The Chaotic Immortal Wood Sect: Immortal Cultivation War - Chapter 28

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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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28. Flash Sword and Biwooheon

“The fog is getting thicker, isn’t it? That’s why the lightning energy consumption to block the fog is increasing too.”

“Is it difficult?”

“No, it does require a bit more lightning energy, but I can still hold out for a couple of months.”

“It’ll probably get worse once we go inside, so consider that when gauging your limits. If it seems impossible, we can just retreat.”

“Retreat?”

“We don’t need to risk our lives for a commission. We can try our best, but there’s no need for a do-or-die resolve.”

“That’s true.”

“So don’t worry about it. Besides, even if we give up on this commission, we have that Yang Energy Spot we discovered.”

“Sp…pot! You called it an acupoint, right?”

“Ah, sorry. Yes, that place where the Flame Ghost Insects were.”

“You’re really planning to come back there?”

“In Deok, you were so disappointed about the Heat Vine Grass, so we have to come back.”

“But that was a place we found by luck. Coming back again… You did something there before we left, didn’t you?”

“Right. I parasitized Trent roots on the Heat Vine Grass. So whenever we want to find it, we’ll be able to go there.”

“As expected, Kang Hyeon. You always have a plan?”

“That…”

“Hm?”

“Never mind. I was just thinking you’ve learned a lot from staying with me for so long.”

“Haha. You’re always good at everything, so if I follow you around, I can at least come in second place. Hahaha.”

“Right, if you’re happy with that, then that’s what matters. Hmm?”

Kang Hyeon, who had been chuckling in response to In Deok’s words, suddenly felt something catch in his extended spiritual consciousness and stopped walking.

“What’s wrong?”

In Deok also tensed up at Kang Hyeon’s expression and behavior, keeping watch of their surroundings.

“There’s something up ahead. And…”

“What is it?”

“There are several small formations secretly hidden. These seem to be scattered around to detect presence… At this level, there’s a high possibility that the cultivator who set up the formations has already noticed our movements completely.”

Saying this, Kang Hyeon summoned Trent from his Mental Space.

Wooooooooong! Bududududeuk!

The summoned Trent immediately took root in the valley floor and began creating its territory.

Huuuuung whiiiiing!

Then the Dream Mist seemed to notice Trent’s appearance and began showing strange movements.

“The formations are moving!”

At this change, Kang Hyeon shouted a warning to In Deok.

“What should I do?”

In Deok moved close to Kang Hyeon’s side and asked.

“Same as always – defense first, attack second.”

“Got it! Understood.”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, In Deok activated the Diamond Body Protection Technique, turning his body golden and gathering golden light in both hands.

That golden light was ready to expand and form a shield at any moment.

Pajijijijiji.

Even so, In Deok maintained the lightning energy wrapped around his body, preventing exposure to the Dream Mist.

Whiririririring! Whiririring!

Shiiiiiiiiiik!

“Hmm, the wind is getting rough?”

“Kang Hyeon, there’s blade energy mixed in the wind!”

While Kang Hyeon was worried about the wind mixed with Dream Mist swirling violently, In Deok warned that the wind was unusual.

And almost simultaneously, the wind passing by Kang Hyeon and In Deok turned sharp like blades.

Shaaak! Shasak! Shashashasak!

Seogeok! Seokseokseok! Seoseoseoseok!

“Mmm.”

“Whoa, what is this?”

Kang Hyeon groaned lowly, and In Deok’s eyes widened in amazement.

The wind passed by the two men, thinly slicing through the defensive mechanisms surrounding their bodies.

Dust began rising from Kang Hyeon’s Ancient Wood Armor, and the lightning energy wrapped around In Deok’s body scattered like gold powder.

“The Ancient Wood Armor and your lightning energy have completely different properties, yet it can cut through both simultaneously like this – how interesting.”

“Still, this much isn’t a big deal. There’s hardly any real damage, right?”

“For now, yes. But since this wind started, our time able to stay in Chaotic Dark Valley has been reduced by seventy percent.”

“Huh? That’s true. Persistence is scary, isn’t it?”

“Right. Continuous damage is like a light rain soaking clothes… No, this isn’t what’s important right now.”

Kang Hyeon tapped his head and continued speaking while glaring at the wind and fog.

“The formation changed to create a wind path toward our location. And it imbued that wind with blade energy. Because of this, our burden increased, but the Chaotic Dark Valley’s formation suffers no particular loss.”

“Huh? No loss?”

“What great power would be needed to slightly redirect the wind in a formation of this scale? There would be some spiritual energy consumption in imbuing the wind with blade energy, but even that wouldn’t be much. The Chaotic Dark Valley’s formation is actually connected to the entire Muyeon Mountain Range.”

“When you put it as the entire Muyeon Mountain Range, I understand. A formation with that kind of backing would find imbuing wind with this level of blade energy to be nothing.”

