The Chaotic Immortal Wood Sect: Immortal Cultivation War - Chapter 63

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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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63. Absorbing the Parasitic Moss and Leaving the Black Secret Wetlands

 

Seo Ok Yeong was reduced to ash by the flames Kang Hyeon had ignited.

 

And what remained was the Chaotic Heaven Serpent.

 

“The stronger the life force, the longer it endures.”

 

The Chaotic Heaven Serpent persisted tenaciously.

 

After Seo Ok Yeong’s death, it no longer showed hostile intent toward Kang Hyeon, and instead of spitting out True Blood and expelling energy, it gathered its strength and fought against the parasitic moss.

 

“It’s enduring by giving the moss the various energies it had absorbed. But as its body becomes increasingly invaded by the moss, its strength will decline, so its end is inevitable.”

 

Kang Hyeon observed the Chaotic Heaven Serpent for a while but concluded that he wouldn’t find any particular anomalies.

 

“But I’m curious. Which would win between the parasitic moss and the Trent? The parasitic moss gradually devours its opponent to eventually finish them off, while the Trent has a divine ability to absorb anything, so I wonder who would win if they clashed.”

 

Kang Hyeon was very excited about what results would come if the Trent absorbed and gained the parasitic moss’s characteristics.

 

However, he couldn’t immediately attach the parasitic moss to the Trent.

 

“First, let me create a new entity using the Trent’s branch and try using the Absorption Divine Ability through that entity.”

 

Kang Hyeon decided to cultivate a special entity very different from the Trent’s offspring he had created so far.

 

He planned to make this new Trent offspring a special entity capable of manifesting the Absorption Divine Ability.

 

However, contrary to his thoughts, the Absorption Divine Ability did not manifest when separated from the Trent.

 

“Only the Spiritual Root Trent and Summoned Trent can use the Absorption Divine Ability. What should I do now?”

 

After pondering, Kang Hyeon recalled the Deung Man that was holding firm even while covered in parasitic moss.

 

The way that Deung Man survived the parasitic moss was by cutting off its own vines.

 

“But when other entities cut off their limbs, moss grew from those severed parts, yet that Deung Man was different. There must be some reason for this.”

 

Kang Hyeon left the still-enduring Chaotic Heaven Serpent in the Ghost Tree Phantom Sea Formation and headed to the mountain where the parasitic moss and Deung Man were.

 

While carefully observing the Deung Man there, he was able to understand why moss didn’t transfer to the severed parts even when the Deung Man cut off portions of its vines.

 

“The Deung Man’s severed vines become independent entities in themselves. Since those vines can take root and live independently, the moss doesn’t leave them to go to the main body.”

 

It was a simple matter.

 

The moss parasitized the host’s sustainable survival capacity.

 

When parasitized humans or beasts cut off parts of their bodies, the parasite cannot give up everything necessary for survival.

 

Because that would mean death.

 

So the part that remains after cutting always becomes the surviving side, which is why the moss transfers there.

 

“Then it’s fine to attach moss to the Trent. I just need to make it so that even if I cut off those vines, they can survive on their own like the Deung Man here.”

 

That way, the parasitic moss wouldn’t transfer to the main Trent body.

 

After observing the Deung Man and parasitic moss for several more days, Kang Hyeon was confident his judgment was correct.

 

Thus, Kang Hyeon summoned the Trent and succeeded in implanting parasitic moss at the end of a vine the Trent had extended.

 

It was not difficult since he only needed to stimulate the parasitic moss with the vine’s tip.

 

“Now I just need to confirm whether the parasitic moss’s parasitism and transfer abilities are stronger, or the Trent’s absorption ability is stronger.”

 

Kang Hyeon watched as the Trent fought against the parasitic moss attached to the end of its vine.

 

The parasitic moss’s transfer and survival.

 

Underlying this was the power to gradually devour the host.

 

Naturally, the moss attached to the Trent’s vine also tried to devour part of the Trent while gradually expanding its mass.

 

However, the Trent’s Absorption Divine Ability was a heavenly gift bestowed by the Heaven and Earth Laws, which the parasitic moss could not overcome.

 

“It absorbed it so simply?”

 

Kang Hyeon was amazed when the Trent absorbed the parasitic moss attached to the vine’s end in less than an hour.

 

But absorption wasn’t the end.

 

Now it was time to discover what power the Trent had absorbed from the parasitic moss.

 

Kang Hyeon concentrated his consciousness to deeply assimilate with the Trent and examine each change one by one.

 

“The way the moss devours its host should be considered a type of digestion. I don’t know what it is, but tremendous laws are at work to dissolve the target, and there aren’t proper means to resist it. The Trent overcame this with its divine ability?”

 

An absolute power that dissolves and neutralizes targets.

 

However, since the Trent’s absorption ability already included such power, it wasn’t particularly useful.

 

The Trent’s absorption ability had simply become slightly stronger.

 

“But the transfer ability, this is good.”

