Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 97

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – 96

While Mountain Lord was deep in thought,

Geum Sojeo went to see Lady Nak.

Since being thrown out, she had been constantly healing her damaged arm.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m… fine.”

Geum Sojeo clicked her tongue, glanced around with a modern air, and said,

“I am the one who made you like this.”

It was an incomprehensible remark.

However, Lady Nak’s eyes gleamed.

“Are you talking about that man?”

“Yes.”

“Then….”

A murderous aura flashed for a moment.

Geum Sojeo silently shook her head.

“It would be better to wait until after securing the Heavenly Treasure.”

“I see. What about Elder Seon?”

“I was the one who leaked information to him in the first place. Depending on the situation, we can either deal with him or leave him alone if he doesn’t get too greedy.”

Walking along the path, guided by the glow of the night-shining pearl, they met Elder Seon.

He didn’t appear to have any particular injuries.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Yes. Can you see anything?”

Lady Nak replied.

Elder Seon gestured to the front as if the timing was perfect.

“There are all sorts of things inside Ha Hoomi Nong’s body. Look over there.”

In the direction he pointed, there were dense trees and strangely shaped plants.

Cho Moonkyung, who was also with them, clicked his tongue.

“I don’t know what it is, but we can’t rashly approach it.”

The forest spreading inside Ha Hoomi Nong’s body was saturated with thick evil energy.

It was being emitted by the plants and trees.

It was a bizarre situation.

“Those are Corpse Imprisoning Trees. They’re terrible things that can taint the land within a hundred miles with evil energy, even with just one tree.”

For such Corpse Imprisoning Trees to form a forest…

A Taoist with low cultivation would lose their vitality just by entering for a moment.

“It’s mountain after mountain [a never-ending series of challenges].”

As Cho Moonkyung said.

They risked their lives to cross a river of bile, and now another formidable foe appeared. It was truly one challenge after another.

“The presence of Corpse Imprisoning Trees isn’t necessarily a bad sign. Corpse Imprisoning Trees originally appear where death is rampant.

The fact that there are so many Corpse Imprisoning Trees means that we are getting closer to his head.”

Geum Sojeo raised the corner of her mouth and calmly explained.

Elder Seon gave her a suspicious look, but it was only for a moment.

“Where is Taoist Yoojeong? There’s no point in wasting time.”

It was then.

“I think I’m very late.”

Two men appeared from behind.

It was Mountain Lord and Jangcheon, whose whereabouts had been unknown.

“Ahem, I was worried that something might have happened. If it weren’t for the Taoist’s Bokchung [a type of magical artifact or technique], we all would have died.”

“How could that be? Even if it weren’t me, Geum Seonja [Geum Sojeo, respectfully] would have done well. In the first place, I wouldn’t have been able to cross with just my Bokchung.”

He passed the credit to Geum Sojeo and acted modestly.

Then, Geum Sojeo chuckled and pointed to the Corpse Imprisoning Trees.

“It’s a forest made of Corpse Imprisoning Trees. It’s no different from a demon realm. We’ll probably have to cross this place, so you’ll need to fortify your bodies with suitable rare creatures.”

A forest spewing out evil energy.

Even if others did, Mountain Lord had nothing to fear.

Since he was cultivating the Subduing Evil Four-pronged Sword within his body, it was natural that wicked energy couldn’t harm him.

“Let’s act separately from here. Lady Nak and I will go first.”

With those words, Geum Sojeo took out an incense burner from her bosom. Soon, a purple aura sprang from the incense burner, enveloping Geum Sojeo and Lady Nak, and they disappeared into the forest.

Before they could even say anything, they vanished in an instant, and Elder Seon and Cho Moonkyung were left with bewildered faces. Soon, they each took out protective treasures from their bosoms and disappeared into the forest.

“Is it alright to leave that Bokchung as it is?”

He must be talking about the Flower Plundering Ogre.

“Who could possibly touch the one that nested in the river of bile anyway?

It’ll be fine to leave it as it is.”

Fortunately, it was in the bile river that other spirit worms or Taoists couldn’t touch.

