Connection
Chi-ii-ing―
“Hot!”
But at some point, she snapped out of it. The two symbols that had been merging were pulled straight back beneath her skin as if nothing had happened. ‘What was that?’
“Miss, are you all right?”
“Ah, I’m fine. I just needed a moment to think.”
She gave a faint smile and accepted the arrays back from me. “If these still aren’t to your liking, let’s treat this failure as experience and try again.”
She gathered the arrays and stepped back into the workshop. ‘She never gives up…’
I let out a quiet sigh. I had told her countless times I didn’t need the arrays…
Was her stubbornness the cause, or simply that words didn’t reach her? I found myself smiling softly at the stubbornness, sensing a subtle kinship with her and unaware of it myself.
* * *
It was three days later when I received a message from Seo Ran. “I can let you ride the Seopmyeong Ship, but only if you provide ten thousand spirit stones.”
I immediately told Cheongmun Ryeong the truth. “The Seopmyeong Ship…?”
Cheongmun Ryeong’s face turned pale with shock. He immediately sent a transmission to the head of the Cheongmun Clan. Several days passed.
Kuuuung!
The head of the Cheongmun Clan and Cheongmun Jung-jin themselves arrived at Cheon-saek Castle carrying ten thousand spirit stones. “They say the Seopmyeong Ship is famous. So if I hand over the spirit stones, I can ride it?”
He placed the array box containing the spirit stones on the floor and asked me and Cheongmun Ryeong. I nodded. “Yes. My senior said he would allow me to board the Seopmyeong Ship exactly once. However, I must warn you that this ship is a ruined vessel broken in the battle against Goe-gun…”
“I know. Everyone in the capital knows about the story of Goe-gun alone facing the Black Ghost Valley. Still, I’m eager to ride it right away. A ruined Seopmyeong Ship that once dominated the entire continent… even if it’s broken, riding it once would be an honor beyond compare.”
Cheongmun Jung-jin spoke with a hint of excitement, far from his usual grave demeanor. The prospect of riding the Seopmyeong Ship brought eager expressions to the faces of Cheongmun Ryeong and Buk Hyang-hwa as well. “The legendary artisan’s creation… I can finally see it…”
I watched them with a slightly awkward expression and thought to myself. I had gone through the Seopmyeong Ship many times with Seo Ran, and in my past lives I had even piloted it. It had never felt real. But its value clearly exceeded my expectations. Several days passed.
I took Buk Hyang-hwa, Cheongmun Ryeong, and Cheongmun Jung-jin to the Black Wind Sea. Buk Jung-ho had wanted to come with his daughter, but he held the position of observer at Cheon-saek Castle and could not leave it lightly. He entrusted Buk Hyang-hwa’s safety to me and Cheongmun Ryeong. “Follow that direction.”
“Understood.”
We boarded Cheongmun Jung-jin’s flying vessel and followed his guidance toward the Seopmyeong Ship. “By the way, Miss Buk, you said you wouldn’t leave Cheon-saek Castle?”
“Precisely. I don’t take important missions that require long absences. It’s only a few days to visit the Palace of Liberation, so I joined this journey.”
“I see. I heard from your father that the reason you never left Cheon-saek Castle for long was your mother’s last wish…”
“Yes, that’s right.”
She touched the jade bead at her waist. “Mother was also an array master. Before I was born, she made a pact with my father and aunt. They promised that if we were to have sons, we would become sworn brothers. If daughters, sworn sisters. And if a son and daughter were born, we would marry them.”
She looked at the jade bead as the sea breeze swept over it. “This is the array Mother created. It was a pair. She said the other one would belong to my destined partner. So I have been waiting for him in Cheon-saek Castle ever since, which is why I can’t leave the city.”
“Is that so…”
I smiled at her. “I hope that one day your partner will appear before you, Miss Buk.”
“Thank you.”
