Chapter 474
Chapter 474
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 474
Chapter Title: Chakra (3)
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One of the elders he was acquainted with continued speaking with a grave expression.
"You were educated as a descendant of the Yun Clan, so you know full well. In this situation, we can't act rashly."
That was what Yun Sohwa heard when he rushed to the Council of Elders upon learning that contact with Lusette had been cut off.
If they had entered Hongshan Kingdom officially under the Yun Clan's name, it might have been different, but since this had happened while moving secretly to track the culprits behind the kidnapping, it was a bit tricky for them to step forward aggressively.
"Of course, that doesn't mean we'll just sit idle. We can't ignore the disappearance of a representative practitioner of the Yun Clan. However, we can't disregard Hongshan Kingdom and send our full forces rampaging through their territory."
Hongshan Kingdom and Blue Sea Kingdom, the two great powers that divided Sabacheon between them.
It was certainly true that the Seongcheon Yun Clan, caught between them, handled maintaining the balance between the two sides and mediating their conflicts.
Their prestige, which even nations couldn't handle lightly, was enough to call them the foremost family on the continent without exaggeration.
But no matter how elite the Yun Clan's practitioners were or how formidable their forces, they couldn't openly confront a nation head-on.
The vast territory and the immense national power from its population were on a completely different level from the Yun Clan, which governed only a few cities.
"We've already spoken with the upper echelons of Hongshan Kingdom and secured their maximum cooperation. They've started investigations with their local search teams, and we'll dispatch a responsible person as soon as consultations are finalized. ...Of course, we'll have to comply with some degree of control from the Hongshan side."
Despite such a disparity in power, the reason the Yun Clan maintained its current position was thanks to the 'peace treaty' personally forged by the Thunder Emperor decades ago, along with the existence of the hostile nation facing their borders.
No matter how inferior they were to a nation, wasn't there no greater threat than the Yun Clan—with its numerous elite practitioners and strategic strongholds—siding with the enemy?
In the end, the authority they had enjoyed thus far inevitably rested on the opponent's respect and concessions to some degree, which meant they had to yield even more when they were at a disadvantage.
That was the nature of international diplomacy, after all.
"Still, don't worry too much. Do you think Lusette is someone who would fall so easily? It's probably just a temporary cutoff due to unavoidable circumstances. She'll contact us again soon. What we're doing now is just preparation for the worst case."
The elder saying this looked frustrated at having to resort to such platitudes...
But some things were unavoidable, no matter what.
"...For those reasons, members of the Yun Clan cannot act recklessly until consultations are complete. If there were solid proof that the culprits who targeted our Yun Clan are within Hongshan Kingdom, it would be different, but my sister vanished before we could even grasp that..."
Yun Sohwa sighed after explaining the general situation to Hoon.
Of course, he fully understood the clan's circumstances.
Lusette, who had reached the inner realm at a young age, was certainly an important figure, but neglecting international relations and letting it become a seed of discord would be a far greater problem.
If those accumulated conflicts escalated to war, who would bear the responsibility?
"...But you, an outsider, are different."
That was precisely why Yun Sohwa had urgently sought out Hoon.
Though he was a guest practitioner, he hadn't been in the clan long enough to be publicly known.
'Above all, he's a powerhouse who took down multiple upper-level practitioners in an instant. And it seems like he has even more hidden cards up his sleeve...'
There was no one more suitable.
His eyes gleaming, he concluded emphatically.
"We can't just waste time dithering like this when we don't know what situation my sister is in. If you help with this matter, I'll reward you handsomely... reward you greatly! I beg you!"
His trembling voice, his fists clenched tight and shaking finely.
Hoon stroked his chin, looking down quietly at Yun Sohwa.
'Contact with an inner realm practitioner suddenly cut off...'
He recalled Lusette, whom he had met several times.
She was no pushover, a capable practitioner at a fairly high level even among the extremes.
Whether she had already been subdued or had somehow hidden herself, pulling off something like that required considerable preparation.
'Did she fall into a trap?'
Perhaps a transcendent expert connected to the heavens had even stepped in personally.
Either way, it was clear this incident would stir up a massive storm in Sabacheon.
'Tch, leaving it alone feels off somehow.'
Was it because he had quelled chaos wherever he went across multiple dimensions?
He furrowed his brow slightly at the harbinger of turmoil prickling his nerves.
