Chapter 96
Translator: T_Fan
“We’re heading back.”
At the one-eyed Elder’s words, the four cultivators standing aboard the flying boat looked up.
“Are we returning to Haigu Island?”
“No. We’re going to the cultivator market. I need to buy some Tier 3 bone material.”
“Anything on the market will be expensive.”
“What choice do we have?”
Riding the wind, the flying boat turned east toward the coast.
…
Two days later, at a cultivator market on the western coast of Kun Kingdom.
The one-eyed Elder sat at a table in the back of a shop dealing in bone material, facing a young man in a plain gray robe. The young man was a rogue cultivator whose aura placed him at the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment.
Three thick vertebrae and two leg bones with a bluish sheen lay on the table. The formidable demon power lingering over their surfaces made it obvious that they had come from Tier 3 demon beasts. Beside them, the shopkeeper smiled as he cautiously watched the Elder’s reaction.
“As luck would have it, this guest has brought in some rare goods. They’re much like what you were looking for, aren’t they, Elder?”
Rather than answer, the Elder picked up a vertebra and examined its cross-section, then sent his divine sense through it to inspect the structure around the marrow. The bone was in excellent condition.
The energy within the skeleton had remained undisturbed at the moment of the demon beast’s death, and the demon power inside had been fully preserved when the carcass was taken apart. Even if he had hunted the beast himself, he would have struggled to extract the bones in better condition.
“How much?”
“Five hundred sixty mid-grade spirit stones for all five.”
It was not cheap, but considering how much he had spent operating the flying boat over the past four fruitless months, perhaps he would have been better off paying a premium from the start. The thought only soured the Elder’s mood.
“The end of this leg bone is slightly damaged. Five hundred thirty.”
“That part would be cut away during refining anyway, so I haven’t charged for it. I can lower the price to five hundred fifty.”
The Elder’s heart suddenly lurched as he picked up the other leg bone in the midst of their bargaining.
His divine sense swept along the inside of the bone and caught on a tiny groove at the joint. The thin membrane covering the bone was still intact, though it would surely have been scraped away if whoever had butchered the beast had tried to remove even a little more flesh.
Without showing any sign of surprise, the Elder turned the bone to examine the cut beneath the joint. Normally, the cut would be made at the end of the joint, but this bone had been severed about half a cun (about 1.7 cm) below it. A short section of bone had been left in place like a plug, keeping the demon power flowing through the marrow from leaking out.
‘This is…!’
Examining the bones from the different demon beasts, he found the same distinctive details in all of them: the direction in which the tendons had been severed, the places where the bone membrane had been preserved, and even the angles of the cuts that sealed in the energy.
This was Haigu Island’s method!
Each inheritance concerned with bone material had its own preparation methods, but the differences were so slight that most cultivators could hardly tell them apart.
But they could not fool a Golden Core Elder who had spent his entire life working with bones on Haigu Island.
‘Did he prepare these himself? Or is he reselling goods smuggled out of Haigu Island…’
The Elder composed himself and set down the bone.
“Let’s make it five hundred forty. The quality is good. We should do business again.”
“Agreed.”
The disguised Lee Hyun nodded readily, accepted the spirit stones, and put them into his storage pouch. Even after deducting the shop’s brokerage fee, it was a respectable price.
Once the one-eyed old man, who had inspected the goods so meticulously, left the shop with his Juniors, Lee Hyun also rose from his seat.
…
The one-eyed Elder stopped at a street corner about two alleys away from the shop.
“You two stay behind and see where that man goes. Whatever you do, don’t get too close.”
“Was there something wrong with the bone material?”
“The goods are impeccable. I won’t even need to prepare them any further myself. Did nothing strike you about those bones?”
The Juniors fell silent, clearly at a loss. The Elder clicked his tongue.
Had the man been an ordinary Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator, the Elder could simply have seized him by the scruff of the neck. But he had offered no fewer than five pieces of Tier 3 bone material, which even Golden Core cultivators struggled to obtain. And the divine sense that had brushed against the Elder’s during the exchange had been strangely calm.
If another expert was backing the man, or Haigu Island’s inheritance had leaked to outsiders, the matter would be difficult for someone with his limited standing to handle alone.
“Perfected Yan is still staying at the cultivator market, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He’s aboard the flying boat at the eastern pier.”
