Training

Jin Somyeong, who had been lying flat on the bare ground and laughing, staggered to his feet.

He took a Tier Three inner core from his subspace and absorbed its blood vitality. As he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠used it to restore the body left in tatters by Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust, he sank into thought.

Why did only the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art change this dramatically?

It was hardly the only cultivation art or spell he had brought to the orthodox stage. Even setting aside Wind-Riding Art, a low-grade spell with an especially humble starting point, both the Cloud-Severing Sword Art and the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art had also reached the orthodox stage.

Yet neither of them had produced an ability as powerful as Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust.

What was the reason?

After brooding over it for a long while, he suddenly tried looking at it from the opposite direction.

...What if they already did?

What change had occurred when the Cloud-Severing Sword Art crossed its wall? During the Ascension Tournament, he had cleaved apart the core of Baek Yu-geon's fire-element spell, then stood against the Tier Three magic treasure, the Wind Fang Fan.

Could an ordinary Foundation Establishment sword cultivator have done such a thing?

At the very least, Jin Somyeong had never even heard a rumor of anything similar.

And there was more.

He also recalled the lightning spell the fish-dragon race member he had hunted recently had unleashed. At the time, he had dismissed it by thinking the opponent was simply too weak, but...

The mistake was comparing it to the Blue Thunder Spring in the first place.

The Blue Thunder Spring was a spiritual spring formed from the lightning qi emitted by more than two hundred Blue Thunder Pearls and accumulated over several decades. The lightning resistance created when the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art reached the orthodox stage might be far more powerful than he had assumed.

Could it actually be Golden Core level?

Even if it was not, it was certainly among the very best within Tier Two. That much was clear.

He was still only at mid Foundation Establishment, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and yet he now possessed power that could reach toward the upper tiers...

The proficiency system he had created in the Red Cloud Secret Realm at the cost of an enormous amount of vitality was far more incredible than he had vaguely imagined.

For a moment, a fierce impulse surged through him, urging him to fight a Tier Three being, but he soon shook his head.

I'm still lacking.

It became obvious if he used Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust as the standard. The force that had reduced a rocky mountain to powder had undoubtedly approached Tier Three, but it was no different from a suicide technique that wrung out every last drop of his strength.

If it failed, there would be no next move.

A true Golden Core, however, would likely be able to pour out attacks of that caliber without pause.

...Still, it won't be long now.

The realm that had once seemed impossibly distant was now close enough that he could almost reach it by stretching out his hand.

After testing Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust and returning to Dawn Moon City, Jin Somyeong resumed a disciplined routine.

He absorbed the inner core of a Tier Three demon king to raise his body-refinement realm, and he continued hunting demon beasts at the late Foundation Establishment level.

He had already obtained Golden Core insights, but among the exchangeable rewards there were still many useful items.

Dream-Wandering Primordial Pill.

It was a pill that could only be exchanged for seven Tier Two high-grade inner cores, and since it strengthened the divine soul and increased the chance of successfully forming a Golden Core, it was a treasure he absolutely had to obtain.

Of course, he did not neglect his cultivation either.

The small Blue Thunder Spring he had created in the Mental Secret Realm, the inner cores of lightning-element fish-dragons, the high-quality spiritual medicines he had received as rewards from the Ascension Tournament—he used these precious natural treasures without hesitation to raise his realm.

Five years. No, in four and a half years, once Sky Island enters the Sea of Demon Cries, I'll have to fight demon beasts constantly. I need to raise my realm as much as possible before then.

Sky Island would soon become a battlefield, but he had no intention of leaving. In this sea, there was no better place to cultivate than Sky Island.

Besides, the Sea of Demon Cries was not all bad. In some ways, it was a land of opportunity.

They say it becomes far easier to obtain all sorts of spiritual herbs.

It was a phenomenon born from the fact that humans and demon beasts needed different things. Just as humans had no need for Tongue-Opening Grass, which allowed speech, certain precious spiritual herbs were treated as weeds by demon beasts.

It was something he had learned thanks to Baek Yu-geon, who often visited him under the pretext of becoming closer. Thanks to Baek Yu-geon's talkative nature, Jin Somyeong had also resolved several questions he had long wondered about.

"A method to improve spiritual root aptitude? Why would a genius like you, Fellow Daoist Jin, be interested in such a secret art?"

