I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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81.
“Let me see that for a moment.”
Kang Jin-heon bent forward and grasped Ha Gyeong-un’s wrist.
Blue lines were flowing across the wrist as well.
“It resembles tree roots.”
“Tree roots?”
“Something inside is consuming Ha’s spiritual energy and growing within his body.”
It was feeding on Ha Gyeong-un’s spiritual essence, expanding within him.
“Step aside for a moment.”
Im So-ha placed her fingertips upon the back of Ha Gyeong-un’s hand.
Green dharmic force flowed from her fingers into him, only to rebound immediately.
Im So-ha stumbled backward in shock and confusion.
“My dharmic force won’t penetrate.”
“Is that even possible?”
“To be precise, it’s not that it can’t enter—there’s simply no space for it to enter. This boy’s body is already completely filled with another force.”
“Another force?”
“It’s wood-natured, but… it’s not his own dharmic force. As Kang said, something has taken root within this boy’s body and filled it completely.”
The critical issue was that this dharmic force did not belong to Ha Gyeong-un himself.
“Then what happens? Does he die?”
“Looking at his body alone, he’s not dying. That much is fortunate, I suppose.”
Ha Gyeong-un himself possessed the spiritual roots of wood, and since the wood attribute itself represents life, he would not perish.
The problem was that this state would continue indefinitely—both now and in the future—without death.
“Most critically, this may simply be my intuition, but…”
“Yes?”
“His spirit feels absent from this place.”
“Then what is this Ha in front of us?”
“He might be nothing more than a shell.”
“Is such a thing even possible?”
“I don’t know either.”
Im So-ha was a Gyeoldan-gi practitioner.
It was said that those who reached the Gyeoldan-gi level perceived not only the world but the very heavens themselves differently.
Given that Im So-ha spoke with such conviction, her words could hardly be dismissed as mere speculation.
Ssshhh.
“Did you hear that?”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you just hear something? That hissing sound.”
“…First Kang, and now you as well. Why is everyone saying this?”
“No, I’m certain I heard it!”
At first, I thought it was a mistake.
But from somewhere, a sound like air escaping repeated itself persistently.
I pressed my face and body against various parts of the Stone Chamber, examining them carefully.
Im So-ha watched me with curiosity, while Eun Hui-gyeom remained unsurprised.
It was while I had my face pressed against the wall for quite some time.
“It wasn’t sound—it was energy!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The energy of celestial qi sounded like noise. And this is….”
I couldn’t read the grain of wind as well as Kang Jin-heon could, nor could I read water energy well.
But perhaps due to my spiritual constitution, my intuition was quite sharp.
I crouched down and looked around in all directions.
I sprang up and pressed my head against Ha Gyeong-un’s chest.
‘It’s identical.’
The energy rising from underground matched the strange foreign energy accumulated in Ha Gyeong-un’s body perfectly.
The only difference was in its concentration.
I jumped to my feet.
“Senior Im.”
“Huh? Yes?”
“I think there’s something underground!”
“You mean where you had your ear pressed?”
“Yes!”
“…But it’s just ordinary stone?”
“Couldn’t we just break through it?”
As I rolled up my sleeves and clenched my fists, Im So-ha jumped in alarm.
“W-wait, this could be a treasure of Chui Ok Gok Mun….”
As expected, as a disciple of Chui Ok Gok Mun, the thought of destroying something weighed on her mind.
Kang Jin-heon drew out an iron thread and created wind currents inside the chamber.
The wind blew between Im So-ha and me, then dissipated.
Observing the grain of the wind, Kang Jin-heon looked precisely at the spot where I had pressed my ear.
“There’s definitely more space beneath this.”
“See!”
“If the senior masters scold me later….”
“Saving Ha Susa takes priority right now. Besides, the seniors of Chui Ok Gok Mun don’t seem to know this place exists.”
As I persuaded her, Im So-ha muttered reluctantly.
“We can just say it was already broken from the start, right?”
As I nodded, Im So-ha looked down at the floor with determination.
“Stand back.”
As we retreated, Im So-ha formed a seal.
Tree roots infused with dharmic power manifested around Im So-ha and struck the ground with tremendous force.
The impact was so violent that the Stone Chamber trembled momentarily.
Crack, crack, crack.
The stone floor fractured precisely and collapsed downward.
It would be impossible if it were merely an ordinary stone.
