The Fruit That Extends Life
The woman flew in as gracefully as a snow-white crane, and the moment she landed before Jin Somyeong and the others, every Senior Brother who had been strutting around like an authority figure bowed sharply at the waist.
"We greet Senior Sister!"
Their attitude was as deferential as if they were standing before their own master.
The woman they called Senior Sister answered them with a radiant smile.
"You must have been in the middle of official duties. I came because I had business with our newly arrived Junior Brother Jin... Should I come back later?"
"N-no, Senior Sister! The task is already finished. We'll be taking our leave now."
"Thank you. Take care on your way back."
Still wearing a smile that looked as though it had been painted onto a portrait, she saw the disciples off, then turned with an air of effortless elegance.
Only then did her gaze meet Jin Somyeong's, and she flinched ever so slightly.
"...He really is a kid."
The mocking murmur was so faint that no one without sharpened senses would have caught it. Then came the soft rustle of her steps as she approached.
"Hello, Junior Brother. You're Jin Somyeong, the one who just joined us, right?"
Her smile was as bright as a flower and looked almost painfully kind. If Jin Somyeong had not heard that little sneer a moment ago, he might have believed she was gentle and warm by nature.
"...Greetings, Senior."
"Senior? Don't be so stiff! I'm Sim U-yeon. Just call me Senior Sister. And speak comfortably."
Jin Somyeong sensed that she was at the sixth layer of Qi Refining and smiled broadly.
"May I? My name is Jin Somyeong. It's a pleasure to meet you, Senior Sister Sim."
"Oh my. You're much friendlier than I expected. I like that! Anyway, you're the new disciple who came in with Beom Chang this time, aren't you?"
"I am. Why do you ask?"
Jin Somyeong stood there blinking at her blankly, tilting his head like a child who had no idea what was going on.
"Hmm... I suppose Beom Chang hasn't told you yet."
"Told me what?"
"Beom Chang and I don't get along very well."
"Ah... I see. Well, that happens. It's hard to be close with everyone."
Her smile remained, but the atmosphere around her shifted ever so slightly.
Her eyes curved into a deeper smile as she stepped right up to him, close enough for the sweet fragrance clinging to her to brush his nose. Her voice dropped into something intimate and insinuating.
"That's true. But I want to be close to everyone... especially you, Junior Brother Jin."
"...All right, then."
"H-hm?"
"We're fellow disciples of the Red Sun Sect. It would be good for us to get along! I wanted to become close with you too, Senior Sister."
Jin Somyeong beamed as he answered, and Sim U-yeon's brow twitched.
For a moment she looked displeased, like someone whose plan had not gone quite the way she wanted, but soon she gave another charming smile.
"Hmm... Fine. Then, if anything unusual happens with Beom Chang, could you let me know?"
"Unusual?"
"For example, if he looks as though he's about to break through to late-stage Qi Refining, or if he suddenly acquires a magical artifact you've never seen before."
"That's easy!"
When Jin Somyeong nodded readily, as if he understood at once, Sim U-yeon's eyes narrowed. If anything, his wholehearted agreement seemed to annoy her.
"Junior Brother Jin. If you act like that, won't Beom Chang dislike it?"
"Come now! Brother Beom Chang is a broad-minded man. There's no way he'd get angry over something so small. Besides, fellow disciples ought to get along. I'll make sure you and Brother Beom Chang reconcile!"
"...Good. Words are always easy. I'll be watching how you behave from now on."
With the same radiant smile she had worn when she arrived, she stepped back onto her flying sword and departed.
Jin Somyeong watched her retreating figure, then narrowed his eyes. The childlike foolishness vanished from his face as though it had never existed.
Sim... Could she be the granddaughter of a Foundation Establishment elder?
He had a rough idea of what was going on. Any organization, once it reached a certain size, inevitably produced struggles for power. At present, the Red Sun Sect had a total of three Foundation Establishment great cultivators, and one of them was named Sim Yeon-hyang.
It seemed Elder Sim and Beom Chang's uncle were rivals.
How amusing. She wants to use me as a spy?
For now, she had merely dropped a hint and left it at that. But someday, when she needed him, she would prod and test him little by little.
If Jin Somyeong had truly been Beom Chang's subordinate, he would have found himself in a rather troublesome position, caught between two factions with no easy way out.
Not that I care.
He had no interest in petty internal power struggles. What mattered now was raising his strength as much as possible before entering the Red Cloud Secret Realm.
Only then can I obtain the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures.
He had no intention whatsoever of wasting time by getting entangled in useless matters. Whether Beom Chang and Sim U-yeon tore each other's hair out or made peace over tea, he would ignore it.
Forget them. I should go practice the Ojangbaekryeongyeol.
Anticipation welled up inside him. He wanted to step onto the path of body refinement as soon as possible and strengthen his spirit root's ability to recover.
One hundred days later.
Jin Somyeong stood in position inside the eastern cave residence where he had been training. He lowered his center of gravity into a horse stance and began to move slowly.
Crack.
His fists were clenched so tightly at his waist that his bones creaked. The moment he settled his breathing, he punched.
