The Chaotic Immortal Wood Sect: Immortal Cultivation War - Chapter 43
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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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43. Caught by a Spirit Body Stage Monk
“Stop right there!”
“Catch them!”
“Halt!”
“You crazy bastards! Do you think we’ll stop just because you tell us to?!”
“In Deok, focus! What’s with the talking back!”
“Huh! Ah, got it!”
Flash! Rumble rumble rumble!
“Those bastards! Again?”
“They should be getting tired by now?! How persistent.”
“Chase them!”
Swoosh! Swish! Whoosh!
A chase was unfolding in the ruins space that could be compared to a small continent.
The ones being chased were Kang Hyeon and In Deok, and the pursuers were disciples of Blood Extreme Mountain Villa spewing red blood energy.
Kang Hyeon and In Deok were at the early Qi Accumulation stage, but their pursuers were a mix of middle and late Qi Accumulation stages.
If it were just one or two opponents at late Qi Accumulation, they might have been able to face them somehow, but with five of them, the best option for Kang Hyeon and In Deok was to flee with all their might.
Swoosh!
“At this rate, aren’t we going to get caught?”
“If you have energy to talk, then run!”
“Haa, fine.”
Kang Hyeon and In Deok moved about seventy li using the Thunder Escape Technique.
Knowing that the demonic monks from Blood Extreme Mountain Villa would soon catch up, they hurriedly took flight.
Even though In Deok had a Heavenly Spirit Root that could freely use lightning energy, using the Thunder Escape Technique dozens of times in succession was pushing it.
Therefore, they had to move using Flight Technique until In Deok’s qi and blood stabilized.
Flight Technique couldn’t compare to escape techniques in terms of movement speed, but it was a movement method with no burden on operation.
“Over there!”
“Chase them!”
But no matter how fast Kang Hyeon and In Deok moved, it was difficult to shake off the monks from Blood Extreme Mountain Villa.
“Those bastards! Really getting sick of this.”
“We don’t have time to remove the Blood Qi Technique they cast on us.”
As the disciples of Blood Extreme Mountain Villa chased them again, In Deok scowled deeply, and Kang Hyeon regretted being ambushed by their spell arts.
The reason the disciples of Blood Extreme Mountain Villa could persistently chase Kang Hyeon and In Deok was precisely because of the spell they had been ambushed with.
It was an attack that delivered a powerful strike using blood energy, and though they had somehow blocked it, hidden within was a technique that infiltrated the target with blood energy to enable tracking.
“If not for this, we could somehow hide ourselves.”
“Hyeon, should we just enter the Mysterious Mirror?”
“Then we’d have to give up on the ruins, wouldn’t we?”
“This seems bigger than expected. The forces Blood Extreme Mountain Villa mobilized are much larger than anticipated, right?”
“That’s true. Nearly 200 monks who didn’t appear at the auction hall might all be disciples of Blood Extreme Mountain Villa.”
“Exactly. That’s completely beyond expectations. Isn’t this beyond what we can handle?”
“Hmm.”
At In Deok’s words, Kang Hyeon stroked his chin with a troubled expression.
He too felt that the situation in this ruins space was greatly exceeding expectations, and was considering abandoning the exploration.
“Let’s try using the escape technique just one more time. After that, depending on the situation, we’ll immediately enter the Mysterious Mirror.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yeah. So when you’re ready, move as far as possible.”
“Got it. If I push it, I can go up to one hundred twenty li. Leave it to me.”
When Kang Hyeon readily agreed to retreat into the Mysterious Mirror, In Deok’s expression brightened considerably.
He had been worried as his physical condition was getting worse from consecutive uses of Thunder Escape Technique, so how could he not be happy to escape from that predicament?
They might have to give up exploring the ruins because of this, but for now, In Deok didn’t want to consider such intangible benefits.
“Hyeon, let’s go now!”
After moving for a while using Flight Technique and recovering his physical condition with Kang Hyeon’s wood attribute spiritual energy, In Deok spoke with a determined expression.
Since they said to go as far as possible this time, In Deok was prepared to push himself considerably.
“Good. Then let’s go.”
Kang Hyeon immediately grabbed In Deok’s hand.
And In Deok, as he had resolved, used Thunder Escape Technique to travel the maximum distance possible.
Flash! Crash!
“Damn! Again?”
“Those bastards!”
“This is maddening. To think mere early Qi Accumulation guys would give us this much trouble!”
“Senior brother! Over there. The distance far exceeds one hundred li.”
“Ugh, let’s go too.”
“Yes!”
“Yes, senior brother!”
As In Deok used Thunder Escape Technique and disappeared with the striking lightning, the pursuing disciples of Blood Extreme Mountain Villa made annoyed expressions and prepared their escape techniques again.
And at that time, Kang Hyeon and In Deok, who had disappeared with the Thunder Escape Technique.
