The Dense Jungle (2)

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The drowsiness-feast insects collapsed one after another.

They were creatures that kept charging even after their heads flew off, but once the lightning energy electrocuted them and destroyed the nerve clusters throughout their bodies, they could no longer move.

Confirming that the insects had been wiped out, Cheon Woo-jin formed a barrier once more with the Water Pervading Array Art.

Since all he had to do was draw back the moisture he had spread into the surroundings, the drain on his spiritual power was not great.

'In a parched region, using this technique would burn through a lot of my water spirit energy, but somewhere this damp like this, I can use it without any burden.'

As the Water Pervading Array Art absorbed the surrounding moisture, the air turned pleasant again.

Cheon Woo-jin began walking once more, keeping an eye out for any other yokai.

'This jungle isn't home only to creatures like these. There are plenty of venomous insects and snakes as well. I have to stay alert at all times.'

Cheon Woo-jin had it relatively easy, since the Water Pervading Array Art shielded his entire body.

Cultivators who scouted with their bare skin were often bitten by venomous insects or snakes that crept up unnoticed, ending up poisoned.

'Is it over here?'

As he walked through the jungle, Cheon Woo-jin bent down and pressed a hand against the ground.

Beneath the damp earth, he could feel the heavy flow of spiritual energy.

The reason Cheon Woo-jin was exploring the jungle at all was to find this spirit meridian.

By following the flow of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the meridian, it would be possible to locate the tower's entrance.

'That's why I have to search the jungle while examining the ground myself.'

Having discovered the spirit meridian, Cheon Woo-jin headed toward its source, the way one might travel upstream along a river.

If he kept advancing like this, he would eventually find the underground cavern connected to the tower's entrance.

It was, however, quite an arduous journey.

Even with the Water Pervading Array Art active, walking through the sweltering jungle all day long was bound to wear anyone down.

So Cheon Woo-jin periodically entered the eastern section of the Great Emptiness Cave Heaven Mirror, resting and taking elixirs.

Each time, he also made a careful inspection of the crops being grown in the spirit field.

'The Purple Cloud Root has already sprouted and is growing fast. I'll be able to harvest the young leaves before long.'

Repelling the yokai that appeared from time to time as he walked, he eventually reached a river of clear, flowing water.

And there, other people were waiting.

"Well now, greetings to you."

Cultivators dressed in all manner of garb had spread mats on the ground and were eating a meal.

Incense burned to keep the insects away, and with so much food laid out, it looked for all the world like a picnic.

"Hey there, friend! You look dead tired—come over here and have something to eat!"

A man with a genial face called out to Cheon Woo-jin.

The woman beside him beckoned him over as well, urging him to come quickly.

"You seem to be on your way up to the 6th Layer. The road gets far more treacherous from here on, so it would be wise to rest up properly before moving on!"

"Come sit with us and eat!"

The other cultivators offered him food as well.

It was a welcome offer—but Cheon Woo-jin studied their status windows first.

The man and woman who had spoken first were Foundation Establishment Late Stage; the rest were Early or Middle Stage.

Jangrim Stronghold.

A faction that operated out of this very jungle as its base.

They were similar in nature to the bandit fortresses of the martial world, villains who ambushed the cultivators passing through this region.

It might seem strange for cultivators walking the path of immortality to play at being bandits, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but in truth, it was a rather effective strategy.

After all, merely robbing the storage pouches of the cultivators they ambushed yielded quite a substantial haul.

"Hmm? Why are you just standing there?"

So Jun-bang, the one who had first called out, held up a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drumstick toward Cheon Woo-jin.

"Try some of this! It's a wild chicken raised in this jungle—absolutely brimming with spirit energy!"

"……."

"Oh my, is our friend the shy type?"

Cheon Woo-jin still gave no answer.

Watching him, So Jun-bang let out a sigh.

"Tch. Damn it."

The moment he spat the curse and his expression twisted—

Yoo Jin-seon, who had been wearing a smiling face beside him, suddenly leapt into the air.

As her arms whipped through the air, azure blades came flying.

A sharp wind sword, aimed at Cheon Woo-jin's throat.

But Cheon Woo-jin's Water Pervading Array Art blocked it, and the blades of wind scattered into the air, having severed nothing at all.

"You bastard!"

Watching the woman spit out a short curse, Cheon Woo-jin channeled his spiritual power.

Waves began to surge across the spherical barrier that had been protecting his body.

The cultivators sitting on the mats hastily scrambled out of the way.

The lavishly spread food toppled over, and everything descended into chaos.

And then a faint aura that would have been undetectable while the dishes were neatly arranged made itself known.

The energy of poison, hidden within the food.

'If I'd taken a single appetizing bite, I'd have had quite a miserable time of it.'

Just then, Yoo Jin-seon drove in from the flank.

Blades of wind even sharper than before came rushing in.

Cheon Woo-jin deflected them and hurled blades of water back in reply.

But Yoo Jin-seon twisted her body low, nearly rolling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠across the ground to evade.

Then, spinning once to recover her balance, she pressed her palm against a tree beside her and let out a short cry.

"Flutter!"

In the next instant, countless leaves rained down from the tree and flew toward Cheon Woo-jin.

This time it was blades of leaves. It was a spell that sheathed the surrounding area in leaves whose edges had been honed razor-sharp, shredding the opponent to ribbons.

"Flutter!"

"Flutter!"

"Flutter!"

The others used the same technique as well.

A mass of leaves whirled dizzily and came flying in from every direction.

