Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 3

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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 3: Spiritual Root (1)

 

 

Thud!

The massive dragon crashed to the ground.

The earth shook as if an earthquake had occurred.

 

“Ugh…!”

 

Cheon Woo-jin grabbed onto a nearby tree and held on.

After waiting for the trembling to stop, he raised his head and checked the Black Mist Dragon’s condition.

 

‘Success!’

 

The Black Mist Dragon lay collapsed, its entire body torn to shreds.

 

The innate talent that Cheon Woo-jin had acquired when creating his character… the Instant Death Heaven Eye had taken effect.

 

‘This was an opponent absolutely impossible to face in the early game.’

 

To defeat the Black Mist Dragon in Immortal Path Chronicles required hundreds of years of cultivation in game time.

Without reaching a certain level, damage wouldn’t even register.

 

‘But I killed it in one strike like this.’

 

The Instant Death Heaven Eye was truly an ‘instant kill ability.’

A transcendent power that could snuff out the life of even a massive dragon in one blow.

 

‘I really entered the game with incredible power.’

 

If he had defeated the Black Mist Dragon right at the start of the game, he would have been incredibly excited.

He probably would have grabbed a beer from the fridge and toasted alone.

 

However, the current Cheon Woo-jin was calmly accepting the present situation.

 

‘I need to use this power to survive.’

 

The xianxia world is more dangerous than ordinary martial arts worlds.

 

Man-eating demons are frightening, but cultivators who treat human lives like insect lives are even more terrifying.

Cultivators are those who aim to transcend heavenly fate and become immortal beings, and they’ll use any means necessary to advance their cultivation level.

If ordinary humans get caught up in the incidents they cause, they’ll only meet a dog’s death.

 

‘I can’t die a dog’s death in this world.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin harbored a desire to live long.

That vague wish had now transformed into a desperate goal.

 

He absolutely had to survive.

By any means necessary.

 

‘I’ve played Immortal Path Chronicles for thousands of hours. If I utilize that experience while building my strength, I should be able to survive even in this harsh world.’

 

Moreover, in this place, it was possible to live much longer than in the real world.

Each time one advanced as a cultivator, their lifespan would extend.

 

‘Anyway, to avoid dying a dog’s death to other cultivators, I need to raise my cultivation level.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin could use the transcendent power of the Instant Death Heaven Eye.

If used well, he could advance his cultivation level much more efficiently than any previous playthrough.

By doing so, he would gain power that overwhelmed other cultivators and continue extending his lifespan.

 

‘If I keep doing that… someday I might find a way to return to the original world.’

 

Upon reaching the true realm of immortals, one becomes able to freely manipulate even the laws of the universe.

Though not implemented in the game, the setting states that transcending time and space to traverse countless worlds becomes possible.

 

‘So I absolutely must not die.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin made a firm resolution.

 

‘I will survive to the end.’

 

Even if it meant witnessing the end of this world.

He would survive longer than anyone else.

 

Thus, Cheon Woo-jin swore to his soul.

 

* * *

 

A nauseating stench emanated from the Black Mist Dragon that had crashed to the ground.

Its entire body was torn to shreds, with all kinds of bodily fluids flowing out. Even its internal organs had burst, exposing their contents.

 

However, Cheon Woo-jin approached the Black Mist Dragon and began rummaging through the corpse.

It was a nauseating situation, but there was a reason he had to do this.

 

‘To become a cultivator, I need a spiritual root.’

 

Spiritual root.

The qualification to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Cultivators learn Cultivation Methods based on this spiritual root to advance their level.

 

‘The problem is that I don’t have a spiritual root.’

 

Earlier, Gal Sa-ryang had also said that Cheon Woo-jin lacked a spiritual root.

When creating his character, he had focused only on innate talents and hadn’t paid attention to the spiritual root aspect, so it seemed he had saved it in a state without a spiritual root.

 

‘But even without a spiritual root, there are methods.’

 

In the game, players sometimes deliberately start without a spiritual root.

This is because there are events that only occur with characters who don’t have innate spiritual roots.

 

‘I can obtain spiritual roots through acquired means anyway.’

 

Even without spiritual roots in the initial state, it’s possible to acquire them additionally while progressing through the game.

There were two methods for this.

 

‘The first method to acquire acquired spiritual roots is… cultivating martial arts.’

 

When martial arts are cultivated to the extreme, one reaches the realms called Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Returning to Origin.

 

Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown means unifying the three fundamentals of the human body – essence, qi, and spirit – to open the upper dantian, while Five Qi Returning to Origin means creating a vessel of the five elements using the qi from the human organs: liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

Upon achieving Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Returning to Origin, one can accept the spiritual qi of the five elements through the upper dantian, becoming equivalent to having Five Element Spiritual Roots.

