***
His flying sword technique, which had become significantly more proficient while dealing with the demonic beasts in the Heavenly Sound Great Forest, was unfolding at this moment.
"Tsk! Strike!"
Vrrr—
At that moment, the attacks fended off from the hands of the enemies and were shot toward Lee An-jeong in succession.
Whoosh— Hooo—
The first to fly toward him was a fireball about the size of a human head.
The scorching heat of the fireball, which reached his immediate vicinity in an instant, heated his skin intensely.
While finding the magic art he saw for the first time fascinating, Lee An-jeong nonchalantly stretched out his hand toward it.
Since he was already capable of freely handling the Clear Flame True Fire and had used the Purple Flame Talisman he took from Mak So-hyang a while ago, he was not afraid at all of something like a fireball that appeared to be ordinary fire.
Upon seeing that sight, the opponent who had performed the fireball technique burst out into a loud, mocking laugh as if it were absurd.
"Stupid brat! To voluntarily thrust your hand toward that hot fireball! The moment it touches you, you will end up being roasted whole... what?!"
It was in the next moment that the opponent, who was shouting up to that point, opened his mouth wide in shock at seeing something.
Shuuu— Psst—
Surprisingly, the moment the fireball touched Lee An-jeong’s hand, it disappeared without a trace.
As if it had been absorbed into Lee An-jeong’s hand.
Because nearly half of his spiritual energy had been drained the moment the fireball disappeared, the opponent’s face quickly turned pale.
"I-it's impossible...! How could you eliminate that hot fireball with your bare hands...! Ugh—"
With a look of utter despair, he had no choice but to sit cross-legged and control his internal breath.
However, at that moment, two other streaks of attack flew toward Lee An-jeong simultaneously.
One attack consisted of five bamboo slips, and the other was, surprisingly, a house-sized puppet clad in armor and holding a large sword.
Among them, the five bamboo slips first swirled around Lee An-jeong’s surroundings and were stabbed into the ground in five different directions.
Thud— Whoosh—
In the next moment, a violent wind began to whip around with the bamboo slips as the center.
Subsequently, the scenery soon changed into a deep canyon, and the wind transformed into a storm.
Inside it, the five bamboo slips completely vanished without a trace within the storm.
"Eh? What is that?"
While Lee An-jeong was feeling bewildered, Jin Wi-dong’s shout was heard inside his head.
- It is a formation! Those bamboo slips have become the medium for the formation. Be careful! Numerous killing moves are mixed within that storm, so it could be dangerous if you take even a single direct hit!
"A formation?"
While being amazed by the power of the formation he saw for the first time, Lee An-jeong recalled the methods for breaking formations he had read about in Xianxia novels.
'I think there were a few ways to break them... destroying the medium of the formation, attacking with an attribute that is the natural counter, and finally, smashing it with a spiritual power of a higher realm! I don't know well about attributes yet, and since he seems to be at a similar realm as me, I can't smash that formation with my spiritual power. In that case... what I have to find is the medium of the formation! Those bamboo slips from earlier!'
After organizing his thoughts like that, Lee An-jeong focused his mind and began to thoroughly comb through the swirling canyon and the storm-like wind in front of his eyes.
'I have to find them! Those five bamboo slips!'
It was then.
Shweeee—
Suddenly, a sharp killing intent was felt from behind, and a cold blade appeared and dropped toward Lee An-jeong’s neck.
Surprisingly, the house-sized puppet wearing armor had appeared within the storm at some point and swung its blade down.
"Die!"
Along with the voice of the puppet master, the large blade flashed.
Strong conviction and confidence were embedded in his voice.
It was a strike loaded with an incredibly strong, great force.
In particular, it seemed he thought that Lee An-jeong, trapped in the formation, would helplessly become a lonely ghost beneath the sword with this attack.
It made sense.
It was nearly impossible for a cultivator in the early stage of Qi Condensation to block this attack.
This was because one had to leap into the storm on the opposite side to avoid it.
However, the puppet master’s expectations were shattered to pieces in the next moment.
Tap tap! Sh-sh-sh—
It was because Lee An-jeong suddenly leapt toward the opposite side, completely evading the blade swung by the puppet.
"Uh?!"
However, thanks to that, Lee An-jeong ended up in a situation where he was leaping into the very center of the canyon, the heart of the storm.
