Let the Fishing Begin
Jin Somyeong, his hand resting on the Victory-Rising Step Secret Manual, fell into thought.
Martial arts...
It was an unexpected talent to discover. Of course, there was nothing bad about that. It simply meant one more option was available to him.
Still, he needed to be precise about the difference between martial arts and immortal arts.
If a certain spell or form was meant to count from one to nine, then immortal arts felt like leaping straight from one, two, three to eight, nine.
The blank space in between was the part where the spirituality of spiritual energy came into play. That was exactly where Jin Somyeong was weak.
As if cursed, spiritual energy refused to obey him.
What acted like a super-high-performance artificial intelligence for everyone else simply did not work properly for him.
Maybe it’s just defective.
Martial arts, on the other hand, were different. You had to count from one to nine yourself, without skipping a single number.
That made them intuitive.
As long as you could bear directly controlling the flow of every strand of energy, the logic was straightforward and easy to grasp.
To other cultivators, it would have been terribly troublesome and exhausting, but for Jin Somyeong, it was different.
His natural talent for martial arts made it possible.
It was, in fact, far easier on his nerves than spiritual energy that wouldn’t listen properly. Immortal arts relied too heavily on the spirituality of spiritual energy.
If I use spiritual energy instead of qi, even ordinary martial arts will become much stronger. If I combine that with immortal arts, it might become my own unique weapon...
Jin Somyeong stroked his chin, deep in thought.
He was considering how to make use of this newly discovered talent.
***
Half a year later.
The finest pleasure house in Jeokyang Market, Drunken Immortal Pavilion, overflowed with soft laughter.
The eyes of every flower-like woman there, each beautiful in her own way, were fixed on a single man.
“Young Master, please have some side dishes as well.”
“No need! The liquor is sweet enough that I don’t need anything with it! Hahaha! Today is truly a fine day!”
The young man seated at the head table raised his cup and drank deeply, his laughter booming with easy confidence.
His name was Beom Chang.
Not long ago, he had been the gatekeeper of the Red Sun Sect who tried to force Jin Somyeong into a slave contract.
The man seated across from him rubbed his palms together and said, “Congratulations, Brother! Your punishment ends today, so you won’t need to remain a gatekeeper anymore!”
“Hmph. My uncle is too rigid for his own good. So what if I took a little from a few lower cultivators? To punish me over something so small was going too far.”
“Ahahaha...”
The man who had been flattering him nonstop gave an awkward laugh. He didn’t dare answer.
That was because the uncle Beom Chang was talking about was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Old monsters at that level had all kinds of methods, and you couldn’t casually insult them even when they weren’t present.
“If I hadn’t reached the sixth level of Qi Refining and proven my talent, do you think he would have forgiven me this early?”
“Th-that’s true, I suppose.”
Just as the atmosphere began to turn chilly, a voluptuous courtesan’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “Oh? You’ve already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining? You’re still young, Young Master, so you should be able to challenge Foundation Establishment too, shouldn’t you?”
The moment she asked that question, the man across from Beom Chang seized the opportunity and cried out, eyes wide, “Of course! Why would you even ask something so obvious? Do you think our Brother Beom Chang is an ordinary man? Brother will naturally break through to Foundation Establishment, and one day he’ll become the ruler of Jeokyang Market!”
“My, my...”
The instant the word Foundation Establishment came up, even the courtesans who had been pretending to act aloof changed their attitude completely.
They all began edging closer to Beom Chang, each trying to show off her charms.
With a stern expression, Beom Chang lifted his chin.
He slowly sipped his liquor, savoring the atmosphere for a long moment before speaking at last.
“You’re all too frivolous. Do you think Foundation Establishment is a realm you can talk about lightly? Well... if it were me, I’d at least be confident enough to challenge it within twenty years.”
At that confident declaration, the man applauded as if genuinely impressed.
“Twenty years! Then Brother, you’d become a Foundation Establishment great cultivator in your late forties!”
“Well, yes, I suppose so.”
“Truly amazing! That’s practically the level of a direct disciple of a major sect! Ah! Speaking of which, I have another piece of good news for you!”
“Hmm?”
“Do you know who I found recently? You’re going to be shocked when you hear it. Heh heh.”
“Tsk. Who is it? Stop dragging this out and speak.”
“Haha. Don’t be surprised. The Jin Somyeong you’ve been looking for— that brat has shown up again!”
“Jin Somyeong? Who’s that?”
Beom Chang frowned and pulled a courtesan into his arms.
Apparently losing interest, he focused on teasing her instead. He didn’t seem particularly invested in what the man was saying.
The man was flustered by the icy response, so different from what he had expected.
“The brat you told me to keep an eye on! The one who survived in Jeokyang Mountain for three whole years in a mortal body, that stubborn little bastard!”
“Three years...? Ah, right! I remember. The idiot who entered Qi Refining and then stupidly went to Jeokyang Mountain, only to disappear?”
“Yes! That’s him! You were disappointed when he vanished, weren’t you? Since you were disappointed, how could I, your younger brother, just sit by and do nothing? I kept investigating without giving up.”
