Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 70

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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 70: Search (1)

 

 

“Our Heavenly Dragon Tower has special VIP customers.”

 

Oh Hwi-seong slowly began his explanation.

 

“Elders of sects whose names everyone knows, family heads of prestigious ancient clans, leaders of merchant groups that traverse the continent… Only such people can become VIP customers of the Heavenly Dragon Tower. We don’t accept unaffiliated mercenaries at all.”

“…”

“It’s not that we want to discriminate against mercenaries. It’s to prevent them from disappearing without a trace when problems arise. That’s why we only accept people whose identities are guaranteed.”

 

Mercenaries like Cheon Woo-jin could just leave for distant places if things went wrong.

But people in positions of responsibility couldn’t do that.

That’s why they only accepted individuals with guaranteed identities as special members.

 

“But recently, one problem has erupted. One VIP customer we thought had a solid identity caused an incident at the auction house.”

“At the auction house?”

“He robbed a magical treasure that was put up for auction.”

“…”

 

That was something that could never be tolerated.

 

“The one who committed the crime was someone from the Jongli family, a prestigious clan of Wei Jin Kingdom. There’s a branch of the Jongli family on the 6th floor of Ghost Head City, and Jongli Un, the head of that branch, caused the trouble.”

 

Though it was a branch family, he was still the head of a household.

That such a person would cause such a disturbance at the auction house was difficult to understand.

 

“It turns out he had killed all his family members. He made a Ghost Soul Banner from their vengeful spirits, caused chaos at the auction house, and then robbed the item.”

“He really planned this whole thing out…”

 

A Ghost Soul Banner is a flag-type magical tool made using human souls.

It’s one of the typical dark arts, and orthodox sects prohibit the creation and use of Ghost Soul Banners.

 

“Actually, my going up to the 6th floor is also to resolve this incident. I plan to meet with influential people on the 6th floor and request their cooperation. At the very least, I intend to prevent him from escaping to the upper levels of Ghost Head City.”

“You mean to completely block the path to the upper levels and then catch him in the middle section.”

“The problem is that catching him even in the middle section won’t be easy.”

 

Oh Hwi-seong spoke in a serious voice.

 

“Jongli Un is expected to be hiding on the 6th floor. But the 6th floor is a very complex place. If Jongli Un isn’t acting alone and has collaborators, it will be even harder to catch him.”

“Then…”

“I heard you found and systematically destroyed the cultivation fields of the Ten Thousand Poison Six Death Gate. I’d like you to demonstrate that keen sense again this time.”

 

He wanted him to track the criminal using a method separate from their own investigation.

That was Oh Hwi-seong’s request.

 

“You don’t necessarily have to catch Jongli Un directly yourself. Even just finding out where Jongli Un is hiding will earn you compensation.”

“What if you find Jongli Un before I do?”

“Even in that case, we’ll pay you a minimum wage.”

 

It wasn’t a bad proposal.

If he played a decisive role in securing the criminal, he could obtain Thunder Spirit True Person’s legacy, and even if he couldn’t, he would still receive minimum compensation.

 

Cheon Woo-jin needed to search the 6th floor for Seo Seol-ryeong anyway.

It seemed he could work on both tasks simultaneously.

 

“I’d like to know what magical treasure was stolen.”

“Ghost Spirit Radiant Domain Banner.”

 

Oh Hwi-seong answered in a stiff voice.

 

“It’s a magical treasure from the Dark Soul Ghost Bone Palace, rumored to grant power at the level of the Avatar Realm.”

 

* * *

 

Taking the flying disc platform up to the 6th floor, a mountainous region with fierce winds immediately spread out before him.

Feeling like wind evil would penetrate his body, he immediately protected his physical form with spiritual energy.

 

The middle section of Ghost Head City was a place where the six evils of wind, cold, heat, dampness, dryness, and fire ran rampant.

If the 4th floor was dominated by dryness, and the 5th floor by fire and heat, then the 6th floor was an extreme land filled with wind, cold, and dampness.

Though strong winds were blowing here now, going to other places would reveal frozen snow mountains and muddy wetlands.

 

“For now, I’m thinking of going to Azure Wind Valley first to seek cooperation… What will you do?”

