Instant-Death Cultivation: Surviving in an Immortal World with Instant Kill - Chapter 81

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

Chapter 81: Snow Mountain (4)

 

 

In Five Elements theory, there exists a relationship called mutual restraint.

It means one of the five elements exerts power to suppress or hinder another element.

 

For example, Water exerts the power of Water overcoming Fire to suppress Fire.

It’s easy to understand since pouring water extinguishes fire.

 

Then which element suppresses Water among the Five Elements?

None other than Earth.

Earth overcoming Water means Earth hinders Water, like blocking waterways with earthen dams.

 

However, this doesn’t mean you must only use Earth attribute magic arts when facing Water attribute magic arts.

After all, you can block water flow by building wooden walls or steel walls instead of earthen dams.

 

However, the story changes on the invisible, essential spiritual dimension.

To collapse the spiritual structure of Water Spirit Energy that comprises Water attribute magic arts, using Earth Spirit Energy is most effective.

The same applies to Ice attribute that uses Water Spirit Energy like Water attribute.

 

‘That’s why I chose Yellow Thunder from the Five Thunder Method.’

 

Yellow Thunder.

One of the Five Thunder Methods, it’s Earth attribute Lightning Energy that uses Earth Spirit Energy.

 

In the Five Elements, Earth signifies the power of change.

In Wood Fire Earth Metal Water, Wood Fire Metal Water correspond to spring summer autumn winter, but Earth corresponds to seasonal changes between spring summer autumn winter.

 

Therefore, in the Five Thunder Method, Yellow Thunder is Lightning Energy that changes freely.

It doesn’t extend straight like Azure Thunder, nor spread in a fan shape like Crimson Thunder.

Yellow Thunder is Lightning Energy that ravages the battlefield drawing unpredictable trajectories in all directions like a whip.

 

And Cheon Woo-jin could control those changes.

 

‘I’m not blowing away the ice blades falling from the sky with Lightning Energy.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin looked up above his head.

But what Cheon Woo-jin was seeing wasn’t the ice blades falling like torrential rain.

He was observing Baek Shin-yeong’s spell formation creating that phenomenon, its spiritual structure.

 

‘The weak points existing in the spiritual structure… I’ll strike them all at once with Yellow Thunder.’

 

Kwareurung!

Yellow lightning embroidered the sky.

The ice blades shattered and transparent fragments fell, but that wasn’t particularly important.

This Yellow Thunder wasn’t meant to destroy the ice blades, but to slam massive amounts of Earth Spirit Energy into the weak points of the spiritual structure.

 

The Earth Spirit Energy stored in the Soul Devouring Spirit Flame Sword’s spirit bead became yellow lightning dancing according to Cheon Woo-jin’s will, completely destroying Baek Shin-yeong’s spell formations.

 

This was truly.

The technique called ‘Destruction’ in the Cultivation World.

 

“…!”

 

Paaaat!

All the ice blades covering the sky shattered completely.

The ice fragments that lost their killing power were swept up by the wind and became part of the Snow Mountain Region’s blizzard.

Just moments ago the sky was filled with ice blades, but it had returned to the everyday scenery of the Snow Mountain Region.

 

Baek Shin-yeong’s eyes widened at the sight of his confidently deployed large-scale magic art completely crumbling to a mere Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Lightning Energy.

 

“Wh-what did you do?”

 

Forgetting even to prepare his next magic art, Baek Shin-yeong asked with a trembling voice.

 

“Is it the power of that Magical Treasure? Did you destroy my magic art with the Magical Treasure’s power? How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator like you have such a Magical Treasure…”

 

Originally, Magical Treasures could only be used by Core Formation Realm or higher.

Foundation Establishment cultivators could at most use Dharma Artifacts.

That’s why Baek Shin-yeong was even more confused.

 

“Some-something’s wrong! This doesn’t make sense!”

 

Baek Shin-yeong belatedly deployed his next magic art.

This time he created a massive ice dragon in the sky.

It was a gigantic ice dragon that could crush Cheon Woo-jin to death with its mass alone.

 

Cheon Woo-jin gazed at the ice dragon charging toward him.

Yellow Thunder was still maintained in Cheon Woo-jin’s grasp.

He had utilized Yellow Thunder’s characteristic of free transformation to suppress its power and extend its duration.

 

Staring down the massive ice dragon that approached right before him, Cheon Woo-jin manipulated Yellow Thunder once more.

The writhing lightning whip extended and coiled around the ice dragon.

Though it was nowhere near enough power to destroy the massive ice dragon, it instantly penetrated the weak points of the spiritual structure and destroyed the spell formation itself.

