Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Ancient Ruins
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“This is...”
Yeong-yeong formally introduced the beauty standing beside her, Yu A-yeong.
“Ah, look at me spacing out. This is my older sister, Yu A-yeong. She's an inner disciple at the Gathering Qi Realm from Iron Star Peak. She's even a named disciple of an elder.”
“Disciple Yi Yuk-gyeong greets Senior Sister A-yeong.”
“No need to be so formal. We'll probably be fellow disciples soon anyway. I'll call you junior brother. Nice to meet you.”
A-yeong's demeanor seemed far more refined than when he'd seen her at the martial assembly before.
She had clearly suffered humiliation, but being a resilient person, A-yeong had overcome it all and risen again.
After that day, A-yeong felt her intense craving for cultivation lighten considerably. Up until then, she'd been obsessed with training—constantly thinking about it, to the point where it sometimes kept her up at night. Now, those thoughts barely crossed her mind.
A-yeong realized that if you lost something, you gained something else in return.
She'd lost her virginity, but the obsessive thoughts that had filled her head were gone.
She hadn't realized how harshly she'd been driving herself until they vanished. Looking back, she thought, Ah, I was really pushing myself.
After Hyeon-nam's disappearance, A-yeong hadn't exposed him or made a fuss.
She'd simply trained quietly.
That didn't mean she'd forgiven Jang Hyeon-nam, of course.
She planned to take revenge with her own hands when he eventually returned.
For that, she needed to raise her realm and build up her strength.
Her cultivation obsession had faded, replaced by a burning desire for vengeance.
“I'll head out now. An elder might be looking for me. Don't push yourself—avoid clashes as much as possible. Response Qi Realm disciples can't do much anyway.”
“What am I, a kid? I'll be fine. I'll dodge well and stay out of trouble.”
A-yeong exchanged light farewells and then leaped toward the Gathering Qi Realm disciples' area. She'd ignored the formation just to make time for her sister.
After she left, a voice grumbled from nearby.
“Hmph, Response Qi Realm is Response Qi Realm, whether Gathering Qi or not.”
Yi Yeong-gun disciple Jang Mun-yeol. Long time no see. Still grumbling as ever.
He'd reached Response Qi 2nd Stage alongside Yeong-yeong, thanks to his exceptional dual spiritual roots. They didn't shine as brightly as Yuk-gyeong's single spiritual root, but Jang Mun-yeol's dual roots were still worthy of the sect's attention.
There simply couldn't be two suns under the heavens—the brighter one, Yuk-gyeong, reaped all the benefits.
Still, the sect didn't neglect Mun-yeol for his dual roots. He received far more cultivation resources than other disciples, and plenty of training time was allocated to him.
It's still not enough. I'm a dual spiritual root holder, damn it! This is all because of Yi Yuk-gyeong.
Whatever Mun-yeol felt inside, Yuk-gyeong was more curious about news of the others from their cohort. Apparently, the two kids from their group had stayed in the sect.
“Really? Those kids are still young. The outside world's too harsh for them. Better to stay in the sect and cultivate.”
“Yeah. But they seemed eager to come out. They were super jealous when we left.”
Exactly the age for that. Curious about the world outside. How stifling it must be for those kids, cooped up in the sect just because they wanted to practice martial arts.
After chatting with Yeong-yeong about this and that, Yuk-gyeong said his goodbyes.
“I'll get going too. I want to scout around the ruins a bit more.”
Yeong-yeong waved him off and returned to her spot. Jang Mun-yeol was glued to her side, and something seemed off about it.
Does Jang Mun-yeol like Yu Yeong-yeong?
Yu Yeong-yeong seems to like me, though.
Guess I need to sort that out.
For Jang Mun-yeol, of course.
After parting with Yeong-yeong, Yuk-gyeong wandered around idly. He scanned the ruins for anything unusual, looking just like a deputy squad leader out for a stroll during duty.
Someone approached such a Yuk-gyeong.
“Senior Brother Deung.”
“Not 'senior brother'—call me Brother Deung. Just between us Response Qi Realm squad members.”
“Brother Deung, why'd you come to the ruins instead of the Gathering Qi trial?”
“Gathering Qi? I was aiming for earthly-grade from the start, so earthly-grade didn't catch my eye. Don't you think these ruins will be more fun? I never expected all three major sects to get involved like this.”
His snakelike eyes were still hard to get used to. This guy's not really a villain, right? He won't stab me in the back? Phrenology isn't real science, is it?
Setting aside those suspicions, Brother Deung had always been friendly toward Yuk-gyeong.
This time, too, Brother Deung approached to share some unknown intel.
“Word is, the Core Formation Realm elders from the three sects are teaming up to break the ruins' formation. Once that's done, the real exploration begins. Anything could happen then.”
