Heavenly Inquisition Sword Novel - Chapter 306
Episode 306. Internal Concerns
Pungji Mountain, also known as Mount Pungji.
Fairy Temple, also known as the Temple of the Celestial Immortal.
Sanctuary.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Consecutive thunderclaps were heard from the base of the mountain.
The Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors put down the sacred Taoist book Taiping Qingling Shu she was reading.
As she listened intently to the thunder, her lips curved slightly into a smile.
It seems there has been a problem with the Eight Gates and Eight Choices formation.
“Could it be that there is such a formidable sorcerer in the Alliance of Heaven and Earth?”
To break the Eight Gates and Eight Choices formation, the sorcerer must at least reach the transformation level.
“This is interesting.”
The Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors felt a surge of curiosity about this opponent who had suddenly appeared.
Taoist sorcerers are divided into four major stages.
The first is the Qi Circulation stage (運氣).
Sorcerers who train in the circulation and accumulation of Qi belong to this stage.
Ten levels of Qi circulation equate to one level of Qi accumulation, and ten levels of Qi accumulation lead to the entry into spiritual communication.
The second is the Spiritual Communication stage (靈通).
After reaching ten levels of Qi accumulation, a sorcerer needs to train for fourteen years to finally obtain the “Yangshen” (陽神). This, also known as the “Inner Elixir,” is like a second body for the sorcerer. This is called “obtaining the medicine” (得藥).
Training the “Yangshen” is related to essence (精), so it is also called the Essence Circulation stage (運精).
By training the “Yangshen,” one eventually reaches the level of semi-immortality, half-human and half-immortal.
This is the realistic goal that most sorcerers dream of achieving.
The third is the “Nurturing Life” stage (養生), and the fourth is the “Becoming Immortal” stage (成仙).
In the “Nurturing Life” stage, one achieves longevity, and in the “Becoming Immortal” stage, the attainment of objects (得物) is achieved.
Both the “Nurturing Life” stage and the “Becoming Immortal” stage are transcendental states, and from that point on, one can no longer be considered human.
The Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors is in the “Nurturing Life” stage.
Her obsession with immortality is largely due to this.
“Who could it be?”
The Eight Gates and Eight Choices formation cannot be broken with martial arts.
Even if the ten greatest fighters in the world joined forces, it would be impossible.
The Holy Mother of the Eight Emperors, who was about to stand up, smiled and shook her head.
The fact that the opponent has entered the formation means that their final target is the Temple of the Celestial Immortal.
If she waits, they will come on their own, so there is no need to bother.
She reopened the Taiping Qingling Shu.
—————-
Boom! Boom!
Flames erupted from the collapsed ground.
Namgung Yeon, the Incomparable Among the Ten, softly landed on solid ground.
Next, Yeon Jeokha and Shim Tong arrived one after the other.
Shim Tong murmured as he looked at the flags arranged in three rows on either side of the front.
“Is that where we have to pass?”
“We must hurry. It seems the spiritual Qi is gathering around the flags again.”
At Namgung Yeon’s words, Yeon Jeokha and Shim Tong carefully examined the flags.
Sure enough! The letters that were clearly visible before were now hard to distinguish.
Yeon Jeokha looked up at the sky.
“Huh?”
The clouds, which had previously opened up to about one hundred and fifty meters, had now shrunk to about three meters.
As the width decreased, the clouds spread faster.
“Young master, why not cut them again?”
“Should I?”
Yeon Jeokha raised his sword fingers and, with a proud expression, shouted.
“Primordial Infinity!”
“…….”
But the Hidden Celestial Sword did not appear.
“Young master?”
“Why isn’t it working? Primordial Infinity! Primordial Infinity!”
Yeon Jeokha shouted several times, but the Hidden Celestial Sword did not show.
“Jeokha, think about it later. For now, we must go.”
Namgung Yeon could not wait any longer and dashed forward with her light footwork.
There was no time to lose.
It had been more than an hour since they had entered, so soon the formation would change again.
If that happened, they would return to the starting point.
The others would not withstand two changes in the formation.
Hesitant, Yeon Jeokha quickly followed her.
Shim Tong ran beside Yeon Jeokha and said.
“It seems it’s not working?”
Yeon Jeokha did not respond to Shim Tong.
But Shim Tong, full of energy, kept asking.
“It’s not working? Has your internal energy run out? Isn’t sorcery unrelated to internal energy? Young master?”
“I’m confused. Can you be quiet for a bit?”
“It’s just that I’m worried.”
“Worry in your mind, old man!”
“Why is he scolding me when it’s the Hidden Celestial Sword’s fault?”
“Ah, enough!”
Yeon Jeokha ran with his hands covering his ears.
“Irritating old man!”
He was frustrated because the Hidden Celestial Sword did not appear, and he did not understand why Shim Tong kept bothering him.
Why wasn’t the Hidden Celestial Sword appearing?
He had no idea.
“Could it be that it needs a spell recited like in sorcery?”
Upon thinking about it, he realized that the Qi of the Nine Heavens hadn’t moved either.
“Why did the Qi of the Nine Heavens move before? Why did it move before and now not?”
Confusion filled his mind as he thought about the Hidden Celestial Sword and the Qi of the Nine Heavens.
At that moment, Namgung Yeon, who was running, stopped.
“Something is happening.”
Namgung Yeon pointed ahead.
The ground, about fifteen meters between the flags, was moving.
It was as if a giant worm was emerging from the ground.
Shim Tong, who arrived late, murmured as if he knew what it was.