“Is it a hole? Wait a moment….”
Before Im So-ha could even speak, I thrust my face into the opening in the Stone Chamber’s floor.
It was a concealed space so cramped that a single person could barely squeeze through.
When I extended my arm, my hand immediately brushed against a wall.
Rather than a Stone Chamber, it resembled a secret compartment designed to hide something.
“Sister, you’ll fall!”
“It’s not that deep. Just a moment.”
After inserting my arm, I channeled illumination magic from within.
Then the truly cramped space revealed itself.
As I felt along the wall with my hand, I discovered something deeply carved into it.
“…This is…”
“What’s there?”
“Yes, it seems like something’s written here…”
I twisted my head and read the characters inscribed upon the wall.
“Ugh, this is difficult. I’ll explain once I’m out.”
“Come out then.”
Eun Hui-gyeom urged me to hurry.
The moment I tried to pull my body backward.
“…Sister, surely not…”
“I’m stuck.”
With my upper body wedged in place and thrashing about, Eun Hui-gyeom pressed his hand to his forehead and sighed.
Only after Eun Hui-gyeom grabbed my legs and pulled did I finally manage to pop free from the narrow space.
“Why would you crawl into such a place! You’re not a child!”
Eun Hui-gyeom, now covered in dust, scolded me as I sat there.
“I didn’t know it would be that narrow!”
“Sigh, your nature remains unchanged, Sister. So? What was written inside?”
“Ah, that…”
I transcribed exactly what I had seen onto a piece of paper I withdrew from my pocket.
[Below lies one who sleeps; do not allow them to awaken in alarm.
When once they awaken, the wind shall devour all eight directions.]
There is one sleeping below—do not startle them awake.
On the day they awaken, the wind will consume all eight directions.
“All eight directions?”
“It means everything. Which suggests something lies dormant in a place far deeper still.”
“That does seem to be the case. And in my opinion, it would be wise not to disturb it.”
Even the Monastery of Gyeoldan-gi had sorcery spread throughout Unbyek Rim capable of stealing an entire day.
If such a being wielded such power so casually…
‘There’s no guarantee that awakening it wouldn’t bring about a calamity similar to the Soil Catastrophe.’
The Beomjin Sect harbored countless mysteries that remained unrevealed even in the original work.
If the incident at Unbyek Rim was indeed one of them, then our approach needed to be far more cautious.
“I think so too. But if the one who took Ha Gyeong-un’s soul is a sealed entity beneath the ground….”
“Then this is serious.”
We were putting our heads together, trying to figure out what to do, when it happened.
Im So-ha carefully raised her hand and interjected.
“Actually, if it’s only a matter of the soul, there might not be a complete lack of methods.”
“Really?”
“At Chui Ok Gok Mun….”
Im So-ha hesitated for a moment before continuing.
It seemed she had decided this was not the time to worry about circumstances.
“There’s a secret technique called Simsan Ilryu.”
Even I, who knew the original work, was hearing of this technique for the first time.
“It’s a technique that enters into a person’s mental landscape and directly finds the root of their affliction. It’s used to treat monks whose souls have been damaged, but only monks of Gyeoldan-gi rank or higher can use it, and I can.”
“Then if we use that…. We could find out what happened to Ha Gyeong-un’s soul, right?!”
“That’s right. But there’s a problem.”
“A problem?”
“The caster of the technique cannot enter the mental landscape themselves. In this case, that means….”
Im So-ha looked at the three of us.
“One of you needs to enter Gyeong-un’s mental landscape. But entering another person’s mental landscape is extremely dangerous, and if an accident occurs, I can’t guarantee what will happen.”
There was a reason why Simsan Ilryu was a technique only monks of Gyeoldan-gi rank and above could use, and why it was treated as a secret art even within Chui Ok Gok Mun.
“That child is a monk of Chui Ok Gok Mun, isn’t she? I can’t ask her to risk her life for a monk from another sect, no matter who I am….”
“I’ll do it.”
I cut off Im So-ha’s words and spoke up.
“I seem to be the strongest among us, so I’ll do it.”
“Sister! Think about it first before answering! Didn’t you hear earlier? If an accident happens, no one knows what could occur….”
“So what? Should he remain unconscious for the rest of his life instead, or have his soul held captive by an entity of unknown nature?”
“….”
“If someone has to go, I will.”

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