Returning Immortal

Chapter 18 : Killing Intent

Coming down from the Black Dragon Cliff, Gwi Seongjin let out a low sigh.

It was because a formation was spread out below, and its range was so wide that it seemed impossible to avoid.

Looking at its form, it even included a barrier.

"Stop!"

Ne Jinja's hand shot up, as if he had sensed the energy flowing from within the formation.

"Vice Director! Is it a formation again?"

"It seems so. I'll have to check for a moment to see what kind of formation it is."

"Gekekeke. Do as you please."

As the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was a layman in formations, stepped back, Ne Jinja approached Gwi Seongjin.

Then, as if it were natural, he asked for Gwi Seongjin's opinion.

"A strange thing is lurking in here, but the killing intent is so thick that it's obscuring the structure and characteristics of the formation. If I were to make a forced guess, it seems to be a mixed formation... What do you think?"

"My thoughts are the same. Various formations are mixed in here, so we will have to be careful with every step to pass through. But the bigger problem is the barrier. I'm not sure, but it seems the killing intent is also manifesting from within it."

"The killing intent is flowing out from within the barrier? What do you think is the reason?"

"Is there really a need to know?"

"...Indeed."

Ne Jinja, who had been thinking for a moment, nodded his head as if agreeing with Gwi Seongjin's words.

He didn't know what was emitting the killing intent from within the barrier, but it was clearly a dangerous existence.

Rather than provoking it to reveal its identity, it was a wise choice to pass through the formation without clashing with it.

The difficult part was figuring out the path of life.

It was because the formation in front of them was obstructing the detection of its energy and flow by obscuring the key points with killing intent.

Ne Jinja, who had finished consulting with Gwi Seongjin, obtained the Grand Prince's permission and then explained the characteristics and dangers of the formation in front to the group.

And after emphasizing that they should strictly follow his instructions, he carefully went inside.

What was unexpected was that he had placed Gwi Seongjin at the front.

Gwi Seongjin did not move hastily.

Even after thoroughly grasping the distribution and flow of the primordial qi of heaven and earth with his spiritual sense, he only moved the group when he had examined the formation and location and judged it to be safe.

If an unstable element was discovered, he avoided or destroyed it, and if he thought it was dangerous, he shouted loudly and ordered them to stop.

As a result, even though they had passed a considerable distance, the formation had not been activated even once.

It was to the point where he even doubted if they had entered the formation.

"Do not touch the black rock next to you under any circumstances. If you touch it, a poisonous fog will spread and cover the surroundings in an instant. If you're not careful, you could wander in the fog until you die."

No one questioned Gwi Seongjin's words.

It was because they had gained trust in the ability he had shown so far.

When they moved about a quarter of an hour from there, this time large trees blocked the group's path.

Although it wasn't as dense as the Phantom Beast Forest, the speed at which the group was advancing had to be slowed down.

"This area has no Life Gate, only Death Gates and Delusion Gates, so it seems we'll have to go around. Fortunately, there is a Scenery Gate on the left, so don't step on the ground and follow me."

When Gwi Seongjin jumped onto a tree and performed his movement technique, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was following behind, asked.

"What would have happened if we went to the right?"

Ne Jinja, who was following right behind Gwi Seongjin, answered in his stead.

"There is a barrier on that side, and since it's an area where the trigram lines are reversed, there is a very high possibility that an evil demon is hiding there. This side is not a very safe direction either, but as that child said, it should be fine as long as we don't step on the ground."

"Gekekekeke. I understand."

The Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who had finished speaking, kicked an old pine tree with his foot and flew to a tree branch about five zhang away.

Then, the sack on his back brushed against the tree, and a small branch broke off.

However, the feared situation did not occur.

Ssssss.

It was because the form of Ilgeom, who was following behind, bent like a ghost and snatched the falling branch.

"Stop!"

Gwi Seongjin, who was flying at the front, suddenly stopped the group.

