Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 26

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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 26: Alchemy (1)

 

 

‘That was dangerous.’

 

Breathing heavily in the back alley, Cheon Woo-jin examined the sight of Changhua Pavilion, which had instantly turned to ash.

The building was already completely burned with nothing left to burn, but red flames continued blazing in that spot.

 

‘As expected, a Talisman Treasure storing the power of the Red Sea True Fire Spear… It produces power at the Golden Core level.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin took out an elixir to recover his stamina and spiritual power.

Honestly, he had used more strength escaping from the flames than dealing with the Dong Ryu Trading Company’s cultivators.

Without the Silver Spirit Steel Defense, he wouldn’t have been able to escape properly and would have become charcoal.

 

“Hey…!”

 

Just then, a black cat jumped down from a nearby wall.

It was Song Pyo from Yellow Pillar Spirit Gate, the client for this commission.

 

“Did you use the power of a Talisman Treasure?”

“I don’t recall hearing that I wasn’t allowed to use it.”

 

At Cheon Woo-jin’s cold response, Song Pyo opened his mouth in disbelief.

 

“Wait, then what happened to the Talisman Treasure now? I can’t sense any energy from it.”

 

The Red Sea True Fire Spear’s Talisman Treasure emits intense fire energy waves around it.

But now, those waves couldn’t be felt anywhere.

 

“It’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“It burned up after using it once.”

“…”

 

Song Pyo fell silent for a moment.

 

“That can’t be right. A proper Talisman Treasure should be usable at least ten times.”

 

A Talisman Treasure is a talisman that stores the power of a Magical Treasure.

Once all that power is used up, it becomes nothing more than a worthless scrap of paper.

But it was strange for a Talisman Treasure to be depleted after just one use.

 

“That means it wasn’t a proper Talisman Treasure.”

“Are you saying it was defective?”

“It might have already been used about nine times before.”

“…”

 

Song Pyo fell silent again.

In any case, it was true that the Talisman Treasure’s energy couldn’t be sensed anywhere.

 

Before the cat that had closed its mouth, Cheon Woo-jin spoke slowly.

 

“Anyway, this completes the commission.”

“…!”

 

With the Talisman Treasure gone, the deal between Dong Ryu Trading Company and Yellow Pillar Spirit Gate would fall through.

Moreover, with a large number of Dong Ryu Trading Company’s cultivators dead, they would have to reconsider their expansion into Ghost Head City from square one.

 

“Did things turn out as you wanted?”

“Y-yes, though I didn’t expect you to go this far…”

 

The cat stuck out its tongue while looking toward the ash-covered Changhua Pavilion.

After glancing at that sight, Cheon Woo-jin turned his back to him.

 

“Then I’ll receive the commission reward through the intermediary.”

“H-hey!”

 

Song Pyo called out to Cheon Woo-jin from behind.

 

“Would it be alright to give you work again next time?”

“As long as the compensation is sufficient.”

 

After answering that way, Cheon Woo-jin left the scene.

There was nothing good about staying in the 3rd Layer for long.

 

After passing through the ruins and descending to the 2nd Layer, he confirmed no one else was around and reached into his chest.

Then he confirmed that a single talisman was safely stored inside his Storage Bag.

 

‘I wasn’t caught.’

 

That talisman was the Red Sea True Fire Spear’s Talisman Treasure.

However, no energy could be felt from outside the Storage Bag.

 

Originally, items with intense energy like the Red Sea True Fire Spear’s Talisman Treasure continue to reveal their presence even when stored in a Storage Bag.

Cultivators at Golden Core stage or higher can hide that presence with their spiritual energy, but it’s impossible for those at Spirit Condensation or Energy Accumulation stages.

Even when it was in the red storage box earlier, energy was continuously leaking out.

 

But now, nothing could be felt from Cheon Woo-jin’s Storage Bag.

The Talisman Treasure’s existence was perfectly concealed.

 

‘This is a Storage Bag used by a Golden Core cultivator.’

 

The Storage Bag where Cheon Woo-jin had placed the Talisman Treasure was the one Guyang Gyeol had possessed.

Unlike ordinary Storage Bags used by Spirit Condensation or Energy Accumulation cultivators, it was a supreme-grade Dharma Artifact with performance approaching that of a Magical Treasure.

Because it was such a special Storage Bag, it could completely hide the Talisman Treasure’s presence.

