Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Escape and Counterattack
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I couldn't control the goosebumps rising all over my body. Even though my past life wasn't short, this was the first time I'd ever felt something like this.
However...!
This voice, this scent, this sensation... and even that appearance.
And above all, the clue he mentioned: the daydream!
From my hazy memories,
I recalled the Three Books on the Advent of the Chaotic Heavens' Inhuman Beings that the Arhats had mentioned.
I composed myself and spoke.
"I am merely a scholar, passing through on my way from Sichuan to Hubei."
"Kaaah... a scholar?"
Chang-yeon's face, overlaid with the illusion, resembled an elephant, and his eyes were like black steel beads.
"Yes. This humble one learned some martial arts at a young age, but it was merely the bare minimum for self-defense. At my core, I am a scholar dedicated to my studies."
"Kekeke! Kuhahahahahaha!"
"..."
This lie had to work.
They had noticed my presence, but they weren't beings who could see through everything about me. The formation I had deployed would prevent him from seeing through me, and my youthful appearance would add credibility to my words.
It would be astonishing enough for someone just past the age of twenty to handle such a mystical formation, but to also possess profound martial arts? It was more natural to claim I knew no martial arts at all.
The elephant-like entity possessing Chang-yeon's body burst into a hearty laugh and spoke.
"So, a scholar, you say? It seems even foolish humans learn things, eh? Khah! But what's the use when you're about to die?"
"...Pardon?"
These things were definitely not human.
I deliberately pretended to be shocked.
"Kahak! Kill him!"
With those words, the elephant-shaped illusion vanished, and Chang-yeon's face returned. His expression was still as emotionless as a corpse.
He drew a dagger from his sleeve and aimed it at me. I squeezed my eyes shut, and he stabbed me.
*Stab!*
"Cough!"
I spat out blood and tightly gripped Chang-yeon's hand that had stabbed me. Then I pulled the blade out of my body.
*Shlck!*
Blood gushed out as I staggered toward the Yangtze River. Chang-yeon followed, but I managed to dive into the river before he could catch me.
*Splash!*
Then, I used the Turtle Breathing Technique I had learned from the Heavenly Demon Master. I was inwardly marveling at my master's foresight.
[If you master the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon, you'll have no need for this, but I cannot discount the possibility that you might encounter them before then. So, learn this one thing.]
[A way to stop breathing? Am I learning this to feign death and escape? But wouldn't martial arts masters be able to see through something like that?]
[You fool. The Turtle Breathing Technique isn't just about stopping your breath. It's a method to erase your presence by halting your heartbeat and lowering your body temperature. It's mainly used to lie in wait without letting the enemy know you're still alive... If you meet them before you master the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon, you'll likely have use for it at least once.]
[Can I really escape from them with something like this? Didn't you say they were transcendent beings?]
[They may be strong, but they don't surpass martial artists in every aspect. Especially not when it comes to sensing presence.]
[Oh? You seem to know a lot about them.]
[Those who have learned martial arts primarily detect another's presence through the sound of their breathing. However, the higher one's internal energy, the longer and more even the intervals between breaths, making it difficult to detect whether the breathing has stopped or is continuing. That's why they aren't easily found.]
[However, that method alone won't work on a master at the Profound Realm, which is why you learn this Turtle Breathing Technique. In the initial stages of performing it, all five senses completely cease, making you truly no different from a corpse. And depending on your level of internal energy, you can even control when you wake up.]
[Understood. I'll learn it for now and use it when appropriate.]
[You arrogant brat... Well, that's a good thought.]
* * *
*Gasp!*
I emerged on the opposite bank of the Yangtze River from Ok-hwa Village.
Disguised as a corpse, I had sunk to the bottom of the river. After confirming they weren't pursuing me, I crawled out from the riverbed.
Chang-yeon's martial skill was only at a first-rate level, so I could have easily subdued him if I had wanted to. However, escaping their notice was more important here.
"Hoo..."
By the way, what were those things at the bottom of the river?
Could they be the missing able-bodied men?
But they weren't floating away or decomposing, even in the water.
Is it something they're preparing?
Just then, I felt a throbbing sensation from where Chang-yeon had stabbed me.
"This is..."
When I was stabbed by the blade wielded by Chang-yeon, who had become a Yangtze River Spirit, something entered my body.
I immediately rummaged through my robes and took out a sharpened needle. Then, using my ki and scent, I began to examine the inside of my body.
"So it's a type of Needle Metal Worm."
I could feel it infiltrating my body. Pain wrapped around me, and the thing seemed to be trying to take control of me through my blood vessels.
However, it had overlooked one thing about me: in my past life, I was a Divine Doctor.
I immediately refined my Heavenly Demonic Ki and used it to seize the Needle Metal Worm that was burrowing through my blood vessels at incredible speed.
From the beginning, I had a detailed understanding of all my body's normal physiological functions, so I could immediately detect any abnormal flow within me.
'The head, the core, is here.'
After locating its core, I activated a small-scale Myriad Fragrance Grand Restoration Formation.
After drawing the formation of regeneration and healing, I chanted.
"Filthy worm, burn."
Then, with the prepared needle, I precisely pierced the core of the horsehair worm and began to incinerate the creature I held with my Heavenly Demonic Ki.
