Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 37
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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 37: Dharma Artifact (3)
What attacked Cheon Woo-jin were the Demonic Cultivators of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
All were at the Qi Refining stage, numbering five.
They were hurling blades made of spiritual power to kill Cheon Woo-jin alone.
However, Cheon Woo-jin merely stood in place.
Six Dharma Artifacts emerged from his sleeves… the Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit deployed in autonomous movement mode.
The Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit consisted of two attack spirits and four defense spirits, but in reality, all six could perform both offensive and defensive roles.
The spirits made from centipede jaws were sharp like blades, making them more suitable for attack, while the spirits made from centipede shells were flat like shields, making them more suitable for defense.
Therefore, in the current situation, all six could be utilized for defense.
“…!”
The six spirits deflected all the assassins’ attacks.
They visibly flinched in surprise at the miraculous defense method.
Toward them as they hesitated, the six spirits moved in unison.
Seeing the spirits flying at high speed, they tried to respond urgently.
But it was already too late. The spirits moved faster than they could react.
A sharply piercing centipede jaw penetrated one assassin’s throat.
A centipede shell falling from above crushed another assassin’s head.
The assassins who had cultivated Demonic Cultivation Methods and Assassination Arts for decades were ravaged by automatically moving objects and lost their lives one by one.
This was the power of a Supreme-Grade Magical Artifact made using the corpse of a Foundation Establishment demon beast.
‘It’s working properly.’
Cheon Woo-jin felt satisfaction.
He had already confirmed the completeness at Hwangju Refinery Pavilion, but seeing it actually operate filled him with pleasant feelings.
While the Five Thunder Heaven Piercing Sword and Silver Spirit Steel Defense were spoils taken from others, this Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit was something Cheon Woo-jin had personally commissioned.
Seeing it perform exactly as expected, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of achievement.
‘I could annihilate ordinary Qi Refining Cultivators with just the Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit.’
Of course, it would be difficult if dozens attacked simultaneously.
But when just a few small fry charged like now, simply leaving it to the Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit would be sufficient.
That way, Cheon Woo-jin could focus on facing truly skilled opponents.
‘Over there.’
Thump!
He kicked off the ground and flew up quickly.
Then he forcefully thrust down sword qi formed according to the Taeul Mysterious Sword Art formula.
Swish!
Black sword qi raced through the darkness.
Immediately after, sparks flew from what seemed like empty air.
“Ugh!”
A Demonic Cultivator who had been hiding in the darkness revealed himself.
Cheon Woo-jin had noticed from earlier that this demonic cultivator was hiding behind the assassins.
[Gwak Bo]
* Race: Human
* Age: 164 years
* Realm: Foundation Establishment (Late Stage)
* Constitution: Fire-Earth-Metal Spiritual Root
* Faction: Demonic Path
* Affiliation: Mad World Yin Spirit Sect
* Destiny: Killing
A skilled practitioner at late Foundation Establishment.
However, he had only sent his subordinates forward.
He himself remained hidden, merely observing.
This likely had the intention of analyzing Cheon Woo-jin’s methods.
But Cheon Woo-jin had only responded with autonomously moving Dharma Artifacts, not revealing his main weapons.
“You bastard…!”
Understanding that his strategy had failed, Gwak Bo thrust both arms forward.
Immediately after, fierce streams of flame burst from Gwak Bo’s hands.
It was a wide-area attack spreading in a fan shape.
Originally, Fire Attribute Magic was specialized for area attacks.
Burning a wide area at once to prevent the opponent from escaping was the essence of Fire Attribute Magic.
Indeed, this attack also had such a wide range that Cheon Woo-jin had nowhere to flee.
Boom!
Flames burst forth with explosive sounds, trying to engulf Cheon Woo-jin.
However, Cheon Woo-jin remained unshaken and thrust his left hand forward.
Simultaneously, a large shield appeared, creating a hemispherical barrier.
It was the Silver Spirit Steel Defense, a Supreme-Grade Magical Artifact for defense.
“…!”
Thud!
The flames scattered around without burning even a single hair on Cheon Woo-jin’s head.