 

The ability to transfer even when the host tries to shake it off.

 

With the Trent absorbing this transfer ability, interfering with the Trent’s branches and roots scattered in various places became much easier than before.

 

Especially being able to easily transmit Kang Hyeon’s energy to them enabled much more diverse applications than before.

 

“Now the limitation of needing branches or roots to grow to a certain extent before opening the Mysterious Mirror’s entrance has disappeared. As long as I can connect with them, I can push my energy into even the smallest branches or roots to open the Mysterious Mirror’s entrance.”

 

Originally, unless they were branches or roots that contained great energy from the start, they needed to grow to a certain extent and become strong in energy before they could open the Mysterious Mirror’s entrance.

 

But now that he could transmit Kang Hyeon’s energy through the parasitic moss’s transfer ability, such waiting was no longer necessary.

 

“Moreover, branches or roots containing weak energy can avoid the attention of other monks. Occasionally, grown Trent branches or roots catch monks’ eyes and get pulled out, but now I can greatly reduce that risk.”

 

The Trent’s branches and roots grow to suit their respective environments.

 

While doing so, they absorb surrounding spiritual energy and take on the properties of spirit herbs or spirit trees, so passing monks sometimes discover and take them.

 

But if growth is extremely limited from when the branches and roots are scattered, who would covet such insignificant branches and roots?

 

“Since I can transmit energy when needed for utilization, this has worked out very well.”

 

Kang Hyeon was greatly satisfied with the results of absorbing the parasitic moss’s transfer ability.

 

Moreover, he could now restore the parasitic moss itself for the Trent to use as an attack method, which wasn’t bad either.

 

However, the parasitic moss’s limit was up to the Resolution Stage.

 

Beyond that realm, it would be difficult to deliver a decisive blow.

 

The reason was that parasitic moss could not affect spirit bodies.

 

“At the Spirit Body Stage realm, one could abandon the physical body and escape with only the spirit body to seek survival. There would be the loss of losing the physical body, but it’s completely different from monks below Resolution Stage being helplessly defeated.”

 

After learning of such limitations, Kang Hyeon pondered ways for monks below the Resolution Stage to survive after becoming hosts to the parasitic moss.

 

And as the most certain method, he thought of Soul Seizure.

 

That too involved abandoning the body and transferring only the soul to another body, so if one were to fall victim to parasitic moss below the Resolution Stage, it seemed like the best option.

 

“Parasitic moss—it has clear limitations, but below those limitations, it’s a terrifying weapon.”

 

Kang Hyeon thought that the parasitic moss in the Black Secret Wetlands was likely not naturally occurring.

 

An absolute weapon that could completely neutralize up to the Resolution Stage—no, kill them just by transferring to them.

 

He suspected someone was creating and cultivating this.

 

Since it wouldn’t be easy to store elsewhere, perhaps they had created a breeding ground in the Black Secret Wetlands to raise it?

 

“Then staying here long might be dangerous?”

 

The moment Kang Hyeon suspected someone had created the parasitic moss, he felt he should leave the Black Secret Wetlands as quickly as possible.

 

Thus, Kang Hyeon immediately gathered the trees that formed the axis of the Ghost Tree Phantom Sea Formation into his Mystic Realm and burned to death the unconscious Chaotic Heaven Serpent.

 

Afterward, he obtained three inner cores left by the Chaotic Heaven Serpent—two were properly matured, while one was still unripe.

 

“If it had reached late Resolution Stage, all three would have been complete, and if it had achieved Great Perfection, they would have merged into one.”

 

If it had completed a golden core like that, Seo Ok Yeong would have taken it to use as a resource for advancing to the Spirit Body Stage.

 

But since Seo Ok Yeong and the Chaotic Heaven Serpent had already turned to scattered ash, leaving only storage pouches and inner cores, only Kang Hyeon who took them gained greatly.

 

“Let’s go. Now I need to find Cheonroe Gate and meet In Deok.”

 

After securing even the Chaotic Heaven Serpent’s inner cores, Kang Hyeon immediately took out his Flying Leaf Ship, inflated it, and left the Black Secret Wetlands.

 

However, after Kang Hyeon departed, a faint voice flowed from the mountain covered in parasitic moss.

 

= How curious. How did they deal with the Soft Jade Fusion Moss? If they had cut the vines of the summoned strange trees like my Deung Man, the parasitic problem could have been solved, but what method completely eliminated the Soft Jade Fusion Moss? I’m curious, but it’s regrettable that I cannot meet them directly.

 

A voice that flowed out thinly.

 

But afterward, only the movements of the endlessly reproducing moss and Deung Man surviving by cutting its own vines continued, and the silence of the Black Secret Wetlands remained as desolate as always.

 

***

 

“First, I need to find a market town and gather some information about Hyeop Province.”

 

Sitting in lotus position at the bow of the greatly inflated Flying Leaf Ship, Kang Hyeon was making plans for the future.

