I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 72
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
72.
Eun Hui-gyeom’s point was valid.
Especially regarding the Heavenly Mandate—it barely appeared in texts, and even the senior monks knew little about it.
Yet Yang Ja-han spoke of Jin Seok-jun as though he possessed absolute certainty.
“What exactly do you know?”
The question had transformed into an accusation.
The cave chamber fell silent in an instant.
Even the distant monks sensed the tension and began gathering closer.
“Brother Yang. I don’t know what this is about, but if you intend harm to Jin, I won’t forgive it.”
Baek Ri-myeong, who represented the junior monks, was the first to speak.
At his declaration, the other monks tensed as though ready to strike Yang Ja-han at any moment.
Yang Ja-han sheathed his sword and exhaled slowly.
“You truly know nothing.”
Yang Ja-han’s gaze suddenly fixed upon me.
“So what I’m saying is….”
“Both he and you are Chilmyeong Younggeunn. Beings destined to bring calamity someday.”
Chilmyeong Younggeunn?
What was that? It was a name that didn’t exist in the original work.
Yet Yang Ja-han knew of this existence.
Hwa Mu-gyeol, who had been listening to the conversation, interjected.
“Chilmyeong Younggeunn? I’ve never heard that name before. Brother Yang, what is that?”
Not only Hwa Mu-gyeol, but all the monks present were hearing it for the first time.
Yang Ja-han sighed and squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
“…Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Yang Ja-han closed his mouth, refusing to say more.
Then Baek Ri-myeong stepped forward again.
He was the highest-ranked Chukgi Sect 11-Star monk present.
“You drew your sword and caused a disturbance here, claiming you would kill Brother Jin. It’s unreasonable to withdraw without explanation.”
Yang Ja-han did not answer.
Instead, his gaze fell upon Jin Seok-jun, who was receiving treatment behind me.
I remained motionless, my arms still spread wide.
The silence stretched far longer than expected, yet no one backed down.
Yang Ja-han relaxed his shoulders and opened his mouth in a low voice.
“Let us consider this matter forgotten.”
“That cannot be.”
Baek Ri-myeong’s voice grew heavier.
Yet Yang Ja-han showed no fear whatsoever.
“I caused a disturbance before my seniors. It is my fault. If you demand my life in recompense, I am prepared to pay it anytime.”
“It sounds as though you’re saying you would have killed Brother Jin if we hadn’t been here.”
“Perhaps.”
“….”
“The senior monks will arrive here soon. I will return to Wuji Xuanmen and report this matter as it stands. The disposition thereafter will be left to the sects to resolve among themselves.”
Yang Ja-han bowed with a fist salute, lowering his head.
His tone was courteous and measured, yet no one accepted his demeanor at face value.
Still, thanks to his composed bearing, the sharp tension that had gripped the chamber eased considerably.
Yang Ja-han turned first and departed the cave chamber.
None of the Chukgi Sect monks made any move to stop him.
Not because they lacked justification, but because they all understood that even if they detained and interrogated him, Yang Ja-han would remain silent.
With Yang Ja-han’s departure, the surviving monks of Wuji Xuanmen also withdrew.
As the tension drained from me, I finally collapsed onto the ground.
“Sister.”
“What.”
“That bastard really was planning to cut you down.”
“I know.”
Having read the original work, I knew all too well that Yang Ja-han was not the type to make jokes about such matters.
Eun Hui-gyeom pouted his lips in displeasure.
“If you know, why did you push so hard?”
“Jin Seok-jun almost died.”
At that moment, my mind had been consumed by a single thought: I could not allow Jin Seok-jun to perish.
I turned to Eun Hui-gyeom, questioning why he would ask such a thing.
“What about you, sister?”
“….”
“So it’s fine if you die?”
“….”
“Don’t ever do something like that again.”
Eun Hui-gyeom furrowed his brow and averted his gaze.
His face looked as though he might cry at any moment, and I found myself momentarily stunned, at a loss for words.
“I’m sorry.”
“…Sigh, that’s enough.”
Lacking the energy to remain angry, Eun Hui-gyeom extended his hand toward me as I sat on the ground.
I grasped Eun Hui-gyeom’s hand and rose to my feet.
‘Seven Fate Roots.’
Yang Ja-han had said that both I and Jin Seok-jun corresponded to the Seven Fate Roots.
What exactly were the Seven Fate Roots that Yang Ja-han would become so fixated on the deaths of both Jin Seok-jun and me?
‘Yang Ja-han knows something that doesn’t exist in the original work.’
