WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Episode 18: Lesser Defeat Sword Cheongun (7)

──────

* * *

Cheongun hovered above the center of the demonic cultivator city, silently looking down at the inner city.

His eyes shimmered brightly under the Far-Sight Talisman's effect.

Warning bells droned, and he could feel the shock waves of two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators clashing.

His divine sense could not reach inside the city, so he could only follow the situation with spirit sight.

He wanted to descend farther and see firsthand how Ise fought, but then the demonic qi contained within a Dharma-Flower Dantian vanished.

In that brief instant, Ise had eliminated a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

‘Fast.’

It was astonishingly fast.

Not long after the battle began, he had killed a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

The Qi Condensation Realm demonic cultivators who charged in afterward were no more than opponents he could defeat in a single move.

Cheongun clicked his tongue as he watched Ise hunt down demonic cultivators at a speed that hardly seemed possible.

A Message Talisman rose into the air from within the city.

Cheongun quickly fired a stream of formless sword qi, shooting down the flying Message Talisman.

Soon afterward, Ise reached the place where three Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had gathered and began fighting again.

“...”

The city rumbled again. Its outer walls crumbled, and the spells unleashed within burst beyond them.

Wondering what the commotion was, demonic cultivators from the outer city began gathering near the city.

Cheongun frowned.

The Foundation Establishment Realm demonic cultivators who had noticed the intruder attacked at once.

Yet, at steady intervals, two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators fell one after another.

‘Even three against one? That's absurd.’

Without realizing it, Cheongun lightly gripped the end of his scabbard.

He was considered exceptional among Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, but he was not confident he could win such a brutally lopsided battle.

No, even if he won, he could not settle it this quickly.

Just how much stronger had Ise become?

An irrepressible fighting spirit blazed in Cheongun's eyes.

At last, the lone demonic cultivator city lord escaped from the inner city.

Cheongun could only feel grateful to them.

Now he could witness Ise's battle with his own eyes.

The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator fled at full speed on a flying spirit artifact, as though begging the flying spirit artifact to save them, while Ise leisurely emerged on a flying cloud and began pursuit.

Cheongun had thought there was nothing left to surprise him, yet his eyes widened again.

The flying cloud itself was fast, but that speed was useless without the skill to control it.

Ise's command of divine sense seemed to have reached its peak. He flew as though performing acrobatics while firing spells in rapid, unbroken succession.

‘That insane speed of spellcasting is still the same.’

Like someone wielding a spirit artifact, he fired countless spells without even a moment of preparation.

The thought of that overwhelming cultivation power being directed at him made Cheongun's body tremble with excitement.

A wood-aspect cultivation art shot from Ise's hand, forming vines that bound the fleeing Foundation Establishment Realm demonic cultivator.

The city lord cursed and blasted purple demonic qi from their palm.

Ise's flying cloud smoothly twisted aside, evading the blast of demonic qi.

It was powerful enough to make even Cheongun flinch, yet Ise moved only as much as necessary, slipping beyond the explosion's range without the slightest hesitation.

Then, rather than merely drawing in the spirit artifact the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was controlling with Telekinesis Art, he seized control of it.

‘He pushed aside the energy another cultivator was controlling and covered it with his own Telekinesis Art?’

Cheongun had never even heard of such a thing. To push away another person's energy and steal control of it?

“You bastard! Who the hell are you? Tell me at once who sent you! Let me go!”

What happened next was even more shocking.

The two had drawn close.

At that moment, Ise's hatchet slashed as swiftly as a sword cultivator's blade.

No spiritual energy had been infused into the strike, yet the hatchet cut through the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's neck in a single blow, as though slicing tofu.

“...”

It was an invisible force that divine sense could not perceive.

Something was certainly within it. It resembled the Tyrant Sword Sect's formless sword qi, but it was different.

Formless sword qi could not sever a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's body so cleanly.

Cheongun swallowed as he watched the demonic cultivator's head soon rise high on a stake.

What if Ise's hatchet were aimed at his own neck?

The thought alone sent chills down his spine.

‘Four times. He thinks highly of me.’

If what Ise had displayed was not even all he had, Cheongun was confident he would lose all ten times if they fought ten times.

After eliminating every Foundation Establishment Realm demonic cultivator, Ise flew above the city and began hunting down every demonic cultivator who had gathered below.

The way he picked out everyone in sight and killed them in an instant was far from ordinary.

He seemed experienced not only in fighting opponents of similar realms, but also in hunting large groups of lower-realm cultivators.

Like a Foundation Establishment Realm sword cultivator scattering formless sword qi, he ruthlessly unleashed Wind Blades.

Fast and powerful.

“I surrender! I surrender!”

“Please spare me, Senior!”

No one resisted.

The moment the Foundation Establishment Realm demonic cultivators who ruled the city fell, their will to fight had long since broken.

Yet Ise's Wind Blades did not stop.

If anything, crying for mercy made them stand out more, sending them to the underworld first.

The heads displayed throughout the city like a hedgehog's quills went beyond the actions of a righteous hero, but even that looked mysterious in Cheongun's eyes.

Once several demonic cultivators realized his slaughter would not spare those who surrendered, they attempted to flee.

‘I should pay the price for watching too.’

It had been a feast for his eyes. It was time to do his part.

At last, Cheongun moved his flying sword in time with Bisang's wingbeats.

It shot like an arrow toward a Qi Condensation Realm demonic cultivator that had entered his sight.

* * *

Ise's Twin-Curtain Spirit-Domain Sealing Banner plunged into the ground.

A warding formation that sealed demonic qi spread as though devouring the city, then slowly contracted a moment later.

