novelraw Chapter 143 : Spiritual Realm
Chapter 143 : Spiritual Realm
Chapter 143: Spiritual Realm
After crushing the cultivators and escaping the scene, Jang Woo-hyun had to deal with the pursuers that clung to him for a while.
Since the pursuers weren’t particularly skilled, Jang Woo-hyun subdued them with ease and gathered the necessary information.
“Flight to the Heavens Gate?”
“Yes, it's the place used when ascending from the Lower Realm to the Central Heavens Realm.”
The cultivators’ Flight to the Heavens was different from the martial artists’ Ascension.
Because they created holes in the dimensional wall and came up directly, they needed coordinates to reach the Central Heavens Realm, and the structure that fulfilled that role was precisely the Flight to the Heavens Gate.
“There isn’t just one Flight to the Heavens Gate. The place you broke… no, senior, was the one managed by our sect.”
“That shining pond-like thing?”
Jang Woo-hyun recalled the strange place he had destroyed along with the cultivators who attacked him.
“Yes, that’s what’s used for the Flight to the Heavens. It’s called the Flight to the Heavens Gate, or because of its appearance, sometimes the Flight Pool.”
The cultivator in front of him, who spoke freely, was one of the pursuers. He belonged to the same cultivation sect, Changyeongmun, as those Jang Woo-hyun had destroyed at the Flight to the Heavens Gate.
“How do you keep following me?”
At Jang Woo-hyun’s question, the cultivator pulled out a small artifact from his robes.
It was a round disc-shaped artifact with a blue needle on it. No matter how the artifact was moved, the needle pointed toward Jang Woo-hyun.
“You followed me using this?”
“Th-that’s right…”
“And how does it work? How does it find me?”
“I don’t really know. It’s true! I just carried this and… kwaaaak!”
Suspicious he might be hiding something, Jang Woo-hyun disciplined the cultivator a bit more and asked further questions.
But nothing about the artifact’s working principle came from his mouth. He only said that once within a certain distance, the needle pointed to where Jang Woo-hyun was.
With nothing more to learn, Jang Woo-hyun disposed of both the cultivator and the disc-shaped artifact and moved on.
I can’t stay in one place.
To put as much distance as possible, he had to keep moving quickly without stopping.
Part of him wanted to storm Changyeongmun and destroy everything, but this was the cultivators’ territory. Moreover, not knowing Changyeongmun’s exact location, he decided it was wiser to avoid them for now.
During his travels, Jang Woo-hyun encountered several cultivators who, upon recognizing him as a martial artist, immediately attacked.
It felt like being dropped into a space surrounded by enemies.
In the world of the cultivators, Jang Woo-hyun was a foreigner, merely prey.
Just when he was getting thoroughly annoyed from all the constant fighting—
Jang Woo-hyun happened to meet a cultivator.
“Heh heh, so you’re a martial artist from the Murim Realm. I am Sansu. Ah, perhaps you wouldn’t know the term? Sansu refers to a cultivator with no affiliation. It’s akin to a wandering warrior in the Murim.”
The cultivator who identified himself as Sansu did not attack Jang Woo-hyun.
“Jang Do-u, don’t worry too much. I can help you.”
What’s more, he was even friendly.
“The path to the Central Heavens Martial Realm. I don’t know it myself… but someone I know does. How about staying at my place in the meantime? If you keep wandering like this, you’ll end up in another mess.”
Jang Woo-hyun readily agreed with the idea.
Though he was a bit wary since it was someone he just met, the man hadn’t attacked him and was a cultivator, so he followed.
While resting comfortably for the first time in a while at the cultivator’s home, Jang Woo-hyun drank the tea offered and realized something was off.
“How is it? Tingly, isn’t it? It’s a brew that works well on martial artists, so it should feel quite electric, keh heh heh.”
The previously bright face of the cultivator turned sinister.
“How long has it been since I encountered such a fresh martial artist? I’ve found a fine ingredient for a pill.”
Seemingly pleased, the man rambled on without even properly inspecting him.
In this ridiculous situation, Jang Woo-hyun let out a small sigh. This cultivator turned out to be no different from the rest.
