Dream-Walking Hunyuan Pill: A World One Step Short (2)
Once Jin Somyeong entered the Red Cloud Secret Realm, he reminded himself of his objective.
If I want a Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure, I have to reach the heart of the secret realm.
For someone at the third layer of Qi Refining, going there was close to suicide. Even so, he steeled his resolve. Without risking his life, Foundation Establishment would remain forever beyond his reach.
He was sprinting hard on both feet when he suddenly faltered.
...Wait. Just this one herb first.
On the way toward the center, he harvested countless spiritual herbs. In the blink of an eye, he had earned a hundred Spirit Stones—an enormous sum that would have taken years to save by working as a spirit planter.
Incredible.
Only a few hours had passed since he entered the secret realm, and he had already made a year's worth of income. For a moment, the question crept in: did he really need to go all the way to the center? But he soon tightened his wavering heart.
A cultivator who failed to reach Foundation Establishment was a mayfly. Glory and wealth meant nothing. If someone so much as tapped him, he would die helplessly.
Fundamentally, nothing had changed from the days when he had been a serf beaten under the lash.
Hoo.
He steadied his shaken mind with a deep breath, concealed his presence, and advanced with painstaking caution. In the process, the stealth technique he had devised by combining his breath-concealing art with martial arts proved extremely useful.
After all manner of twists and turns, he finally reached the outskirts of the central region. Before him rose a colossal wall of ice.
Excitement stirred in his chest, but he controlled his breathing as much as he could. He followed the ice wall in a long circuit, and sure enough, he discovered a hole someone had already bored through it.
It meant he was already far too late, but that did not matter. For someone at the third layer of Qi Refining, this was the only way into the center.
Let's go.
The moment he stepped into the central region, the sharply rising temperature assaulted him.
For a full fifteen days, he wandered the center without even sleeping properly until at last—
He found it. A Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure: the Jade-Nourishing Essence Flower.
Ah!
He was lucky. There was a demon beast guarding the treasure, but it was in poor condition.
Grrrr...
Even after its eyes met Jin Somyeong's, it did not charge. It merely glared at him, panting with exhausted breaths.
Judging by the corpses of Qi Refining cultivators scattered around it, the beast had already fought several battles.
This is my chance.
It truly was a chance granted by heaven.
If he did not risk his life now, then when would he?
Clang!
The instant he drew his sword, he kicked off the ground. Fear of death, worry that the demon beast might still have too much demonic qi left—he cast aside every hesitation and threw himself at the crimson-furred tiger.
And after ending up soaked in blood, he obtained it.
A Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure.
"...Kheh heh."
His head spun from blood loss. Even as he staggered, laughter slipped out of him. The wound torn open in his side by the demon beast's claws throbbed fiercely, but he was simply happy.
Filled with the satisfaction of having achieved his goal, he felt as though he were soaring through the sky.
Then—
"Huh. You really did get it."
"I told you, didn't I? That one always looked like he'd pull off something big someday."
Who knew how long they had been following him? He Yangok revealed himself.
Ah?
The back of Jin Somyeong's head went numb.
The eyes of He Yangok and the unknown rogue cultivator beside him were filled with nothing but cold killing intent and greed. At a glance, it was obvious they had not followed him with good intentions.
How?
Jin Somyeong stood frozen as if something inside him had broken. Then his gaze drifted toward his wrist.
There he saw the bracelet He Yangok had given him—a magic artifact.
"Ha."
Everything clicked into place at once.
The bracelet had not been an act of kindness. It had been bait used to track him inside the secret realm.
Whoosh!
He ripped it from his wrist and hurled it far away.
"Tsk, tsk. Why throw away something so valuable? It does have a tracking function, yes, but it really is a defensive artifact."
Jin Somyeong ignored the mockery and first grasped the situation. He Yangok stood with his hands clasped behind his back, while the rogue cultivator wore a short bow strapped to his wrist.
Two enemies.
He lowered his gaze and saw his own body drenched in blood. He was in a terrible state.
As he was now, he could not defeat even one of them.
...No. Even if I were uninjured, it would probably be impossible.
As he stood there in that bleak situation, He Yangok's voice reached him.
"Jin Somyeong. If you obediently hand over the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure in your hand, I'll spare your life for old times' sake."
"Hm? Brother, wait a moment. You're saying you'll let him live?"
"We're leaving Jeokyang Market anyway. Even if he gets out of here alive, what does it matter?"
"Heh heh. Do as you please, Brother."
The two of them kept talking, but their words hardly registered. Jin Somyeong had lost too much blood; his vision kept cutting in and out.
