Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 187

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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 187: Scales (3)

“Yo Elder Ancestor knows who I am. Let’s attack together.”

Mujung Soma whispered.

It was a statement born from the calculation that if he, Cheon Woo-jin, and Yowon Gyeon coordinated their attack, they could definitely eliminate Tan Lan Gu Ma.

However, Cheon Woo-jin didn’t move easily.

While continuing to guard against Tan Lan Gu Ma, he tried to read Yowon Gyeon’s expression.

Yowon Gyeon, wearing a gray hood pulled over his head, was keeping his head lowered more than usual, making his face difficult to see.

Still, Cheon Woo-jin could sense that Yowon Gyeon was different from usual.

Something must have happened.

As Cheon Woo-jin stared at Yowon Gyeon with this thought, Mujung Soma also noticed something was strange.

“Don’t tell me…”

Even Mujung Soma began to guard against Yowon Gyeon.

Seeing this, Tan Lan Gu Ma clicked his tongue.

“Oh my… what perceptive people.”

Tan Lan Gu Ma’s gaze turned toward Yowon Gyeon.

“Yo Elder Ancestor, couldn’t you have been a bit more natural? When you create such a serious atmosphere like that, they notice too.”

“…”

“Hmm, did I misjudge this person?”

Even as Tan Lan Gu Ma spoke this way, Yowon Gyeon showed no reaction.

He simply kept his mouth tightly shut and his head lowered.

“What is the meaning of this, Yo Elder Ancestor?”

Mujung Soma pressed Yowon Gyeon.

“Weren’t you going to entrust the future to Cheon Daoist? Even if not becoming a son-in-law, you expected he could open up Shadow Scale Sunken Sect’s future and helped Cheon Daoist based on that expectation, didn’t you? Why now all of a sudden…”

“…”

Yowon Gyeon gave no answer.

“Now see here, fellows. Isn’t this a bit too romantic?”

Instead, Tan Lan Gu Ma shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

“Entrust the future to Cheon Woo-jin? Why should Yo Elder Ancestor do that? He can handle it himself.”

Maintaining a benevolent expression, Tan Lan Gu Ma rambled on.

“Ordinary people in the world may entrust their affairs to their children or disciples, but that’s only because there are limits to their lifespan. Within a lifespan of less than a hundred years, there isn’t much one can accomplish, so they entrust the future to the next generation.”

“…”

“But cultivators like us are different. We are beings who renew our own lifespans, reject fate, and carve out our own destiny. Why should we entrust our affairs to others?”

These were words that denied the resolve Yowon Gyeon had revealed before Cheon Woo-jin last time.

Back then, Yowon Gyeon had clearly acknowledged his limitations and was trying to entrust the future to Cheon Woo-jin.

But now he seemed to have abandoned that resolve himself.

“Tan Lan Gu Ma, what did you do?”

Mujung Soma glared at Tan Lan Gu Ma and asked.

“Yo Elder Ancestor wasn’t someone who would change his resolve due to the coaxing of someone like you. Did you use cowardly methods?”

Tan Lan Gu Ma had the ability to bewitch others.

While forcibly brainwashing a master of Yowon Gyeon’s level would be difficult, it was possible to stimulate the instincts of the demon race and paralyze his judgment.

After putting him in such a state, perhaps he had spouted all sorts of sophistry to guide Yowon Gyeon into making the wrong choice.

“Cowardly methods? I merely had a conversation and exchanged opinions with Yo Elder Ancestor about what we should pursue. It’s a discussion between Daoists who have lived long years and experienced many things, so young ones like you would find it difficult to understand.”

Tan Lan Gu Ma, who had been responding this way, tilted his head.

“But you… haven’t we met somewhere before?”

Tan Lan Gu Ma still hadn’t realized that the person before him was Mujung Soma.

But before Tan Lan Gu Ma could inquire further, Yowon Gyeon moved.

“…”

Yowon Gyeon took a step forward.

At this sight, Mujung Soma heightened his guard.

He appeared ready to counterattack immediately if Yowon Gyeon began an assault.

Meanwhile, Tan Lan Gu Ma also sent a signal to his summoned hounds.

The summoned hounds then lowered their bodies like predators about to pounce on prey.

Once Tan Lan Gu Ma’s command fell, they would all rush forward at once to overwhelm Cheon Woo-jin and Mujung Soma.

In this hair-trigger atmosphere.

Cheon Woo-jin continued to keep his mouth shut, staring only at Yowon Gyeon.

At Yowon Gyeon, who was hiding his face with a gray hood and concealing his expression.

“Yo Elder Ancestor, I’ll hand over Cheon Woo-jin’s body to you intact, so don’t worry and give it your all!”

