Chapter 107
Translator: penny
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: Sacred Star Secret Realm (3)
The woman whom Han Chun-oh called "Cho Senior," Cho Hyeo-ryeo, had entered the Sacred Star Secret Realm for the purpose of finding the Heart-Cleansing Soul-Stabilizing Stone that emerged from it.
The Heart-Cleansing Soul-Stabilizing Stone was a heavenly treasure for cultivation that purified a cultivator's mind and strengthened their soul. If given to a cultivator plagued by heart demons or whose Dao Heart had become unstable, it could swiftly resolve the issue and restore them to their original state.
Cho Hyeo-ryeo's Dao Companion had always been burdened with problems of the heart.
He possessed exceptional talent, but due to issues with the technique he cultivated, the balance of his mind had collapsed, causing him to fall into the demonic path. His Dao Heart had become disordered as well, leaving him in a precarious state barely held together by form alone.
Even in that unstable condition, her Dao Companion had reached the Nascent Soul Realm, granting him tremendous power. Yet the Nascent Soul he birthed was riddled with wounds and grotesquely malformed, ceaselessly shrieking in agony. As a result, her Dao Companion was crumbling under unrelenting soul pain that never paused for even a moment.
At first, she had believed him when he said it was fine, asking her to trust him. Supporting her husband's will was the duty of a wife, after all.
Of course, their relationship was merely that of Dao Companions without formal marriage... but at least Cho Hyeo-ryeo had been considering marriage.
Han Chun-oh, who had followed her into the secret realm, shared the same goal: the Heart-Cleansing Soul-Stabilizing Stone to restore his own shattered Dao Heart. Thus, the two of them roamed the secret realm together, diligently searching for it.
The Heart-Cleansing Soul-Stabilizing Stone was so potent that it did not appear in the lower layers. They couldn't find it even in the layers accessible with the barely adequate Mysterious Moon Stones they had obtained.
So Cho Hyeo-ryeo and Han Chun-oh defeated other cultivators to acquire superior Mysterious Moon Stones and ascended to higher layers. Ten days after entering the secret realm, they had finally reached their target: the 13th layer.
"Thank you, Cho Senior. We could reach this place thanks to you."
"Enough."
To be honest, Han Chun-oh hadn't been much help.
Though his original realm was Core Formation, his Dao Heart had collapsed, turning him into a cripple. After a long time had passed, his realm had dropped to mid-Foundation Establishment, he couldn't use spells, and he'd sold all his treasures to obtain Mysterious Moon Stones, rendering him combat-ineffective.
Still, it was true that he had entered the secret realm with her, and for Cho Hyeo-ryeo—who valued loyalty and karma above all—she couldn't abandon him just because he was useless.
In fact, the reason she'd become entangled with her Dao Companion was his favor of avenging her enemy. She'd traveled with him to repay that debt, and affection had blossomed from there.
As long as Han Chun-oh didn't betray her, Cho Hyeo-ryeo intended to guarantee his safety until they exited the secret realm.
'Where could the Heart-Cleansing Soul-Stabilizing Stone be?'
Cho Hyeo-ryeo spread out her divine sense to search for its energy.
The simplest way to find treasures was to locate places dense with powerful energy, where mighty demons or spirit beasts lurked, or where formidable cultivators gathered.
Where there was danger, there lay treasure.
Having read the heavens and earth with her divine sense, ink-black like squid ink—refined within her body by her technique—flowed from the tip of Cho Hyeo-ryeo's sword-like index finger.
She swiftly drew a go board's grid pattern in the air with her ink-laden finger, tapping various points on the grid to leave marks. In that instant, a massive formation enveloped a third of the vast 13th layer.
All beings atop the formation appeared as stones on a go board, marked on the grid. Cho Hyeo-ryeo quickly grasped their spiritual energy nature, spiritual power quantity, realms, and more.
To Han Chun-oh, it was a wondrous divine ability no matter how many times he saw it.
To encompass the heavens and earth in a grid with a casual gesture, standing in one spot while embracing the entire world through a formation.
Having identified the location of the strongest energy, Cho Hyeo-ryeo clenched her hand to dispel the grid, then spat ink from her entire palm to draw a black cloud in the air.
Riding the black cloud, they flew far faster than with a flying treasure.
After flying for about an hour, the two cultivators spotted a lone cultivator standing amid a wasteland strewn with corpses.
Cho Hyeo-ryeo, recognizing his striking appearance from afar, let out a soft exclamation of admiration. But Han Chun-oh bellowed the moment he saw him.
"...That guy!"
"Do you know him?"
"Yes! H-He... he's my sworn enemy!!"
Ignoring Han Chun-oh's anguished shout, Cho Hyeo-ryeo observed what the cultivator was doing and drew another grid to scout the surroundings.
'That dragon... it's fake. The real one has merged with the starry sky, hiding its body as a spirit beast. Is he trying to catch that spirit beast?'
As Cho Hyeo-ryeo watched, Yong Yoo formed hand seals to cast a spell, and a massive orange dharma image appeared behind his back.