Yan Wuzhen belonged to the Yin Bird Sect’s main sect.
A late Golden Core great cultivator, he had recently been traveling up and down Kun Kingdom’s coast on orders from the main sect.
Had the Elder approached him empty-handed after a failed hunt, he would only have invited ridicule. A matter involving their sect’s inheritance was another story.
…
A short while later, in a cabin aboard the flying boat docked at the eastern pier.
Yan Wuzhen ran his hand over the bone material on the table, then lightly flicked one of the vertebrae with a finger. A clear yet eerie note resonated through the cabin.
“It’s a little old-fashioned, but… there’s no mistaking our method. Who is that guy?”
“He appeared to be at the Great Perfection stage of Foundation Establishment, but he was unusually composed. I suspect he either deals in goods smuggled out of Haigu Island or has someone else behind him.”
The gap in strength between the one-eyed cultivator and Yan Wuzhen was so vast that, despite being a fellow Golden Core cultivator, he did not dare speak to him casually.
“So you brought this to me because our inheritance is at stake and you couldn’t afford to take it lightly. Is that it?”
Yan Wuzhen rose with a faint smirk.
“There’s no need to cause a disturbance in the cultivator market. Once the bastard leaves, we’ll follow him.”
***
That afternoon, Lee Hyun left the cultivator market and headed north along the coast. After crossing several mountain ridges, he quietly slowed his pace.
He could sense someone following him at a steady distance.
‘Is it the group from the shop?’
Lee Hyun sped up to test them. Even after he crossed two ridges in a single burst, the presence behind him had not fallen back at all. When he slowed again, his pursuers did the same, maintaining their distance.
‘They won’t be easy to shake. Should I hide underground?’
Lee Hyun considered it briefly, then shook his head.
He had yet to gather all the Tier 3 demon cores he needed for the Golden Core Condensing Pill.
He would still need to travel between this coast and the open sea. Not knowing why he was being followed would make his future movements here troublesome.
Better to confront his pursuers and deal with the problem at its source.
If his pursuer was a Nascent Soul cultivator, even the Earth Escape Art would not let him escape easily. Otherwise, he could simply slip underground if things went wrong.
Rather than continue inland, Lee Hyun turned out to sea and headed for a barren rocky island far from the shipping routes. The uninhabited island was covered in cliffs and rocky peaks scoured by fierce sea winds, with a dry valley at its center that seawater could not reach.
Landing in the middle of the valley, Lee Hyun lightly probed the earth vein beneath his feet. Beneath the thick bedrock, he found no unusual mineral veins or traces of formations that might interfere with an escape art. If necessary, the bedrock would provide him with a way out.
He turned and looked up. Before long, a medium-sized flying boat parted the clouds above the island. On its deck stood the one-eyed old man and four Foundation Establishment cultivators he had seen earlier, along with a middle-aged man in blue robes.
Lee Hyun’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the middle-aged man. The magical power radiating from him felt as deep and heavy as the sea itself.
‘Late Golden Core…’
As Lee Hyun extended his divine sense in every direction and confirmed that no one else lay in ambush, the blue-robed cultivator descended from the flying boat and stood at the valley entrance.
“You waited for us instead of running?”
“You kept following me, so I thought I’d hear what business you had with me.”
Lee Hyun turned his gaze toward the one-eyed old man.
“Was there a problem with the bone material I sold earlier?”
“The goods were excellent.”
Answering in the old man’s place, the blue-robed cultivator stepped forward and flicked his sleeve. One of the vertebrae from their earlier transaction floated into the air.
“I am Yan Wuzhen of the Yin Bird Sect. This bone was prepared exactly as our secret teachings on Haigu Island prescribe. Tell me who supplied you with these goods, or where you learned that method.”
‘Ah… so that’s what this is about.’
Lee Hyun gave a brief inward sigh as he looked at the floating bone.
“I merely sold my own goods for a fair price. Am I also obliged to explain where they came from?”
“If you won’t talk, I’ll have to pry the answer out of you myself.”
A black feather fan inscribed with silver patterns appeared in Yan Wuzhen’s hand. The moment he opened it halfway, the valley’s temperature plummeted as yin qi spread, cold enough to bite into the flesh.
