A New Function for the Status Window
An immense surge of life force, born from the pure-white flame, poured into him without end.
His body was, quite literally, on the verge of bursting apart.
Jin Somyeong focused with every scrap of will he had left. In that extreme situation, where even coherent judgment was beyond him, he spilled out the things he had long wished for in a frantic, disordered rush.
Improve my aptitude. Give me a way to gather the Boundless Great Ability and make a powerful wish. I need a system that helps me learn techniques more easily and evolve them beyond their limits. And...
His swollen eyelids had puffed up so badly he could no longer see.
Ah! No!
Just as he wondered if it was already too late, the life force crashing into him like a tidal wave abruptly cut off.
And that was not all.
The vitality that had been dragging him toward death began to vanish without a sound. It was swept away so thoroughly that it felt almost exhilarating, as if a black hole had opened somewhere inside his body.
"...Is it over?"
Every bit of energy that had been rampaging through him like madness disappeared without a trace.
Thud.
All strength left him, and he sat down where he stood to rest.
His head felt empty. Perhaps it was because he had gone through too many surges of fear, rage, joy, and despair in too short a time, but at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to sleep.
...No. I can't.
He shook his head hard. After checking that there were no other dangers nearby, he forced himself to his feet and stretched, trying to chase away the drowsiness creeping over him.
As Jin Somyeong bounced lightly in place, his expression gradually turned strange.
He had only rested for ten or so seconds, yet his exhaustion had already vanished. His mind, too, was clearing by the moment, as if he had just woken from a deep sleep.
Is it because of the Ojangbaekryeongyeol?
He had been too overwhelmed to register it properly at the time, but he had undoubtedly used that dense life force to open four of his five viscera.
By opening his lungs, he had gained the ability to absorb a small amount of spiritual energy with every breath. Through his kidneys, he had obtained the power of unaging. In his liver, he had achieved immunity to a hundred poisons.
From now until the day his lifespan ran out, Jin Somyeong would no longer grow old, and he had acquired an extraordinary resistance to all manner of toxins.
Once I open only the heart... the five viscera will come into harmony.
According to the Ojangbaekryeongyeol, once all five viscera were opened, a true evolution would take place on the level of his very life essence. The effects he had gained by opening the other organs would also be strengthened severalfold.
Clench.
Jin Somyeong measured the force gathered in his fist, then closed his eyes.
Of course, the progress of the Ojangbaekryeongyeol pleased him, but the truly important matter was the result of the wish he had made through the Boundless Great Ability.
As he gauged the divine ability engraved upon his soul, he flinched.
How much of my lifespan do I have left?
He had been on the verge of death. The situation had been so urgent that his memories were not clear.
He could not help worrying that perhaps his lifespan had been shortened even further.
After hurriedly checking his lifespan, a sigh of relief escaped him on its own.
Fortunately, it had not decreased. In fact, it had increased slightly.
As his gaze skimmed down the status window, he paused.
There were categories he had never seen before.
Cultivation Arts and Spells?
They were empty, which puzzled him. He had learned several spells already.
Only after quickly reviewing the information that surfaced in his mind did he understand what had happened.
Only spells or cultivation arts that I personally register appear here.
Registration was not free.
The amount differed depending on the level of the art, but it consumed Boundless Great Ability.
"Hmm."
Stroking his chin, he spent five beads. As a test, he registered the Five Elements Qi Refining Art, his foundational cultivation art.
Flash.
Reading the hologram, Jin Somyeong tilted his head.
Is the part after the name the stage and proficiency? But my Five Elements Qi Refining Art is only at Beginner?
He had trained in it diligently for years, and it was only Beginner? Frankly, it was hard to accept.
After all, he had believed he understood every publicly circulated passage of the Five Elements Qi Refining Art.
...For now, let's raise the proficiency.
The method for increasing proficiency was not difficult. He could cultivate the art himself, or he could invest Boundless Great Ability into it.
One bead for one point of proficiency, then.
The moment he spent five beads of Boundless Great Ability, thousands of passages roared through his mind.
Letters that had appeared out of nowhere began explaining the circulation of the Five Elements, and the Five Elements Qi Refining Art he had known collapsed entirely before being established anew.
"Ah!"
He shuddered at the feast of enlightenment.
Only now did he realize how crude the Five Elements Qi Refining Art he had practiced until this moment truly was.
The Five Elements Qi Refining Art was not merely a cultivation method for accumulating spiritual energy. It was an art that contained the principles of heaven itself, using mutual generation and mutual restraint to fill what was lacking with what was abundant.