“Of course, this is all just my speculation, but if we assume it’s correct speculation, then ultimately it’s a method of wearing us down over time.”

“If it doesn’t work, can’t we just escape?”

“Right. That’s the answer, but if the formation changed this way, it probably made escaping difficult too.”

“Is that so?”

“But that’s only dangerous for us when the Dream Mist functions properly. If we’re not poisoned by the Dream Mist at all like now, at least escaping from Chaotic Dark Valley shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Huh? Dream Mist?”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, In Deok looked at the fog still passing by them with fresh eyes.

It’s the mist that has been hovering around us almost constantly since we entered Chaotic Dark Valley.

Kang Hyeon had said I absolutely must not let that mist enter my body, so I’d been using lightning energy to block the mist, wondering if it was really that important.

It was bothersome, but it wasn’t particularly difficult.

“You think Dream Mist is nothing special?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Dream Mist is a fog that shows illusions to those who inhale it or absorb it through their skin and become poisoned. But when combined with the formation techniques of Chaotic Dark Valley, reality gets mixed into those illusions.”

“Illusions and reality?”

“If you eat and drink your fill in the illusions of Dream Mist, you’ll actually feel full and your thirst will disappear as if you really consumed those things.”

“Really?”

“But that’s just a trivial example. The dangerous thing is that Dream Mist’s illusions touch upon trauma.”

“What kind of nonsense is that?”

“The ‘uma’ in trauma isn’t that kind of ‘uma’, you know?”

“I know, I was just joking.”

“Trauma refers to unpleasant memories in one’s heart. Few people don’t have some form of it. At the very least, everyone has nightmares they had as children while sleeping. Yes, think of it as similar to heart demons.”

“Ah, that kind of thing…”

“Now imagine those nightmares becoming reality through Dream Mist. How terrifying would that be?”

“Uh, then… this time too, will Kang Hyeon steal my meat from me?”

“Meat?”

“You know, that time. At the feast for Village Chief grandfather’s father, Baek Su or something…”

“The meat you had saved that I ate?”

“Yeah? That appeared in my dreams frequently for a while. I cried so much from sadness even in my dreams.”

“Hey, I ate that once, but how much meat have I given up for you since then! At that young age, I caught carp as big as my torso for you five times, and whenever I roasted rabbit, I always gave you the bigger portion!”

“I know that too. I do know, but strangely when I dreamed, those things didn’t appear – only the scene of you stealing my meat. And every time it was so heartbreaking…”

“Wow, that…”

Kang Hyeon looked In Deok up and down with an expression of disbelief.

“Sorry… But that’s not something I can control. It’s a dream…”

“You bastard, the fact that you have such dreams means you’ve been holding a grudge about me stealing your meat all this time. Even after I gave and gave so much!”

“Sorry.”

At Kang Hyeon’s outburst, In Deok apologized in a shrinking voice and bowed his head.

Even he thought it was clear that Kang Hyeon had made many concessions for a long time because of eating that meat at Baek Su’s feast.

Rationally thinking, he had received back dozens of times what was taken at Baek Su’s feast, yet In Deok himself couldn’t understand why he had such dreams for several years.

“Well, meat is important.”

“Huh?”

“Suppose you drank Dream Mist. And fell into an illusion.”

“That won’t happen, but since it’s hypothetical… then what?”

“In that illusion, your meat gets stolen again. And the one who stole and ate the meat is me in my childhood form.”

“Hmm, then I’d cry again?”

“No. The problem is that while the situation is like that, you’re not your childhood self but your current self. So what would happen? Would you get angry about the stolen meat or sit and cry loudly?”

“Me crying loudly now would be a bit much.”

“Then you might hit me for stealing and eating the meat in the dream?”

“No way? I still don’t think I’d hit Kang Hyeon.”

“Really? Can you control your actions in your dreams however you want?”

“Ah! That’s not possible.”

“Then going back to the dream, can you guarantee that our In Deok, angry about having his meat stolen, won’t use Lightning Explosive Crush?”

“Uh… No, I might use it?”

“Right? But what if that becomes reality?”

“Huh? Reality?”

“You used Lightning Explosive Crush in the dream, but you’d also thrust Lightning Explosive Crush at me in reality. What would happen then?”

“Ah…!”

At Kang Hyeon’s question, the color drained from In Deok’s face as he turned pale.

“That’s why Dream Mist is scary. If you properly block Dream Mist, you can avoid more than half the dangers of Chaotic Dark Valley, but if you’re affected by Dream Mist, it’s best to consider it over.”

“Dream Mist is terrifying. So once you’re poisoned, there’s no way out?”

“That’s not true. If someone removes the Dream Mist poison, you can return to normal. That’s why you’re lucky.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Because I’m with you and can detoxify the Dream Mist.”