He took out the Spirit-Seeking Mirror and checked whether anyone had hidden away after concealing their demonic qi with a Demon-Qi Concealment Talisman.

No new points appeared. It seemed he had dealt with them all.

‘I've overeaten.’

An enormous amount of demonic qi had accumulated within his demon core, nearly twice the amount he had hunted in the Heaven-Demon Great Mountains.

He had already stored more than enough internal qi when he broke through to the middle Foundation Establishment Realm. If he gathered spiritual energy as well, reaching the late Foundation Establishment Realm was within sight.

Ise patted his stomach, though it was not actually full.

Storage pouches were piled before him like a mountain.

If he sold them all, they should be worth at least a hundred thousand Spiritual Stones.

‘Nice.’

If earning Spiritual Stones were always this easy, he would not even need to farm.

Of course, the risk was too great to do this more than once.

Ise glanced over the mortals lying face down on the ground, trembling without even daring to raise their heads.

He had not touched the Heavenly Pearl Furnace, so they should have no trouble surviving.

After putting away his weapons, he spoke to a nearby mortal.

“A new city lord will arrive soon, so don't cause any commotion. Stay here and clean things up.”

“Y-yes, Elder...”

The mortal answered while trembling, unable even to look at Ise's face.

They looked as though they had no idea what had happened.

Ise turned away from the mortals and sent Cheongun a voice transmission.

- Did any get away?

- None.

The satisfying reply came at once. Still, someone might have used an Escape Talisman, so it would be best to leave quickly.

- No cultivators will come here while demonic qi is filling the place.

- Don't worry. A single purification rite will clear this up quickly.

- I see.

It seemed the Northern Continent also had cultivators like the Great Exorcist Order's Shamans.

Ise roughly gathered the spoils and was about to leave when he felt something strange.

He looked up to see unnatural dark clouds forming in the sky.

They took the form of black mist, like smoke rising from a pile of burning junk.

Looking closely, mist was rising from all over the city and gathering in the dark clouds.

‘Vengeful resentment...?’

Vengeful resentment seeped from the nearest corpse and was drawn toward the dark clouds.

The vengeful resentment was coalescing.

It was the first time Ise had experienced such a phenomenon, and he stared blankly for a moment.

After an instant, Ise shook his head, came to his senses, and traced the cause.

He had probably hunted too many demonic cultivators without performing spirit-sending rites.

Among Foundation Establishment Realm evil spirits, there was one called a War-Scourge Anomaly.

He had heard that it sometimes arose when war broke out and a massacre occurred on a massive scale.

‘...I didn't expect this.’

He had always performed spirit-sending rites after hunting, so he had never experienced what happened when this much vengeful resentment was left behind.

The anomaly continued growing larger, eventually becoming enormous, like a black dragon.

“Evil spirit extermination isn't my specialty, but...”

Still, it had only just taken form. He could probably deal with it now.

Anomalies were weakest when first formed. They gradually fed on vengeful resentment, grew stronger, and spread like a plague.

He could not let it harm an innocent nearby city.

As Ise took out artifacts meant for exterminating evil spirits from his storage pouch, Cheongun hurriedly landed beside Bisang.

“Are you all right? What the hell is that?”

“An evil spirit. I must have hunted too many demonic cultivators at once.”

“Brutal.”

“Tell me about it.”

After creating so much vengeful resentment, they could have at least gone quietly. Why did they have so much attachment and grievance left that they formed an evil spirit?

It was laughable.

Ise took out a Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit-Sending Talisman and attached it to the Vajra.

The Vajra was a Qi Condensation Realm treasure artifact, so its performance was somewhat lacking. Still, the Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit-Sending Talisman would multiply its effect.

He used Giant Weapon Art to enlarge the Vajra as much as possible.

The giant club floated into the air.

Then he honed primordial qi at its tip and recited the Spirit Release Incantation.

It would be troublesome if he could not deal with it in one strike.

Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit-Sending Talismans were expensive, and he only had two left.

As though it had finally noticed Ise's presence, the black dragon-shaped anomaly turned its enormous head toward him.

Two blood-red points flickered faintly within the black mist.

Kii... iii... i...

Kyaaaah...

A gloomy cry rang out as though tormenting his eardrums.

The enormous Vajra swung down at once at his command.

A piercing scream echoed throughout the city.

The anomaly split in half.

Yet it did not disperse. Still shrieking, it flew toward him.

The heavy drain on his internal qi made veins rise all over Ise's body. He raised the Vajra again and struck.

Two rays of light collided. The anomaly scattered like mist, then was drawn into Ise's body.

Demonic qi, vengeful resentment, and the anomaly's spirit body all rushed in at once.

It was the Foundation Establishment Realm evil spirit's final resistance.

Ise accepted it all without losing his stance.

If Seolryeong had been there, Seolryeong could have immediately sent the evil spirit's remnants to the Bottomless Abyss with the Soul-Guiding Rite, but he had to do it alone now.

Black smoke hissed out of every opening in his body like smoke from a cigarette.

Cheongun and Bisang anxiously shouted, asking if he was all right, but Ise could not hear them.

He only pushed back and purified the energies trying to invade him with the spiritual energy inside his body.

Ise recited the Spirit Release Incantation in his mind once more.

‘Enough. Disappear.’

He bit down on his lip as though chewing it and circulated his cultivation art, but the anomaly's malicious resentment would not yield.

Just as he began to fear that the anomaly might consume him whole...

Something that had slept in the deepest part of Ise's body twitched.

It was the auspicious energy that had entered his body alongside the Soul-Return Body-Entering Art in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm.

Footnotes:

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