Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 48

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

Chapter 48: Middle Layer (1)

 

 

The Demonic Cultivators were completely caught off guard.

Cheon Woo-jin’s lightning energy was too fast.

 

It wasn’t simply that the lightning energy flew at high speed.

The activation of the lightning energy itself was fast. So they were struck without even realizing an attack had been launched.

 

‘Incredible speed.’

 

Even Cheon Woo-jin himself was impressed.

The activation speed was incomparable to anything before.

 

This was because Cheon Woo-jin had mastered the Thunder Spirit Great Evolution Art upon entering Foundation Establishment.

Within Cheon Woo-jin’s body, heart fire and kidney water were in a constantly prepared state.

By colliding them through Water Ascends Fire Descends to extract lightning energy, it was faster than constructing lightning energy separately.

 

A lightning energy cultivation method created by the genius lightning arts master Thunder Spirit True Person during his Foundation Establishment days.

He experienced its superiority firsthand.

 

“You bastard!”

“How dare you…!”

 

The remaining cultivators hastily raised their hands and tried to cast magic arts.

But Cheon Woo-jin didn’t panic and generated lightning energy once more.

 

While recalling the contents of the Thunder Spirit Great Evolution Art manual.

This time toward his feet.

 

[Thunder Step]

 

Crack!

With the sound of electricity sparking, Cheon Woo-jin’s figure disappeared from before the Demonic Cultivators’ eyes.

Cheon Woo-jin had already moved to a different position. The magic arts used by the Demonic Cultivators pierced through empty air in vain.

 

Before they knew it, Cheon Woo-jin had leaped up the wall and was standing above their heads.

 

“He’s above!”

“Gasp…!”

 

They belatedly noticed and looked up, but it was already too late.

 

[Thunder Pomegranate]

 

A sphere of lightning energy fell from Cheon Woo-jin’s grasp.

They stepped back with mouths agape, but the sphere exploded and lightning energy extended in all directions.

 

A feast of lightning energy proving that Cheon Woo-jin had reached a new realm.

The Demonic Cultivators struggled desperately to save their lives, but were ultimately pierced by lightning energy and fell one by one.

 

‘The pure attack power has definitely improved greatly as well.’

 

Originally, the growth from late Qi Refining to peak Qi Refining is much smaller than from peak Qi Refining to early Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, Cheon Woo-jin had used the supreme grade Foundation Spirit Material called the Yin-Yang Mystic Pearl to further increase his growth.

 

On top of that, he had even mastered the powerful lightning attribute cultivation method called Thunder Spirit Great Evolution Art… the power of his magic arts was bound to improve greatly.

 

Cheon Woo-jin had even used lightning energy in a simple manner just now.

He had merely fired it in straight lines or gathered it into spheres before detonating them.

What kind of results would emerge if he constructed complex techniques to increase the power?

Even Cheon Woo-jin himself found it difficult to predict.

 

‘It definitely feels like a new world has opened up.’

 

From now on, he would have to explore that world bit by bit.

 

After understanding his body and soul that had reached an even higher realm, he would have to challenge things he couldn’t do before.

By continuing to build strength in this way… he would be able to aim for the next realm, Core Formation.

 

‘For now, I should aim for mid Foundation Establishment first.’

 

He remembered when he had advanced from early to mid Qi Refining.

When he could circulate spiritual energy not only through the twelve meridians but also the conception and governing vessels, that was mid Qi Refining.

Originally, Qi Refining was a realm for mastering and developing ‘cultivating spiritual energy’, so the stage increased each time he adapted to spiritual energy circulation.

 

Advancing from early to mid Foundation Establishment was similar.

Foundation Establishment was a realm for mastering and developing ‘building foundations’, so growing the body one more stage would make him mid Foundation Establishment.

 

‘To do that, I need to grow my spiritual power first.’

 

Thinking this, Cheon Woo-jin absorbed spiritual energy from the fallen Demonic Cultivators around him.

He utilized the characteristics of his Manifest True Life Body to absorb the spiritual energy that had escaped from the corpses.

 

A sufficient amount was absorbed to recover the spiritual energy he had just used, but there was no feeling of his maximum capacity growing.

It seemed difficult to expect spiritual power growth just by absorbing spiritual energy from small fry.