At the same time, the four Foundation Establishment cultivators leaped from the flying boat, scattered along the ridges surrounding the valley, and planted gray formation flags. The one-eyed old man also descended and concealed his presence in the shadow of a boulder near the valley entrance.
Hummmm–
Ash-gray mist surged along the ridges, instantly preventing sound and fluctuations of spiritual power from passing into or out of the valley. Watching calmly as the concealment formation closed around him, Lee Hyun asked a question.
“You expect me to open my primordial spirit and submit to soul searching? And what will you do if it damages my primordial spirit?”
“That depends on how well you behave. Resist, and I’ll shatter your limbs before dragging your primordial spirit out myself!”
Before he had finished speaking, Yan Wuzhen’s fan slashed through the air.
Ruuumble!
The magical power of a late Golden Core great cultivator erupted, warping the air throughout the sky above the valley.
The Nine Nether Yin Wind burst from the fan and instantly formed the talons of a monstrous, house-sized bird, shrieking as they reached for Lee Hyun’s head and both shoulders.
Primordial True Qi surged from Lee Hyun’s entire body like a tidal wave.
Humm! Hummmm!
Fifty gleaming Spirit Light Shields sprang into being in the blink of an eye.
But the instant the black talons, condensed from late Golden Core magical power, struck them, the thirty-odd shields at the front shattered at once!
Baaang!
Lee Hyun did not so much as blink as the shields broke. He angled the remaining dozen or so Spirit Light Shields to deflect the talons to the side. At the same time, he activated the Reclining Escape Art, his feet sliding into the ground.
BOOOOM!
The bedrock where he had stood caved in several zhang (about 3.3 m each) deep, sending stone fragments spraying upward like torrential rain.
Lee Hyun slid out through the dust cloud, firing one fireball after another from the fingertips of both hands, each compressed until it burned almost white-hot.
‘A mere basic technique!’
Yan Wuzhen snorted, thickening his body-protecting magical light. Ignoring the first fireball, he started to swing his fan again.
Then he sensed the density of spiritual power packed into the fireball just before his face, and his expression changed abruptly.
Boom-boom-boom-boooom–
A chain of explosions turned the entire valley into a blazing sea of crimson fire. There was nothing unusual about the flames produced by the Fireball Art, but the amount of spiritual power crammed into them defied common sense.
His body-protecting magical light buckled inward at once, and Yan Wuzhen was driven far back.
He hurriedly swung his black fan, raising a wall of yin wind that tore through the oncoming firestorm. At that instant, beyond the flames, Lee Hyun’s newly drawn Sinking Moon Sword traced a silver-gray arc.
Whoooosh!
Great Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Qi split into dozens of strands and surged through the gaps between the exploding fireballs. With the flames disrupting both vision and divine sense, two fireballs circled around and struck Yan Wuzhen in the flank, followed so closely by sword light that he had no chance to recover.
Several streaks seemed to miss him entirely, slipping past Yan Wuzhen and vanishing into the shadows of the valley walls.
Under the relentless succession of attacks, a blue jade token shot up from Yan Wuzhen’s waist.
Humm–
Bang! Screeeech!
Fireballs and sword qi battered the rippling blue screen of light projected by the jade token, sending violent waves across its surface.
Every trace of the easy smile vanished from Yan Wuzhen’s face.
‘Is this bastard really a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Just what is he?!’
Lee Hyun formed hand seals faster than the eye could follow. From the speed at which he created Spirit Light Shields to the timing of his interlocking fireballs and sword qi, everything about his technique was extraordinary.
Most staggering of all was the absurd amount of spiritual power at his disposal.
‘Trading attacks at a distance like this will get me nowhere.’
Yan Wuzhen slapped the pouch at his waist with his left hand.
Ruuumble–
Pitch-black yin qi shot skyward in a towering column, and two enormous skeletal monsters appeared at once in the middle of the valley.
One was a twenty-zhang-long White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet, carved from the intact skeleton of a Tier 3 sea beast. The other was a Six-Armed White Bone Demon, twice a man’s height and covered in formation inscriptions. Each of its six arms held a bone saber with a chilling blue sheen!
And that was not all.
Yan Wuzhen formed a hand seal with his left hand. Ghastly pale flames erupted at once from his palm and the mouths of the two bone puppets.
