The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (2)
A fourth-grade spiritual object.
With that fierce desire burning in him, Jin Somyeong walked toward the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda—and, little by little, his mind grew hazy.
With every step he took, the pagoda swelled larger. Heaven, earth—no matter which way he turned his head, all he could see was the tower. Even when he looked back, it was the same. It was as though the entire world had been packed full of that shabby stone pagoda.
It was, beyond any doubt, a profoundly bizarre phenomenon, and yet...
How strange.
That was the only thought that rose in his head.
It felt as if he might yawn. Something was certainly wrong, but even caring about it seemed like too much trouble. He simply continued what he had already been doing by inertia, focusing only on walking with a languid, drifting mind.
"Hm?"
At some point, the scenery around him had changed completely.
He was in a dense forest.
He was staring blankly at sunlight filtering through the branches when—
Chirp, chirp!
The sound of birdsong snapped him awake. It felt as though someone had thrown cold water in his face.
By reflex, he raised his Divine Sense and first examined the condition of his body.
...Nothing wrong.
Then, as he tried to sweep his surroundings thoroughly, he stopped short. His Divine Sense would not extend properly, as though something were pressing it down.
Ordinarily, his Divine Sense could sense everything within a radius of roughly four kilometers. Now it was blocked after only three or four hundred meters. Even when he stretched it as far as possible in one direction, one kilometer was the limit.
My Divine Sense has weakened to about one-tenth of its normal range.
It was exactly as the information he had gathered outside the secret realm had described, so there was no reason to be surprised. To accustom himself to the stifling limitation, he carefully surveyed the area, but nothing dangerous stood out.
It was a quiet, peaceful forest—so ordinary it was almost boring.
The only unusual thing was that the sparrow chirping up in the tree was exceptionally fat. It had clearly eaten so well that its belly had grown plump enough to make him wonder whether it could even fly.
So this is the inside of the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda?
Slowly scanning the forest, Jin Somyeong searched his memories. It was not easy. He tried to recall the exact moment he had entered this place, but the memory was blurred.
He pressed his fingers hard against the space between his brows and kept thinking until several faint scenes passed through his mind. The moment he had begun walking toward the tower, everything had somehow become tedious. Then he had grown drowsy. After that, when he came to his senses, he was already in the forest.
...For now, forget it.
He was curious about what had happened, but it was not a problem worth dwelling on right now. At the moment, it was wiser to focus on the secret realm.
Just as I heard, this is a place without spiritual energy.
It felt like somewhere mortals might live.
Strangely, the spiritual energy inside the secret realm was thin. Forget cultivation; even recovering expended magical power would be difficult. In a place like this, one had to conserve magical power. Of course, that was easier said than done.
Was it possible to avoid using magical power in a dangerous secret realm? Naturally, it was close to impossible.
Everyone’s going to have a rough time.
The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda remained open for one year. That was quite a long time. No matter how carefully one conserved magical power, it would eventually run dry. That made methods of replenishment important.
It was not difficult. One only had to absorb the spiritual energy contained in Spirit Stones. It would be wasteful, but it was the simplest solution.
Of course, that applied only to ordinary cases.
Jin Somyeong had the Mental Secret Realm. Recovering magical power was not an issue for him.
Whoosh!
Jin Somyeong shot straight upward and took in the surrounding terrain from the sky.
It’s vast.
No matter how he looked at it, this did not feel like the inside of a tower. The forest he currently stood in was large enough to be called a sea of trees without exaggeration.
Near the horizon, a structure stood out sharply: a stone pagoda with six tiers. At a glance, it resembled the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda he had seen in the Sahon Wilderness, but it was smaller and had one fewer floor.
They said going there would let me reach the next layer.
The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda was a secret realm divided into multiple layers. The deeper one went, the rarer the treasures one could obtain.
Paht!
Jin Somyeong vanished in a blur and cut across the sky.
He used his magical power so generously that any other Golden Core cultivator watching would have stared wide-eyed. In any case, with the Mental Secret Realm, he had no need to worry about recovery.
He had flown for some time with the stone pagoda as his beacon when his stomach churned. A faint dizziness rose in him, and the moment he paused—
Huh?
The stone pagoda that had been directly ahead of him until just now vanished like a mirage.