If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have been able to leave the Flower Plundering Ogre like that.

He didn’t know how long it would take, but if necessary, he could create a dwelling here after obtaining the Heavenly Treasure and wait for a while.

“Let’s go too. The concentration of evil energy is high, but it’s useless to me, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Mountain Lord turned his hand over, took out the Nine Ringed Blade, and cheerfully entered the forest of Corpse Imprisoning Trees where evil energy was raging.

* * *

A gloomy wind brushes against the back of the neck.

Lady Nak, who unknowingly shrank her neck, looked at Geum Sojeo walking along the path with an expressionless face and asked.

“Why did you separate?”

She asked cautiously, and Geum Sojeo twitched her lips.

“I don’t know why Corpse Imprisoning Trees appeared, but many spirits gather here.

There are so many souls that Ha Hoomi Nong devoured and couldn’t digest. So, wouldn’t that be why Corpse Imprisoning Trees appeared?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

That’s how Corpse Imprisoning Trees grow.

There’s also a saying that Corpse Imprisoning Trees always exist where death gathers.

However, Lady Nak found it difficult to understand what that had to do with acting separately.

“It means that demons might be gathered here. It’s a forest that we’ll have to traverse for several days at a rough estimate, and the trees soar to the ceiling, making it unsuitable for flying. He used such tricks even in the bile river, so I don’t think he wouldn’t have done something here too.”

“Then….”

“Those who are meant to die will die.”

Geum Sojeo, with a sinister smile, looked at Lady Nak and sneered.

“Why, are you scared?”

“Aren’t we not safe either?”

If Geum Sojeo’s words were true, then traveling separately like this was a very dangerous act.

“Don’t worry. That’s why I took out this incense burner. The demons won’t even notice our existence.”

Waving the incense burner with purple smoke rising from it, Geum Sojeo crossed the forest path.

* * *

At the same time.

“Yooksa [Sixth Rank Warrior].”

“I know.”

Jangcheon looked at him with untrusting eyes, but Mountain Lord was confident.

With so many Corpse Imprisoning Trees, it was obvious that it couldn’t be a proper forest.

It was a perfect place for evil spirits to be born from the tightly packed evil energy.

‘The Three Evils must have done something.’

It was predictable.

Eerie sounds echoed, and evil energy began to wriggle up from under his feet. Mountain Lord was delighted and plunged the Nine Ringed Blade into the ground.

Thud.

Soon, jet-black ghost energy spewed out, and the evil spirits residing within the Nine Ringed Blade poured out like a fountain.

“Devour it.”

The ghost energy spread throughout the forest in an instant, devouring the evil energy and tearing apart the ghosts within it.

Some ghosts even broke and devoured the Corpse Imprisoning Trees themselves.

“I don’t know what they’ve done, but it doesn’t matter if I wipe it all out.”

The evil spirits that absorbed the evil energy of the Corpse Imprisoning Trees, as well as the evil energy of the Nine Ringed Blade itself, would increase, so the forest of Corpse Imprisoning Trees was not a dangerous element to him.

‘This is a benefit to me.’

If he absorbed all the evil energy here, the Nine Ringed Blade would emit even more powerful evil energy. There was no reason to refuse since it was said that the more you use a treasure, the stronger it becomes.

Mountain Lord more enthusiastically controlled the ghosts of the Nine Ringed Blade to absorb the evil energy and devour the forest.

Not only that.

There was one more thing that was sensitive to evil energy.

“Gwiyul.”

Sreuk.

A sharp-eyed girl with an onion-shaped head appeared.

Gwiyul was noticeably restless, and like the Nine Ringed Blade, she couldn’t resist such rich evil energy.

He nodded, and Gwiyul also emitted evil energy from her body and swung her arms.

Then, her evil energy drew in the energy emitted by the Corpse Imprisoning Trees.

Gwiyul was a truly bizarre Jiangshi [Chinese hopping vampire or zombie].

She was a Jiangshi born from the fusion of the Three-Foot Demon Child, made up of thousands of babies.

Whether it was a good or bad omen that she seemed to have developed a self, Mountain Lord didn’t think it was bad.

