Just Give Me a Thousand Spirit Stones
“Now we need to assign you a personal cave residence… I’ll recommend the best place I can.”
With a rustle, the disciple unfurled a large scroll map and pointed to one spot.
“How about this one? It’s a recently vacated first-grade mid-tier cave residence, and the location is quite decent.”
Surrounded by three spirit mountains, the air there was pure, the ground level, and even at a glance it looked like an excellent place to live.
“First-grade mid-tier… What’s the rent?”
“Haha. Junior Brother Jin, you’re a rather amusing person. Naturally, it’s free. It’s part of the basic benefits provided to inner sect disciples.”
“Basic benefits?”
“Yes. The Red Sun Sect rewards loyalty in kind. So long as you carry out your duties diligently, you’ll be provided not only with a cave residence but even monthly medicinal pills for cultivation.”
“…”
They expect me to work?
Naturally, he had no intention of doing any such thing. But there was no need to show that, so Jin Somyeong merely nodded.
“In any case, what will you do about the cave residence? The one I recommended should be the best available. Shall I confirm this location for you?”
Jin Somyeong did not agree immediately. Instead, he fell into thought.
Why had he taken the risk of entering the Red Sun Sect in the first place?
To increase his cultivation speed by a dramatic margin. It would be a shame to settle for a mid-tier cave residence.
“Is there any way to pay some Spirit Stones and change it to a first-grade high-tier spirit vein?”
“H-High-tier? It is possible, but you don’t pay with Spirit Stones. You need to spend contribution points. Contribution points are earned by completing missions assigned by the Red Sun Sect.”
“…”
“Junior Brother Jin, you’ve only just joined, so of course you wouldn’t have any contribution points. I’m sorry, but it’s impossible.”
Jin Somyeong glanced aside.
He stared fixedly at Beom Chang, the slave he had gone to such trouble to acquire.
He hoped his dear elder brother had enough tact to understand.
“…Ahem! Does it make any sense for my younger brother to cultivate on a mere mid-tier spirit vein? Change it to high-tier!”
“S-Senior Brother! That really isn’t possible! You know very well that all high-tier spirit veins are strictly managed!”
Perhaps that was not a lie, because even Beom Chang could not immediately refute him.
After hesitating for the briefest moment, he barked, “Then I’ll pay the contribution points on his behalf! Handle it at once!”
“Pardon?”
“Did you not hear me? Brother Jin is my sworn kin, so assign him the best spirit vein you can!”
“U-Understood.”
The disciple, who looked as if he doubted whether his ears were functioning properly, flinched. Then he obediently bowed his head and moved in a hurry.
He held out a wooden identity tablet to Jin Somyeong and said, “This is the formation key for the high-tier cave residence. Activate it in front of the residence, and the entrance formation will open.”
“Thank you, Senior Brother.”
“It’s my duty, so there’s no need to thank me. Also… every inner sect disciple may choose two cultivation arts or spells from the Scripture Pavilion and learn them for free. Please keep that in mind.”
It was extremely kind of him to offer all sorts of advice Jin Somyeong had not even asked for, but Jin Somyeong did not misunderstand.
All that goodwill came from Beom Chang’s status.
“Haha! Good. Now everything is settled. Brother Jin, welcome as a fellow disciple of the Red Sun Sect. Then I’ll be going—”
“Brother Beom Chang. Actually, there’s something important I need to discuss with you. Would you come with me to my cave residence?”
“…S-Sure. Why not.”
Jin Somyeong caught the slave fellow just as he tried to flee the moment the matter was done.
Beom Chang looked as though he had bitten into an unripe persimmon as the two of them headed toward the new cave residence.
Just then—
A blue sparrow zipped through the air and circled Beom Chang.
Chirp!
The instant the bird gave a short cry, it transformed into dense spiritual energy and seeped into Beom Chang’s head.
It wasn’t a living bird?
As Jin Somyeong narrowed his eyes, Beom Chang flinched and shouted in alarm, “Brother! My uncle suddenly summoned me, so I have to go quickly.”
“Your uncle?”
The bird had seemed so natural that Jin Somyeong had mistaken it for a living creature, but now that he looked at it, it was only a spell for conveying messages.
In any case, if it was Beom Chang’s uncle, then he was a Foundation Establishment old monster.