 

Though he had learned somewhat about the cultivation world while taking the Great Unity System in the past, that was teaching for newly initiated disciples, so it was woefully inadequate even regarding the overall cultivation world of Hyeop Province.

 

Therefore, Kang Hyeon didn’t even know where in Hyeop Province the Black Secret Wetlands were located.

 

So until he met other monks to gather information or found a market town, he couldn’t even know which direction to head.

 

Thus, Kang Hyeon was simply flying west with his back to the Black Secret Wetlands, hoping to encounter someone.

 

“Speaking of which, I should organize my storage pouches first. I need to check the rewards I received for dealing with the Hyeongyang Sect monk in Nok Province, and see what’s in the storage pouch I got from that Four-Throat wench this time.”

 

Kang Hyeon laid out various items on the deck of the Flying Leaf Ship with expectant eyes, like opening a lottery box.

 

“I can combine all the spirit stones and basic cultivation resources together, and most of the Hyeongyang Sect monk’s belongings fall into this category.”

 

The Hyeongyang Sect’s Heo Monk was at late Resolution Stage, aiming for advancement to the Spirit Body Stage.

 

Perhaps because of this, he had many formation materials to set up against the heavenly tribulation of Spirit Body Stage advancement, and protective dharma techniques and talismans to protect his body.

 

Besides those, there were jade slips of cultivation methods, spell arts, and sorcery dealing with ghostly energy, most of which could contaminate one’s mind just by reading them with mental intent.

 

Therefore, Kang Hyeon only examined them superficially and didn’t delve deeply.

 

Even connecting his mind to the jade slips felt repulsive.

 

“Anyway, Hyeongyang Sect’s power comes from being able to use secret vaults where they’ve collected the corpses of their members for generations. But since I don’t belong to Hyeongyang Sect and can’t use those corpses, there’s no need for me to be interested in handling ghostly energy.”

 

Muttering thus, Kang Hyeon handed over all jade slips, books, dharma techniques, and talismans related to ghostly energy to Trent.

 

Trent wrapped them with its roots and absorbed them, refining their energy.

 

“Next is the Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch.”

 

Kang Hyeon carefully projected his mental intent toward the Four-Throat Demoness Seo Ok Yeong’s storage pouch floating in the air.

 

Since it was a Resolution Stage monk’s storage pouch, naturally the Four-Throat Demoness would have refined and tamed it with her own energy.

 

If someone other than the owner carelessly pushed energy into such an item, there was no telling what dangers might pour out.

 

The previous items from Hyeongyang Sect’s Heo were different only because Noe Gong had opened the storage pouch and spilled out the contents before dividing them.

 

The Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch was absolutely not something to be handled carelessly.

 

Wooong! Crackle! Crackle!

 

“Ugh! As expected!”

 

When Kang Hyeon carefully made contact with the Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch with his mental intent, resistance immediately occurred.

 

Fierce and sharp energy flew in through the mental intent that touched the storage pouch.

 

Kang Hyeon also raised the power of his mental intent to confront that energy, resulting in an eerie crackling sound as the mental connection to the storage pouch was severed.

 

Additionally, considerable shock was transmitted to Kang Hyeon’s mind, causing a piercing headache.

 

“This won’t be easy to unlock. Is there no other way?”

 

Kang Hyeon glared at the Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch and pondered for a moment, then called out Trent.

 

Since he had Trent absorb things containing ghostly energy, he hadn’t planned to summon it for a while, but there was no better method than Trent for opening the Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch.

 

“Alright, let’s try this.”

 

Kang Hyeon had Trent extend several vine strands and wrap them around the Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch.

 

Then, using those vines, he absorbed the Four-Throat Demoness’s energy contained in her storage pouch.

 

This was work that Kang Hyeon did directly and meticulously through Trent, so it should actually be considered Kang Hyeon’s work rather than Trent’s.

 

“Since this is possible, I could say I’m half-using absorption abilities too, right? Of course, all the absorbed energy goes to Trent.”

 

Of course, the energy Trent absorbed could be converted into fruit and taken at any time, so it wasn’t a problem.

 

“If I had tried to refine the Four-Throat Demoness’s storage pouch directly, it might have taken years, maybe even decades, but using Trent’s absorption ability makes it no different from a snap of the fingers. How remarkable.”

 

Initially, even after gaining the absorption ability, its applications were limited, but as time passed, the methods of use were becoming more diverse.

 

Being able to easily break the security of an owned storage pouch was one such application.

 

“Hmm. It seems all the problems with the storage pouch itself have been resolved. But since I don’t know what dangerous items might be inside, I can’t be hasty.”

 

Even after extracting all of the Four-Throat Demoness’s energy from the storage pouch, Kang Hyeon moved cautiously.

 

He again drew out his mental intent thinly and examined the inside of the storage pouch.

 

Since it had no owner, the storage pouch revealed everything it contained without hiding anything as soon as it received Kang Hyeon’s mental intent.

 

“Let me see….”

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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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