 

Paaat…

The ice dragon completely collapsed and scattered as fine ice fragments.

Seeing Cheon Woo-jin standing calmly within it, Baek Shin-yeong’s eyes widened.

 

“Just what exactly did you do…”

 

If Baek Shin-yeong had been a more experienced cultivator, he would have noticed that Cheon Woo-jin had destroyed the spell formation by targeting weak points in the spiritual structure.

And it would have been possible to reinforce the weak points on the spot and deploy magic arts that Cheon Woo-jin wouldn’t dare destroy.

 

But Baek Shin-yeong couldn’t do that.

Because he was a cultivator who had only raised his realm in a short period by stealing spiritual power from others including his father through the Northern Dark Divine Body and Six Yang Six Snow Technique.

Though he possessed powerful strength, he had almost no real combat experience, and especially had never once engaged in life-or-death battles with beings capable of pressuring him.

 

He was clearly different from Cheon Woo-jin, who had accumulated real combat experience by crossing countless lines between life and death in the process of improving his realm in a short time utilizing the power of the Manifest True Life Body.

 

“….”

 

The yellow lightning in Cheon Woo-jin’s hand slowly faded away.

No matter how much he had controlled its power, it was difficult to maintain it any longer.

Since he had used the Earth Spirit Energy stored in the Soul Devouring Spirit Flame Sword, he couldn’t use it again until the Earth Spirit Energy was replenished.

 

But it didn’t matter.

From here on, he planned to deploy a different technique.

 

The second technique following the destruction that exploited structural weaknesses.

It was to imitate the structure and perfectly copy the magic arts deployed by the opponent.

 

‘Imitating Seo Seol-ryeong’s magic arts is impossible, but.’

 

Cheon Woo-jin drew up his Water Spirit Energy.

Not only that, he also used his Manifest True Life Body to draw in as much Water Spirit Energy as possible from the snow mountain region.

 

‘If it’s Baek Shin-yeong’s magic arts, I can reproduce them.’

 

Reproduction.

That was precisely the second technique Cheon Woo-jin had been delving into all this time.

 

Not stopping at understanding spiritual structures and attacking weaknesses to destroy them, but reproducing them exactly as they were.

Because Cheon Woo-jin’s insight into magic arts was rapidly growing, it was possible for him to reproduce Baek Shin-yeong’s magic arts.

 

‘To use ice attribute magic arts, Water Spirit Energy alone isn’t enough.’

 

Certainly, ice attribute magic arts are spells that use Water Spirit Energy.

But Cheon Woo-jin realized while watching Baek Shin-yeong’s magic arts that Water Spirit Energy alone wasn’t sufficient.

 

To create ice, a process is needed to gather moisture in one place and make it solid.

However, the action of Water Spirit Energy alone is insufficient. In the Five Elements, water means a state gathered in one place like seeds, but making it solid is not the action of water but of metal.

 

In the Five Elements, metal is the power of contraction and the power of fruition.

Furthermore, it’s also the power that creates hard things like metal.

When creating solid ice in ice attribute magic arts, not only Water Spirit Energy but also the principles of metal were being utilized.

 

Of course, Cheon Woo-jin wasn’t skilled at handling metal attributes.

But Metal Spirit Energy was also stored in the Soul Devouring Spirit Flame Sword’s spirit orb.

Using that, he forcibly imbued the Water Spirit Energy with metal attributes.

 

[Metal Spirit Orb Liberation]

 

The white orb embedded in the Soul Devouring Spirit Flame Sword lost its light.

This was because the stored white Metal Spirit Energy had been liberated.

 

Then the black Water Spirit Energy that Cheon Woo-jin had gathered was dyed white.

 

‘So that’s how it was.’

 

The reason why ice attribute magic arts display white color corresponding to metal in the Five Elements, despite being based on black Water Spirit Energy.

He could finally understand that now.

 

Based on that realization, Cheon Woo-jin’s first ice attribute magic art unfolded.

 

“Wh-how can you…!”

 

Baek Shin-yeong was shocked in mid-air.

 

“The exact same magic art as mine…!”

 

Right now, hundreds of ice swords were deployed above Cheon Woo-jin’s head.

Though there were differences in some aspects like scale, it was definitely a reproduction of Baek Shin-yeong’s magic art.

 

But this wasn’t the end.

Sharp instinct ran wild in Cheon Woo-jin’s spiritual domain.

His instinct as a cultivator demanded that he shouldn’t stop at merely imitating Baek Shin-yeong’s magic art, but pursue a higher realm.