"My spiritual root aptitude is probably worse than you think."

"Huh..."

Baek Yu-geon stared at him with a doubtful expression, as if he found that hard to believe, then shrugged.

"As far as I know, there aren't many secret arts of that sort. It's more efficient to invest in geniuses than to force someone with poor aptitude to grow."

"...That's unfortunate."

"Please don't be too disappointed. It's not that there are no methods at all. I've heard that if one soaks in a medicinal bath made by decocting various spiritual herbs, one's spiritual root aptitude improves, if only by an extremely minute amount."

So he simply had to bathe in water infused with spiritual herbs...

It was an absurdly extravagant method. It likely would not show any effect after just a day or two, meaning it would consume a tremendous amount of resources.

But for Jin Somyeong, whose Mental Secret Realm continuously produced spirit stones, that was no problem.

"Do you happen to know what medicinal bath it is?"

"Hmm... was it the Blue Root Harmonizing Bath? There should be a method for making that bath among the rewards for this subjugation order."

That was welcome news.

After Baek Yu-geon left, Jin Somyeong immediately went to Dawn Moon City's Steward Hall and checked the reward list.

There it is. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Blue Root Harmonizing Bath.

According to the description, if one soaked in the medicinal bath once a week for ten years, even a mixed spiritual root could become a middle-grade spiritual root.

As described, it had no meaning for Jin Somyeong, whose spiritual root had already become middle-grade—but he possessed a power that could be called a fragment of omnipotence.

If I amplify the effect with the Boundless Great Ability, I might be able to reach a high-grade spiritual root.

He checked the exchange cost and found it far cheaper than expected. One Tier Two mid-grade demon beast inner core was enough.

Since he had been hunting late Foundation Establishment demon beasts in earnest lately, he had plenty of smaller inner cores.

Without hesitation, he exchanged for the jade slip containing the medicinal bath recipe.

A hundred-year-old Fragrant Magnolia, Moonshadow Root, Fire Jade Grass...

If the ingredients for a single portion were converted into mid-grade spirit stones, it came to roughly one hundred stones. It was expensive enough to make an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator scream, but Jin Somyeong did not find it wasteful at all.

If anything, he selected only the best-quality ingredients and made an even more expensive medicinal bath. Every week, he soaked in a bath prepared from top-grade materials while spending five hundred points of Boundless Great Ability on it.

It works!

After his spiritual root had reached middle-grade, he had worried because the rate of improvement had slowed, but now it was as if a blocked road had been cleared wide open.

Spiritual energy sensitivity, absorption capacity, the sensation of casting spells—everything that fell under what people called aptitude improved day by day. He felt certain that before long, he would possess a high-grade spiritual root.

Crackle!

Whenever he circulated the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art and accumulated spiritual power, a smile rose of its own accord. It had not even been several months since he began soaking in the Blue Root Harmonizing Bath, and the difference was already obvious.

His cultivation speed had increased by about ten percent compared to before.

In four or five years, I should be able to reach the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.

If someone else had heard that, they would have told him to stop spouting nonsense, but Jin Somyeong was not satisfied.

It was in his nature to always do everything he could.

I should raise the Elixir-Swallowing Art to orthodox as well.

This secret art, derived from the Supreme Yang Nurturing Scripture, allowed him to consume more pills and to take them more frequently. It was one of the secrets behind Jin Somyeong's ability to grow faster than others.

Roughly four thousand proficiency remained. In the past, that might have been difficult, but now it was not much of a burden.

After he poured his surplus Boundless Great Ability into it over the course of a month, the Elixir-Swallowing Art reached the orthodox stage.

The added effect was simple, but powerful: his resistance to pill toxins increased even further.

Now, he could take pills four times as often as others without issue.

Should I raise the Five Elements Qi Refining Art too? I wonder what effect will appear if it reaches orthodox.

To be honest, he hardly used this cultivation art anymore, but curiosity stirred in him. Since the thought had occurred to him, he checked the status window and found that not much proficiency remained.

If he raised it by roughly five thousand more, the Five Elements Qi Refining Art would also reach the orthodox stage.

Maybe I should invest my leftover Boundless Great Ability here.

Apart from the Boundless Great Ability he regularly spent to improve his spiritual root and nurture his sword seed, he invested the remainder. Raising the proficiency felt like opening a gift box, and the result was rather decent.

