The Puppet Monarch's Return
Sand dust swirled through the air.
I swung my blade.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three valleys appeared in the distance, and the rock mountains at their end split into three paths.
While the enemy panicked, the distance between us shrank.
I reached out and seized one of the hundreds of sand bullets pursuing him.
Whoosh!
Even without the sword, the formless sword carried terrifying power, but when imbued with it, concentration skyrocketed.
I overlaid the formless sword with legal energy.
The legal energy activated, spewing spiritual force.
Fwoosh!
The bullet was earth-attribute, and fire gushed from it.
The formless sword caught the fire, forming a massive flaming blade.
Whoosh!
Boom!
I swung the formless sword imbued with legal energy. A colossal flaming slash roared forward.
The sand desert ahead melted into a glassy plain.
Each swing made the distance between us close as the enemy, overwhelmed by fear, could no longer regulate his legal energy.
I grabbed another sand bullet and swung again.
Earth-attribute sand bullet.
Splash! Splash!
The desert ahead turned into a marsh.
Wood-attribute sand bullet, responding to the Zhen hexagram, I swung a bullet infused with lightning energy.
Lightning rained from all directions, melting the desert into glass.
“Kiiiiaaaaaah!”
Shocked by the lightning, the enemy screamed and ultimately failed to control the bullets, tumbling down.
Puff!
He fell onto the sand hill.
Buk Hyang-hwa, who had just escaped wriggling from his body, summoned her legal artifacts nearby and landed safely on them.
“Hmm, you’re safe.”
“If you’d waited, I could have caught him myself. You made me come out.”
“Hmph, no matter how many legal artifacts you have, you cannot underestimate Foundation Establishment power.”
I pointed at the enemy just emerging from the sand hill.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
“Yin Soul Curse.”
Splash! Crash!
Several curse talismans flew toward him and slammed into his head.
“Kiiiiiiaaaaaah!”
“Control!”
The curse talismans pierced his upper dantian, forming a mental restriction.
The enemy rolled his eyes back and foamed at the mouth, collapsing to the ground.
I clasped my hands and approached the enemy.
“Why did you do this?”
“Hu… huak! A-ah!”
“If you answer, the pain will ease. Answer me.”
“I… I…”
The enemy drooled and started making strange sounds.
“It’s only… I… I… properly… saw… her…!”
“Hmm?”
“It’s only… I… can… grow… her…!”
“So you kidnapped her?”
“Th-that’s… right…!”
Buk Hyang-hwa approached from the side and asked coldly.
“Come to think of it, you’ve been saying you know how to grow me. What does that mean?”
“Answer.”
Whoosh!
I triggered the curse, and the enemy rolled his eyes back and answered.
“B-Buk… family… a while ago… in the middle of the desert… found… it…!”
“Found what?”
“Jo… Jo family… ruins…”
Curiosity rose in me, and I asked.
“Jo family?”
What kind of family was that?
At that moment, I noticed Buk Hyang-hwa’s face turn serious.
“You found the Jo family’s ruins?”
“Is the Jo family a famous family?”
I asked with a puzzled face, and Buk Hyang-hwa nodded with a grave expression.
“If you haven’t lived long in the eastern part of Byeokra Kingdom, you might not know. The Jo family was a clan that vanished a thousand years ago, wrapped in all kinds of legends.
A thousand years ago, the place that shone in the highest fame in artifact refining, puppets, talismans, pills, and every field. Of course, the most easily explained fame to ordinary people is…”
Her explanation made me shudder.
“The Jo family of the Puppet Monarch, Jo Yeon.”
‘The Puppet Monarch’s family…!’
I looked at the enemy in shock.
“A thousand years ago, the entire Byeokra Kingdom was ruled by that family, boasting enormous prestige, but they disappeared overnight.
Rumors say the Puppet Monarch, driven mad, personally exterminated them, but even if that were true, no one would exterminate their own family with their own hands. The rumor lacks credibility.”
