A Fortuitous Encounter Found by the Spirit-Seeking Talisman?
Jin Somyeong, having purchased the Spirit-Seeking Talisman with a Foundation Establishment spiritual item, changed his plans.
Originally, he had intended to rent a suitable cave abode and devote himself to cultivation, but now he decided to use the talisman to search for a fortuitous encounter first.
What kind of opportunity will it be? I hope it’s something that helps with cultivation.
He toyed with the Spirit-Seeking Talisman, which was wrapped in a faint halo of light, then stored it in his subspace for the time being.
Since he did not know exactly how it would guide him to this opportunity, he prepared as thoroughly as he could. First, he bought a jade slip containing a map of the Gwangwon Sea Region. Then he purchased a compass that always pointed toward the direction of Sky Island. With that compass artifact, he would be able to return to Sky Island at any time.
After cultivating for several days and fully restoring his Boundless Great Ability, he finally acted.
Flare!
The moment he burned the Spirit-Seeking Talisman, he decisively invested half of his Boundless Great Ability into it. Seven hundred and fifty golden beads poured into amplifying the talisman’s effect.
Wuuung!
The energy of the Spirit-Seeking Talisman circled through the air before seeping into Jin Somyeong. A faint, ticklish sensation stirred within him, pointing toward the northeast.
So this is how it works.
His eyes narrowed, and he kicked off the ground.
He left the safety of Hyowol City behind and crossed a range of towering mountains that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance. By then, the unknown sensation was gradually fading.
This won’t do.
Sky Island was as vast as a continent. There was no telling how far away the location indicated by the Spirit-Seeking Talisman might be. Since he had already reached a place where few people ever came, there was no reason to hesitate.
Kwarung!
He accelerated sharply with Lightning Escape. Becoming a streak of light that cut across the sky, he flew at tremendous speed.
Just as anxiety began to rise in him because the talisman’s energy had become so faint it seemed ready to vanish at any moment, a forest filled with pure white trees appeared ahead.
The Whitewood Forest? This is demon beast territory.
Sky Island was fundamentally a domain of humanity, but it was simply too large. In places where people rarely set foot, demon beasts could still be found.
Jin Somyeong hesitated for the briefest instant, then his gaze hardened. As far as he knew, this forest was not so dangerous that he could not handle it.
Boom!
With a peal of thunder, he moved so quickly he left afterimages behind. The Spirit-Seeking Talisman had truly reached its limit.
The unknown sensation that had been pointing him toward the fortuitous encounter vanished without a trace.
At the same moment, he barely managed to arrive.
Jin Somyeong carefully examined the grayish-white tree that had appeared before him. It stood five to six meters tall, and black fruits with three or four reddish-brown stripes hung from its branches in heavy clusters. They looked anything but ordinary.
And then—
His eyes met those of a demon beast at the second-rank mid-grade, equivalent to the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.
"Human?"
The massive ape sitting near the tree flinched in surprise and looked around. After sniffing the air with its nose and warily checking its surroundings, the demon beast suddenly curled up the corners of its mouth.
"You came alone when you’re that weak? Kee-kee! But you smell delicious."
It smacked its lips, as if savoring him already.
Jin Somyeong’s brows drew together at the sight of the beast making such delicate, almost human expressions.
It can speak?
Ordinary demon beasts generally had to reach the third rank before they could speak, so this was strange. Of course, there were always exceptions. It might have happened to eat some spiritual herb that loosened its tongue.
Perfect.
As it happened, Jin Somyeong had been curious about the level of his own combat power. He drew his sword.
"Kiiieek!"
With a shriek, the mid-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast charged.
Thud, thud, thud!
The earth shook beneath the advance of its house-sized bulk. Demon qi blazing like fire pressed down on Jin Somyeong’s shoulders, trying to pin him in place so he could not flee.
But he had never intended to retreat in the first place.
Instead, he took one step forward and raised his concentration to the limit.
Whoosh!
He stared straight at the fist tearing through the air toward him. The flow of power was clear: from the thick thighs, through the waist, into the shoulder.
The tip of the sword, extended with almost leisurely slowness, met the demon beast’s straight punch.
Claaang!
It sounded as if steel had struck steel. Sword Qi and demon qi collided, scattering sparks.
The brute force transmitted through the blade was anything but ordinary. If he made even the smallest mistake, he would be smashed into meat paste.
"Heh..."
It was a dangerous moment, yet for some reason, a laugh slipped out of him.
Since when had it begun? This sensation of standing with his life balanced on the edge of a blade felt almost addictive.
The raw, overwhelming strength pushing in tried to burst his skull open, but the sword tip did not tremble. Jin Somyeong aimed precisely at the side, slightly off the flow of force, and thrust with Strong Cloud Sword Qi.