Boom! Crash!
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
Were violently colliding with an unexpected energy at the place they arrived after using the escape technique.
“Ugh!”
“In Deok! Are you okay?!”
Kang Hyeon desperately held onto his fading consciousness and called out to In Deok.
In Deok had fallen not far from him and was groaning.
Though it was a brief moment, In Deok had been the first to move through space with Thunder Escape Technique.
So the impact after movement had been transferred more strongly to In Deok.
Even for In Deok, whose greatest advantage was his sturdy body, this impact was at a level that absolutely could not be ignored.
Kang Hyeon felt this too, which is why he was worrying about In Deok and trying to check his condition.
“Ho? Where did these moths come from, flying toward the flame?”
But before Kang Hyeon could reach In Deok, an unfamiliar voice was heard, and tremendous force pressed down on Kang Hyeon and In Deok.
“Kugh! Cough! Cough!”
Ganghyeon flailed like a trampled frog, while Indeok stopped moving without even making a sound.
“Let me see! These are children in the early stages of qi cultivation. But… oh? You’ve trained quite well. Impressive! Kahahahahaha.”
While Ganghyeon was struggling against the oppressive force, the unfamiliar voice muttered as if examining Ganghyeon and Indeok, then burst into loud laughter.
‘Pill cores?!’
Kang Hyeon flinched at the mention of pill cores.
That referred to the material that serves as the center for condensing energy when making medicinal pills in alchemy.
So the meaning of the unfamiliar voice’s words was that he would use Kang Hyeon and In Deok as materials for pill refining.
“But before that.”
When Kang Hyeon was greatly shocked by the mention of pill cores, the unfamiliar voice spoke as if he had some other thought, and greatly reduced the pressure applied to Kang Hyeon and In Deok.
And along with that, Kang Hyeon and In Deok’s bodies floated into the air and were dragged in one direction.
‘Hmm?’
Being dragged in one direction with his body upright, Kang Hyeon could finally spot his opponent.
He could see a monk sitting in the center of a large rock mountain whose peak had been horizontally cut off.
The cut surface of the peak remained as a circle of about thirty zhang, and a formation made of blood energy was spread across it.
Kang Hyeon guessed that the monk sitting in the center of the formation belonged to Blood Extreme Mountain Villa.
“Child. First, take out everything you have.”
That monk dragged Kang Hyeon and In Deok in front of him, suspended them in the air, then spoke to Kang Hyeon like that.
“….”
Kang Hyeon glared at him silently.
The opponent was a monk who appeared to be at the Spirit Body Stage, beyond the Foundation Establishment stage.
Against such an opponent, the only resistance Kang Hyeon could offer right now was to glare silently.
“Your eyes are fierce. Kukuku. But I like such eyes. Though they’ll eventually grow dark with despair, eyes that give up from the start don’t change much, so they’re less entertaining. The taste of watching eyes gradually die while struggling and flailing is exquisite, and in that regard, you’re good material too.”
But at Kang Hyeon’s glaring appearance, the Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk was rather pleased with interested eyes.
“Anyway, let’s first see what you have. There’s a saying about gathering dust to make a mountain, but sometimes insignificant beings carry treasures beyond their station. This too can be called a small amusement.”
Swish! Swish swish! Swish!
The Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk spoke like that while making light gestures toward Kang Hyeon and In Deok several times, and each time, storage pouches and magical instruments kept in their sleeves were pulled out.
“Tsk! I had expectations seeing your cultivation level, but this is a bit too much. How can this be all you have?”
But the items taken from Kang Hyeon and In Deok seemed to fall far short of his expectations.
With an irritated expression, he tore apart Kang Hyeon and In Deok’s storage pouches and scattered magical instruments and talismans into the air.
After obtaining the Mystic Realm, Kang Hyeon and In Deok had stored their precious items in the Mystic Realm’s training quarters and only carried what they needed immediately, so there was nothing remarkable among their possessions.
So naturally, he would have expected possessions befitting their cultivation level, but falling short of that was only natural.
“Well now, this leaves a bad aftertaste. There must be something more, right? Isn’t that so?”
After checking all of their possessions, the Spirit Body Stage monk of Blood Extreme Mountain Villa looked at Kang Hyeon and spoke like that.
To this, Kang Hyeon gathered his strength and said:
“You’ve already stolen and seen everything I had, so what more do you want me to do?”
“So you’re saying you have a hunch that I’m hiding something more?”
“What would I, a mere early Qi Accumulation cultivator, know? If you say so, sir, then it must be so.”
“All I have left now are the ordinary cloth scraps I’m wearing, so what more do you want me to do? Besides, since this body will melt away as material for pill refining anyway, surely you don’t expect willing cooperation?”
“My, what crude language you use.”
“If you think I’m being that calculating, then your intuition must be truly useless. I’m just struggling desperately because I can’t easily give up.”
