The Chaotic Immortal Wood Sect: Immortal Cultivation War - Chapter 1

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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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1. Being Dragged to the Great Unity Festival

 

“Think it’ll work out?”

 

“We can only hope so.”

 

“You’ll die though?”

 

“If I survive, it’ll be jackpot.”

 

“Still….”

 

“Actually, I’m prepared to die if it comes to that.”

 

“What?!”

 

“What’s there to be so surprised about?”

 

“You said you’re prepared to die! How can I not be surprised?”

 

“It’s a challenge. That’s….”

 

“That’s what? What’s so great about some challenge?!”

 

“It makes me feel alive. That’s just my nature.”

 

“How would you know what your nature is?!”

 

“I know. I was like this before too.”

 

“What? When?”

 

“No, I misspoke.”

 

Kang Hyeon shook his head.

 

In Deok, who had been keeping him company in conversation, shrugged his shoulders.

 

He was used to Kang Hyeon occasionally saying strange things.

 

Then In Deok cast his gaze into the air, made an expression as if calculating something, then looked back at Kang Hyeon and spoke.

 

“Honestly, I wish you didn’t have a Spiritual Root.”

 

At this, Kang Hyeon looked at In Deok with an expression of disbelief.

 

“Is that all your friendship amounts to? This is something I desperately want, and you’re praying for my hopes to be crushed?!”

 

“Hey! If you get dragged there, you’ll die for sure.”

 

In Deok shouted with a frightened expression.

 

“That’s not true. They just live in a different world so it’s hard to come and go, but some people have returned occasionally. And those who returned live in luxury.”

 

“Those people said it themselves. The Great Unity Festival is madness.”

 

“There’s no avoiding it anyway. If you have a Spiritual Root, you get dragged there automatically.”

 

That was the truth.

 

When the Great Unity Festival begins, only whether you have a Spiritual Root or not matters.

 

Those who possess a Spiritual Root have no choice but to be dragged to the Great Unity Festival.

 

“You can come back if you give up your Spiritual Root as soon as you arrive.”

 

This was what In Deok ultimately wanted to say.

 

He didn’t want his friend to jump into danger.

 

“Do you think I’d do that?”

 

“Haaa.”

 

At Kang Hyeon’s words spoken with a grin, In Deok let out a deep sigh.

 

In Deok knew full well that Kang Hyeon wasn’t the type to avoid danger when it was right in front of him.

 

Moreover, since Kang Hyeon himself wanted this so much, what more was there to say.

 

“Come on, let’s stop talking about something that won’t reach a conclusion anyway. There really aren’t many days left.”

 

“….”

 

When Kang Hyeon patted In Deok’s shoulder and stood up dusting off his bottom, In Deok also got up as if he had no choice.

 

And the two began to continue their unfinished work.

 

Even if they couldn’t know right away whether they’d be dragged to the Great Unity Festival, it was certain that the adults would scold them harshly if they didn’t finish today’s work.

 

Kang Hyeon and In Deok entered the rice field and began moving forward, pulling weeds from among the ripening Rice Ears.

 

They were only twelve years old.

 

In Kang Hyeon’s previous life, this would have been called child abuse, but in this world it was natural for children to help with household work from age six or seven.

 

***

 

An unusual blue aurora began to appear in the sky.

 

This was the signal that the Great Unity Festival selection, which occurred once every ten years targeting children from six to fifteen years old, was beginning.

 

There were several Supreme Sects based on the Haram Continent, but among them, twelve were the most renowned.

 

These twelve supreme powers dominated and ruled over all other groups and individuals.

 

In the past, these Twelve Immortal Cultivation Sects would dispatch disciples to search for candidates with Spiritual Roots.

 

Then, hundreds of years ago, the twelve sects joined forces to install a Formation Technique encompassing the entire continent and began holding the Great Unity Festival.

 

Exactly what happened at that time was not known to ordinary mortals of the secular world.

 

Only one thing was certain: the Formation Technique surrounding the continent identified those with Spiritual Roots and dragged them to the Great Unity Festival.

 

“What do you think will happen?”

 

In Deok asked, looking at Kang Hyeon with a pale face.

 

The sky, where the fading sunset mingled with the blue aurora and added a purple hue, was mysteriously beautiful beyond compare.

 

Kang Hyeon was recalling memories of seeing this when he was toddling around at two years old, quietly gauging the changes to come, when In Deok interrupted his thoughts.

 

“Are you scared you might get dragged away too?”

 

Kang Hyeon turned his head to look at In Deok.

 

Kang Hyeon guessed that instead of being at home with his family, In Deok had come to him out of worry for him being alone.

 

So he couldn’t bring himself to speak harshly as before.

 

“Of course! I’m scared!”

 

“You said it yourself. If you go and give up your Spiritual Root, you can come back. The Village Chief said so, right?”

 

“That’s true, but….”

