The Tale of Cultivation and Demon Extermination - Chapter 98

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Episode 14: Rapid Changes in the Continental Situation (9)

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The ground rumbled again.

“Hall Master, this trembling...”

Woo Yu-hui answered Irang’s question.

“Senior Haeil and Sugyeom have clashed with the Zheng Empire’s main force near the Training Forest.”

“Already?”

“Yes. They set out the moment the enemy crossed the border.”

The Training Forest.

It was hundreds of li from headquarters.

How fiercely were they fighting for mountain ranges hundreds of li away to shake like this?

Ise was appalled by the vast difference in their power, but unease slowly crept into him.

War.

It was a word that did not feel real.

Descriptions of horrors he had only read in history books and records surfaced in his mind, layered over the losses he had suffered in the past.

“Focus on what we need to do. We only need to follow Sugyeom’s final orders. Nothing has changed. Ahsan and White Tiger Hall are buying time on the front lines, so we must defend the key facilities until then.”

Hall Master Woo Yu-hui was as calm as though she had faced this many times before. At her gesture, Irang stepped forward and explained the situation.

“Yellow Dragon Hall, Vermilion Bird Hall, and Vine Serpent Hall will defend headquarters and the surrounding area. We are heading to guard Daejeong Mine. We have received word that an enemy detachment has broken away and is targeting it.”

Daejeong Mine. It was the Great Exorcist Order’s highest-yield Spiritual Stone mine, its lifeline.

They did not know how many enemies would attack, but this was a grave responsibility for only thirty-odd Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and one Core Formation Realm cultivator.

As Ise listened to the senior’s explanation with a tense expression, another Message Talisman flew in.

Hall Master Woo Yu-hui checked the message and bit her lip hard. Irang immediately approached her.

“What is it, Hall Master?”

“Cheoryang Thunder Gate has moved.”

“...What? Now?”

Cheoryang Thunder Gate. The demonic sect that had infiltrated the Great Exorcist Order and constantly harassed and obstructed its cultivators.

The Order had finally found its main force and driven it into the western wastelands. Now, they were taking advantage of the chaos to move.

“Where?”

“Tabaro. The eastern coast.”

Woo Yu-hui clutched her head as though it ached.

The balance of power, already being maintained by a thread, tipped in an instant.

“Do you know their likely target?”

There was only one place on Tabaro’s eastern coast connected to the Great Exorcist Order.

Its greatest ally, Mongryeon and the dokkaebi.

“Gwisu Temple.”

Ise’s body flinched at those three words.

Woo Yu-hui’s eyes met his from behind her half-mask.

Ise immediately asked Gwak Chan, who stood beside him, “Why Gwisu Temple...?”

“It has the densest extreme yin demonic qi in the Three Peninsula Kingdoms. It is the best land for demonic cultivators to cultivate in. And the Ulta Mountain Range has not seen a cultivator’s footsteps for hundreds of years, so spiritual materials are everywhere. It is a natural treasury of resources. It would be an excellent stronghold for a demonic sect, if they can take it. Still, the timing is too convenient. If they appeared in the Eastern Sea at this moment... we can only assume they coordinated with the Zheng Empire beforehand.”

It was a deduction close to certainty.

The Zheng Empire would be pleased to further weaken the already undermanned Great Exorcist Order, while Cheoryang Thunder Gate would gain a natural sanctuary.

“Ten Thousand Demons in Turmoil, Bi Hyeongrang. This is his work. He planned all of this.”

Woo Yu-hui spat out the name one syllable at a time, grinding her teeth in loathing.

A demonic cultivator who stirred human greed and plunged the world into chaos.

From the moment he heard Gwisu Temple would be attacked, Ise’s pupils shook wildly. It looked as though he might bolt at any moment, his aura boiling over.

Yet he displayed extreme patience and asked the Hall Master, “Will reinforcements... be sent to Gwisu Temple?”

