The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda (9)
The Grand Elder of the Yongsang Demonic Palace shot across the sky at a terrifying speed.
Before a single breath had passed, he had crossed dozens of li and arrived at the hall where the soul lamps were kept.
"We greet the Grand Elder!"
The Foundation Establishment disciples guarding the front of the hall scrambled to bow, but the old man did not so much as spare them a glance. He swept one hand out as if ordering them aside and strode straight into the building.
His eyes swept rapidly over the soul lamps densely arranged throughout the entire hall—then stopped dead.
Among lamps that all shone with bright light, one alone had gone dark. It was Elder Jeok's soul lamp.
"..."
Staring at the extinguished lamp with bloodshot eyes, he clenched his fist. Frustration rose inside him, followed by a surge of rage. His jaw muscles twitched, and he ground his molars hard enough to make them creak.
"Damn it!"
For the first time since he had come to be called Grand Elder, a curse escaped his lips. When Great Elder Wi Mun-seok returned, he intended to demand a full accounting of what had happened.
"Hoo..."
He was forcing his ragged breathing back under control when—
Fwoosh!
Wi Mun-seok's soul lamp flared with an intense light for the briefest instant, then began to flicker unsteadily, as if it might go out at any moment.
"No—what is this now?"
Confusion spread across the old man's face, cutting through his fury. The light a soul lamp emitted was deeply connected to its owner's condition. For its flame to weaken meant the owner's life hung by a thread.
It made no sense.
Great Elder Wi Mun-seok was at the late Golden Core stage and practiced Law-Body Dual Cultivation. He was on the verge of death? In the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda, of all places?
He could not believe it. No—he did not want to believe it. Until a moment ago, his mind had been filled with thoughts of reprimanding the Great Elder. Now he felt he would be glad if the man simply came back alive.
All manner of thoughts were storming through his head when—
"No!"
Another soul lamp went out.
It was the lamp right beside Elder Jeok's, belonging to one of the three who had entered the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda.
And then, as if it had been waiting for that exact moment, Great Elder Wi Mun-seok's soul lamp lost its light as well.
With that, all three who had entered the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda were dead.
...Am I dreaming?
It was simply absurd. Three Law-Body Dual Cultivators, each boasting formidable combat power, had died on the same day at the same hour?
How in the world was he supposed to deal with this?
He felt as though he might cough up blood.
Meanwhile, inside the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda, Jin Somyeong steadied his breathing after splitting Wi Mun-seok vertically in two.
The moment he thought, It's over, exhaustion washed over him. It had been a truly long time since he had faced such a powerful enemy.
The Yongsang Demonic Palace. He had no idea where that sect was located, but they were a vicious lot.
Still, I won.
Every extremity, every part of him from head to toe, throbbed with pain, yet a smile rose to his lips. The sense of accomplishment outweighed the pain and fatigue.
No matter how many times he experienced it, the instant he defeated a powerful opponent never grew old. It was so intoxicating that he wondered if this was the very reason cultivators raised their realms.
Hoo.
As Jin Somyeong calmed his rough breathing, he turned his gaze. Madam Ryeo, who had arrived a step late, was staring at him wide-eyed, her rapidly blinking eyes filled with shock.
"Heavens... you really won..."
As if she still found it hard to believe even after seeing it with her own eyes, she murmured in a daze. Then she let out a small cry—"Ah!"—and hurried toward him.
"Are you all right? You looked badly injured."
"I'm fine. I may not be as tough as that Wi Mun-seok fellow, but my body is sturdy enough in its own way."
"That's a relief. Ah! I should have thanked you first, but I forgot. None of this has felt quite real since earlier."
Madam Ryeo gathered both hands near her chest and bowed slowly. Jin Somyeong did not know what region's etiquette it was, but it felt deeply respectful.
"No need for that."
Just as he nodded in response, the other two men, who had been watching from an awkward distance, approached and bowed as well.
"We greet our benefactor."
"Thanks to you, we were able to escape those vile bastards. We are truly grateful."
The strained smiles on their faces held a faint trace of worry, and their attitude was entirely different from Madam Ryeo's, who was simply relieved and happy. They were glad the Yongsang Demonic Palace cultivators who had treated them like slaves were dead, but they were worried about what Jin Somyeong would do next.
