Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 14

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

Chapter 14: Ghost Head City (2)

 

 

“Good.”

 

He felt like she might have smiled briefly, but her voice remained cold.

 

“Is there anything you’re good at?”

“Assassination.”

 

When Cheon Woo-jin answered briefly, she nodded.

 

“You’re different from your atmosphere.”

“What’s my atmosphere like?”

“You seem like a young master who was raised delicately without getting his hands dirty.”

“Isn’t that mutual?”

 

It was true that Cheon Woo-jin didn’t have an atmosphere suited for assassination contracts.

But with her snow-white skin and delicate figure, she didn’t seem suited for this kind of work either.

 

“Good.”

 

She lightly ignored Cheon Woo-jin’s words and continued speaking.

 

“If that’s the case, there’s a perfect job available.”

“What kind?”

“A traitor has emerged from the Taeul Yeokri Sect. An Inner Disciple poisoned his senior brother two weeks ago and fled to Ghost Head Mountain.”

“…”

 

He had just recently killed Jin Cheong of the Taeul Yeokri Sect.

It was a strange feeling.

 

“As you probably already know, the Taeul Yeokri Sect cannot intervene inside Ghost Head City. They made such an agreement with the Thirteen Alliances Under the Moon and the Blood World Demon Sect.”

“…”

“That’s why the traitor fled to Ghost Head City too.”

 

The Taeul Yeokri Sect couldn’t directly find the traitor hiding in Ghost Head City.

So they were using someone from inside Ghost Head City like this.

 

“The traitor’s name is Song Jun-hak. He’s a Qi Refining realm cultivator with Golden Water Spirit Root.”

“…”

“He’s a sword cultivator who uses swords well and has learned the Taeul Mysterious Sword Art. He killed his senior brother and stole a mid-grade Dharma Artifact called the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword, so you need to kill him and retrieve the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword.”

 

Information about his appearance wasn’t provided.

Anyway, cultivators completely change their faces when they flee, so such information is useless.

 

What’s more important than appearance is what cultivation methods they mainly learned.

While you can change your facial features, you can’t change your cultivation methods.

 

Moreover, he had stolen a powerful Dharma Artifact called the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword.

This was also an important clue.

 

“I’ll give you one month. If you complete it within the time limit, I’ll pay you 2,000 Spirit Stones.”

 

2,000 stones.

This corresponded to one-fifth of the Spirit Stones needed to enter the Great Perfection of Qi Refining realm.

 

“Do you think it’s possible?”

“I have to do it.”

“Good.”

 

Cheon Woo-jin stood up from his seat.

Since he had received the mission, there was no more business here.

 

But he stopped briefly before going outside the tent.

 

“What’s wrong?”

“You just said he was a Qi Refining realm cultivator.”

 

He asked to confirm.

 

“Which stage?”

“They said Great Perfection of Qi Refining realm.”

 

She tilted her head to the side and asked.

 

“Is Great Perfection of Qi Refining realm too much for you?”

“No.”

 

Cheon Woo-jin shook his head.

 

“No problem.”

“That’s fortunate.”

 

Before going outside, Cheon Woo-jin checked her status window one last time.

The contents of the status window were identical to what he had seen in the game.

 

[Seo Seol-ryeong]

* Race: True Human Race

* Age: 263 years

* Realm: Great Perfection of Core Formation realm

* Constitution: Water Spirit Root, Guye True Person

* Faction: Neutral Path

* Affiliation: Mount Miaogushe

* Destiny: Faith and Righteousness

 

Great Perfection of Core Formation realm.

She was a cultivator at a much higher realm than Cheon Woo-jin.

She was even a True Human Race with superior spiritual qualities compared to ordinary Human Race.

 

For reference, Mount Miaogushe is a place that appears in “Zhuangzi”… It’s said that a mysterious person lives there whose skin is like ice or snow and who is as delicate as a maiden .

So when referring to the Goya True Person, it became a term for an immortal who controls ice and snow or a mysterious beauty.

 

The production team probably got their idea from here to create the character Seo Seol-ryeong.

 

‘In the game, detailed backstories weren’t revealed, so users often let their imaginations run wild.’

 

Why she, a master at the Foundation Establishment stage, was staying on the 2nd Layer of Ghost Head City.

Why she didn’t move personally and only did intermediary work.

Why she covered both her eyes.

These were never revealed in the game until the very end.