 

‘Thanks to that, I was able to completely deceive Song Pyo.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin had planned to deceive Song Pyo like this from the beginning.

If he came out with the Talisman Treasure, Song Pyo might have changed his attitude.

He could have tried to steal the talisman treasure on the spot, or later used people to ambush Cheon Woo-jin.

 

That’s why Cheon Woo-jin pretended the talisman treasure had simply been lost, and Song Pyo fell for it.

 

In fact, Song Pyo had no choice but to be deceived by Cheon Woo-jin.

Being able to hide a talisman treasure meant possessing abilities at the Foundation Establishment level.

But someone with Foundation Establishment level abilities wouldn’t be doing such menial work in the 3rd Layer of Ghost Head City.

From Song Pyo’s perspective, it was a logical judgment to trust Cheon Woo-jin.

 

Who could imagine that a mere Qi Condensation Cultivator had killed a Foundation Establishment cultivator and stolen their storage bag?

 

‘With this, I now have one trump card to use in emergencies.’

 

While it couldn’t unleash power as strong as the original Red Sea True Fire Spear, it could still produce Foundation Establishment level firepower.

Earlier, because he used it inside Changhua Pavilion, it only reduced one building to ashes, but if used in an open space, it could turn a wide area into a sea of flames.

 

Originally, in Five Elements theory, Fire Element spreads out over a wide range with its dispersing action.

That’s why Fire Element Magic Arts specialize in wide-area attacks.

Since it had opposite properties to Water Element Magic Arts, it could complement the weaknesses of Cheon Woo-jin, who had Water Spirit Root.

 

‘And…’

 

The Red Sea True Fire Spear had the effect of manifesting True Fire.

And when heating a pill furnace for alchemy, it was best to use True Fire.

Even Taishang Laojun, who could be called the greatest master of Alchemy Art, used Samadhi True Fire when he put Son Oh-gong in the Eight Trigrams Furnace to heat him in Journey to the West.

While it was possible to perform alchemy by lighting ordinary firewood, True Fire was essential when making important elixirs like Foundation Building Pills.

 

However, since Qi Condensation Cultivators lacked the ability to create True Fire, they had to receive help from others or use special tools when making Foundation Building Pills.

But since Cheon Woo-jin had obtained the Red Sea True Fire Spear talisman treasure, he could create True Fire himself.

 

The conditions for challenging the Foundation Establishment stage were being fulfilled one by one.

 

* * *

 

The next day.

Cheon Woo-jin visited Seo Seol-ryeong’s shop.

Seo Seol-ryeong said the verification was already complete and brought out a box.

 

“This is Blue Tear Spring Leaf Grass.”

 

When the box was opened, a fresh herbal scent hit his nose.

Despite being completely dried medicinal herbs, it seemed to emanate the vitality of a fresh spring day.

 

In the Five Elements, Wood Element represents the vitality of spring when new shoots sprout.

This seemed more than adequate as a Wood Attribute Foundation Spirit Material.

 

“I’ll take it.”

 

With this, he had secured Wood Attribute and Metal Attribute Foundation Spirit Materials.

Now he only needed to secure 3 more Foundation Spirit Materials for Fire, Earth, and Water Elements, plus 1 Foundation Spirit Beast.

 

“Shall I also look for ways to obtain the remaining Foundation Spirit Materials?”

“I’d be grateful if you did.”

“Understood.”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong nodded and said.

 

“Thanks to your successful completion of this job and the previous one, it’s become easier for me to recommend you around. I think I can connect you quickly.”

“I’m curious what you say when recommending me.”

“I can’t tell you that much.”

 

Well, that was Seo Seol-ryeong’s trade secret.

Cheon Woo-jin decided not to pry further.

 

“It seems Dong Ryu Trading Company’s expansion into Ghost Head City will be postponed for now due to this incident.”

“That’s likely.”

“For Taeul Yeokri Gate, which was behind Dong Ryu Trading Company, this must be a rather bitter result.”

“Will Taeul Yeokri Gate retreat like this?”

“Of course not. They’ll try to expand into Ghost Head City using other subsidiary organizations.”

 

Cheon Woo-jin had some bad blood with Taeul Yeokri Gate.

He had directly killed Jin Cheong, an inner disciple of Taeul Yeokri Gate.

Therefore, Taeul Yeokri Gate’s expansion into Ghost Head City wasn’t very welcome.

