WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Carefree Tale of Cultivation ◈

Chapter 24: Demon Beast Hunt (3)

──────

The sight of Jin Hyeon collapsing to the ground froze the group in place.

Jang Cheon had suddenly attacked Jin Hyeon.

Could he have planned this trap beforehand with that hunchback cultivator?

Jang Cheon, too, was startled by the unexpected result.

He had never imagined Jin Hyeon would be knocked unconscious in a single blow.

His magical artifact had been strengthened by the new power he had acquired, but still. To take down a Qi Refining, Level 7 cultivator in one strike.

That overwhelming strength convinced him that he had made the right choice.

As Jin Hyeon fell, the hunchback cultivator gave a raspy laugh.

"Well done. Yes... Four should be enough."

A flame similar to Jang Cheon's, yet darker and hotter, rose from one hand.

Then, holding the flame, the cultivator vanished from Seol Ga-yeong's sight.

Where did he go?

Seol Ga-yeong turned her head in alarm, but a scream rang out before she could find her opponent.

"Ahhh!"

The hunchback had already appeared beside Madam Hong and lifted her into the air by the throat.

The flame gathered in his palm swiftly spread to Madam Hong's body.

The black-red flames greedily consumed her whole body before she could even let out a second scream.

In the blink of an eye, Madam Hong became a pile of ashes, leaving behind only her storage pouch.

Though enraged by the brutal sight, Seol Ga-yeong could not bring herself to move.

Their opponent far surpassed them in strength, and with Jang Cheon's betrayal, resistance was meaningless.

A companion who had traveled with them for months had just died, but there was no time to mourn.

Despite her youth, Seol Ga-yeong had encountered situations like this more than once during her life as an independent cultivator. She calmly spoke.

"Senior, if we have wronged you in any way, please forgive us. We will offer everything we have, so please show mercy to your juniors."

It was filthy and humiliating, but this was reality.

If they wanted to live, they had no choice but to submit to the strong and escape this situation.

Seol Ga-yeong cupped her fist in her palm toward the hunchback cultivator and waited for an answer.

If he were only after wealth, perhaps they could save their lives. The chance was slim, but still.

"Everything you own already belongs to this Venerable Flying Swallow. What else could you give me? Don't waste your time racking your brains. Now, swallow one of these each."

Yet the hunchback cultivator, who identified himself as Venerable Flying Swallow, calmly mocked her and took out a strange jar.

Before the frightened eyes of Seol Ga-yeong and the Dan brothers, he drew four red medicinal pills from the jar and laid them in his palm.

"Accepting these Blood Parasite Pills is the only way you will live."

The brothers did not understand the order and looked puzzled, but Seol Ga-yeong seemed to remember something. The blood drained from her face.

"Blood Parasite Pills... And that black-red demonic fire earlier... Senior, are you perhaps from Ghost-Soul Palace?"

Ghost-Soul Palace.

It was a rapidly growing demonic sect infamous for using vicious gu arts to abduct independent cultivators and disciples of small and medium-sized sects, forcing them into slavery.

Seol Ga-yeong had only heard rumors of it. She had never imagined Ghost-Soul Palace would set its sights on her.

"Someone from Ghost-Soul Palace... Yes, that's right. It seems you know Ghost-Soul Palace's reputation well. Now, unless you want to join that pile of ashes, swallow the Blood Parasite Pill at once."

Venerable Flying Swallow frowned as if the words displeased him and waved a hand.

From his perspective, that was only natural. He could not truly be called a member of Ghost-Soul Palace either.

He had originally been an independent cultivator, one of the rare independent cultivators who was both powerful and free, just short of Foundation Establishment.

Then one day, a group of Ghost-Soul Palace cultivators had descended upon him, beaten him down, and implanted an unheard-of gu insect into his Soul Sea.

Ever since, Venerable Flying Swallow had spent his days, half by force and half to escape the gu insect's influence, raiding independent cultivators and delivering them to Ghost-Soul Palace.

But that life would soon be over.

Venerable Flying Swallow smiled sickeningly.

Thanks to that Jang Cheon he had captured not long ago, he had obtained two cultivators who could make puppets, as well as a beautiful female cultivator. If he offered them to Ghost-Soul Palace, he would be freed from the gu insect in his Soul Sea and become a true member of Ghost-Soul Palace.