His voice sounded level, but beneath his Daoist robes, his hand was clenched so tightly that all blood had drained from it.

Most of the dokkaebi’s fighting strength belonged to the Spirit-Dokkaebi Corps.

The Spirit-Dokkaebi Corps was scattered across the regions, following the Great Exorcist Order’s missions to root out demonic cultivators.

Even if they could all gather and fight at once, they could not possibly face Cheoryang Thunder Gate alone.

As their ally, the Great Exorcist Order had to send aid.

But...

“...”

A faint sigh escaped from behind the mask.

Woo Yu-hui could not answer. No matter how she calculated it, there was no force she could spare for that direction.

Even Sugyeom, who should have been directing the situation, had followed after Haeil.

Haeil must have flown off in a fury at the news of the attack, and Sugyeom had chased after him to support him in case he fought alone and met a violent end.

A Message Talisman would be sent to them as well, but with both of them in the midst of battle, they would not have the leisure to issue detailed instructions about the war.

In the end, the battlefield where Great Exorcist Order Lord Haeil stood would decide the outcome of this war.

As Hall Master Woo Yu-hui’s silence dragged on, Ise understood that it meant no.

“I’ll go alone.”

“Ise!”

Gwak Chan turned to him at once, startled, but Hall Master Woo Yu-hui stopped him.

“Let him go.”

“Hall Master, but...”

“I permit it. Go. Just be careful.”

“Thank you.”

The moment she finished speaking, Ise forgot even the Great Exorcist Order’s rules. He immediately took out the flight boat and shot into the air.

The boat bearing the form of a white bird tore through the dawn sky above headquarters and streaked east.

* * *

The White Luan Boat surged forward.

Battles raged everywhere beneath the vessel cutting through the sky.

The scattered dokkaebi had immediately returned and clashed with Cheoryang Thunder Gate’s demonic cultivators along the way.

Dokkaebi corpses lay scattered across the ground.

Some had been beheaded. Others had lost their limbs.

The dokkaebi of the Spirit-Dokkaebi Corps were all Foundation Establishment Realm or above.

For casualties to have appeared in such a short time...

It could only mean the enemy had laid ambushes along every route and launched surprise attacks.

Lightning bolts occasionally flew at Ise as he traveled in a straight line, but he controlled the flight boat with the precise divine sense he had honed over the past four years and avoided every one.

He did not slow down or change direction. He flew straight toward his destination.

The vast curtain of the warding barrier, originally more than twice the height of an adult, hung in the air in ragged tatters.

‘The warding barrier has been broken...’

It was a divine artifact barrier that could not even be found by anyone who had not learned the Dokkaebi Shadow-Hunting Demonic Art, let alone entered without permission.

A dreadful, ominous thought struck Ise. Could the gu parasite in his head have been meant to break this barrier?

The moment he drove the White Luan Boat through a tear in the barrier as though plunging it down...

What awaited beyond it was a scene of horrific slaughter.

His breath stopped at the brutal sight.

Cheoryang Thunder Gate’s demonic cultivators were massacring the dokkaebi.

Dark red blood had pooled on the dirt like mud. Fresh blood sprayed above it, and screams rose into the air.

A heart demon of rage, as though his mind might burst apart, filled Ise. He immediately severed the neck of the first demonic cultivator he saw.

The black hatchet shone.

Demon beasts charged at him, blood sprayed through the air, and lightning crashed down, yet Ise moved in every direction.

One demonic cultivator’s head rolled across the dirt. Another lost both knees in a single blow.

Dokkaebi Shadow-Hunting Demonic Art: Dokkaebi Flame Art erupted from Ise’s hand and struck the shoulder of the demonic cultivator who had collapsed without knees.

Black flames consumed the body whole.

The demonic cultivators rampaging through Gwisu Temple’s central main hall became cold corpses in an instant.

Beyond them, he saw familiar faces.

They were all dead.

Once again, he had failed to protect them.