“Really? So you have nothing else to say about my suspicions? You won’t come clean about what you’re hiding?”
“All I have left now are these ordinary scraps of cloth draped over my body, so what more do you expect me to do? Besides, this body is destined to melt away as material for the furnace anyway—surely you don’t expect my willing cooperation?”
“Since you already know you’re going to die, are you telling me to cut open your belly instead of spouting nonsense?”
“My, what a crude way to put it.”
“Heh heh heh. Child, why are you provoking me now? Do you wish to die quickly without pain? Or are you trying to pique my interest to live longer?”
“If you think I’ve been scheming that much, then your intuition must be truly useless. I’m simply struggling because I can’t give up easily.”
“Struggling? How amusing. What could a mere early-stage qi cultivator possibly do? Kekekeke.”
The spiritual energy investigator from the Blood Extreme Mountain Sect was overflowing with leisure, as if he didn’t care what Kang Hyun did.
And it actually matched the facts.
This was because Kang Hyun, despite possessing the Divine Mirror, could not find a way to escape from the hands of the Blood Peak Mountain’s investigators.
‘I can’t draw even a single drop of spiritual energy out of my body. Because of that, using the Trent to open the entrance to the Mystic Scripture has also been blocked.’
The entrance to the Mystic Mirror is opened by Trent’s power, not Ganghyeon’s.
And for the entrance to the Mystic Realm to open in reality, the energy of the Trent must leave the mental space and emerge into the real world.
But right now, Ganghyeon’s energy was completely blocked, unable to release even a thread of spiritual energy outward.
So naturally, Trent couldn’t summon even a finger’s worth of it into reality, so how could he possibly open the entrance to the Mystic Realm?
“Huh? Well, that’s strange.”
But just then, the Blood Peak Manor’s investigator turned his gaze toward Indeok, not Ganghyeon.
His interest turned toward Indeok.
Worried about what might happen to Indeok, Ganghyeon kept a close watch on the movements of the Blood Peak Manor investigators.
“It was definitely the Thunder Gold Tree’s Three Spirit Roots, so how could it suddenly become the Thunder Gold’s Two Spirit Roots—no, the Thunder Gold’s single Spirit Root, the Heavenly Spirit Root?”
And at the words of the Blood Valley Manor investigator that followed, Kang Hyun felt his heart drop.
It seems like Yeong-geun, who In-deok had been impersonating, has been found out.
“A unique single spiritual root of thunder and gold. If that’s the case? You, tell me the truth. Are you bastards from Haram in Hyeop Province?”
“…!!”
At the sudden interrogation, Kang Hyeon involuntarily widened his eyes.
How could this person know not only that they came from Hyeop Province, but specifically from Haram Continent within Hyeop Province?
“Right! That’s it. Correct. Kuhahahaha. This has become interesting. What should I do?”
As if convinced his guess was right from Kang Hyeon’s surprised expression, the Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk muttered excitedly to himself.
“You bastard, you know about Cheonroemun, don’t you?”
Then the Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk stared directly at Kang Hyeon and mentioned Cheonroemun.
At this, Kang Hyeon guessed that he had connections with Cheonroemun and nodded his head.
“I know of it.”
“Kuhahahaha. Yes. Yes. That bastard is Hwang In Deok, and you are Kang Hyeon. You were selected as disciples of Cheonroemun but went missing due to problems with the test called the Great Unity Festival, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“I heard in passing that those who went missing from Hyeop Province seemed to be here in Nok Province, and it was actually true?”
“Are you saying Cheonroemun is looking for us?”
Kang Hyeon could now somewhat guess the situation, so he asked that.
“Hmph! It’s true that Cheonroemun is looking for you, but that doesn’t mean I have any obligation to give you to Cheonroemun. It’s solely my choice.”
“….”
At the Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk’s words treating him and In Deok like objects in his possession, Kang Hyeon couldn’t respond and gritted his teeth.
Because there was nothing he could do right now.
“You, I heard that you’re also a Heavenly Spirit Root with one wood attribute spiritual root?”
Then, the Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk asked Kang Hyeon in a pressing manner.
This was clearly because Kang Hyeon was currently disguised as having Wood-Gold-Water Triple Spiritual Root.
Kang Hyeon had no choice but to absorb the Trent branches containing gold and water attributes back into the Trent in his mental space, making them disappear.
As the two attribute Trent branches disappeared, only the wood attribute Trent spiritual root remained in Kang Hyeon’s mental space.
“Huh, you disguised your spiritual root? You have means I couldn’t detect?! Remarkable, remarkable. Kuhahahahaha.”
As Kang Hyeon returned to having a single wood attribute spiritual root, the Blood Extreme Mountain Villa monk’s eyes turned red and flashed sharply as if to pierce through Kang Hyeon’s inner self.
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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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