Chapter 18
Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Sect Mission (2)
Jo Jeong-deok had originally been assigned a different mission, but upon hearing that his young junior brothers had taken on the Wood Fiend hunting mission, he quickly wrapped up his own task and volunteered to lead the Wood Fiend hunt.
"This team leader here possesses a Metal Spiritual Root and has tempered his body with the Metal Brocade Body Tempering Method. I'm confident my physique is the toughest among cultivators at my level, so if you ever feel things getting dicey during the mission, Junior Brother Yong, just fall back behind me anytime."
The other two from Bear Embrace Peak chimed in, praising Jo Jeong-deok and backing his words, though the vibe felt less like cultivators and more like a gang of street toughs.
They seemed like the type who'd call each other "big bro" and "little bro" instead of senior and junior brother, with their robes stretched taut over bulging muscles that looked ready to unleash a dragon at any moment.
Feeling an awkward twinge, I fiddled with my teacup, but surprisingly, Jo Jeong-deok—despite his rugged build—sipped his tea with refined elegance, observing all the proper etiquette.
"This is Bright Clarity Tea. It clears the mind and sharpens the senses a bit."
"Oh... Senior Brother Jo, you seem quite knowledgeable about the tea arts."
"A cultivator must nourish the body through a diet suited to their needs, after all."
In truth, habitually drinking hot beverages like tea could cause minor burns to the esophagus, raising cancer risk—which is why in my past life, there was talk of classifying hot drinks as a Group 2 carcinogen. But no need to bring that up here.
Cultivators wouldn't get cancer just from sipping hot water, anyway.
I enjoyed the tea without worry. Hmm... It'd be amazing if I could infuse this aroma into liquor. Maybe ferment spirit herbs into tea leaves and use them for infused spirits?
When I feigned interest and started asking questions left and right, Jo Jeong-deok happily shared everything he knew, teaching me how to process tea leaves, brew tea, and observe various tea ceremony etiquettes.
By then, everyone had arrived one by one, making our full party of six, and we set off for the destination using our flying artifacts or escape arts.
To save on uses of my bronze bowl, I traveled with the Water Escape Art that Master Geum So-ryeo had given me. Watching Jo Jeong-deok soar stylishly atop his fancy shield made him look pretty cool.
I want a flying treasure too. Then I could just hop on and go without fretting over the limited uses.
"Someday, I'd love to try that spirit liquor you make, Brother Yong!"
"Gladly. I'd be happy to treat you to some, Brother Jin."
This Bear Embrace Peak disciple, who now called me Brother Yong with easy familiarity, was a real liquor enthusiast; he'd picked up on the faint booze scent clinging to me and struck up a conversation.
Once he learned I could brew spirit liquor amid our chit-chat, that's when he started treating me like a brother.
"The spirit herb groves are pretty far out, huh."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Overhearing the other cultivators chatting behind me, I nodded without thinking.
Experiencing the vastness of High Heaven Sect firsthand—knowledge I'd only had from Yong Yoo's memories—left me constantly stifling gasps of awe.
High Heaven Sect was the premier orthodox sect in the Central Continent's Spirit Origin Realm, boasting a territory befitting its lofty status.
Even its twelve representative peaks were each taller than Everest, Earth's highest mountain in my past life, stretching out to form a vast, treacherous mountain range.
With sprawling lands centered around those peaks all under High Heaven Sect's domain, the sect controlled an area larger than Russia.
Most of that land consisted of spirit herb groves or spirit stone mines, tended by hundreds of millions of sect slaves who harvested herbs and stones to offer the sect in exchange for their livelihood.
In return, High Heaven Sect protected them from demonic beasts and fiends.
In a world of immortals where ordinary folk could be shredded at any moment, having one's life safeguarded was huge. Even more so, the sect's periodic testing of young slaves offered a shot at becoming cultivators—a massive boon.
Many with single-element spiritual roots lived and died never knowing their potential; opening even a slim path to cultivation was an incredible gift.
As I gazed at a nearby slave village, Brother Jin glanced my way and asked,
"Are you from the sect slaves yourself, Brother Yong?"
Brother Jin must have been a cultivator from the slaves.
"Ah, no. I'm from the Kingdom of All Beasts, pretty far from High Heaven Sect. I grew up in a rural village there until a passing senior from the sect discovered my spiritual root and took me in."
"Ho, quite the fortuitous encounter."
Cultivators traveled with absurd ease. At Foundation Establishment, needs like eating, sleeping, and excreting became negligible; aside from occasional rests to recover qi spent on escape arts, they could fly nonstop for days, covering insane distances.
Upon reaching the spirit herb grove, we immediately split into pairs to scour for Wood Fiends. With an odd number, one guy ended up solo, trudging off alone to hunt traces.
