Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 111

Tales of the Divine Swordsman – 110

[Ha! You said you’d kill me?]

“H-How could I ever say such a blasphemous thing! I only came to assess the situation; I had no intention of harming you, Great One!”

[What a funny guy. Calling me, who isn’t even human, ‘Great One.’ Don’t you think that’s ridiculous? Or are you mocking me?]

Manho slammed his forehead against the ground, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“H-How could I ever commit such disrespect?! It is my inadequacy! Please, have a shred of mercy on me!”

A smirk crept onto the Mountain Lord’s lips.

He wouldn’t be hurt by Doseon’s [a person who has attained enlightenment through Taoist practices] treasure. But if that guy attacked with intent, the Mountain Lord would have no way to avoid it.

If he had brought even a mid-tier Taoist, it would have been a headache.

He had meditated for three days straight, but no spiritual energy gathered, and his body didn’t recover.

His whole body was numb, making it hard to even lift his head, let alone move.

No matter how high his realm, there was no way to deal with it in this heavily injured state.

It was a relief that someone he knew had approached him.

If it had been someone else, it wouldn’t have been easy to appease them.

The Mountain Lord soothed the guy who was trembling as if he would perform the gubaejire [a traditional Korean bow performed on one’s knees, often as a sign of deep respect or apology] right away.

[It’s fine. I’m just glad to see someone I know in this strange land, so I’ll forgive you.]

“T-Thank you.”

Manho cautiously raised his head to look at the Mountain Lord before bowing deeply again.

He remained prostrate.

[Well, that’s that. I have a few questions, so answer them as you know.]

“Of course, Great One.”

The Mountain Lord asked a few questions, and Manho answered them diligently.

They were related to Dongguk [an ancient Korean kingdom], the situation in the East Sea and Dongguk.

And the Taoist landscape of Dongguk.

Finally, about spiritual energy.

“Yes, the density of spiritual energy here is so low that it is impossible to cultivate through ordinary methods.”

[Then how do you cultivate?]

“The only thing better here than other places is that evil energy is abundant, which is why all sorts of monsters overflow. Anyway, Dongguk has developed a secret art to convert evil energy into spiritual energy.”

Converting evil energy into spiritual energy!

He couldn’t help but be amazed.

If he could master that secret art, the Mountain Lord could heal his internal injuries in an instant.

[Then you must know it. Tell me the incantation.]

He said with a joyful heart, but Manho’s face darkened, and he avoided his eyes.

Why was that?

“I don’t know it either….”

[What? What nonsense are you talking about!]

If he didn’t know the secret art of converting evil energy into spiritual energy, how could he cultivate!

As the Mountain Lord became enraged, Manho trembled and confessed.

“This secret art is strictly controlled, so they don’t teach it to someone like me!”

[…Then how are you cultivating?]

“I-I pay for spiritual stones every month to cultivate in a spiritual mountain where they have set up formations!”

That complicated things.

The Mountain Lord pondered for a moment and asked.

[There must be many other Taoists in that spiritual mountain.]

“Yes….”

Then the Mountain Lord couldn’t go there. He could barely gather a handful of spiritual energy; how could he disguise himself!

[This is annoying. What kind of place is this… Why are you cultivating in a place like this?]

Paying spiritual stones to cultivate.

It was unimaginable in the area where the Mountain Lord had been.

“Well, I ended up drifting here by accident, so I can’t help it. And I don’t have any way to go back to Banggok.”

Something was suspicious, but he decided to let it go.

That wasn’t the important thing.

Spiritual energy was scarce, but it wasn’t nonexistent. If he meditated like this for about ten days, he would be able to move.

‘It takes too long.’

There was no guarantee that other powerful Taoists or spirits wouldn’t come in the meantime.

Who knew, the Hae tribe might be chasing after him!

The Mountain Lord pondered and opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue to Manho.

“This is…”

[It’s Gongjeonggang [a magical storage space]. Take it.]

“T-Thank…”

[I’m not giving it to you. There will be spiritual stones there, so take them all… no, take only 30%.]