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with Jang Woo-hyun’s body.
He had simply sensed something dangerous in the tea from his body's reaction.
Poison no longer worked on Jang Woo-hyun.
Having forged the legendary Five Elements Divine Body passed down in the Dawn Continent and reached the Boundless Realm, the Five Elements’ energy from his Middle Dantian had spread throughout his body and formed its structure.
It was different from a normal human body.
Though not fully transformed into an Element Spirit as the Windstorm Great Saint mentioned, he was no longer someone made merely of flesh.
The current state of Jang Woo-hyun could be seen as half-human, half-elemental qi. Even if he consumed poison, the Fire Qi would burn it up instantly, and the Water Qi would dilute it completely, rendering poison utterly ineffective. In another sense, he had become immune to all poisons.
“Keh heh heh, I’d better prepare now. Don’t resent me. You’ll be reborn and join me. It’ll be far better than living like a worm.”
Watching the cultivator continue rambling with excitement, Jang Woo-hyun drew Mukya and cleaved his head in two.
That talkative cultivator died just like that.
Two days later.
Jang Woo-hyun encountered another cultivator.
“Haha, don’t worry. Our family also has a Murim Realm elder. What do they call them again over there… ah yes, a wandering warrior. He’s from that background and currently affiliated with us.”
This time, the cultivator was a cheerful young man.
Approaching warmly, he tried to reassure Jang Woo-hyun and invited him to his clan.
Jang Woo-hyun followed him.
Though suspicious, he thought there might be a chance they’d help, and was also curious how the cultivators would act this time.
Arriving at a considerable-sized cultivation clan, Jang Woo-hyun was led to a lavish room called the guest chamber.
“Please rest here a bit. I’ll bring our clan’s elders and elder master. I’m sure they’ll be very pleased to see a fellow martial artist like yourself.”
With a refreshing smile, the young cultivator left the room.
And shortly after.
Jang Woo-hyun felt the presence of energy surrounding him from all sides.
They’re doing it again.
Why were all cultivators the same?
With a single sigh from Jang Woo-hyun, as if it were a signal, a strong wind blew, blowing away the roof and walls of the building.
What became visible—
Dozens of cultivators on Flying Apparatuses had surrounded Jang Woo-hyun.
“He’s quite the martial artist. It won’t be easy to deal with him, but if we capture him, he’ll make an excellent material for crafting an artifact.”
At the words of the young cultivator who brought him, sinister smiles appeared on the others’ faces.
“Heh heh heh, he’s radiating a unique aura, quite abundant indeed. With this level of martial artist, we could forge a Dharma Treasure, not just an artifact.”
As the strongest-looking middle-aged man spoke, the surrounding cultivators nodded in agreement.
Watching their pathetic behavior, Jang Woo-hyun drew Mukya.
He was beginning to get irritated. Why were cultivators always so predictable?
“Are you trying to resist? So, you’re quite confident in your skills—”
The middle-aged man didn’t get to finish.
Thud. His neck was severed, and his head hit the floor.
“Huh?”
“……?”
Before the cultivators could even grasp the situation—
Jang Woo-hyun, who had entered the Realm of Transcendence, moved swiftly and targeted the cultivators.
None could block his attack. Aside from the young cultivator who had brought Jang Woo-hyun there, all their heads were severed.
“Eeeek!”
In the nightmare-like reality, the young cultivator who had brought Jang Woo-hyun stepped back in terror. All the elders of his family had their heads cut off in the blink of an eye.
The young cultivator couldn’t understand the situation at all.
He knew that Jang Woo-hyun was a martial artist of considerable skill. That was why he had brought him to the clan—to borrow the elders’ strength.
But he hadn’t expected this. The elders, whom the clan considered its core force, couldn’t even react, let alone strike back.
“A-a-a monster…”
Pale-faced, the retreating cultivator tripped and fell.
“Jang Do-u! No, Jang senior! Senior-nim! Please spare me!”
He begged on his knees, but Jang Woo-hyun had no intention of letting it go.
That small cultivation family rooted in the Central Heavens vanished that day.