Grrrk!
Just one inch. That was all the Sword Qi managed to divert it by, yet the trajectory twisted completely.
The fist that could have ground steel to powder grazed past his ear.
At the same instant—
Slash!
His sword flashed like lightning and swept across the back of the beast’s neck.
"Kiiieek!? It hurts! That hurts!"
Thud, thud!
The giant ape retreated several steps, screaming. It glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
...It didn’t die?
When he looked closely at the bloody line drawn across the demon beast’s neck, he saw that only its skin had been cut. Thanks to muscles tougher and more tenacious than steel, it remained intact even after taking a blade.
However, the moment it had nearly died seemed to have provoked its wild nature, and the beast’s aura surged explosively.
Thud, thud, thud!
Like a gorilla, it pounded its chest and sucked in a deep breath. Its chest swelled like a balloon until it reached its limit.
"Gwoooooargh!!"
Along with its roar, pale blades of wind scattered in every direction. Jin Somyeong frowned as he watched them grind apart everything their trajectories touched.
I need to end this quickly.
If he left it alone, it might reduce even the grayish-white tree nearby to powder.
Boom!
Jin Somyeong, wrapped in lightning, took one step forward.
The distance between them disappeared.
From so close he could feel the beast’s breath, he mixed the spiritual power he had built through Cheonroedochegyeol with his Sword Qi and aimed for its solar plexus.
Thud!
Just before the Five Elements Sword could tear through the hide and pierce the heart, an intense repulsive force blocked the Sword Qi.
It felt like trying to force the blade into a lump of highly compressed iron. The demon beast’s physical durability was beyond his imagination.
Pajijijik!
In the end, he poured lightning into it as well.
Through the tip of the sword, he injected powerful thunder and stirred it through the creature’s body. In a single breath, he burned not only the heart but the internal organs as well.
"Kak!"
With one short death cry, the second-rank mid-grade demon beast—one that could have swept away a small city by itself—collapsed.
Its body, capable of blocking even Sword Qi, was impressive enough, but it could not withstand lightning scorching it from within.
"...Hoo."
With one breath, Jin Somyeong steadied his ragged breathing and fell into thought.
When he assessed his combat strength coldly, he seemed to be around the fifth or sixth layer of Foundation Establishment if he did not use the Boundless Great Ability.
He was at the second layer of Foundation Establishment, yet he had crossed a minor realm boundary and defeated an opponent at the mid-stage. That was an achievement astonishing enough to cause an entire city to buzz with talk, but he was not satisfied.
Staring at the smooth blade of the Five Elements Sword, he murmured inwardly.
It lacks sharpness.
Was it because the sword’s grade was too low?
Of course, he could not deny that it was one reason, but someone who shifted all responsibility onto his sword could never have become a sword cultivator in the first place.
The true deficiency lay with himself.
The Sword Qi that had felt nearly invincible in the Qi Refining stage now felt somewhat lacking.
Should I use the Boundless Great Ability to raise my proficiency in the Strong Cloud Sword Art?
But he had no surplus Boundless Great Ability at the moment. Most of it was being consumed to improve his spiritual root and advance his Birth Technique, Cheonroedochegyeol.
Besides, something about it bothered him.
He did not mind relying on the Boundless Great Ability in battle, but when it came to training the sword, he did not want to depend on it. He had a vague premonition that only by doing so would he be able to reach Mugeuk.
...To be more honest, it was simply his stubborn pride as a sword cultivator that played the greatest part.
What would other sword cultivators do at a time like this? Is training the only answer?
He was curious, but set the thought aside. For now, he needed to finish cleaning up after the fight.
Whoosh!
After placing the demon beast’s corpse whole into his subspace, he approached the grayish-white tree and examined it carefully. He suspected this was the fortuitous encounter the Spirit-Seeking Talisman had pointed him toward.
"Oh?"
Sure enough, it did not take long for him to roughly identify what kind of effect the tree possessed.
It’s full of blood vitality. It’ll help with body-refinement techniques.
Perhaps it was related to why the ape he had just fought had possessed such a hard body.
He reached out to harvest one of the colorful fruits with reddish-brown stripes, then paused.
Are these ripe?
The fact that the ape had left the fruit untouched bothered him. If they were unripe, he should not pick them now. After thinking for a moment, Jin Somyeong counted the fruit.
Thirty-two.
There were more than he had expected. One should be fine.
Snap.
With a faint resistance, he plucked the fruit from the branch and examined it carefully. It was round and, if not for its black color, would have looked appetizing. Its shape fell somewhere between an apple and a peach.
When he pressed it with his fingers, it was harder than he had expected. He would have believed it if someone told him it was a lump of iron carved into the shape of fruit.
If you haven’t trained in body-refinement techniques, you wouldn’t even be able to eat this.
