Admirable Spirit
Jeokyang Market.
The moment Jin Somyeong chose a shop and stepped inside, a rough voice rang out from behind the counter. The owner had a thick, bristling beard and the look of a man who had spent too many years haggling with sharp-eyed cultivators.
"Hm? What's a little brat doing in a place like this?"
"Isn't this where you buy and sell demonic beast meat? Should I leave?"
"Hah! Cheeky little runt, aren't you? Go on, untie that bundle on your back. I'll give you a fair price, by my own conscience."
Thud!
The instant Jin Somyeong dropped the heavy bundle and loosened it, the sharp, metallic stench of blood swept through the shop. The five or so customers inside all turned at once.
"...Isn't that a First-Rank demonic beast?"
"No way. That kid?"
The customers were caught between disbelief and curiosity, but the shopkeeper's eye was a different matter. His gaze narrowed, and when he spoke again, his tone had grown a little more respectful.
"Young Daoist, you've got remarkable skill. How did you get this demonic beast meat? Did you perhaps burn through a pile of talismans?"
"Does that matter?"
Jin Somyeong frowned, and the shopkeeper shrugged.
"I'm only asking because the meat's in such a sorry state. A waste, really. Like this, the price has no choice but to drop. If you're planning to keep hunting demonic beasts, you'd be better off learning how to butcher them properly."
"Mm... I'll think about it."
"Good. I'll give you three Spirit Stones for it."
It was a better price than Jin Somyeong had expected. Surprisingly enough, the man had meant it when he said he would price it according to his conscience.
With no particular reason to refuse, Jin Somyeong sold the entire lot. After answering the shopkeeper's invitation to come again next time, he spent the whole day wandering the market and making sure his face was seen.
Part of it was to lure Beom Chang out. At the same time, he occasionally put on a mask, changed his appearance, and took care of his actual business.
He visited a book repository that sold various cultivation arts and bought several manuals, including Drunken Cloud Rain Art. Then he asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any spells that can seal or suppress an opponent's spiritual energy?"
"You don't even need to learn a spell for that. A simple acupoint-sealing method would do. The trouble is that it's difficult to use in practice. Frankly, killing the target would be easier."
"It's that difficult?"
"Yes. You have to suppress the dantian, the most vital point for a cultivator. And what cultivator would willingly give you access to their dantian? It's only useful against someone you can completely overpower."
"...I understand. Give me a book on acupoint sealing as well."
"Yes, sir!"
The shopkeeper looked delighted to have found a generous customer. On impulse, Jin Somyeong asked one more question.
"Shopkeeper. Do you happen to sell martial arts manuals used by ordinary mortals?"
"Martial arts?"
The shopkeeper frowned as though the question were difficult to understand, then tilted his head.
"Our repository deals only in immortal arts... but if that is what you want, honored customer, I can try to obtain some."
"Good. Please find something unusual, or something with strong offensive power."
After leaving the book repository, Jin Somyeong slipped into an alley. He returned to his original appearance and then visited shop after shop.
How much time had passed? Before he realized it, the sky had been dyed with the colors of sunset. He had been moving without rest, and the hour of dusk had already arrived.
Should I call it here for today?
Most of what he had done so far had been bait—movements meant to hook Beom Chang, the man who had once tried to force him into a slave contract.
But the response was slower than expected.
Do I have to go all the way to the Spirit Pill Pavilion?
Bang Il, the owner of the Spirit Pill Pavilion, had very likely sold his information in the past. That meant there was a line of communication between Bang Il and Beom Chang. If he visited the Spirit Pill Pavilion, word was sure to reach Beom Chang.
The only problem was that Bang Il, being a merchant, had a keen nose for danger. If Jin Somyeong suddenly approached him after staying away for more than half a year, the man might sense something was off.
I want to draw him in as naturally as possible... Hm?
A faint brightness entered Jin Somyeong's expression. His sharpened senses had caught someone's gaze.
Finally.
The target had taken the bait.
Jin Somyeong immediately changed direction and headed toward a secluded area. He needed to identify the person hiding within the crowd. As he moved toward the sparsely populated outskirts, he spent the power of the Boundless Great Ability.
With his senses sharpened another degree, he located the other party. However, the person was using a concealment art and wore a hood-shaped magical artifact, making their identity difficult to discern.
Alone. It'd be nice if it were Beom Chang himself...
If the tail was Beom Chang, then things were going according to plan. Hoping that was the case, Jin Somyeong left for the Outer City and made his way toward the shantytown.