If one properly mastered the Five Elements Qi Refining Art, even a cultivator with only one spiritual root could wield all Five Elements.
And beyond that...
It could even create the fire spiritual root Jin Somyeong lacked.
This is the true Five Elements Qi Refining Art.
Was the cultivation art circulating on the market a fake? No.
It was simply that, over long ages, parts of it had gradually been lost, damaging the true secret transmission.
The moment this new Five Elements Qi Refining Art, which could fairly be called an evolution to a higher level, was engraved into him, the vortex structure rotating in his dantian trembled.
The whirlwind naturally split into five separate vortices, each representing one of the Five Elements.
Earth, metal, water, wood, and fire.
Each vortex influenced the others. They repelled and drew one another in, endlessly communicating.
Wood generated fire, as the saying went.
The fire element, Jin Somyeong's weakest attribute, formed the smallest vortex, but with the aid of wood energy, it began to grow little by little.
With enough time, the Five Elements would achieve perfect balance.
When that happens, I should be able to create a fire spiritual root.
He marveled at the intricate structure formed within his dantian.
The Five Elements Qi Refining Art was astonishingly excellent for a basic cultivation method. It made him wonder what form the original version had taken at the very beginning.
Good.
Jin Somyeong nodded.
He was satisfied with the effect of the new system he had obtained.
He had just realized that the proficiency system did not improve cultivation arts by restoring them to their original versions.
Rather than the original form, what mattered more was the ideal the art aimed to achieve.
For example, if he registered a spell that moved mountains and filled its proficiency to the limit, the spell itself would evolve until it could actually accomplish that feat.
At that moment, a single sentence surfaced in Jin Somyeong's mind.
Command the wind and make the body free. If brought to true completion, one may fly ten thousand li as a single strand of wind.
That was the mnemonic chant of the Wind Riding Art. It was the ideal the spell aimed for.
If he registered the Wind Riding Art in the proficiency system and mastered it, that meant he really could fly ten thousand li as a single strand of wind.
That's huge.
As he stood there in a daze, Jin Somyeong realized one more thing.
If proficiency could be filled with Boundless Great Ability, then that meant he now had a method to gather golden beads and spend them all at once.
How long would it take to fill one thousand points of proficiency?
At Jin Somyeong's current level, roughly five or six months.
In other words...
He had become capable of improving cultivation arts in a way that would normally have required him to spend half a year's worth of Boundless Great Ability in a single instant.
This exceeded the previous limitations of Boundless Great Ability.
"Hah."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Just how much lifespan would it have cost to create a system like this?
Thanks to the life force that had nearly killed him, he had gained an enormous benefit for nothing.
No. It wasn't free. I gained it because I took the risk and tried.
If he had not possessed Boundless Great Ability, he might have died crushed beneath that life force.
While reflecting inwardly, he suddenly stopped.
But I'm sure I wished for an improvement in aptitude too...
As he slowly recalled what had happened then, he became certain. He had definitely wished for his aptitude to improve.
Perhaps...
There were more hidden effects within the proficiency system.
While he was wondering how exactly his aptitude might improve, he sensed someone approaching outside the pill-refining chamber.
...What?
He was not puzzled because someone had come.
He had caused all manner of commotion with that pillar of light, and he had even punched a hole through the formation. It was entirely possible that someone might follow him inside.
What surprised him was the sense itself. It was different from usual.
So many things had happened in such rapid succession that he had only just noticed, but something had changed.
Everything within five meters was vivid. Even the area behind him, beyond his line of sight, was clear. The same was true of what lay beyond the door, which he had never been able to detect before.
It felt as if he had gained a third eye and could look in every direction at once.
Don't tell me I've developed Divine Sense?
Divine Sense referred to a perception born when the soul crossed a critical threshold and evolved into a sensory organ.
It was a sense one normally acquired only after breaking through to Foundation Establishment. For him, who was only in the late stages of Qi Refining, to awaken it already...
It was joyous news, but he pushed it out of his mind for now.
Rustle.
Jin Somyeong instinctively tried to conceal his presence, only to be startled.
Perhaps because he had just broken through, the spiritual energy inside him was surging so chaotically that he could not hide himself at all.
Clang.
Left with no choice, he drew the Boundless Divine Sword and watched the door.
Creeeak...
The door to the pill-refining chamber opened.
His eyes met those of a woman dressed in black martial robes, and as if by mutual agreement, both of them instantly went on guard.
