Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 106

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 106

 

 

“What is this?”

Mujin turned his head frantically with widened eyes.

He had suddenly disappeared.

Zhuge Munhyeon had clearly been right in front of him just moments ago, but suddenly his figure seemed to blur and then vanished without a trace.

He hadn’t blinked or looked elsewhere, so how could such a thing happen?

He quickly gave chase, but Zhuge Munhyeon was nowhere to be seen.

When a person encounters something beyond the scope of their understanding, the first thing that arises is anxiety. Then it transforms into fear.

Rustle.

The wind brushed against the bamboo leaves, creating an eerie sound that made his skin crawl.

Mujin gulped and shouted with a tense expression.

“Y-Young Master, please don’t play pranks.”

He tried calling out carefully while forcing a smile.

Rustle rustle…

As if mocking him, the wind grew stronger and created an even more desolate sound.

Goosebumps spread across his entire body.

“Young Master! I told you not to play pranks! I don’t like these kinds of jokes!”

Mujin shouted loudly once more, but the only response was that ominous rustling sound.

“A-Are you really going to do this? Do you think I won’t be able to find you?”

Mujin thought Zhuge Munhyeon was just playing a prank.

But as time passed, fear gradually grew in his heart.

One moment, two moments…

The longer the wait, the more anxiety sprouted.

He should have come out by now.

He’s not the type to play such pranks…

A grown adult wouldn’t play hide-and-seek in a bamboo forest, would he?

Wait, could it be a formation?

That couldn’t be.

What kind of person was Zhuge Munhyeon?

He was the one who broke through the Eight Formations that had been spread in Hyeoncheonja’s Secret Cave, which generations had failed to penetrate.

Even those from the Zhuge Family had said it would take at least a month or as long as a year, but he broke through in just one night and brought back Hyeoncheon Taoist’s Cheongyang Sword and remains.

There was no way he could be trapped in a formation.

Then what?

“Gh-ghost…”

Mujin couldn’t bring himself to finish the word.

It seemed like he shouldn’t.

Didn’t they say that such beings reveal even more malicious natures the moment they’re noticed?

The inn owner had said so.

The absurd stories that came down from around Dongho Lake.

Jade flutes, will-o’-the-wisps, talking bamboo forests…

He was now in that bamboo forest.

And what had been the end of those who were bewitched by those legends?

They died under a spell.

Bandits stronger or more cruel than himself weren’t scary, but ghosts were.

Mujin quietly fumbled at his waist and pulled out a small bronze hand mirror.

A bright mirror.

Originally, Wudang was famous as a martial sect, but since its foundation was Taoist, it was also deeply versed in Taoist Arts.

In other words, they also dealt with exorcising ghosts.

The bright mirror was an item that would make ghosts see their own faces, get startled, and flee.

In his other hand, he held a talisman drawn with red cinnabar on yellow paper dyed with pagoda tree fruit.

A protective talisman said to guard the body.

Any Taoist who inherited a proper Taoist lineage would carry one.

After all, they learned to use talismans from the beginning.

“O Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun, shatter all evil with the sound of thunder, cleave darkness with the light of lightning, and make the ominous energy and ghosts dwelling here disappear with the power of light. May all evil be destroyed and pure energy fill this place… Amitabha, Amitabha.”

Only after earnestly reciting the incantation to ward off evil did Mujin’s heart finally ease, and he carefully searched the bamboo forest for Zhuge Munhyeon.

“Young Master~”

In a very small voice.

Carefully.

“Young Master, where are you?”

How much time had passed?

It was while he was carefully moving his steps.

Thud, thud thud.

Suddenly hearing small noises from all directions, Mujin was startled and looked around with wide eyes.

But then.

“Leaves?”

The bamboo leaves were turning yellow, withering, and falling.

And in all those places, pale yellow flowers like barley ears bloomed.

The green disappeared and in an instant the entire world was dyed yellow. At this sight, Mujin forgot even his fear and stared at the flowers with a blank expression.

It was spectacular.

Simultaneous blooming.

In the brief moment of a few blinks, the forest’s scenery had changed.

“What is this?”

Mujin couldn’t help but feel bewildered by this miracle he was seeing for the first time in his life.

But the flowers that had reached full bloom quickly withered, lost their strength to cling to the stems, and scattered in the wind.

A shower of petals.

Captivated by that splendid magnificence, Mujin stood still with a blank expression.

Then the bamboo that had shed all their flowers began to rapidly wither as if they had fulfilled their lifelong wish.

Thud thud, crack!

They dried up, twisted, split with cracks, and collapsed.

That brief moment filled with flowers was like an illusion, like a final burst of life force when death was imminent.

It was splendid yet tragic.

Feeling an inexplicable sadness and pity, Mujin unconsciously muttered a Buddhist phrase.

“Amitabha…”

It was while he was watching the bamboo crumble with rustling and crackling sounds.

Just like when he had disappeared, Zhuge Munhyeon suddenly appeared before his eyes in an instant.

It felt like a transparent veil had melted away to reveal the world beyond.

“Y-Young Master!”

Mujin ran over, rejoicing as if meeting a friend after decades, though they had only been separated briefly.

But he soon stopped walking.

The complexion of Zhuge Munhyeon, seated in meditation in the middle of the bamboo forest that had withered all at once, was not very good.

His teeth were clenched, his brow was deeply furrowed creating deep lines, his complexion changed moment by moment, and his entire body was drenched in sweat – clearly something serious had happened.

And…

“A-Amitabha.”

What on earth was this?