Fwoooosh–
White Bone Yin Fire, capable of melting even bone with ease, rode the fan’s Nine Nether Yin Wind throughout the valley. The Spirit Light Shields constantly forming around Lee Hyun hissed like snowflakes falling into boiling water and melted away in an instant.
Trying to counter White Bone Yin Fire fueled by late Golden Core magical power with a basic defensive technique was costing Lee Hyun far too much spiritual power.
Whoooosh!
The Six-Armed White Bone Demon kicked off the ground and shot through a gap in the melting Spirit Light Shields, appearing right before Lee Hyun faster than the eye could follow.
Wreathed in White Bone Yin Fire, its six bone sabers slashed toward Lee Hyun’s neck, chest, dantian, and limbs in a crisscrossing barrage.
Behind it, the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet smashed its massive tail into the ground, raising a tidal wave of stone fragments. Overhead, Yan Wuzhen swept his black fan downward, unleashing a Great Wind Blade dozens of zhang long to cut off Lee Hyun’s retreat!
Clatter!
The Six-Leaf Shield’s six plates interlocked and spun like gears, meeting Yan Wuzhen’s descending black Great Wind Blade at an angle.
BOOOOM–
An ear-splitting explosion rang out as the Great Wind Blade’s shockwave sheared through the middle of the rocky peak behind the valley, bringing it crashing down.
Lee Hyun lowered his body and rode the tremendous shockwave. Rather than evade the Six-Armed White Bone Demon’s six sabers already upon him, he slipped half a step forward.
Fwoooosh!
Clear Yang Purifying Fire streamed from his fingertips and split into countless threads of flame, burning directly against the frigid energy of the White Bone Yin Fire.
He conjured the golden hand of the Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal with his left while executing the precise footwork of the martial path.
Clang! Clang-clang!
Guided by the sword principles of a grandmaster of the martial path, the Sinking Moon Sword in his right hand changed direction three times in an instant, deflecting the first four bone sabers at uncanny angles.
As the deflected sabers struck the Six-Armed White Bone Demon’s other arms and tangled its attacks, Lee Hyun twisted his left hand as though wrenching the air apart.
Whooom–
The Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal seized the Six-Armed White Bone Demon by the nape and hurled it directly into the path of the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet’s massive tail as it swept toward him.
At the same time, an explosive surge of Earth-Origin Force pulled at the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet’s body!
Crrrunch!
The White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet’s tail struck the Six-Armed White Bone Demon head-on with a deafening crash.
Just as a startled Yan Wuzhen tried to bring the two puppets under control with his divine sense, Lee Hyun burst up through the dust, another golden palm imprint forming in his left hand.
BOOOOM–
The many-layered golden palm slammed straight down onto the off-balance Six-Armed White Bone Demon’s crown. Its skull and sternum, refined from Tier 3 bone material, caved in at once. All six arms were ripped away in different directions, and its soul stone shattered!
“You bastard!”
Yan Wuzhen’s eyes flew wide. Even an early Golden Core cultivator might not have destroyed that puppet after a prolonged struggle, yet it had been wrecked in just a few exchanges!
Pushing off the ground, Lee Hyun slid away and, without even pausing for breath, directed six yellow flying swords and the Sinking Moon Sword at once. Dozens of streaks of sword light and white-hot fireballs shot toward Yan Wuzhen again like driving rain.
…
The one-eyed Elder watched from behind a shattered boulder, his lips blue with fear.
With the spiritual power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at Great Perfection, Lee Hyun had withstood a late Golden Core great cultivator’s magic treasure and White Bone Yin Fire, then smashed a Tier 3 bone puppet in an instant.
[Elder! Shouldn’t we ambush that bastard while he’s occupied with Perfected Yan and the remaining flood-dragon puppet?]
The Elder resented his Junior’s apparent attempt to prod him into acting, but the suggestion itself was sound. If Yan Wuzhen faltered, none of them would leave the island alive.
‘But even Perfected Yan is struggling against that bastard… An ambush is my only chance.’
The Elder thought of his hidden trump card, the life-bound bone nail. He held his breath and began pouring all his magical power into the bone nail.
Lee Hyun slipped beneath the bedrock to avoid a beam of magical power spat out by the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet, then emerged on the other side and turned his head with uncanny fluidity.
The instant their gazes met, the coldness in Lee Hyun’s eyes sent a shiver through the one-eyed Elder.
