Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 209

The Great War (1)

An hour ago.

“Your silver tongue is quite something. How about becoming my concubine? I think we’d make a pretty good picture together, don’t you think?”

Startled by the sudden suggestion, Jisol looked at Yewoon, taken aback.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t think I wouldn’t know. It hasn’t been obvious, but I’m well aware that this mess is a result of your silver tongue. And did you really think I’d believe such nonsense about gaining wings by consuming Seonchung [a mystical silkworm]?”

Jisol’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

“I had to bark like a dog to survive. I understand; I would have done the same. To survive in Dogye [a cutthroat world or organization], one must do at least that much…”

Jisol’s eyes darted around quickly.

Her mind was racing as fast as her eyes.

Yewoon chuckled and casually walked over, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“So, what’s the next move?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“You must have had a plan. What were you going to do next?”

Jisol’s jaw trembled.

Even for her, who had been through thick and thin, the schemes and actions of Yewoon of the Guigang Clan were truly beyond the pale.

The unfathomable smile and his actions fueled a strange sense of dread.

“Come on, tell me. How were you planning to kill me next?”

“Th-that’s not true.”

“Haha, I know everything!

It’s obvious that this place is a sealed altar, and the creatures nearby were meant as sacrifices.”

With those words, Yewoon grinned and leaned close to her face, asking,

“Tell me how to awaken the ferocious beast sealed here.”

Jisol seemed quite flustered, her mouth agape before she finally sighed.

“May I ask you one thing?”

“Ask away.”

“If you knew I was lying, why did you kill Hyangno?”

If he knew her words were false, there was no need to kill him.

He could have easily denounced her, so why kill him in one swift stroke?

Hyangno hadn’t even tried to kill Yewoon out of loyalty.

No matter how she thought about it, there was no reason for him to kill Hyangno.

“The reason is simple. I actually expected Hyangdo to try and kill me, so I was prepared. But Hyangno didn’t make a move. So, I lost my enthusiasm and just killed him.”

“…Pardon?”

“Didn’t you hear? I said I just… killed him because I lost my enthusiasm. I went through the trouble of preparing, so it would have been a waste if I just let it pass.”

It was absurd.

He and Hyangno had been like brothers for at least a few hundred years, yet he killed him because he lost his enthusiasm? What was that supposed to mean?

Jisol couldn’t understand him at all and became even more afraid.

Even now.

He saw through her scheme at once and was even encouraging her to carry it out; she didn’t know what tune to dance to [didn’t know how to react].

“Aren’t you going to do it? Hurry up and break the seal.”

He looked constantly cheerful, as if he had acquired a new toy.

“Don’t regret it…”

“People say humans are creatures of regret, so how could I not regret it? But I’ll just try my best. Haven’t you seen the results of my efforts? That’s how one can ascend to immortality in Dogye.”

Jisol ignored his words and grabbed the Seonchung orb, throwing it to the ground.

Clang!

As the orb shattered, the silkworm that had been dormant began to stir, emitting a bizarre sound.

-Gyaaaaaa!

The shriek was so eerie and gloomy that it was hard to believe it came from a silkworm.

“Sealed area… I said that before, but in truth, this ruin is neither a place where something is sealed nor the tomb of a Seon-gye immortal [an immortal from the Immortal Realm].”

“Then what is it?”

“You must have felt something strange as soon as you entered Bidong. This place has always been filled with things that seem to test us cultivators.”

The doors of trials divided into east, west, south, and north.

And the treasures within.

The teleportation array that moved them even to the Great Desert when they were not satisfied with that.

Come to think of it, this place had always been testing cultivators. Sometimes it was cultivation, and sometimes it was greed.

“And the treasures and this ruin were never meant to be hidden. Rather, they are merely traps designed to tempt cultivators and fuel their desires.”

Even the silkworm in front of her.

It was a kind of test.

“The immortal who created this great Bidong seems to have always wanted to test us and give us trials. But in reality, it’s not really like that.

Have you ever wondered why the sand in this desert is so red?”

Now that she mentioned it, it was true.

It was the Great Desert of red sand, but since it was a paradise created by an immortal, she had never thought deeply about it.

“It’s because the blood of those who came here seeking opportunities is thoroughly mixed into the sand. Do you know how many lives have become grains of sand in the desert now?”

She smiled emptily.

And she stepped on and killed the silkworm that was making a bizarre cry.

And at that moment.

Kugugugugung!

The surroundings distorted under the pressure of a massive energy, and the space cracked!

Visible through the cracks in space was a man with insect wings, surrounded by a swarm of red mosquitoes.

His immense bloodlust and ferocious energy were enough to make even Yewoon of the Guigang Clan, said to be at the edge of the Demonic Path, tremble, and the disciples of the Demonic Path exposed to that energy foamed at the mouth.

Some lost consciousness or foamed at the mouth, while many others lost their minds, grinning foolishly and drooling.

“Haa… Annoying.”

But the red man, as if tired of such reactions, looked at them with a nonchalant expression and turned his head.

“Are you Chungseon?”