Narrowing his eyes, he examined his surroundings and found, bizarrely, that the pagoda was now visible to his right.
The direction had shifted.
A mistake?
Impossible. He was a Golden Core cultivator in name and in truth. Was he incapable of flying in a straight line?
So this is what they meant by the internal space being twisted.
After pondering it for a moment, Jin Somyeong flew toward the tower again, and the same situation repeated itself.
The pagoda ahead kept disappearing, only to appear in some completely unexpected direction. Sometimes it even appeared behind him.
The stone pagoda was not a place one could reach simply by flying in a straight line.
Still, if there was anything hopeful about it, it was that the tower was growing little by little.
That must mean I’m getting closer, however slowly.
Jin Somyeong’s circumstances were better than most. Since he had no need to conserve magical power, he could move at high speed.
He continued silently toward the tower. Then, the Divine Sense he had spread in all directions rebounded off something like a solid wall.
A restriction?
Jin Somyeong’s face brightened at once, and he changed course. In the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda, a restriction was practically the same as a treasure chest.
When he reached a clearing concealed by thick branches, he saw a curtain of yellowish light. It was roughly the size of a gymnasium and looked fairly sturdy. He examined the hemispherical barrier, shaped like an overturned bowl, from several angles.
So there’s treasure inside.
According to what he had investigated, destroying this restriction would allow him to obtain the treasure within.
He was about to draw the Heavy Ink Sword of Heaven when he paused.
Should I try breaking it with a clone?
He activated the Blood Spirit Clone Art engraved into his body.
He poured thirty percent of his strength into it to create a clone, then focused his mind. First, using the Thousand Transformations Art, he changed the clone’s appearance into that of a middle-aged rogue cultivator in his fifties. This would make it look as if two people were traveling together.
Then he handed the Five Elements Sword to the clone and jerked his chin toward the restriction.
"Attack it."
It was no different from giving an order to himself, but he deliberately spoke aloud in order to think of the main body and the clone as separate entities.
Shrring!
The clone drew the sword and unleashed a slash. Sword Qi poured toward the restriction without a hint of hesitation.
Boom!
The instant the sharp energy collided with the restriction, the barrier let out a thunderous roar and reflected the Sword Qi back.
The clone narrowly avoided it and continued scattering Sword Qi.
Boom, boom, boom!
Amid the ceaseless explosions, Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes as he observed the restriction.
So it really does reflect attacks, and it really does make a racket whenever it’s struck.
He confirmed each piece of information he had gathered outside the secret realm and thought it through.
It’s designed to force cultivators to spend magical power if they want treasure.
He could feel the malice of the one who had created the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda. It was almost blatant, as if the message were: fight each other and die.
The restriction reflected attacks. Naturally, attacks with overwhelming destructive power would be hard to use. In the end, most people would assault it by constantly pouring out smaller spells, but the restriction made a deafening noise each time it was struck.
And it was not ordinary sound. It was more like an alarm mingled with magical power, making it difficult to block out.
As a result...
Competitors in the vicinity would naturally gather.
Just like now.
Whoosh.
Jin Somyeong turned his gaze toward the faint sound of wind beneath the explosions.
His eyes met those of a first-layer Golden Core man flying in at low altitude. Judging by his unfamiliar attire, he seemed to be a cultivator from another continent.
"...My apologies. It seems this is not a place where I should intrude."
The man looked back and forth between Jin Somyeong and his clone, then began edging backward. It seemed he had judged that two Golden Core cultivators together were more than he could handle.
The moment he had opened up a suitable distance—
Boom!
He fled at full speed without even looking back. Jin Somyeong clicked his tongue.
What a pity. If he’d attacked, I could have killed him and taken his storage pouch.
He was about to focus on the restriction again, but instead smacked his lips.
The more he thought about it, the more regrettable it seemed.
If he had killed the man who had just appeared, what would he have obtained? Even the poorest rogue cultivator should have at least a few hundred high-grade Spirit Stones.
"Should I chase him down and kill him even now?"
Jin Somyeong spoke the impulsive thought aloud, then stopped short.
Something about the flow of his thoughts felt strange. It was subtly different from usual.
Ah, forget it.
He had no time to concern himself with trivialities. He had entered the secret realm, so he needed to focus on obtaining treasure.