 

There were rumors it would be revealed in additional DLC, but even in the last DLC Cheon Woo-jin played, Seo Seol-ryeong’s detailed story wasn’t resolved.

 

‘Still… Seo Seol-ryeong was the most trustworthy NPC in this Ghost Head Mountain.’

 

Seo Seol-ryeong never disappointed players.

She paid exactly the right compensation that matched the mission difficulty.

Knowing this, Cheon Woo-jin had come to find Seo Seol-ryeong.

 

‘There’s no guarantee it’ll be exactly the same as the game, but it’s still better than dealing with someone I know nothing about.’

 

The martial world was a place full of betrayal and conspiracy.

Finding someone who seemed even slightly less likely to stab you in the back was a very important matter.

 

* * *

 

Cheon Woo-jin decided to look around the 2nd Layer first.

 

Since this target, Song Jun-hak, was at the Foundation Establishment stage, he could go up to the 3rd Layer.

But it was hard to think that Song Jun-hak would be hiding on the 3rd Layer.

 

‘Just as I’m feeling stifled on the 2nd Layer right now, Song Jun-hak would also feel uncomfortable if he went up to the 3rd Layer. It wouldn’t be suitable for hiding for long.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin had also obtained a cave dwelling on the 1st Layer.

If Song Jun-hak was at the Foundation Establishment stage, he would have prepared a hideout on the 2nd Layer.

 

First, Cheon Woo-jin found an area where cave dwellings were clustered on the 2nd Layer.

Then he took a position on the second floor of a nearby tavern.

It was a location where he could look down at the nearest market at a glance.

 

‘Not exactly a sight that improves the taste of alcohol.’

 

Rather than a market, the word “black market” seemed more appropriate for the atmosphere.

Like most of the lower levels of Ghost Head City, the overall atmosphere was gloomy and filthy.

Occasionally, the smell of blood would creep up and sting his nose.

Was this the smell of blood from human corpses? Or animal corpses? Or demon corpses?

Either way, it wasn’t a smell that made alcohol taste better.

 

“…”

 

However, there are people who prefer such dark and gloomy markets.

 

On the third day of surveillance, Cheon Woo-jin spotted a man buying dumplings in a corner of the market.

 

[Song Jun-hak ]

* Race: Human Race

* Age: 62 years old

* Realm: Foundation Establishment stage

* Constitution: Metal-Water Spirit Root

* Faction: Orthodox Sect

* Affiliation: Taeul Yeokri Gate

* Destiny: Self-Preservation

 

This was the traitor for whom Taeul Yeokri Gate had issued an assassination order.

 

No matter how much of a fugitive he was, he still had to eat to survive.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator could endure going without food for several days, but eating three meals a day was still better for body and mind.

 

So Cheon Woo-jin had positioned himself on the second floor of the tavern and checked the status windows of people coming and going from the market one by one.

He had expected that Song Jun-hak would eventually show his face at the market to procure food.

 

‘I was planning to watch for about a week and look elsewhere if there were no results, but fortunately he got caught quickly.’

 

Song Jun-hak seemed to be buying several days’ worth of food all at once.

 

Cheon Woo-jin left the tavern and followed Song Jun-hak.

But Song Jun-hak didn’t head toward where the cave dwellings were clustered.

Walking toward increasingly secluded areas, Song Jun-hak descended into the underground waterway through a hole in the ground.

 

“…”

 

Rat Spawn were running around in the underground waterway.

These Rat Spawn had adapted to the polluted environment and were practically no different from demon beasts.

If you made a place like this your hideout, you’d have all your fingers and toes gnawed off by them while you dozed off.

 

But Cheon Woo-jin didn’t think Song Jun-hak’s hideout would be here.

 

Song Jun-hak was just luring Cheon Woo-jin to this place.

 

“…”

 

Song Jun-hak, who had been walking through the underground waterway, suddenly stopped.

Then he threw the food bag he was holding toward this direction.

Food scattered on the ground, and the Rat Spawn in the underground waterway swarmed over.

 

In that chaos, Song Jun-hak drew his sword from within his robes.

More precisely, he pulled out a sword from a storage bag hidden in his robes.

It was a Dharma Artifact with a blade that writhed like a snake… the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword.

 

From the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword, sword qi like a serpent was rising.

It was different from the sword qi that martial artists create by infusing internal energy into their blade.

Sword qi generated by the spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was created dozens at a time, deploying in the air.