I recalled the words the Puppet Monarch had moaned.
―My family that killed her exterminated me with my own hands.
…
I fell silent for a moment, and Buk Hyang-hwa continued the conversation with the dazed enemy.
“So, what did you find in the Jo family’s ruins?”
“In… in the ruins of the Jo family… I discovered… a unique… potion… that can grow the talent of descendants of the Puppet Monarch Jo Yeon and those with the talent of the Seven Gates Dharma Refiner… by inserting the spirits of the materials used in the Foundation Establishment Refining Method into the Foundation Establishment dantian, greatly amplifying not only legal energy but also ‘emotions.’ The Seven Gates Dharma Refiner… can achieve ‘talent growth’ if their emotions are highly volatile… or if they accumulate enough experience through long years… Their talent… changes. Seven Gates become six. Four Gates become three. Two Gates become one. And Buk Hyang-hwa, among the Four Gates Dharma Refiners, with accumulated effort… has the possibility of reaching Three Gates Dharma Refiner. The Seven Gates Dharma Refiner.”
‘The half-mixed patterns I saw back then…’
I remembered the intertwined black and purple patterns she had shown me.
“If you only help me… I can become a Three Gates Dharma Refiner. I… I… can grow her… and awaken her talent…”
“Any more questions?”
“…None.”
“Understood.”
I clasped my hands and placed my hand on the enemy’s head.
“What will you do?”
“If you wish, I can turn him into a mindless husk, but…”
She pondered for a moment, then shook her head.
“It’s fine. After all, he did us a favor. That’s enough.”
Buk Hyang-hwa looked at the enemy coldly.
“But this is all, Prince Buk. There is nothing between you and me anymore. There will be no next chance.”
“Did you hear that? Remember this well.”
Whoosh!
I placed my hand on the enemy’s head and weakly triggered the curse.
Fwoosh!
“Kiiiiaaaaaah!”
He rolled his eyes back and fainted.
Probably, memories of being interrogated or about me would be erased, leaving only what Buk Hyang-hwa had said last.
“That’s enough.”
“Yes.”
After gathering the sand artifacts, Buk Hyang-hwa boarded the flight artifact and returned with me to Cheon-saek Castle.
I faced the desert wind and asked her.
“But you didn’t ask about the potion’s refining method? It would be helpful to the master after all.”
“Um…”
She smiled awkwardly.
“Ordinary cultivators don’t know, but do you know what the main material of Foundation Establishment dantian is?”
I showed interest.
“I do.”
“Ah! Then it’ll be easier for me. I learned it from Father. The Foundation Establishment dantian contains human life force and blood essence. And the refining method is based on the Foundation Establishment dantian, so I don’t want to eat it.”
“Most cultivators just eat it, and even those who know eat it, but why don’t you?”
“Do you know how many Foundation Establishment dantian pills you’ve taken to reach Foundation Establishment?”
I grinned.
“I didn’t take any.”
“Ah, then you also know… but you don’t want to eat it either, right?”
“I see.”
“And I’ve been thinking.”
Buk Hyang-hwa touched the skin where her pattern was visible.
“If I can grow my talent through accumulated experience and effort, I want to grow in that direction too.”
“Is that so? Excellent idea.”
We returned to Cheon-saek Castle and casually discussed several topics about talent.
***
Upon returning to Cheon-saek Castle, she was hugged by Buk Jung-ho, who finally relaxed his expression and hugged her tightly.
He asked who the kidnapper was, but Buk Hyang-hwa did not mention the enemy’s name, only increasing the number of formation seals and protective talismans in her room.
In this way, the Buk Hyang-hwa kidnapping case was quickly settled.
A few days later.
The meeting on formations resumed.
The remaining part was the connection between the outer and inner formations conceived in Bongmyeong Castle, and the formation artifacts.
We redid the formations over several months.
And the completion of the formations was right around the corner.
“Now, the remaining part is the most troublesome and time-consuming. We shouldn’t head to the brain-storming phase anymore; we should focus on completing the formations through trial and error.”
