Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 20

Nangseon’s Romantic Tale – Episode 19

Thump, thump.

The screeching of cartwheels. The rough road sent intense vibrations through my body.

“Ah.”

The sky was blue, clouds magnificently filling the space above, like gods at play.

Her throat was parched, and she felt strangely weak.

Turning her head, she saw Biqing and Cheongdosan walking beside the donkey cart.

They walked silently, with Choa lying on the cart.

Choa stared at them with dull eyes before looking back at the sky.

‘Master…’

Her heart felt heavy.

Like a weight lodged in her chest, the same feeling as when she was caught secretly eating snacks when hungry.

Thump, thump.

Patting her chest didn’t help; the feeling only grew stronger.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

The sun shone on Choa, and the tears sparkled.

“Choa!”

Biqing realized Choa was awake.

Cheongdosan also looked at Choa, gazing at the sky with tears, his face filled with joy.

Their joy was short-lived.

No matter how much they called, she didn’t answer.

She just stared blankly at the sky, shedding tears.

Biqing and Cheongdosan exchanged glances, unsure what to do.

Biqing gestured to his master, urging him to act. Cheongdosan stroked his chin before speaking.

“Even the Mountain Lord wouldn’t leave in peace seeing you so weak. His steps would be heavy on his long journey.”

But it was no use.

“We are on our way to Kunlun [a mythical mountain said to be the dwelling place of Taoist immortals]. With your innate talent, you will surely become a Taoist. Then, you may not have to shed tears like this.”

Gain strength.

If you do, you will no longer be sad.

That was what Cheongdosan was saying.

Having a purpose becomes the driving force in life.

‘Taoist.’

However, contrary to his intention, Choa recalled the culprit who harmed the Mountain Lord.

‘Nokbang Taoist.’

Choa repeated the name and slowly closed her eyes.

* * *

“Go on ahead. That was the agreement.”

Hongyeon said to the Mountain Lord and Black Tiger, sensing the presence of the approaching enemies.

[Huh? What about Hongyeon?]

“I’ll take care of it myself. Master, please go with the Mountain Lord.”

[Can you follow?]

“Is there a need to follow?”

Indeed, she didn’t need to follow them all the way to the Bidong of Mangsudan [a hidden sanctuary or cave].

That place was just a refuge to improve their cultivation.

The Mountain Lord had been to Mangsudan once, and in the novel, it was only used as a place to take refuge.

She was a powerful spirit beast and could protect herself even without entering.

“The Mountain Lord is probably going to Bidong to perform the Jinsu Myeonghwa [a Taoist cultivation technique]. Please take care of our master as well.”

The Mountain Lord looked back and forth between Black Tiger and Hongyeon before nodding.

[Then I’ll ask you to do that.]

[Uh, uh! Crap. Hongyeon, be careful!]

The Mountain Lord and Black Tiger turned and disappeared into the distance, leaving Hongyeon behind.

Hongyeon, watching them disappear, turned slightly.

Soon, the elites of Udunsan, exuding a fierce aura, appeared before her. One glared at Hongyeon as if to kill her and spoke.

[We are the elites of Udunsan! Who are you to block our path!]

If it were just a human, they would have killed her instantly and chased after the Mountain Lord. However, they couldn’t sense any energy from the woman. They could see her, but it felt like she had no presence, making them nervous.

“I wouldn’t block you without a reason.”

[Hmph, do you think you can stop us, carrying out the Great Elder’s orders!]

Hongyeon simply sneered and slowly released her hidden spiritual power.

In an instant, the air expanded, and the spiritual pressure suppressed the elites of Udunsan.

* * *

[Mountain Lord! Are you okay?]

Black Tiger, running beside him, asked with worry.

But the Mountain Lord didn’t answer.

‘Who is worrying about whom?’

Spirit beasts, probably the elites of Udunsan, were chasing them.

Their first goal was to take the Dobonghwan [a powerful artifact] from the Mountain Lord, and the second was to eliminate him as a future threat.

The Mountain Lord, suppressing his murderous intent, gritted his teeth and headed towards Mangsudan.

Two days later.

[Is this the right place?]

Black Tiger tilted his head, finding something strange.

Before them was an open cliff and a chasm so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen.

[It is.]

No wonder Black Tiger reacted like that.

Bidong wasn’t Bidong for nothing. Its purpose was to be invisible to others.

The protagonist accidentally fell off the cliff and found it by chance, but originally, there was a proper entrance.

[Look closely.]

The Mountain Lord didn’t even glance at the cliff and reached his front paw towards the tree next to it.

[What are you doing…]

Black Tiger grumbled, but he didn’t care.

He touched the tree and drew out the spiritual energy wriggling inside his body.

The old tree was barren, with only overgrown branches as if it were alone in winter, but when the Mountain Lord released his spiritual energy, it devoured it greedily.

[Huh? What!]

Sprouts began to appear on the tree.

The bleak atmosphere changed instantly. Green sprouts turned yellow, becoming fan-shaped leaves.

[Wow… this is a ginkgo tree?]

The barren tree became lush, wearing a yellow coat, creating a beautiful color.

Black Tiger leaned against the tree, amazed, and reached out to grab the ginkgo leaves.

[Don’t do useless things; let’s go.]

[Hey, useless things! But… where?]

Kugugung!

[Wah!]

The ground behind the ginkgo tree made a strange sound, and a door opened, leading underground.

This was the entrance to Mangsudan.

The novel said Mangsudan was created by a famous Taoist, but its purpose and timing were unclear. It was clearly a safe place.

The inside of Bidong had hundreds of forks, forming a maze. Even if an enemy invaded, they could change the terrain and trap the opponent.