Looking at the man’s appearance itself, one could not help but think he was deeply related to insects. When even young insects gain spirituality and ascend to the heavens to become immortals, he must be Chungseon.

As expected.

He nodded nonchalantly and raised a finger.

“How do you have that?”

“Pardon? What do you mean…”

Yewoon didn’t understand what he was talking about, but Chungseon paid no attention and flicked his finger, shooting out a red aura.

Before he could even block it, the aura pierced through Yewoon’s body, rendering him unable to move and causing him to groan in pain.

Chungseon took out a book from his body, his expression unusual.

“How can such a thing be in the possession of a lower realm cultivator? Unbelievable.”

He had an expression of utter disbelief.

Chungseon moved his lips and opened the book, then immediately closed it again.

Then, the book was engulfed in blue flames and burned away, and after a while, a huge feather that looked like it had been cut off appeared.

The face of Chungseon, who had been nonchalant all along, began to brighten.

Yewoon didn’t know why, but Chungseon was looking at the feather with great satisfaction, so it must be something precious.

“It’s here. Several cut-off parts…”

Chungseon turned his head and seemed to check something, then nodded.

It was an unintelligible murmur.

But even that was enough to make Yewoon’s head spin.

“If you give me instructions, I can find something similar to that right away.”

Even if he didn’t know, the book with the feather was something he had.

Looking at the blunt part and ambiguous shape, there must be someone other than him who has something like that.

“What? You?”

“How could I lie to Chungseon? If you take those I have prepared, I will gladly bring you more.”

“Hoo…”

Chungseon looked at the disciples of the Demonic Path that Yewoon had prepared and raised the corners of his mouth.

He was quick to assess the situation.

“You will live a long life.”

At Chungseon’s compliment, a deep smile spread across Yewoon’s lips.

* * *

Meanwhile.

Sangun, who was using stealth, was listening to various stories from Bong, who had turned into a feather.

“Seon-gye [Immortal Realm] is the boundary where humans live among the six realms? Then…”

[The guy who appeared now is Chungseon, who manifested from the Insect Realm. For some reason, he appears here and is often given the role of slaughtering cultivators.

To put it nicely, he is the guardian of this place, and to put it badly, he is the cleaner.]

It was surprising that the Upper Realm was divided into six realms, but it was unbelievable that an immortal from the Insect Realm was a cleaner.

Besides, an immortal was given the task of slaughtering cultivators?

“How could an immortal be given such a task? By whom?”

[Who else but the owner who created this place? He was given it by someone higher than the Chungseon who appeared now.]

“A being higher than an immortal… Does such a thing exist?”

[Why wouldn’t there be? Immortals are also beings of cultivation who cannot stop their training, so naturally, there are differences in their levels.]

Differences in levels!

He had vaguely believed that becoming an immortal would free him from cultivation.

It was a shocking answer for him, who had always found the affairs of the Upper Realm ambiguous and unpredictable.

The fact that there were differences in the levels of immortals meant that they also engaged in cultivation, and the existence of the word ‘cultivation’ meant that there was a reason why immortals had no choice but to aim higher.

Sangun was very curious about the reason, but it didn’t seem like the time to be leisurely exchanging questions and answers.

[Hide your energy. Someone is coming.]

Swish.

Sangun’s figure disappeared.

As he melted into the air with Yeowi’s ability, two beams of light descended to the ground after a moment.

Thud.

The two beams of light that descended were Taoists fluttering in white robes.

One was a hunched-over, wrinkled old woman, and the other appeared to be a woman wearing a bamboo hat, and strangely, her back looked familiar.

“It’s somewhere here. I’m sure of it.”

“Are you sure this is the right place? This is a desert where no vegetation can grow. How can Seoncho [a mystical herb] grow in such a place?”

Sangun’s body stiffened.

His face hardened.

“You are foolish. When did I say that Seoncho grows in the desert? Don’t judge by appearances alone. Although this place is a desert, it cannot be said that the bottom is filled with only sand.”

Thud.

The old woman’s foot dug into the sand, and with a strange tremor, the sand exploded and scattered in all directions.

Soon, a huge pit appeared, and strangely, the bottom was densely intertwined with tree vines.

“Should I call it a simple trick… or another layer?

The bottom of the desert is covered with these vines, and if you dig down here, you will find a huge forest and jungle. The Sip-saenggeumeocho [a rare and potent herb] we are looking for is also there!”

“Then why did we wander around the desert for so long when we could have gone down earlier?”

As the woman in the bamboo hat spoke sarcastically, the old woman clicked her tongue and glared at her foolish disciple.

“It’s because it’s difficult to glide with stealth when you go down. There’s no need to do unnecessary work.”

Even if he didn’t know, the jungle that existed underground was a more chaotic environment than the desert.

The old woman and the woman, who had been bickering, began to dig through the vines and go down.

An hour later.

Sangun, who appeared like a ghost in the air, looked at the pit they had gone down with complicated eyes.

“Why are you here…”

His red eyes shook aimlessly, as if representing his confused state of mind.