Gwak Bo’s eyes widened at the defensive power that blocked a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Fire Magic.
He probably hadn’t expected Cheon Woo-jin to possess such a powerful defensive Dharma Artifact.
In front of such Gwak Bo, Cheon Woo-jin even drew out the Five Thunder Heaven Piercing Sword.
Perhaps expecting it to be another powerful dharma artifact, Gwak Bo hesitated.
“You bastard, you appear to still be at Qi Condensation, so how do you possess so many such dharma artifacts?”
Gwak Bo asked with an expression of incomprehension.
“Did you defeat Senior Brother Yu by utilizing such dharma artifacts too?”
“Who knows.”
“As expected, you weren’t an ordinary mercenary. Who is behind you?”
Gwak Bo pressed Cheon Woo-jin, speculating that there must be a separate backer.
“Were you targeting us from the beginning? Is that also why you refused the commission this time?”
“Don’t misunderstand.”
Cheon Woo-jin shot back with a cold voice.
“I simply didn’t like the attitude of trying to settle compensation with just a few books.”
“Just a few books! They were all demonic cultivation methods of great value!”
Gwak Bo shouted as if frustrated.
“You bastard, are you from an Orthodox Sect? Is that why you refuse demonic cultivation methods…”
Cheon Woo-jin didn’t listen to Gwak Bo’s words to the end.
As he raised the Five Thunder Heaven Piercing Sword and generated sword qi, Gwak Bo hastily deployed a protective barrier in front.
Crack!
Cheon Woo-jin’s sword qi cut through the darkness and flew toward Gwak Bo.
However, it was completely blocked by Gwak Bo’s protective barrier.
Gwak Bo’s eyes gleamed.
He judged that if this was the extent of the attack power, he had sufficient chance of victory.
Gwak Bo formed hand seals with both hands to initiate a counterattack.
Just as he was about to draw up tremendous spiritual power to finally corner Cheon Woo-jin.
“Kuk…!”
Crack!
Sharp claws dug into the back of Gwak Bo’s neck.
Their identity was the jaws of the centipede demon.
While Gwak Bo was focused on Cheon Woo-jin, the Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit had secretly snuck behind Gwak Bo.
Though the Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit had been moving autonomously until now, Cheon Woo-jin sent additional commands with spiritual power to make it ambush Gwak Bo from behind.
“Keu, aah…”
Gwak Bo tried to shake off the Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit.
However, a supreme-grade dharma artifact wasn’t so easy to deal with.
While Gwak Bo struggled desperately with the centipede demon’s jaws digging into his neck, the remaining five flying spirits also came flying through the air.
Crack crack crack! Crunch!
The attack flying spirits and defense flying spirits ravaged Gwak Bo from all directions.
Eventually, Gwak Bo collapsed with holes throughout his body in a mangled state.
“Huk, heok…”
“Why did you attack me?”
Looking down at Gwak Bo who had lost the strength to resist further, Cheon Woo-jin posed a question.
“Was it because I refused the commission?”
“Th, that’s…”
Swish.
The Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit approached Gwak Bo’s throat.
“If, if you refused to cooperate with us… taking your life immediately was the Sect Master’s command.”
“So it was Jeok Ya-wol’s command.”
Jeok Ya-wol is a Foundation Establishment powerhouse leading the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
For such a figure to give detailed instructions to eliminate a mere Qi Condensation cultivator is not a normal occurrence.
However, Jeok Ya-wol had directly commanded to kill Cheon Woo-jin.
This meant he judged that Cheon Woo-jin would likely become an obstacle to his plans in the future.
“Thanks for the high evaluation.”
“Keuk…!”
The Heavenly Armor Flying Spirit that had been targeting his throat slipped down and dug into his lower abdomen.
Gwak Bo, whose lower dantian was destroyed, fainted on the spot.
Cheon Woo-jin grabbed the limp Gwak Bo by the scruff of his neck.
Then he began walking the path again, dragging him along the ground.
Until just moments ago, Cheon Woo-jin had been on his way to the Sacred Horn Unity Gate branch hall.