‘It’s safe even if Biseon or Yeonggyeol level people come.’

He strode underground, and Black Tiger, distracted by the ginkgo leaves, hurriedly followed.

A strange cave with several forks even after walking a little. But the Mountain Lord strode along the path, and Black Tiger quietly followed.

After walking for about half an hour along hundreds of forks.

Finally, the Mountain Lord stopped and plopped down.

[Ohh!!]

A huge void appeared, and at the end, there was a ginkgo tree, just like the one outside.

Strangely, that ginkgo tree had red instead of yellow leaves.

[Put some spiritual energy into that tree. That’s the only way the entrance outside will close.]

[Hey, can you not order me around? I was going to do it anyway!]

Black Tiger, grumbling, approached the tree with red ginkgo leaves and poured spiritual energy into it like the Mountain Lord.

Then, all the red leaves fell off, and it withered as if it had lost its vitality.

Kugugung. A subtle vibration signaled that the door outside had closed.

Immediately after, the Mountain Lord took out the Dobonghwan from the Gongjeong River, burned the talisman with Blue Flame, and pushed it to Black Tiger.

[You can do the Jinsu Myeonghwa on your own, right? If you eat this, your cultivation will increase at once. If you reach the Middle Realm of Spiritual Objects, you might even rise to the level of a Divine Spiritual Beast.]

[What? Really?! You’re giving me this precious thing!?]

Black Tiger jumped up and down, delighted.

[This place is for me to use, so go outside and go to the right. A room will appear; go there.]

[Okay! Since you gave me this precious thing, I’ll do that much! Eukakakak!]

The Mountain Lord was about to speak but closed his mouth and shook his head.

After Black Tiger disappeared, the Mountain Lord took out one remaining Sun Pill, a few wild ginseng roots, and a few spirit herbs to fully recover his body before taking the Dobonghwan and ate them all at once.

He had to rest for three days in this state and bring his body to its best condition. Otherwise, he might fall into demonic possession, so he had no choice.

And three days later.

The Mountain Lord swallowed the Dobonghwan and began to concentrate.

As the medicine took effect, powerful spiritual energy surged around his body.

Surpassing the realm of a spirit beast was like breaking a vessel.

That vessel refers to the inner core containing divine power.

In other words, it means breaking the inner core.

The Mountain Lord, who had taken the Dobonghwan once before, easily increased his cultivation and released the tightly packed inner core.

Releasing the inner core, hardened like a stone, thread by thread, was not easy.

If he released it all at once, the divine power of Blue Flame contained within would rage uncontrollably, and he would die, so he had to be extremely careful.

The Mountain Lord, who had released the inner core without leaving a single grain, gritted his teeth again, not knowing how much time had passed.

Bang!

The divine powers latent within the inner core burst out and began to rampage through the Mountain Lord’s body.

The area around him shone entirely blue, and soon Blue Flame began to blaze like a volcano.

‘Now is important.’

The Mountain Lord dripped blood from the corner of his mouth and suppressed the pain.

This is why most spirit beasts die while performing Jinsu Myeonghwa.

Even if they manage to release the inner core, reuniting it, creating a unified inner core, and creating a new second inner core involves tremendous pain.

Furthermore, the Mountain Lord had to divide the unified inner core and the newly created second inner core according to the Separation and Union Technique he had obtained from Hongyeon.

‘Three of each.’

He had to create a total of six inner cores.

The Mountain Lord lay prostrate and quietly chanted the Separation and Union Technique, concentrating.

Occasionally, the sound of something exploding inside his body was heard, bang! Only the eerie sound of bones twisting and joints snapping filled the silent cave.

The power of the Blue Flame that seemed to devour his body gradually diminished.

Then, at some point, the surface of his body began to harden like stone.

The Mountain Lord, immersed in a state of selflessness and performing Jinsu Myeonghwa, deeply fell into his inner self.

* * *

Beside the barren old tree.

The woman in black mourning clothes wore a faint smile.

[It’s already been three days. How long do we have to wait!]

A spirit beast named Umoon, the largest of the wild boar spirit beasts, said.

Behind him were twenty spirit beasts, seemingly the elites of Udunsan, revealing a fierce aura.

“Until he comes out, of course.”

Hongyeon stroked the old tree, crossed her arms, and glared at them.

She hadn’t killed the elites of Udunsan three days ago.

She had only told them to wait.

At first, they scoffed, but after learning her identity, they had no choice but to sit still and wait.

They had been continuing a subtle confrontation for nearly three days, unable to do anything.

But even that patience had reached its limit.

[We can’t wait any longer!]

“So what are you going to do?”

Hongyeon sneered, as if daring them to try.

“I would have said that I wouldn’t do anything in your fight. If not, can I take it as you wanting to die at my hands, not the Mountain Lord’s?”

[Even so-]

At that time.

Kuguuuuung!!

A vibration that felt like an earthquake was felt beneath their feet.

Along with it, a powerful wave of spiritual energy.

[……!]

The elites tensed up and sharpened their senses.

Kugugu!

Suddenly, the ground opened on both sides, and a man with black hair and red eyes.

A man who seemed to have just reached adulthood walked out.

“Have you come now?”

Hongyeon looked at the man and wore a strange smile.

The man also smiled at her.

[I smell the Mountain Lord from that guy!]

[Mountain Lord! It’s the Mountain Lord’s scent!]

[How can a human have the Mountain Lord’s scent…….]

[What the…….]

Looking at the bewildered elites, the man raised the corners of his mouth and said.

“Yeah. I am the Mountain Lord, you bastards.”