The dharma image took the form of a ferocious, savage dragon leg.
Gleaming scales like jewels, thick and tough hide. Beneath that hide pulsed wicked muscles. The savage, curved toes ended in claws thick with orange spiritual power, flickering eerily.
In the past, Yong Yoo could barely manifest a dragon foot, but thanks to his growth, he had now succeeded in forming an entire dragon leg.
Moreover, with more parts materialized as the dharma image, the power and speed of his Severing Dragon Leg Fury had improved dramatically.
"Haaap!"
The moment Yong Yoo shouted and controlled the Severing Dragon Leg Fury, space warped from the claw tips, slicing straight through the Dark River Starry Sky Fish's brow in an instant.
'Fast.'
Even to Cho Hyeo-ryeo of the Nascent Soul Realm, it was an exceedingly swift and ferocious technique.
"Th-that bastard fought a Core Formation cultivator back in Foundation Establishment."
"...A Heavenly Spiritual Root wielder?"
"No! Just a mere Three Elements Spiritual Root...! They said he only had decent Dao Combat talent! But!"
Power transcending great realms without a Heavenly Spiritual Root? For a fleeting moment, Cho Hyeo-ryeo wondered if she should abandon Han Chun-oh and ally with Yong Yoo instead.
'Hoo. No.'
Han Chun-oh hadn't done anything deserving betrayal. Regretfully, she gave up on cooperating with Yong Yoo, retreated slowly while keeping her distance, and watched his actions closely.
"Sliced!"
Confirming the Dark River Starry Sky Fish's brow had split, Yong Yoo transformed his entire body into clouds and charged at it.
"Ho. A transformation escape art into clouds. First time I've seen it."
Deploying both Cloud Escape Technique and Tiger-Dragon Stormwind Armor clouds simultaneously, Yong Yoo effortlessly evaded the Dark River Starry Sky Fish's suction, reaching the head wound. He thrust his hand deep inside.
Pouring in divine sense to scan the skull's interior, he ripped out a special structure resembling a bismuth crystal and stored it in his storage pouch.
At the same time, Yong Yoo hurled a One-Day Jade Tally into the Dark River Starry Sky Fish. Swelling hundreds of times inside, it instantly snuffed out the creature's life.
"......"
Watching from afar as Yong Yoo slew the Dark River Starry Sky Fish and stored the corpse, Cho Hyeo-ryeo—and cultivators throughout the secret realm who had focused their senses since he unleashed Severing Dragon Leg Fury—all turned their attention to him.
Some eyed him with naked greed, unaware of his gains. But others knew the Sacred Star Secret Realm well.
"Did he take the Star Core Thunder Palace? From a Dark River Starry Sky Fish baited with dragon essence, no less?"
"Looks like it. Know who he is?"
"Don't recognize that Nascent Soul cultivator... but that spell's power was no joke. Late Nascent Soul at least."
"A fine treasure fell into tricky hands."
Some planned to wait until he weakened before striking, biding their time. Others, already burning with desire, were determined to seize the Star Core Thunder Palace from him no matter what.
The Star Core Thunder Palace of the Sacred Star Secret Realm—especially one from a dragon-baited specimen—was among the realm's top heavenly treasures.
Predictably, many coveted it.
To cultivate special techniques, forge powerful treasures, comprehend divine abilities needing dragon and star energy, or simply possess a rare heavenly treasure.
The cultivators inside the Sacred Star Secret Realm began targeting Yong Yoo, each for their own reasons.
Knowing his flashy actions had made him a target for the cultivators, Yong Yoo planned to use Sara's hidden paths to descend to lower layers, gather materials available there first.
The lower layers of the Sacred Star Secret Realm didn't exclusively hold weak or inferior heavenly treasures.
Each layer maintained its unique environment, with core areas where layer energy fused with star energy to produce crystals.
These were called Layer Core Crystals, and Yong Yoo needed those infused with Five Elements energy and star energy.
"The easy ones: Wood Layer Core Crystal on the 1st layer, Metal on the 4th, Earth on the 8th, Water on the 11th, Fire in the underground layer."
"Underground layer?"
"Yes. The very bottom sustaining the 13 layers. Most cultivators probably don't even know it exists."
"Hmm."
"Plus, it's a paradise for alchemists and artifact forgers, with all sorts of flames erupting. We'll perform the Fortune Merit Sixfold Intersecting Dragon's smelting there too."
Yong Yoo nodded in understanding, then spent the next month traversing layers to collect the four attribute Layer Core Crystals.
He clashed with other Nascent Soul cultivators hunting Layer Core Crystals or those trapped below due to poor luck with Mysterious Moon Stones, but Yong Yoo secured everything intact and prepared for the final one.
However, the underground layer of the Sacred Star Secret Realm only opened half a year after the realm did.
With all other materials gathered, Yong Yoo saw no point in idling half a year—nor was the secret realm, overrun by rampaging cultivators, suitable for quiet cultivation. So he set out to explore nooks and crannies for helpful heavenly treasures.