The puppet master, who momentarily wore a startled expression, soon mocked loudly while imagining Lee An-jeong being mangled by the storm.
"Hehe—Stupid brat! To leap into the center of the Five Elements Wind-Killing Formation on your own feet! That storm is actually composed of blades of spiritual energy...!"
"Khehehe—Exactly. As expected, a greenhorn is just a greenhorn!"
Following the puppet master, the mocking laughter of the formation master was heard from within the storm.
However, at that moment, those words did not reach Lee An-jeong’s ears.
It was because he was completely immersed, focusing all his nerves only on the canyon and the swirling storm before his eyes.
'Where on earth is it hidden? It must be around here somewhere?!'
As Lee An-jeong concentrated his mind to the extreme, spiritual energy began to vibrate within his head.
Zzzzz—
It was precisely at that moment that he felt something heterogeneous situated within the storm.
'That is!?'
Shweeee— Whoooo—
At that moment, the blade-like storm of spiritual energy flew toward Lee An-jeong’s body.
In the midst of it, Lee An-jeong’s body was in a precarious state, as if it would be mangled at any second.
Jin Wi-dong, who was watching, could no longer endure it and stepped forward to take action.
- This is dangerous! Damn it! It’s a waste to use my Nascent Soul to get rid of such fellows, but it can’t be helped. If you die, it'll all be for nothing. I have no choice but to step in!
Shuuuu—
Jin Wi-dong’s hazy white Nascent Soul popped out from above Lee An-jeong’s head.
At the appearance of the Nascent Soul, which looked as eerie as a ghost, the puppet master and the formation master who were watching from outside the formation shouted in shock simultaneously.
"Wh-what? Th-that? Is it a g-ghost?"
"N-no. That thing in the shape of a young child is, c-could it be... the N-Nascent Soul...?"
- Ehehehe—That’s right! It is the Nascent Soul Spirit of this Nascent Soul Old Monster elder, whom you Qi Condensation small fries wouldn't have met even in your dreams! You bastards!
It was at the moment Jin Wi-dong was about to be shot toward them in the form of a Nascent Soul.
Shoooo—
Suddenly, something dark was seen flashing and flying while cutting through the storm.
Slash—
Subsequently, the sound of something being cut was also heard.
- Hm? What was that just now?
It was a moment when Jin Wi-dong stopped briefly in bewilderment.
Rumble—
Suddenly, the space distorted, and the sight of the swirling storm and the canyon disappeared.
- Wh-what? C-could it be the formation was broken?
Into Jin Wi-dong’s startled gaze came five bamboo slips that were split in half.
And also the ink-colored flying sword that was circling through the air and returning to Lee An-jeong’s hand.
- Th-this is impossible?
Jin Wi-dong could not help but be internally startled.
Surprisingly, it was because Lee An-jeong had accurately found and cut the five bamboo slips hidden within that formation.
That was not a level that a mere early-stage Qi Condensation cultivator could accomplish.
It was something that could not be achieved without having the senses and divine sense of at least the mid-stage, no, the late-stage of Qi Condensation or higher.
Jin Wi-dong’s expression went beyond surprise and became one of absurdity.
'Could this also be the effect of those two medicinal pills?'
Just as he had felt the spirit vein deep underground.
This time too, it was certain that he had properly seen the effects of those two medicinal pills.
'Does that make sense? With those two unremarkable medicinal pills...?'
Jin Wi-dong could not understand it at all.
When he had taken them, there had been only an extremely minimal effect.
How could such a tremendous effect appear in Lee An-jeong’s body?
'Could he really be a Myriad-Stars Body? Moreover, what was it with him listing the methods for breaking the formation earlier? When did he learn such things?'
Since he could read Lee An-jeong’s thoughts, he had clearly heard it earlier.
For someone to have such a unique body and even be fluently reciting the methods for breaking a formation was something that could not happen for a general labor disciple.
'He’s quite an interesting fellow, isn't he? Watching him will be quite enjoyable.'
Jin Wi-dong’s gaze followed behind Lee An-jeong as if he were intrigued.
In the meantime, Lee An-jeong was completely suppressing the three people without rest by flying his ink-colored flying sword.
"Y-you fellow! Hurry up and stop that greenhorn!"
