The Boarding Tournament
Jin Somyeong, who had been focused solely on cultivation, snapped his eyes open.
Crackle...
He steadied the lightning that had leaked out as he broke through his realm and concentrated his mind.
The gains he had achieved over the course of three years were far from small. The greatest of them was, of course, that he had reached the third layer of Foundation Establishment.
As his realm rose, many things changed. It went without saying that his Boundless Great Ability had expanded to two thousand points. What pleased him most was that his Divine Sense had also grown twice as powerful.
Its basic range is one hundred meters, and if I stretch it in a single direction, the limit is three hundred meters.
At that level, it was in no way inferior even compared to a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Beyond that, after investing a tremendous amount of Boundless Great Ability, the quality of his spiritual roots had improved as well. In Jin Somyeong's judgment, he had long since escaped the category of mixed spiritual roots. He would not be ashamed to be called mid-grade now.
His spiritual power had also doubled compared to when he had first broken through to Foundation Establishment.
"Mm. Mm."
Jin Somyeong, who had been admiring his status window while stroking his chin, paused. He had spent far too long doing nothing but cultivating, and his appearance had fallen into disarray. He shaved off the irritating beard cleanly with Sword Qi and sank into thought.
Good news had come one after another, but there were still points that left him somewhat dissatisfied.
Too slow.
It had taken him three years just to reach the third layer of Foundation Establishment. Frankly, it was frustrating. At this pace, it would take him a hundred and twenty years to reach Golden Core, and that was assuming everything went smoothly without a single problem.
Was that especially slow? If asked, the answer was naturally no. If anything, it was far faster than average. He had accumulated countless fortuitous encounters until now; there was no way his speed could be slow.
The problem was simply that the realm called Golden Core stood absurdly high.
The overwhelming majority of Foundation Establishment cultivators did not dare even dream of Golden Core. Merely having the possibility of reaching it was enough to earn one respect as a Golden Core seed.
But a hundred and twenty years? That meant he would only be able to challenge Golden Core when his lifespan was nearing its end. For someone who had tasted so many fortuitous encounters during the Qi Refining stage, it was not a speed he could be satisfied with.
The Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art was also a problem. Had he underestimated a lightning Dao cultivation method famous for its difficulty? Its reputation was well deserved. The further he progressed, the more absurdly difficult cultivation became. Without investing Boundless Great Ability, it was hard to gain even a single point of proficiency.
To reach the next stage after Proficient, he needed to raise his proficiency by another hundred and twenty thousand. At minimum, that seemed likely to take five more years.
If things continued as they were.
Could there be a place like the Red Cloud Secret Realm here too?
The thought occurred to him suddenly. After using Boundless Great Ability to stabilize his realm, Jin Somyeong left his cave estate with the mindset that if he lacked fortuitous encounters, he would go out and find them himself.
Where should he obtain information?
Jin Somyeong chose a gathering of rogue cultivators. It was a meeting introduced to him by Firegold Pavilion, where he had become a regular while buying pills, and its purpose was to share difficulties in cultivation and seek solutions together.
He chose it because those gathered were in similar circumstances. Their difficulties and the solutions they had found were likely to overlap with his own.
Is this the place?
When he went to the location marked on the invitation, he saw a three-story teahouse. The entire establishment seemed to have been rented out, and the moment he stepped inside past the sign that said it was closed for business, a voice greeted him.
"Oh! You've finally arrived."
At a round table sat more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators in conversation. Most were in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, with only one person at the fourth layer, the middle stage.
The mid-stage cultivator who had organized the gathering, a middle-aged man called Daoist Hwang, approached with a broad smile and stood beside him.
"Everyone, a new fellow Daoist has come to our Starcloud Society today."
"A pleasure to meet you. My surname is Jin, so please call me whatever is convenient."
"Mm. Good to meet you, Fellow Daoist Jin. I am Seoryeong, and this friend beside me is Cheongmok..."
After they lightly exchanged names, Jin Somyeong took an empty seat and quietly listened. As it happened, the subject that came up was exactly what he had been curious about.
"Haa. I've been worried because my cultivation has slowed down lately. How do people usually solve this sort of thing?"