 

Cheon Woo-jin wasn’t yet prepared enough to directly confront Taeul Yeokri Gate.

 

“I’d appreciate it if you could inform me when information about Taeul Yeokri Gate’s movements comes in.”

“Information isn’t free.”

“If it’s valuable information, I’ll repay you accordingly.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for now.”

 

After finishing their conversation, Cheon Woo-jin stood up.

If he visited again soon, Seo Seol-ryeong would introduce him to a new commission.

 

“Come to think of it, I had one request.”

 

When he spoke up before leaving the tent, Seo Seol-ryeong made a displeased expression.

 

“Do you want something else again?”

“It’s nothing major.”

 

Cheon Woo-jin asked in a calm voice.

 

“Can you also recommend a shop that sells delicious snacks?”

 

* * *

 

Cheon Woo-jin bought a bag of snacks and went down to the 1st Layer.

Looking into Jo Hyu’s shop, he found Jo Hyu and his granddaughter together.

When Cheon Woo-jin handed over the bag of snacks, Jo Hyu’s eyes widened.

 

“Why are you giving me something like this…?”

“Because I got to eat some mahua cookies last time.”

 

When he revealed it was repayment for the cookies he had eaten, Jo Hyu scratched his head apologetically.

Meanwhile, his granddaughter checked the cookie bag with an excited expression.

 

“It’s walnut candy!”

 

Walnut candy refers to confectionery made by hardening walnuts with syrup.

In other words, it could be called walnut brittle.

 

The color looked quite good, but since he hadn’t tasted it directly yet, he didn’t know the flavor.

Since it was bought from a shop Seo Seol-ryeong recommended, if it didn’t taste good, it would be Seo Seol-ryeong’s responsibility.

 

“You sit down and eat with us too. I’ll bring out some tea.”

 

Jo Hyu invited Cheon Woo-jin to sit on the wooden platform.

Since he was curious about the taste anyway, Cheon Woo-jin didn’t decline and sat on the platform.

 

“It’s delicious!”

“Indeed it is.”

 

The cookies had a deep, rich flavor.

They must have been made with walnuts cultivated by cultivators using spiritual power.

 

Shortly after, Jo Hyu brought out clear brewed tea.

This was also spirit tea with a subtle spiritual energy.

 

“Actually, there’s something I wanted to tell you.”

 

Jo Hyu carefully brought up the topic to Cheon Woo-jin, who was drinking tea.

 

“I told you last time that you’d need to vacate the room… let’s forget that ever happened.”

 

Jo Hyu said while scratching his head.

 

“It seems the Dong Ryu Trading Company bastards are completely withdrawing from Ghost Head City. They seem to have given up their plan to demolish this entire area and redevelop it.”

“…”

 

When Cheon Woo-jin remained silent and just listened, Jo Hyu asked cautiously.

 

“Do you happen to know something about this?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“…”

 

Jo Hyu stared intently at Cheon Woo-jin without saying anything.

Jo Hyu had vaguely noticed from before that Cheon Woo-jin was different from ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators.

 

However, Cheon Woo-jin maintained a calm expression and changed the subject.

 

“About the room I’m currently using… is it a room where I can use a pill furnace?”

“A pill furnace?”

“I think I need to start doing alchemy soon.”

 

To make Foundation Building Pills, he would need to use a pill furnace.

If he was going to do alchemy directly, it would be better to install the pill furnace inside his cave dwelling where safety was guaranteed.

 

“There are ventilation holes, but I wasn’t sure if it was okay to use a pill furnace.”

“What kind of pill furnace are you thinking of using?”

“I don’t have a pill furnace yet. I’m planning to get one.”

“…”

 

Jo Hyu fell into thought after hearing Cheon Woo-jin’s words.

 

“Wait a moment.”

 

Shortly after, Jo Hyu brought out a box.

It was a storage box with similar functions to a storage bag.

 

“This is something I don’t need anymore, so you can use it.”

 

Thud!

When Jo Hyu operated the storage box, a large furnace appeared.

 

It was cast from black iron and had a jet-black color, with complex patterns representing the Eight Trigrams drawn in eight directions.

The circular lid was engraved with clouds of the sky, and the square base had patterns depicting mountains and fields, expressing the principle of heaven being round and earth being square.

 

“This isn’t some cheap pill furnace. It’s a genuine pill furnace that can withstand true fire.”

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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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