Ne Jinja, who was following right behind, landed next to Gwi Seongjin and also frowned with a heavy expression.

From the area in front of where Gwi Seongjin had stopped, the tree species had changed from coniferous to broad-leaved, and the boundary was as clear as if cut with a knife.

The problem was the killing intent.

The killing intent that had been continuously flowing from deep within the formation had suddenly disappeared as if washed away.

That wasn't all.

Fog was crawling on the ground, and the energy that had been leaking from the formation pivots had also been cut off before he knew it.

Whoosh!

Gwi Seongjin, who had examined the ground with his spiritual sense, came down the tree like a snake.

And after carefully landing on the ground, he signaled for the group to come down a moment later.

"Do you know what's going on?"

Ne Jinja, who had come down to the ground, asked Gwi Seongjin.

And seeing Gwi Seongjin shake his head, he bit his lip.

The surroundings were quiet.

It was to the extent that he couldn't find anything moving other than the fog.

However, Ne Jinja instinctively knew that a great danger was lurking in this suffocating silence.

Halt.

Gwi Seongjin, who had been moving forward a few steps, suddenly stopped his feet.

In front of him was a small stone pagoda.

There were two stone pagodas, one built with red stones and the other with blue stones.

After thinking for a moment, Gwi Seongjin boldly knocked down the stone pagodas.

Then he picked up the collapsed stones and built the stone pagodas again.

The opposite colors from the first time.

When the red and blue stones were swapped, a small change occurred in the formation.

The thick fog on the ground scattered, creating a path.

Seeing that, Ne Jinja muttered as if to himself.

"The formation spread out here is truly marvelous. It's amazing that it changed the climate by reversing yin and yang, but to think that by moving and stacking stones, a momentum that wasn't there appeared and made the fog disappear... It's as if a thousand-year-old demon is hiding in the formation and mocking us."

At Ne Jinja's words, Gwi Seongjin nodded his head.

Although he had come this far without great danger thanks to his spiritual sense, a strange sense of unease had been lingering in Gwi Seongjin's mind since he had entered deep into the formation.

The feeling that someone was watching.

And the feeling that he was falling into a deep swamp step by step.

A little while ago, as the path appeared before his eyes, the sense of unease grew even larger and clearer.

However, as a result of examining with his spiritual sense, there was no danger on the path.

Rather, the fog-covered forest was more dangerous.

"For a sealed barrier to be activated, there must be a corresponding act. Everyone, please be careful and refrain from dangerous actions."

"Couldn't that act be for a very trivial reason?"

"If it's a barrier of such a low level, there won't be much danger even if the seal is released. The barrier spread out here is extremely dangerous, and the seal will only be released if a special act is accompanied. If we act cautiously, a dangerous situation will never occur."

"You're right, but I still feel uneasy for some reason."

"If you're so uneasy, how about we change positions? If the Divine Lord takes the lead and the Vice Director and I are positioned next, we can prepare for any unforeseen circumstances."

"That's a good idea too."

At Gwi Seongjin's suggestion, Ne Jinja changed the positions of the group.

The arrangement was for the Raging Fire Divine Lord to stand at the front and the Ghost Medicine Hall Master to follow at the very back.

Although their positions had changed, the roles they were assigned did not differ much.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord drew his Sky-Piercing Halberd and guarded the front and both sides, while Gwi Seongjin and Ne Jinja opened their five senses wide and observed the changes in the formation.

Behind them, the Grand Prince and Ilgeom followed, and the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was positioned at the rear, also took turns looking at the rear and both sides in his own way.

It was when the group was passing by the barrier.

For some reason, Gwi Seongjin's nerves were on edge with a sense of foreboding.

If they just passed this place, it was a smooth road ahead.

So he was only guarding the left side where the barrier was with his spiritual sense, but an accident occurred in an unexpected place.

'Huh! What is that?'

Half a quarter-hour ago, a spiritual herb was discovered in the eyes of the Ghost Medicine Hall Master, who was following behind.