"I'm the same! I've been stuck at the third layer for twenty years already. I never knew reaching mid-stage Foundation Establishment would be this hard."
Jin Somyeong flinched. To remain at the same realm for twenty years...
If they learned that he had reached the third layer less than five years after becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had a feeling he would be cursed out in magnificent fashion.
"It seems we're all in the same boat. These days, I'm even wondering if I should find a second-tier Boundary-Breaking Pill and take it."
"A Boundary-Breaking Pill? If you take that, reaching late-stage Foundation Establishment will become even harder."
"What choice do I have? I'll worry about later when later comes. I can't keep wasting time like this."
"True..."
Voices of agreement rose here and there, and before long the conversation faded. The depressing reality had weighed them down.
Perhaps because of that, their gazes naturally gathered in one place: on Daoist Hwang, the man who had organized the meeting and the only one among them who had reached mid-stage Foundation Establishment.
"Ahem. Please don't be too discouraged, everyone. I may be one step ahead for now, but no one knows what the future holds."
"Enough of those empty pleasantries. Daoist Hwang, how did you break through to the middle stage?"
At one woman's bold question, the conversation stopped cold. Everyone, Jin Somyeong included, looked at Daoist Hwang, waiting to see what he would say.
"This is rather difficult... It isn't as though I possess some extraordinary secret."
"You can't pretend to be reluctant now. You're the one who gathered us here, Daoist Hwang."
"Hahaha."
Daoist Hwang, who had been making them wait as if deliberately drawing out the suspense, set his teacup down with a sharp clack.
"It can't be helped, then. In truth, there are quite a few ways to break through a minor realm."
Gulp.
Along with the sound of someone swallowing, his leisurely voice continued.
"If I had to name the most famous, it would be advancement through battle. Since ancient times, those with the qualities of a fighting immortal have sometimes broken through minor realms in the midst of fierce combat. They say that the truly talented can even cross major realms that way."
Jin Somyeong, who had been listening silently, paused.
There was a method like that...?
He was tempted. Combat was the field in which he had the most confidence. The reaction around him, however, was not favorable.
"Daoist Hwang. You're not trying to brush us off with some absurd nonsense, are you?"
"Hahaha. Of course not. I've only just begun, so why are you rushing me?"
Daoist Hwang chuckled and continued.
"Advancement through battle is honestly little different from legend, so it is difficult. As for the Boundary-Breaking Pill mentioned earlier, many hesitate because of its side effects. That leaves receiving aid from a natural spirit treasure as the most effective option."
"A natural spirit treasure?"
"Yes. To put it simply, you need a fortuitous encounter. Everyone, think back to the past. Was reaching Foundation Establishment easy?"
"...Of course it was difficult."
"You are all rogue cultivators, so you should know better than anyone. Is there anyone here who comfortably cultivated in one place and reached Foundation Establishment that way?"
"Mmm!"
"Of course not! None of us will say it aloud, but each of us must have obtained some fortuitous encounter. You must not forget that mindset!"
Everyone fell deep into thought and said nothing, leaving the entire teahouse silent.
Then the woman who had asked the bold question spoke with a sorrowful expression.
"Haa. I understand what you're saying. But how could finding a fortuitous encounter ever be easy? We struggled so hard to reach Foundation Establishment, and now to risk our lives again... it feels too unfair."
"Hahaha. Have you all forgotten the Boarding Tournament?"
"Ah!"
"It isn't dangerous, and it suits our needs perfectly. If your luck with the matchups is good, you may receive quite decent rewards."
Jin Somyeong, who had been listening quietly, forced down the question that had nearly escaped his mouth. His instincts told him that this Boarding Tournament was something quite important, but it was difficult to ask. Judging by the atmosphere, it appeared to be common knowledge in the Gwangwon Sea Region.
...So what?
Suddenly, he decided it did not matter. He would be treated as suspicious for not knowing something obvious, but that was all.
"Excuse me. Could you tell me exactly what the Boarding Tournament is?"
"Hm? Fellow Daoist Jin. Are you saying you don't know what the Boarding Tournament is?"
"Yes. Would you enlighten me?"
