Chapter 82
Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Battle of Myeongchim Valley (3)
'The Heavenly Chosen are bound to wield luck as mighty as their talents.'
If others dropped dead while simply walking down the road, a Heavenly Chosen would stumble upon a spirit pill by chance, swallow it, and break through a realm right then and there.
That was the gap in fortune between an ordinary cultivator and a Heavenly Chosen.
The soul of a Heavenly Chosen was vastly stronger than that of a typical cultivator, allowing them to draw such immense luck to themselves.
'A Heavenly Chosen capable of breaking through a major realm... I might not be able to kill them with my own hands.'
And so, Ye Ga-seok calmly accepted reality.
'They might even overcome someone like me and seize another fortuitous encounter.'
Having witnessed the absurd sight of a Core Formation cultivator facing off against a Nascent Soul one, Ye Ga-seok couldn't shake the anxiety that he might fail to kill the boy.
Thus, no matter how vast their luck, he decided to borrow the power of their Soul Transformation Sect Lord to ensure the brat's death.
Ye Ga-seok, clad in wooden armor over his entire body, charged forward at terrifying speed.
Yong Yoo unleashed a sword ray, but Ye Ga-seok—abandoning his distant harassment—took the hit heaSod-on and forced his way close.
Yong Yoo dodged with Cloud Escape Art, mounted Xiao Hu, and began racing across the battlefield, with Ye Ga-seok hot on their heels.
Do Mun-hyang and Wei A-han watched Yong Yoo and Ye Ga-seok vanishing at breakneck speed; unable to keep up, they swallowed their rage at failing to aid their loved ones and plunged into the surrounding fray.
Riding Xiao Hu, Yong Yoo activated Cloud Escape Art—not transforming his own body into cloud, but summoning one beneath Xiao Hu, who dashed atop it.
Kurrrung! Kurrrurrung!!
Each step Xiao Hu took on the cloud summoned bolts of orange lightning crashing down, forcing Ye Ga-seok to detour around the clouds and strikes, gradually widening the gap between them.
"Huuu..."
Yong Yoo entrusted everything except Cloud Escape Art to Xiao Hu, focusing solely on recovering his spirit energy, while Xiao Hu diligently evaded Ye Ga-seok per her master's request.
'What in the world.'
Xiao Hu was stunned the moment Yong Yoo mounted; the pervasive Myeongchim Valley energy around them vanished.
Wherever Yong Yoo passed, the valley's energy melted away like snow, replaced by intensely pure spirit energy.
Thanks to this, Xiao Hu could freely absorb the spirit energy and move without restraint.
'To carry such a powerful treasure!'
Realizing this stemmed from some treasure Yong Yoo concealed within his soul—one he hadn't revealed to them—Xiao Hu was shocked.
No matter the soul-concealment technique for treasures, one far larger and stronger than the soul itself couldn't be housed.
Moreover, had Yong Yoo's soul been weak, he would have become the slave during their soul pact instead.
This extraordinary soul strength wasn't innate; it hinted at some hidden special background for Yong Yoo.
'What kind of background makes his soul this strong?'
Xiao Hu suppressed her curiosity and kept dodging Ye Ga-seok's relentless attacks.
Yong Yoo, leaving evasion to Xiao Hu to focus on recovery, felt his spirit energy stabilize and touched the Seven-Petal Side Bell at his waist.
The seven bells rang clamorously, unfolding seven layers of bell-shaped barriers.
Kwagagang!!
Ye Ga-seok's spell shattered five of the bell shields before dissipating; Yong Yoo watched and unleashed his prepared technique.
A sword ray streaked through the air, blocked by Ye Ga-seok's robe.
Yong Yoo continued the pursuit, firing several more sword rays before splitting from Xiao Hu—naturally, Ye Ga-seok chased Yong Yoo.
Kreurrung!!!
In that instant, Xiao Hu's lightning engulfed Ye Ga-seok as Yong Yoo's sword ray grazed his body.
Ye Ga-seok unleashed his robe's power to its maximum, repelling all attacks and pressing forward—only to spot a small sun filling his vision.
'...The lightning and slash were feints!'
The Day Sun Jade Seal expanded rapidly, swallowing Ye Ga-seok whole. The massive sun manifesting on the battlefield pulverized and incinerated everything nearby with overwhelming heat and pressure.
"Graaaaaah!!!"
Struck dead-on by the Day Sun Jade Seal, Ye Ga-seok tried to use Cursewood Eye, but the fire-aspect spell—counter to his wood treasure and infused with spirit energy—repelled it.
Helpless, Ye Ga-seok poured defensive treasures into enduring the assault; Yong Yoo remounted Xiao Hu and formed hand seals.
'Crimson Immortal Harmony Art.'
The second Crimson Immortal Harmony Art drained Yong Yoo's spirit energy sharply, making the Day Sun Jade Seal even larger and fiercer.
Amplified by Crimson Immortal Harmony Art, it rivaled major divine abilities in might—an absurd feat from mere Core Formation energy that drew even the three Soul Transformation cultivators' involuntary gazes, halting the two sects' clash for a moment.
