I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 45

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

45.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“If our only enemies are the sorcerers here, what can we do among ourselves? Even if that weren’t the case….”
I couldn’t bring myself to abandon hundreds of people to their deaths.
“If we combine our strength, couldn’t we do something?”
“But still….”
“It won’t be easy, but let’s try.”
“Wow, he’s actually taking this on.”
As Kang Jin-heon stepped forward, Eun Hui-gyeom’s mouth fell open in disbelief.
Eun Hui-gyeom usually called me “sister” and followed my lead well, but in critical situations, he possessed a clarity of mind sharper than anyone else’s.
“Ugh, seriously. This looks dangerous no matter how you look at it…. I guess there’s no choice. Even if I said no, you’d go alone anyway, wouldn’t you, sister?”
Eun Hui-gyeom, knowing my nature well, scratched the back of his neck.
“Detective Jin, if you find this inconvenient, you can withdraw….”
“What are you saying? If I hadn’t witnessed the criminals being captured, that would be one thing, but having seen them, I cannot retreat now. Besides, if they succeed with their ritual while we’re away, won’t that bring even greater calamity?”
Jin Seok-jun’s reasoning held merit.
The three of us stepped outside the Abandoned Mine for a moment and racked our brains over how to proceed.
In the meantime, Jin Seok-jun carefully sent clay figurines toward the sorcerers without being detected.
I wondered if the moss covering them served any purpose, but it seemed surprisingly effective.
From what Jin Seok-jun observed through the clay figurines, no other sorcerers were visible.
“Now that the clay figurines are positioned, we should be able to begin whenever you give the signal.”
“The ritual hasn’t started yet?”
“It seems they’re taking time with preparations. But it doesn’t look like it will take long, so we should hurry.”
“Understood. Let’s go immediately.”
We entered the Abandoned Mine again without delay.
“Let’s begin.”
At my signal, Jin Seok-jun formed a hand seal and pressed his palm against the ground.
Earth Spirit Wall Technique.
A tremendous rumble erupted.
The clay vessels buried beforehand transformed into earth and seeped into the ground, causing the earth to surge upward.
“What, what is this?”
“Who’s there!”
A wall of earth rose up, separating the Paecheonmun sorcerers from the criminals.
Eun Hui-gyeom was the first to rush toward the cavern.
Gripping his blade in one hand, he formed a seal with the other as the Azure Lotus Water Barrier shimmered blue.
Hanging Water Thousand Barrier Technique.
Semi-circular barriers of water divided the space between the criminals and the sorcerers.
“Detective Kang, now!”
At Eun Hui-gyeom’s signal, Kang Jin-heon unleashed the Flowing Wind Technique.
A sharp gust of wind tore through the space.
The sharp wind severed the ropes binding the criminals and stripped away the talismans on their chests.
Shredded curse talismans scattered across the entire pupil of my eye.
“What… what is happening…?”
“Run! Hurry, everyone!!”
At Eun Hui-gyeom’s cry, the people who had been standing uncertainly snapped to attention and rushed toward the entrance of the Abandoned Mine.
Crash.
The stone wall Jin Seok-jun had constructed crumbled to dust.
Beyond the collapsed wall, Mano and the sorcerers of Paecheonmun revealed themselves.
“The Jeongmun Paldae? Where in the world did you come from!”
“Don’t panic—there are only four of them!”
The sorcerers, being no fools, took comfort in the fact that there were merely four and unleashed a barrage of attacks.
“Don’t underestimate us, even if we are but four!”
I infused my spiritual force into the Silvermoon Fan and spread it wide, blocking every spell that came hurtling down.
In that moment, Jin Seok-jun unleashed another technique.
“The ground—!”
“Take to the sky!”
The earth rippled like a swamp before hardening in an instant, binding the feet of several sorcerers.
I seized the opening and unleashed the Azure Lotus Technique.
Boom.
In the past, I lacked control and could only detonate it crudely, but now was different.
Lotus blossoms undulated around the monks.
As I flicked my fingers, azure lotuses erupted in brilliant explosions, scattering azure light.
In an instant, more than a dozen sorcerers collapsed alongside Mano.
“Good, if we continue like this…!”
“Master Yu, danger!”
At Jin Seok-jun’s cry, I spun around sharply.
A serpentine creature fashioned from bone materialized in the air and engulfed me in a heartbeat.
Though I blocked the assault with my blade, I could not overcome its force and was sent tumbling through the air.
Jin Seok-jun swiftly piled earth high and softened the front to cushion my impact.