 

Azure Wind Valley was one of the three major powers of the 6th floor.

As the name suggested, they specialized in wind attribute techniques and had established their main hall in this area where strong winds blow.

 

For reference, the other two powers had their main bases in the snow mountain region and wetland region respectively.

 

“I’m thinking of going to Central Mirror Town first.”

“That would be better. There’s a high possibility that Jongli Un is hiding there too.”

 

Central Mirror Town was a commercial district located in the center of the 6th floor.

It could be called a kind of buffer zone, where the environment was reasonably decent and at least livable for people.

 

“There’s a branch of Heavenly Dragon Tower in Central Mirror Town. Contact us there if you make progress.”

“Understood.”

 

Cheon Woo-jin parted ways with Oh Hwi-seong and Ho Yeon-rin and headed toward Central Mirror Town.

Coming down from the mountainous region with strong winds toward the center of the 6th floor, he finally began to see streets where people gathered and lived.

 

‘Indeed, the atmosphere is different from the commercial district on the 4th floor where Heavenly Dragon Tower is located.’

 

Buildings that had been forcibly expanded were stacked layer upon layer, creating an overall chaotic atmosphere.

The roads weren’t properly maintained either, and there were many street stalls, making it disorderly.

The atmosphere was similar to the 1st floor, the lower level of Ghost Head City.

 

However, one shouldn’t think of this place as easy as the 1st floor.

This was because there were countless Decisive Realm cultivators who had challenged the upper levels of Ghost Head City, tasted frustration, and came down to the 6th floor.

The man who had set up a stall near the entrance was at the middle stage of the Decisive Realm, and the woman leaning against a tavern window in a drunken state was at the late stage of the Decisive Realm.

 

He couldn’t even think of challenging the upper levels again, and he had no desire to go down to the lower floors or leave Ghost Head City entirely… In the end, these were people who had settled on the 6th floor, waiting for a good opportunity to come someday.

 

On the other hand, Foundation Establishment cultivators who had climbed up to the 6th floor with great ambitions could also be easily found.

After all, if one wanted to challenge the Core Formation realm, it was more likely to succeed by being active on the 6th floor.

Among them, many aimed to join one of the three major forces like Azure Wind Valley.

 

‘And… this is also a place crawling with villains trying to prey on such cultivators.’

 

The greatest den of evil in the middle section of Ghost Head City, where cultivators of various positions were mixed together.

That place was Central Mirror Town.

 

If Jongli Un was indeed lurking on the 6th floor, there was a high possibility he was hiding here in Central Mirror Town.

However, Cheon Woo-jin had no intention of immediately searching for Jongli Un.

Although he had heard information about Jongli Un from Oh Hwi-seong and Ho Yeon-rin, searching blindly would be too inefficient.

 

‘First, I need to meet Seo Seol-ryeong.’

 

Originally, Cheon Woo-jin had come up to the 6th floor to meet Seo Seol-ryeong.

To find Jongli Un, he also needed to meet Seo Seol-ryeong first.

Rather than Cheon Woo-jin poking around here and there alone, it would be much more efficient to investigate with Seo Seol-ryeong’s cooperation.

 

‘The problem is… I have no idea where Seo Seol-ryeong might be right now.’

 

In the game, Seo Seol-ryeong opens a new shop right here in Central Mirror Town.

 

However, he couldn’t know where that location was.

In the game, he could just click the mouse to enter Seo Seol-ryeong’s shop.

Even Cheon Woo-jin couldn’t know where on these bustling streets Seo Seol-ryeong’s shop was located.

 

He even had to consider the possibility that Seo Seol-ryeong hadn’t opened her shop yet.

 

‘Still, it’s not like there are no clues.’

 

Among the named NPCs on the 6th floor, there was a character who definitely had a friendship with Seo Seol-ryeong.

Originally a character who appeared in events unrelated to Seo Seol-ryeong, but had dialogue that mentioned Seo Seol-ryeong’s name.

 

‘The sect master of the Corpse Ghost Hell Gate was depicted as having a friendship with Seo Seol-ryeong.’

 

Corpse Ghost Hell Gate.

