Returning Immortal

Chapter 34

The reason the evil ghost was staying in this wilderness was that the ghost Daoist who had controlled it had died a violent death nearby.

When its master died, the lesser evil ghost trembled in fear.

And for good reason, as the lesser evil ghost's abilities at that time were insignificant.

It was to the extent that it could create a mist with its ghost qi to cover the eyes of a low-level cultivator.

But as time passed, the lesser evil ghost grew stronger.

It was because it had deployed a barrier and had eaten the things that came inside, thereby increasing its abilities.

It had also gained a divine ability, which was the Soul Swallowing Art, which swallowed the souls of others.

Thanks to that, the lesser evil ghost, which had quickly reached the third stage of Qi Refinement, met an unexpected fortuitous encounter one day.

It had discovered the fossil of a giant demonic creature deep underground.

In the skull of the ancient demonic creature, which had turned to stone and only a trace remained, a piece of a soul, which seemed to be the demonic creature's, remained.

The realm of the demonic creature when it was alive was unknown.

But now, even its soul was shattered to pieces, and the barely surviving remnant soul was on the verge of extinction.

The lesser evil ghost, which had swallowed the demonic creature's remnant soul, had grown by leaps and bounds.

Its cultivation realm had risen by three stages in one breath, and it had achieved the sixth stage of Qi Refinement.

That wasn't all.

In the remnant soul's head, there were two divine arts that the lesser evil ghost desperately needed.

One was the Soul Capturing Art, which it had just used to subdue Gwi Seongjin, and the other was the Soul Killing Art, which the lesser evil ghost had not yet been able to perform even once.

The lesser evil ghost, which had become stronger by learning the Soul Capturing Art, did not even touch beings without spirit energy after that.

Even when Ne Jinja had passed by with many masters three years ago, the lesser evil ghost had not revealed itself.

It was because there was not a single person worth paying attention to in its eyes.

However, the reason the lesser evil ghost had revealed itself today was because of Gwi Seongjin.

Gwi Seongjin's spirit energy was pure and his cultivation realm was low, making him the optimal prey for the lesser evil ghost to hunt.

So it had attempted the Soul Capturing Art, and had succeeded in pushing him into the stone gate, which was his consciousness space, with difficulty.

'It's clearly the realm of the second stage of Qi Refinement...'

The evil ghost, which had made a look of disbelief for a moment, shook its head once and then slowly pulled its primordial spirit out of its body.

It was to go inside the stone gate and eat Gwi Seongjin's soul.

* * *

Swish.

Entering the stone gate, Gwi Seongjin realized he was standing in a strange space.

An unknown space he had never been to before.

But for some reason, it was a place that felt familiar.

Gwi Seongjin, who was looking around, soon figured out the identity of this space.

Surprisingly, the place where he was standing now was inside his own spirit platform.

The divine place where the primordial spirit drew in the divine qi in the upper dantian, turned it into legal power, and the great river that inspired consciousness flowed majestically.

He was standing in the most secret space in his body.

Gwi Seongjin, who had inadvertently looked down at his own form, sparkled his two eyes.

As he had heard, the primordial spirit of the lower realm of Qi Refinement did not have a clear form.

Its appearance was similar to a human.

But it was not a solid body, but looked like a transparent and soft fluid.

Was it because it had just been differentiated?

There was only one mouth on its face, and the fingers at the end of its arms were also like blunt sticks.

'Is this my primordial spirit?'

Gwi Seongjin, who was looking at his own ghost-like primordial spirit for a long time, suddenly felt a confusion in his senses.

The subject of the senses that was perceiving things now was clearly Gwi Seongjin himself.

But since the primordial spirit also felt and thought the same way, when his mind was in the spirit platform like now, he could not necessarily say that the subject of the senses was himself.

In a way, the subject could be the primordial spirit.

Even so, the fact that there was no sense of unease at all was probably because they were originally one, not two.

Even though they seemed to be separated, they were thinking the same thing with one soul.

Gwi Seongjin's spiritual sense, which had confirmed his own identity, this time turned to the purple mist that was surrounding the primordial spirit.

The purple mist could freely change its form as he wished.

It could become armor according to his will, or it could become a sharp sword and attack a virtual enemy.

Swish!

Gwi Seongjin's fingers, which had created three daggers with his legal power, cut through the air.

At that, the sharply honed daggers flew into the empty sky.

Although the legal power had fallen out of his body, Gwi Seongjin was not worried at all.

It was because this place was inside his spirit platform.

Swish.

When they were far from the primordial spirit, the daggers' forms scattered like a mist.