Buk Hyang-hwa smiled brightly while holding the bead. Kuulung, kuureung…
The flying vessel carrying Cheongmun Jung-jin finally entered the sea area where the Seopmyeong Ship waited. “There should be a boundary formation ahead. Just break through it.”
“Understood.”
Cheongmun Jung-jin scanned the surroundings and guided the vessel straight toward the formation. Kuuuung!
The vessel seemed to collide with the air before we passed through the formation. [A great ghost…] [A great ghost has appeared…]
The ghosts in the void again shouted at me to come out as a great ghost and began to move wildly, but they could not approach recklessly in the face of Cheongmun Jung-jin’s aura. After breaking through how many voids, we finally reached the Seopmyeong Ship. Chwaaak!
“Oh, that’s the Seopmyeong Ship…?”
“Hoo, that’s the Black Ghost Valley’s…”
“A replica of the legendary artisan’s creation…”
And atop the Seopmyeong Ship stood one person. ‘Song Jin?’
He was Song Jin, exuding the aura of the Core Formation realm and greeting us. “Um…”
Cheongmun Jung-jin’s excitement vanished the moment he sensed Song Jin’s presence, replaced by solemnity. Song Jin’s aura exceeded Cheongmun Jung-jin’s, reaching the early stage of the Core Formation realm. “May I be excused, Elder Song Jin. Where is Seo Ran?”
[I was told to gather yin energy and ghost energy from the deep sea. Right now he must be training his secret technique and absorbing yin energy in the depths.] “I see.”
Song Jin answered me, then turned his gaze to the spirit stone box in Cheongmun Jung-jin’s hands. [To launch the Seopmyeong Ship once requires ten thousand spirit stones. To make a single spatial jump with the ship requires another ten thousand. A total of twenty thousand. And when we return, we must also pay twenty thousand. To step foot on the Black Ghost Valley’s Seopmyeong Ship costs another twenty thousand spirit stones.]
A total of sixty thousand spirit stones! It was an enormous sum. “What in the world…”
“Understood.”
I tried to protest, but Cheongmun Jung-jin nodded and took out sixty thousand spirit stones from the box and handed them to Song Jin. “The junior of the Cheongmun Clan presents spirit stones to the elder of the Black Ghost Valley.”
[Mm, he has the right temperament. Unlike those thugs who suddenly demanded the Seopmyeong Ship, his character is quite different.] “…”
Cheongmun Jung-jin looked puzzled, and I avoided Song Jin’s gaze. [A member of the Cheongmun Clan, then. If he’s a descendant of Changhoja, it makes sense. As for me, I happen to owe Changhoja a small debt, so I’ll deduct two thousand spirit stones.]
Song Jin looked at the Cheongmun Clan emblem on Cheongmun Jung-jin’s robe and returned two thousand spirit stones from the sixty thousand. “Thank you, elder.”
[Good. So where did you say you wanted to go?] “I wish to enter the Palace of Liberation.”
[The Palace of Liberation? Right now it’s not the time for it to open. Unless it’s the late stage of the Origin Realm, the golden restriction on the outer wall cannot be broken.]
“Don’t worry. I have a method.”
I took out the golden restriction-breaking talisman I had prepared. Song Jin nodded. [If you say so, then it’s settled. Shall we go…? ]
Song Jin flew toward the control wheel of the Seopmyeong Ship with the spirit stones. Kuugugugu!
As Song Jin gripped the control wheel, the spirit energy stored in the sixty thousand spirit stones was released. Paaaaat!
The spirit energy was immediately sucked into the Seopmyeong Ship and transformed into ghost energy, filling its ghost energy core. The Seopmyeong Ship rocked gently and began to draw yin wind from the surroundings. In the yin wind, the massive ruined vessel gradually rose into the air. Cheongmun Jung-jin and Cheongmun Ryeong stared in wonder from the bow as the Seopmyeong Ship lifted off, while Buk Hyang-hwa examined every corner of the ship with sparkling eyes. [It’s time.]
Paaaaat!
