Chapter 115
Translator: penny
Chapter: 115
Chapter Title: To the Haeseong Sect (1)
Quite some time had passed since Do Mun-hyang had miraculously survived due to Wei Hong-taek's whim. Unlike Yong Yoo, who had fled to some unknown place, she should have reached the vicinity of the Haeseong Sect as planned by now—but at present, Do Mun-hyang was holed up in a completely unexpected location.
The spot where she now resided was a considerable distance from the Haeseong Sect, so far that even a typical Core Formation Realm cultivator using an escape art would need three straight months of travel to arrive.
There, she had sought out and settled in a place brimming with yin-cold earthly energies rejected from the Haeseong Sect's lands, which overflowed with vibrant yang qi.
This site, where yin qi, water qi, and frigid energies shunned by yang, fire, and heat had gathered, was an extreme environment that would freeze even a cultivator's soul solid. Yet for Do Mun-hyang, who possessed the Black Tortoise Egg, it was a heaven-sent training ground.
She figured she never would have found such a place if she hadn't taken a detour while fleeing from that mysterious cultivator. With that in mind, Do Mun-hyang had been diligently cultivating here ever since.
The Black Tortoise Egg was absorbing the yin-cold earthly energies like a fish in water, growing wildly—and in turn, vast quantities of pure water spiritual energy and frigid spiritual energy flowed out, fueling her own advancement.
'Core Formation late-stage soon... A bit more training here, and I should be able to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.'
The yin-cold earthly energies amassed here were practically heavenly-grade spiritual energy, condensed over thousands of years.
Its potency was so immense that the Black Tortoise Egg had doubled in size from before, and Do Mun-hyang's spiritual root aptitude had evolved into a heavenly spiritual root after absorbing this place's power.
'This feels right for me.'
Do Mun-hyang had long fretted over her lackluster Dao combat aptitude, but in her time apart from Yong Yoo and Ping Yu-ran, living a reclusive life amid mountains and rivers, she had come to a realization.
'It's Yoo Lang and Senior Sister Ping who are the outliers...'
Her Dao combat aptitude wasn't deficient; it was just that theirs were abnormally high.
Once she grasped that, Do Mun-hyang let go of her anxiety about improving her Dao combat aptitude and began seeking her own path.
'If I reach a higher realm than anyone else, it'll all sort itself out.'
It was, in a way, the royal road for any cultivator. After all, the way cultivators survived was by avoiding foes of higher realms, targeting those of lower realms, and treating peers as friends.
'In that sense, Yoo Lang really is one of a kind.'
He knew his Dao combat aptitude was exceptional and yet eagerly sought battles with enemies of higher realms.
When he could overwhelm them or had prepared his mind for the fight, he stayed cool and silent—but if a brawl erupted unexpectedly or dragged on, he'd open his mouth to taunt and mock the foe.
Cultivators generally avoided making needless enemies or grudges. Thus, against peers or superiors, they'd set aside old grudges and get along amiably, while against inferiors, even a slight provocation warranted thoughts of slaying them.
In that light, sticking with Yong Yoo—who aimed to surpass all within ten thousand years and kept courting danger recklessly—might someday drag her into grudges with other cultivators, costing her life.
"Mm..."
As awkward as it was to admit... Do Mun-hyang found that prospect a little thrilling.
A man charging madly toward supremacy, repeating perilous deeds, was an irresistible stimulus to her—a woman who had only quietly cultivated, accepting the fortuitous encounters bestowed by her master.
To this young woman not yet a century old, a thrilling, precarious romance with such a dangerous man felt romantic, taboo, and achingly beautiful.
'Yoo Lang... It's been so long. Has he already reached the Haeseong Sect? Should I head out soon? Hmm... but abandoning this place...
I'll stay just until the Black Tortoise has absorbed enough energy... Yeah, that's the plan.'
In the end, she was a cultivator too. No matter how fiercely she yearned to reunite with her beloved, she simply couldn't tear herself away from a fortuitous encounter like this.
And so, Do Mun-hyang continued her diligent cultivation, torn between leaving and staying.
It was around the time Yong Yoo had just entered the Seongjin Secret Realm.
***
"Park Do-woo!"
The cultivator in purple robes unleashed thousands of yao beasts in an instant upon ambushing the yellow-robed Daoist. Yong Yoo swiftly scanned their levels with his divine sense.
'No Soul Transformation tier.'
Yong Yoo immediately summoned the Wood Dragon and unleashed the Canopy of Myriad Vines.
Kwaaang!!!
Thousands of wooden coffins materialized, enveloping the yao beasts. In a flash, they drained the creatures' life force, reducing them to withered husks like mummies. Yong Yoo then funneled that absorbed vitality to the Wood Dragon.
The Wood Dragon used the influx to multiply its numbers, and Yong Yoo unleashed hundreds of lesser wood dragons upon the enemy.
The white-robed woman swung her four arms with nimble precision, shattering every wood dragon. Yong Yoo responded by blasting Fire Dragon's Breath into the space filled with dragon fragments.
The fiery breath devoured the shards, ballooning in size in an instant and swallowing four Soul Transformation Realm cultivators whole.
A colossal pillar of flame—so immense it seemed to paint the world scarlet and incinerate all in its path—was obliterated by a single shockwave from Saran's kick.