At first, he had only wanted to escape. But the demonic path's powerful secret arts and methods that increased the chance of reaching Foundation Establishment had been enough to seize his desires.

He scattered the Blood Parasite Pills in his hand. Superior Ghost-Soul Parasites would have been better, but as little more than a slave of Ghost-Soul Palace, he had no right to use such resources.

The four pills flew toward Seol Ga-yeong, the Dan brothers, and Jin Hyeon, who lay on the ground.

Seol Ga-yeong frowned at the pills in disbelief.

Blood Parasite Pills were little different from gu insect eggs. The moment one swallowed a pill, they came under the caster's control, and their spiritual veins would be restricted so they could no longer reach Foundation Establishment.

They were pills made to create slaves.

"Wait a moment, Senior. You said... you would not kill Cultivator Seol and would give her to me..."

Jang Cheon, who had been glaring at Jin Hyeon beside the fallen youth, heard Venerable Flying Swallow's threat and spoke in a reluctant tone.

At those words, Seol Ga-yeong forgot that a demonic cultivator on the verge of Foundation Establishment stood before her. Her pale face flushed red with rage.

"You... You're worse than a beast! You would hand us over as slaves to Ghost-Soul Palace for such a disgusting reason?"

Jang Cheon flinched, perhaps pricked by a little guilt, but then answered with renewed boldness.

"Don't think of it so negatively, Cultivator Seol. Independent cultivators like us will spend our whole lives unable to reach Foundation Establishment, only to become a handful of dust in the end. Wouldn't it be better to devote ourselves to Ghost-Soul Palace and continue on the immortal path?"

As he spoke, Jang Cheon raised his spear, wreathed in black-red flames.

"Look at this. My strength has risen beyond comparison after I learned the powerful demonic arts passed down by Ghost-Soul Palace. Didn't this damned bastard fall to my single strike? With Ghost-Soul Palace's special secret arts and cultivation methods, reaching Foundation Establishment need not remain a dream for us. Cultivator Seol should thank me and serve me as her husband!"

Seol Ga-yeong was speechless.

She lived as an independent cultivator only because entering a sect felt stifling to her. With her outstanding talent and affinity for ice spell arts, she had a fair chance of reaching Foundation Establishment and even beyond.

Jang Cheon knew that, as did everyone in her group.

He simply refused to admit that he had committed this act out of his desire to possess Seol Ga-yeong, and was swallowing whatever excuses he could find.

But Seol Ga-yeong knew that anger would change nothing.

"What a touching conversation. I don't care what you do after joining Ghost-Soul Palace. But if you do not swallow those pills right now, I will kill every last one of you. And you, woman. Earlier, you asked whether you had wronged me. Yes. You have committed a great sin. That sin is being weaker than me."

Venerable Flying Swallow growled as he summoned beside him a fireball even larger than the demonic flames that had killed Madam Hong.

He did not care about any promise to Jang Cheon that he had no intention of keeping. Nor did he care that Jang Cheon failed to realize he was little more than a slave.

Seol Ga-yeong's attitude merely resembled his own reaction when first facing Ghost-Soul Palace, and it irritated him without his knowing why.

If only he had reached Foundation Establishment then. Ghost-Soul Palace would likely have shown some courtesy while recruiting him.

Unlike Yeok-il, who slowly picked up the pill under Venerable Flying Swallow's roar, Yeok-i immediately tossed his pill into his mouth.

Yeok-i gave a bitter smile to his stunned brother.

"There isn't any other choice, is there? Even if I become a slave, it's better to be alive."

Venerable Flying Swallow watched with satisfaction, then turned his gaze toward Jang Cheon. More precisely, toward Jin Hyeon lying at his feet.

After seeming to weigh something for a moment, he gave Jang Cheon an order.

"Feed a Blood Parasite Pill to that one lying there too."

"Yes!"

Jang Cheon excitedly kicked Jin Hyeon over.

They had known each other for less than a day, but Jin Hyeon's sudden appearance had made Jang Cheon worry that his plan to offer Seol Ga-yeong's group would go wrong.