Finally, Tan Lan Gu Ma raised his hand forward and commanded the summoned hounds to attack.

Centered around a large white dog, the fearsome hunting dogs all rushed forward at once.

Their agility was incomparable to the summoned hounds they had faced in the underground maze earlier.

Tan Lan Gu Ma himself didn’t move from his position, but seemed to be trying to support the summoned hounds with magic arts.

Mujung Soma fully deployed the Hundred Transformations Hundred Faces technique.

Since he had to face not only Tan Lan Gu Ma but also Yowon Gyeon, he had to give it his all.

At this point, hiding his identity from Tan Lan Gu Ma was meaningless anyway.

Deploying the Hundred Transformations Hundred Faces technique, Baek Myeon Gak’s unique cultivation method, Mujung Soma tried to reveal his true abilities.

“…!”

But just as Mujung Soma’s pure white Sword Qi was about to explode, suddenly dark red energy burst forth from all directions.

North Palace Annihilation’s trap had been prepared here as well.

Mujung Soma’s Sword Qi was decomposed by some kind of spell formation, and the Summoned Hounds rushed in with terrifying momentum, targeting that opening.

Tan Lan Gu Ma’s support Magic Arts were enhancing their power to the extreme.

At that moment, Yowon Gyeon moved silently like a snake gliding through the swamp.

Targeting the moment when his movement could be most lethal.

“Huh…?”

Thunk!

Yowon Gyeon’s fingertips, moving by leaping through space, pierced through the solar plexus.

With one strike, he burst the heart and damaged major blood vessels and vital organs.

It was a perfectly executed surprise attack, so even an opponent of equal skill level would fall victim to it.

“Why on earth….”

As if he couldn’t believe it.

Tan Lan Gu Ma muttered.

“Why me instead of those bastards….”

Yowon Gyeon’s hand was embedded in Tan Lan Gu Ma’s solar plexus.

He had attacked Tan Lan Gu Ma, not Cheon Woo-jin or Mujung Soma.

“Elder Ancestor Yo…!”

It wasn’t only Tan Lan Gu Ma who was shocked by that action.

Mujung Soma also urgently raised his voice.

“Didn’t you betray Fellow Daoist Cheon and side with Tan Lan Gu Ma?!”

“You underestimate me too much….”

Yowon Gyeon slowly moved his hand that had pierced the solar plexus downward.

“This Yowon Gyeon… is not so careless as to lose his reason being bewitched by the demon’s sorcery!”

“Kraaaak!”

Yowon Gyeon’s hand tore through Tan Lan Gu Ma’s internal organs and reached his lower abdomen.

But just before destroying Tan Lan Gu Ma’s Golden Core, the Summoned Hounds rushed in.

“Grrrrr…!”

Crunch! Crunch! Crack!

The Summoned Hounds that attacked from behind bit into Yowon Gyeon’s entire body.

They bit and clung to his arm to prevent him from destroying Tan Lan Gu Ma’s Golden Core, and even bit into Yowon Gyeon’s throat.

But it was a useless effort.

“Molting.”

“…!”

Swoosh.

Yowon Gyeon, who had been bitten by the Summoned Hounds, collapsed with a thud.

Only an empty shell remained with nothing inside.

As if mocking the confused Summoned Hound, a new Yowon Gyeon appeared behind Tan Lan Gu Ma, and this time inserted his hand from the waist to crush the Golden Core.

“Kraaaak…!”

Completely caught off guard by Yowon Gyeon’s Molting Transformation Great Technique, Tan Lan Gu Ma suffered fatal injuries.

But Tan Lan Gu Ma was not to be taken lightly either.

Even with his Golden Core damaged, he squeezed out his strength and launched a very small Spiritual Energy Blade.

The target of that blade was neither Yowon Gyeon, nor Mujung Soma, nor Cheon Woo-jin.

The white-furred dog that had been commanding the other dogs until just moments ago… he blew off its neck.

“Whine….”

With a short scream, the head fell off.

Immediately after, pitch-black energy surged from the corpse.

It was clearly different from the Hound Ghost that Cheon Woo-jin and Mujung Soma had faced earlier.

It had been killed by the master it had served loyally until now.

The pinnacle of grudge dog sorcery that utilized that intense resentment.

It was the birth of Yaseoksiguongwi, Tan Lan Gu Ma’s secret weapon.

[Roooooar!]

The moment Yaseoksiguongwi’s roar echoed, a tremendous shockwave swept the surroundings.

It was powerful enough to push back even Cheon Woo-jin and Mujung Soma.

In the meantime, one Summoned Hound carried the limp Tan Lan Gu Ma on its back and quickly fled.

Yowon Gyeon moved to pursue the fleeing Tan Lan Gu Ma.