'But with Ramyu here, jumping into something like this so readily...'
Sensing Hoon's hesitation, Yun Sohwa hurriedly spoke up.
From his expression, it was clear this was a now-or-never moment.
"If you bring Sister Lusette back safely...!"
Having raised his voice, he faltered, unable to finish.
Then he hesitated, lips twitching as if wrestling with something.
A momentary wave of doubt: was this really okay?
'No, that's for later. Right now, saving Sister comes first, no matter what.'
Having been kidnapped once before, he could instinctively tell.
This was no ordinary matter.
Hesitating here would lead to major regrets later.
Finally, he squeezed his eyes shut and threw out his desperate gamble.
"...As payment, I'll teach you the Yun Clan's secret chakra technique—the Wheel Path."
"Huh? Wheel Path?"
Hoon tilted his head at the unfamiliar term.
He hadn't heard of it even during training.
"...Of course, unofficially. It's not supposed to be shared with outsiders..."
Forgetting his precocious persona, Yun Sohwa mumbled awkwardly, bowing his head.
Whatever it was, it seemed extremely important.
'Oh? They were hiding something like that? A secret art...'
But he had half-expected it.
After all, the Seongcheon Yun Clan was one of the handful of colossal powers across all of Sabacheon.
It wasn't strange for them to have an ace up their sleeve, hidden solely for their own use.
"Okay, deal."
He had been pondering whether to take it on anyway.
Now a weight had tipped the scales, no need to hesitate further.
'Grab everything good in sight. If it exists, it'll help accelerate my chakra growth.'
With a direct descendant of the Yun Clan providing it, there was no worry about Ramyu's safety either.
Plus, he could hone his chakra proficiency through real combat.
It seemed better than holing up in the Yun Clan repeating the same training.
And he could tour other parts of this world while at it.
"You'll provide transportation, right?"
"O-of course... Ahem! Naturally!"
"Oh, and I'm broke."
"We're the Seongcheon Yun Clan! We'll cover all expenses fully!"
Somehow, Yun Sohwa convinced the elders, and Hoon's dispatch to Hongshan Kingdom proceeded smoothly.
They weren't stepping out recklessly due to the need for balance, but if an alternative volunteered, there was no reason to refuse.
Thus, less than half a day after news of Lusette's disappearance spread...
One otherworlder was shipped off to Hongshan Kingdom.
***
Bam!
Hoon kicked open the lid of the boxy crate, rubbing his stiff nape as he crawled out.
"Ugh, chakra really is something. The world's full of all sorts of abilities."
It hadn't taken long for him, from within Yun Clan territory, to cross the border and reach the incident site.
It was truly indescribable except as 'bullet delivery service.'
'A supernova in the shipping industry. With that ability, I wouldn't starve on Earth either.'
Not ideal for living cargo—despite maximizing his physical reinforcement, his body still throbbed all over.
Still, traversing in under half a day what would take a week by land left no room for complaints.
"So this is the place?"
Catching his breath and optimizing his condition, Hoon slowly surveyed his surroundings.
A mountain forest thick with trees bearing reddish leaves everywhere.
Even though it was far from leaf-fall season, the dazzling spectacle made it instantly clear why this was called Hongshan Kingdom.
"...It's huge."
Climbing a nearby tree to scan the area, he immediately understood why the search was dragging.
A mountain range so vast its ends faded into the distance.
Finding traces of one person somewhere in this expanse was no easy task.
Especially if those traces had been thoroughly erased by ferocious beasts...
'Might not make it in time if I'm not careful.'
That such a skilled person hadn't left proper traces meant her situation was far from positive even now.
Her survival odds were plummeting exponentially with every passing moment.
"Can't just let that slide."
Of course, Hoon had no intention of ignoring it.
If he hadn't taken the job, fine—but having come this far, returning empty-handed was unacceptable.
He hadn't planned to drag this out anyway.
"Hoo, alright then."
Hoon took a deep breath.
His inner cosmos opened simultaneously.
Through "Root of Transcendence," a single mental image was drawn forth.
"Let's begin."
Wung—
With those words, a faint vibration leaked from his body.
Spreading outward, it softly dispersed, permeating the mountains, grasses, and trees—chakra.
Blinking his eyes, now star-shaped with the power of "nature" infused, Hoon quietly observed his surroundings.