Standing atop the mound of earth, I gazed down below.
The bone serpent that had attacked me shrank progressively before transforming into an ornament on a massive brush held by one of the sorcerers.
“Are you unharmed?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
I descended and walked forward, blade drawn.
‘That one…’
Across his upper body were inscribed curse characters of unknown origin.
In his hand he wielded a massive brush crafted from human bone.
‘An elder of Paecheonmun—Muk-hyeon!’
With such a distinctive appearance and cruel methods, he was unforgettable once witnessed.
I glanced toward Jin Seok-jun.
“When I observed through the clay figurine, this one was not present.”
“So it came from somewhere else entirely.”
Seeing that it retained consciousness, I’d already deduced this wasn’t the ordinary Tosin Foundation location.
Still, I never expected an Elder to appear.
“I’ll handle that bastard. Jin, help the criminals escape.”
“But Detective Yu…!”
“It’s fine. I won’t overextend myself.”
As the criminals fled, the sorcerers intensified their assault on Kang Jin-heon and Eun Hui-gyeom.
With the added burden of protecting the criminals, the difficulty doubled.
Jin Seok-jun, quickly grasping the situation, wove a hand seal and moved to support Kang Jin-heon.
“A rat slipped in, and wouldn’t you know it—a rat from the Jeongmun Paldae.”
“…”
“What could four of you possibly accomplish by crawling in here?”
Muk-hyeon lounged casually, a brush draped across his shoulder.
I adjusted my grip on the blade and slowly settled into my stance.
“We came to save the criminals.”
“Hahaha! Burning with such futile righteousness—it’s the same now as it was a hundred years ago. Your obsession with such trivial things is precisely why you’ll never become true immortals.”
“What nonsense. Worthless dregs cast out from Hyeonganmun.”
The moment I mentioned Hyeonganmun, Muk-hyeon’s expression darkened.
A murderous aura radiated from him, prickling across my entire body.
‘I told Jin Seok-jun it would be fine.’
To be honest, it wasn’t fine at all.
‘Muk-hyeon is a 13th-stage Breathing Technique cultivator.’
One standing on the very threshold of the 14th stage.
Even with my spiritual power far exceeding that of other 10th-stage cultivators, I couldn’t predict how long I could hold against a 13th-stage practitioner.
“Ha, a mere insect from Chingwoo Immortal Sect, spouting off without knowing your place.”
Muk-hyeon’s lips twisted.
Whether it was mockery or intrigue, his expression was impossible to read.
Before his words even finished, I moved first, closing the distance and raising my blade.
I drew the sword upward from below the waist in one fluid motion.
Azure Sword Strike.
Muk-hyeon’s eyes flashed at the speed and precision of the attack.
He tried to block with his brush, but he was a beat too slow.
A sharp whisper of steel.
Blood streamed from Muk-hyeon’s flank as flesh parted beneath my blade.
I retreated, and Muk-hyeon lowered his head impassively to examine his wound.
When he placed his hand over it, the injury healed instantly.
I dragged my feet backward, increasing the distance between us.
“Oho.”
The amusement that had graced Muk-hyeon’s face vanished in an instant.
I twisted the blade’s tip slightly and lowered my stance.
Thwack.
I planted my feet and drove forward at Muk-hyeon once more.
Twisting simultaneously at the ankle and waist, I broke free from the corner and unleashed my blade.
The sword flew toward Muk-hyeon’s body with enough force to cleave him in half.
Muk-hyeon pivoted and swept his brush in a wide arc.
Brush and blade collided once in the empty air.
In the next instant, I slid my body low to evade the brush and drove my sword into his abdomen.
“What?”
The blade had clearly pierced his abdomen, yet something deep within his body gripped the steel with an iron hold.
As I panicked and tried to wrench the sword free, Muk-hyeon let out a low chuckle.
When the sharp tip of his brush threatened to graze my body, I quickly abandoned the blade and retreated.
As Muk-hyeon swept his brush through the air, curse incantations materialized and hurtled toward me.
I swiftly formed hand seals and unleashed the Azure Lotus Technique.
Boom.
The foundation of the Azure Lotus Technique was the release of spiritual force.
The distorted curse incantations were pressed flat against the ground.
The earth where the curses adhered warped grotesquely.
“Impressive—to repel curses with pure spiritual force alone. You have some skill.”
I reached out to recover my blade.
That was the moment.
Crack.
The wound on Muk-hyeon’s body split open, and bone erupted from the gap, shattering my sword.

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