 

‘Now that I’ve reached Foundation Establishment, the absorption efficiency has actually decreased.’

 

From Foundation Establishment onward, the purity of spiritual energy becomes important.

Since it’s the stage of earnestly creating the foundation to become an immortal, the spiritual energy accepted into the body must also be purer.

 

However, spiritual energy that has entered a human body suffers a great decline in purity at that point.

This is because each cultivator alters spiritual energy according to their own cultivation methods.

Because it’s such altered spiritual energy, it doesn’t provide much help when Foundation Establishment Cultivators try to grow their spiritual power.

 

‘Then elixirs will become important from now on.’

 

He needed elixirs for enhancing spiritual power.

They would have to be elixirs made from materials possessing high-purity spiritual energy.

 

By taking such elixirs and accumulating spiritual energy, he needed to acquire enough spiritual power to ascend to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

 

‘Whether I craft them myself or obtain them from others… I need high-quality elixirs.’

 

The elixirs he consumed during his Qi Condensation days wouldn’t even make a dent now.

He needed to acquire elixirs suited for the Foundation Establishment level.

 

* * *

 

After having a light meal, Cheon Woo-jin headed to Seo Seol-ryeong’s shop.

As he entered the shop disguised as a fortune-telling parlor, Seo Seol-ryeong, who had been sitting in her chair, startled in surprise.

 

“Cheon Daoist, don’t tell me you…”

“Impressive. To recognize me at a glance.”

 

Actually, saying “at a glance” wouldn’t be quite accurate.

Seo Seol-ryeong had her eyes covered with an eye patch, after all.

She must have sensed it was Cheon Woo-jin through spiritual perception.

 

In any case, Seo Seol-ryeong was the only one who recognized Cheon Woo-jin after he reached Foundation Establishment.

 

“Have you reached Foundation Establishment?”

“Thanks to you.”

“…”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong fell silent for a moment.

 

“I thought you might have died.”

“Why so suddenly?”

“Because there was no contact for a whole month.”

“Ah…”

 

Come to think of it, he had been inside the Great Void Cave Heaven Realm for an entire month.

This was the first time he hadn’t met with Seo Seol-ryeong for such a long period.

 

“Other cultivators aside, when someone who usually showed his face every few days suddenly cut off all contact… it made me a bit worried.”

“You were worried about me?”

“I’ve invested quite a bit of effort in you over time. If you suddenly disappeared, I’d suffer a loss too.”

“How cold of you.”

“Look who’s talking.”

 

There was a barb in her words.

If she hadn’t been wearing an eye patch, she probably would have been glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

 

“I apologize. For not telling you in advance.”

“No. I was foolish for not anticipating it.”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong let out a short sigh.

 

“But where did you obtain the Foundation Spirit Materials to make the Foundation Building Pill?”

“I had a separate source.”

“I heard the Blood Puppet Sect Branch was attacked and burned down by a mysterious Core Formation cultivator.”

 

Her voice was interrogating.

 

“Are you perhaps involved?”

“At that time, I was still at Qi Condensation.”

“You could have possessed means to produce Core Formation-level firepower even with a Qi Condensation body.”

“Then every Qi Condensation cultivator in this world would be a suspect.”

 

In truth, from Seo Seol-ryeong’s perspective, she had no choice but to suspect Cheon Woo-jin.

She had mediated the negotiations with the Blue Cloud Trading Company, and she knew that Cheon Woo-jin had wanted the Yin-Yang Mystic Pearl.

 

However, uncovering the truth wouldn’t particularly benefit Seo Seol-ryeong.

Seo Seol-ryeong lived as a broker, and she wouldn’t want to lose the promising talent Cheon Woo-jin, who had instantly risen to Foundation Establishment.

 

“Understood. Let’s move on for now.”

 

In the end, Seo Seol-ryeong stopped pressing the matter.

 

“Anyway, will you be able to take on commissions again from now on?”

“That’s right.”

“Understood. I’ll look for good work considering you’ve reached Foundation Establishment.”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong would have put all the commissions that had come in so far on hold.

But he couldn’t say he’d take on those commissions again.

