The Chaotic Immortal Wood Sect: Immortal Cultivation War - Chapter 23

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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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23. Cheong Myeong Bang Si

“Why are you doing this? I have no concern with how the Flame Spirit Beast Gate and No Cheong Woo are connected.”

Ha Eun Ryeong pleaded once more to be released, but when refusal came back, she spoke in a desperate voice as if begging.

“But you already know that No Cheong Woo stole the Main Sect’s treasure. So how can we let you go? You must stay with us until this matter is resolved.”

“Even after I told you I’m a disciple of the Endless Yin Society, you still say such things?”

“Hmph, it’s because you’re a disciple of the Endless Yin Society that we’re showing this much consideration. If you were a disciple of some insignificant sect, would there be any need to consider your circumstances? If it became troublesome, we could just break your neck. So shouldn’t you be even more careful with your words and actions than now?”

“That is…”

“And you should also know that being a disciple of the Endless Yin Society makes it even more impossible for us to let you go, right? Originally, doesn’t the Endless Yin Society dig up all kinds of secrets from the Cultivation World and do business with them? So naturally, there’s no reason they wouldn’t do the same with No Cheong Woo’s matter. How could we possibly let you go under these circumstances?”

“…”

At the words of Jin Ho Yeon, a disciple of the Flame Spirit Beast Gate, Ha Eun Ryeong couldn’t respond and closed her mouth.

Ha Eun Ryeong also couldn’t guarantee what kind of schemes her sect would devise if she reported the story involving No Cheong Woo and the Flame Spirit Beast Gate to them.

However, one thing was certain: the Endless Yin Society was not a place that would cover up the matter out of consideration for Ha Eun Ryeong.

In the worst case, even if they handed over Ha Eun Ryeong, they would deeply involve themselves in the matter between the Flame Spirit Beast Gate and No Cheong Woo.

Even though soul engraving existed, cases of sacrificing disciples for the sect’s benefit weren’t entirely absent, and the Endless Yin Society was quite demanding of such sacrifices from disciples.

Ha Eun Ryeong was also prepared to sacrifice herself for her sect due to the influence of soul engraving, so the judgment made by the Flame Spirit Beast Gate disciples could be considered appropriate.

“I won’t say it twice. You will stay with us until this matter ends, and external communication is forbidden. Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

At Jin Ho Yeon’s renewed scolding, Ha Eun Ryeong had no choice but to answer and bow her head.

But everyone watching guessed that this promise would be difficult to keep, merely not revealing their inner thoughts.

The Endless Yin Society was a sect that dug up secret information from the Cultivation World and used it to pursue profit.

How could Ha Eun Ryeong, a disciple of such a sect, remain idle after obtaining secrets?

Even if Ha Eun Ryeong wanted to hide the matter, her superiors would contact her and dig into the situation, and eventually, not only No Cheong Woo but also the treasure struggle involving Blue Wood Academy and the Flame Spirit Beast Gate would likely be exposed.

‘We must hurry back to Instructor Dam Yeol. The matter of this Endless Yin Society disciple should be decided by the instructor.’

‘Of course. You and I cannot decide matters concerning the Endless Yin Society.’

‘Right, so first we need to take this girl back to the instructor. To track No Cheong Woo, we need to find that guy called Bang Yeol, but it seems he won’t come to this place.’

It had already been six days since they discovered No Cheong Woo’s collapsed cave dwelling.

At that time, they first met Lee Moon Tak, and Jin Gwan Ho came half a day later.

And before several more hours passed after that, Ha Eun Ryeong arrived, but according to Lee Moon Tak and Jin Gwan Ho, if Bang Yeol was coming, he should have arrived long ago.

But since there had been no sign of this Bang Yeol fellow for six days now, they had to assume the possibility of him coming here was almost nonexistent.

Then they would need to go find this Bang Yeol fellow directly, but Ha Eun Ryeong was the problem.

If not for Ha Eun Ryeong, they certainly would have done so, but things had gotten complicated.

‘In any case, hurrying to the instructor takes priority.’

‘Right. I think so too.’

The two disciples of the Flame Spirit Beast Gate, Jin Ho Yeon and Yeon Ji Han, communicated through mental intent and reached this agreement, then immediately loaded the three Qi Refinement cultivators related to No Cheong Woo onto flying spirit beasts and began flying.

However, this decision ultimately caused great trouble, because Ha Eun Ryeong realized that the direction the flying spirit beasts were heading had nothing to do with Bang Yul and attempted to escape.

Ha Eun Ryeong instinctively sensed something ominous about the direction the Flame Spirit Beast Gate disciples were taking them.

That’s why she attempted to escape.

Though Ha Eun Ryeong was merely at the late Qi Refinement stage, 8th layer, the Endless Yin Society’s secret stealth technique was quite excellent, allowing her to briefly deceive Jin Ho Yeon and Yeon Ji Han and flee.

But how could Ha Eun Ryeong at the 8th layer of Qi Refinement perfectly shake off two late Foundation Establishment cultivators?

She was eventually discovered, and while fiercely resisting the two Flame Spirit Beast Gate disciples trying to subdue her, she ended up losing her life.