Then they slowly returned to the primordial spirit.

Come to think of it, the reason the primordial spirit could move freely was all thanks to the purple mist.

'Shall I try flying?'

Although he had no wings, for some reason, Gwi Seongjin felt as if he could fly in the sky here.

Jump!

When Gwi Seongjin jumped into the air, the place where he had been standing until now came into view at a glance.

It was a small, round stone platform that had risen from the ground like a stone.

There was also a small pond in front of it, but Gwi Seongjin first rode the purple cloud and flew around the sky of the spirit platform.

The cloud was not very fast.

Still, in the joy of flying, Gwi Seongjin wanted to shout.

A small pond appeared before the eyes of Gwi Seongjin, who had circled the vicinity once.

It was the pond that had been in front of the stone platform.

Splash.

Gwi Seongjin, who had jumped into the water, played by swimming in it.

Then he discovered something strange deep in the water.

A few thin threads that looked like crystals were swimming and playing like fish.

The primordial spirit stretched out its hand.

But with its blunt fingers, it could not catch a single one.

The things, thinner than a hair, all slipped through its fingers.

Puff!

The primordial spirit, which had come out of the pond, once again rode the purple mist and wandered in all directions.

But it could not find anything more.

All sides were blocked by a white radiance, and there were no clouds in the sky, and on the ground, there was only a small stone platform and a pond.

The primordial spirit, which had been flying in the sky for a long time, landed on the stone platform again.

And with its blunt hands, it formed a strange hand seal.

After a while.

Transparent energies flowed out from under the stone platform and entered the primordial spirit's body.

And after a long time, they were transformed into legal power.

Phew!

The primordial spirit, which had opened its mouth and spat out a lump of thick legal power, gave a bright smile as if satisfied.

The primordial spirit suddenly stretched out its hand and pulled the pond in front of it towards the stone platform.

In response, the pond of consciousness moved entirely and approached the lower part of the stone platform.

Sway, sway.

Looking into the water, the transparent crystal threads were playing leisurely.

Huh!

At that time, a surprising thing happened.

A single strand of crystal thread that had been deep in the water shot out from the water and entered the primordial spirit's mouth.

And after seeping into its head, it greatly inspired his consciousness in the upper dantian.

Was it because of that?

The purple mist became even thicker, and his body overflowed with vitality.

* * *

A hideous evil ghost with an eye in the center of its face entered Gwi Seongjin's spirit platform.

It was an evil ghost three times larger than Gwi Seongjin's primordial spirit.

Kkakakakaka!

The evil ghost, which had roared fiercely in the air, saw the purple mist surrounding Gwi Seongjin's body and thought it was peculiar.

It was because although it had entered and exited the spirit platforms of numerous cultivators, it had never seen a purple mist.

Still, there was no fear.

It just thought it was a peculiar color.

What truly surprised the evil ghost was the pond that was collected at the bottom of the primordial spirit.

It was because the size of the pond was larger than it had thought.

When the evil ghost was at the second stage of Qi Refinement, the spring of consciousness in its spirit platform was only the size of a palm.

After that, it had obtained a fortuitous encounter and had barely formed the shape of a pond, but the pond in its own spirit platform now was not larger than that.

How deep must the enlightenment be...

Looking at the pond of consciousness in Gwi Seongjin's spirit platform, the evil ghost trembled in anxiety.

That too was only for a moment...

After glancing at the primordial spirit on the stone platform, its expression soon relaxed.

It was because although the pond was large, the primordial spirit was small and insignificant.

As expected, when the primordial spirit looked weak, the evil ghost was filled with courage and rushed at Gwi Seongjin.

On the tips of that evil ghost's fingers were long, sharp claws.

When the evil ghost invaded his spirit platform, Gwi Seongjin did not just stand by and take it.

When the evil ghost attacked him, Gwi Seongjin made the purple mist into a spear and threw it.

In response, the evil ghost spewed out a black mist in the shape of an iron mace and shot down the purple spear Gwi Seongjin had thrown.

When the situation became unfavorable, Gwi Seongjin threw another lump of mist.

The mist that was flying transformed into dozens of swords and pressed the evil ghost from all sides.

Even so, the evil ghost did not dodge.

Trusting the black mist that enveloped its body, it charged at Gwi Seongjin.

Clang! Clang!

A few purple blades dug into the mist, but in the end, they could not break through the evil ghost's defensive barrier and bounced off.

Karrrrrr!

When the situation went as it had guessed, the evil ghost let out a scream as if it were happy.