Since Cheon Woo-jin was now at Foundation Establishment, he needed to do work befitting Foundation Establishment.

 

“There’s one thing I’d like to request.”

 

When Cheon Woo-jin broached the subject, Seo Seol-ryeong responded with a cold voice.

 

“You need elixirs suited for the Foundation Establishment level, don’t you?”

“You hit the nail on the head.”

 

He felt like he was being read too easily.

 

“But for something like that, going up to the 4th Layer would be faster than asking me.”

“The 4th Layer?”

“There’s a place called Heavenly Dragon Tower on the 4th Layer.”

 

Heavenly Dragon Tower.

It was a name he’d heard frequently in the game.

 

“It’s the largest tavern on the 4th Layer. At the same time, it’s also the largest pleasure house, the largest gambling den… and the largest auction house.”

“…”

 

Heavenly Dragon Tower was a place where various events occurred in the game.

When there were no events, it was mainly a place visited to use the auction house.

Sometimes quite powerful items were put up for auction, so he had to check it occasionally.

 

“However, it’s not a place just anyone can enter. It operates on a membership basis, and you need an introduction letter to become a member.”

“An introduction letter.”

“Shall I introduce you to someone who can write an introduction letter?”

 

Cheon Woo-jin looked at Seo Seol-ryeong for a moment.

 

“What about you?”

“You mean me?”

“Couldn’t you write an introduction letter directly?”

“….”

 

With your connections, it should be possible.

When Cheon Woo-jin pointed this out, Seo Seol-ryeong fell silent for a moment.

 

“I’m sorry, but even if I write a letter, they won’t let you pass at the entrance. I’m not on the member list, and there’s no way the gatekeeper would recognize my name.”

“Then I could show the letter to someone other than the gatekeeper.”

“You’d have to go through a troublesome process though?”

“Getting introduced to someone who can write an introduction letter would be more troublesome.”

“That’s true.”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong took out paper and quickly wrote an introduction letter.

 

“Go to the 1st floor of Heavenly Dragon Tower and meet someone named Ho Yeon-rin. He’s in charge of security on the 1st floor.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t just thank me with words.”

 

When Cheon Woo-jin reached out his hand, Seo Seol-ryeong hid the introduction letter toward her chest.

 

“Shouldn’t there be some kind of reward?”

“Isn’t the commission you usually take from the middle enough?”

“This isn’t something that would generate a commission.”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong shot back coldly.

 

“Besides, last time with the Azure Cloud Trading Company, I went through all the trouble of negotiating only for it to fall through. I ended up working for free.”

“I’m a bit sorry about that.”

 

Today seemed to be full of things to apologize for.

 

“Then I’ll give you a reward.”

“What kind of reward?”

“Hmm….”

 

In the game, there was a system for giving gifts like elixirs or cultivation manuals to people you were close with.

But would giving such gifts to Seo Seol-ryeong have any meaning?

 

Cheon Woo-jin fell into thought.

Then he remembered how he had bought walnut sweets as a reward for Jo Hyu’s granddaughter who had given him mahua last time.

 

“Would buying you some snacks work?”

“Do you think I’m a child?”

 

Seo Seol-ryeong sighed as if disappointed.

But eventually she held out the introduction letter and asked.

 

“What kind of snacks are you going to buy?”

 

* * *

 

The 4th Layer of Ghost Head City had a completely different atmosphere from the 3rd Layer and below.

 

First of all, unlike the 3rd Layer and below, the air in the 4th Layer was clear and transparent.

But instead, he felt a dryness that seemed like it would shrivel up his entire body in an instant.

 

Of course, this wasn’t natural dryness.

It was because this was a region where dryness evil, one of the six evils of wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire, was rampant.

 

Dryness evil isn’t simple dryness, but an energy that causes deficiency of vital fluids and loss of life force.

The 4th Layer of Ghost Head City was filled with this dryness evil energy, so anyone who wasn’t a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had undergone Bone Transformation Rebirth would die from having their body’s vital fluids drained.

 

That’s why there were no Qi Refining Cultivators from the 4th Layer onwards.

All the cultivators walking around were Foundation Establishment level or higher.

 

‘That’s why this was treated as the middle section of Ghost Head City from here on.’