Bringing a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect would make a good gift.
* * *
Large-scale sects often operate by separating their headquarters where the leadership gathers from the branches where low-level disciples cultivate.
This is both for security purposes and to provide cultivation environments for low-level disciples.
Powerful sects secure miraculous Spirit Mountains and such places as their headquarters, but such locations have spiritual energy that is too dense, making them unsuitable for Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment cultivators to train in.
Since their lives could be endangered if they’re not careful, it was common to prepare separate places for low-level disciples to cultivate.
The Sacred Horn Unity Gate located in Ghost Head City was the same.
The Outer Sect Disciples and Inner Sect Disciples of Sacred Horn Unity Gate cultivate at the branch hall prepared in the lower levels of Ghost Head City.
Meanwhile, True Transmission Disciples and Elders stay at the main hall located higher up, and rarely come down to the branch hall on the lower floors.
However, this time one True Transmission Disciple had come down to the branch hall on Ghost Head City’s 2nd Floor.
It was because he had been given the mission to subjugate the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
“I’ve heard a lot about you from the junior disciples at the branch hall. Nice to meet you.”
A man with a refined atmosphere spoke while looking at Cheon Woo-jin.
He appeared to be a young man who still looked youthful on the outside.
But looking at his status window, one could tell at a glance that he was no ordinary young man.
[Taesa Ryang ]
* Race: Human
* Age: 290 years
* Realm: Core Formation Late Stage
* Constitution: Wood Spirit Root
* Faction: Orthodox Sect
* Affiliation: Sacred Horn Unity Gate
* Destiny: Greed
He was a Core Formation Late Stage cultivator who had lived for nearly 300 years.
Guyang Gyeol of the Thirteen Moonlit Lotus whom he had encountered before was Core Formation Middle Stage, so this was one stage higher.
He was even over 50 years younger than Guyang Gyeol.
This had two meanings.
It meant he was someone with naturally outstanding talent… and someone the sect had invested many resources in to intensively nurture.
A promising talent of Sacred Horn Unity Gate, Ghost Head City’s largest Orthodox Sect force.
That was the kind of person now standing before Cheon Woo-jin.
“Moreover, you didn’t come empty-handed but even brought gifts… You seem to know proper etiquette.”
“…”
“We’ll interrogate that vicious demonic bastard properly to extract information. Leave the rest to us.”
After speaking with an arrogant attitude, Taesa Ryang looked Cheon Woo-jin up and down.
“You appear to still be at the Qi Refining stage. To subdue a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Demonic Path with such a body…”
Taesa Ryang stroked his chin and muttered.
“You must possess some special magical artifact.”
“…”
He made a similar mistake as Gwak Bo.
While it was true that he possessed powerful magical artifacts, Cheon Woo-jin’s real weapon was something else.
But since there was no need to explain such things, Cheon Woo-jin kept his mouth shut.
“Good. Then let me explain the strategy first.”
Taesa Ryang waved his hand in the air.
Then a three-dimensional map of Ghost Head City’s 4th Layer appeared.
“Currently, the leader of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect is staying at the Doyo Sect Main Hall on Ghost Head City’s 4th Layer. Since he also killed the Doyomun Sect Master, he’s now completely acting as the master.”
This was the first time he’d heard that the Doyomun Sect Master had died.
It seemed they had eliminated him since he was no longer useful after the Dark Soul Secret Realm exploration ended.
“If it were up to me, I’d want to storm into the Doyo Sect Main Hall and eliminate that bastard… but originally, places called sect main halls typically have all kinds of defensive formations installed. Without thorough preparation, the assault would inevitably fail.”
“…”
“So we plan to target him when he leaves the Doyo Sect Main Hall.”
When Taesa Ryang waved his hand once more, the 4th Layer’s three-dimensional map disappeared and the 3rd Layer’s three-dimensional map was displayed.
“At the northern edge of the 3rd Layer, there’s a place called Black Secluded Valley.”
Black Secluded Valley.
A location known as the most dangerous place on Ghost Head City’s 3rd Layer.