Boom!
He manipulated the clone and attacked the restriction. The thunderous noise continued for some time.
Then, with a cracking rupture, the restriction shattered.
Wooooong!
An enormous volume of wind trapped within the restriction—no, spiritual energy—burst out as though exploding.
...Don’t tell me that’s a fourth-grade spirit vein?
That was the only thought that came to mind as spiritual energy poured endlessly from the broken opening.
It was only natural. The concentration of spiritual energy was too dense. No matter how he looked at it, this was not third-grade level. It was merely spiritual energy, yet it was visible to the naked eye, proof that its concentration had reached an extreme.
Jin Somyeong stood there as if entranced, then abruptly came to his senses.
He controlled the clone and sent it inside the restriction, carefully checking whether there was anything dangerous.
It’s safe.
The interior was a forest, just like the outside, but perhaps due to the dense spiritual energy, it was packed with all manner of strange flowers and rare herbs. It was, quite literally, a colony of spiritual herbs.
Once he confirmed that much, the main body entered the restriction as well.
"Mmm!"
The spiritual energy was so dense it was almost intoxicating. Each breath he drew cleared his mind.
He paid no attention to the spiritual herbs scattered around him. The most precious thing in this place right now was the spiritual energy itself.
It isn’t a fourth-grade spirit vein. Spiritual energy has simply accumulated here over an incredibly long time.
Now that his far more sensitive main body was inside, he could sense things the clone had been unable to detect.
Did they seal a spirit vein with a formation?
This was an area where the concentration of spiritual energy had been artificially raised.
Before long, the spiritual energy here would disperse throughout the entire secret realm. Before that happened, he needed to absorb as much of it as possible.
Whoooooosh!
Watching the spiritual energy scatter outside the broken restriction was so wasteful it made his stomach ache.
He hurriedly sat cross-legged and tapped the sword at his waist.
"Mugeuk, keep watch for a bit."
Clang!
The Heavy Ink Sword of Heaven slipped out of its scabbard on its own and floated in the air.
The sword inhabited by Mugeuk circled around him as though standing guard.
The sight of it emitting such intense sharpness that his skin prickled filled him with reassurance.
Trusting Mugeuk, he immediately closed his eyes.
First, to gather his focus in one place, he dispersed the Blood Spirit Clone.
Crackle...
He operated the Cheonroedochegyeol with such full force that lightning energy leaked out around his body, building up his magical power.
With every breath, an immense tide of energy poured into him.
It was truly a state of self-forgetting. He concentrated so deeply that even the passage of time vanished from his awareness.
"Hoo!"
After finishing his energy circulation and exhaling turbid qi, Jin Somyeong’s eyes gleamed.
He gauged the increase in his magical power, and all he could do was marvel.
Incredible.
His cultivation speed had been dozens of times faster than usual. Just one day of cultivation here was enough to accumulate several months’ worth of magical power.
How could he let an opportunity like this pass?
There was nothing to debate. Jin Somyeong was about to immerse himself in the Cheonroedochegyeol again when he paused.
With spiritual energy this dense... I can use the Boundless Great Ability to assist my cultivation.
The reason he normally did not use the Boundless Great Ability to build magical power was simple: the efficiency was poor. The results were not worth the resources invested.
But when a place was this abundant in spiritual energy, the story changed. It was more than worth amplifying his cultivation speed.
Having made his decision, Jin Somyeong closed his eyes.
Rumble!
Amid the faint sound of thunder, he forgot all worries and focused on the Cheonroedochegyeol.
By the time two days had passed and fifty thousand units of Boundless Great Ability had vanished, the spiritual energy inside the restriction had been completely exhausted. It was recovering little by little, but not to any meaningful degree.
Crack, crack!
Because he had not moved for so long, his bones made a sound. As Jin Somyeong stretched and loosened his stiff body, he soon broke into a broad smile.
It was because of the results of his cultivation. In just two days, he had accumulated half a year’s worth of magical power.
Coming into the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda was the right choice.
If he cultivated like this for an entire year, how much time could he save? Just imagining it was delightful.
After accustoming himself to his rapidly increased magical power, he brushed himself off and stood.
Now that he had some breathing room, he intended to examine what treasures might be around him.