In that blurred world, the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure in his left hand and the sword in his right alternated before his eyes.
As if asking which of the two he would choose.
"Now, hurry up and hand it over. Hm? Don't grip it so tightly! What if you damage the petals? You call yourself a spirit planter, yet you handle it so poorly!"
"...Heh."
Seeing He Yangok bark orders as if he were still Jin Somyeong's superior was simply laughable.
"Fine. If you want it, take it."
He tossed the Jade-Nourishing Essence Flower. It landed precisely between the two men.
In that instant, He Yangok and the rogue cultivator looked at each other, then kicked off the ground at the same time. As they reached for the Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure, both clenched their teeth.
Boom!
Without even deciding who would strike first, they unleashed spells at one another.
"What are you doing?! We agreed to sell the treasure at a Golden Core-level city and split the profit in half!"
"Hmph! Not even a dog would believe that. Just because I called you Brother, did you really think you were my brother?"
"W-wait. Let's deal with Jin Somyeong first and then—huh? Watch behind you!"
"Clumsy bastard! Who would fall for—"
The sneering rogue cultivator's head flew through the air.
Jin Somyeong had approached silently and swung his sword without mercy.
"You!"
As He Yangok stiffened and pointed at him, Jin Somyeong shook the blood from his blade and said,
"If you want it, take it. The price is your lives."
His voice was calm, but his entire body, down to the tip of his sword, trembled violently. It was not fear or rage—only blood loss.
The world spun around him.
He had never experienced such terrible dizziness before. Even standing still was difficult.
"...All but dead, and still bluffing! Fine. This is for the best. Thank you for taking care of a troublesome bastard for me."
Flare!
The Fire Bullet spell shot toward him like a sneak attack, grazing past his ear.
At the same time, he used Wind-Cloud Steps, a martial art someone had once dismissed as a commoner's trick.
"...!"
The distance between him and He Yangok, whose eyes widened in panic, shrank rapidly.
In the next instant, his opponent gritted his teeth and formed a hand seal.
A sharp stone spear burst from the ground, aiming for Jin Somyeong's heart, but he did not stop. He twisted his upper body, avoiding only a fatal wound.
A fistful of flesh was torn away from his shoulder.
He forcibly ignored the pain that turned his mind white and gathered every ounce of force born from kicking off the ground.
The moment he brought his sword down as though to cleave his enemy in two—
Klang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out.
He Yangok, who had scrambled back with a terrified expression, curled up the corners of his mouth.
"I knew you were decent with a sword, but I didn't realize it was to this extent. Good thing I got myself armor."
As though trying to break Jin Somyeong's will, He Yangok boasted of the armor hidden beneath his spell robes.
Jin Somyeong simply swung his sword at him.
If the armor was the problem, then he only had to aim for the exposed flesh.
Clang! Klang!
It was not easy.
His opponent was no fool. He desperately protected the wrists and face that were not covered by the armor.
"Grr! Do you think a wretch like you can defeat me? Give up and die!"
"Kheh heh."
"Have you gone mad? Why are you—"
He Yangok's voice cut off. At the same time, the entire world went silent.
Jin Somyeong was puzzled for only a moment before he understood why.
Have I gone deaf?
In the hollow space where no sound existed except a faint ringing in his ears, watching his opponent open and close his mouth like a goldfish felt strangely unreal.
I'm supposed to lose to an idiot like that?
That was impossible.
He forgot the terrible pain rising from his organs. He forgot the gritty dust in his mouth. All that remained in his vision was the enemy he had to stab with the sword in his hand.
The moment he retreated, he would die. The only path to survival was to cut down his opponent.
Staggering, Jin Somyeong charged as though collapsing forward.
He swung his sword at He Yangok, who had somehow even drawn a shield.
In that soundless clash, he mobilized every martial art he had learned.
Flowing Cloud Sword Form, Wall-Splitting Mountain Slash, Blue Wave Sword Art, Moon-Severing Slash.
Gripping the thing that had come to him one day and become his hope, he advanced one step at a time.
He thrust, cut, and parried.
How many times did he cross the boundary between life and death?
A stone spear grazed his forehead, and his vision turned red. Blood flowed down over his brow and covered his eye.
Ah.
He could not see.
Had He Yangok retreated, or was he seizing the opportunity to rush in?
No.
What should I do now?
In the darkness, with death looking down on him, Jin Somyeong set aside every stray thought.
He made his choice.
He simply took one step forward and thrust his sword, pouring everything he had built into its tip.
Whoosh!
The blade moved forward almost too easily, and despair brushed through him.