The Seopmyeong Ship was instantly enveloped in a void and entered the outer edge of space, the outer void. Patsu-cheut!
After a while in the outer void, we emerged back into reality and were transported above the grand mountain range to the west of the Seongje Empire. Spatial jump using the outer void! [Let me see, the coordinates for the Palace of Liberation should be around here…]
Song Jin held the ship’s key and scanned the surroundings before activating spatial jump once more. Paaaaat!
We entered the outer edge of space once more! And we were now in the outer void of space. There, hovering, was a massive cylindrical fortress. [The Palace of Liberation has been reached!]
“Already…”
“Is this the Seopmyeong Ship…?”
Cheongmun Jung-jin and Cheongmun Ryeong looked astonished by the Seopmyeong Ship’s speed. “I still want to see more…”
And Buk Hyang-hwa, unable to examine every corner of the ship any further, wore an expression of deep regret. “Then let’s enter the Palace of Liberation.”
“Sigh… It’s a shame, but there’s no choice.”
Her face was downcast, yet the moment she saw the Palace of Liberation her eyes sparkled again. [Then this seat will moor the Seopmyeong Ship beside the Palace of Liberation for four days. If you do not come out within four days, I will simply return. Do as you please.]
“Understood.”
Cheongmun Jung-jin nodded gravely. I took out the talisman I had prepared. Paaaaat!
The golden restriction on the outer wall of the Palace of Liberation was broken. The moment Cheongmun Jung-jin saw it, he punched the outer wall. Kuuuung!
A flash of green light, and the outer wall of the Palace of Liberation shattered. We entered through the hole and into the Palace of Liberation.
* * *
“Waaah…”
The moment we entered the Palace of Liberation, Buk Hyang-hwa exclaimed in delight. ‘What is it?’
The interior of the Palace of Liberation’s outer wall was simply a corridor. The spatial compression was great, so the size was immense, but it looked like an ordinary, unremarkable hallway. Yet somehow she seemed to see something different. “It’s… beautiful.”
Chi-i-ing―
She stared with a dazed expression at the decorations throughout the Palace of Liberation, the flowing array formations, and the minuscule spiritual power circuits, gently touching them. “This is the… the legendary artisan directly created…”
She stroked the wall of the Palace of Liberation. For a moment I, Cheongmun Ryeong, and Cheongmun Jung-jin watched her and began to converse. “First, can you guide us to where the Jangsaengwa is?”
“Understood.”
I led the group toward the spiritual tree garden on the first floor of the Palace of Liberation. Huu-i-ing―
Inside the spiritual tree garden filled with emerald spirit energy. At its center stood a young spiritual tree, and beside it a cluster of Jangsaengwa fruit on the verge of ripening. “Oh, this is the Jangsaengwa…”
“Lord, do not pick it. The Jangsaengwa in this state will not increase your lifespan by even one year, let alone one hundred.”
“I know, Cheongmun Ryeong. It was just too tempting and I almost…”
Cheongmun Jung-jin, staring at the Jangsaengwa as if mesmerized, pointed to the few flowers hanging from the tree and said, “If the array formation we spoke of is completed, we should be able to produce more Jangsaengwa from this one and from other flowers, right?”
“If the array formation is completed perfectly, then yes, it should be possible…”
“Excellent. Then for the next four days, Cheongmun Ryeong and Seo Ran will investigate the environment of the Palace of Liberation and draw up the array structure diagrams, while the array master will design the array arrays. As for me, since I have already come to the Palace of Liberation, I will explore the upper floors.”
After speaking, he flew toward the door leading to the second floor of the Palace of Liberation. “Hmph, I will focus on the spiritual tree and the spiritual tree garden, investigate the surrounding spiritual veins, and draw up the structure diagrams. Seo Ran, you will investigate the outside of the spiritual tree garden and draw up the external array formations.”
“Understood.”
“Then I’ll wander around and research the Palace of Liberation as well.”