Whooosh–
An invisible force clamped around the Elder’s chest and wrenched him mercilessly into the air.
‘Gah?!’
Panicking, the Elder surrounded himself with body-protecting magical light and activated the Skywalking Art, but he could not stop himself from being dragged forward.
Still firing fireballs and sword light behind him at Yan Wuzhen, Lee Hyun stepped toward the Elder, who had been pulled right before him.
Hummmm–
The golden hand of the Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal rose from Lee Hyun’s left hand, clenched into a fist, and struck the Elder square in the face!
Bang!
“Ghk!”
Before he could even launch his life-bound bone nail, the Elder was sent flying, spitting blood as his body smashed deep into the valley wall.
Lee Hyun flicked a finger, sending a sharp streak of light through the falling dust to pierce the Elder’s brow and primordial spirit in a single strike.
…
A chill ran down Yan Wuzhen’s spine as he watched the one-eyed Elder get dragged away and crushed in a single breath.
Even in the brief moments Lee Hyun spent killing the Elder, the barrage of sword light and fireballs bearing down on Yan Wuzhen had not slackened in the slightest!
‘Dammit, one wrong move and I could die here today!’
Yan Wuzhen struck himself just beneath the sternum with his left hand and spat out a mouthful of bright-red essence blood.
From his sleeve rose the Myriad-Soul White Bone Banner, a sinister magic treasure with pitch-black silk attached to a pole of linked human vertebrae. It drank in every last drop of essence blood.
Screeeeeech–
Thousands of resentful spirits let out ear-splitting screams as black mist poured from the White Bone Banner like a waterfall, engulfing the entire valley at once.
Within the surging mist, thousands of evil ghosts and resentful spirits of demon beasts clung to Lee Hyun’s body-protecting spirit light and gnawed away at his spiritual power. Waves of ghostly wailing shook his primordial spirit and sea of consciousness.
The Essence-Protecting Seal in Lee Hyun’s sea of consciousness vibrated ceaselessly, consuming spiritual power at an alarming rate.
Within the mist, Yan Wuzhen’s body underwent a strange transformation of its own.
Crack-crack! Crunch!
Profound Yin White Bone Armor grew out through his skin, encasing his entire body in an unbroken shell. Nine blood-red bone spears sprang up behind him and moved as one with the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet hidden in the mist, hemming Lee Hyun in from every side!
Nine Nether Yin Wind raged through the mist as well, while the mist rendered both sight and divine sense useless.
“It doesn’t matter how much spiritual power you have. Once you’re blind and deaf and your primordial spirit has rotted away, you’re nothing but a lump of meat.”
As Yan Wuzhen’s voice echoed from beyond the mist, the nine bone spears stabbed at Lee Hyun’s blind spots.
But at that very moment, a clear, majestic golden radiance, bright enough to sting the eyes, blossomed amid the tide of evil spirits.
Deep within Lee Hyun’s sea of consciousness, the All-Hearing Heavenly King manifestation of the Sumeru Visualization Scripture rose to its full height. The scripture had reached Major Attainment, and the manifestation repelled the surging ghostly wailing and the resentful spirits’ corrosive assault, keeping his primordial spirit clear.
Buddha-Light True Qi then burst brilliantly from Lee Hyun’s hands.
He struck out repeatedly with the Demon-Subduing Seal in his left hand and spread a web of fire with the Flame-Threading Art in his right. The golden Dharma seals and flames of the Buddhist tradition, which purified resentful spirits and ghostly entities, spun like a vast wheel, forcing back the black mist all around him.
Screeeech!
The resentful spirits screamed and evaporated into smoke as the Buddha-Light True Qi touched them, while the mist was violently driven back to either side.
Spirit Light Shields infused with Buddha-Light True Qi sprang into being once more. This time, they held firm against the White Bone Yin Fire instead of melting, golden ripples spreading across their surfaces.
The Six-Leaf Shield and yellow flying swords circling Lee Hyun struck the nine exposed spears like lightning.
Screeeech! Bang!
Riding the recoil as his flying swords and shield plates knocked away the bone spears, Lee Hyun swept the Sinking Moon Sword through an elegant arc.
Hummmm–
At that instant, dozens of streaks of silver light awoke throughout the valley, both in the open air and in the shadows of the cliffs!