“Then what about you, Kang Hyeon? What if you get poisoned?”

“Goemok will take care of that, so I don’t need to worry.”

“Wow, so this was all bragging in the end?”

“That’s part of it, and it’s also meant to give an opportunity to the seniors listening to our conversation up ahead.”

“What? Seniors?”

At Kang Hyeon’s words, In Deok felt his mind snap to attention as if cold water had been poured over him, and he extended his spiritual consciousness in the direction Kang Hyeon was looking.

Then In Deok’s spiritual consciousness also sensed spiritual energy gathered in a hazy cluster.

“Please come out now. You’ve already been discovered, so continuing to hide like that would be too face-losing, wouldn’t it?”

Then Kang Hyeon stepped forward and spoke toward the mist.

After a moment of silence, sounds of movement came from within the mist and two monks walked out.

“Greetings. We are Kang Hyeon and Hwang In Deok from Cheongmyeongbangsi.”

Kang Hyeon introduced himself and In Deok while cupping his hands in greeting.

Then In Deok beside him also hurriedly put his hands together and bowed lightly.

“Ahem. Receiving greetings from juniors makes us feel quite ashamed.”

“I don’t think we’re in a position to exchange pleasantries with each other.”

The two monks who received the greeting seemed uncomfortable and slightly shifted their bodies to avoid Kang Hyeon and In Deok’s greetings.

“That’s true. We’ve already crossed paths once in an unfortunate encounter.”

Kang Hyeon also straightened his back as if understanding their attitude, glared at them, and nodded.

He had recognized that the two monks before him were the ones who had ambushed them at the Honmyeonggok Entrance.

“Right. We’re not in a position to face each other with smiling faces. Then shall we do what we originally came to do?”

Hearing Kang Hyeon’s words and thinking their relationship had been defined as irreparable, the monk who had been feeling ashamed also hardened his expression.

Simultaneously, red and brown spiritual energy burst from their bodies as dozens of flying daggers and arrows revealed themselves in the air.

“You’re quite impatient. Please wait a moment.”

But even at the two monks’ attack preparations, Kang Hyeon waved his hand dismissively with a relaxed expression, trying to continue the conversation.

“What do you mean, wait?”

“Weren’t you the one who said we have bad karma with each other?”

The two monks seemed even more provoked by Kang Hyeon’s attitude and grew angry, and along with that, dark red energy seeped into their flying daggers and arrows.

Kang Hyeon sensed that those energies were very fierce and also ominous, and spoke urgently.

“Please listen first. As I already mentioned earlier, Dream Mist is extremely dangerous.”

“Who doesn’t know that?”

“What are you trying to do by spouting nonsense!”

As Kang Hyeon’s earnest words continued, the two monks couldn’t attack immediately and gave grudging responses.

“Then do you seniors know that you are already poisoned by Dream Mist?”

“What? What kind of ridiculous nonsense is that!”

“Do you think we wouldn’t have prepared for that much? How dare you try to deceive us with such lies!”

Kang Hyeon said the two monks were poisoned by Dream Mist, and the two monks jumped up saying it was absurd.

“You both know that those poisoned by Dream Mist find it difficult to realize that fact themselves.”

“Shut up!”

“To say we’re poisoned by something like Dream Mist – such nonsense is truly absurd.”

“I naturally expected you would react that way. Then please take a look at this.”

Kang Hyeon made an expression as if forcibly holding back a sigh and pushed two plum-like fruits toward the two monks.

The fruits that flew leisurely through the air stopped at a distance where the two could reach them if they stretched out their hands.

The two monks regarded the fruits Kang Hyeon had pushed toward them with caution and examined them using Mental Intent.

“Hmm? It’s not poison.”

“It’s a Spirit Fruit that has the effect of clearing the mind.”

“This would certainly have the effect of detoxifying Dream Mist.”

“That’s true, but…”

The two monks easily grasped the effects of the Spirit Fruit Kang Hyeon had offered.

However, since the Spirit Fruit was of a type they had never seen before, some wariness remained.

“Even if I say I have no intention to deceive or harm you seniors, it would be difficult for you to believe. But examining that Spirit Fruit directly and making a judgment is something you can certainly do according to your own will.”

“So?”

“Are you telling us to eat this?”

“That’s right. Right now, you two are in a state of being poisoned by Dream Mist, so we don’t know what might happen at any moment. But if you take that Spirit Fruit, the Dream Mist will be washed away in that instant, and from then on, we and you seniors will be able to have a constructive conversation with each other.”

“Hmm. You’re telling us to eat this?”

“There seems to be no problem at all with eating it, but what do you think?”

“I see it the same way, but…”

With the Spirit Fruit before them, the two monks fell into contemplation with thoughtful faces.

Kang Hyeon and In Deok stood quietly watching such a scene.

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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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