Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 109
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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 109: Core Formation (2)
“Heaven and Earth Profound Sect, the root of all energies, cultivated through countless eons, witness my divine powers…”
Cheon Woo-jin chanted the incantation while extending his Spiritual Power in eight directions.
Cloud Spirit Stones containing compressed massive amounts of Spiritual Energy took their positions in the eight directions.
Each Cloud Spirit Stone represented the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
The central number 5 was absent because the center itself was 5.
This arrangement was based on the Luoshu, said to have been created after observing patterns carved on the shell of a sacred turtle in ancient times.
It represents the principles of creation, destruction, and circulation of all things.
“Wearing nine and treading on one, left three right seven, two and four as shoulders, six and eight as feet, five dwelling in the center.”
9 and 1 at head and tail.
3 and 7 on both sides.
2 and 4 on both front legs.
8 and 6 on both hind legs.
5 in the center.
4 9 2
3 5 7
8 1 6
With this arrangement, a magic square was established where any three numbers in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines would sum to 15.
“One is the position of Great Yang, nine is the number of Great Yang, therefore one and nine are paired.”
“Two is the position of Lesser Yin, eight is the number of Lesser Yin, therefore two and eight are paired.”
“Three is the position of Lesser Yang, seven is the number of Lesser Yang, therefore three and seven are paired.”
“Four is the position of Great Yin, six is the number of Great Yin, therefore four and six are paired.”
1 and 9 are Great Yang.
2 and 8 are Lesser Yin.
3 and 7 are Lesser Yang.
4 and 6 are Great Yin.
Through this arrangement, the changes of Yin and Yang are revealed.
Then what is the 5 positioned at the center?
It signifies the source and central point of all Yin and Yang.
It is precisely the Supreme Ultimate.
“The Book of Changes has the Supreme Ultimate, which gives birth to the Two Forms, the Two Forms give birth to the Four Symbols, the Four Symbols give birth to the Eight Trigrams…”
The Supreme Ultimate is where Yin and Yang begin.
Conversely, it is also where Yin and Yang return.
He would recreate that cosmic principle in this place using eight Spirit Stones and Cheon Woo-jin himself.
In other words, this ritual was a ceremony to create a microcosm.
As the ritual proceeded, the laws of Yin and Yang began to transform around Cheon Woo-jin as the center.
Now Cheon Woo-jin had become an existence equivalent to the Supreme Ultimate, the source of Yin and Yang.
But he could not end here.
He had to make Cheon Woo-jin himself into another microcosm, creating a true Supreme Ultimate within his body.
The act of generating the primordial Supreme Ultimate, which becomes the foundation of all things, within the body.
In the Cultivation World, this is called Core Formation.
“Oh Heaven.”
Cheon Woo-jin pressed his palms together.
“Now that the Supreme Energy has reached me.”
With a sincere heart.
He offered a prayer toward the great natural law that penetrates this world.
“I pray to receive the Great Descent.”
Wooooooong!
The two Spirit Materials on the altar responded.
The Core Formation Spirit Material of extreme Yin, a scale fragment of the Black Tortoise.
The Core Formation Spirit Material of extreme Yang, the Golden Core of the Flame Sparrow Pao Ying.
From the two Spirit Materials, energies of extreme Yin and extreme Yang rose up.
Those energies would settle in Cheon Woo-jin’s Dantian and become the foundation of the Supreme Ultimate.
When all energies were concentrated into that Supreme Ultimate, a Golden Core would be formed.
Swoooooosh!
The two opposing energies were sucked into Cheon Woo-jin’s lower abdomen.
The moment Cheon Woo-jin tried to circulate his Spiritual Power to control the extreme Yin and extreme Yang energies that entered through the Sea of Qi acupoint below his navel.
“…!”
Cheon Woo-jin lost consciousness along with the sensation of his body being torn in half.
* * *
“Do you think Fellow Daoist Cheon will succeed in Core Formation?”
“Well…”
Jang Ryang scratched his head at Won Pil-so’s question.
Won Pil-so asked again to his Senior Brother who couldn’t give a proper answer.
“What is the success rate of the Core Formation ritual in the first place?”
“That differs by sect. A place like Taeul Yeokri Sect would prepare thoroughly, so they’d probably succeed over 90% of the time.”
“What about our Changhwa Sect?”
“Changhwa Sect is… well, I don’t really remember.”