He took out a jade box and placed the fruit inside, then carefully memorized the surrounding terrain.
If he had his way, he would have transplanted the entire tree into the Mental Secret Realm, but his knowledge of spirit plants was lacking. Some spiritual items died the instant their roots were pulled up. There were even sensitive ones that would die even if the entire patch of earth around them was dug out along with them.
I should return to Hyowol City and ask a spirit planter.
Experts at cultivating spiritual herbs would likely know the tree well.
The tree’s name, the fruit’s effects, and how to transplant it.
He planned to find out all of those things, then return.
After arriving in the city, Jin Somyeong immediately sought out a spirit planter.
It was not particularly difficult. A few Spirit Stones were enough.
"I hear your skill in spirit planting is good enough to handle second-rank plants. Is that true?"
"Haha. Well, you know..."
The young Qi Refining cultivator in a yellow long robe scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression. He seemed to be putting on a show of modesty, but his eyes were full of confidence.
"Do you recognize this fruit?"
Jin Somyeong showed him the fruit he had picked from the grayish-white tree as a test, and the answer came as if the young man had been waiting for the question.
"It’s unripe, but this is a fruit from a Strong Blood Tree. It helps with body-refinement cultivation, and demon beasts love eating it, so it’s become extremely rare. You were fortunate to obtain one."
"What does a Strong Blood Tree look like?"
"It’s a grayish-white tree with bark as hard as steel, and its size varies depending on its grade. Also, its sap gives off a faint burnt smell..."
Jin Somyeong nodded. The young man might only be a Qi Refining cultivator, but his skill in spirit planting seemed sufficient.
Now that he had confirmed the man’s ability, it was time to ask what he truly wanted to know.
"If the tree is about six meters tall, what grade is it?"
"Second-rank. But have you, by any chance, found a Strong Blood Tree? It’s a rather precious spiritual item."
"I did. By chance. I want to transplant it. How should I go about it?"
"Er... With the secret art I’ve learned, I can uproot it while preserving its vitality, but it would be difficult without knowledge of spirit planting."
At least it was possible. That was a relief.
If the other party had been at Foundation Establishment, that would have been one thing, but since he was only in Qi Refining, there was no need to be overly guarded.
"If it’s all right with you, would you come with me to the place where the Strong Blood Tree is and help me transplant it? I’ll pay you well."
"Mm..."
The young man groaned for quite some time and kept glancing at him. Then, in a cautious tone, as though trying to read his mood, he said, "To be honest, it’s hard to trust this. How could I believe you and follow you outside the city, Senior, where it’s dangerous?"
"What if we make a contract stating that I won’t deceive you?"
"...It would still be the same. From what I’ve heard, from Foundation Establishment onward, once Divine Sense opens, one can resist contracts."
"Well, now."
"I’m sorry, but perhaps you should look for another spirit planter—"
"Ten mid-grade Spirit Stones."
"Pardon?"
The young man froze on the spot like a statue. Jin Somyeong showed him several dozen mid-grade Spirit Stones.
"I have this much wealth. Do you really think I would go out of my way to swindle a Qi Refining cultivator like you? If you don’t want to, I’ll simply find someone else."
"Huff! N-no, not at all! When are we leaving? I’m ready!"
Jin Somyeong looked around the Mental Secret Realm and let out a satisfied smile.
Seeing the Strong Blood Tree settled on one side of a hill—no, a broad rise—filled him with reassurance. Thanks to the spirit planter uprooting it properly, the transplant had succeeded.
The young man, who had sealed the tree’s vitality so it would not die, had been curious about where Jin Somyeong intended to plant it, but naturally, Jin Somyeong had not told him.
He said the fruit will be fully ripe once it has twelve reddish-brown stripes.
With this grayish-white tree alone, his body-refinement cultivation would receive great help. On Sky Island, medicinal pills for body-refinement training were difficult to obtain, but thanks to this, one worry had been lifted.
Moreover, Strong Blood Tree fruit had a special effect.
In addition to replenishing blood vitality, it hardened the flesh like a magic artifact. If consumed over a long period of time, his skin would become like that ape demon beast’s, resistant even to Sword Qi.
When that time comes, I’ll be even stronger.
Perhaps he might even be able to withstand all manner of spells and artifacts with his bare body.
Pop!
Jin Somyeong emerged from the Mental Secret Realm and immediately left the inn.
He rented a second-rank cave abode and began cultivating in earnest.
Time flowed like running water.
Kwarurung!
Then one day, a storm of lightning swept through the cave abode. Spiritual power that had reached the third layer of Foundation Establishment spread out in every direction.
Having shut out everything else and devoted himself solely to cultivation until even his beard had grown in, Jin Somyeong opened his eyes wide.