It was a spiritual herb called Three-Branched Nine-Leaf Herb, a treasure of the medical family that was particularly effective in increasing and refining internal energy.

Judging by its size and shape, it was three hundred years old.

At that level, it was something rarely seen even in the Luminous Cult, where all sorts of rare spiritual medicines were piled up.

Although he was greedy, the Ghost Medicine Hall Master exercised superhuman patience.

It was because of Ne Jinja's admonition to not touch anything as much as possible within the formation.

However, when he saw a five-hundred-year-old Three-Branched Nine-Leaf Herb, his patience reached its limit, and when he discovered a thousand-year-old Child Ginseng, his patience finally collapsed.

A thousand-year-old Child Ginseng.

At this age, it was a rare treasure that should be taken even if the sky collapsed, let alone a barrier.

Yank!

In the end, the Child Ginseng, which had been living hidden for a thousand years in a secluded place behind a rock, was ruthlessly pulled out by the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's hand.

Waaaaah!

But a surprising thing happened.

The milky-white root of the Child Ginseng.

The mouth part of the human-shaped root opened, and the loud cry of a baby flowed out.

The strange behavior did not stop there.

Struggle, struggle.

The human-shaped root struggled to escape from the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's hand.

Then, it eventually went into the Ghost Medicine Hall Master's medicine pouch, but the Child Ginseng's screams did not stop for a while.

The strange event occurred after the Child Ginseng went into the pouch.

At the scream let out by the Child Ginseng, the sky and the earth shook, and the view in front of them blurred, instantly changing to a different environment.

The dense forest had disappeared, and a small meadow had appeared.

The problem was that all sides were a thousand-chi-deep cliff.

And the fact that a living creature was standing in the middle of the meadow.

"A green monster?"

Gwi Seongjin muttered in a low voice.

Although it had a human form, what was in front was clearly a monster.

Its size was about ten chi.

But its whole body was covered in muscles, and the thickness of its arms was thicker than Gwi Seongjin's waist.

Moreover, it was incredibly fast and ferocious.

Kwwwwwaaaaang!

As the monster rushed in, emitting a red light from its eyes, the killing intent was so strong that Gwi Seongjin couldn't even move.

Fortunately, Ne Jinja emitted his internal energy and blocked the killing intent coming towards Gwi Seongjin.

"So the killing intent was full in the formation because of that bastard. But I wonder why that bastard was letting out killing intent?"

Ne Jinja, who had muttered to himself, glanced at Gwi Seongjin.

It was a look that urged him to answer.

"I don't know the reason either. But it seems there isn't just one green monster here."

"Wh-what?"

Ne Jinja, who had turned his head following Gwi Seongjin's gaze, emitted a strange look.

As Gwi Seongjin had said, there wasn't just one green monster inside the barrier.

A person in a purple robe was sitting like a shadow at the edge of the barrier.

But it was strange.

It was clearly a person, but their presence was too faint.

It was to the extent that it was difficult to distinguish whether they were there or not.

What was difficult to grasp was also their age.

At a glance, they looked to be in their early twenties, but they were so worldly that it would be believable even if they were in their sixties.

There was at least one peculiar part.

A black face and long silver hair that hung down to the waist.

It was an impression that would stand out wherever they stood.

Boom!

Just then, a tremendous impact sound was heard from where the green monster was.

The impact sound of internal energy clashing with internal energy.

Ne Jinja's eyes, who had turned his head, widened.

'How can this be...'

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who was at the late stage of the supreme realm, was being pushed back in the fight against the green monster.

Looking at the flames rising from the Sky-Piercing Halberd, it didn't seem like he was saving his internal energy...

Boom!

After cutting off just one of the monster's arms, he was flying back, vomiting blood.

The green monster was following closely behind.

The way it was chasing without even stopping the bleeding from its severed arm, it seemed it was trying to see the end.

(End of Chapter)