Whoom!
His straight fist shot out like a cannonball and split the empty air. A heavy wave of force shook the entire cave residence, and the fist wind was threatening enough that even the formation guarding the cave reacted.
...As expected, a body-refinement art that trains the flesh professionally is on another level.
He had not used even a single thread of spiritual energy just now. Even so, the power of his fist was anything but ordinary.
The effect of entering the Ojangbaekryeongyeol was beyond his expectations.
One of Jin Somyeong's internal organs, his spleen, was no longer the same as other people's. What had once been an ordinary organ had transformed into a spiritual organ, something akin to a dantian.
Blood Opening. As the power contained in my blood awakens, my entire body is evolving.
If the power most cultivators used was called spiritual energy, then body refiners dealt in blood energy. Strictly speaking, blood energy was merely another kind of spiritual energy, but it was a force far more compatible with the flesh.
Simply possessing blood energy caused the body to evolve toward an ideal state. It was another path toward transcendence.
"Whew..."
After calming the power boiling throughout his body, Jin Somyeong carefully examined his flesh. He had worried that practicing a body-refinement art might turn him into some hulking gorilla, but nothing of the sort had happened.
On the contrary, the muscles that had gathered inward were not obvious at a glance. His body merely looked firm and well-tempered, filled with lean, compact strength.
He clenched and unclenched his fist, testing just how much stronger he had become.
It's a body-refinement art specialized in regeneration, but that doesn't mean it has no other effects. At the very least, I'm far stronger than ordinary Qi Refining cultivators.
Against a lower first-grade demonic beast, he felt he could win barehanded without resorting to spells.
And in truth, that increase in physical strength was nothing more than a secondary effect.
Jin Somyeong's true objective was strengthening his spirit root's recovery.
The effect is clear. I've broken through the eight-hour wall.
Originally, recovering from spirit root overload required eight full hours. Now, things were different. After entering the Ojangbaekryeongyeol and learning various useful training methods, the difficulty of his wish had dropped dramatically.
Now, seven hours of rest was enough to dispel the overload.
If I continue strengthening my recovery until I hit the next wall... perhaps I can reduce it to about six hours.
Soon, the number of times he could train each day would likely rise from two to three.
As a test, he cut his skin.
...Oh.
His regenerative ability had become visibly stronger. He could actually see the split flesh knitting itself together, slowly but surely.
Healing at a speed the naked eye could observe was absurd. Unless he suffered a particularly severe wound, a single day's rest would likely return him to normal.
At this point, I can't even argue if someone calls me a monster.
And this was only after opening his spleen. His expectations naturally rose.
If I open my lungs, kidneys, liver... and finally my heart, I may truly be able to face Foundation Establishment-class monsters with my body alone.
Of course, opening the organs in such a manner was by no means easy. The internal organs were extremely sensitive and fragile.
It also consumed a tremendous amount of resources.
There was something he had realized while practicing body refinement: the true reason body-refinement arts had fallen out of the mainstream was something else entirely.
They devoured resources.
The amount consumed was several times greater than what cultivators of the same level required. Even Jin Somyeong, who had only just entered body refinement, had to consume one Blood Vitality Pill worth ten Spirit Stones every three days.
That meant a hundred Spirit Stones were burned every month from the earliest stage of training. For most cultivators, merely entering the path would be impossible.
But Jin Somyeong had the Boundless Great Ability and the Mental Secret Realm. There had been dangerous moments while opening his spleen, but he had resolved them all smoothly.
He believed it would continue to be that way.
Good.
Smiling in satisfaction, he estimated the date. Today marked exactly one hundred days since he had entered the Red Sun Sect.
In other words, one hundred days had passed since he borrowed money from Beom Chang.
I should keep my promise.
He took a voice transmission talisman from his spatial storage and flicked it lightly.
Fwoosh!
The talisman turned to ash and vanished, sending a ripple of spiritual energy flying out of the cave residence.
Some time passed.
"...Little Brother. You called?"
"Hmm."
Jin Somyeong stood with his arms folded and stared fixedly at Beom Chang.
"W-what is it? Do you have another task for me?"
After watching him fidget like a dog desperate to relieve itself, Jin Somyeong jerked his chin. He beckoned Beom Chang closer, then took a weighty pouch from his robes.
He tossed it over.
The moment he handed over the plump pouch, Beom Chang's expression changed. Confusion became astonishment, and finally, undisguised delight bloomed across his face.
After hesitating, he swallowed and asked, "Could this be... Spirit Stones? Are you really paying me back?"
"I don't bother lying unless it's necessary. If you don't want them, shall I not repay you?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
Thud.
Jin Somyeong placed the heavy pouch of Spirit Stones into Beom Chang's politely outstretched hands. As though he could feel the weight of it, the corners of Beom Chang's mouth twitched nonstop.
"...Thank you, Little Brother!"
Seeing the man moved almost to tears over receiving back his own money, Jin Somyeong could only laugh under his breath. Beom Chang was visibly growing accustomed to his position as a subordinate, but Jin Somyeong chose not to point it out.