“Fights will break out, right?”
“You bet. Everything inside counts as an 'accident.' Especially watch out for Blood Slaughter Sect disciples—they're savages from constant real combat.”
So that's why the Blood Slaughter Sect disciples had dark circles under their eyes—not from lack of sleep, but endless fights. Who could sleep soundly when ambushes could come anytime?
Tough bastards.
Hardened like that, they'd be hard to match in real combat experience.
Things would get fierce inside the ruins.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, at the rear of the ancient ruins.
There was a certain hole.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
The two men digging the earth with practiced ease were grave robbers Yung and Sung. Today, too, they shoveled away in their tunnel home.
Yung, digging ahead, chuckled slyly.
“No one knows there's a back path into here. We've erased it from the treasure map too.”
“Right. Only we, who found the treasure map first, know this route.”
They'd cunningly hidden the back path on the treasure map before handing it over to the three major sects.
How could mortals ignore ruins left by ancient immortals?
They might find an immortal opportunity to become immortals themselves—or at least something valuable to sell.
So they'd boldly deceived the three major sects.
The timid Sung cautiously asked,
“But all three sects know we sold them the same treasure map... Is it okay to sneak in like this? They'll be grinding their teeth.”
“We're making a big score here and leaving. The money from the sects only keeps us fed for a while. A big haul here? We could live off three generations. Think of our descendants.”
“True, but... I'm scared.”
“Scared? Back out then. I'll go alone.”
“No. I'll go too. Just feeling uneasy.”
“Heh, if I become an immortal, won't you be jealous?”
“Yeah. There might be an opportunity for immortality. But honestly, money to live well is enough for me. Still, hard to pass up a shot at immortality.”
“You selfish rascal.”
Yung and Sung chatted idly to ease the boredom as they dug.
Then,
Pak! Pak! Thunk!
“This seems to be it. There's space below here.”
They might be the first to reach the ancient ruins.
With the three sects bickering at the official entrance, these two faced no obstacles and arrived faster.
Yung dropped into the space first.
Thud!
“Come down!”
It wasn't too high. Yung called Sung and surveyed the area. Lighting the torch at his waist illuminated part of the ruins' interior.
The walls bore reliefs of battles—immortals fighting monstrous shapes or humanoid figures.
The grave robbers, amazed by sights unlike mortal tombs they'd raided, gawked.
As they cautiously explored, they reached a spot with strange air currents, distinctly different from elsewhere.
The moment they stepped there,
Woooong!
The ruins' space trembled faintly, detecting something.
“What'd you touch?!”
“Me? I didn't touch anything. Didn't even step wrong. What is it?”
“Huh? What's this?”
“This... not like normal tombs... What is it?”
Clunk! Clunk!
A door creaked open from the dark depths.
The two prepared to flee, their seasoned instincts screaming danger.
But the ruins reacted faster.
Clatter-clatter!
Puppet-like wooden figures surged out, charging the duo.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
“Aaaah! What is this?! Wooden puppets moving!”
“Gah! It hurts! Hurts!”
The puppets mercilessly swung wooden fists at the robbers.
The hard wood battered their fragile mortal bodies, turning them into minced meat.
Wooden puppets moving on their own to beat people to death!
“Guhhhh...”
The godless grave robbers slowly breathed their last in a corner of the ancient ruins.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Soon, the three major sects finished negotiations and hurried into the ruins.
The excavated entrance was spacious enough for advance squads from all three sects to enter together, if not everyone.
So that's what they did.
“Advance squad, enter the ruins first!”
A group of disciples rushed in, maximizing escape arts and magic tools to speed ahead—they knew speed meant claiming opportunities first.
Deeper inside, crashes and bangs erupted.
They knew the game: if you couldn't go faster, slow the others.
Sounds of spells exploding, incantations chanting, spiritual energy bursting—mixed with screams and shouts.
“Brutal... As expected of the cultivation world.”
Yuk-gyeong was in the rear guard.
For some reason, he'd ended up among Gathering Qi Realm inner disciples, their gazes uncomfortable.
Why am I stuck here?
Whether Yuk-gyeong liked it or not, the rear guard moved in formation, seemingly protecting him in the center.
“Rear guard, advance!”
Thus, Yuk-gyeong entered the ruins.
Whoosh—!
Air flowed through the ruins somehow. The first thing Yuk-gyeong noticed was the chill.
Gathering Qi Realm escape arts outpaced Response Qi ones.
The Gathering Qi inner disciples should've been far ahead, but they matched Yuk-gyeong's pace.
But only briefly.
“Blood Slaughter Sect's using poison fog!”
“Cowardly Blood Slaughter Sect! Typical demonic cultivators!”
“Watch Perfect Dao Sect too! They might backstab!”
