Returning Immortal

Chapter 15 : Giant Stone Statue

This one was as strong as it looked.

Like a giant from mythology, it pulled a rock chunk over two zhang in size from the ground and swung it like a light club.

When that didn't work, it threw the rock at the Raging Fire Divine Lord.

Crash, thwack!

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had barely dodged the attack by flying up, was hit by the broken rock fragments.

In response, the Raging Fire Divine Lord swung his Sky-Piercing Halberd like a windmill to protect his body.

In that gap, the giant stone statue, which had approached closely, raised its foot and stomped on the Raging Fire Divine Lord's head.

Boom!

The stone floor shattered and broke into pieces, but fortunately, no blood flowed from under the sole.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord had performed a lightness skill and barely managed to move his body aside.

Paat!

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had dodged, spun around the stone statue's body and thrust his Sky-Piercing Halberd at its neck, but the giant stone statue didn't even flinch.

The struck area was only slightly dented.

The startled Raging Fire Divine Lord landed on the ground, then moved back and looked at the other members of the group.

Except for Gwi Seongjin, everyone was engaged in a difficult fight with the stone statues.

Seeing that even the Grand Prince had joined the fight, the situation was as precarious as could be.

Rumble! Thud!

The Grand Prince performed a strange technique and knocked down three stone statues at once.

One of them even broke its ankle as it fell.

At that, the two stone statues that had been fighting Ilgeom ran towards the Grand Prince.

Thanks to that, Ilgeom was able to shake off the remaining stone statue and fly towards the Raging Fire Divine Lord.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had gained strength from this, also gathered his insufficient true qi, shook off the stone statue, and flew towards the tree.

In the current situation, destroying the giant stone statue was not important.

He had to somehow dodge and knock down the tree Gwi Seongjin had designated.

Boom!

When the Raging Fire Divine Lord dodged and fled, the giant stone statue grabbed a flat rock slab it had torn from the ground with one hand and swung it like a fly swatter.

In response, the Raging Fire Divine Lord performed the technique of Shifting Flowers and Grafting Trees to push the rock slab aside.

And just as he was about to fly up, the giant stone statue, which had approached before he knew it, once again blocked his path.

Crack.

In one hand of the giant stone statue was a long, tree-shaped rock it had just pulled from the ground.

Soil was falling from the root area of the rock.

When the giant stone statue struck down with the long rock like a pestle, the Raging Fire Divine Lord had no choice but to move back.

Boom!

With a loud roar, the broken fragments exploded like fireworks.

The large fragments were over three chi long.

Phew!

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who was fighting the giant stone statue, let out a low sigh.

No matter how much his internal energy was restricted, he was pathetic for struggling with a single stone statue.

Even after Ilgeom joined, the situation did not improve much.

As the giant stone statue threw rocks and swung both its hands, the two were busy dodging.

Thump! Thump!

Just then, a stone statue rushed at Gwi Seongjin.

It was the stone statue that Ilgeom had been fighting.

The strategy Ne Jinja had set up when the Raging Fire Divine Lord started fighting the stone statue was this.

'While protecting Gwi Seongjin's safety, strive to assist the Raging Fire Divine Lord so that he can cut down the tree located at the Open Gate.'

At first, it seemed the strategy was working well.

But as the giant stone statue appeared, the Raging Fire Divine Lord's steps slowed down, and even Ilgeom, who had gone to help him, was surrounded by stone statues and had his feet tied.

If more stone statues rushed at them, the Raging Fire Divine Lord would not get a chance to escape.

In response, even Ne Jinja and the Ghost Medicine Hall Master jumped into the fight.

But there was no way to block all the numerous stone statues with four hands.

In the end, one stone statue broke through the two, and even the Grand Prince had to step forward.

"You, retreat to a safe place and wait."

Although the Grand Prince shouted for Gwi Seongjin to retreat as he ran out, Gwi Seongjin did not follow his words.

It was because the stone statue the Grand Prince was fighting had come close enough to be observed with his spiritual sense.

As he had experienced before in the Phantom Beast Forest, his spiritual sense could detect not only the shape of things but also the internal energy emitted by living creatures.

He could clearly observe things even at night, and in the case of inanimate objects, he could even see through their insides.

The stone statue was the same.

With his spiritual sense, he could observe its location, movement, and even the minute energy flowing inside its body in detail.

"Hmm!"

Gwi Seongjin, who had observed the stone statue with his spiritual sense, let out a low exclamation.

It was because he had discovered an unexpected phenomenon.