Puuung!!
Just as the High Heaven Sect's Soul Transformation cultivators had struggled, netherflame qi was profoundly lethal.
Especially Saran's, honed for centuries via the Yellow Springs Ghostly Peak Staff Technique—its intensity and density were incomparable even to the Virtue Merit Six Paths Dragon.
"...Urk!"
The yellow-robed cultivator took a critical hit from Saran's ambush, shuddering in horror as the ocean-like spiritual power accumulated in his body tangled and scattered wildly.
'What a bizarre force. My spiritual power is slipping from my control. To think such chilling energy exists!'
The yellow-robed cultivator specialized in formations and restrictions. He had always sealed his foes' swords if they wielded sword arts or dharma treasures if they relied on those, claiming victory in environments utterly to his advantage.
He had never known defeat, always crafting absolute superiority through his fields of expertise.
'I'll seal their dharma treasures!'
Confident it would work again this time, he unilaterally activated a seal on the dharma treasures without warning his allies, aiming to cripple the enemies' strength.
"You fool...! Park Do-woo!"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
His two comrades shrieked in protest upon realizing his scheme, but the yellow-robed cultivator swung his banner with its snapped pole, completing the formation in a blink. His prohibition spread to blanket the space instantly.
At the same moment...
"......!!!!"
The prohibition shattered, jolting the yellow-robed cultivator's body as blood erupted from his mouth.
"What in the...!!!"
He had no choice but to panic, unaware of the Eighty Thousand Scripture Treasure Pagoda's existence when he tried sealing the dharma treasures.
'What on earth countered my seal?!'
Saran seized the opening to slay the yellow-robed cultivator, but the two Soul Transformation cultivators—knowing they needed his prohibition arts—rushed to defend him.
The white-robed woman, born a yao with a physique far superior to humans and innately suited to the Dharma Body Quadruple Path, wielded four dharma treasures with her four arms to block Saran.
Jiiing!!
Saran's staff clashed with the four treasures, ringing out a piercing screech.
Simultaneously, she unleashed an avatar divine ability; another white-robed figure emerged, yanking scythe-like curved claws from her four hands and swinging them. Saran gripped her staff tight, twisted her body, and countered with her long, supple leg.
Kaaang!!
Beautiful leg met grotesque claw with a metallic clang, like iron striking iron. The white-robed cultivator caught Saran's leg with two hands, then whipped her other two around to target her flanks.
But just before, a massive deluge of shattered trees and boulders surged from nowhere, disrupting the white-robed woman.
The Water Dragon, handed the Five Elements Turbid Vein Saber by Yong Yoo, had spewed its turbid flow from his maw.
Not stopping there, the Earth Dragon below absorbed the rocks from the flow, ballooning to gigantic size and lunging at the white-robed cultivator.
"Don't interfere, you worm!"
The avatar diverted to eliminate the Earth Dragon, and Saran seized the gap—extending both legs to coil around the avatar's neck.
Crack!
The avatar, caught between Saran's thighs, had its neck torn off and perished.
With the avatar gone, the white-robed cultivator—suffering backlash—trickled nosebleed while glaring at the purple-robed cultivator.
He kept summoning yao beasts, but Yong Yoo incinerated them with Fire Dragon's power each time. Any that pierced the flames fell to Wood and Metal Dragons, rendering the purple-robed cultivator's yao beasts ineffective.
"Don't hold back—use your real power!"
Fuming at the sight, the white-robed woman yelled, prompting the purple-robed one to reluctantly draw a Soul Transformation-tier yao beast from a special beast pouch, as if it pained him.
It resembled a massive centipede cloaked head to tail in flower-like flames—a Fireflower Centipede, a Soul Transformation yao beast.
The flames it spewed were as beautiful as the wondrous flowers of paradise, yet laced with deadly poison that melted flesh on contact, defying ordinary recovery.
Two such beasts. Yong Yoo pondered briefly before ordering Saran: reduce the enemy cultivator count by one, by any means.
Saran's eyes blazed at the command, charging the yellow-robed cultivator. The white-robed one moved to intercept.
But having received the "by any means" order, Saran willingly sacrificed limbs one by one to punch through, overwhelming the yellow-robed cultivator.
Neither had anticipated a soft-bodied yao like Saran sacrificing limbs; both were stunned, reactions delayed. Saran extended her claws, piercing his chest.
She thrashed her hand inside, shredding him, then looted his dharma treasures and storage pouch, handing them to Yong Yoo. The netherflame qi leaking from her severed limbs drew the missing parts back, seamlessly reattaching them.
Confirming Saran's limbs restored, Yong Yoo addressed the Nascent Soul Realm cultivators sluggishly flying in from afar, unable to use escape arts.
"Look here!"
Brandishing the bloodied banner to draw eyes, Yong Yoo bellowed.
The two Fireflower Centipedes lunged at him, but Saran parried them effortlessly with her staff and a single punch.
Yong Yoo glanced to confirm, then shouted again.
"Help us, and we'll split the spoils from those Soul Transformation cultivators' storage pouches! I've got prime Heart-Mind Crystallized Soul Stones too!"
At his cry, the Nascent Soul cultivators eyed the two Soul Transformation foes with greedy, gleaming stares.