As the name suggested, it was a sect specialized in evil arts that used corpses.

At first glance, it seemed like a very wicked sect, but surprisingly, they rarely went around harming people.

It wasn’t because they were a benevolent group, but because corpses were overflowing even without them doing so.

 

The fact that no matter how many people died in Ghost Head City, corpses never piled up to cause problems was thanks to them.

Cleaners who played the role of decomposers in the ecosystem called Ghost Head City… That was the Corpse Ghost Hell Gate.

 

And the sect master of that Corpse Ghost Hell Gate had mentioned his friendship with Seo Seol-ryeong in the game.

So if he visited the Corpse Ghost Hell Gate, he should be able to obtain information about Seo Seol-ryeong.

 

‘Even if I can’t get information about Seo Seol-ryeong herself, I should at least be able to get clues to find her.’

 

The main base of the Corpse Ghost Hell Gate was located in the underground waterway that flowed beneath Central Mirror Town.

They were people who utilized underground spaces even on other floors because it was convenient for transporting corpses.

 

Cheon Woo-jin found a hole that led down to the underground waterway in a deserted place.

Looking into the hole that had no ladder, he felt intense yin energy.

It was similar to the miasma energy in the lower levels of Ghost Head City, but mixed with toxic energy of a different nature.

 

Entering that place without any preparation would be like jumping bare-bodied into the poison arts of the Ten Thousand Poison Six Death Gate.

 

‘This is why I cultivated this.’

 

He put his hand into his storage bag and pulled out a handful of spirit herbs.

Mugwort with a subtle purple energy flowing from it… It was the Purple Artemisia he had cultivated in the spirit fields all this time.

 

Cheon Woo-jin put all the Purple Artemisia into his mouth.

Then a strong mugwort fragrance filled his mouth.

After chewing it well and swallowing, then circulating his spiritual energy, purple energy began to seep out from his body.

 

The effect of Purple Artemisia protecting the body with spiritual energy was manifesting.

Actually, it would be most effective to dry it well and make mugwort moxa to breathe in the smoke, but to see quick effects, eating raw mugwort was also fine.

 

‘Let’s go in.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin threw himself into the underground waterway.

He was enveloped by intense yin energy, but the purple energy of the Purple Artemisia protected Cheon Woo-jin’s body.

 

However, a new element soon obstructed Cheon Woo-jin’s path.

 

“Grrrr…”

“Ahhh…”

 

They were Corpse Ghosts created by the Corpse Ghost Hell Gate using corpses.

Decay had progressed to the point where their appearance in life was difficult to recognize.

 

And beyond them, he could see a man with his arms crossed.

 

“Stand back.”

 

The man spoke coldly while keeping the Corpse Ghosts in front.

 

“This is the territory of the Corpse Ghost Hell Gate. Turn around and leave immediately.”

“I have business here.”

 

Cheon Woo-jin opened his mouth to try to explain the situation.

But the man didn’t even listen to Cheon Woo-jin’s words and spoke quickly.

 

“I told you to turn around and leave immediately.”

 

Right after that.

The Corpse Ghosts that had been standing unsteadily suddenly kicked off the ground and charged forward rapidly.

They ran toward him making splashing sounds, trying to overwhelm Cheon Woo-jin.

 

Corpse Ghosts can only perform simple Physical Assaults.

But those Physical Assaults are powerful. Human mass flies at you like a projectile and strikes you down.

Moreover, since they’re not living humans, they don’t stop moving even when dealt fatal wounds.

 

Then what should he do.

Should he burn them all up.

 

No.

He had to grind them all up.

 

[Black Thunder Spirit Sealing]

 

Wooong!

A massive black sphere appeared and blocked the Underground Waterway.

The Corpse Ghosts that had been charging with mindless movements threw their bodies into that sphere.

 

Kwajijik!

With an intense sound, the Corpse Ghosts’ bodies were ground up.

Instead of rotting flesh that stank, black ash-like debris scattered, and the Man’s eyes widened greatly.

 

‘If I can’t open a path through dialogue, then I’ll have to open a path through skill.’

 

With that judgment, Cheon Woo-jin drew up his Spiritual Power once again.

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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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