Now, the remaining process was Buk Hyang-hwa making formation artifacts, drawing the spiritual veins around using the formation artifacts, growing plants instead of the Longevity Fruit, and fine-tuning the formations to match the Longevity Fruit.
This process would take some time because of drawing the spiritual veins.
The formation artifacts were completed in no time.
Buk Hyang-hwa made seventy-two formation flags and thirty-six formation discs.
I and Cheongmun Ryeong received the formation artifacts and adjusted them appropriately with Buk Hyang-hwa.
And now, we only had to wait for the spiritual veins to gather after installing the formations!
“First, we need a place to conduct the live test…”
Buk Hyang-hwa, who had been adjusting the formation artifacts, said.
“So, as long as it’s a place with dense spiritual veins?”
“That would be good. Where is there one?”
She pondered for a moment.
“There’s one near Cheon-saek Castle…”
“Oh, then let’s go there.”
“But to install the formations there, you need Father’s permission first.”
“Ah, is it Buk’s Elder’s private land?”
Buk Hyang-hwa smiled bitterly.
“…It’s my mother’s grave.”
“…I see. Sorry.”
Cheongmun Ryeong cleared his throat and looked away.
“You can’t conduct the formation test on your mother’s grave. Then, even if it’s a bit far, find another place…”
“Father will probably allow it.”
Buk Hyang-hwa placed the formation flags on the table.
“The purpose of this formation is to gather spiritual veins and grow herbs and trees, isn’t it? My mother’s grave has dense spiritual veins, so some herbs grow, but it’s still a desert, so it’s barren. If we make my mother’s grave bloom with the power of the formations, Father won’t refuse. I’ll take the permission.”
Cheongmun Ryeong nodded at her words, clearing his throat.
“…If so, I beg you.”
Buk Hyang-hwa went to find Buk Jung-ho, and after a while, Buk Jung-ho entered the meeting room where we were making the formations.
After hearing Cheongmun Ryeong’s explanation of the formation effect again, he nodded.
“…She will like it too. Please, Cheongmun Elder.”
“…If that’s the case.”
In this way, the live test site for the formations was decided as Buk Hyang-hwa’s mother, Buk Jung-ho’s wife’s grave.
***
Drip… drip…
On the memorial tablet, the name “Yeon” was engraved.
Buk Hyang-hwa’s mother, Buk Jung-ho’s wife.
Her name was Yeon.
Buk Jung-ho poured wine in front of Yeon’s grave and closed his eyes for a moment.
Yeon’s grave was inside a sandstone cave a little away from Cheon-saek Castle.
‘No, it’s not an ordinary sandstone.’
Because the spiritual veins were active, the cave seemed to have become a special ore infused with spiritual energy.
The cave ceiling had been pierced by Buk Jung-ho so that the sky was visible, and light poured in.
Thanks to the light, nameless flowers and grass grew sparsely in the cave.
‘This location…’
I looked at Yeon’s grave and recalled the memory of the first time Buk Hyang-hwa gave me water in her past life.
Probably, thinking of the cave location, she was also visiting this cave back then.
“…Please install the formations, Cheongmun Elder.”
“Understood.”
I and Cheongmun Ryeong brought the formation flags and discs and installed them around the grave, outside the grave, and far from the grave.
The formation flags drew the spiritual energy and veins around.
The formation discs gathered the spiritual veins.
Soon, spiritual energy filled the center of the grave, and the spiritual energy around rose.
The vitality of the herbs and flowers that had been sparse became more active.
I and Cheongmun Ryeong installed the outer formations and entered to adjust the inner ones.
“A mortal wife who didn’t even have cultivation talent in her lifetime. Thankfully, she was sent in the spiritual energy after death.”
Buk Jung-ho looked at the grave and said.
Cheongmun Ryeong looked at the memorial tablet and asked him.
“Yeon, what a beautiful name. You must have had a beautiful wife.”