And the jealousy he felt at the favor Seol Ga-yeong showed Jin Hyeon was an added matter.

Jang Cheon picked up the Blood Parasite Pill from the ground.

Feeling something unidentified writhing beneath the surface of the red pill, Jang Cheon's hand trembled without his realizing it.

He had also been forced to swallow one when Venerable Flying Swallow captured him, so he knew well how horrifying it was.

Still, the thought of feeding it to this irritating bastard made him feel good.

'Maybe you'll even thank me. Ghost-Soul Palace's demonic arts are powerful, after all.'

Just as Jang Cheon approached Jin Hyeon, whose mouth hung open in unconsciousness, and tried to force the Blood Parasite Pill inside,

Slice.

Drip, drip.

'What?'

Jang Cheon's vision swayed, and he braced one hand against the ground.

Red blood flowed out and quickly covered the back of his hand.

His body, warning him of mortal danger, explosively circulated spiritual qi throughout him. Only then did he regain some ability to think.

His neck had been cut.

"Grrrgh!"

Jang Cheon clutched his nearly severed neck with one hand and sprang backward.

But he was too late.

A red flash flared.

When the lightning that had illuminated the cavern in red faded, Jang Cheon had become charcoal rolling across the ground.

"Haa..."

Jin Hyeon rose to his feet, looking regretfully at the fingertips reddened by the Red Thunder Finger.

If that Venerable Flying Swallow had approached personally, he could have landed a blow. He was needlessly sharp.

Jin Hyeon called the Pipa Sword to his hand and shook the blood from its edge.

"Fellow Cultivator Jin!"

Seol Ga-yeong cried out in surprise and delight at the sudden turn of events.

But Jin Hyeon did not respond.

Instead, he sent the Pipa Sword into the air. He held the Red Thunder Finger in one hand and three defensive talismans in the other.

Naturally, Jang Cheon's blow had not defeated him.

From the moment a cultivator had suddenly begun pursuing them, Jin Hyeon had suspected that Seol Ga-yeong's group intended to rob him.

That was why he had activated a Diamond Talisman in advance, allowing him to block Jang Cheon's attack.

Of course, he had still taken enough damage to surpass the talisman's defense, enough that the others would not notice anything strange.

But he had one advantage.

The black-red flame wrapped around Jang Cheon's magical artifact, which Seol Ga-yeong had called demonic fire.

It was not Jin Hyeon's first encounter with it.

When he had been attacked near Sameung Market in the past, he had met a demonic cultivator who used precisely the same flame.

Even then, when he had been weaker than he was now, his lightning arts had held a strong elemental advantage over it, enough to make his opponent wary.

Having obtained that cultivator's cultivation method, Jin Hyeon knew this well. His opponent's demonic fire was greatly disadvantaged against his lightning arts.

While Jang Cheon mistakenly believed him unconscious, Jin Hyeon had used thunder qi to weaken the demonic fire and lay still, observing the situation. From the conversation between Seol Ga-yeong and Venerable Flying Swallow, he had learned much.

'The person who attacked me last time was probably from Ghost-Soul Palace as well.'

It would be stranger if they were unrelated. The gu insect used in the Ghost-Soul Demon Art, which had come from that corpse, was called a Ghost-Soul Parasite.

Jin Hyeon thought quickly as he faced Venerable Flying Swallow.

"Heh heh. I knew it. Your qi didn't seem weak, so I thought it was strange that you fell to him so easily."

Though he said that, Venerable Flying Swallow inwardly spat.

If only he possessed divine sense, he would have accurately grasped Jin Hyeon's condition and subdued him at once.

Unlike the middle-aged woman at early Qi Refining whom he had killed, Jang Cheon had been a mid-Qi Refining cultivator, a valuable contribution to offer Ghost-Soul Palace, and Jin Hyeon had killed him. Venerable Flying Swallow vowed to torture Jin Hyeon thoroughly before feeding him a Blood Parasite Pill.

"Fellow Cultivator Jin, let's attack together! If we join forces, we can at least create a chance to escape!"

Hope filled Seol Ga-yeong's voice as she made the proposal.

At her words, Yeok-i's face darkened. He had already swallowed the Blood Parasite Pill, but Seol Ga-yeong did not spare that any thought.