That meant not only was I deviating from the original narrative, but Yang Ja-han was as well.
As I gazed toward the entrance of the cave chamber where Yang Ja-han had departed, my thoughts began to multiply.
“The Taoist’s breathing has stabilized.”
Im So-ha wiped the sweat from her brow atop the flower petals.
“However, the depletion of spiritual energy is severe. Recovery is impossible here—he needs to be transported. The senior monks will arrive soon. If we can just hold out until then….”
Before Im So-ha could finish speaking, the ceiling of the cave chamber trembled.
Every monk’s gaze snapped upward in unison.
Through the fractured fissures of the cave ceiling that had collapsed when Pung-hu fell, azure light poured down.
The blue radiance spread into the cave chamber like descending steps.
Wherever the light touched, the lingering remnants of demonic energy scattered like smoke.
And from the center of that luminescence, a figure descended slowly.
“Master…!”
I nearly lunged toward Baek Un-jin on pure instinct.
But I couldn’t take even a single step—my legs buckled, and Eun Hui-gyeom caught me.
Following Baek Un-jin, other monks arrived one by one into the cave chamber of Heugam Jae.
His gaze swept across the entire chamber.
The ravaged floor, corpses that had failed to ascend, monks collapsed unconscious, and those who had survived but were in terrible condition.
“I’m too late.”
“No, we’re fine.”
Baek Un-jin offered no further response.
Instead, he raised his hand lightly and formed a seal with a simplified gesture.
[Cheonghae Mantra]
Clear ripples spread outward in a circular pattern from Baek Un-jin as the center.
Wherever the ripples touched, the remaining turbidity was completely washed away, and the monks’ wounds began to heal.
When the ripples reached Jin Seok-jun’s body, his breathing—which had been flickering like a dying candle—stabilized.
Baek Un-jin approached Jin Seok-jun.
“Monk Jin’s internal injuries are far too severe. With our abilities, we could do nothing beyond emergency treatment.”
Baek Un-jin bent forward and pressed Jin Seok-jun’s vital points.
Spiritual energy burrowed through his body, and Jin Seok-jun’s pallid complexion regained a faint hue.
That didn’t mean his wounds were healed.
“Monk Jin!”
Woo Tae-san expressed concern for Jin Seok-jun’s condition.
“It would be best to transport him to Chingwoo Immortal Sect.”
“…Please, I beg you to save Monk Jin.”
Woo Tae-san knelt and bowed his head.
The other monks of Hyeongang Mun who had been saved by Jin Seok-jun followed suit.
“I’ll do my best, so don’t worry.”
At Baek Un-jin’s gesture, Un-mong appeared and lifted Jin Seok-jun’s body into an embrace.
Then a massive azure bird descended from the sky.
It was the means to carry the wounded who could move and bring them to Chingwoo Immortal Sect.
Intermediate-level monks descended from the bird and attended to the other injured monks.
Baek Un-jin approached Eun Hui-gyeom and me, placing a hand on each of our shoulders.
Whoosh.
Through the technique of Cheongrim’s Lingering Echo, my body’s wounds began to heal rapidly.
“Master.”
“We’ll hear the full report once we return to the main hall.”
“Yes!”
Another spirit crane descended through the air.
The transmission stone hanging from the crane’s leg blazed with light, spreading the message in all directions.
【The Calamity of Earth—Complete Annihilation】
【Among the twenty-three Great Monks: two deceased, six severely wounded. Casualties among other monastery members to be tallied later.】
【Dok Go-mun’s final spiritual essence confirmed dispersed. Simultaneous dissipation of Sa Do-myeong and Pung-hu’s vital forces confirmed.】
【All Seon-mun to commit fully to damage recovery from this moment forward.】
Everyone relaxed in their own way upon hearing the crane’s report.
Sunlight began pouring through the fractured ceiling of the cave chamber.
The blood-crimson sky slowly, steadily reclaimed its azure hue.
“It… it’s over.”
We had stopped the Calamity of Earth.
Though the cost was not without sacrifice, we had averted the catastrophic ending that the original timeline had wrought.
Jin Seok-jun had survived.
I too had lived, and among the monks who fought beside us, many had endured.
“Sister! Come quickly!”
Eun Hui-gyeom, perched atop the now-colossal blue phoenix, extended his hand toward me.
I grasped Eun Hui-gyeom’s hand and ascended onto the phoenix.
The blue phoenix rose skyward.
As Heugam Jae receded into the distance, the golden mountain that Jin Seok-jun had conjured faded completely, settling into an ordinary earthen mound.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————