They were strands of Great Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Qi that Lee Hyun had been scattering throughout the valley since the very first exchange of his battle with Yan Wuzhen.
Their presence completely concealed until now, the strands of sword qi answered one another the instant the mist parted, turning the entire valley into a vast prison of swords!
Great Unity Heavenly Dipper, Thirty-Fourth Form: Sword Net.
‘He has the magical power of the Buddhist tradition and a sword formation too?!’
Horrified, Yan Wuzhen swung the Myriad-Soul White Bone Banner to tear through the sword formation. But dozens of streaks of sword light rained in from all directions, interlocking with white-hot fireballs glowing gold with Buddha-Light True Qi to shred the White Bone Banner’s silk!
Boom-boom-boom-boooom–
The Myriad-Soul White Bone Banner screamed as it shattered, and Yan Wuzhen spat blood from the backlash.
He hurriedly charged one wall of the sword formation, using the spears and the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet as shields.
Screeeeech!
Several streaks of sword light were ground apart by bone and yin wind, but before a gap could open, fresh sword qi poured from Lee Hyun’s Sinking Moon Sword and filled it at once.
Earth-Origin Force kept seizing Yan Wuzhen’s ankles and shoulders, wrenching him off course. Whenever he faltered, fireballs and sword light swept in from every direction.
‘I just have to hold out! He can’t keep using the Buddhist tradition’s techniques, a sword formation, and that strange pulling force without exhausting his spiritual power.’
Yan Wuzhen gritted his teeth and poured magical power into the Profound Yin White Bone Armor covering his body and the blue jade token.
Yet even after dozens of breaths, Lee Hyun’s assault showed no sign of weakening. On the contrary, the sword light filling the valley only grew denser.
Amid the battle, screams broke out one after another along the ridges surrounding the valley.
“Aaargh!”
“Help–”
Even while controlling the sword formation, Lee Hyun occasionally flicked strands of sword qi toward them. The four terrified Foundation Establishment cultivators abandoned their formation flags and tried to flee, only to have their body-protecting spirit light pierced as they tumbled from the ridge one after another.
Yan Wuzhen’s eyelids twitched.
Driving the Nine Nether Yin Wind Fan, the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet, the nine bone spears, and the blue jade token to their limits had already drained more than half the magical power within his golden core.
Yet the young man standing beyond the sword formation continued to draw on what seemed an inexhaustible reserve of spiritual power.
‘At this rate, I’ll die!’
With his life hanging in the balance, Yan Wuzhen burned his essence blood without hesitation.
BOOOOM!
He detonated all nine remaining spears against the top of the sword formation, forcibly tearing open its ceiling.
At the same time, Yan Wuzhen’s body burst apart into blood-red mist, then split into three streaks that shot across the sky in different directions!
‘Blood Escape Art? He can split himself into three…’
The sophisticated technique caught Lee Hyun off guard for a moment, but his mastery of the Aura-Reading Art and Farsight Art had reached a transcendent level, allowing him to see through all three streaks of blood-red light at once.
‘The middle one!’
Lee Hyun clenched his left hand as though trying to crush the air itself.
Whooooom–
An anchor of Earth-Origin Force, fed without restraint by the Primordial True Qi throughout his body, caught the central streak of blood-red light squarely in midair!
The upward momentum of Yan Wuzhen’s blood-light form collided head-on with the savage force dragging him down, warping the crimson figure in midair before it could escape the sword formation.
“Aaaaargh!”
The two decoy blood-shadows on either side dissolved into nothing. Trapped by the pulling force, Yan Wuzhen was forced back into his true form in midair, spitting blood!
During that brief delay, the sword formation overhead knitted itself together again, completely sealing off his escape through the sky.
With even his Blood Escape Art thwarted, Yan Wuzhen’s eyes took on the frenzy of a cornered beast.
“I’m taking you with me, you monstrous bastard!”
He forced more magical power and essence blood into the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet and his fan.
The White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet swallowed the essence blood and let out a valley-shaking roar, charging Lee Hyun as though intent on blowing itself apart. His bone armor gleaming, Yan Wuzhen swept his fan downward, unleashing a pitch-black hurricane that seemed capable of splitting the valley in two.
Another brilliant golden sun blazed from Lee Hyun’s left hand.