Only the puppet master was trying to move his puppet to block him, but the ink-colored flying sword was faster than the heavy puppet.
Thwack—
"Argh—"
The ink-colored flying sword pierced through the puppet master’s wrist and passed by.
Then, the puppet, whose spiritual power from the caster was cut off, stopped abruptly on the floor.
At that moment, the startled formation master and fireball master clutched their thumping chests and tried to flee.
Jin Wi-dong quickly shouted inside his head and warned Lee An-jeong.
- You must not let them escape! Kill them immediately! You must not leave future troubles behind!
At Jin Wi-dong’s voice ringing in his head, Lee An-jeong bit his lip and quickly threw his body forward.
Shweeee—
The flying sword, shot out like an arrow, swept through the bodies of the two people who were trying to flee.
"Ugh—"
In an instant, the two people collapsed on the floor with their heads and hearts pierced by the flying sword.
"Th-this! Dammit!"
The puppet master, who was trying to flee hurriedly upon seeing this, was also no exception.
Thwack— Thwack—
The back of his head was pierced by the ink-colored flying sword as he was fleeing, and he collapsed right there.
It did not even take a split second for the four attackers to turn into cold corpses like that.
The eyes of the four dead people were all wide open without knowing how to close.
It seemed that even until the moment they died, they never imagined in their dreams that they would end up dying at the hands of Lee An-jeong.
Who would believe it?
That three cultivators of the 5th to 6th star of Qi Condensation and a cultivator of the 2nd star of Qi Condensation would end up killed by a mere miscellaneous labor disciple of the Bu-yeon Sect.
However, Lee An-jeong’s expression as he looked at those four corpses with a complicated gaze was incredibly heavy.
"Ugh—"
Lee An-jeong felt a nauseating sensation rising from within.
He had killed as many as four people with his own hands.
For Lee An-jeong, who was a normal high school senior in South Korea, this was a shocking event he could not even have imagined.
However, he forcibly endured it and swallowed it back down.
This was the ruthless Xianxia world.
And he was now just a single cultivator who had to live on in this place.
If he had not killed them, he might have been the one who died.
Seeing that, Jin Wi-dong laughed with a metallic sound inside his head.
- Tsk tsk tsk! As expected, you can't help it either? To think that your stomach is churning like that after killing a mere four people, even if it is your first killing... tsk tsk!
However, Jin Wi-dong, who was talking up to that point, saw Lee An-jeong rummaging through the clothes of the dead and asked in surprise.
- You brat, what are you doing right now?
To Jin Wi-dong’s question, Lee An-jeong replied bluntly.
"What do you think I'm doing. I'm collecting the spoils. Isn't collecting the storage pouches of a dead enemy a basic requirement in the Xianxia world? Let’s see, I wonder what’s inside?"
Lee An-jeong quickly began to sweep up the storage pouches of the dead with a nonchalant face.
In their storage pouches, not only were the cultivation manuals for the fireball technique, formation techniques, and puppet techniques they had used inside, as expected.
But dozens of mid-grade spirit stones and various items were also contained therein.
Seeing that, Jin Wi-dong could not help but click his tongue with an absurd expression.
- You’re saying that’s a disciple of the Bu-yeon Sect? And not some fellow from our demonic sect? Even the Bu-yeon Sect has reached the end of the world. It’s the end of the world!
It was because a case of rummaging through the storage pouches of those he killed immediately after his first murder was rare even among practitioners of the demonic sects.
Lee An-jeong, who had collected all four storage pouches along with the large sword and puppet that had fallen on the floor, suddenly asked Jin Wi-dong.
"By the way, what should I do with their corpses? If I leave them like this, traces will remain."
At those words, Jin Wi-dong shook his head at Lee An-jeong’s state of mind for having thought that far and clicked his tongue again.
- You know such things even though you’re a beginner? Yes. If you want to avoid the pursuit of the Mak Clan, it would indeed be better to erase the traces. Burn them with the Clear Flame True Fire!
"Aha? That sounds good. Got it. Well then!"
Almost before Jin Wi-dong’s words could finish, Lee An-jeong burned the four people one after another with the Clear Flame True Fire.
Whoosh— Psst—
In an instant, the corpses of the four dead people turned into black ash and scattered in the air.
Now, no traces remained on the floor except for four large, scorched black marks.