When the evil ghost approached closely, Gwi Seongjin made the remaining mist into the shape of a shield.

Swish!

When the evil ghost swung its hand, a deep scratch in the shape of a claw was made on the shield.

Although the dented scratch was restored again, the speed was not that fast.

Swish!

When the evil ghost, which was circling Gwi Seongjin's primordial spirit, swung its hand again, the scratch on the shield opened even wider.

* * *

Thanks to adapting after entering this place, Gwi Seongjin was able to grasp his situation to some extent.

Gwi Seongjin, who had noticed that the evil ghost had entered his spirit platform and was trying to eat him, faced the fight with a life-and-death resolve.

This place was blocked on all sides, so there was nowhere to run.

If he lost the fight against the evil ghost, he would die.

Gwi Seongjin, who knew that he could not handle the evil ghost that had reached the sixth stage of Qi Refinement with his legal power, recalled the memory he had experienced in the spirit platform a little while ago.

The memory of his strength suddenly overflowing after absorbing the crystal thread in the pond...

Although that alone would not be enough to overcome the difference in realm between the two, the only thing Gwi Seongjin could rely on now was that method.

Gwi Seongjin, who had barely prepared a secret plan to deal with the evil ghost, once again pulled the pond of consciousness under the stone platform.

And after waiting for a long time, the strange phenomenon did not occur as before.

"Why? Why isn't it working?"

While Gwi Seongjin was flustered and confused, the evil ghost attacked even more fiercely.

Rip!

The shield that was protecting Gwi Seongjin was finally split into two pieces by the evil ghost's sharply swung claws.

The hurried Gwi Seongjin threw the shattered shield at the evil ghost and flew into the water.

And he chased after the crystal thread, but unfortunately, he could not catch a single one.

The more anxious Gwi Seongjin became, the farther the crystal threads moved away from him.

Kkakakakaka!

The evil ghost laughed loudly at him.

And when it attacked with all its strength, Gwi Seongjin once again made a shield and protected himself.

Swish! Swish!

Long claw marks were made on the shield again by the evil ghost's attack.

It was a deep wound that would be split in two if it was scratched just one more time.

"Pl-please."

When the evil ghost's hideous face came close to his eyes, Gwi Seongjin wished for the crystal thread with a desperate heart.

Did his heart reach the heavens?

A single strand of crystal thread flew from deep in the pond, cutting through the water.

Then it entered Gwi Seongjin's mouth, then entered his upper dantian and inspired his consciousness.

With Gwi Seongjin's current realm, he could not attack the opponent with his consciousness.

But if his consciousness was raised, he could deploy his legal power much faster and more efficiently.

Was it because of that?

When his consciousness was inspired, Gwi Seongjin's legal power utilization increased, and the cracked part of the shield was restored in an instant.

Another strand of crystal thread flew in.

In response, Gwi Seongjin's shield became even stronger and harder.

And another strand...

Swish!

The hand the evil ghost had swung directly hit the shield.

Even so, only a small scratch was left on the shield.

Rather, the evil ghost's claws were broken.

Swish!

When the strategy of pulling the crystal thread and inspiring his consciousness proved to be unexpectedly effective, Gwi Seongjin sent a part of his legal power, which had been focused only on defense, at the evil ghost.

The legal power, which had been scattered into two pieces, transformed into dozens of swords and spears and attacked the evil ghost from above and below.

Some of them even showed the spirit of breaking through the black mist that was protecting the evil ghost.

Ugh!

The startled evil ghost grabbed the shield, twisted it, and pushed its large mouth at Gwi Seongjin's face.

It was a trick to swallow Gwi Seongjin's primordial spirit in one bite.

In response, the blades that were attacking the evil ghost in the air turned into mist and flew at Gwi Seongjin.

Then, joining forces with the shield, they struck the evil ghost's head like a hammer.

Thud!

The evil ghost, which had been hit by the legal power that had been greatly enhanced by the heightened consciousness, was sent flying into the air.

Ugh.

The evil ghost, which had stopped its body in the air, looked at Gwi Seongjin with a look of disbelief.

Although it was inside Gwi Seongjin's spirit platform, in a broader sense, this place was within its consciousness space.

It was a domain where it could exert its power to the maximum.

Moreover, it was at the realm of the sixth stage of Qi Refinement.

Although the opponent's consciousness was unexpectedly high, this was still an unexpected result.

The enraged evil ghost let out a roar, looking at the sky.

And it began to swell its body by explosively expanding its ghost qi.

In an instant, the evil ghost's body grew several times larger.

(End of Chapter)