Jo Jeong-deok ordered us not to stray too far from him and to report back even if we found mere traces, not the fiends themselves.
But...
"No need to hunt for traces."
I said to my paired cultivator, and the female cultivator in her white robe nodded in agreement.
From the sky, they hadn't been visible, but flying low to the ground revealed traces everywhere that looked like Wood Fiend leavings.
"Wood Fiends are usually cautious and stealthy, leaving few traces and hard to track. But these ones are weird. Why are they leaving so many?"
She said, puzzled. Knowing zilch about Wood Fiends myself, I nodded vaguely while extending my divine sense to probe the surroundings.
"......Nothing's catching on my divine sense."
"Ah, yes."
She replied with a flustered look.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing. I heard Junior Brother Yong was at Foundation Establishment Layer 2, but your divine sense is stronger than mine. Did you cultivate some special method to enhance it?"
"Hahaha, no. I was just born with strong divine sense."
Couldn't say it was because of my dual spiritual roots, so I laughed it off. She nodded understandingly but shot me a glance tinged with envy.
I ignored the look and kept searching for Wood Fiends.
After the allotted search time, we regrouped to find that Brother Jin's group had spotted signs of Wood Fiends holing up.
"Alright, everyone, let's move."
Jo Jeong-deok listened to Brother Jin's report on the traces, nodded, and led us there together.
"Right. The spirit herb grove's mostly wrecked by the Wood Fiends anyway, so don't hold back on powerful spells if you have them—but no fire-aspect arts."
My face had brightened at the thought of using Blazing Palm Seal midway, but it fell again at his caveat.
Yeah, even ruined groves might sprout new herbs; couldn't just torch everything with fire arts.
Following Brother Jin's lead, we reached a spot where the Wood Fiend traces abruptly vanished.
"Hey, aren't the traces completely gone here?"
One guy griped, hand on his waist sword, but Brother Jin insisted it was suspicious.
"Doesn't it seem odd that fiends leaving such obvious tracks everywhere skipped this one spot?"
"......"
"I checked around carefully, and there's no sign of any life nearby. No matter how far I spread my divine sense, not even an insect pinged."
"They've nested here. Didn't want to wreck their own home."
Jo Jeong-deok backed Brother Jin's assessment.
"Wood Fiends normally move with extreme stealth, so leaving traces like this screams breeding season."
"Breeding season?"
"Yeah. Most of the traces we saw were probably from male Wood Fiends fighting over the Wood Fiend Queen."
"So they're hunkered down quietly in the nest now because...?"
"The queen's mate's been decided, settling them down. They're this calm even with us right on their doorstep to avoid disturbing her breeding."
In other words, poking the Wood Fiends now was like kicking a hornet's nest.
Jo Jeong-deok scanned the area with his divine sense, then spoke.
"About twenty Wood Fiends. Make sure none escape. If things get hairy, I'll step in—fight freely till then."
As Jo Jeong-deok fell back with those words, we each readied our spells.
"Twenty of them. About four per person."
The female cultivator I'd paired with said, and the solo male searcher grinned while hefting his slender sword—he was a swordsman, clearly.
"Hahaha. Metal-aspect spells are my specialty, so head my way if you're in danger. Wood Fiends? Sliced plenty back in Refining Qi."
The Bear Embrace Peak disciple who'd searched with Brother Jin puffed up his muscles and stepped forward.
"If I could use fire arts, I'd handle this solo."
Her face wasn't half bad, and now everyone's swarming her.
I ignored them, pulling nectar spirit liquor from my Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle to prep Water Essence Bullet Art.
Wood Fiends, so probably strong against wood qi, right? Gathering the nectar into fist-sized orbs, I saw everyone else hesitating and just launched the Water Essence Bullets.
Didn't know exactly where the fiends were, but a wild shot should draw a reaction.
My bullets streaked off, slamming into a thick cluster of trees.
Kwaaaaaang!!!!
It obliterated everything nearby, carving a deep crater in the ground to boast its power.
"Urk!"
"Eek!"
Ignoring the startled yelps from the others, I swiftly formed seals to deploy Water Shield Box as flying branches wrapped around it, squeezing hard.
As I silently reached for my Refined Flying Sword, a steel-gray aura spread out, slicing through the constricting branches.
"Junior Brother Yong! You alright?!"
My savior was the swordsman who'd bragged about handling trees.
"Yes. Thank you for the help."
"No trouble! Wrote you off at Foundation Establishment Layer 2, but that spell's power is insane!"
He approached me, saying that, when a tree root burst from the ground, impaling him from groin to skull in one thrust, killing him instantly.
"......!"
"What the—!"
"Wood Fiend Queen! Everyone, stay alert!"
The cultivators activated their defenses, and I quietly drew my Refined Flying Sword.