After thinking for a moment, Jin Somyeong smiled and said, “If a great cultivator has summoned you, then of course you must go. You are a wise man, Brother, so I trust you know how you should behave.”
“O-Of course! Naturally.”
“Ah, and I really do have something to tell you. Once your business is finished, please come find me.”
“…Yes.”
Beom Chang flinched, nodded, and hurriedly left. He flew toward the depths of the Red Sun Sect.
“Hoo… Damn it. Serving that brat is exhausting.”
Muttering under his breath, Beom Chang checked his clothes. After straightening his outfit, he squared his shoulders.
With a confident smile on his face, he entered a great hall as splendid as a palace.
At the center of a vast chamber broad enough for dozens of people to run around in, a man sat cross-legged atop a plain straw mat. Beom Chang bowed respectfully to him.
“I greet you, Uncle.”
“You’ve come.”
Though he was already close to eighty years old, the wrinkleless man still looked middle-aged. He slowly opened his eyes.
“…Hm? Why is your complexion like that? Don’t tell me you were injured. Who dared do such a thing? Tell me at once! I’ll teach him a lesson myself!”
Beom Chang was startled.
He had thought he had hidden it as well as possible, but the observational ability of a Foundation Establishment great cultivator was on an entirely different level.
Gulp.
He swallowed dryly and wavered. Should he tell Uncle Beom Seong-jin the truth even now?
In that instant, too brief even for a single blink—
“N-No. I was merely injured a little while hunting demonic beasts for the first time in a while. Haha…”
His slowly opening mouth spilled out different words.
Because the Soul Contract buried deep between his brows had threatened him.
The power of the contract was incomprehensibly strong.
His heart had tightened merely from harboring the slightest malice for an instant. If he truly tried to betray his master, it was clear he would die before he could utter even a single word.
“Demonic beasts?”
“Yes. I’m completely healed now, so you needn’t worry.”
Beom Seong-jin clicked his tongue and spoke with a stern expression.
“Did I not tell you that you are no one lowly, and that you need not dirty your hands with such menial work?”
“Uncle, I’m not a child any—”
Beom Chang, who had been about to retort, suddenly shut his mouth.
Because when he recalled what had happened a month ago, he simply could not argue.
“Hmm. Something has seemed strange about you from the start. Beom Chang. Are you certain it was due to demonic beasts?”
“…The truth is, I used the demonic beast hunt as an excuse to dispose of one of my subordinates.”
The Foundation Establishment great cultivator, who had been questioning him relentlessly, paused. His expression grew careful.
“You disposed of a subordinate?”
“Yes. His name was So Yo-gwang… He had no backing worth mentioning, so you don’t need to worry.”
After pondering for a moment, Beom Seong-jin said, “I remember now. That child who used to strut around calling himself your right hand?”
“That’s right. Lately, he kept talking back. His head had grown too big for his shoulders, so I used a suitable pretext to handle him.”
Even after hearing that a fellow disciple of the Red Sun Sect had been killed, the old man did not grow angry.
Instead, he praised Beom Chang with a solemn expression.
“Well done. You must not treat those beneath you too kindly. In the end, they’ll try to sit above their master’s head. I imagine you learned that well this time.”
“You’re right, Uncle. If I’d known it would come to this, I should have been harsher with him…”
In a way, it was true.
If he had kept So Yo-gwang firmly under his thumb, the man would not have betrayed him so easily.
A self-mocking smile touched Beom Chang’s lips.
His voice was steeped in the kind of regret only someone who had learned through experience could feel.
The sternness in the Foundation Establishment great cultivator’s face eased slightly. He smiled in satisfaction and said, “As long as you understand. If you learned from this opportunity, then it is actually a good thing for you. By the way, I hear you took in another subordinate?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
Beom Chang swallowed hard and bowed his head politely.
A Foundation Establishment great cultivator truly was different.
Even while sitting quietly in his cave residence, he knew everything that happened throughout the Red Sun Sect.
“It is good that you took in a subordinate. But why did you even spend your contribution points to move his cave residence?”
“That is… I intend to use him as my right hand for the time being, so I fed him a little bait. I have my reputation to consider. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing if my subordinate cultivated on a mid-tier spirit vein? …Ahaha.”
“Your right hand? To replace that So boy you used before?”
“Yes.”
The Foundation Establishment great cultivator furrowed his brow.
