Chapter 129
Jinseong slid instantly into the narrow well. The slippery well walls, damp and covered in moss, pushed him down as if greased, and the water that always maintained the same level and rippled gently cushioned Jinseong softly.
But that was only for a moment.
As he sank to the bottom instantly due to the weight of the golden armor, the well itself became an enemy targeting his life.
An incredible chill invaded through the golden armor.
The cold nature of the willow tree forming the well frame became a direct threat of coldness shot at him. Moreover, with the added nature of being struck by lightning, the cold changed to heat, and Jinseong had to endure alternating needle-like cold piercing to his bones and hot heat that seemed to try to cook his flesh whole.
It was clear that not only living beings but even inanimate objects would instantly lose their nature to this terrible tempering, but Jinseong easily withstood it using the golden armor covering his body and the power of fire and cold inside his body.
Even if the cold penetrated to his bones, the cold obtained from Lake Baikal was already in place.
Even if it wanted to dig into his flesh, there was no room to enter with the flame of Samadhi and the parasites residing in his internal organs holding flames.
But after enduring the tempering, another energy began to invade.
This was the fundamental energy held by the well, and the source that was injecting cold and heat into the well.
It's intense wood energy.
Jinseong quietly closed his eyes and focused on the wood energy flowing around his body.
From ancient times, it was said that trees represent growth and creation. This originated from the nature of trees rising upwards, and this nature of trees also meant the founding and great rise of a country.
Also, rising was similar to fire, and as firewood entered the fire, it greatly raised fire energy, so it can be said to be a truly good energy. This was like life greatly rising when spring came and flourishing in summer.
But Jinseong didn't try to take in the overflowing wood energy into his body.
It would certainly be good to take in wood energy and achieve balance of the five elements.
There were incredibly many sorceries using the energy of the five elements.
Right away, in the East, sorceries based on yin-yang and the five elements were used, and in the West, there were also incredibly many sorceries based on the four elements theory. Moreover, sorceries related to forests or farming often based on wood energy, and even if not, they were related to growth and recovery, so they were useful in many ways.
But for Jinseong now, taking in wood energy was an act that wouldn't be of much benefit.
This was because yin and yang energy coexisted in his body.
Yin and yang.
There was coldness in the midst of heat.
There was heat in the midst of cold.
They moved intertwined and balance each other, so it is complete in itself.
This was called yin and yang.
But the moment this degenerates into the five elements, three more elements are needed to achieve balance.
Wood became necessary.
Metal became necessary.
Earth became necessary.
Of course, with various elements included, the power could be used more specifically, and stability would clearly increase explosively, but...
There's no need to do that.
He was not only learning Eastern sorcery, and the gaps in the five elements could be filled using other sorceries. So there was no need to be distracted by things like five elements or balance and create an immediate crisis.
Water generated wood.
Water nurtured trees.
Wood generated fire.
Trees nurtured fire.
If wood entered between yin and yang and degenerated into the five elements, at that moment, the tree would absorb water and grow to strengthen fire.
His body, which was barely maintaining balance by changing forms with each other, would be filled with fire energy.
Like the body of a flame sorcerer.
Jinseong struck away the wood energy trying to dig into his body by making the gold like slime.
It wasn't a difficult task.
Metal was antagonistic to wood.
With just a little more force, it could easily withstand wood, and as cold metal collected and held water, metal strongly created water energy, so it was possible to suppress the growing fire energy.
Jinseong struck away the wood energy and searched for where the energy originated.
When he closed his eyes, he could feel the flow of wood energy, and could smell the faint scent of trees carried by the water gushing from between the stones.
Even while struggling to breathe, he could feel the life energy carried in between, and even though there were no insects or fish, he could feel the life force that vigorously activates scaled things and helps insects reproduce.
Found it.
When Jinseong found the source of the wood energy, he moved towards it.
He changed the shape of the golden armor to make it like insect legs, and used those legs to wedge into the cracks of the well and climb up.
And after climbing up to a certain point.
He felt intense power flowing from between the cracks in the moss-covered wall.
When Jinseong roughly cleared away the moss, he saw an old piece of wood embedded in the stone. The piece resembled the shape of a broken staff, and on the broken part, the shape of a Buddha statue was engraved.
The Buddha statue form was covered in moss like a blanket and had a benevolent smile, and its expression had a subtle beauty that made one's heart peaceful and gave strength to live tomorrow just by looking at it quietly.
Let's see. Hmm. Using this staff piece as a seedling, spreading roots throughout the whole well, and using the clear water energy flowing from between the stone cracks as nutrients? Then using the lightning-struck willow as an antenna to read heavenly energy, creating endlessly rising wood energy by receiving water energy. And naturally using the excessively swelling wood energy to read heavenly energy to suppress it... Huh. Amazing.
Jinseong examined it several times as if looking at a well-made work of art.
Then he nodded and carefully covered it again with the moss he had cleared away with his hand.
The moss stuck to the wall as if nothing had happened and grew instantly, creating the same shape as seen before.
It was an effect of the overflowing vitality from the staff piece.
Excellent sorcery. Nothing to add or subtract. Even less need for my hand to touch it. Also, such things should be preserved, so nothing should be touched here. Huh, it was a good sight.
Jinseong moved away from the wall.
Then he changed the shape of the armor, sometimes into tentacle forms, sometimes into insect leg shapes, and easily climbed up the slippery well walls.
And when he revealed himself outside the well.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Click.
He could see numerous soldiers pointing gun barrels at him.
The soldiers' faces looked young and fresh.
Judging by their ranks all consisting of stripes, they clearly seemed to have been dispatched from a nearby military base.
In other words, they weren't elite troops.
Then where were the elite troops?
Jinseong took his eyes off the soldier pointing at him with trembling hands and looked around.
Let's see. There it is.
He could quickly confirm another gun barrel targeting him.
He discovered a harpoon gun targeting him from a house near the well.
A bluish energy was swirling around the tip of the harpoon, and energy was whirling along the drawn circuit. That movement was moving in a spiral, which was to give penetrating power to pierce through defense measures.
And drones were flying in the sky above.
The drones were carrying spheres that looked like figs, and strange waves were flowing from those spheres.
Magic power bomb for suppressing ability users.
A bomb that shook the inside of people by causing shockwaves the moment it exploded.
It was a dangerous item that could kill ordinary people if hit at close range by turning their insides into mush, and could cause internal organ rupture or cerebral hemorrhage in low-level ability users.
Let's see. And there's an electric net far away. I can see a sniper rifle over there. And a car is coming from over there.
Jinseong smiled as he saw the numerous weapons targeting him.
Then, as if nothing was wrong, he pulled out something resembling spider legs from his armor, hung them on top of the well, and stood there quietly looking at them.
And finally, when Retona roughly stopped in front–
–and someone got out from inside.
Jinseong's face hardened.
Huh. Why has that person come?
According to his memory, the Patriotic Association should have been managing the well around this time.
Ghostblade Kim Jong-su.
But the one getting out of the car now was an ability user belonging to the Hongik Patriotic Group.