Sure enough, fights broke out the moment the rear guard entered.
The ruins turned chaotic instantly. Blood Slaughter Sect ambushed, but prepared Radiant Moon Sect and Perfect Dao Sect countered efficiently amid the turmoil.
Still, chaos spread uncontrollably.
Bang!
Whirl!
Paaaah—!!
“Perfect Dao Sect inner disciples have no backbone!”
“You Blood Slaughter trash don't know shit!”
“Cowards! Radiant Moon Sect, attacking from behind?!”
Magic tools and spells flew wildly.
Rope-like tools writhed to bind Blood Slaughter inner disciples; they countered by vomiting blood to corrupt them.
Radiant Moon Sect and Perfect Dao Sect even turned on each other fiercer than against Blood Slaughter Sect sometimes.
A Gathering Qi disciple scattered needle tools; the opponent summoned wind with fan-shaped tools to sweep everything.
Inside the ruins, it was the Gathering Qi inner disciples' battlefield.
Response Qi Realmers couldn't even intervene.
Fwoooosh!
Papapapak!
Bead tools exploded like bombs; a Perfect Dao Sect disciple gathered the blast and hurled it at a Radiant Moon Sect one.
“Die! You Radiant Moon hypocrites!”
BOOM!
The explosion rang out, and Yuk-gyeong fled the shockwave. Most hit the Gathering Qi disciple, but the remnants could've badly injured him.
All nearby Gathering Qi disciples were caught in the fray. Only Yuk-gyeong could escape.
Damn, being Response Qi Realm means running now—but once I hit Gathering Qi, you're all dead. Blood Slaughter, Perfect Dao? Wait for it.
How long did he run blindly?
Yuk-gyeong realized he'd separated from the Radiant Moon Sect group, alone.
Did I run too frantically? Trying not to get caught by Gathering Qi folks, I bolted like mad.
“My senses say this way leads deeper... But is it toward the Radiant Moon Sect people?”
Yuk-gyeong's keen spatial sense pinpointed the ruins' depths accurately. But it didn't locate people, which was the problem.
Still, he trusted his instincts and headed deeper.
Wandering aimlessly offered no guarantee of meeting Radiant Moon Sect folks. Better to go deep and snag an opportunity if possible.
In his wandering, Yuk-gyeong unwittingly entered territory patrolled by Perfect Dao Sect.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, in the Perfect Dao Sect's sector, occupied by their group.
One disciple scanned the ruins tensely yet confidently, moving like he knew the place well.
I'll achieve supreme Gathering Qi here.
Perfect Dao Sect Response Qi Realm disciple Mo Yong-jeong.
He knew his fated path.
Achieving Gathering Qi Realm in these ruins.
His ancestor, the Won Yeong-gi cultivator, had divined the heavens for him.
Heaven's will for you lies in those ruins. Go there. Your Gathering Qi awaits.
The ancestor who divined for him had entered secluded cultivation afterward, life force drained by the backlash.
Without his exceptional talent, the family wouldn't have let the ancestor divine—and they'd sternly ordered him to achieve supreme Gathering Qi.
Thus, he'd boldly skipped the Gathering Qi trial for the ruins.
The Perfect Dao Sect Response Qi squad leader with the highest chance of supreme Gathering Qi pills had ditched the trial.
A highly risky move.
With their Response Qi leader gone to the ruins.
Who else but me could achieve supreme Gathering Qi? Today, I'll grasp heavenly tribulation insights and soar to Gathering Qi Realm.
That's why he wandered the ruins alone, away from his sectmates.
A Won Yeong Realm cultivator could glimpse the heavens, but fragmentarily—extracting meaning was hard.
The ancestor knew ruins existed but not where, what trials, or how to gain supreme Gathering Qi.
Just that somewhere in the ruins lay clues to supreme Gathering Qi.
According to ancestor's divination, these ruins were where ancient cultivators trained techniques.
Ancient cultivators had formations to draw heavenly tribulations artificially, so surely a spot here for tribulation-aided training existed.
Here it is.
Engraved with a formation to summon heavenly tribulation.
Mo Yong-jeong, versed in formations, eyed the cavern—roof open to the sky—with gleaming eyes, analyzing the central formation. He hadn't fully decoded the ancient one.
“Lightning runes... That's enough to understand.”
Mo Yong-jeong glanced at the ceiling hole.
Small enough for a fist, but ample for lightning.
Good.
Formation intact, hole clear. Cavern empty and clean.
“Time to prepare.”
Mo Yong-jeong unpacked his supreme Gathering Qi preparations.
Tribulation-weakening magic tools, spiritual energy-condensing talismans, formation catalysts to fix tribulation direction...
I will achieve supreme Gathering Qi!