Manho nodded and infused his divine sense into Gongjeonggang to examine it.

There were all sorts of rare spiritual herbs and elixirs, as well as byproducts of demonic beasts.

There were treasures with tremendous energy, as well as mountains of gold and silver treasures.

Manho glanced at the Mountain Lord.

He couldn’t move his body, so he could probably escape.

The promised elixir was also in Gongjeonggang, so if he just took this and ran away….

[Don’t even think about running away. That Gongjeonggang has a restriction engraved on it that will immediately explode if it gets too far away from me.]

“Really?”

Of course, it was a lie.

There was no such thing.

But Manho flinched and carefully examined Gongjeonggang. He tilted his head, but he didn’t seem to doubt it.

“I-I’ll take it out.”

Soon, he took out spiritual stones from Gongjeonggang, and they quickly piled up like a mountain.

It was enough to cover half of the beach.

[Didn’t I say to take only 30%?]

“I-I took out 30%.”

[Ah….]

He didn’t use them much, so it seemed they had piled up that much.

Come to think of it.

The Mountain Lord had unconsciously reached out his hand whenever Gongjeonggang appeared when he killed the Hae tribe.

He hadn’t used them, so the number must have piled up tremendously.

‘Good for me.’

Since spiritual energy was scarce, it was right to extract the spiritual energy from the spiritual stones to soothe his internal injuries.

He didn’t have enough spiritual power to use Gongjeonggang, so this was enough.

The Mountain Lord took back Gongjeonggang and began to extract the spiritual energy from the spiritual stones to heal himself.

* * *

A giant island nation called Dongguk.

At the western end of that place, there was a sect that barely maintained its existence.

It was called the Hugopa (煦高派) [a fictional sect name].

A weak sect that had secured a place on Hugosan.

Harisan Mountain Range, one of the seven spiritual mountains, was not a good place for spiritual veins.

Because of this, disciples did not easily enter Hugopa, and thanks to this, they were suffering from extreme financial difficulties.

To make matters worse, the Moonju [sect leader] of Hugopa passed away early, and Hugo Bo (煦高保) [a fictional character name], the daughter of the Jongju [previous sect leader], became the Moonju at a young age.

Her realm was only Biseon [a level of spiritual attainment], but considering her potential, her vessel was full.

But.

The Haenunpa (海嫩派) [a fictional sect name], a weak sect in the same mountain range, was constantly aiming for Hugopa.

Because of this, they were constantly picking fights, and thanks to this, the disciples of Hugopa were decreasing day by day.

“That’s… the kind of place it is.”

Manho, who was explaining as he climbed the steep mountain road, constantly watched the Mountain Lord’s mood.

The Mountain Lord was looking around, listening or not.

He was still in his true form.

A giant tiger with two horns.

Manho was deeply worried because he couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

‘When is he going to give me the elixir?’

That was his main concern.

When he examined Gongjeonggang, he confirmed that he had all kinds of elixirs.

He had elixirs that he knew just by hearing the name, as well as bizarre elixirs that he had never seen before, so it wasn’t a lie.

He had plenty of them, so it wouldn’t be a big deal for him to give him the elixir.

“Ahem, t-this is the place!”

[Hmm.]

The evil energy was converted into spiritual energy by the formation spread throughout the mountain, and he could breathe.

The Mountain Lord looked around and frowned at the training cave that Manho was using as his residence.

[It’s too small.]

It was too small for him to enter.

He was able to move, but the Mountain Lord was still reluctant to use spiritual power.

He had replenished his spiritual power with a large amount of spiritual stones, but his body was stained with internal injuries.

If he hadn’t been a spirit beast, it would have been difficult to move like this.

[It’s too small. Enlarge it.]

So he had no choice but to give the order.

“Yes? Ah, ah….”

Manho scratched the back of his head, blankly for a while, as if he hadn’t thought of that.

“Um? Taoist Manho. What is that tiger? Its build is great, and its energy is very fierce! Is it a new revenge beast or something?”