A deep blade wound cut through Chanmo’s chest. Chanmo still held a kitchen knife, its tip stained with blood.

Elder Doksaenggu, Brother Yeonggyeong, Master Gongchu. Every family member who had cared for him and smiled at him.

They had become cold corpses.

“Die!”

Ise cleaved another charging demonic cultivator lengthwise.

With a wet crack, the divided body fell to either side.

Then Ise sensed an enormous demonic qi.

It was more powerful, malicious, and chilling than any demonic qi he had ever felt.

When he looked up, someone was floating in the air not far from Gwisu Temple.

“...?”

Ise doubted his eyes.

A far too familiar face was there.

“...Wiseong, sir?”

It was strange.

He knew that face, yet it did not seem like someone he knew.

For more than a decade, Wiseong had always been there, sitting in the same place with the same appearance to greet him.

Wiseong had taken in the abandoned Ise and found him adoptive parents.

Taught him letters and knowledge.

Allowed him into the study when he hungered to learn.

Stopped him when he lost his family.

Tended the graves of the family members who had passed away.

Wiseong.

The person whom ordinary people respected as Aegul County’s Poor Scholar now stared at Ise from the air, radiating immense demonic qi.

“Sir, why are you there...?”

Ise forced out the question, refusing to accept reality, but Wiseong merely flicked a hand in reply.

Demonic cultivators rushed out from all directions and charged at him at once.

The Needle-Launching Armor flashed, turning every charging demonic cultivator into a pincushion.

At that moment, the corner of Wiseong’s mouth slowly lifted.

It was the gentle smile Ise had rarely seen on Wiseong’s face.

He had thought it kind, but now that smile seemed terribly chilling as it spread across Wiseong’s features.

Then a past exchange flashed through his mind like an alarm bell.

“Has the gu parasite that came from my head been resolved?”

“It was confirmed to be the work of Ten Thousand Demons in Turmoil, Bi Hyeongrang, the leader of Cheoryang Thunder Gate. It seems to be a gu parasite used to investigate something and convey information, but I do not know the details. That person’s mastery of poisonous insects is likely unmatched across the continent.”

Until now, Ise had never sensed spiritual energy, demonic qi, or even turbid qi from Wiseong.

But that was not because Wiseong was an ordinary person.

Thinking back, it had been strange. Even someone who kept far from anything impure should have possessed turbid qi if they were mortal.

It was not that Wiseong lacked internal qi. Ise simply had not been able to sense it.

The difference in their realms was too vast.

Even now, Wiseong radiated power so immense that Ise could scarcely comprehend it, yet no spiritual meridians or Dharma-Flower Dantian could be seen.

At minimum, the Core Formation Realm. Judging by the extent of Wiseong’s divine sense, someone who had reached Great Perfection.

There was only one such expert in Cheoryang Thunder Gate.

Ten Thousand Demons in Turmoil, Bi Hyeongrang.

Ise realized that this was Wiseong’s true identity.

Only then did every piece begin to fall into place.

Taking him in, helping him, all of it had been an illusion and a lie.

Wiseong had been the one to place the gu parasite in his head.

Through Ise, Wiseong had gained what he needed, then used Ise as the poison that would stab his master in the back and allow Cheoryang Thunder Gate to swallow Gwisu Temple.

“Wiseong!”

Ignoring the demonic cultivators charging toward him, Ise cried out as though screaming.

“Wiseong!”

His unrestrained aura rang through the Ulta Mountain Range with his roar.

The spiritual energy and demonic qi that burst out through his voice exploded at once, sending pebbles across the nearby ground flying into the air.

The three charging demonic cultivators were caught in the blast and slammed into the dirt.

Ise gripped his hatchet.

Without even considering the difference between their realms, he immediately climbed aboard the White Luan Boat.

He could never forgive this.

Then a warm aura pressed down on Ise.

“Ten Thousand Demons in Turmoil, Bi Hyeongrang.”

It was Mongryeon.