"Kuaaaargh!"
I focused on the battle raging inside my body.
The Needle Metal Worm crawled along his blood vessels, absorbing Mu-heun's ki, but Mu-heun seized it with his Heavenly Demonic Ki and burned it to ashes.
"It's over now!"
Mu-heun incinerated the last Needle Metal Worm, and at that moment, a purplish flame erupted around him.
*Fwoosh*
The Needle Metal Worm was finally and completely eradicated from Mu-heun's body.
Mu-heun recovered his energy while simultaneously treating the wound on his body pierced by Chang-yeon's dagger.
He meticulously stitched it up using the medical skills he had honed in his past life, and thanks to the healing formation he had set up, the wound recovered completely in a short time.
'If they implanted these monstrous worms in the villagers, it would explain the thick insectile smell in the village.'
However.
'I experienced it firsthand and overcame it. With this experience, I might be able to save the villagers.'
For now, Mu-heun felt a sense of relief at having escaped their notice. Then, he began to formulate a countermeasure against the enemy.
'My mind is clearing.'
Mu-heun stood up again. He then erased his presence to the absolute limit and climbed a tree to hide himself so the enemies couldn't find him.
He sent a telepathic message toward the sky.
[Cheon-hyang! Over here! Come this way!]
[Oh! Master! Where did you go all of a sudden! I was looking for you for so long but couldn't see you!]
[I was inside a barrier that interferes with perception...]
[Whaaaat!?]
[Come here for now. I have something for you to do.]
[Yes, sir!]
Cheon-hyang, who had changed its body to the color of the clouds, flew down to where I was.
Up in the tree, I talked with Cheon-hyang about what had happened and gave it a few instructions.
Then.
"Cheon-hyang. Do you know anything about monsters?"
[Monsters? Ah, I don't really know! Because for me, spiritual beasts and monsters are separated by a fine line. No, you could say there's no difference at all. That's a standard set by people like you, Master, so I wouldn't know!]
As I thought... Well, if spiritual beasts exist, why wouldn't monsters? Depending on what you call them, a monster could be a spiritual beast, and a spiritual beast could be a monster.
"Then, Cheon-hyang. Have you ever heard of a spiritual beast called a 'Baku'?"
[Huh? A Baku? No!]
"Hmm... It seems there are no Baku in the Heavenly Mountains."
[Ah!? No, wait, I think I might have heard of it somewhere... I don't know for sure! Ah?! Was it the one that manipulates dreams?]
"Oh! Yes, that's right. You do know. In that case, could you perhaps find it with your good eyes and excellent senses?"
[No! I don't think I can!]
"Tch, as expected..."
[It's strangely hard to see inside that village.]
"What if you go inside the village?"
[Huh? But that village feels... ominous...]
"Don't worry. I will use a demon-sealing paper to hide your energy, and I will inscribe a defensive formation on your body so you won't be consumed by that formation."
[Aha! Then I'll go in!]
"Alright, let's go inside and continue the search together. First, let's look for the spiritual beast called Baku."
[Yes! Master!]
I immediately prepared to investigate the village again. Escaping the village like this was, in a way, a stroke of heavenly luck.
'I was careless before.'
I had let my guard down because it was my old hometown, and I entered the village too hastily.
If I hadn't been wrapped in the demon-sealing paper and hiding my ki, it wouldn't have been strange if something had happened to me.
No matter that I had learned the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon and my internal energy was at the level of a supreme demon, if an unknown enemy had prepared with intent, I would have been helpless.
But it wasn't without its gains.
The fact that an enemy unknown to me exists in this world. Just confirming that fact alone was a great gain.
As a Divine Doctor and scholar in my past life, as long as I knew who my opponent was, I could formulate some sort of countermeasure.
Therefore, this situation, where I was able to escape the enemy's grasp by feigning death, was in a way a stroke of heavenly luck.
"Come closer."
[Yes! Master!]
I constructed a formation on Cheon-hyang's body.
"When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises. When it knows good as good, evil arises."
[Kyaa! Master, you're so cool!]
"Enough chatter. You go in first. I will follow."
[Yes, sir!]
The formation I cast on Cheon-hyang was more intricate than the one I had previously cast on myself, and I wrapped a demon-sealing paper around its ankle. Since the paper could be spotted and give it away, I took measures to make it invisible as well.
After further strengthening the defensive formation inscribed on my own body, I began to spread the Myriad Fragrance. On a massive scale.
The invisible Myriad Fragrance blanketed the village by the Yangtze River, soon covering the entire area where the formation or barrier was deployed. I imbued the spreading fragrance with my will, and it soon became a heavy will inscribed upon the atmosphere.
'You monsters, no matter how ancient and great your formation is, it is more than 300 years old. You will regret underestimating me, a master of this era's scholarship, with your deaths.'
I inscribed a hidden trump card into the grand formation. Normally, I would need to reach the complete state of Demon Shedding to unleash its full power, but I inserted a schematic into the formation so that I could utilize it to its fullest even with my current internal energy.
"Heaven and Earth Grand Shift."
With this technique, just as I did when I fought Dang Baek-ho, I would once again surpass my limits.