The next cultivator he encountered, at least, was honest.
“You filthy livestock! Die!”
The man rushed at him without warning, and Jang Woo-hyun hurled his body without a second thought.
Next came a woman.
“That must have been difficult. Cultivators from the Spiritual Realm are like that. Always growling at the Murim Realm, even when there’s no reason to fight.”
She, too, was kind. At least she seemed normal.
This time, since it was a female cultivator, he followed her once more with a hint of hope.
Thankfully, this cultivator neither gave him poison nor tried to bind him after leading him to her dwelling.
For the first time, he thought he had met a sensible person.
But the incident occurred at night.
Physically fine, yet mentally exhausted from the constant battles, Jang Woo-hyun was lying down and resting comfortably for the first time in a while.
Then suddenly, an unknown pink mist entered his room.
Poison?
At first, he naturally assumed it was poison. But it wasn’t lethal, so his body didn’t react much.
What is this? Doesn’t seem ordinary.
Sensing no danger, Jang Woo-hyun remained lying down.
A moment later.
The door to his room opened, and someone quietly stepped in.
As expected, it was the kind cultivator who had brought him there.
Wearing only a sheer garment that left nothing to the imagination, she licked her lips and approached Jang Woo-hyun’s bed.
The closer she came, the more her appearance changed.
Her tongue grew longer, its tip splitting, and scales formed over her jade-like skin. Her large eyes turned vertical like a snake’s.
No longer human, the creature drooled heavily while looking at Jang Woo-hyun.
Ah, was it an aphrodisiac or sleeping drug?
It wasn’t deadly, so his body hadn’t reacted. But whether it was an aphrodisiac or a sleeping agent, it no longer had any effect.
“You’ll experience supreme pleasure before dying, so you won’t regret it as a man.”
Hissing and wheezing, the snake woman opened her mouth.
She seemed ready to say more, but Jang Woo-hyun no longer waited. He drew his sword and swung.
With a massive slash, the snake woman’s upper body was cleaved in half and flung back.
This time was no different. She had reverted to her human form and pleaded for her life, calling him Jang senior, but it was already too late.
Even after that, Jang Woo-hyun encountered several more cultivators. They always acted like they wanted to help and were usually kind at first. Jang Woo-hyun never rejected their goodwill.
By now, it was more of a whatever happens, happens attitude.
Let’s see how far you’ll go. I’ll watch and see what you do.
With that mindset, he followed every cultivator who approached kindly.
And after that repeated a few more times—
Even the tiniest expectation vanished. Jang Woo-hyun reached a conclusion about what kind of beings cultivators were.
What kind of lunatics are these?
They were insane. Every single one of them tried to use Jang Woo-hyun as a material for artifacts or pills.
With the same thing happening so many times, Jang Woo-hyun even had ridiculous thoughts while reentering the Central Heavens Realm like, Did I turn into a cow or pig? Is that why they’re trying to slaughter me?
The cultivators didn’t see martial artists as equal humans but as livestock or ingredients.
And when those haughty ones were pushed into a corner, they all changed.
At first, it was “Jang Do-u.” In the middle, it turned to “this bastard, that bastard, you scum, worm.” And then, after witnessing Jang Woo-hyun’s strength, it was “Jang senior! Senior-nim! Great being!”
They were all the same.
Strong to the weak, weak to the strong—a typical bully the weak, bow to the strong world.
The Spiritual Realm was a far more brutal world of survival of the fittest compared to the Murim.
If the Murim was The Sword Forest of Dosan, then the Spiritual Realm was a sword-filled hell.
—If you ever meet them, be careful. No, the chances are slim, but if by chance you do meet any of those cultivators, just kill them. Most of them aren’t right in the head.
—If you run into them, kill them immediately. Don’t try to gauge them, don’t even think about talking. If you see them, kill them where they stand.
He remembered what Maeng Ye-ju told him inside the cave while they were chasing Bi Ik-ryeon. Just as she said, the cultivators were not sane.
Even after that, Jang Woo-hyun met a few more cultivators, and from that point on, he simply cleaved their heads open on sight.
Several months passed like that.