It's not as though I intend to make them my slaves.
But it was difficult to put unfamiliar cultivators at ease with just a few words, and there was no real need to try. Once a few minutes passed, they would realize he bore them no particular ill will.
After accepting their greetings, he first retrieved the Heavy Ink Sword, which had been flung away by the explosion and buried in the dirt. Then he looked around. On the right half of Wi Mun-seok's split body, he spotted a small pouch.
A storage pouch?
He checked with his Divine Sense and confirmed that it was indeed a storage pouch. He had worried it might have been damaged in the fierce battle, but it was intact.
Good. He was quite strong, so I wonder what's inside.
Might there be some spiritual object related to Law-Body Dual Cultivation? Smiling, Jin Somyeong reached out.
Whoosh!
When he stirred his spiritual power, the storage pouch floated up and was drawn into his hand. As he examined the pouch, which was covered in ornate dragon patterns, he felt as if he had obtained a treasure chest.
It looks high-class at a glance.
Just from the pouch's exterior, he could tell how wealthy Wi Mun-seok had been.
Now that he thought about it, a sect of Law-Body Dual Cultivators was absurd. As his realm had risen, he had naturally come to understand something: the real reason body-refinement arts were treated as a minority path in this world was not because they were weak.
Body refiners displayed supreme combat power in close combat. No one could honestly call them weak.
And yet body refinement was still treated as a fringe path because...
It's inefficient.
The time and resources consumed in training were simply too great. The resources required to raise one body refiner could nurture dozens of ordinary cultivators.
As for Law-Body Dual Cultivation? There was no need to even say it. It required even more resources than a pure body refiner.
Yet the Yongsang Demonic Palace seemed to raise every one of its disciples as a Law-Body Dual Cultivator.
The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.
I'm alone, and I have the Mental Secret Realm, so it's fine for me. But how does the Yongsang Demonic Palace bear that kind of consumption?
Could they possibly be some hegemon that ruled an entire continent?
A scene rose in his mind: a horde of hulking, musclebound giants rampaging in all directions and plundering everything in sight.
It was only his imagination, but somehow, he doubted reality would be very different.
Their Great Elder died to me, so maybe their strength has weakened a bit?
If so, then good riddance.
Perhaps it was because he had suffered so much exploitation as a mortal, but he thoroughly detested people who committed robbery as if it were the natural order of things.
Ah, forget it. I don't even know where they are, so there's no point worrying about them.
What mattered now was that they were wealthy. There was a high chance the storage pouch held a great many treasures.
Jin Somyeong was nodding in anticipation when he paused.
He had felt gazes tinged with greed. Their owners were the two men who had been thanking him only moments ago.
The way they stared fixedly at the storage pouch was ridiculous, but at the same time, he understood.
It must be because of the mental restriction.
The unusual one in this situation was Madam Ryeo, who did not covet the pouch. She glanced at it several times and furrowed her brow, but she looked more bewildered than greedy, like someone who could not understand the state of her own emotions.
As if trying to shake off her desire, she whipped her head and spoke somewhat quickly.
"Fellow Daoist Jin. If I get the chance later, I will definitely repay today's grace."
She sounded like someone about to leave, and she turned her head toward the stone pagoda in the distance. From the way she stared at it, it was obvious she intended to head straight to the third floor.
What did she wish for normally that she would ignore even a storage pouch and head for the third floor?
After a moment of thought, Jin Somyeong decided to show her some goodwill. From what he had experienced so far, she was someone worth trusting.
"Madam Ryeo, wait a moment."
"Yes?"
"When you were fighting earlier, it looked like you had been poisoned. Where do you think you're going without properly treating yourself first? And..."
He tapped his scabbard as if issuing a warning.
"All of you, get a hold of yourselves."
The two men, who had still been staring at the storage pouch without coming to their senses, flinched violently and backed away.
"Huh!"
The greed that had filled their eyes vanished as if washed clean. They had recognized that Jin Somyeong was the strong one here and regained their reason.
When he explained the mental restriction to the bewildered pair, the two men who had been coveting the storage pouch were horrified.