He became more sensitive to five-element spiritual energy, and the power of all spells belonging to the five elements increased slightly.

The Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art and the Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art also grew a little stronger, so he was satisfied.

I should raise everything that doesn't cost much Boundless Great Ability.

As Jin Somyeong considered his next target, his gaze shifted toward Thunder Evasion Art.

Time passed swiftly.

The peaceful atmosphere of Sky Island grew increasingly thick with the scent of war. Prices for goods related to cultivation and combat soared, and the previously relaxed cultivators wore stiff expressions.

Yet few people actually left.

Unless they intended to abandon cultivation, remaining on Sky Island was the best choice.

Four years passed in that atmosphere.

From Jin Somyeong, who had devoted himself to cultivation without missing a single day, a fierce surge of lightning qi burst forth.

At last, he had reached the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment.

Seeing the status window, which had become conspicuously longer compared to the old days, filled him with pride.

"Heh."

A pleased smile naturally formed on his lips.

If there was one thing he found puzzling, it was that Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust was not listed under divine abilities, but he could understand that in its own way.

The status window's standards were simply too strict.

Well, of course. A divine ability that creates a secret realm in empty space can't really be compared to one that merely unleashes a Golden Core-level strike.

In any case, much had changed over the past four years.

First, Thunder Evasion Art had reached the orthodox stage, and his speed had leapt forward once again.

I've become ridiculously fast.

After reaching the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment, the range of his Divine Sense had expanded to three hundred meters. If he stretched it as far as possible in a single direction, it reached about nine hundred meters, and within that range, he could move almost as if teleporting.

He had become capable of crossing nearly a kilometer in an instant. That was speed comparable to a Golden Core.

He had to maintain an extreme degree of concentration, so he could not cast it continuously, and the spiritual power consumption was tremendous. Still, compared to the past, it was an immense improvement.

My body-refinement realm has risen too.

His current physical durability was at the very peak of Tier Two, around the end of Foundation Establishment. It was the result of absorbing every bit of blood vitality contained in the inner core of a Tier Three demon king.

He had consumed a treasure that could have been used in an external core method to form a Golden Core, but he did not regret it in the slightest.

Hmm... should I try using Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust for the first time in a while?

Over the past four years, whenever he had spare time, he had gone to a quiet place and used Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust. It was training to control that mighty divine ability.

Of course, every use left his entire body a wreck, and he had yet to truly succeed with it, but he continued, treating it as an investment in the future.

After stabilizing the spiritual power that had become unstable from his breakthrough, he left his cave residence.

He was just about to head toward the wasteland when a familiar Qi Refining cultivator rushed over in a panic and shouted.

"Senior Jin! A Tier Two high-grade demon beast has appeared in a village three hundred li to the northwest!"

"A high-grade demon beast? Well done. I'll go at once."

Rumble!

Jin Somyeong cast Thunder Evasion Art and shot into the sky. As he did, he took out a mid-grade spirit stone and flicked it toward the young man who had brought the news.

"Thank you!"

The Qi Refining cultivator, whose name was Hwang Dalpung, broke into a broad grin.

He was one of the people Jin Somyeong had saved in the past after leaving the Cleansing Spirit Pond, and one day he had actually come to repay the debt, taking on various small errands for him.

Since he sometimes brought useful information like today, there was no downside for Jin Somyeong.

Whoosh!

As Jin Somyeong cut across the sky like a meteor, a single thought filled his mind.

Please let it have an inner core.

He was not even worried about how to deal with a Tier Two high-grade demon beast. He had hunted them easily before, so what about now?

It would not be able to withstand even one slash from him.

The important thing was the inner core. At present, Jin Somyeong possessed a total of six Tier Two high-grade inner cores.

If he collected just one more, he could exchange them for the Dream-Wandering Primordial Pill, which would increase his chances of forming a Golden Core.

They said you could undergo trials in dreams and grow stronger.

As he recalled the effects of the divine soul-tempering secret pill, the Dream-Wandering Primordial Pill, he drew up his lightning qi and increased his speed.

Rumble!

He became a streak of light and split the clouds apart...

And below, a wolf whipping up a blizzard came into view, along with a village whose formation was on the verge of collapse.