And this unexpectedly became the catalyst for a major incident: a sect war between the Flame Spirit Beast Gate and the Endless Yin Society.

How could they have known that killing just one late Qi Refinement disciple would bring the Endless Yin Society’s revenge?

Moreover, through that revenge, the remaining two Qi Refinement cultivators connected to No Cheong Woo died from misfortune, and the cultivator called Bang Yeol fell into the Endless Yin Society’s hands.

When the Endless Yin Society later found No Cheong Woo through Bang Yeol, the Flame Spirit Beast Gate couldn’t just stand by and watch.

With circumstances becoming so complexly tangled, Kang Hyeon and In Deok eventually completely escaped the Flame Spirit Beast Gate’s attention.

Of course, unaware of these circumstances, Kang Hyeon and In Deok wandered the Nokju Continent aimlessly on flying swords for nearly two years.

They didn’t set a specific destination and constantly changed directions while moving their flying swords, which was also due to concerns about being tracked.

This was because they didn’t know that events were already unfolding in directions completely unrelated to them.

***

“From here on is Nok Province’s central region. It’s mostly highland, so they call it the Cheon Jeong Plateau.”

“The place controlled by the Cheon Gwang Gate of Cheon Gwang Peak, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Wow, we’ve been going back and forth, but we’ve generally kept moving northeast, and we’re only now entering the outskirts of the central region?”

“That shows how vast the Nokju Continent is. And actually, the distance we’ve traveled isn’t much. This is the entrance to the central region, but it would take more than five years of flying like this to reach Cheon Gwang Peak where the Cheon Gwang Gate is located.”

“Really, at times like this I truly realize we were frogs in a well. Not all the books that old man collected are accurate, but even considering just what generally matches up, this Nok Province is unimaginably vast.”

“And we should consider our homeland Hyeop Province to be similar to this place. And there are five such continents in total, with seas between them and surrounding all five continents.”

“And there are three more forbidden zones in the seas that are too dangerous to be properly explored.”

In Deok chimed in as if keeping rhythm with Kang Hyeon’s words.

Such content couldn’t be found in the Tower from the previous Great Unity Festival, nor in the legacy of Yang Won Chil from the Broken Sword Sect.

Since No Cheong Woo, who was merely at the 6th layer of Qi Refinement, had faithfully collected such records, it could be said that Kang Hyeon and In Deok had encountered an unexpected fortune.

Thanks to this, they no longer needed to be cautious and spare their words when conversing with other Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“That’s Cheong Myeong Bang Si over there. It’s one of the three great market towns in the Cheon Gwang Gate’s territory.”

“It’s a great market town that also serves as a kind of regional gateway, right? You said we can get identification tokens for Nok Province’s central region there.”

“That’s right. The problem is that we have wandering identities…”

“That can’t be helped. We can’t say we came from Hyeop Province.”

“But wanderers face many disadvantages everywhere, so that’s the problem. And more serious than that is our spiritual roots.”

“You mean if two people with heavenly spiritual roots are gathered together, once they know we’re wanderers, they’ll swarm over and force us to join sects?”

“Mm, that’s the biggest problem. It’s not the forced recruitment that’s the issue, but if rumors about us spread, our uncertain origins will also become known, and we might even be discovered as having come from Hyeop Province.”

“But we can’t reveal ourselves as Blue Wood Academy disciples either?”

“If we did that, Flame Spirit Beast Gate trackers would immediately follow us, right? That would be like carrying firewood and jumping into flames.”

“So what should we do?”

In Deok didn’t have confidence in thinking of a better method than Kang Hyeon even if he racked his brains, so he asked for Kang Hyeon’s opinion again this time.

“Hmm. Even if we wanted to disguise ourselves as disciples of some insignificant sect, that would be impossible without soul engraving. So here’s what I’m thinking.”

“Yeah, what will you do?”

“Let’s hide our spiritual roots a bit.”

“Hide our spiritual roots?”

“I’m suggesting we transfer our energies to each other to disguise ourselves as if we each have three spiritual roots.”

“How?”

“Using this, it seems like it might work somehow. However, it’s a method that’s only possible if you truly trust me completely, so that’s a bit concerning.”

“Me trusting you? Well, that’s no problem. I naturally trust you.”

“Then I’ll tell you the method. This is a branch from the Trent you call the strange tree.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I’m going to connect this to your soul and use it like a Life-Bound Treasure.”

“Life-Bound Treasure?”

Originally, a Life-Bound Treasure is an incredible treasure that one would only consider making after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

This is an artifact connected to a cultivator’s soul and simultaneously belongs to the conceptual realm.

While it is certainly made from physical materials, it is refined with the cultivator’s soul so that ultimately it can be placed in the Mental Space.

Thus, a Life-Bound Treasure grows together with its master cultivator and shares their cultivation level.

To create one requires not only various rare materials, but also special materials that simultaneously satisfy the cultivator’s Spiritual Root and soul.

So it was natural for In Deok to be startled when Kang Hyeon was now speaking of such a Life-Bound Treasure.