'...Hmm, as expected. The efficiency isn't great.'
Unable to maintain it long, he squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his furrowed brow.
If it were High Elf Harris, the owner of the mental image, he could scan the entire mountain in one go.
Hoon, reaching his limit after just checking around one peak, clicked his tongue in regret.
'Still, there are results.'
No matter that it wasn't perfectly replicated, it was the mental image of a being who had reached transcendence through unity with nature.
He hadn't found distinct traces, but by momentarily assimilating with the area, he heard the whispers of the wind—and knew where to look next.
'Something definitely happened here. There's a hint of tampering too.'
His gaze shifted to the adjacent peak.
...No, beyond the nearby peaks, to a farther place.
"Might not wrap this up today."
His footsteps flowed lightly, like drifting clouds.
Toward the lair of the mastermind who had drawn him to this distant land.
***
A midnight forest enveloped in an eerie silence.
With the moon and stars—the lanterns of the dark night—completely hidden, the pitch-black ground brimmed only with desolation.
Trees that would normally exude elegant charm now resembled monsters with grotesquely twisted faces, while soft-leaved plants had become thorny vines dangling like nooses, lying in wait for prey.
Added to that were razor-sharp rocks, sticky swamps eager to snag feet, and the thick, head-spinning scent of blood.
This place was a ghost forest incarnate.
"Haa, haa..."
At the heart of this ghost forest.
A woman with disheveled hair roughly tied back panted heavily.
She knew well she should stifle her breathing, but she couldn't help it.
Her limits were truly approaching now.
'This dissonance... Time axis is distorted, as expected. How much time has passed outside?'
She had endured here for over ten days already.
Despite constant movement without rest, she hadn't escaped the ghost forest—hadn't even glimpsed rising sunlight.
'...I got careless. Who would've thought they'd intervene so deeply.'
Lusette had ended up like this because she fell into a trap while tracking the kidnapping's culprits.
A trap meticulously tailored, as if they knew she would come.
'How did they know? Unless there's a spy in the clan... and a high-ranking one at that...'
Her thoughts reached there, and she bit her lip, shaking her head vigorously.
If true, it was no small matter.
For her, with unshakeable loyalty to the clan, it was an unbelievable hypothesis.
As she caught her breath, pondering ways to break this situation...
"Is this the end this time? Starting to tire out, are we?"
A familiar thin man's voice sliced through her thoughts.
Gnashing her teeth, Lusette turned toward the source of the presence.
"Ghost Commander General...!"
A gaunt man with an oversized spear ill-suited to his frame, goat-like beard.
One of Hongshan Kingdom's representative generals smirked neatly, unlike her haggard state.
His green eyes gleaming with concentric rings.
"Urk, so the famed Thunder Tiger ends here too? Impressive, though. Didn't expect you'd last this far. Yun Clan bastards are always..."
Rumble—!
His leisurely words didn't finish.
A massive beam of light from Lusette blasted his entire body away in the blink of an eye.
"...Such a hasty temper. Still had that much power left?"
But the one reappearing opposite shook his head nonchalantly.
It had repeated so many times; no surprise now.
"Hup, huu."
Lusette glared at the eunuch-turned-general before her, steadying her breath with effort.
She knew him well by now.
A practitioner who had reached the inner realm like her: Ghost Commander General.
In a fair matchup under equal conditions, she wouldn't be pushed this far.
No, considering her combative nature, she might have subdued him without much trouble.
But from the moment she fell into his elaborately prepared trap, her odds plummeted to zero.
'Not just him. At least five upper-realm practitioners are supporting this formation. Who knows how many more below that.'
Unfair from the trap onward, and not even one-on-one.
To her, the situation felt utterly unreasonable.
'...You think I'll just take this lying down? Even if I die, I'll land one solid hit.'
But instead of complaining as always, she summoned her rage.
Lightning sparked in her gritted eyes.
Ignoring the trap, the spy behind this crisis, and even her brother's face persistently intruding her mind, she focused solely on the foe.
No luxury to divide her attention now.
As she steeled herself, sharpening her battle intent...
🧠 TELEPATHIC LINK 🧠 "Ah, ah. Hello? Can you hear me?" "Hm? Connection's good... Can't hear? It's Hoon." The voice, familiar from prior conversations, echoed in her mind.
That unexpected transmission rippled through her eyes, disrupting the focus she had barely mustered.