“His name was Jin Somyeong, was it? I looked into him briefly. I heard the boy was lucky enough to reach the third layer of Qi Refining, but his aptitude is lowly.”
“…Isn’t that all the better? Since he has no talent, he’ll cling to me as his only hope and wag his tail.”
“Hmm. Is that all?”
At his uncle’s testing tone, Beom Chang answered immediately.
“No matter how hard he tries, he has no chance of achieving Foundation Establishment, so he will never become a threat to me. Even if I use him a little roughly, he won’t be able to rebel.”
“As expected! You think deeply, just like my nephew should. Good! Then handle him properly this time. Changing your underlings too often is bad for your reputation. Even if you dislike him, don’t throw him away at once. Discipline him and try to make him useful.”
“…Yes, Uncle.”
“Thanks to you, he must be deeply moved after tasting a high-tier spirit vein for the first time in his life. Remind him not to forget that favor. And for the time being, you must absolutely not treat him well.”
“Not treat him well?”
“Correct. Since you’ve given him bait once, you must now strike him fiercely with the whip and carve fear deep into his bones.”
“…Understood. Please don’t worry. Your nephew will handle it well.”
Beom Chang’s expression and reply were respectful, but inside he was rotting away.
Handle what well?
His life had already been ruined beyond repair.
Just thinking of Jin Somyeong, whom he had to serve as his master, gave him a headache.
Discipline that young bastard? He had to worry instead about how to curry favor with him.
His chest felt so tight it was as though something had lodged beneath his sternum, but he could show it to no one.
“Remember this. Those beneath you are easiest to handle with fear.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Good. If you understand, you may go.”
Beom Chang bowed respectfully and withdrew.
After leaving the Foundation Establishment great cultivator’s palace-like cave residence, he trudged along for quite some time before looking up at the sky.
“…I really don’t want to live.”
The calm expression he had worn before his uncle crumbled. His face scrunched up as if he had bitten into a maggot while eating an apple.
“Jin Somyeong, that son of a— Urgh!?”
The moment he harbored even the faintest hostility toward his master, the contract’s punishment arrived.
A fierce pain, as though his soul were being torn apart, choked off his breath.
“Ghh…”
Beom Chang writhed, unable even to breathe properly, and hurriedly emptied his heart of resentment.
Cold sweat poured from him, and only after a long while did he finally return to normal.
“Damn brat. Just you wait, someday I’ll tear off your arms and— Agh!?”
Like an idiot, he suffered again and hastily emptied his mind. This time, he stopped thinking altogether and focused only on breathing.
“Hah, hah!”
Gasping harshly, Beom Chang forced himself to calm down and went to find Jin Somyeong.
Of course he did not want to go, but he had no choice. If he did not want to die, he had to obey orders.
He walked as slowly as he could, but soon enough he arrived at the cave residence, where his eyes met Jin Somyeong’s as the latter was inspecting the high-tier spirit vein.
“…Brother. I’m here. As you told me, I went to see my uncle and came straight back.”
“What did the Foundation Establishment great cultivator say?”
“Nothing much. He merely gave me the usual nagging.”
“Is that so… Good. Then that’s settled.”
Before Beom Chang could even properly finish his greeting, Jin Somyeong stared at him and spoke in a light tone.
“Hey, Brother. Do you have some Spirit Stones?”
“…Pardon?”
He asked as naturally as if he were commenting on the weather, but the contents were anything but ordinary.
“W-What did you just say…?”
“Your younger brother has joined the Red Sun Sect. Don’t tell me you weren’t planning to give me a gift? I have urgent use for them, so just give me a thousand Spirit Stones.”
“Are you insane! H-How many?”
“One thousand. I said a thousand. A thousand Spirit Stones. You really don’t understand words, do you? Am I speaking in riddles?”
Beom Chang’s face turned waxen at Jin Somyeong’s brazen attitude.
An initiation gift? What was this nonsense? Had he not already moved his cave residence for him?
A first-grade high-tier cave residence was not even normally lent to others, but if one truly had to rent it with Spirit Stones, it would cost at least three hundred every month.
And he had lent him such a precious place!
Yet Jin Somyeong did not even mention it, and Beom Chang felt the back of his neck go numb.
Damn it!
His uncle’s advice that he must absolutely not feed him any more bait for the time being came to mind, but what could he do?
He was not the one above.
He was only a slave.