It's been a while.
As he walked through the shabby, neglected streets, a strange nostalgia stirred in him. After about thirty minutes, he reached a ramshackle hut tucked away in a gloomy corner.
It was the house where Jin Somyeong had lived for three years after his reincarnation.
Returning to a place that looked as if it might collapse from a single kick gave him an odd feeling. This house was one of the arrangements he had made to expose the identity of Jin Somyeong, and since the rent was only five Spirit Stone fragments, he had been able to lease it without much burden.
Creak.
He sat down on the old bed, which screamed as though begging for mercy, and closed his eyes. He infused spiritual energy into his ears to sharpen his hearing, then focused on the faint sounds around him.
He followed me, just as expected.
Sensing the tail who had tracked him all the way here, Jin Somyeong's lips curled into a cold smile.
If you're that eager to torment me... then you're more than welcome.
With one hand resting on the broad saber at his waist, he quietly closed his eyes. He circulated the Five Elements Qi Refining Art in a simplified form, recovering the fatigue that had accumulated over the course of the day.
This was the Outer City, not the Inner City. If the other party decided to act recklessly, they could attack him at any moment. Jin Somyeong needed to maintain his best condition so that he could fight at any time.
Hm?
While focusing on spreading spiritual energy through the muscles of his entire body, he frowned.
Clatter...
A faint noise had come from the house next door. Suddenly, a bitter laugh escaped him at the countless discomforts he had once been unable to notice.
Compared to a First-Rank mid-grade cave residence, this place might as well be a gutter. Training here would be miserable.
The higher a cultivator's realm, the sharper their senses became. The more advanced the cultivator, the harder it was to live in a place like this.
Of course, sleeping properly would be difficult. Worse, a sudden disturbance during cultivation could even damage one's meridians.
There's a reason people pay Spirit Stones to live in good cave residences.
Shaking his head, he quietly closed his eyes again. He prepared himself by simulating the coming battle in his mind.
A week passed.
Jin Somyeong deliberately kept to a regular routine. He moved between Jeokyang Mountain, the market, and the shanty house in the Outer City, tempting his pursuer.
Hah. Cautious little bastard.
He had given the man opportunities every day by frequenting remote places, yet there had been no attack. Whenever Jin Somyeong climbed Jeokyang Mountain, where it would be easy to bury a body, the man stopped following as if by some uncanny instinct.
Whether the other party was more suspicious than expected or simply excessively cautious despite dealing with a child, he never made a move. After a full week of being observed from a distance, Jin Somyeong's irritation began to rise.
Damn it. I don't even have enough time to train as it is.
In truth, a week was not all that long to wait. Time in this world moved with a disgusting kind of slowness. After all, this was a world of long-lived beings who, as their realms rose, could live for hundreds or thousands of years.
Should I just attack first?
He stroked the hilt of the Demon-Cleaving Saber out of habit and let out a sigh.
Even so, if he intended to turn the man into a slave, it would be more convenient to have some justification. If he simply barged in and subdued him, the man would not easily submit.
If Beom Chang resisted while disregarding even his own life, both of them would be exhausted. If one wanted to use another as a slave, it was best to break their spirit first.
Jin Somyeong decided to wait exactly one more week and headed for the market.
"Ah... Young Daoist, you're here?"
He entered the demonic beast meat shop where he had, by now, become a regular, but the shopkeeper's reaction was strange. The man could not even meet Jin Somyeong's eyes properly, like someone guilty of a crime.
Thump.
Jin Somyeong placed his bundle in front of the awkwardly smiling shopkeeper.
"I've come to sell demonic beast meat again. This should be worth about three Spirit Stones, shouldn't it?"
For some reason, the shopkeeper hesitated for a long while before shaking his head.
"...No. I'll give you thirty Spirit Stone fragments. Any more than that is impossible."
"Pardon?"
It was absurd.
Thirty Spirit Stone fragments was less than one-tenth of the proper price. Even a thug deliberately trying to cheat someone would not name a price that outrageous.
But something was off. Had this shop not given him a fair price only a week ago?
As Jin Somyeong stared silently at him, the shopkeeper bit down hard on his lip and whispered.
"I don't have a choice either. I can't tell you the reason. All I can say is that I'm sorry."
"Sorry...?"
He was still considering what the shopkeeper meant when the man spoke again.
"Young Daoist. I don't know whose anger you've incurred, but you should learn to live a little more smoothly. If you bow your head just a bit, life becomes much easier."