Although she was rebellious like a teenage girl now, he was sure that if he tamed her well, she would become a great strength to him.

He had fully transformed his body into a spirit beast, so he could already face ordinary Illusionary Immortals, and he was curious how much more powerful he would become if he became stronger than he was now.

“Let’s go. I’ve given the order, so they’ll come find us when the time comes.”

“Geez…. Alright.”

Thus, the two crossed the Corpse Imprisoning Tree forest, and after three days, they were able to completely escape the forest.

In the middle, they encountered evil spirits with powerful forces or beings transformed into demons, but they were quickly cut down by Mountain Lord, who possessed the Subduing Evil Four-pronged Sword.

It was a natural principle since the Four-pronged Sword with the aura of subduing demons was like a deadly poison to beings with demonic energy.

After that.

Mountain Lord, who had rejoined the group, was greeted by Elder Seon and Cho Moonkyung with haggard faces.

“Were you unharmed?”

“Yes. But Elder Seon and Taoist Cho don’t seem to be. Your faces look….”

“Haha, how embarrassing.”

Judging by the fact that they were reluctant to speak, it seemed that they had suffered quite a bit.

Looking at their torn robes here and there, he seemed to know the situation roughly without them having to say it.

Turning his head, Geum Sojeo and Lady Nak still looked the same as before.

However, Geum Sojeo was looking at Mountain Lord with a very displeased look.

Jangcheon looked at her with a strange face and then turned his gaze away.

After walking for four more days, they discovered it.

“Huh….”

A scabbard stuck in Ha Hoomi Nong’s brain.

“I-is that really the Heavenly Treasure? It’s not even a sword, just a scabbard….”

Elder Seon trailed off and sighed. The others also had doubtful faces, but Mountain Lord alone had no change in expression.

The scabbard stuck in the gray, giant brain was particularly ordinary.

Its appearance was not special, and its energy was not something that could not be approached.

At first glance, it was just an ordinary scabbard.

“Are you mistaken?”

“There’s no way. That is definitely the Heavenly Treasure.”

Only Geum Sojeo was certain and spoke with a serious face.

Then, the situation became a little strange.

How could Geum Sojeo be so sure that it was the Heavenly Treasure?

One could not help but doubt it.

“I’ve been feeling this since before… Geum Sojeo seems like someone who knew about this place. I was the one who gave information about Ha Hoomi Nong and the Heavenly Treasure.”

Thinking about it, it was strange.

Like the relationship between Lady Nak and Geum Sojeo, or the way Geum Sojeo spoke as if she had been here before.

He had been silent until now, but with the Heavenly Treasure in front of him, he had to ask.

“Is that so important? Rather than that, it’s more important who gets their hands on the Heavenly Treasure!”

It was a blind spot.

Rather than that, it was more important who would get their hands on the Heavenly Treasure.

There might be some who weren’t, but who would refuse a treasure in front of them?

The Taoists rolled their eyes at each other and created a strange tension.

The funny thing was that Cho Moonkyung, who said he had come to retrieve his ancestor’s body, was also in that mix.

‘There’s no one to trust.’

Mountain Lord clicked his tongue and turned his head.

Jangcheon crossed his arms and shook his head as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“Too much is as bad as too little [moderation is key].”

Agreeing with his words a hundred times, Mountain Lord put his hands behind his back and decided to watch.

Then, Jangcheon asked as if it was unexpected.

“Weren’t you coveting the Heavenly Treasure? You’ll be robbed if you stand idly by.”

However, even at his words, Mountain Lord shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly.

“Isn’t it too strange that the Heavenly Treasure is just lying there?”

“What do you mean?”

“No… It looks like a trap at first glance.”

It was a place that the Three Evils had worked hard to hide.

For something like that, it was too simple.

Soon, Mountain Lord unfolded the Danyeong Geumjeong [a mystical eye or technique for enhanced vision].

His pupils dilated, and another eye appeared, so the flow of spirit energy and its unique properties were grasped in an instant.

In his sight.

There was no such thing as a scabbard.