“…Yes. My wife was a beautiful person. A good mother.”
“What about her surname?”
Buk Jung-ho said with a bitter expression.
“My wife had no surname. It wasn’t that the family didn’t have one; rather, she was so beloved that she had none.”
He stroked his wife’s grave and said.
Buk Hyang-hwa also looked at Buk Jung-ho’s back with a bitter expression.
“You are the Foundation Establishment Grand Elder of the Gongmyo Clan, Gongmyo Cheon-saek. My wife was your illegitimate daughter.”
Crunch…
A vein bulged on Cheongmun Ryeong’s forehead.
“That lecherous guy… he caused trouble again…”
“I don’t resent him. He was the one who showed me kindness, and my wife was a mortal who couldn’t even have spiritual roots… There was no reason to give a surname to an illegitimate child of the Gongmyo Clan…”
“…It was my friend’s mistake. I will apologize on his behalf.”
“No, rather, thanks to Gongmyo Cheon-saek, there was Cheon-saek Castle, and my wife and I could spend time here…”
He looked at the grave for a moment, then took out a small sapling from the twilight artifact.
“This is the Ginkgo tree my Yeon liked. Plant this ginkgo tree for me.”
“Understood.”
Cheongmun Ryeong took the ginkgo sapling and planted it behind the grave, then connected the spiritual veins of the formations to the ginkgo.
“Over the next five years, after the spiritual veins accumulate spiritual energy, the ginkgo sapling will grow rapidly. Later, come back to check the spiritual veins.”
He sighed lightly and looked at me and Buk Hyang-hwa.
“Everyone worked hard anyway. What remains is to wait five years, observe the formations, solve minor problems, and try them out.”
“Five years…”
Cheongmun Ryeong sighed softly.
“In his twilight years, he should be resting comfortably at home, but he’s doing a formation test…”
“Haha, I’m sorry.”
“No, what is there to apologize for, Seo Eun-hyun? It was ordered by our Lord…”
Cheongmun Ryeong patted his back and left, and I briefly looked at the Buk family and left the grave with them.
In this way, five years passed.
***
Underground of Buk Hyang-hwa’s workshop.
The secret room.
“Hold on, Buk Elder.”
“Huuu!”
I placed my hand on Buk Hyang-hwa’s back and infused earth legal energy into her.
“It’s almost over! Along with the resolutions I and Cheongmun Elder made…”
Fwoosh!
In the next moment, bright light burst from her eyes, and clouds of spiritual energy spewed from her mouth.
Hoo~
Buk Hyang-hwa, who had the three spiritual roots of earth, wood, and metal, spat yellow, blue, and white spiritual energy clouds and then sucked them back in.
And in the next moment.
Rumble!
It sounded like thunder from her lower abdomen, and pure spiritual force flowed through her body.
About five years.
During five years, Buk Hyang-hwa received spiritual pills brought by her father Buk Jung-ho, the highest authority of Cheongmun Ryeong, and my teachings, reaching the peak of Qi Condensation.
And, following my advice, she learned the foundational cultivation methods matched to her spiritual root count, reaching the peak in all of them.
And based on that power and my help, she reached Foundation Establishment.
“Ah…! It’s pure spiritual force…”
She raised her pure spiritual force and let out a small cry.
“I’m really grateful, Seo Eun-hyun.”
“No. It was a friend’s request, so this much is enough.”
“Haha, even my senior Cheongmun treats me as a friend now. You said you wouldn’t help me?”
“That’s… Cheongmun Elder is a member of the Cheongmun Clan, so I don’t know what the clan would say about helping the Foundation Establishment of someone outside the clan.”
“Hmm…”
She looked at me with meaningful eyes for a moment, then opened the secret room door and left, laughing.
“Well, let’s just say that. Then, since time is up, let’s visit the grave.”
“…All right.”
I, Cheongmun Ryeong, and Buk Hyang-hwa had grown closer over the past five years.
And I smiled bitterly as I watched her back.