One Summoned Hound bit his leg, but Yowon Gyeon ignored it and pursued Tan Lan Gu Ma.

Watching Yowon Gyeon sprint with gliding movements, Cheon Woo-jin also followed behind him.

“Senior, I’ll leave this place to you!”

“Yes, understood!”

Befitting Tan Lan Gu Ma’s hidden secret weapon, Yaseoksiguongwi was quite powerful.

He wanted to coordinate with Mujung Soma to defeat it, but right now following Tan Lan Gu Ma and Yowon Gyeon came first.

Cheon Woo-jin left the aftermath to Mujung Soma and began pursuit.

Tan Lan Gu Ma seemed to have fled into passages as complex as a maze.

But traces of Yowon Gyeon’s passage remained, making tracking itself possible.

Eventually, Cheon Woo-jin reached the area reeking of blood.

The summoned hound that had fled earlier carrying Tan Lan Gu Ma’s body on its back lay there, split in two.

Tan Lan Gu Ma’s body was also rolling on the nearby ground, seemingly already dead.

And beside it… Yowon Gyeon lay collapsed.

“I’m sorry, Cheon Woo-jin…”

As Cheon Woo-jin approached, Yowon Gyeon spoke weakly.

“I was attacked by the Hound Ghost that burst out when I killed the dog. Because of that, I couldn’t catch Tan Lan Gu Ma when he escaped as a Nascent Soul…”

“Elder Ancestor…”

Cheon Woo-jin bit his lips as he looked at Yowon Gyeon.

Right now, Yowon Gyeon couldn’t even properly lift his body.

However, that wasn’t simply because he had been attacked by the Hound Ghost.

Yowon Gyeon wasn’t someone who would be defeated by just one Hound Ghost in the first place.

“Don’t look at me anymore…”

Yowon Gyeon’s two arms and one leg were rolling on the ground.

While one leg had been torn off when bitten by the summoned hound earlier, the remaining limbs had fallen off on their own.

Yowon Gyeon now had a body without arms and legs.

It was similar to how he looked before entering the path of cultivation… when he was an ordinary snake demon.

The head revealed beneath the removed hood had also changed from before.

Previously, he could move his facial muscles like a human to make expressions.

Now it was just a snake’s head, incapable of any emotional expression.

“Is this because you forcibly drew up power to resist Tan Lan Gu Ma’s bewitchment?”

“This was going to happen before long anyway. It just got moved up a little…”

When he had caught Tan Lan Gu Ma off guard earlier, Yowon Gyeon had spoken as if he had been fine from the beginning.

But that wasn’t the truth.

Yowon Gyeon had fallen for Tan Lan Gu Ma’s tricks and was about to betray Cheon Woo-jin.

However, he overcame it with his own power and came to his senses, launching a surprise attack on Tan Lan Gu Ma at the perfect timing.

The problem was that Yowon Gyeon had overexerted himself considerably in that process.

“I told you I had taken the wrong path during cultivation. This is the effect of that…”

Demonic cultivators initially were nothing more than individual demons with low intelligence.

They grow into beings with intelligence no different from the Human Race as they earnestly walk the path of cultivation.

However, if mistakes are made during the cultivation process, regression can occur.

They revert back to being low-level demons like in the old days.

“Can’t it be reversed?”

“There’s no way once it’s come to this. I’ve been forcibly suppressing it until now…”

Revealing that the regression couldn’t be stopped, Yowon Gyeon let out a labored breath.

Yowon Gyeon would soon degenerate into just a snake.

Then the personality of Yowon Gyeon that was having this conversation would also disappear.

Even if he became a snake, he might survive for a while, but ultimately the person called Yowon Gyeon would be as good as dead here.

“Why did you do this?”

Cheon Woo-jin posed a question to Yowon Gyeon.

“Why did you forcibly resist Tan Lan Gu Ma’s tricks?”

Simply fighting Cheon Woo-jin as Tan Lan Gu Ma’s ally would have been a more beneficial choice for Yowon Gyeon personally.

Tan Lan Gu Ma might betray Yowon Gyeon later, but it would still be better than immediately degenerating into a snake demon.

However, Yowon Gyeon forcibly broke free from Tan Lan Gu Ma’s bewitchment and helped Cheon Woo-jin.

Knowing there was a risk of degenerating into a mere snake and losing his personality.

To Cheon Woo-jin’s question about why he did that, Yowon Gyeon answered in a calm voice.

“I promised to help you. I had decided to entrust the future to you.”

Yowon Gyeon’s two eyes gazed into empty space.

Though they were emotionless snake eyes, they seemed to be reminiscing about the past.

“I didn’t want to change my mind ever again. That’s all there is to it.”

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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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