The man tried to show his loyalty, but Beom Chang merely sipped his liquor.
He didn’t praise him as if it were only natural. Instead, he asked, “Oh? But didn’t they say that guy was definitely dead?”
“W-well, they said it was highly likely he was dead. Anyway, a few days ago he got caught by my information network while selling dew. Apparently he was wrapped in bandages, so he seems to have been hurt pretty badly.”
“Injured? Was he just absent all this time because he was recovering?”
“Probably. But that stupid bastard still hasn’t learned his lesson—he keeps going back up Jeokyang Mountain.”
“Hmm? Wait. He climbed Jeokyang Mountain again?”
“Yes. What should we do? Before he dies in some cheap roadside room, shouldn’t you take him in and show him mercy, Brother?”
“...That’s true.”
Thud.
Beom Chang suddenly set down his cup and even pushed away the courtesan he had been idly fondling.
He fell into deep silence, saying nothing. He didn’t move for quite some time.
“...Brother?”
By now, only the faint fragrance of spirit liquor lingered in the quiet room.
Then, breaking the awkward silence, Beom Chang smiled with satisfaction and said, “Jin Somyeong. Even after being badly wounded, he still dared to risk himself again. Just as I thought—he’s stubborn, exactly the kind of man I picked out. I like him. He’d be too valuable to kill after using him as a slave. If things go well, I may end up with a fine pair of hands and feet.”
The sycophantic man was stunned.
He was practically Beom Chang’s right hand now. He had no reason to welcome competition.
“B-Brother. Isn’t that brat a bit too much to be a pair of hands and feet? Just being worked like a dog would already be glory enough for three lifetimes. Use him up and throw him away.”
Beom Chang glanced at him sidelong, then suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha! Lately you’ve been daring to argue with me more often. I’m starting to think you and I have grown quite close.”
“N-no, I— no, that’s not it. I’ll absolutely obey anything Brother says. I, so...”
The man’s face went white.
Seeing him panic so badly that he could hardly speak, Beom Chang waved a hand.
“Heh. I tease you a little and you get so scared.”
He yanked the courtesan he had pushed aside back into his arms and said playfully, “Do you think I don’t know my younger brother’s loyalty? I know it all.”
“R-right, of course. Ahaha! I only have Brother. I’ll keep serving you with my life from now on too!”
***
At the entrance to Jeokyang Mountain, Jin Somyeong, unlike usual, had not disguised himself as Myeon Teal. He stood in his true appearance and slowly looked up at the sky.
The blazing noon sun was bright enough to be oppressive.
“So that’s why it’s called Red Sun.”
Jeokyang Mountain in broad daylight felt strangely unfamiliar. The intense heat was like a furnace.
He had only ever come here at dawn, so he hadn’t fully realized it before, but Jeokyang Mountain was an incredibly hot place.
For some reason, the energy of the sun was unusually powerful here.
Jin Somyeong was curious about the reason, too, but nothing had ever been clearly revealed, so he focused on what he had come to do.
Enhanced Senses.
He had come here to hunt demonic beasts.
He wanted to review the results of his training and, through real combat, understand his own strengths and weaknesses.
Crack!
The Boundless Great Ability bead vanished, and his five senses sharpened several times over. Even with his eyes closed, the surrounding landscape felt crystal clear.
Step, step.
Unlike usual, he did not use the Longevity-Food Technique. If he wanted to hunt demonic beasts, he had to draw them in.
There it is.
His eyes flashing, Jin Somyeong drew his Beheading Horse Saber.
It was not the old, shabby broken blade he had used before. This was a proper mid-grade first-tier magical weapon purchased from the market.
He leveled the Beheading Horse Saber, its fierce momentum enough to suggest it could split even a mountain in two, and slowly took up his stance.
Grrrr...
Sometime later, a leopard-like demonic beast approached, baring its fangs, and the two of them glared at each other.
How many seconds passed? The moment the beast’s pupils abruptly dilated—
ROAAAR!
With a howl that seemed to shake the mind itself, it charged.
The giant predator closed the distance in an instant, as if teleporting right before his eyes.
Whoosh!
Claws sharper than a treasured blade shot toward him like streaks of light, and Jin Somyeong’s concentration reached its peak.
Grip.
He tightened his hold on the saber and shifted his weight forward, meeting the assault head-on with a force that could have crushed rock.
At the moment a flame rose from his dantian and seared through his entire body—
BOOM!
His figure vanished with a thunderous blast, passing cleanly by the demonic beast.
A faint glimmer of sword light followed in its wake, like a shadow.
The beast reacted quickly and slashed with its claws, but it still couldn’t catch him, striking only empty ground.
Krrr!
Just as it was about to pursue, the demonic beast froze.
It stared at Jin Somyeong with what seemed like grievance, then stiffened.
Thud...
The massive body collapsed, shaking the ground beneath it.
Only after a beat did its head fall away, and then its body crumpled after it.
“Hoo...”
Jin Somyeong steadied his rough breathing and sheathed the Beheading Horse Saber.