***
Buk Hyang-hwa reached Foundation Establishment, gaining three hundred years of lifespan, and the spiritual energy accumulated over five years activated the formations.
The formations made the ginkgo sapling grow rapidly.
“Ah…”
We gasped at the purple ginkgo flowers blooming inside Yeon’s grave.
Especially Buk Jung-ho had a tearful expression at the flourishing ginkgo flowers.
“…Thank you, Cheongmun Elder. Seo Elder. And… thank you, Hyang-hwa.”
“Rather, we’re grateful that you gave us land with spiritual veins.”
Cheongmun Ryeong calmly received Buk Jung-ho’s thanks.
Unlike five years ago, the grave now received the denser spiritual energy, and the herbs and weeds inside grew much more abundantly.
Compared to the past when sparse herbs and wildflowers were scattered, the grave now felt full of vitality and lively.
“We probably don’t need to remove the already installed formation artifacts. After all, we’ve confirmed this formation is reliable, so we’ll just make more artifacts.”
“Yes.”
“…Thank you.”
Now, under the formations I and Cheongmun Ryeong made, Yeon’s grave would continue to be in this vibrant state.
Buk Jung-ho thanked us again, and we exchanged pleasantries with him.
After a small exchange of courtesy, Cheongmun Ryeong looked at the formations and said.
“Now I’ll return to the Cheongmun Clan and create a place near the Cheongmun Clan with spiritual veins and locations similar to the first floor of Bongmyeong Castle as much as possible, wait five more years there to test the formations. If it works properly after testing this time, this time I’ll really go to the place with the Longevity Fruit and install the formations.”
“Understood. Please do.”
After all, my or Buk Hyang-hwa’s help was not needed for the remaining process.
The formation artifacts were also completed, the formations were fully adjusted, and what remained was only Cheongmun Ryeong’s live test.
“Then I’ll see you in five years. Seo Eun-hyun, and… now that we’re at the same level, Buk Elder.”
“Yes!”
“Understood.”
Cheongmun Ryeong packed the formation artifacts and left for the Cheongmun Clan.
“Are you not going, Seo Eun-hyun?”
“After all, there’s nothing left to adjust in the formations, so I won’t be needed.”
“Um, so it’s only my senior Cheongmun who’s leaving, and Seo Eun-hyun stays here?”
“That’s right.”
“You can go anywhere else, why stay here?”
“That’s…”
I couldn’t find the words to answer and avoided her gaze.
She noticed my reaction and smiled slyly, pulling me along.
“I see. Then… anyway, for the remaining five years, you’ll be in Cheon-saek Castle, right?”
“I… suppose so.”
“Then, shall we plant a new sapling in front of my mother?”
“Hm? Suddenly?”
“Since you said you’d stay, to commemorate you.”
I couldn’t resist and was led by her to the market, where I casually bought a sapling.
“What sapling did Seo Eun-hyun buy?”
“Ah… a quince tree.”
I stroked the quince sapling.
In her past life, my master always resembled the quince tree, so I bought it thinking of him.
We each held our saplings and entered Yeon’s grave.
“By the way, Seo Eun-hyun, you didn’t ask what my sapling is?”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Hahaha, it’s fine. My sapling is…”
She touched the ginkgo flowers and said.
“White ginkgo.”
“White ginkgo…”
“Since Mother liked ginkgo, I like white ginkgo.”
Somehow, I felt it matched her well with her habit of wearing white clothes.
We each planted the quince sapling and the white ginkgo sapling next to the ginkgo flowers.
Since the formations targeted the ginkgo, our planted saplings wouldn’t grow rapidly, but they would slowly grow naturally beside it.
“By the way, Buk Elder, why suddenly decided to plant saplings?”
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“That’s true, but…”
I knew there was another reason she hadn’t told me, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it first and closed my mouth.
“Then shall we return?”
“…All right.”
We returned to Cheon-saek Castle.
Whoosh…
That evening.