Cheongmun Ryeong began measuring around the Jangsaengwa and drawing the array structure diagrams. I began drawing external array formations to supplement the internal ones Cheongmun Ryeong was creating while circling the outer edge of the first floor of the Palace of Liberation. And Buk Hyang-hwa followed me around, observing every corner of the Palace of Liberation. “Ah, it’s truly heavenly. Thank you. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful experience.”
She took a small tool from the array box and began dissecting the wall of the Palace of Liberation, observing the spiritual power circuits inside. Sssrak, sssrak…
In an instant the wall was dismantled, revealing the spiritual power circuits within. Buk Hyang-hwa took out several unknown devices and began tearing apart, disassembling, and observing the spiritual power circuits. “You needn’t do that. It’s all my fault, Miss. And… you didn’t water me last time, did you?”
At my words, she hesitated and looked at me. “Ah, I’m sorry. I have been giving a lot of water to the desert travelers… I don’t remember who you were.”
“Haha, it’s fine. Thanks to you, I truly lived and died. You must have had a good temperament after all.”
I examined the spiritual veins outside the Palace of Liberation and designed the array. Buk Hyang-hwa, meanwhile, dissected every corner of the Palace of Liberation and pulled out a notebook to record something continuously. The walls she had dismantled would self-repair shortly, so there was no need to replace them. Buk Hyang-hwa carefully recorded the self-repair process of the walls she had dismantled in her notebook as well. And it was then that we entered another section of the Palace of Liberation. Jerk!
Buk Hyang-hwa’s body jerked. The object of her gaze was the remnants of Goe-gun’s puppets. “Th-this…?”
She approached the remnants of Goe-gun’s puppets with trembling hands. They were completely broken, yet her eyes saw something else. “Goe-gun’s… works…!”
Her eyes spun as she rushed to the remnants, digging through them, dismantling them, and stuffing them chaotically into her array box. ‘An incredible reaction…’
Of course. To an array master who refines arrays, Goe-gun was nothing less than the ultimate existence in the field. ‘Moreover, his cultivation talent was several lines higher than Buk Hyang-hwa’s…’
It was only natural that drool was dripping from her mouth. “Do these puppets of Goe-gun help you a lot, Miss?”
“Help? Of course! His works, even if they are remnants, are priceless treasures worthy of study!”
“Heh…”
Buk Hyang-hwa used the equipment she had been using to dismantle the wall to break down and disassemble Goe-gun’s puppets. But then she sighed. “There are too many broken parts. It would help a lot if I brought all the remnants, but if even a few intact ones…”
“Intact remnants?”
I suddenly recalled the puppet I had discovered during my earlier exploration of the Palace of Liberation. ‘Right, there was one quite intact puppet!’
“Ah, come with me, Miss. I know where there are intact puppets.”
“Really?”
Her face lit up with joy. I took her to the place I had visited before. And just as before, there it was. A puppet the size of a human torso. It was clearly still in quite a complete state. I could see Buk Hyang-hwa’s fingertips trembling. I could guess her emotions. “Th-this…”
She did not immediately tear apart the puppet. Instead, she carefully examined every corner. “Inside… it looks like only the circuits are slightly broken. The exterior is fine, and apart from a few slightly damaged internal parts, it’s almost… intact. This…”
Excitement bloomed on her face. “If we just give it a little fine-tuning, it might work as is…!”
“Ohho…”
Buk Hyang-hwa, trembling with excitement, carefully placed the puppet into her array box. “Indeed, this place is a treasure trove.”
“A treasure trove…”
When I had come, nothing useful had been here. The only hope had been the single Jangsaengwa fruit blooming on the first floor. But depending on the person, this place could indeed become a treasure trove. “It will definitely help people like you, Miss. I honestly thought the remnants of these puppets were just piles of junk…”
“Ahaha, it’s only natural to think that.”
She gathered the remnants around the beetle puppet and continued. “To the wrong person, everything is just garbage. But I think differently.”
