Chapter 80 : Wrath

Chapter 80: Wrath

The Central Heavens was vast. So vast that no one truly knew its exact scale.

To travel across such a Central Heavens, one required an ancient tree known as a Geonmok and a Space Teleportation Array—devices said to have been used by gods when they descended into the human world.

The Geonmok was part of the natural environment that had existed in the Central Heavens since ancient times, while the Space Teleportation Array was a device artificially created by the races of the Central Heavens.

The Space Teleportation Array was not something easily crafted. Its creation demanded a tremendous amount of manpower, equipment, and materials.

Thus, the presence of a Space Teleportation Array here meant that this cave was an important place to Bi Ik-ryeon.

“Where do you think… this leads to?”

“Most likely to Bi Ik-ryeon’s main division or a hidden location of theirs.”

“That makes sense. So, we might be going to the floating stronghold used by Bi Ik-ryeon?”

Jang Woo-hyun, who had been listening to the conversation, interjected out of curiosity.

“This floating stronghold… you don’t mean it actually flies, do you?”

“Exactly. It’s a mobile fortress used by Bi Ik-ryeon. They don’t stay in one place—they move around aboard it. That’s why it’s so hard to wipe them out. Why? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Another absurdity. A flying fortress?

Jang Woo-hyun was momentarily flustered, but he accepted it as a quirk of the Central Heavens. After all, he was currently speaking with Maeng Ye-ju, a bipedal wolf. A flying fortress hardly seemed outrageous in comparison.

“Huh? What’s that look for?”

Kang Yong asked, sensing the odd gaze directed at him, but Jang Woo-hyun simply continued speaking without concern.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“Well…”

This time, even Maeng Ye-ju grew cautious.

They couldn’t be sure where the teleportation would take them.

If it led to the core of Bi Ik-ryeon and they encountered its main forces, the people here wouldn’t be able to stand against them.

“Call everyone together.”

At Maeng Ye-ju’s order, the nearby beastkin moved to gather the scattered warriors of the Suwang Sect.

“How are their conditions?”

When asked about those who had been poisoned by the Qi Dispersing Poison mixed into the mist, they responded that they were fine now.

Everyone was in good condition. In fact, having just been in a battle, their physical states were at their peak. There were no injuries either.

Maeng Ye-ju pondered for a long while. Charging in recklessly as usual might get them all killed.

Now, Maeng Ye-ju had to set aside personal judgment and make decisions as the leader responsible for guiding the disciples of the Suwang Sect.

“We stop here for today. Contact the elder and the main division. Once reinforcements arrive, we move.”

Judging that advancing with their current forces would be too risky, Maeng Ye-ju decided to wait for reinforcements.

“We’ll hold position nearby. Did you search the surroundings thoroughly?”

“Yes, nothing out of the ordinary was found.”

“Same goes for the inner area.”

“Good. First, contact the main sect and then, just in case, search the area again.”

“Yes!”

At Maeng Ye-ju’s command, the warriors of the Suwang Sect scattered once more to resume their tasks.

“Did you hear anything from the Cultivator?”

“I actually had something I wanted to ask.”

In response to Maeng Ye-ju’s question, Jang Woo-hyun brought up what he had heard—about Yeong-gok’s affiliation.

“Ascension Cult? That’s what he said? I’ve never heard of such a group… It’s not one of the martial factions in the Murim. Could it be part of the Cultivators’ forces?”

Maeng Ye-ju had never heard of the Ascension Cult either.

“Anything else?”

“That’s all he said.”

“Is that so? Ascension Cult, hmm.”

Maeng Ye-ju folded her arms and fell into thought. Watching her, Jang Woo-hyun asked another question.

“Senior Maeng.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“There’s one more thing I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“It was my first time fighting a Cultivator…”

“Ah, you mean they were weak? No, not quite. More like they were strong, but fought strangely, right?”

Before Jang Woo-hyun could fully explain, Maeng Ye-ju predicted what he was going to say like a seasoned fortune-teller.

Jang Woo-hyun widened his eyes in surprise, and Maeng Ye-ju smiled as she unfolded her arms.

“How did the strength you sensed from him feel?”

“…In terms of overall power, he was far superior to me.”

“Earlier, I mentioned that he’s probably a Cultivator at the Incarnation Stage. That level would be necessary to stand against us.”

“Yes, you did.”

Jang Woo-hyun gave a slight nod.

“They don’t align perfectly, but the Incarnation Stage is the step where one transcends humanity in the Cultivation Realm. It’s similar to the Transcendence level of martial artists. Incarnation Stage and Transcendence. Comparing the two, Cultivators generally possess far greater raw power. But when it comes to combat, that’s another story.”