The stone statue in front had meridians like a human.

However, the meridians were tangled up, and the energy did not circulate inside the body but escaped through the hands or eyes.

'The energy is being consumed?'

At a flashing thought, Gwi Seongjin's eyes turned to the stone statue's soles.

There, Gwi Seongjin discovered a glimmer of hope.

The yellow-brown energy used as the stone statue's power source was flowing from the ground and entering its soles.

Thinking that if he blocked that flow, the stone statue would not be able to move, a stone statue with a stone club suddenly rushed towards him.

It was the very same stone statue that had fought with Ilgeom.

Thump! Thump!

When Gwi Seongjin looked around, there was not a single person who could help him.

Not only Ne Jinja and the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, but even the Grand Prince, who was nearby, couldn't get out because they were fighting the stone statues.

In the end, he had to defeat the stone statue with his own strength.

One fortunate thing was that the formation here could not restrain the spirit energy he possessed.

But there was a problem here too.

The fact that he was using spirit energy was a secret that should never be revealed.

This meant that even if he used spirit energy, he had to use it cleverly so that others wouldn't know.

To do that, he had to refrain from moving faster than the stone statue as much as possible...

Although he had briefly exceeded his capabilities while dealing with the bats in the Phantom Beast Forest, it was not to the extent of going beyond the category of his realm.

It might raise some suspicion, but it wasn't to the point where he couldn't make an excuse.

But he couldn't just rush at the stone statue and fight bravely either.

Frankly, he wasn't confident he could beat the stone statue even if he used spirit energy.

So the only thing he could do was to keep a suitable distance from the stone statue.

Ssssss.

But due to the influence of the formation, his body did not move as he thought.

Even though he used about twenty percent of the spirit energy in his upper dantian, the distance between him and the stone statue was getting closer and closer.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before he was caught.

Judging that it would be difficult to avoid suspicion if he used more spirit energy, Gwi Seongjin clenched his lips and spread his spiritual sense widely around his body.

Was it because the stone statue had come very close?

A new flow of earth qi, which had not been there before, was captured nearby.

It was the earth qi that was transmitting energy to the stone statue.

Boom!

Gwi Seongjin, who flew up and landed on the earth qi, put spirit energy into his foot and stomped on the ground.

As the stone floor cracked as if caving in, the scattering of the earth qi was detected by Gwi Seongjin's spiritual sense.

The stone statue also staggered.

Gwi Seongjin, who was watching with wide eyes, hoping the stone statue's posture would collapse, slowly stepped back with a disappointed face.

Boom!

The staggering stone statue regained its balance and was taking a step towards Gwi Seongjin.

Whoosh!

As the gap between the two narrowed, the stone statue swung its stone club without hesitation.

Gwi Seongjin, who barely dodged the club by bending his waist back, lowered his posture as if lying on the ground.

And he put spirit energy into his fist and struck the ground with all his might.

But the expected effect did not appear.

The stone statue only flinched for a moment.

When the stone statue raised its club again, Gwi Seongjin infused spirit energy into the Thunder Cloud Sword while still on the ground.

If he could just infuse spirit energy into the Thunder Cloud Sword, he could cut that kind of stone statue like tofu.

No, he was confident he could deal with the stone statue appropriately, deceive the eyes of the group, and escape.

But this time too, the Thunder Cloud Sword rejected Gwi Seongjin's spirit energy.

It didn't answer when he called with his spiritual sense, and there was no reaction even when he smeared the blood from his palm on the blade.

Whoosh!

As the club fell before his eyes, Gwi Seongjin rolled forward.

Then, he slipped between the stone statue's legs and struck its thick calf with the Thunder Cloud Sword.

It was where the meridian was located.

Crack!

However, he did not achieve his goal.

The blade couldn't dig into the meridian area and only knocked off a few stone fragments.

Gwi Seongjin, who was stepping back with a disappointed expression, holding the Thunder Cloud Sword, at some point noticed that the flow of the earth qi that was transmitting qi to the stone statue had changed.

He didn't know when it had changed, but a tributary was passing right next to Gwi Seongjin.

Gwi Seongjin, who had naturally stepped on it while retreating, sent all his possessed spirit energy down to the Yongquan acupoint on his sole.

And as if infusing spirit energy into a sword, he carefully poured the spirit energy into the ground.

But perhaps because the absolute amount of spirit energy was insufficient, it couldn't even reach the tributary and returned to his sole.

Thump! Thump!

In the meantime, the stone statue, which had resolved the shock of hitting the club on the bare ground, rushed at Gwi Seongjin again.