What was visible where the bamboo had died and its roots were exposed was…

Remains.

And they were those of a baby so small that it hadn’t even hardened yet, having been born not long ago.

The roots were wrapped around it as if connected to the dead bamboo… as if the baby had become nutrients to grow the bamboo, hadn’t it?

Cognitive dissonance soon turned to rage.

“This, this cruelty!”

Mujin couldn’t hide his devastated expression at the scenery that had lost its brilliant green light and seemed to have transformed into Hell Realm.

What on earth had happened in this place?

What on earth had…

And why was Zhuge Munhyeon…

But more urgent than finding out the reason was helping him avoid being affected by the external energy.

 

* * *

 

The ancients rode the yellow crane and departed, leaving only the Yellow Crane Tower here in vain. The yellow crane went once and never returned, so only white clouds drift far away for a thousand years. The Hanyang waters shine by the clear stream, and Parrot Island is full of fragrant grass. As evening falls, where is my hometown? My melancholy sinks over the misty river.

(，

，

，

, )

 

This was someone’s poetic expression of the legend passed down at Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower, called one of the three great taverns of Jiangnan.

The legend of the yellow crane and Immortals.

Some say it arose because the magnificent view from there resembled that of the Immortal Realm, while others claim it was the actual experience of the owner who first built Yellow Crane Tower.

But in the end, it’s dismissed as legend.

Foolish talk.

That actually happened.

A very long time ago…

And following the departed Immortal, there was one who took his place, whose name was Geumri.

He stayed on a nameless small island in Dongho Lake and learned alchemy to become an Immortal.

Those Taoist fools believe they can create immortal elixirs through Nine Revolutions of boiling spiritual herbs to death, but that’s just one method of alchemy.

Alchemy also has a method called Nine Yin Human Elixir Technique.

The method of refining humans to create elixirs.

That process is called Infant Treasure Fruit, a method of selecting only babies rich in spiritual energy among newborns and using them as fertilizer to grow spiritual fruits that become elixir ingredients.

Geumri had stayed in Dongho Lake for a long time, cultivating spiritual fruits.

Bamboo grown in places full of yin energy, using spiritually gifted children as seeds.

When the bamboo bears fruit through Infant Treasure Fruit, elixirs are made based on that.

And thus one reaches the realm of Half-Immortals.

How long had he awaited this moment?

After long effort, it was finally time to see the results.

Geumri set out to check on the precious bamboo he had tended daily.

There were many people coming and going to Dongho Lake, and sometimes there were those who toured the Bamboo Forest, but there was no need to worry.

The Bamboo Forest he had created was protected by a barrier and invisible to those who hadn’t achieved spiritual sight.

However.

“…”

Geumri’s face hardened completely upon arriving at the entrance to the Bamboo Forest.

The bamboo…

The bamboo he had cultivated for a full hundred years had all withered and died.

He had checked the day before yesterday and yesterday too, sensing the time was near, so how could such a thing have happened?

Could it be?

Another Immortal who coveted his efforts?

No, that couldn’t be.

Since Infant Treasure Fruit was a process for making elixir ingredients, it would have no effect on those who had already become Immortals.

Then was it the work of a cultivator like himself?

That was the most likely guess.

Unless they had spiritual sight, they couldn’t even enter the Bamboo Forest he had created.

Grind grind grind.

His teeth ground together and his face contorted like a fierce demon.

His surging energy turned malevolent and spread in all directions.

Waves formed on the waterside where his feet touched and were pushed away, while the ground cracked like spider webs.

“Which bastard…”

As Geumri, whose rage had reached his head, stepped forward, the ground shook with a ‘thud!’ and his form shot toward the Bamboo Forest.

Geumri, who left footprints that seemed to sink up to his ankles with each step, glided forward several zhang at a time.

“I’ll kill them.”

He would tear apart whoever had devoured the product of his hundred years of effort and at least drink their spiritually-infused blood.

 

* * *

 

Mujin kept watch around them with a worried expression.

His mind was still in chaos.

Who on earth had committed such a devastating act?

Growing bamboo with babies…

It was an act that would anger heaven and man, an unprecedented evil.

But why was Zhuge Munhyeon here with his feet planted, circulating qi so painfully? Was it related to the golden light his weapon had emitted?

Not knowing what had happened, he was filled only with frustration when it happened.

A chilling feeling at the back of his head.

“What’s this?”

Something was approaching at high speed.

It was such an ominous energy that he tensed up and gulped nervously.

And.

“Huff, huff…”

A middle-aged man appeared, breathing roughly as if he had rushed here.

Eyes full of bloodshot veins.

Tremendous evil energy rising around his body like heat haze.

Rolling his widened eyes to survey the area, he looked at the seated Zhuge Munhyeon.

“So it’s that bastard.”

“…?”

“That bastard devoured it. That damn bastard ate what I worked a hundred years to create!”

Mujin couldn’t understand his words.

But from the killing intent he was directing at Zhuge Munhyeon, he realized one fact.

He was the owner of the forest.

And.

“So it’s you. You’re the one who created this Hell Realm.”

Mujin’s eyes turned cold.

As the coldly settled emotion froze deep in his heart and awakened the power of Mad Soul Art, his hair fluttered and eyes like black obsidian were revealed.

And he put the mirror and protective charm in his hand into his bosom and drew his sword.

He doesn’t ask questions.

He doesn’t listen to answers.

Whoever the opponent is, however strong they may be.

Even if his sword cannot reach them.

A Taoist who grew up following virtue has the duty to punish evil.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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