Glancing at his shoulder, he saw that his clothes had been cut away at some point.
It had been the demonic beast’s claws. If they had come just a little deeper, his arm might have been severed clean off.
“Hmm...”
He replayed that last strike in his mind, the first form of the Flying Swan Saber Art, Flying Swan Flash, looking for what needed to be fixed.
Using martial arts with spiritual energy instead of ordinary qi definitely makes them far stronger. But it’s too extreme.
Flying Swan Flash was an extreme form of swift swordplay.
It was so fast that even Jin Somyeong himself could barely react to it, but because he poured all of his nerves into the attack, his defense became vulnerable.
If the strike had failed just now, the one getting hit would have been him.
Of course, for all its extremity, its power was overwhelming.
It also fits well with Victory-Rising Step. If I handle it right, I might even be able to combine it with Wind-Riding Art...
As he experienced real combat, ideas kept springing up one after another.
Martial arts were indeed different from immortal arts, which were tied to talent he lacked.
This was fun. In the realm of fighting, he felt free, like a fish finally returned to water.
After about a minute of repeatedly taking martial forms apart and putting them back together in his mind, he suddenly came to his senses.
Slash!
He quickly butchered the demonic beast’s cooling corpse.
A demonic beast with a rank was practically a lump of spirit stones. From the hide to the meat and even the blood, everything was useful. Naturally, none of it could be wasted.
He did a clumsy but careful job of field dressing it the way he had learned from books, and then—
“Done.”
Using a Cleanse Talismans, he removed the blood and traces splattered over his body, then took a pitch-black flying sword from his subspace.
This flying sword had once been used to lure Wangshin into the dew tree and kill him. It had been a flight-type magical weapon, but Jin Somyeong had crushed the decorations and repainted it to alter its appearance.
The flying sword, originally blue, was now black as a shadow.
Whoosh!
When he mounted the one-meter-long sword tossed into the air, it strangely did not sink. Like a flying disc, it lifted him up and carried him.
The moment he poured spiritual energy into the flying sword—
Wuuung!
The sword’s hum, pleasant just to hear, echoed through the mountain.
With a sharp whistle of wind, his figure cut across the sky.
“Haha.”
With both hands clasped behind his back while riding the flying sword, Jin Somyeong cut a rather fine figure. If commoners had seen him, they would have shouted that he was a sword immortal.
He enjoyed the cool wind brushing against his cheeks and smiled in satisfaction.
He had once been unable to use this mysterious flying sword because he lacked the spiritual energy.
But things were different now.
Jin Somyeong had already reached the mid-Qi Refining stage.
Whoosh!
Like a celestial immortal from legend, he rode a single sword into the wilderness and focused his mind.
Looking at the translucent hologram, he felt truly pleased.
Reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining and becoming a mid-stage cultivator had brought him tremendous progress.
The most obvious change was, of course, the Boundless Great Ability.
Its maximum capacity had doubled, from twenty beads to forty.
The Boundless Great Ability fully recovered on a monthly cycle.
With a total of forty golden beads now, that meant more than one bead recovered every day.
The spiritual energy in his dantian had changed in kind as well.
Not only had the total amount increased, but its efficiency had grown stronger too. Even using spells no longer tired him easily.
He’s definitely stronger now.
Compared to when he had first entered Qi Refining, it was no different from a complete transformation. He was now a genuine cultivator, and there was no shame in being called one.
Hmm? I’m already there?
Flying sword travel was indeed fast. The ability to ignore rough terrain and take a straight line made a huge difference.
Tap.
Noticing the faint outline of Jeokyang Market appearing near the horizon, he descended to the ground.
He put the flying sword away in his subspace, then closed his eyes and focused on the spiritual energy in his dantian.
Ssshhh...
After a few breaths, the pressure of spiritual energy that had been emanating from his whole body rapidly began to subside.
When the aura that had been at the fourth level dropped to somewhere around the middle of the second, he thought,
This should be just about right.
Jin Somyeong opened his eyes quietly, satisfied.
He wasn’t using the Boundless Great Ability to conceal himself. This was Spirit Concealment Art, a technique he had properly learned after purchasing it from the Scripture Pavilion.
Once he had truly mastered Spirit Concealment Art, several effects emerged. It naturally reduced spiritual energy consumption, and the concealment effect became stronger too.
On top of that, because the art had now reached the proficient stage, he had gained the ability to hide his cultivation level, making it extremely useful.
Time to start fishing.
Now pretending to be a small second-level Qi Refining brat, he pulled out a shabby bundle. He stuffed some miscellaneous herbs and part of the demonic beast meat from his subspace inside and slung it onto his back.
It would have been far too suspicious for a low-ranking cultivator to use an expensive storage pouch.
If I’m going to do it, I should do it properly.
At the very end, he even took out bloodstained bandages and wrapped them around himself.
Everything—walking around in his true appearance and lowering his cultivation level—was meant to lure Beom Chang in.
Keeping his senses keen as ever, he set off toward the market with a heavy tread.
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