 

“Well, it would be scary not knowing what might happen.”

 

“That’s what I’m saying.”

 

“Still, they say it’s not difficult to go to the Great Unity Festival and return right away, so don’t worry too much. And….”

 

“Hm? What?”

 

When Kang Hyeon was about to say something more but closed his mouth, In Deok urged him to continue.

 

“Even if there’s ever a chance that you and I go together, you must never stay at the Great Gathering. Got it? You absolutely cannot stay because of me.”

 

“I’m not going to be dragged away anyway?!”

 

“That would be even better.”

 

“You won’t be able to go either!”

 

“You little—!”

 

Smack!

 

“Ow!”

 

In the end, In Deok gets smacked on the back of his head by Kang Hyeon’s palm.

 

“Are you laughing?”

 

“Yeah, getting hit once seems to clear my head. Hehehe.”

 

“Did you say your goodbyes properly?”

 

“I told you I’m not going?! And even if I do go, I’ll give up on the Spiritual Root or whatever and come right back, so what’s the point of goodbyes.”

 

“Well, that’s true.”

 

Kang Hyeon nodded and turned his gaze back to the sky.

 

And as if responding to his timing, golden lines, patterns, and characters began to appear in the purple sky.

 

“Cool.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“That thing, it’s cool.”

 

“The golden light?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Damn it.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

When Kang Hyeon’s face crumpled, In Deok asked with a blank expression.

 

“It seems you have a Spiritual Root too.”

 

“Huh? What? Why?”

 

“That thing, it seems you can’t see it without a Spiritual Root.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It’s just how it is.”

 

When he was young, Kang Hyeon was only two years old, but he clearly saw golden lines, patterns, and letters appearing in the sky.

 

And after they persisted for a while, pulsing with light, they vanished without a trace and the Great Gathering ended.

 

But the problem was that no one around him mentioned the golden lines, patterns, and letters.

 

They only talked about the blue dawn light.

 

Back then, the dawn light appeared in the morning and the selection ended before sunset, so there was no purple hue mixed with the evening glow.

 

‘Those lines, patterns, and letters cannot be seen by ordinary people. That’s why I was certain I had a Spiritual Root, but now this guy In Deok can see them too.’

 

Kang Hyeon let out a small sigh.

 

Then he approached In Deok and grabbed his hand.

 

“Huh? Why?”

 

“We’ll be dragged somewhere now, and it would be troublesome if we got separated. So hold on tight.”

 

“Huh? I’m really going to the Great Gathering?”

 

“It seems like it.”

 

“If you say so, Kang Hyeon, then it must be true.”

 

In Deok grips the hand clasped with Kang Hyeon’s tightly.

 

“Kid’s got a strong grip.”

 

Kang Hyeon smiled brightly at In Deok and added more strength to his own hand.

 

Feeling the strength enter Kang Hyeon’s hand, the anxiety on In Deok’s face lessened slightly.

 

And at that moment.

 

“Woah! It’s beautiful.”

 

A part of the massive Formation Technique pattern decorating the darkening night sky brightened.

 

And while such illuminations continued here and there, an especially bright light flashed above Kang Hyeon and In Deok’s heads.

 

“Gasp!”

 

Kang Hyeon felt an unfamiliar energy enveloping his body and tensed up instantly.

 

Whoosh!

 

Afterward, a gentle breeze swept through the spot where Kang Hyeon and In Deok had been, and their figures were nowhere to be seen.

 

The villagers only discovered that Kang Hyeon and In Deok had disappeared the next day.

 

***

 

Murmur murmur murmur.

 

“Kang Hyeon!”

 

“Calm down.”

 

Kang Hyeon gripped the panicking In Deok’s hand firmly and surveyed their surroundings.

 

Children filled a massive plain with a diameter of roughly three hundred jang.

 

Three hundred jang would be approximately one kilometer in Earth terms from his previous life.

 

So it was so vast that you couldn’t properly take in the view from end to end.

 

And such a wide place was packed full of children.

 

“Kang Hyeon…”

 

In Deok calls out to Kang Hyeon with an anxious face.

 

“It’s okay. There will be an opportunity. A chance to choose whether to participate in the Great Gathering or go back.”

 

“Do you really think so?”

 

“It wasn’t me who said that, it was you. You said the Village Chief told you that.”

 

“That’s true, but…”

 

“And I heard the same thing. That if you don’t like it, you can just come back.”

 

“R-right?”

 

“Yeah. So don’t worry.”

 

“But you…”

 

In Deok’s expression darkened, knowing that Kang Hyeon wouldn’t return together with him.

 

“Don’t think useless thoughts. I’m already overwhelmed by myself. If you stay too, it’ll make things harder for me.”

 

Kang Hyeon didn’t hesitate to speak harshly to In Deok, just in case.

 

It meant that if you’re here, it’ll make things more difficult for me, so don’t think about staying and just go back.