Won Pil-so made an anxious expression at Jang Ryang’s answer.
“Isn’t Cheon Daoist challenging Core Formation without anyone to help him? The success rate seems like it would be even lower.”
“No, Core Formation is done alone anyway, so not having anyone to help isn’t really a problem. You only need help during the preparation process…”
Honestly, Jang Ryang didn’t know much either.
Jang Ryang himself was still at the Qi Accumulation Stage and couldn’t even dream of Core Formation Realm.
He only had knowledge he’d heard from seniors before.
“In the end, we can only leave it to heaven.”
“Heaven…”
Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so both raised their heads to look at the sky.
What they could see was the artificial sky of Ghost Head City’s 6th Floor, but there wasn’t much difference.
The heaven spoken of at times like this ultimately meant the great laws that governed this world.
To put it differently, it meant they could only leave it to fate.
What would become of Cheon Woo-jin’s destiny?
For the two of them, they could only wait and watch the results.
“Ah…!”
Then they began to sense movement.
Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so, who had been hiding in the back alley, quietly poked their heads out.
Cultivators wearing red robes were coming out of the high-class wine house located in the commercial district.
“Is the drinking session already over?”
“They’ll drink for three days and nights…!”
They were from the Flame Emperor Gate, who had recently come up to the 6th Floor.
The red-haired man at the front was the sect master, Jin Si-hyeok.
He was saying something to the other cultivators with an arrogant smile.
Having come up to the 6th Floor, they were staying in Central Mirror Town while meeting various cultivators.
Perhaps to show off the Flame Emperor Gate’s power, they often bought expensive spirit orbs.
While showing such generous behavior, they also persistently collected information about Cheon Woo-jin.
The fact that Na Chwi-ryang had handed over the Heavenly Silkworm Shadow Robe to Cheon Woo-jin had already reached the Flame Emperor Gate’s ears.
The Flame Emperor Gate cultivators who came out of the wine house conversed for a while.
They seemed to be discussing what to do next.
“Go to Azure Wind Valley, to Azure Wind Valley…”
“Go to the mountain region…”
Azure Wind Valley, one of the three major powers, was an Orthodox Sect that represented the 6th Floor.
The Flame Emperor Gate had visited famous Orthodox Sects once each while climbing Ghost Head City. So having come up to the 6th Floor, they should visit Azure Wind Valley.
Jang Ryang and Won Pil-so hoped the Flame Emperor Gate would gradually visit Azure Wind Valley.
But in the end, where their footsteps headed was… toward the wetland region.
“Damn it!”
“Of all times!”
Cursing, the two pulled out talismans.
They used Swift Movement Talismans that allowed rapid movement and ran ahead.
It was to inform the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect that the Flame Emperor Gate was coming.
“Senior Brother, what do we do about this?”
Moving at high speed, Won Pil-so asked Jang Ryang.
“Cheon Daoist still has a long way to go before finishing the Core Formation ritual! If those bastards interfere with the Core Formation ritual…!”
“Right, if he’s interfered with, he’ll definitely fail.”
Jang Ryang gritted his teeth.
“We have to prevent that at all costs.”
* * *
“It seems there are some rat spawn around.”
Jin Si-hyeok muttered while watching the two shadows heading toward the wetland region.
But he didn’t pay any more attention and continued walking.
“But I don’t understand why I can’t sense Poyeong’s presence.”
“You still can’t sense its presence?”
Poyeong was the Flame Emperor Gate’s guardian spirit beast.
It was spiritually connected to Jin Si-hyeok, the Flame Emperor Gate’s sect master.
If the distance was close, it was even possible to give commands through thought.
“Since we’ve come up to the 6th Floor, it should be normal to sense its presence. No matter how much I call, there’s no response…”
“Could something have happened?”
“Perhaps it was defeated by Cheon Woo-jin.”
“H-how could that be possible? Poyeong is a Core Formation level flame bird…”
“Even so, it’s just a bird.”
Poyeong had devoted itself for a long time as a guardian spirit beast.
However, Jin Si-hyeok’s attitude was cold.
“Since it’s bird-brained, it might have fallen into Cheon Woo-jin’s trap.”
“…”
“Tsk, neither Guyang Hu nor Po-yeong were of any help.”
Even those who had devoted their loyalty for so long were nothing more than tools to Jin Si-hyeok.