 

Up to the 3rd Layer where Qi Refining Cultivators could be active was the lower section, and from the 4th Layer onwards where only Foundation Establishment and above could be active was the middle section.

 

For reference, the upper section of Ghost Head City where the Sacred Horn Unity Gate Main Hall was located required Core Formation level or higher to ascend.

That place had a completely different atmosphere from the middle or lower sections.

 

‘Even though it’s quite dry, it’s bearable if you take countermeasures.’

 

By adjusting the balance of water energy and fire energy within the body while preventing vital fluid leakage with spiritual power, there was no need for the body to become dry.

 

If you could just block the dryness like this, it was actually quite comfortable.

Unlike the lower section, the air was clear and clean, and the temperature was cool too… it felt like a clear autumn day.

 

‘Perhaps that’s why the street atmosphere is good too.’

 

The central area of the 4th Layer was a splendid commercial district.

It was the most populated place in the middle section of Ghost Head City, and since exchanges with the lower section were frequent, commerce and entertainment industries had developed according to the setting.

 

Countless buildings were stacked layer upon layer along the main street, all brightly illuminating their shops with colorful lanterns.

Red lanterns were the most common. Each shop hung lanterns embroidered with auspicious phrases like “Fortune, Prosperity, Longevity, Joy” and “Gold and Jade Fill the Hall” to attract customers.

Shops that hung hexagonal palace lanterns generally sold expensive items. Some shops proudly displayed supreme-grade magical artifacts and illuminated them splendidly with golden palace lanterns.

There were also pearl lanterns decorated with orbs, mainly hung by high-class taverns and restaurants with good atmosphere. You could often see men and women meeting under pearl lanterns with beautiful pearls hanging in strings.

 

But the most splendid place was the lanterns of the high-rise buildings that soared up to the ceiling of the 4th Layer.

The building with the signboard reading ‘Heavenly Dragon Tower’ had lanterns in blue, red, yellow, white, and black colors representing the Five Elements hanging on each floor. These lanterns repeatedly brightened and dimmed in sequence, creating a mystical atmosphere.

Moreover, at the very top, a dragon-shaped lantern made of five-colored silk was installed, making the entire building feel like a magnificent scene from mythology when looking up at it.

 

‘That must be the heavenly dragon of Heavenly Dragon Tower.’

 

Why would a mere tavern use such a grandiose name?

It was related to the owner of this tavern.

 

Being able to operate such a large shop openly in the center of Ghost Beast City Middle Section was entirely due to the owner’s status.

 

‘I’ll probably encounter that Dragon Clan member soon enough.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin approached Heavenly Dragon Tower holding the introduction letter that Seo Seol-ryeong had personally written for him.

However, he headed toward the back door rather than the main entrance where regular customers entered.

 

Despite being the back door, a gatekeeper was guarding it, and as soon as he saw Cheon Woo-jin, he frowned and looked him up and down.

 

“I see you don’t have an identification plaque, so you’re not a customer.”

 

The identification plaque here was a token to prove entry qualifications.

A kind of membership card, you could say.

 

“The foul smell of the Lower Levels has soaked into your body. What business do you have?”

“I want to meet Ho Yeon-rin.”

“What?”

 

The gatekeeper’s frown deepened sharply.

 

“Who are you to say you want to meet Senior Sister Ho? From the looks of it, you seem like someone who just came up from the Lower Levels. Get lost!”

 

In Ghost Beast City Middle Section, there was a trend of despising those who “reeked of the Lower Levels.”

The gatekeeper was one of such people.

 

He immediately extended his palm and deployed magic arts.

A palm-sized force field was generated.

It was a force field with repulsive force that strongly pushed opponents away.

 

Though it was simple magic arts, its power seemed quite considerable.

If hit directly, even Cheon Woo-jin would be sent flying far backward and end up rolling around disgracefully in the middle of the street.

 

However.

Having reached Foundation Establishment and begun the Thunder Spirit Great Evolution Art, Cheon Woo-jin’s reaction speed was already like lightning.

 

Bang!

The gatekeeper’s magic arts was torn to shreds and scattered.

 

Before Cheon Woo-jin, who was scattering lightning energy with crackling sounds, the gatekeeper’s eyes widened greatly.

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