Buk Hyang-hwa picked up a small plate engraved with countless spiritual power circuits from the rolling remnants of the puppet on the floor and looked at it. “Even ordinary remnants, even junk, could become treasures if they fall into the hands of someone with an affinity, right?”
“Falling into the hands of someone with an affinity…”
“Whether something is trash or not depends on fate and affinity, I think. That’s why I believe there are no such things as trash in this world. There are only things that fate and affinity have not reached and things that have reached them properly.”
“…”
I quietly sighed at her view of fate. It was a completely different perspective from mine. ‘I had only thought of it as something to escape, but there is such a view.’
It was not just something to escape. It was something that gave value in itself. ‘Fate…’
I was thinking about fate when she suddenly spoke. “Hey, why hasn’t this part been repaired yet?”
She placed the remnant of a puppet into her array box and was looking at the outer wall behind it. The outer wall had small wounds and spiritual power circuits exposed, yet the circuits were not automatically repairing themselves. “There should be automatic repair in the Palace of Liberation… why is this one…”
Buk Hyang-hwa took out her devices and began examining the area. That was when. Ki-ki-gik…
Behind her, a small pillar-like structure opened. At the same moment, a small hidden weapon shot out from there. ‘Mechanism assassination technique…!’
Chaeng!
I quickly ran over and knocked the hidden weapon away. “Kyaa!”
“Are you all right, Miss?”
“I-I’m fine…”
Somehow her face had gone deathly pale. “Eh…”
When I ran over and knocked the hidden weapon away from behind her, the wind pressure caused her to lurch slightly forward. Thanks to that, one of the spiritual power circuits on the outer wall of the Palace of Liberation was driven deep into her device. “Th-this… I think I accidentally touched something.”
“Is it serious…?”
“Not serious, but one of the hidden functions of the Palace of Liberation…”
Kugugugu!
“Seems to have activated.”
“…”
Suddenly an eerie pressure enveloped the entire Palace of Liberation. The pressure swirled around us and pressed down on every part of my body, inside and out. ‘This is…!’
My cultivation power was restricted, and my Foundation Establishment early stage level dropped in an instant to Qi Condensation early stage. Looking at Buk Hyang-hwa, the spiritual power inside her body had almost dried up, leaving her at a level no different from a normal person. ‘Has her cultivation level dropped an entire stage overall…?’
Moreover, the scope was the entire Palace of Liberation. It seemed the whole place had fallen into this state for a while. Cheongmun Jung-jin, the head of the Cheongmun Clan, who was at the Core Formation realm, would have been restricted to the Foundation Establishment level. Cheongmun Ryeong would have been restricted to a similar level as me. “Temporarily, I seem to have triggered some array inside the Palace of Liberation.”
“I’m sorry, Miss. It was my fault for pushing you unnecessarily…”
“No, it’s my fault for poking the Palace of Liberation with equipment unnecessarily. I’ll fix it back to normal right away.”
She hurriedly placed the long device against the outer wall again and began touching the circuits. And that was when. ‘That’s…?’
Inside the Palace of Liberation. The guardian stone statues that had been scattered everywhere alongside the remnants of Goe-gun or the traces of other Heavenly Person cultivators began to creak. Jjilt-gak, jjil-geureok…
The guardian stone statues gradually repaired themselves and rose into the air. ‘What is this? Is it affected by the array?’
It seemed right. Since this pressure had appeared, the flow of spirit energy was once again entering the guardian stone statues. “Miss, is it possible to remove the array itself again?”
“Yes, it is. Just restore the circuits to their original state, but it will take a little time.”
“Understood.”
I sensed the aura of the guardian stone statues rising. ‘Because they are still recovering, they are all around the early stage of Qi Condensation. But as time passes, they will recover their original bodies and become stronger.’
I observed my own body. Woong!
My cultivation power was restricted and could not move well, but my inner energy moved normally. ‘Um…?’
When I raised the Thousand-Layered Cloud Waves, it still rose normally. My martial arts were completely unaffected even though my cultivation power was restricted.