“Let’s go to the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect for now. We can ask them where Cheon Woo-jin is.”
“Wouldn’t it be faster to find the broker who’s supposedly backing Cheon Woo-jin?”
“Everyone says they don’t know where he is.”
“If we pretend to be clients and ask for an introduction…”
“You want me to tell such lies just to find some mere broker? Are you trying to shame me?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Thus, Jin Si-hyeok headed toward the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect with his subordinates.
He cursed several times at the wetland environment, but eventually arrived in front of the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect’s Main Hall.
“I am Jin Si-hyeok, Sect Master of the Flame Emperor Gate. I wish to meet the Sect Master.”
“P-please wait a moment.”
The leech demon guarding the entrance hurriedly went inside.
Shortly after, Jin Si-hyeok was able to be guided into the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect.
“Welcome to the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect, Sect Master Jin.”
“Pleased to meet you, Sect Master Yo.”
Jin Si-hyeok exchanged greetings with Yo Eun-hui, the Sect Master of the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect.
After some superficial conversation, they got straight to the point.
“I want to know where a mercenary named Cheon Woo-jin is.”
“Why are you coming to our Shadow Scale Sunken Sect to ask about a mercenary’s whereabouts?”
“Don’t play dumb. I already know that Cheon Woo-jin frequently visited the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect.”
“That’s true, but I don’t think we have any information worth providing to Sect Master Jin.”
Despite Jin Si-hyeok’s interrogation, Yo Eun-hui wasn’t shaken in the slightest.
But Jin Si-hyeok didn’t care and smiled.
“Sect Master Yo, if you provide the information obediently, I’ll let it slide.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you going to keep pretending you don’t know?”
Jin Si-hyeok spoke in a cold voice.
“It seems my spirit beast died somewhere around here.”
“What…”
“My spirit beast’s presence that I couldn’t feel even when I came up to the 6th Floor… I started sensing it when I came this way. But then the presence was suddenly cut off.”
Yo Eun-hui’s eyes widened, but Jin Si-hyeok didn’t care and asked in a rude tone.
“Sect Master Yo, don’t tell me the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect killed my spirit beast?”
“Our sect didn’t do such a thing!”
“Then I’ll have to investigate directly.”
Jin Si-hyeok stood up from his seat.
“I’ll track the traces of my spirit beast. If you interfere, I’ll consider it proof that the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect killed my spirit beast.”
“Such unreasonable…”
“Then just leave me alone. If the Shadow Scale Sunken Sect is innocent, there shouldn’t be any problem, right?”
Saying this, Jin Si-hyeok gave orders to his subordinates who were waiting behind him.
“Track Po-yeong’s traces. If anyone interferes, don’t tolerate it.”
“Yes, Sect Master!”
“I have a feeling. If we follow Po-yeong’s traces…”
Jin Si-hyeok smiled at his own intuition.
“Cheon Woo-jin, I think I’ll be able to meet that bastard.”
* * *
Endless darkness.
Cheon Woo-jin found himself sinking into it.
It felt like he had fallen into a pitch-black sea.
‘I am…’
Feeling a sensation similar to drowning and being unable to breathe, Cheon Woo-jin reached his hand upward.
No, he only thought he reached out like that, but it probably wasn’t real.
He was in a state where he couldn’t properly judge direction.
He was certain he was sinking somewhere, but he couldn’t tell if that was downward.
It might be more accurate to describe it as being sucked into a deep abyss.
‘Am I going to die like this? By failing the resolution ritual?’
Thinking such thoughts blankly, Cheon Woo-jin relaxed his body.
‘Is this the end…?’
However.
Cheon Woo-jin immediately opened his eyes wide again.
‘I haven’t been struggling all this time just to meet such a futile end.’
This might be Cheon Woo-jin’s fate.
But there was no need to submit to that fate.
Gong Woo had said it before too.
Luck is originally determined by heaven, but it can be changed by a single human action.
Cheon Woo-jin wanted to believe those words.
‘I will definitely survive.’
He moved his body with intense determination.
As if rebelling against the sky, he raised his hand toward the heavens once more.
This time, he was certain he had properly raised his hand upward.
‘Even if it means defying the will of heaven… I will survive in this Cultivation World.’
The moment he reached out his hand while crying out with his soul.
Beyond the pitch-black space that had seemed empty, a black dragon of overwhelming majesty appeared.
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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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