“Of course, it won’t be a complete Life-Bound Treasure. It’s similar to one. In that it can be stored in the Mental Space.”

“So I need to put this in my Mental Space?”

“That’s right.”

“Is that possible?”

“Since Trent is in my Mental Space, its branch should be able to enter the Mental Space too. And success or failure will depend on how much faith you have.”

“So if it doesn’t work, it’s my fault? Because I lack faith?”

“Mm, that’s right?”

“That’s too much. Couldn’t it originally be impossible anyway?”

“It came from my Mental Space, so there’s no reason it can’t enter your Mental Space, since you’re my friend. Moreover, it’s not even the main body but just an extremely small part.”

“O-okay. Let’s say I can put this in my Mental Space? What happens next?”

“Simple. We make this appear as your Spiritual Root.”

“So how exactly?”

“I’ll periodically infuse my Wood Spiritual Energy into this. Then you’ll appear to have Wood, Lightning, and Metal Spiritual Roots.”

“Then what about you?”

“I’ll need your help too. If you transfer Lightning Energy and Metal Energy to me, I think I can put them into the Trent Branch in my Mental Space to make it look like Spiritual Roots.”

“How exactly does that work?”

In Deok asked Kang Hyeon as if he couldn’t understand.

“You know that Trent can absorb Spiritual Energy of various attributes, right?”

“Of course, I’ve seen those Spirit Fruits more than once or twice.”

“We’ll use that ability. Instead of bearing Spirit Fruits, we’ll condense and gather energy inside Trent’s Branch. Then to other high-level cultivators, the Trent Branch with condensed Spiritual Energy in the Mental Space will look like Spiritual Roots.”

“Will that work?”

“Trust the strange tree. When I tested it, I found it’s possible to condense and gather specific Spiritual Energy like bearing fruit inside the branch.”

“If it’s in the Mental Space, it can only be explained as Spiritual Roots?”

“That’s right. They won’t think that a mere Great Perfection Spiritual Energy Technique practitioner is cultivating a Life-Bound Treasure in their Mental Space.”

“I see.”

“Instead, we’ll need to periodically transfer Spiritual Root energy to each other. Since there’s a difference between processed Spiritual Energy and pure Spiritual Energy from Spiritual Roots, we naturally need to inject unprocessed Spiritual Root energy into the Trent Branch.”

“Good! Let’s try it. If we succeed, we can have completely new identities.”

“Hahaha. Did you figure it out?”

Kang Hyeon smiled brightly at In Deok’s words.

Since Spiritual Roots are unique characteristics that cultivators possess, if Kang Hyeon and In Deok register their identity tokens as cultivators with Triple Spiritual Roots, then when they eventually return to their Heavenly Spiritual Root forms, all the things they did with Triple Spiritual Root identities would become unrelated to them.

Since a Triple Spiritual Root holder and a Heavenly Spiritual Root holder cannot be the same person, they could naturally escape suspicion.

“First, give me that. If I can’t put it in my Mental Space, there’s no point. I have to try.”

“Right. Here.”

“But can’t I cultivate this to make it into a real Life-Bound Treasure?”

“Hmm. That would be possible too. But not right now. You’d need to make it match your Spiritual Root attributes of Lightning Energy and Metal Energy, but you can’t do that now. You need to make it into a Spiritual Root that contains Wood Spiritual Energy.”

“Hmm. Then make me one more of these. I’ll carry it in my Storage Pouch and refine it to use as the foundation for a Life-Bound Treasure.”

“I can’t guarantee success, but if you want it, I’ll give it to you.”

Cutting off a part of Trent’s branch was nothing at all.

Originally, the wood attribute has superior aspects in terms of growth and regeneration compared to any other attribute.

So for Trent, a few branches were just a small burden that could be quickly recovered.

“Shall we start then?”

“Ah, before that.”

“Huh?”

“First, try putting your Lightning and Metal attribute Spiritual Energy into these. Fill them up as much as possible.”

Kang Hyeon held out two Trent Branches to In Deok.

“Why already?”

“You can’t enter Cheong Myeong Bang Si until you succeed. But I think I can succeed fairly easily if you just put in the Spiritual Energy.”

“So you’re going to the market town alone?”

“I’ll go in and out first to make preparations. In case you fail and can’t enter the market town, I need to consider that too.”

“Hey! I will definitely succeed. There’s absolutely no such thing as failure!”

In Deok got angry at Kang Hyeon’s words about considering even his potential failure.

But even while saying that, before refining the Trent Branch that Kang Hyeon gave him, he filled the Trent Branches that Kang Hyeon held out with pure Lightning and Metal Spiritual Energy.

“I definitely won’t fail, but just in case it might take quite a bit of time, that’s why I’m doing this.”

In Deok said that as he began refining the Trent Branch.

But surprisingly, In Deok succeeded in dyeing the Trent Branch with his soul and accepting it into his Mental Space in just a few attempts.

“I really want to make this into my Life-Bound Treasure. I don’t know why the affinity is so good.”

In Deok, who had planted Trent’s Branch like a sapling in his Mental Space, said that and smiled brightly.

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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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