Three Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seals appeared at once, blotting out the sky!
The three golden palm imprints smashed mercilessly down on the charging White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet. It shattered as it crashed into the ground.
Yan Wuzhen’s Great Wind Blade tore through the wreckage and bore down on Lee Hyun’s face.
Crack-crack!
Spirit Light Shields sprang up and shattered in rapid succession, while the Six-Leaf Shield spun at an angle to deflect most of the impact.
The black blade that slipped through tore apart Lee Hyun’s body-protecting spirit light. Just as it was about to bite into his left shoulder, the first spirit molt sprang from the Three-Molt Silkworm Robe beneath his outer robe and intercepted it.
As Lee Hyun swung the Sinking Moon Sword, a yellow flying sword rose silently into the lower left of Yan Wuzhen’s vision.
Yan Wuzhen turned the blue jade token’s barrier toward it and prepared to attack Lee Hyun with his remaining strength. At that instant, the energy carried by the yellow flying sword suddenly transformed into something on an entirely different level!
‘Wh-what is this?!’
Yan Wuzhen’s primordial spirit seized up as though struck by lightning, interrupting the circulation of his magical power for an instant.
Deprived of its master’s control, the blue screen of light wavered. In that instant, sword light from the sword formation closing in on all sides converged on a single point, forcing the screen inward.
Screeeeech–
Yan Wuzhen snapped back to his senses and hurriedly tried to pull away, but a dazzling point of light shot into view.
Crunch!
The flying sword punched through the buckled screen of light, pierced the Profound Yin White Bone Armor around Yan Wuzhen’s neck head-on, and buried itself deep in his upper chest!
Sword qi and vow power exploded inside his chest, shredding his organs and meridians.
Yan Wuzhen’s jaw went slack, and the strength drained from the hand gripping his fan.
Without withdrawing the flying sword, Lee Hyun drove the divine sense and vow power carried by its sword qi all the way through, scattering every last trace of Yan Wuzhen’s struggling primordial spirit.
Thud!
The late Golden Core great cultivator’s corpse fell onto the shattered bedrock alongside the blue jade token, now drained of light.
The black yin wind that had howled as though it would swallow the valley died away with startling suddenness.
…
Lee Hyun remained where he was for a while, sweeping the island and its surroundings with his divine sense. Only after confirming that no other presences remained did he disperse the sword qi suspended in the air that made up the sword formation.
One spirit molt of the Three-Molt Silkworm Robe had been damaged, but it would regrow with time and nurturing. The yellow flying swords, the Sinking Moon Sword, and the Six-Leaf Shield were all intact.
To spare the Six-Leaf Shield from damage, he had relied on sheer numbers of Spirit Light Shields this time. Against White Bone Yin Fire, they had consumed far too much spiritual power for the protection they offered, but once he mixed in Buddha-Light True Qi, the basic technique had proved quite useful.
‘Late Golden Core cultivators really are strong, and they have plenty of tricks.’
A single late Golden Core cultivator was more difficult to deal with than several of the early or mid Golden Core cultivators and demon beasts he had fought before.
Should he encounter a cultivator at the Great Perfection stage of Golden Core who excelled at magical combat, even he could not afford to be careless.
He had more spiritual power, but pitting it against magical power also consumed much more of it. Having greater reserves did not solve everything as neatly as he had expected.
Fortunately, his Buddha-Light True Qi had been well suited to countering this opponent’s techniques. Against techniques that countered his own, the battle would have been far more exhausting.
After briefly catching his breath, Lee Hyun began clearing the battlefield.
He picked out Tier 3 bone fragments and pieces of shattered bone spears worth studying from the remains of the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet and Six-Armed White Bone Demon, then carefully gathered the magic tools, storage pouches, and formation flags scattered around the battlefield.
When Lee Hyun took the one-eyed old man’s storage pouch, he found all five pieces of bone material he had sold earlier that day untouched inside it. The discovery left him with an odd feeling.
‘This makes it look like I scammed him….’
***
Ten days later, in a cave beneath a deserted stretch of coastal cliffs.
Lee Hyun lowered a jade slip from his forehead, his eyes gleaming. He had found it in the late Golden Core cultivator’s storage pouch.
It was the Golden Core Section of the 《Profound Yin White Bone True Scripture》!
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