If it had struck armor, he would have felt the recoil. Had he stabbed only empty air? There was no resistance at all.
Then, from the tip of the sword, a faint tremor began to spread.
"Kuhuk!"
Sound returned to the silent world.
The blood covering his vision cleared, revealing the result of his choice.
He Yangok's heart had been pierced straight through, armor and all. In disbelief, he muttered,
"Sword Qi! How can trash like you..."
A shimmer flowed along the blade.
The moment Jin Somyeong recognized the sharpness of that edge, as though it could cut through anything that stood in its way—
Crash!
The entire world shattered like a pane of glass.
He had dreamed a long dream.
"Ah..."
His voice was hoarse. Who knew how long he had slept? His throat was parched and rough.
Sitting blankly in the center of the cultivation chamber, Jin Somyeong let out a low breath.
A dream? That was a dream?
The moment when he had fought with his life on the line still felt vividly real. He clearly remembered the faint vibration he had felt when he pierced the heart, and even the pain of the demon beast's claws tearing open his side.
Snap!
He flicked his fingers, and wood qi gathered in midair. It was Wood-Nourishing Art, the spell he had learned when he became a spirit planter in the dream.
"...Fascinating."
Naturally, it was a spell he had not known before. Yet now, he could use it with remarkable ease.
When he glanced aside, he saw the hundred mid-grade Spirit Stones consumed by the formation.
About ten days have passed, then.
Maintaining the formation consumed ten stones a day, so the calculation roughly fit.
"Hoo."
He forced his heavy body upright and wandered through the cave abode as though taking a walk.
As his dazed mind gradually cleared, he realized what he had gained through the Dream-Walking Hunyuan Pill.
The greatest gain, of course, was his Divine Sense. Its range had increased greatly, from the original three hundred meters to five hundred.
About the level of someone at the edge of Foundation Establishment.
His Divine Sense had grown stronger even though he had not broken through a minor realm. Once he reached late Foundation Establishment, it would strengthen again, and by then, he might possess Divine Sense on par with a Golden Core cultivator.
It was worth pouring the Boundless Great Ability into it.
What else had he gained?
Though he had been nothing more than a lowly spirit planter, he had accumulated experience through countless trials and errors. Somehow, he felt that if he learned spirit-planting arts now, he would grasp them far more easily.
Shing!
The moment he drew his sword and aimed it into empty air, the shimmer gathering along the blade released a sharp, keen edge.
...I'm sure of it. Something has changed.
The speed at which Sword Qi formed was faster than usual. Today, the sword felt strangely familiar in his hand.
Whoosh!
Sure enough, when he lightly swung the sword, a half-moon slash flew out and cut through the formation.
He had succeeded in launching Sword Qi without even concentrating much.
Finding it curious, he played around with the sword for a while before suddenly stopping.
On a hunch, he opened his status window.
"...Huh."
His proficiency had somehow risen by nearly a million.
And only now did he realize that his cultivation realm had risen as well. He had not been at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment for long, yet his spiritual power had already increased by nearly half.
If he had to put it in numbers, he would call it layer 6.5.
The reason was clear. He had fought with his life on the line.
Thanks to the Dream-Walking Hunyuan Pill, whose effect had been amplified by the Boundless Great Ability, he had been able to experience a battle that crossed life and death far too easily.
Imagining what would have happened if he had died there sent a chill down his spine, but...
It was already in the past.
Outstanding.
It was enough to make him want to take another, but the Dream-Walking Hunyuan Pill was said to be overwhelmingly effective only on the first dose. On the second, he would clearly recognize that he was dreaming.
Even if he took it again, he would not have such a special experience.
A pity.
Jin Somyeong smacked his lips and entered the Simsangbigyeong. He wanted to test how much stronger his Sword Qi had become.
Whoosh!
He went to the top of the hill and scattered Sword Qi over the sword seed.
Sure enough, the seed, which had shown no reaction without the Boundless Great Ability, had changed.
Wuuung!
The sword seed, which resembled an almond kernel, trembled faintly.
It was not a violent reaction. It did not seem to find the Sword Qi delicious—more like he had barely scraped by with a passing grade.
Picky thing.
With a small laugh, Jin Somyeong fed it plenty of Sword Qi, then consumed another five hundred units of the Boundless Great Ability.
Brrrr!
He watched the sword seed vibrate as though asking for more, then left the Simsangbigyeong.
He had just stepped outside the cave abode to see whether anything had happened during the ten days he had been asleep when—
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
"Demon beasts! Demon beasts have invaded Sky Island!"
Together with the frantic, ceaseless ringing of the bell, someone's shout struck his eardrums.