Then it raised its large club high into the sky.

Although it was a critical moment, Gwi Seongjin did not lose his composure until the end.

He focused his mind solely on the spirit energy and finely controlled the amount of spirit energy flowing out of his Yongquan acupoint.

Whoosh!

Then, the moment the stone statue struck down with its club.

The spirit energy, which had stopped for a moment, dug into the tributary at a terrifying speed.

At that, the earth qi that was connected to the stone statue was cut off with a snap.

As the earth qi was cut off, the leg of the stone statue that was swinging the club momentarily staggered.

Next, the club flew into the sky, and the stone statue fell forward in an unsightly manner.

But as fate would have it, it hit its head on the stone floor and broke its neck, and the head grazed past Gwi Seongjin's ear.

Thud.

Roll, roll, roll.

Gwi Seongjin, who had barely escaped the crisis, let out a sigh of relief.

The gap between life and death was a single hair's breadth.

Gwi Seongjin, who frowned, looked around, but the situation was still not good.

The Grand Prince, Ne Jinja, and the Ghost Medicine Hall Master were surrounded by stone statues and were engaged in a chaotic battle, and the Raging Fire Divine Lord and Ilgeom were also too busy dealing with the giant stone statue to have a moment's rest.

Such a difficult formation from the very beginning...

Although he felt his strength draining from his body, Gwi Seongjin once again gathered his strength and moved in the direction of the Raging Fire Divine Lord.

It was because the only person who could resolve the current situation was the Raging Fire Divine Lord.

'This giant stone statue is really big. That must be why it needs so much earth qi.'

Gwi Seongjin, who had approached the Raging Fire Divine Lord and Ilgeom, muttered with an expression that said he couldn't handle it as he examined the ground with his spiritual sense.

The flow of earth qi supplied to the giant stone statue was not one or two.

It varied depending on the location, but there were three that he could see at a glance.

In certain places, there were even times when four streams were supporting it.

But that didn't mean the amount of earth qi supplied was small.

Compared to a normal stone statue, it was at least three times the amount.

Among them, Gwi Seongjin was standing at a location farthest from the giant stone statue, which he judged to be relatively safe.

'There's no need to block all the earth qi connected to the giant stone statue. With the Raging Fire Divine Lord's ability, if I just block this one stream, he should be able to find a chance to escape.'

Although he was taking a risk thinking like that, Gwi Seongjin was frankly not confident.

It was because the flow of the earth qi flowing in the ground was too powerful.

'Can I really block this flow?'

Although he wasn't confident, Gwi Seongjin once again operated his spirit energy.

At first, there was no reaction.

But as time passed, the decrease in the earth qi flowing in the ground was felt by Gwi Seongjin's spiritual sense.

Perhaps because of that, the movement of the giant stone statue slowed down slightly.

At this, the Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had been waiting for an opportunity until now, released all the Pure Yang True Qi he had hidden in his middle dantian.

And after attacking the giant stone statue, he suddenly broke out of the encirclement and flew towards the tree with all his might.

At that time, another crisis befell Gwi Seongjin.

The giant stone statue, which had lost the Raging Fire Divine Lord, turned its toes towards Gwi Seongjin and Ilgeom.

Ilgeom, who had learned the Heaven and Earth Great Shift divine art, was barely able to avoid the danger by twisting the stone statue's leg with the tip of his sword.

But Gwi Seongjin, who was standing behind him, had no proper means of responding.

'Should I use my spirit energy at full power now and dodge?'

Gwi Seongjin's pupils, which were looking back and forth between the Raging Fire Divine Lord and the giant stone statue, flickered like a candle.

Boom!

The giant stone statue, which had run right in front of Gwi Seongjin, raised one of its feet high.

And it stomped down on Gwi Seongjin without mercy.

At that very moment.

Flash!

As the Sky-Piercing Halberd cut through the sky, the thick tree was neatly cut.

At that, a surprising thing happened.

The stone statues all stopped their movements at once.

Phew!

Gwi Seongjin, who had been staring intently at the sole hanging in the air with wide eyes, withdrew his spiritual sense and slipped out from under the giant stone statue's foot.

Stagger.

Gwi Seongjin's body swayed.

If the Raging Fire Divine Lord had been a little late, his whole body would have been crushed like tofu...

Gwi Seongjin once again realized the importance of martial arts.

No matter how smart one's head was and even if one could see things others couldn't with spiritual sense, the martial world was a place where you were bound to die if your martial arts were weak.

(End of Chapter)