I sat on the castle wall facing the desert wind.
“You’re a friend who likes to sink into contemplation.”
Buk Jung-ho flew over behind me again and spoke.
Somehow, it was similar to that day five years ago.
And Buk Jung-ho’s question was also similar.
“How is it? You’ve been getting closer to your daughter lately.”
I brushed my hand over my face.
“Still no feelings beyond being a friend for my daughter?”
Exactly the same time as that day five years ago, the same question.
But my answer was different.
“…I… like you, Buk Elder.”
“Hahaha, as I thought. My eyes don’t lie.”
He laughed heartily and sat beside me.
“Actually, even when I asked five years ago, you liked my daughter.”
…
“Just that then, if your affection was small enough that you could hide your feelings for my daughter, now it has grown so much that you can’t hide it anymore. Isn’t that right?”
He accurately read my heart.
I couldn’t brush off the hand that was wiping my face.
I had developed feelings for one person.
His words were right. Five years ago, I had only hidden it, but now it was too obvious.
I liked that person.
Myself could no longer hide it.
“So, when are you going to confess to your daughter? From my perspective, if you confess, she won’t reject you.”
But.
“Elder…”
This was the end.
“I have no intention of confessing to Buk Elder.”
This was too dangerous.
This love should remain only as a good memory.
If it really became love.
When the target of that love disappeared forever beyond time.
I would truly go mad.
“Hmm…”
Upon hearing my answer, Buk Jung-ho looked at me with strange eyes and asked.
“Do you have some specific religion that prohibits meeting men and women?”
“No.”
“Do you have a taboo that makes you enjoy homosexuality?”
“…No.”
“Do you have some special cultivation method where you can’t use your lower body?”
“No!”
“Then why?”
He crossed his arms and asked me.
“Why have you been trying so hard for five years to not make a family with my daughter?”
…
“You’re in self-contradiction now. If you really hated my daughter, when Cheongmun Elder left this time, you should have left Cheon-saek Castle with him. But you didn’t leave knowing your own heart. Yet you still refuse to make a family with your daughter?”
He looked at me with an incomprehensible expression, and I couldn’t withstand his gaze and told a flimsy lie.
“…I have a special consciousness cultivation method.”
I continued the explanation.
“It’s a method called Steady Law. It’s a cultivation method that focuses on one emotion and activates special laws into a lotus. But I’m using Buk Elder right now. Using her to amplify my emotions and cultivate the law faster. The reason I stayed in the castle this time is just to cultivate the law faster…”
“You’re lying right now.”
“It is true that I’m cultivating Steady Law.”
“No, no.”
He looked me straight in the eyes and said.
“You said you were cultivating a cultivation method that uses emotions, right? If you made a family with my daughter, your emotions would deepen even more, so why didn’t you?”
…
“Wouldn’t that actually help you more?”
It was.
I had been cultivating Steady Law and activating the Five Elements Blood Curse Flag, but the emotions used in Steady Law were not feelings.
Rather, it was a calm heart.
To control my heart that throbbed whenever I thought of Buk Hyang-hwa, I deliberately cultivated the calm heart emotion through Steady Law.
But now, the feelings had grown larger than the calm heart to the point where I could no longer cultivate Steady Law, and the calm heart was shaking.
“…Please give me time.”
“Hmph…”
I could only say that, and Buk Jung-ho looked at me with an unpleasant expression.
“For now, I understand. But it’s best to decide as quickly as possible. A child who locked himself in the castle for his whole life using his mother’s will.
From my perspective, that child’s fate is you, and if you’re not there, the child will not meet a destined partner and will further confine himself to a narrower place. I hope you decide quickly.”
Buk Jung-ho descended from the castle wall, and I closed my eyes.
***
Several days passed.
From the west, another pleasant visitor came to shake my calm heart.
“How have you been, Eun-hyun?”
It was Kim Young-hoon.
“Let’s fight one round.”
Fwoosh!
He pulled out his golden-scaled dragon blade.