A bald old man who was walking with his hands behind his back as if he had come out for a stroll asked kindly.

“Ah! O-Of course! Who am I! I’m Manho, Manho! Of course, it’s a revenge beast!”

Manho laughed and patted the Mountain Lord’s body with his palm.

As the Mountain Lord stared indifferently, cold sweat dripped from Manho’s forehead.

“Haha, well, if it wasn’t a revenge beast, how could a monster be so docile! That’s amazing. A tiger with two horns… I think I’ve heard of it somewhere.”

“Ahem, I have a wall in my cultivation, so I’m going to break through that wall with this guy, so that’s it. A well-raised revenge beast is better than ten Taoists! Haha!!”

“Haha, yes. I don’t know how you caught it, but it’s a general! I can feel the pure fire energy, so if you raise it well, you can use it very usefully, haha!!”

The Mountain Lord was annoyed by the trivial conversation.

He wanted to kick them all away with his front paws and quickly heal his internal injuries.

-Tell them to get lost quickly.

So he sent a telepathic message.

Then Manho flinched and looked back, starting to get angry.

“Get lost quickly!!”

Heok [sound of surprise].

He really said it as it was.

“What, what? Are you senile? Why are you like this!?”

-Tell them that if they don’t get lost quickly, you’ll put needles in their head and turn them into a hedgehog.

“Y-You’re the one who’s senile! I want to cultivate quickly, so my head is itchy! If you don’t get lost quickly, I’ll put needles in that bald head and turn it into hair!”

‘This is fun.’

This guy listens to me well.

He was wondering what to tease him with next, but he fell into a sudden sense of futility.

‘This is not the time for me to do this….’

“Huh? Something.”

“Ahem! You don’t seem to be in good condition! But I have to give you the official document from the sect! I came to give you this in the first place!”

“Um! I’ll read it slowly!”

The nameless old man disappeared, and Manho looked at the official document and glanced back.

[You were talking about a revenge beast.]

“Ah, no, that’s….”

[It’s okay. The situation is like this, so it can’t be helped. Don’t worry about it.]

But even though he said not to worry about it, he was subtly stomping his feet.

A silent sign to move quickly!

Manho immediately started working.

“I’ll move as fast as I can! It’ll be done soon, so please wait!”

[I’ll look forward to it.]

Manho moved with sweat on his feet and barely expanded the size of the training cave.

It took half an hour, but it was a quick preparation for a Doseon.

The Mountain Lord entered the enlarged training cave and lay down in a suitable place.

It was dusty and dirty because it was all broken.

‘I can’t help it.’

He didn’t like it, but healing his internal injuries was more important now.

He had replenished his spiritual power, but his blood points were a mess.

‘There are medicinal herbs and pills that are good for internal injuries, so I can recover completely in a few years.’

But the problem was a few years.

The Mountain Lord had also risen to the level of Yeongmyeong [a high level of spiritual attainment] and was taking a step towards Gogyo Yuksa [an even higher level of spiritual attainment], so once he suffered internal injuries, it was difficult to heal easily.

To him, internal injuries meant that the spiritual blood and Dallyeong [vital energy] inside his body were injured. He could heal them, but it took time.

‘But I have to do it.’

It was a Doseon’s training cave, so the quality of spiritual energy was terrible, and there were no defenses.

He wanted to install Gogyo Geumje [a powerful protective formation] and Hwanjin [another type of formation], but he didn’t have the energy to do so.

He could have made him do it, but if he installed such a Gogyo Geumje in a Doseon’s training cave, he would be suspected.

‘The road to Geomyeongdo is so rough that I have no face to see Hwaran [a fictional character name].’

He recalled her for a moment and smirked, but he quickly regained his mind.

* * *

Hugosan Mid-slope.

The bald old man raised his telepathy charm, moved his lips, and sent it away.

“I read it in the scriptures. A tiger with two horns! Ssanggak Buho (雙角符虎) [a mythical creature]. I feel sorry for Manho, but… I have to report it!”