"Now that the Spirit Stones are settled, I have something to ask of you, Brother. Naturally, you'll do it, won't you?"
"...Just say the word."
Beom Chang immediately tensed again, as if his earlier joy had never existed. Jin Somyeong let the silence stretch for a moment before speaking.
"Gather all the information the Red Sun Sect has collected about the Red Cloud Secret Realm. The more detailed, the better."
"The secret realm? Hah! Fortunately, that's not impossible. I'll give you the information I've gathered first."
Beom Chang, visibly relieved, took out a brown jade slip.
"It's a map my uncle gave me. It was specially made, so even someone at the middle stage of Qi Refining can use it."
"A jade slip? Hand it over."
If it was not a book or a paper map, it would not take long to examine.
Jin Somyeong pressed the jade slip to his forehead, then went still.
Among the flood of information that appeared in his mind, one detail seized all of his attention.
"...There are Red Snare Fruits in the Red Cloud Secret Realm?"
"Red Snare Fruits? Ah! You mean the spiritual fruit used to make first-grade Life Extension Pills. Everyone is focused on the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures, so few people know about it, but yes, the secret realm has Red Snare Fruits too."
In that instant, Jin Somyeong's heart surged like a stormy sea.
A Life Extension Pill was exactly what the name implied: a spiritual pill that increased one's lifespan.
"...What are the Red Snare Fruit's specific effects?"
"If eaten raw, it increases your lifespan by five years. If it's refined into a first-grade Life Extension Pill and consumed that way, it increases your lifespan by ten years. It's overshadowed by the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures, but it's still an incredible treasure."
"Ten years! Truly impressive. It's almost a shame the effect only works once."
The more he learned about the Red Cloud Secret Realm, the more he coveted it. That place was truly a land of opportunity.
"Yes. If you happen to find one by luck, you've struck it rich. After the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures, the Red Snare Fruit is the most valuable treasure there. If you offer it to a Foundation Establishment elder, you'll be richly rewarded."
Jin Somyeong ignored Beom Chang's nonsense.
Offer it? What kind of madness was that? If he found a fruit that extended lifespan, of course he would consume it himself.
To him, lifespan was an extraordinarily useful and important resource.
"Wait. If I happen to find one by luck? What does that mean? Then what is this location of the Red Snare Fruit tree marked on the map?"
"Ah, that information is old. The last time the secret realm opened, some cursed fool coveted the Red Snare Fruit tree and tried to transplant it. He didn't even know that such a spiritual plant withers and dies the moment its roots are pulled up."
Jin Somyeong barely restrained the curse that nearly burst from his mouth.
It felt as if ten years of lifespan that had already been in his hand had vanished before his eyes.
"...Haah. Fine. I understand for now. Still, find out as much as you can, just in case."
Jin Somyeong bit his lip. He desperately wanted to obtain the Red Snare Fruit that could extend his lifespan.
He could not rely on Beom Chang alone. It seemed he would have to investigate personally.
"Er... But, Little Brother."
"What?"
"Are you perhaps thinking of entering the Red Cloud Secret Realm? That place is truly dangerous."
He sounded worried, but deep in Beom Chang's eyes, anticipation gleamed.
"I've already decided. If you have time to say discouraging things, use it to investigate the secret realm further. And make sure you find the location of the Red Snare Fruit tree."
"Understood! Don't worry, Little Brother. I'll do my very best."
Jin Somyeong clicked his tongue as he watched Beom Chang look uncharacteristically delighted despite receiving an order.
He could guess what the man was thinking.
Did he actually think that if Jin Somyeong died in the Red Cloud Secret Realm, he would regain his freedom?
Ridiculous.
"For your information, you're going in too."
"...Pardon? W-w-w-what are you talking about? Why would I go in there?"
"Isn't the Red Cloud Secret Realm a wonderful place? I'm saying we brothers should enter together on good terms. Why are you so horrified?"
Beom Chang screamed and shuddered, but could he refuse an order in the first place?
He had no choice.
"Are you insane? Don't talk nonsense. I have no reason to go in there!"
"Hm? Don't tell me our dear Brother has no interest in Foundation Establishment spiritual treasures?"
At Jin Somyeong's puzzled question, Beom Chang shouted proudly.
"Of course I want them! But all I have to do is wait somewhere safe. Then the other disciples will retrieve the treasures, and my uncle will take them away and give them to me!"
"Huh."
Jin Somyeong could only marvel at the sight of him calmly uttering something so shameless that even a street thug would be appalled.
The man's entire way of thinking was rotten to the core.
"Ack! Why did you hit me all of a sudden?"
After striking the back of Beom Chang's head hard enough to make a clean crack, Jin Somyeong addressed the wronged-looking man.
"Hey, Brother."
"...Yes?"
Jin Somyeong clicked his tongue at Beom Chang, who stared back with an anxious expression. The man clearly did not even understand what the problem was, and that made Jin Somyeong feel once again what sort of world this was.
After thinking for a moment, Jin Somyeong opened his mouth.