 

‘To a higher place.’

 

Thinking about it, Cheon Woo-jin had pursued this from long ago.

Even when he created Black Lightning Annihilation in his fight with Jeok Ya-wol, he had been imitating Jeok Ya-wol’s black flames when a better form came to mind and he sublimated it into black sword qi.

 

At that time, it was done purely by following inspiration sensually.

But now it was different. He had to create complete spell formations based on systematic understanding.

If it were magic arts like Baek Shin-yeong’s that were only powerful but utterly crude, they would be instantly destroyed by the transcendents he would meet in the future.

He had to construct high-dimensional spell formations that were difficult to grasp in their entirety, like what Seo Seol-ryeong created.

 

‘Yes, just like…’

 

The magic art Seo Seol-ryeong had used earlier to bisect the snow giant came to mind.

Using that as a guide, he began to ‘improve’ the spell formation in his spiritual domain.

He instantly dismantled and reconstructed Baek Shin-yeong’s spell formation to create a more advanced form.

 

It was a transcendent technique possible only because of Cheon Woo-jin’s rapid growth.

 

[White Night]

 

The hundreds of ice blades disappeared.

What was created instead was a single white blade.

It was a blade so thin it could barely be seen properly.

 

Though it was a blade as thin as a sheet of ice.

By the Metal Spirit Energy of the Soul Devouring Spirit Flame Sword, the power of hundreds of blades was solidly concentrated within it.

 

The thin ice blade crossed the sky.

Its trajectory momentarily filled the sky completely with white.

 

“Ah…”

 

By that white trajectory.

Baek Shin-young’s upper and lower body were separated.

To be precise, he was bisected at the lower abdomen where the dantian is located.

 

A blade so thin it was barely visible to the eye had deployed at ultra-high speed and bisected Baek Shin-young with a Single Stroke Bisection.

 

“Ah, ah, ah…!”

 

Baek Shin-young’s screams echoed through the air.

It wasn’t simply that his body had been severed – the white trajectory had precisely bisected even the Golden Core beyond his dantian.

 

“I must, I must achieve my Nascent Soul…!”

 

The palace master of Ten Thousand Night Ice Palace who had made his decision too early and hit a wall too soon.

To break through that wall, he had tried to marry Seo Seol-ryeong and attempted to secure the Ghost Spirit Summoning Banner to borrow power from the Upper Realm.

But now he was meeting his death without succeeding in any of it.

 

However, no one sympathized with him.

Even the subordinates of Ten Thousand Night Ice Palace on the ground felt the same.

It was probably due to the vicious behavior he had shown at Ten Thousand Night Ice Palace until now.

 

“Father…”

 

Leaving those final words, Baek Shin-young plummeted toward the snowy mountain.

And he sank into the white snow, disappearing to an unknown location.

 

“Whew…”

 

Exhaling white breath from his mouth, Cheon Woo-jin felt a great sense of accomplishment.

 

Beyond the technique of Destruction.

Beyond the technique of reproduction.

Even the technique of improvement had been completed.

It felt like what he had continuously pursued through consecutive bloody battles since ascending to the 6th Floor had finally reached its destination.

 

“Hmm…?”

 

Suddenly, Cheon Woo-jin realized that steam was rising from his own body.

He thought it might be fever from overworking his body too much, but that wasn’t it.

Perhaps due to using various spiritual energies other than Water Spirit Energy in succession, his entire body’s spiritual channels had overheated and expanded.

 

But even after the heat subsided, the expansion of his spiritual channels didn’t return to normal.

And Cheon Woo-jin came to realize what this meant.

 

‘With spiritual channels like these, I can operate all spiritual energies.’

 

Since reaching the middle stage of Qi Accumulation Stage at Jakryang Mountain, Cheon Woo-jin had become able to operate both Water Spirit Energy and Fire Shadow Energy simultaneously in his spiritual channels.

But now he was in a state where he could also operate the remaining Five Elements spiritual energies together.

 

This meant he had become able to freely manipulate all Five Elements.

And it meant that the vessel called Cheon Woo-jin had grown one step further.

 

‘With this, I am… at the late stage of Qi Accumulation Stage.’

 

The Core Formation Realm had come one step closer.

With that realization, Cheon Woo-jin took an elixir and circulated his spiritual energy through One Circulation to recover his consumed spiritual power.

 

It was then that a lamenting sound came from the sky.

 

“My son, is that all you could do before dying?”

 

The spirit beast that Baek Shin-young had been riding earlier.

A snow leopard with pure white fur was grieving in the snowstorm.

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