 

It was the moment when the essence of the Taeul Mysterious Sword Art, the pride of the Taeul Yeokri Sect, was unleashed.

 

“Fly!”

 

Song Jun-hak shouted with a battle cry, trying to launch the sword qi at Cheon Woo-jin.

But he was a step too late.

 

Cheon Woo-jin had already activated his Instant Death Heaven Eye.

 

“…?”

 

Song Jun-hak stopped moving while holding up the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword.

The dozens of sword qi that should have torn Cheon Woo-jin apart had all disappeared.

Song Jun-hak looked like he wanted to say something, but no voice came from his vocal cords.

 

Song Jun-hak’s body had already been torn to shreds and met its death.

 

Splash!

Song Jun-hak’s corpse collapsed onto the sewage.

The Rat Spawn scattered briefly, startled by the sound.

 

Cheon Woo-jin seized the opportunity to approach Song Jun-hak and collect the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword and storage bag.

Then he absorbed only the black spiritual energy from the spiritual energy escaping Song Jun-hak’s body.

 

‘As expected, being a Foundation Establishment cultivator means a lot of spiritual energy flows in.’

 

However, the absorption efficiency wasn’t that good.

Just because he absorbed the spiritual energy of a Foundation Establishment cultivator didn’t mean his spiritual energy suddenly doubled or more.

 

Still, by steadily accumulating spiritual energy like this, Cheon Woo-jin could also challenge the Foundation Establishment realm.

If Cheon Woo-jin’s own level didn’t reach Foundation Establishment, it would be useless no matter how many spirit stones he collected.

 

‘And…’

 

Cheon Woo-jin took out a talisman from his storage bag.

It was a talisman called Soul Capture Talisman that had been in Jin Cheong’s storage bag.

 

This Soul Capture Talisman is used to extract part of the soul from a corpse immediately after death.

While you can’t reproduce the personality or memories from the extracted soul, you can at least confirm what kind of person the soul’s owner was.

It was a tool used to prove that someone had been killed.

 

‘Without something like this, you’d have to drag the corpse around every time to get confirmation.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin extracted part of the soul with the Soul Capture Talisman and immediately retreated.

Then the Rat Spawn that had scattered earlier caught the scent of blood and rushed toward Song Jun-hak’s corpse.

 

Perhaps because they had absorbed the organs of Ghost Head City and become demon-like beings.

The Rat Spawn seemed to find human corpses more appetizing than the food scraps scattered on the ground.

 

“…”

 

Cheon Woo-jin, who had been silently watching that scene, reached into his chest again.

Then he took out a Flame Talisman from his storage bag and infused it with spiritual power.

 

“Sizzle!”

 

Whoosh!

Song Jun-hak’s corpse burst into flames, engulfing even the Rat Spawn that had been trying to devour his body.

The struggling Rat Spawn slipped off Song Jun-hak’s corpse and fell to the ground.

But the sewage flowing in the underground waterway was full of grease, so it didn’t help extinguish the fire.

In front of over a hundred Rat Spawn burning to death, Cheon Woo-jin checked his surroundings once more.

 

‘As expected, there’s no one else around.’

 

From the moment he entered the underground waterway, Cheon Woo-jin had moved while carefully observing all directions.

He couldn’t use the Instant Death Heaven Eye where others could see.

Seeing no status windows anywhere, Cheon Woo-jin was the only cultivator in the underground waterway right now.

 

‘Seo Seol-ryeong only asked me to bring back the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword, so I can keep the items in the storage bag.’

 

This was the profitable part of assassination missions.

When you eliminate a target, you can collect spoils like this in addition to the official reward.

Fugitive cultivators often packed all their wealth tightly into their storage bags, so with good luck, you could greatly increase your fortune in one go.

 

Cheon Woo-jin put his hand into Song Jun-hak’s storage bag.

Like when he had searched Jin Cheong’s storage bag, he could sense the elixirs and other items stored inside.

 

However, there was one item that he couldn’t sense in Jin Cheong’s storage bag.

 

“…!”

 

Its identity was a single manual.

 

The storage space of a storage bag is limited.

The storage bags that the Taeul Yeokri Sect issues to inner disciples only have about the space of one backpack.

If you put in a sword like the Mysterious Snake Spirit Sword, there isn’t much room left.

 

Yet he had deliberately kept a manual in that narrow space. Even while living as a fugitive.

This meant it was a book of considerable value.

 

Cheon Woo-jin swallowed and took the manual from the storage bag, then checked the cover.

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