As Maeng Ye-ju spoke, she raised her right hand, and ten small spheres formed from Qi floated before them.

“If the power a martial artist at Transcendence has is ten—”

As she opened her left hand, about twenty spheres floated up this time.

“Then a Cultivator at the Incarnation Stage would have around twenty. However—”

Snap!

With a flick of her fingers, the ten spheres above her right hand stretched into long shapes.

“A martial artist has ten units of attack power.”

Snap!

This time, a flick of her left fingers transformed only about seven of the left-side spheres into elongated shapes.

“Cultivators possess immense power, but can only use a portion of it for offense. Sometimes even less, depending on the person.”

“Then where does the rest of their power go?”

“For regeneration, resurrection, healing, or other abilities. You’ve fought them, so you should know, right? They don’t die easily.”

“Ah…”

Jang Woo-hyun recalled their previous battle.

Just as Maeng Ye-ju said, Yeong-gok, presumed to be a Cultivator at the Incarnation Stage, began regenerating with only a head-sized chunk of his body left. Even after his body was ground up, his soul attempted to flee in an effort to resurrect.

“Now that you’ve reached the Transcendence stage, you should be able to regenerate even if your limbs are cut off. Even a partially severed neck or a pierced heart won’t be fatal.”

This had been the case with the large martial artist who had accompanied Yeong-gok. Jang Woo-hyun had half-severed the man’s neck, but he still moved.

“But if your neck is completely severed or your heart is ripped out, you’d die. That’s not the case for Cultivators. Once they reach the Incarnation Stage, they won’t die even if their heart is shattered or their head is blown off.”

As Maeng Ye-ju moved her hands, the floating orbs of light merged into one.

“In terms of combat ability, martial artists are superior. They’re specialized for fighting. Cultivators are versatile in many areas. That’s why martial artists who ascend to the Central Heavens are called Warrior Ascendants, and Cultivators are called Spiritual Ascendants. How could pill-popping addicts who think only about turning anything—humans, spirits, monsters—into elixirs possibly win against sword-wielding warriors who’ve trained only for battle? Of course they can’t.”

Maeng Ye-ju spoke matter-of-factly, nodding to herself.

“But there are rare exceptions among Cultivators who are skilled in combat. If you happen to encounter one, be careful. No, the chances are low, but if you ever do run into a Cultivator, just kill them. A lot of them aren’t in their right minds.”

“Are they really… that bad?”

“Addicts who think only about turning everything into pills can’t possibly be sane.”

Maeng Ye-ju shook her head.

“Where Cultivators typically operate is far from the Central Heavens Martial Realm where we are, so we normally wouldn’t get involved… but from the way things are unfolding now, that may no longer be true. So if you encounter one, kill on sight. Don’t try to test them, don’t try to talk. If you see one, just kill them.”

From Maeng Ye-ju’s firm expression, Jang Woo-hyun could sense that she had been through many such experiences.

“I guess it’s because I just ascended, but I don’t know much about the Central Heavens Martial Realm yet. I really should study more.”

At her words, Jang Woo-hyun furrowed his brows slightly.

He had been told the same thing by Hwang An back in the Central Plains. Now he was hearing it again after ascending.

“Think carefully about joining the Suwang Sect. You can learn a lot there.”

Maeng Ye-ju suddenly tried to entice Jang Woo-hyun while throwing the unified ball of Qi at the wall.

Thud!

She hadn’t put much power into it, so only a faint mark was left on the wall.

But what followed was unexpected.

Rumble—

“Huh?”

A sudden roar filled the air. The ground began to tremble.

“Huh? What?”

Wondering if she had triggered something, Maeng Ye-ju moved toward the wall where the mark had been left. She thought she might have activated some mechanism, but no matter how closely she looked, it was just an ordinary stone wall.

“What is this?”

Rumble—

The sound of something collapsing continued to echo from afar.

“Noona!”

Kang Yong, who had been leading the subordinates and rechecking the surroundings, rushed over urgently. Behind him, the scattered warriors of the Suwang Sect gathered.

“The cave! It’s collapsing!”

“What? It wasn’t me!”

A flustered Maeng Ye-ju shouted in frustration.

“Who said you did it, noona? What are you yelling about all of a sudden?”

Rumble.

The sound was drawing nearer.

“The cave is collapsing from far away! Judging by how close the sound is getting, it won’t be long until it reaches this place too!”