 

However, to reach this level of realm, one must be an absolute master who has reached the Profound Realm.

Only after decades of bone-grinding effort to reach the Profound Realm can one finally challenge cultivation.

 

‘In the game, it’s quite a useful build since it can maximize physical attack power, but it’s not the method I would choose.’

 

Living as a martial artist and getting caught up in cultivators’ disputes would only lead to a meaningless death.

So I must choose the second method.

 

‘The second method is… eating the Golden Core of someone who has already reached the Core Formation realm.’

 

When a cultivator reaches a certain realm, they create a new organ to handle magical power.

This is called a Golden Core, and the act of creating a Golden Core is called Core Formation.

 

Even ordinary people without spiritual roots can learn Cultivation Methods if they eat this Golden Core.

This is because the Golden Core absorbed into the body acts as spiritual roots.

 

However, this is only theoretically possible and difficult to actually attempt.

How could an ordinary person without spiritual roots cut open the belly of a cultivator who has reached Core Formation and extract their Golden Core to eat?

That’s why the existence of such a method isn’t known to the world.

Even in the game, it wasn’t possible through normal means.

 

‘Still, it’s possible for me.’

 

That’s right.

Even if others can’t do it, Cheon Woo-jin can.

 

And right now, at that.

 

‘The Black Mist Dragon is a being that already broke through the Core Formation realm long ago.’

 

This was the reason why Cheon Woo-jin was currently searching through the Black Mist Dragon’s corpse.

 

Races other than humans also walk the path of cultivation, dreaming of stronger power and immortality.

The Black Mist Dragon, which had lived for over a thousand years, was already a being of the Nascent Soul realm, beyond Core Formation.

Therefore, it had a Golden Core within its body.

 

‘Especially the Golden Core of a dragon like the Black Mist Dragon has tremendous value.’

 

Recalling the game settings, Cheon Woo-jin continued rummaging through the Black Mist Dragon’s organs.

Since it was such a massive dragon, searching through its body was no easy task.

 

‘Found it.’

 

About an hour later.

Finally, Cheon Woo-jin discovered an egg-sized mass in the Black Mist Dragon’s abdomen.

 

At first glance, it looked like a lump of black gemstone.

It was emitting such an eerie light that it was hard to believe it came from inside a living creature.

 

This was the Black Mist Dragon’s Golden Core.

 

‘There’s no need to hesitate.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin swallowed the Golden Core whole.

The Golden Core that flowed down his throat melted smoothly and was absorbed into his body.

 

‘If this were some kind of spiritual medicine, there would be a risk of qi deviation, but Golden Cores aren’t like that.’

 

Recalling the game settings, Cheon Woo-jin sat down and crossed his legs in meditation.

 

There was no need to recite special incantations or anything.

The Black Mist Dragon’s Golden Core would naturally transform Cheon Woo-jin’s constitution.

 

“…!”

 

Shortly after.

Cheon Woo-jin felt a great change occurring within his body.

It was the sensation of something heavy settling in his abdomen.

 

This was similar to those who had entered martial arts creating a dantian through Internal Energy Mental Methods.

However, the change currently taking place wasn’t for martial arts.

 

It was to transform his constitution so he could accept spiritual qi, making his body capable of cultivating Cultivation Methods.

 

“Urgh!”

 

Something pitch black flowed out of his mouth.

It wasn’t vomiting the contents of his stomach.

Nor was it coughing up blood.

 

What flowed out now were the impurities that had been in Cheon Woo-jin’s body.

The Black Mist Dragon’s Golden Core had taken control of his internal circulation system and expelled the useless things.

 

“Ugh!”

 

This time, pitch-black tears flowed from both eyes.

Such a massive amount of liquid was expelled that he feared all the moisture would drain out and his eyeballs would shrivel up.

 

Soon after, impurities were likewise expelled from every pore across his entire body.

As black liquid oozed from every opening, Cheon Woo-jin felt his consciousness growing distant.

 

“….”

 

How much time had passed?

 

He heard rustling sounds from around him.

Then a tree demon with arms and legs appeared.

It was a Wood Spirit that had become a demon after an ancient tree absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

 

The Wood Spirit was merely a low-grade demon that hunted purely on instinct.

However, it possessed monstrous strength that even first-rate martial artists who had honed their skills would find difficult to handle.

 

Such a demon had discovered Cheon Woo-jin.

A defenseless figure just sitting there motionless… perfect prey for hunting.

 

Let’s tear this one apart and suck out its blood.

Driven by such instinct, the Wood Spirit lumbered closer and extended its branch-like arm.

 

And just before its sharp tip touched Cheon Woo-jin’s body.

 

Cheon Woo-jin’s eyelids opened, and his pupils emitted a golden light.

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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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