"..."
Thanks to the shopkeeper's hint, the situation became clear. Beom Chang had started pulling petty tricks to pressure him.
So even a bastard like him doesn't want to force a slave contract outright? Looks like he wants me to kneel on my own and enter the Red Sun Sect.
Just in case, Jin Somyeong went to other shops, but the situation was the same. They either offered absurd prices or tried to fleece him outrageously.
The sole exception was Thousand Treasures Pavilion. Because Thousand Treasures Pavilion was operated by a massive merchant association connected to other regions, Beom Chang's hand could not reach it.
However, that place was expensive to buy from and cheap when buying from others by nature. It was not somewhere poor cultivators could make use of.
If he had not possessed the Simsangbigyeong, this sort of petty scheme would have been fatal.
"...Haha."
To think they would stoop this low. He was so irritated that laughter escaped him instead. After laughing for quite some time, Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes.
Enough. Any more than this is a waste of time.
Pressure like this was not effective in the short term. Naturally, it would not end in a day or two. They would undoubtedly torment him persistently for at least several months.
He'll show himself only when he thinks I can't hold out anymore.
Jin Somyeong had not the slightest intention of throwing away months of training to keep acting for the sake of catching that bastard. Focusing on the presence of the tail behind him in the distance, he headed toward Jeokyang Mountain.
He lured the leech-like pursuer along and entered a deserted wasteland.
Crack!
He cast the Flame Concealment Art he had now formally learned, and at the same time activated the Boundless Great Ability. In the span of an instant, he vanished without a trace and kicked off the ground.
Combining Dragon-Rising Step with Wind-Riding Art, he closed the distance in a flash.
"Huh?"
Before the shocked opponent could react properly, Jin Somyeong was already right in front of him.
Crunch!
Jin Somyeong stomped hard, drawing up the full force of the ground's recoil. The flow of power, amplified through the rotation of his joints, reached his fist.
Thud!
With a sound like a drum bursting, he struck the man's abdomen. In that single blow, he poured out half his spiritual energy and suppressed the man's dantian whole.
"Kehk!?"
The opponent's eyes bulged as if they would pop from their sockets, and foam spilled from his mouth. He folded forward like a shrimp, trembling violently.
"Ghhhhh...!"
Perhaps he had never experienced real pain before. He could not respond in any meaningful way and merely flailed his arms.
Having subdued him in one strike, Jin Somyeong quickly surveyed the surroundings. The fight had ended more easily than expected, but he could not afford carelessness. There might be reinforcements, so he searched thoroughly.
No one. He came alone with skills this pathetic?
Jin Somyeong turned his attention back to the man, who had been retching and drooling for over a minute.
Rip!
He tore off the man's mask, revealing his identity. The man was a fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivator. Back when Jin Somyeong had used the identity of Yeo Dongbin, this was the errand runner who had come to him saying he had to deliver a letter.
Good.
Since this man had been close enough to call Beom Chang "big brother," there was a high chance he was one of his confidants. If Jin Somyeong used him, he would be able to lure Beom Chang into a trap.
He nudged the errand runner with the tip of his foot.
"Hey."
"Ugh... Y-yes?"
The man still seemed to be in agony, and all kinds of emotions swirled across his face. Confusion, the terror of having his spiritual energy sealed, and even a sense of injustice. His thoughts were written plainly all over him.
"Who are you, and why have you been following me around for days?"
"...Wh-what are you talking about? I was only on my way to Jeokyang Mountain—agh!"
Smack!
Jin Somyeong slapped his cheek with the broad flat of the Demon-Cleaving Saber. Then he tapped the man's swollen cheek and slowly waved the sharp, gleaming blade in front of his eyes.
"If I don't like your next answer, I take a finger. Why were you following me?"
When Jin Somyeong asked the same question in a low, heavy voice, the man's pupils trembled faintly.
"I-I really..."
After swallowing dryly several times, the man finally squeezed his eyes shut.
He pressed his lips together as though he had made some grand decision. His attitude resembled that of a sworn member of a secret society prepared to face death.
Huh.
Jin Somyeong was inwardly impressed and tightened his grip on the Demon-Cleaving Saber.
The man suddenly snapped his eyes open and shouted rapidly, "Beom Chang told me to do all of it!"
"..."
For a moment, silence fell.
The other man's shamelessly awkward smile was so brazen that even Jin Somyeong was left speechless, his mouth closing without a word.