivator who wielded flames, they were filled with fire-attribute spiritual objects.

‘Red Sun True Flame Art.’

It was a fire-attribute cultivation method cultivable from Qi Condensation up to the late Golden Core stage.

It was a proper secret transmission containing the Fire Escape Art, one of the Five Elements Escape Arts.

Jin So-myeong, who read the jade slip repeatedly, nodded his head.

‘It is decent.’

Although he had no thoughts of learning the Red Sun True Flame Art, the Fire Escape Art drew his interest. If researched well, it seemed likely to help with the Lightning Escape Art.

Following the jade slip, he also inspected other items.

Fire-attribute talismans with mid Golden Core-grade power, a gourd specialized in storing flames, and so forth.

Just as he was organizing the harvest while distinguishing between what to use directly and what to sell.

Discovering a pure white petal, Jin So-myeong let out a cry of admiration.

‘Oh? There is also one petal of the Moonbright Grass.’

Where did Un-bi obtain this petal?

Perhaps when plucking three petals out of the original twelve, he had taken one as his own share.

‘Thanks to that, I obtained one more.’

He did not suppress the smile that naturally formed. After finishing the organization with a pleased heart.

He wandered around Vast Wilderness Immortal City and inquired for information.

He investigated how to obtain the maximum effect before consuming the Golden Moonbright Grass.

‘The effect becomes stronger the more you eat at once?’

It meant that eating five petals all at once was better than eating one petal five times.

Tap, tap.

He agonized while tapping the scabbard habitually.

Since the Golden Moonbright Grass was a relatively rare item, it was a waste to consume it raw. Naturally, he had to use the Supreme Great Ability to amplify the effect.

‘How many units of the Supreme Great Ability should I consume?’

10,000? 20,000?

Or just cleanly 100,000?

Although the Supreme Great Ability was currently focused on the Five Viscera Hundred Tempering Art, wouldn’t it be fine to postpone it for about a month?

Pondering this way and that, he made a decision.

‘Let us pour in all 100,000.’

Tempering the divine soul was a very important matter.

In proportion to the divine soul, the Divine Sense, which was the sense to perceive surroundings, also grew stronger, and then he could occupy an advantage in information war when fighting enemies.

Since his five senses became sensitive and resistance to illusions also increased… the stronger the divine soul was, the better.

He waited for a fortnight with the anticipation of awaiting a longed-for reward.

The moment his half-filled Supreme Great Ability completely recovered.

Five petals of Golden Moonbright Grass, two petals of just Moonbright Grass.

He put a total of seven petals into his mouth in one bite. He did not forget to consume 100,000 units of the Supreme Great Ability to amplify the effect either.

‘It is a sweet taste.’

The moment the petals that slipped down his throat melted away.

A refreshing energy that hollowed all the way to his chest bloomed from his belly.

Since it was an important moment, he concentrated.

Carefully gathering the energy that brought moonlight to mind, he led it between his eyebrows without leaving a single speck.

“Ugh!”

His entire body trembled. The refreshing feeling that chilled his spine was also brief.

‘…It is cold.’

He felt like his soul was freezing.

A crackling sound lingered in his ears, and he could not distinguish whether it was an auditory hallucination or not.

Was it because he ate seven petals simultaneously? Or was it the power of 100,000 units of the Supreme Great Ability?

True to a spiritual herb that gathered moonlight for a thousand years, the medicinal efficacy was tremendous.

‘Ah…’

First of all, his sight vanished.

Even if he opened his eyes, he could not see, and at some point, all noise cut off abruptly.

Following that, touch, smell, taste. All five senses vanished.

The feeling of sinking into a deep and dark sea. His very thoughts froze in the cold colder than a frozen wasteland.

His Divine Sense also shrank. As if locked in a prison, it could not exit outside his body.

Complete darkness.

Would it feel like this to become lost in space? His sense of time grew hazy.

Just as he was floating in the darkness while holding onto a single thread of remaining faint consciousness.

Crack!

Simultaneously with the sound of something hard splitting, light poured in.

His suppressed Divine Sense stretched out in all directions as if exploding.

It did not stop even though it easily surpassed two kilometers, which was originally his limit.

His Divine Sense, which expanded refreshingly to a satisfying degree, ultimately reached four kilometers.

His Divine Sense range became twice as wide!

“Ah!”

He could not contain his joy at his divine soul having reached the late Golden Core level.

Jin So-myeong, who clenched his fists, stood up abruptly. He wanted to go to a secluded place right now and try using the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration.

If he succeeded in controlling the Light-Accumulating Destructive Vibration…

‘I would be able to fire it in rapid succession, or mix it into Sword Qi.’

His combat power would become on a completely different dimension than in the past. With shining eyes, he hurriedly left the cave dwelling.