There was a legend that long ago, the Yin Soul Ghost Bone Palace buried human corpses in the ground and performed evil great rituals.
Since then, Black Secluded Valley had become a land of death filled with toxic miasma energy.
“Ten days from now, the demonic bastards will gather at this Black Secluded Valley to perform a ritual.”
“What kind of ritual?”
“They say they’ll purify the miasma energy of Black Secluded Valley and turn it into spiritual energy for demonic cultivation method training. I wouldn’t want to accept such filthy energy no matter how purified it is, but the demonic bastards would be different.”
If that ritual succeeded, the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect would secure a mine where they could freely harvest large amounts of spiritual energy.
It would be a great help in expanding their influence in Ghost Head City.
“We can’t just leave the demonic bastards to perform such a ritual anyway.”
“Then you’re conducting the subjugation operation at this Black Secluded Valley?”
“That’s right.”
“How many will participate in the operation?”
“For now, we plan to mobilize one hundred skilled Inner Sect Disciples from this branch hall.”
If they just wanted to fill numbers, they could mobilize more people.
This branch hall alone housed hundreds of people, and including those who were out, it would exceed a thousand.
But most of them weren’t skilled in actual combat.
There would be many cultivators who had never experienced real battle and only did menial tasks like Spirit Fields farming.
Taking such people would only be a hindrance.
“What about others?”
“You and me.”
Taesa Ryang spoke with a nonchalant expression.
“Their leader Jeok Ya-wol is a Core Formation expert. I’ll handle that bastard, so you just need to take care of the other executives.”
“I can’t handle several Foundation Establishment cultivators by myself.”
“I don’t mean you have to take them all down by yourself. We have several Foundation Establishment cultivators among our Inner Sect Disciples, so you can fight in cooperation with them.”
After saying that, Taesa Ryang added with a bitter expression.
“To be honest, most of those at Foundation Establishment are scholars who have no experience fighting against vicious bastards like those from the Demonic Path.”
“….”
“That’s why I recruited you. You seem to know well how to deal with such people.”
This wasn’t simply referring to what happened in the Dark Soul Secret Realm last time.
He was speaking with knowledge of all the heroic tales Cheon Woo-jin had built up in Ghost Head City – playing a decisive role in the Poison Sword Sect attack and returning alive from the Core Formation investigator of the Thirteen Alliances Under the Moon.
“I’ve already given you a considerable amount of Spirit Stones as advance payment, but I’m thinking of paying even more compensation depending on your performance.”
“….”
“I won’t let you down, so I hope you’ll do your best.”
Cheon Woo-jin had already received one Cloud Spirit Stone and 5,000 regular Spirit Stones.
Compensation beyond that was certainly exceptional.
But Cheon Woo-jin wasn’t particularly excited.
Maintaining his composure, he checked Taesa Ryang’s Status Window again.
To be precise, he checked the Heavenly Mandate section in the Status Window again.
‘Tandao (Greed)….’
Taesa Ryang possessed the Heavenly Mandate called Tanado.
Tanado means being as greedy as Taotie.
Taotie is one of the Four Fiends, mythological monsters, a very violent and vile man-eater.
It’s particularly famous as a being greedy for food and wealth, always plundering others’ possessions and never being satisfied.
This Taesa Ryang was a person as greedy as that Taotie.
‘Just because someone learned the teachings of the Orthodox Sect doesn’t necessarily make them righteous. There are plenty who are more selfish and greedy than those from the Black Gate or Demonic Path.’
Cheon Woo-jin observed Taesa Ryang before him once more.
This Taoist with an elegant atmosphere was now asking Cheon Woo-jin for help.
But when the time came, he would try to devour Cheon Woo-jin greedily like Taotie.
Even knowing this, Cheon Woo-jin nodded before Taesa Ryang.
“Understood. I will do my utmost in subjugating the Demonic Path.”
“Good, thank you.”
If Taesa Ryang opened his mouth like Taotie to devour Cheon Woo-jin.
Then he would tear that greedy mouth apart.
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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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