"Huh. It isn't as if you were cultivating on some deserted island... How could you not know the Boarding Tournament?"
Gazes poured onto him as if they were looking at some strange creature, but he simply smiled. A moment of embarrassment was better than leaving himself ignorant.
"The Boarding Tournament is a competition jointly hosted by the Golden Core merchants of Sky Island. Only Foundation Establishment cultivators under the age of eighty may participate, and you could call it a favor granted to talented juniors."
"What kind of competition is it?"
"Combat, of course! But there is no need to worry too much. Thanks to the restriction placed by Senior Hyeonjinja, a master of formations, anyone who receives an attack that endangers their life is automatically transported outside the stage."
"So the more victories you earn in the tournament, the greater the reward?"
"Correct. If you place in the top ten, you can even enter the Spirit-Cleansing Ground!"
Spirit-Cleansing Ground.
In that instant, greed flashed through everyone's eyes. A land that cleansed the soul. Judging from the name, it seemed to be a place that either improved one's aptitude or offered great assistance in cultivation.
...Not bad.
Even so, he found it strange. It was not as though the Golden Core merchants had nothing to do, so why would they go out of their way to hold such a tournament?
As he listened to the explanation that followed, he roughly understood.
It's because of the war against demon beasts.
In the Gwangwon Sea Region, the spirit veins were unstable, forcing cultivators to fight demon beasts constantly. It was an environment where humans found it difficult to survive unless they helped one another.
The struggle for survival between species had changed the culture itself. The atmosphere was different from Damun Kingdom, where Cheongdan City was located.
Of course, I can't let my guard down...
There were exceptions everywhere. It made no sense to say that this place had absolutely no one who exploited juniors.
While Jin Somyeong was lost in thought, one rogue cultivator smacked his lips and asked, "How long remains until the preliminary round for the Boarding Tournament?"
"About half a year."
"That's awkward. If I start now, can I gather ten demon beast inner cores?"
"Ahem! It isn't as if there are no methods."
"Well, true, but..."
When Jin Somyeong stared at them, curious what they meant, the man realized his mistake and explained.
"Ah! Fellow Daoist Jin wouldn't know. To participate in the Boarding Tournament, you must gather second-tier demon beast inner cores. They select one hundred and twenty-eight people in order of who has gathered the most, and normally, if you collect around ten, you can enter the main tournament."
Gathering ten inner cores as the preliminary round...
It was a more demanding condition than he had expected. Not every second-tier demon beast possessed an inner core, after all. Usually, one had to kill four or five to obtain a single core.
Put another way, only those with enough ability to defeat forty or fifty demon beasts of the same rank could pass the preliminaries.
Just then, the rogue cultivator named Cheongmok, whose eyes had been shifting about, rapped the table to draw everyone's attention.
"The Boarding Tournament is something each of us must prepare for individually, so let us speak no more of it. More importantly, I recently learned a spell..."
After the meeting ended, Jin Somyeong walked through the market.
He confirmed the details of the Boarding Tournament with shopkeepers he was usually friendly with, and all the information he had learned at the gathering proved true.
It was either an opportunity for talented human juniors, or a suppression order meant to clear out the demon beasts around Sky Island. Since people would risk their lives fighting demon beasts in order to participate in the tournament, it was beneficial either way from the perspective of those who managed Sky Island.
In any case, the Boarding Tournament was a good opportunity to increase his cultivation speed. His desire to participate grew stronger and stronger, so he looked into the related rules, and unexpectedly came across good news.
A mid-grade second-tier demon beast inner core counts as ten?
If so, Jin Somyeong had already passed the preliminaries for all practical purposes.
Whoosh.
He took out an inner core that had been rolling around in his subspace. It was the one he had obtained long ago after killing the monkey demon beast in the Whitewood Forest.
So this thing is worth ten, is it?
Jin Somyeong, who had been toying with the demon beast inner core as if in jest, suddenly froze.
A chill ran over him at the thought that had abruptly surfaced in his mind.
Don't tell me... Was the fortuitous encounter indicated by the Spirit-Searching Talisman the Boarding Tournament?
Was it mere coincidence? Or was it truly some strange thread of fate? Naturally, he could not know yet.