"No wonder! I knew something felt strange."
"Urgh. But the restriction is stronger than I thought. Even now, I keep having the insane thought that I want to steal our benefactor's storage pouch and run away."
"...Pardon?"
Everyone's gaze turned to him at once.
Should he be called honest? The man had blurted out his inner thoughts with no tact at all, and only belatedly seemed to realize his mistake. He hurried to make excuses.
"I-I said it was an insane thought, didn't I? That's just how it feels. I may have lived selfishly, but I have never once repaid kindness with enmity!"
He stared desperately at Jin Somyeong, as if begging him to believe him. Jin Somyeong merely gave a vague nod.
With the man's ability, he could not have stolen the pouch in the first place, so Jin Somyeong was not particularly concerned.
"In any case, all of you seem far from normal because of the mental restriction, so be careful. The same goes for you, Madam Ryeo."
She, who had been unable to take her eyes off the stone pagoda, flinched. Now that he looked closely, she too was under the strong influence of the restriction.
"...Thank you."
After hesitating, Madam Ryeo eventually sat down in the lotus position. She took a high-grade spirit stone in her hand and sank into meditation. It seemed she had accepted his advice and meant to deal with the poison first.
"Um, may I take my leave now? Greed keeps rising in me, so I think I need to go somewhere secluded and meditate."
"Ahem. Then I will also..."
As the two men watched his mood and tried to slip away, Jin Somyeong spoke as if offering a reminder.
"You may leave, but I would prefer that word of me not spread elsewhere."
"Ah, you need not worry about that. My mouth is very heavy. I will not reveal anything about our benefactor."
"The same goes for me. As I said earlier, I do not repay kindness with enmity."
Watching them answer so easily, without the slightest hesitation, Jin Somyeong let out a quiet laugh.
Did they think this was someone else's problem?
"If word of what happened today spreads, you two will also be hunted by the Yongsang Demonic Palace. For your own sakes, it would be best to keep it secret."
"...I will never speak of it."
The two men's faces went pale. Perhaps they had imagined themselves being chased by hulking giants, because they left with grave expressions.
In truth, Jin Somyeong did not consider today's events some secret that absolutely had to be protected.
He was not especially afraid of the Yongsang Demonic Palace. His warning just now had merely been to reduce future annoyance.
If they come looking for me, I'll just cut them down one by one.
Thinking something that would have left others speechless, he turned his gaze elsewhere.
For the time being, he fastened Wi Mun-seok's storage pouch to his waist, then moved around the area and collected every bit of harvest he might have missed.
There were three storage pouches left behind by the Yongsang Demonic Palace cultivators, though the ownership of one of them was ambiguous.
I wasn't the only one who killed the last one.
If Madam Ryeo and the two men who had just left had not held that fellow back, the fight against Wi Mun-seok would have been even more difficult.
After a brief hesitation, he collected it anyway.
If we meet again later, I'll share some of it with them.
Or he could simply regard it as repayment for saving them from slavery.
The final gain was the staff that had been Wi Mun-seok's main weapon.
It was still in its elongated state, driven deep into the ground. It was so heavy that even Jin Somyeong, with his powerful body, staggered when he lifted it.
Vajra Extension Staff.
It was a peak third-rank Dharma treasure, characterized by its ability to freely change size and its extreme durability.
Its functions were somewhat crude, but in the hands of a body refiner, it was a Dharma treasure capable of exerting tremendous power.
It weighs roughly two hundred thousand geun... Mugeuk, do you think you can absorb this staff too?
A faint vibration came from the scabbard at his waist. Interpreting the meaning Mugeuk conveyed...
You're not sure? Good. I'll give it to you later, so try absorbing it then.
There was no need to agonize over it, since there was nothing to lose by trying. If he did not know, he simply had to attempt it.
Mugeuk hummed as if in agreement, and Jin Somyeong entrusted them with guarding him. Then he took high-grade spirit stones in both hands and focused on recovering.
How much time passed?
"Haa..."
Having finished detoxifying herself, Madam Ryeo ended her meditation. Jin Somyeong, who had been recovering while waiting for her, opened his eyes as well.
There was a proposal he wanted to make to her, an array master.