In an instant, he was surrounded by a storm of leaves.

But Cheon Woo-jin already had a counter prepared.

Boooom!

The lightning that radiated out from Cheon Woo-jin like wheel spokes ravaged the storm of leaves.

The leaf-blades that had been converging on him from all sides ended up fluttering helplessly to the ground.

As their coordinated assault crumbled into nothing, the cultivators of Jangrim Stronghold went wide-eyed.

"How the hell does this guy know lightning arts like that…?"

"Isn't he just an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator?"

Most of the cultivators who inched forward through this region, feeling their way along the spirit meridians, were Foundation Establishment.

That was why they had assumed they could dispatch him with their own strength—only to be stunned by a spell that far exceeded the level of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"W-wait a moment."

Just then, someone raised their voice, pointing a finger at Cheon Woo-jin.

"That's Cheon Woo-jin!"

"Wh-what did you say?"

The faces of the others went pale.

"B-but I heard that guy was captured by a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor and killed…"

"No, it must be Cheon Woo-jin. These days, the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in the middle floors who wields lightning arts that well is Cheon Woo-jin…"

"Doesn't his clothing look different from the physical description we got last time? I don't think he wore black robes like that…"

"Then he must have changed his clothes! The face looks the same!"

Apparently, news of Cheon Woo-jin's appearance and attire had spread.

But the Cheon Woo-jin of the present had discarded the Taoist robe he had worn until now and changed into entirely new clothes.

He was wearing the demonic-variant robes he had obtained in Sama Mun's eastern quarters, which seemed to be why they had failed to recognize him at first.

"Even so, he's still Foundation Establishment!"

Just then, So Jun-bang, who had been quietly observing, raised his voice.

"This land favors us! We'll take him down with a combined assault!"

"Y-yes, Senior Brother!"

At So Jun-bang's bark, the rest hastily unleashed their techniques.

The storm of leaf-blades came rushing in once more. At the same time, tree roots burst up from the ground and lunged at Cheon Woo-jin.

Beyond that, every manner of wood-attribute technique rained down in unbroken succession.

Seeing Cheon Woo-jin defend behind a barrier of water, they pressed their assault all the harder.

They must have believed that a concentrated attack from all four directions would bring him down.

But Cheon Woo-jin had already completed his technique.

Shkk!

A black blade stretching out from the shadow ran Yoo Jin-seon through.

"Aaaagh!"

Yoo Jin-seon shrieked.

It was not a fatal wound—not yet. She immediately twisted her body, trying to wrench herself free of the black blade. But at that very moment—

Crack-crack-crack! Black thorns erupted from the black blade.

It was as though a thornbush had sprouted and grown inside her body.

Once this happened, even pulling herself free was impossible.

The thorns, extending all the way through her vital organs, left Yoo Jin-seon's eyes wide open in death.

"Gyaaaagh!"

It was not only Yoo Jin-seon.

The other cultivators, so preoccupied with pouring techniques at Cheon Woo-jin, were run through by black blades surging up from beneath their feet.

And just like her, they were pinned in place by the thorns grown from within their own bodies, dying where they stood.

"……."

Cheon Woo-jin felt a quiet satisfaction watching his newly crafted technique work exactly as intended.

The Black Shadow Thorn Piercer was a refined version of the Black Shadow Technique he had long relied upon.

He had gotten the idea while reading a book discovered in Sama Mun's eastern quarters.

The original had been a technique for spreading poison throughout an opponent's body; he had borrowed part of that theory and used it to improve the Black Shadow Technique.

The result was an ambush technique of lethal potency.

Cheon Woo-jin walked the path of immortality with no master to teach him, and yet he continued to grow his strength by absorbing the tricks and methods of experts, one after another.

"Ah……."

Of the entire Jangrim Stronghold band, only one man remained alive.

So Jun-bang, their de facto leader.

So Jun-bang stared at Cheon Woo-jin with an expression of incomprehension.

Every one of the others had been cut down in an instant—yet he alone had not been targeted.

"There is something I want to ask you."

"……!"

At Cheon Woo-jin's words, So Jun-bang hastily dropped to his knees.

"Ask me anything—anything at all, my lord!"

He pressed his hands together and smiled with a servile, cringing expression.

It was a transformation utterly complete from the man of moments ago.

"Have you seen a woman in this area recently?"

"A woman, my lord?"

"She was likely traveling alone."

He needed to confirm whether Seo Seol-ryeong had truly ascended to the 6th Layer.

"Long black hair hanging down her back, dressed in pure white. Her bearing is so cold that at a glance she might be mistaken for a ghost. And her most striking feature is——"

"Ah, y-you mean that celestial maiden of a woman? Beautiful as something out of heaven? The one wearing the blindfold, is that right?"

Before Cheon Woo-jin could even finish explaining, So Jun-bang raised his voice.

"I saw her! I saw her clearly!"

"Did you try to ambush her, the way you did me?"

"Oh no, never, my lord! I only saw her from far away!"

So Jun-bang shook his head furiously.

"The insect yokai came swarming in from every direction, and she just stood there doing nothing, so I thought she'd lost her mind! But then she waved her hand once, just like this…!"

Waving his hand in imitation of the motion, So Jun-bang went on.

"Every last one of those yokai froze solid on the spot! It was like a frozen hell itself! I've never seen a master like her in my life!"

A power that wielded cold.

Just as the wind attribute derived from the wood attribute, there could be no doubt—an ice attribute derived from water.