“It seems a land dragon is about to emerge.”
“Have you become a sorcerer? How do you know so much?”
Yeon Jeokha sneered, but Shim Tong took it as a compliment.
“I’ve learned a lot following Miss Namgung.”
“Bah! I’m a fool for arguing with someone who doesn’t understand.”
Yeon Jeokha shook his head.
Just then, something black emerged from the ground.
It was a black human hand.
“Ah!”
Yeon Jeokha, with his heart in his mouth, screamed and grabbed Namgung Yeon’s sleeve.
Even someone as strong as Yeon Jeokha had something he feared: monsters.
When he was a child, he got trapped in a warehouse and developed an extreme fear of monsters and ghosts.
Since leaving the mirror, that fear had intensified.
Despite his abilities, he was terribly frightened.
In the blink of an eye, a dozen corpses emerged from the ground.
Though half of their bodies seemed rotten, they could not be said to be simply decayed.
The other half shone like steel.
Namgung Yeon murmured as she carefully observed the shining corpses.
“How strange. They look like zombies and hardened corpses at the same time… What are they?”
Yeon Jeokha, still clutching Namgung Yeon’s sleeve, asked.
“What are hardened corpses?”
“They say that if the bodies of buried miners absorb the Qi of the earth, they become that.”
“Are those corpses dead miners?”
“I don’t know. They resemble hardened corpses, but there’s no record of a mine in Pungji Mountain. Could it be that they’ve transformed?”
“Could they be zombies (jiangshis)?”
At Shim Tong’s words, Namgung Yeon nodded.
There was no other plausible explanation.
At that moment, the corpses, which were moving slowly, suddenly charged at them.
Creak! Creak! Creak!
“Heh. Young master, you’ve gone pale. What’s so scary about this? They’re just corpses that can be easily cut with a sword.”
Shim Tong drew his willow-leaf sword and advanced.
He quickly unleashed his Flying Dragon Ascension Technique.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal clashing made the willow-leaf sword bounce back.
“Ah!”
Shim Tong quickly retreated, surprised.
He had expected to cut off some heads, but it was not so.
“Damn it! Why are they so hard?”
He even worried that his sword might have been damaged.
“Grrr!”
The corpses extended their arms and charged.
Overwhelmed, Shim Tong began desperately cutting the arms that clung to him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The strange metallic sound didn’t cease.
Continuously retreating, Shim Tong shouted desperately.
“Young Master, help me! I can’t get through them!”
Yeon Jeokha, who had finally regained his composure, stepped forward.
“These corpses have absorbed the Qi of metal and have become steel bodies. They can’t be defeated with conventional methods.”
Namgung Yeon looked at the sky.
The width of the opening had reduced to less than a meter.
“This is bad.”
Time was running out, and the hardened corpses blocked the way.
While watching Shim Tong struggle, Yeon Jeokha scratched his head.
He couldn’t take his eyes off the dorje hanging from Shim Tong’s belt.
“Sister, even if they’ve absorbed the Qi of the earth or metal, they’re moved by a spirit, right?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, Yeon Jeokha shouted to Shim Tong.
“Shim, use the dorje, that is, your Vajra! What are you waiting for? If you die, it’s over!”
Shim Tong retreated, put away his sword, and grabbed the dorje.
Then, he charged forward again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This time, the hardened corpses shattered like clay pots.
Shim Tong, elated, shouted like a madman as he pushed forward.
“Damn it! I am Shim Tong, the Old Dao of the Nine Heavens!”
Though the hardened corpses charged in swarms, they couldn’t resist the dorje.
Creak! Creak!
Bang! Bang!
Hundreds of corpses broke like reeds and piled up on the sides of the path.
After destroying over a hundred, the path opened up a bit.
Namgung Yeon, seeing the opening, showed a flash of determination in her eyes.
There was no more time to lose.
The letters on the flags had almost disappeared, and the flags themselves were fading.
If they vanished, they would not find the Earth Gate.
“Jeokha, we have to go now!”
Just as Namgung Yeon was about to run, Yeon Jeokha handed her his sword.
Namgung Yeon took it silently.
Refusing it would be pointless, as he would insist.
With the sword in hand, he charged among the hardened corpses.
Yeon Jeokha, reluctant to touch the corpses, drew a dagger.
At that moment, the dagger vibrated.
“What’s this?”
He examined the dagger but found nothing strange.
Perhaps he had felt his own pulse through the handle.
“That must be it.”
Yeon Jeokha turned his attention back to the half-rotten corpses.
Namgung Yeon moved like an eel among the hardened corpses.
She only used the sword when there was no other choice.
Each time she did, a corpse fell with a metallic sound.
After running about one hundred and fifty meters between the flags, two large pillars appeared.
Namgung Yeon shouted.
“It’s the Earth Gate!”
The two pillars flickered faintly in the darkness, like fireflies.
The flickering became slower and slower.
Namgung Yeon looked at the sky.
“The sky has almost closed. We must pass before the Earth Gate disappears.”
Her face showed despair.
There were still about thirty meters to the Earth Gate, and the sky was no longer visible.
“It’s useless.”
She had no strength left to continue.
Just as Namgung Yeon sighed in despair, Yeon Jeokha suddenly took her hands and Shim Tong’s, and unleashed his Flying Dragon Ascension Technique.
Swoosh!
They seemed like a meteor falling between the pillars.
Immediately, the pillars and the light disappeared within the Eight Gates and Eight Choices formation.
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