"...Hahk! ...Kuh-hahk!"
Yong Yoo, who had seized both sects' attention in that instant, panted heavily, drenched in cold sweat.
'Die with this, please!!'
But reality defied his hopes.
"Hraaaaaah!!!"
Ye Ga-seok burst from the Day Sun Jade Seal, detonating his robe's spirituality to tear it apart—his form utterly ravaged.
"Yong Yoo! Yong Yoo!! You bastard!!!"
Everything he wore burned away, leaving him naked; his skin melted and stuck fast in places, charred black as coal in others.
All body hair incinerated, facial muscles contracted, lips fused—emitting strange noises neither laughter, tears, nor rage.
Yong Yoo clicked his tongue at the sight.
'Thought that would kill him...!'
No, at least reduce him to a nascent soul. An immature nascent soul, not yet Soul Transformation, would collapse instantly without its body.
Yet Ye Ga-seok survived intact.
'This is Nascent Soul realm! Tougher than I thought!!'
Ye Ga-seok staggered, then plunged his two monkey arms into his own chest.
"I'll kill you...! Kill you!! For this humiliation! This agony again!!"
Eyes rolled back, he sacrificed his flesh to amplify the arms' power; they devoured his body, corrupting it into demon form.
Woodudududuk!!!
"Graaaaaah!!"
Screaming as his body twisted and warped, Ye Ga-seok transformed into a massive monkey with dark-red fur and ghostly white skin.
Its bulging eyes scanned around grotesquely before locking on Yong Yoo, charging at double its prior speed.
Peueueok!
The monkey's brutish hand seized Yong Yoo's neck and face.
"Khek!"
Choked, Yong Yoo heard his Tiger Dragon Stormwind Armor and Heaven-Defying Golden Crown creaking protectively.
Kreurrung!!
Xiao Hu lunged to save him, but Ye Ga-seok's tail coiled around her, yanking her in—then gaped wide to tear at her face.
Kheuooooreung!!
Xiao Hu thrashed in agonized screams; Yong Yoo gritted his teeth, swinging at Ye Ga-seok.
Nine Children Needles flashed from his sleeve, stabbing an eye; Ye Ga-seok shrieked, shaking his face to dislodge them.
He then shoved a hand into his mouth, drawing a Cursewood Spear and thrusting at Yong Yoo.
The spear, forged solely to slay Yong Yoo, chilled him; it pierced Tiger Dragon Stormwind Armor effortlessly, embedding deep in his chest.
At the same moment.
"?!!??"
The curse power in the Cursewood Spear couldn't breach a single layer of Yong Yoo's skin, rebounding off some immense force.
The repelled spear shattered like dry twigs; the backlash swept Ye Ga-seok, blasting most of his body away.
"Uwaaaaaah!!!"
Left with only his head and right arm, Ye Ga-seok wailed horrifically; onlookers gaped at the impossible scene.
What just happened?
No one could answer.
"Aaaagh! Aaaaaagh!"
Even screaming, Ye Ga-seok clung to killing Yong Yoo with single-minded obsession.
And then.
'Must kill him here!'
Sensing a threat from Yong Yoo—who had reduced the Nascent Soul Ye Ga-seok to this wretched state—the Falling Star Sect Lord manipulated the Nether Six Paths Flood Dragon, shoving aside nearby cultivators and swallowing Yong Yoo and everything around him whole.
"No!"
"We have to save him!"
Zhang Jiao and Geum So-ryeo cried out, attacking the Nether Six Paths Flood Dragon—but two Soul Transformation cultivators couldn't handle it.
The Falling Star Sect Lord dragged the devoured Yong Yoo before him.
"Fortunately, your spirit energy's depleted."
Yong Yoo had proven more dangerous than expected, prompting rash consumption; up close, though, it was a pity.
Fine features, superb talent—if he possessed this body, even realms beyond Soul Transformation seemed possible.
The Sect Lord decided to possess Yong Yoo later, stashing him deep within the Nether Six Paths Flood Dragon for now.
Inside already swarmed High Heaven Sect and Falling Star Sect cultivators it had devoured.
Xiao Hu, swallowed with Yong Yoo, screamed amid them; Ye Ga-seok floated among corpses, crumbling to dust.
All were being corrupted by Myeongchim Valley energy... except Yong Yoo, plunged deepest, who repelled it all, radiating auspicious light.
Myeongchim Valley energy ceaselessly invaded, only for the Eight-Thousand-Arm Paldam Temple Treasure Pagoda protecting him to endlessly purify it.
It started by purifying only the invading energy, but as the assault persisted endlessly, the pagoda exerted slightly more power.
And in that moment.
"Huh?"
"What is it?"
"Where did the Sect Lord's treasure go?!"
"The Myeongchim Valley energy...!!"
The valley energy that seemed to fill heaven and earth vanished entirely, replaced by pure, infinitely auspicious spirit energy saturating all.