The woman studied Jin Somyeong closely, then narrowed her eyes.
"So it was you. The one who forced his way through the formation."
The voice sounded strangely familiar, so he searched his memory.
Who was it...? Ah! Cheong Hwa-ran!
She was undoubtedly the woman whose identity had been exposed by Dan Saryang at the entrance to the secret realm.
Her finely arranged features were enough to draw admiration. Her flawless white skin and dark eyes left a deep impression.
It was a perfect beauty with no rough edges to be found.
She was using a spell to conceal her appearance, but to him, it was plain as day.
Is this because I awakened Divine Sense?
Whether this was an ill-fated meeting or a fortunate connection, he had not expected to encounter Cheong Hwa-ran here, someone with whom he had at least some prior tie.
In any case, this was a secret realm.
When one met a competitor, the normal first thought was combat.
Qi Refining, 9th Layer. Right at the edge of the late stage.
She would not be easy. If she had only a Foundation Establishment Pill, she was at a realm where she could challenge Foundation Establishment immediately.
He slowly raised the tip of his sword and aimed it at her.
A suffocating tension descended over the pill-refining chamber.
"Wait a moment. Is there any reason for us to fight?"
"...Hm?"
"I don't know how you entered this place, but that isn't actually important."
Cheong Hwa-ran's calm attitude made him pause. After a brief moment of thought, he took one step back.
He jerked his chin, indicating that he would hear her out, and she continued.
"All I need is the jade slip behind you, Fellow Daoist. I have no interest in the rest."
"The jade slip?"
He flicked his gaze aside and saw a jade slip resting on an old desk.
"It contains part of a certain cultivation art. It's only knowledge that can be copied, so the two of us can share it."
"..."
"Is there any need for us to waste time fighting each other? I did make some adjustments to the formation, but it is still unstable. We don't know when other cultivators might enter."
Jin Somyeong's brow twitched.
She knew something that even he, who had arrived in the pill-refining chamber first, did not. She had clearly come here with some information.
However, she seemed completely unaware of the pure-white flame he had absorbed.
If she had known, she would never have opened the door so defenselessly.
Could someone at her level withstand that flame? Honestly, no matter what preparations she had made, it would probably have been impossible.
If she had known, even by some chance, she would be furious after seeing the flame gone.
After carefully observing Cheong Hwa-ran's composed manner, he picked up the jade slip and retreated a few more steps.
Maintaining his vigilance, he pressed it to his brow, and countless mnemonic passages surfaced in his mind.
The Tae-eul Medicine King Scripture?
As the name suggested, it was a cultivation art related to pill refining.
It was an advanced art that covered everything from Qi Refining to Golden Core. At a glance, it appeared quite precious, but...
Of all things, it had to be a pill-refining art.
For Jin Somyeong, who prioritized combat strength, it was not a particularly tempting path.
After scanning the contents of the Tae-eul Medicine King Scripture, he made his decision.
"Very well. But how do you intend to copy it? Surely you aren't planning to transcribe it with a brush."
Using a jade slip, it could be copied in an instant, but engraving information into a jade slip required mental power at the Foundation Establishment level.
Jin Somyeong could do it because he had awakened Divine Sense, but he saw no need to reveal that fact.
"I will handle that myself. If you give me the jade slip, I will copy it and return it to you."
After hesitating for a moment, Jin Somyeong tossed the jade slip to her.
Cheong Hwa-ran attached a talisman to her forehead, took out a new jade slip, and closed her eyes.
A short while later, her expression brightened, and she smiled faintly.
"Thank you. It seems you are a reasonable person, Fellow Daoist."
"...I wouldn't be so sure."
He had merely returned it because she had shown no hostility.
After retrieving the jade slip, Jin Somyeong examined it carefully, just in case.
She didn't try any tricks.
The Tae-eul Medicine King Scripture was unchanged from when he had first checked it, which put him at ease.
As he closely observed her consistently calm attitude, Jin Somyeong fell into thought.
He suddenly remembered the quality of the pills sold by the Blue Flood Dragon Gang.
Every one of them was high quality. That means her pill-refining skill is excellent.
Click.
Having finished weighing the matter, he sheathed his sword and spoke.
"Given that you wanted the Tae-eul Medicine King Scripture, I assume you are a pill refiner. Am I correct?"
"...I am. Why do you ask?"
"Then do you, by any chance, accept pill-refining commissions?"
Since he had encountered a skilled pill refiner, he was thinking of asking her to use the Red Silk Fruit to make a first-grade Longevity Pill.