Yet despite her offer to join forces, Jin Hyeon did not move. He only maintained his guard against Venerable Flying Swallow.

No, more precisely, he kept his guard up against everyone in the cavern.

He had not revealed that he was a cultivator of Blue Willow Sect, both because he feared an attack related to the sect and because he did not wish to draw the wariness of independent cultivators.

Yet he had suffered an attack like this anyway.

There was no guarantee that Seol Ga-yeong and the brothers were not working with Venerable Flying Swallow. Even if they were not, he could not know whether they would abandon him and escape on their own.

He had no presence of mind to reflect on his second killing. The alarm of danger urged him toward his next action.

Even with the elemental advantage of his cultivation method, he could not defeat a Qi Refining, Level 12 cultivator.

'I'll have to crush the jade plaque and ask Master for help...'

Rumble!

Just as Jin Hyeon decided that he would call his master on his very first outing, the entire cavern shook.

Everyone's expressions hardened at the sudden disturbance.

The cavern shook violently, raining the stalactites from the ceiling down like bombardment. Pebbles scattered across the ground danced.

Then, as Seol Ga-yeong crouched to block the falling stalactites, she shouted.

"It's coming!"

Boom!

Screeech!

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

One wall of the cavern collapsed entirely, opening a huge entrance. From beyond it, a massive figure bounded into the cavern as if flying.

It was a demon beast resembling an anteater, its entire body covered in gleaming golden scales.

It was far larger than Jin Hyeon, roughly the size of a cargo truck from his previous life.

"Is that the pangolin demon beast?"

Feeling its powerful spiritual power, Jin Hyeon realized it was the original target of their hunt.

But the pangolin, which must have possessed enough strength to have no nearby rivals, was drenched in blood, scales torn away all over its body.

Then another figure entered through the newly opened entrance.

It was smaller than the pangolin.

The difference in size was so great that a fight between them hardly seemed possible, but Jin Hyeon was horrified when he realized that the spiritual power he felt from it surpassed the pangolin's.

A human-sized praying mantis appeared, turning its head with two enormous compound eyes.

Its entire body was covered in a dark black carapace like obsidian. It rubbed together forelegs that were little different from giant scythes, then licked the pangolin's blood from them.

Apparently startled by the sudden appearance of humans during its hunt, it stood squarely in the entrance and looked around.

Everyone froze at the sudden situation, including Venerable Flying Swallow.

Shockingly, the mantis had almost as much spiritual power as he did. It was at least a high-grade first-tier demon beast, perhaps even stronger.

As everyone entered a standoff, Jin Hyeon decided to take a gamble. In this confusion, even calling his master would be too late.

Making his decision quickly, Jin Hyeon sent the Pipa Sword flying toward Venerable Flying Swallow.

"You brat! Your sluggish movements are plain to see..."

Worthy of Qi Refining, Level 12, Venerable Flying Swallow reacted before the Pipa Sword even reached him. He summoned from his storage pouch a magical artifact shaped like a turtle shell.

How dare a mere mid-Qi Refining child attempt to attack him because he had looked away for a moment.

This magical artifact was something he treasured dearly. It could even block an attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Venerable Flying Swallow prepared to counterattack after taking his defensive stance, but his plan fell apart when the Pipa Sword circled him and headed elsewhere.

The Pipa Sword, having left Venerable Flying Swallow's side, flew straight toward the mantis.

Ting.

The mantis swung a scythe at a speed difficult even for a cultivator's eyes to follow, knocking the blade away and embedding it in the floor on the far side of the cavern.

The mantis moved its scythes several times, as if trying to understand what had just happened.

Thump!

Then, with tremendous force from its legs, it charged before Venerable Flying Swallow as if teleporting and swung a scythe at his magical artifact.

Without stopping there, it swung its scythes like a running grinder, attacking Venerable Flying Swallow.

Jin Hyeon let out a breath of relief.

Spirit beasts often developed intelligence slowly even at high realms. This was even more true of spirit insects.

Jin Hyeon had thought that if an attack flew in from Venerable Flying Swallow's direction and Venerable Flying Swallow made a sudden response, such as producing a magical artifact, the mantis would consider them the most dangerous target because they had the highest cultivation. And it had worked.

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried