Forbidden Ground, Third Realm
In the strange place where the currents had swept him ashore, Jin Somyeong stood dazed for a moment as a single word drifted through his mind.
A paradise?
It was exactly the sort of scenery one imagined when picturing the dwelling of immortals. Clouds and cranes glided together across the sky, and a gentle spring breeze seemed to cradle his exhausted body. He looked over the rare flowers and spiritual herbs spread thickly in every direction, then shifted his gaze.
A middle-aged man was staring at him, frozen in place with a teacup still lifted in his hand.
"Greetings, Senior."
"...Young man. How, exactly, did you get in here?"
The master of this place—the Golden Core cultivator—asked as though he could not begin to comprehend it. Jin Somyeong, who had suddenly become an illegal intruder, smiled awkwardly.
"I'm truly sorry. It would take some time to explain."
"Heh heh. Time is the one thing I have in abundance. Well, this too must be fate. Come, have a cup of tea with me."
Whoosh!
At a glance from the Golden Core cultivator seated in the pavilion, several petals flew from the surrounding beds of spiritual herbs and crumbled into powder. They mingled with moisture condensed in midair and began to boil with a soft bubbling sound. In the span of a breath, the finished tea poured itself into a cup, releasing a clear, deep fragrance.
"Drink. It is tea brewed from Spirit-God Grass I raised myself. It will be a little bitter, but it should help with your newlywed life."
"..."
Jin Somyeong sat in the seat opposite the one the Golden Core cultivator had offered him and turned his eyes aside. As he watched the spiritual herbs swaying gently in the wind, a question rose in him.
"Senior."
"Mm?"
The cultivator's unfailing kindness suited the leisurely, peaceful scenery around him almost too well. There was only one problem.
"Why are you growing Tong-eo grass? And in such a remote place, no less."
Most of the plants spread out on every side were Tong-eo grass.
"Hmm. My circumstances would also take some time to explain."
When Jin Somyeong stared at him, the man, who had been savoring his tea at an unhurried pace, smiled faintly and said,
"Must you know before you die? It would be easier for both of us if you simply drank the tea."
Jin Somyeong glanced down. Steam curled up from the cup, and the bitter scent unique to medicinal herbs brushed past his nose. It was ordinary, well-brewed spiritual tea, but there was no need to ask what had been mixed into it.
Poison.
After cultivating the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art, he had confidence in his resistance to toxins, but why drink it for no reason? He tapped the cup and pushed it back toward the other man.
"Why don't you drink it yourself, Senior? Then at least you won't have to bear the disgrace of losing to a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"Oh? Now that is an interesting thing to say..."
Jin Somyeong smiled back at the man as he let out that brief murmur of admiration.
"Truly... interesting. Interesting enough to drive a man mad."
Like paint spreading through water, cracks ran through the placid smile. Clear madness leaked from the bizarrely twisted line of his mouth.
"As if it weren't unjust enough to be stuck in a godforsaken place like this. Now I am being looked down on by a Foundation Establishment junior. Khuhuhu."
"...A godforsaken place? Did someone order you to remain here, Senior?"
Jin Somyeong asked, but no answer came. Instead, along with that chilling laughter, a pressure belonging to one who had reached the Third Realm crushed down upon the surroundings.
"Kik. I, Hyeok Cheon-ung, really have fallen as far as I can go. Do you look down on me too because I'm a False Golden Core cultivator?"
It was as if all the resentment he had bottled up had finally exploded. Hyeok Cheon-ung's eyes were bloodshot as he glared with naked killing intent.
Crrrunch!
Perhaps it was the wrath of someone who had reached the Third Realm. The straight, elegant pavilion twisted like a corkscrew, letting out a grotesque groan.
...This is supposed to be my fortuitous encounter?
To be swept here by a current and forced to fight a half-mad Golden Core cultivator—this was a difficult situation to understand. In truth, however, that did not matter much.
He is trying to kill me.
His intent had been clear from the moment he offered poisoned tea. If Jin Somyeong did not wish to die, he had to kill.
...No. That's not it.
If he wanted to escape from this situation, he had plenty of ways to do so. Even using a Third-Realm Transference Talisman would give him a high chance of getting away.
And yet, when he listened to the voice in his heart, he heard it clearly. He was pleased—pleased that an enemy worth risking his life to kill had appeared.
This is my choice.
This was not some unavoidable crisis caused by being entangled with an artifact like the Spirit-Seeking Talisman. With that sort of halfhearted mindset, he had no hope of defeating a Third-Realm existence.
I was just wondering how far my blade could reach.
The moment his will settled firm and upright, he finally saw it: the Golden Core-level spiritual power pressing down on his shoulders—no, the vast energy properly called mana.
Heavy.
The greatest difference between Foundation Establishment and Golden Core was the weight of their spiritual power. Energy condensed to a high density after reaching the Third Realm naturally exerted pressure on everything nearby.
Jin Somyeong faced that pressure head-on, the kind that would have left an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator unable to move so much as a finger.
Kiiiiik!
His own energy pushed against the mana, raising a grating sound of friction. It was not free, as though caught in a net, but...
Shiiing.
He succeeded in drawing his sword and leveling it all the same.
It was the result of compressing his Divine Sense, which had reached Golden Core level, to completely seize control of the surroundings while spreading spiritual power and blood energy throughout his body.
"...Not bad. You do have the right to act arrogant before me."
"Senior. May I ask just one last question?"
Hyeok Cheon-ung, who had been about to form a hand seal, paused. Jin Somyeong seized that opening and spoke.
"So why are you growing Tong-eo grass? I'm too curious to concentrate."
"Kha! What a truly persistent bastard. Fine. Consider it a gift for the road to the underworld. It is because there are too many humans."
"Because there are too many humans...?"
"Yes. Their numbers need to be reduced. Few people know this, but Tong-eo grass slightly increases the chance that demon beasts will rise to the Third Realm. If it is scattered in large quantities, there will be more demon beast kings."
What kind of answer was that?
Jin Somyeong studied his expression carefully, but Hyeok Cheon-ung did not seem to be joking. He meant every word.
Jin Somyeong could not understand it, but one thing became certain.
He's someone I can kill without hesitation.
The instant his last trace of reluctance vanished—
"Bind!"
Hyeok Cheon-ung shouted and formed a hand seal.
Roots surged from the earth like living restraints, twisting toward Jin Somyeong's limbs.
Boom!
Tree roots erupted from the spot where Jin Somyeong had stood a heartbeat earlier. Vines writhed as if alive, trying to bind him, but he dodged by a hair's breadth and kicked off the ground.
Ignoring the roots chasing him from behind, he swung his sword.
Slash!
The blade, carrying Sword Qi, cut through Hyeok Cheon-ung's neck. In the very instant the headless corpse turned into a straw doll and lunged at him, the roots from behind moved as one with it, trying to restrain him from both sides.
It was a skillful chain of spells. Just as it seemed impossible to evade, Jin Somyeong awakened the lightning in his mindscape.
Kwarrrung!
Red lightning erupted like an explosion and swept through every direction. It burned away not only the roots trying to bind him, but the straw doll as well.
The Five Elements Divine Lightning, a divine ability born from the orthodox-grade Heavenly Thunder Dao Body Art. Its power worked even against Golden Core-level spells.
"...Fire-attribute lightning?"
Hyeok Cheon-ung, who had appeared some distance away before anyone noticed, furrowed his brow and waved a hand. He summoned dark clouds and made rain pour down.
Seeing him extinguish the flames in the spiritual herb field, Jin Somyeong's eyes gleamed. He had wondered why Hyeok Cheon-ung's attacks seemed strangely passive. The man had been afraid of damaging the herb field.
He acts like a madman, but he's cold-headed.
But protecting spiritual herbs? In a battle of life and death, that was far too arrogant an act.
Jin Somyeong had no intention of missing such an opening.
Kwarrrung!
Scattering lightning, he charged. Whether the spiritual herbs burned or not, he did not care. He swung his sword.
"You bastard!"
Dozens of Tong-eo grass plants were sliced apart with a single slash. Hyeok Cheon-ung glared at him with murderous fury, but that was exactly what Jin Somyeong wanted.
In a fight against an enemy, there was only one thing worth thinking about: victory.
He used every means available to him. He poured spiritual power into the So-un Boots, the movement-supporting artifact he wore on his feet.
Fwoosh!
Red clouds formed by burning spiritual power wrapped around his entire body, and his speed rose even higher. He pressed Hyeok Cheon-ung hard as the man condensed mana like a club to knock aside his sword strikes.
They clashed dozens of times in less than a few seconds. Jin Somyeong clung to him relentlessly, forcing close combat, and then—
Swish!
At the faint trace of killing intent, Jin Somyeong instinctively turned his head.
A root that had burst from beneath his feet grazed his cheek and shot past. At the same time—
Shraaak!
The tip of Jin Somyeong's sword skimmed across Hyeok Cheon-ung's chest.
Too bad.
Only the man's clothes had been cut. The blade had narrowly failed to reach flesh, but that did not matter. The speed that had been slowed by Golden Core pressure was gradually increasing.
Was he adapting?
The longer the fight continued, the weaker that crushing pressure seemed to become.
"You really are desperate to die!"
As if his patience had finally reached its limit, Hyeok Cheon-ung's expression, which had been focused only on defense, turned cold. The instant his finger pointed toward Jin Somyeong, a chill ran down Jin Somyeong's spine, and he twisted his upper body.
Ffft!
A faint sound cut through the air, and intense pain surged from his left shoulder. When he checked with Divine Sense, he saw a hole the size of a fingernail had opened in his shoulder.
...Water?
Running through what had just happened, he understood what had struck him. His shoulder had been pierced by a thin stream of water fired at ultra-high pressure.
Kwaaaang!
A beat late, a thunderous roar burst behind him. The water stream that had passed through his shoulder had collided with the ground, gouging out an enormous crater.
Insane power.
Part of the hill had been pulverized. Hundreds of spiritual herbs had been caught in the explosion and vanished in an instant.
It was a sight that would have made some people cough blood from sheer wastefulness, but neither Jin Somyeong nor even Hyeok Cheon-ung paid any more attention to the herbs. Hyeok Cheon-ung glared only at him, not at the ruined field.
Rumble, rumble!
The entire hill trembled. Their spiritual powers collided without pause, turning the peaceful herb field into a wasteland.
"You dodged that too? Ha... how irritating. I didn't want to use this because it wounds my pride, but enough."
Speaking in a frigid voice, Hyeok Cheon-ung tapped his storage pouch.
The moment an ink-black millstone popped out into the air, the pressure that had been barely manageable grew rapidly stronger.
A Third-Realm artifact!
Jin Somyeong understood it instinctively. He could not leave that thing alone.
Lightning wrapped around his body. He became a streak of light and cut across the air.
A False Golden Core cultivator was still Golden Core. The gap in spiritual power between them was enormous. Jin Somyeong absolutely could not allow this to drag into a prolonged fight.
There was a brief opening as Hyeok Cheon-ung poured mana into the artifact.
Jin Somyeong slipped through that gap and thrust his sword, but...
With barely three inches left to reach Hyeok Cheon-ung's heart, his entire body, including the tip of his blade, froze rigid.
Woooong!
It was because of the millstone that had risen into the air and begun to spin.
The instant he touched the web-shaped mana it released before he had time to avoid it, he could no longer move, as though he had become an insect pinned in a display case.
Crrrk!
He exerted so much force that his bones creaked, but the result was the same.
"Kik. It's useless. Do you think the likes of you can resist the Black Binding Wheel?"
Hyeok Cheon-ung's lips curled upward, and he leisurely walked toward Jin Somyeong with his hands even clasped behind his back.
"You were impressive for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but in the end, you are still only Second Realm. Since you dared come to me at a time like this and interfere, I will pull out your soul and make sure you cannot even die."
"..."
"Do you know what it feels like to have your soul forcibly extracted? I hear it is very, very cold. So I shall make you a little warmer."
Strolling over with a swagger, Hyeok Cheon-ung took out a blazing brazier and waved it threateningly, smirking as though announcing that he would burn Jin Somyeong's soul with those flames.
"It is too late to regret it now. If you had just drunk my poisoned tea, you would have died comfortably. Khuhuhu."
Jin Somyeong watched him sneer as if playing with a toy.
Then his lips, which had been completely frozen, slowly moved.
"You really are arrogant."
Arrogant enough that even death would not be unjust.
In the next instant, Jin Somyeong awakened the divine ability engraved into his flesh: Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust.
The five organs, each worthy of being called a miniature dantian, released every last trace of spiritual power they had accumulated.
Heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, liver.
The power raced through his meridians and resonated as it mingled with his blood energy. When the energy in his dantian joined it as well, strength amplified dozens of times over compressed into a single point.
In that instant, the restraint of the Third-Realm artifact was torn apart.
His body felt as if it might burst from the tyrannical force, but he took one step farther. He poured in every last bead of Boundless Great Ability he had left—nearly six thousand in all.
In a world that had slowed, then slowed further until it seemed to stop entirely, Jin Somyeong alone moved with ease.
He extended his fist with a light tap.
——!
A blinding flash dyed the world. Hyeok Cheon-ung, who had approached him completely defenseless, was swallowed by the light.