As Kang Yong finished speaking, the ground suddenly shook.

Rumble! Boom! Crash!

The sound of destruction came from all directions, and the ground trembled violently.

“This…”

“It’s collapsing!”

Even without the panicked cries of the martial artists, it was clear to everyone. The ground was no longer just shaking—the cave walls were cracking, and stone dust and small rocks were falling from the ceiling.

The first thought that came to mind wasn’t danger.

‘This is too strange.’

A perfectly intact cave collapsing without any prior warning. That meant it wasn’t a natural disaster like an earthquake, but someone had triggered a mechanism or activated a formation.

And even that was strange.

Causing the cave to collapse to kill those inside made no sense from a cost-benefit perspective.

There was no guarantee it would kill a martial artist at the Transcendence level, and unless someone had lost their mind in rage, there was no reason for Bi Ik-ryeon to go to such lengths.

Then Maeng Ye-ju thought of one person who might do something like this.

“Ah!”

The Cultivator Jang Woo-hyun had defeated, but who surely had escaped.

The one who had resurrected somewhere and, with no concern for the aftermath, was collapsing the cave in revenge. That person wouldn't care about Bi Ik-ryeon’s situation or interests.

“Noona!”

Smashing falling rocks, Kang Yong called out to Maeng Ye-ju. It was now a difficult situation to escape through the entrance. The communal chamber where they had picked up the Gourd was also collapsing—it sounded catastrophic.

She considered bursting through the ceiling to escape, but while the three Transcendence-level individuals might survive somehow, the rest wouldn’t.

With just Master or Supreme Peak-level strength, breaking through a collapsing underground cave to escape would be impossible.

There was no choice but to make a decision.

“Use the Spell Formation. Move!”

At her command, the group moved swiftly and took their positions.

A few beastkin who had figured out how to use the Spell Formation activated it immediately, and the characters and patterns on the floor began to emit light.

Crack! Boom!

The ceiling broke apart, and massive stones began to fall.

Before the rocks struck them, the group was engulfed in light and disappeared.

In a fleeting moment, they felt as if they had passed through a completely different world, and then the surroundings changed.

An artificially constructed space. The place with a fairly large Spell Formation drawn on the floor appeared to be the interior of a building.

“You’ve arri… huh?”

Apparently, someone had been guarding the area. As the group materialized, two figures approached but then froze.

“Who are you, guys…”

“Enemies…”

Before the two martial artists could even finish speaking, two feline beastkin swiftly approached without a sound and snapped their necks.

“Suppress your presence and move out fast. Sim Ryang, Won Rip. Take the lead.”

At Maeng Ye-ju’s command, the two feline beastkin who had just leaped forward lowered their bodies and took the front.

They exited the area with the Spell Formation and ran quietly down the corridor.

Although they couldn’t erase their Qi completely, minimizing sound wasn’t difficult for the group, all of whom were at least at the Supreme Peak level.

Running through the long corridor, they realized this was a building of considerable size.

“You…”

“Gurk!”

They encountered a few people in the corridor, but the two beastkin up front kicked off the walls and swiftly took them out.

Since the Spell Formation had been located on the bottom floor of the building, when they reached a staircase, it only led upwards.

They climbed the stairs silently.

As they reached the upper floors, faint sounds could be heard. A few of them hesitated briefly, but escaping this place was the highest priority, so they didn’t stop.

After climbing five floors, the staircase ended. There were hallways on both sides, and the group moved toward where the next staircase might be.

As they all moved their feet, one beastkin stopped.

It was Yeo Sang, a canine beastkin who had been sniffing when they first entered the cave. He wrinkled his nose and began sniffing again.

“Back there…”

His action made everyone pause. With all eyes on him, Yeo Sang slowly opened his mouth.

“…Our kin are there.”

“What? Where?”

“This way.”

He pointed to a passage opposite their current direction.

Their top priority was to escape, but if members of their kind were being held, they couldn’t just ignore it.

They didn’t know if they could save them all, but leaving them behind knowingly was not an option, so the group changed direction. They passed through a long corridor and stood before a massive iron door.

Maeng Ye-ju pushed open the heavy iron door and stepped inside. The group followed.

A wide space opened up, and instantly, a scene they never wanted to see again came into view.

Crunch.

Everyone’s eyes widened or their teeth clenched at the sight within. The fury of the beastkin flared like a blaze, and the heat from their rage instantly warmed the surrounding air.

Only Jang Woo-hyun’s expression turned cold. He didn’t twist his face. He didn’t curse.

But since arriving in this world, this was the moment he felt the most intense anger.