 

“Uh, ah, I understand.”

 

In Deok also understood Kang Hyeon’s meaning and his expression grew even darker.

 

He became depressed thinking about how they would have to part ways before long.

 

“By the way, there are so many children. Thousands, no, tens of thousands.”

 

“Really?”

 

“It’s so wide and they’re packed in like black dots, so it must be about that many, right?”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“In our Village, it seems like it was just you and me. How vast an area did they gather children from to assemble this many?”

 

“Maybe they targeted the entire world?”

 

Kang Hyeon thought of humanity on Earth from his previous life, and figured that gathering special children from that kind of scope could result in this many.

 

‘To be able to forcibly bring people from a scope comparable to the entire Earth… are these cultivators or immortals really the same as the martial heroes from Earth’s novels?’

 

Kang Hyeon had long held such curiosity, but with the information available in a small rural village among ordinary people, he couldn’t determine the truth.

 

But now that he was actually dragged to this great gathering, he began to think that perhaps the fictional content of martial heroes he’d read on Earth might exist in similar form as reality here.

 

“Waaahhhhh!”

 

“Mommy! Mommyyyy!”

 

As time passed and they finished grasping their surroundings, the children’s crying finally began to be heard.

 

The youngest child would be six years old.

 

It was natural that such children would have difficulty properly recognizing the situation and responding rationally.

 

“Tsk.”

 

“How pitiful.”

 

Kang Hyeon clicked his tongue, and In Deok made a sympathetic expression.

 

“Most of those children will go back home, right?”

 

In Deok looked at Kang Hyeon with a somewhat relieved expression and asked.

 

However, Kang Hyeon’s thoughts on this were negative.

 

“Will they?”

 

“Huh? They won’t?”

 

“I don’t think I’ve heard of young children returning after going to the great gathering. It seems like all the children who returned were at least ten years old or older?”

 

“Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case.”

 

“Probably if they can’t make proper judgments themselves, or if they don’t have strong will, they might not be able to return. So In Deok.”

 

“Huh? What?”

 

“Absolutely, no matter what happens! You must firmly hold the will not to participate in the great gathering. No matter what anyone says, you must say you’ll definitely return!”

 

“Uh? Ah, I understand. I’ll do that.”

 

There was nothing to lose by listening to Kang Hyeon’s words.

 

In Deok was the child who knew this fact best.

 

So this time too, he made a firm resolution to definitely follow Kang Hyeon’s words.

 

Rummmmmmmble!

 

“Whoa!”

 

“Ahhhhh!”

 

“Kang Hyeon!”

 

“It’s okay. It’s nothing.”

 

Right then, suddenly a sound of the earth rumbling was heard as a Twelve-sided Giant Stone Pagoda shot up from the ground.

 

The pagoda was so large that it occupied a ground area wider than the entire Village where Kang Hyeon and In Deok had lived.

 

What was strange was that despite such a pagoda rising, there was no harm to the children who had been nearby.

 

It naturally pushed the children away while creating space as the pagoda rose.

 

‘Everyone was pushed back slightly by the width the pagoda occupied, but it happened so naturally that they couldn’t even notice it.’

 

Kang Hyeon couldn’t help but be amazed once again as he experienced strangeness beyond his ability to comprehend.

 

“What is that?”

 

“I don’t know. Oh? People are coming out.”

 

“They’re, they’re fly, flying!”

 

When In Deok shouted, other children were also surprised looking at the people who came out of the pagoda.

 

They appeared from the seventh floor of the pagoda, each advancing about a hundred meters in the direction they emerged and stopping while stepping on empty air.

 

= I am called Yang Gwang of Cheonroemun.

 

Among them, the one who came out in the direction where Kang Hyeon and In Deok were revealed his identity, and strangely, the voices of others who also revealed their identities couldn’t be heard, only Yang Gwang’s voice was audible.

 

= You who hear my voice will be under my management for the time being.

 

Though he didn’t know how they divided it, Kang Hyeon thought it seemed they were dividing the children on the Plains into twelve groups.

 

If so, this person called Yang Gwang would be important going forward, so he naturally had to focus on him.

 

= First, let us see what kind of fortune our Cheonroemun has. Everyone will undergo Spiritual Root Examination.

 

As Kang Hyeon focused on Yang Gwang, Yang Gwang said this and turned his head toward the pagoda.

 

Then dozens of people came out from the first floor of the pagoda and lined up left and right at regular intervals.

 

Seeing that their clothing was all similar, Kang Hyeon thought it must be the Sect Robes of the sect called Cheonroemun.

 

= Everyone go to whoever appeals to you and receive Spiritual Root Examination!

 

As the disciples of Cheonroemun took their positions, Yang Gwang gave orders to the children on the Plains.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Kang Hyeon immediately grabbed In Deok’s wrist and pulled him toward the pagoda.

—————
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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