The Sea Where Lightning Struck

The moment Jin Somyeong took out the corpse of the Black Night Eagle, astonishment spread across In Hu-yeon’s face.

He stared at the eagle’s head, cleanly severed by Sword Qi, and muttered, “This is… a sword wound. And it was finished in a single stroke. I assumed you had killed the Demon King with that strange divine ability of yours, but I see I was mistaken.”

“Haha. I’m fairly handy with a sword as well.”

“True enough. Come to think of it, you won the boarding tournament with a sword, didn’t you?”

Jin Somyeong had meant it as an awkward joke, but In Hu-yeon took him perfectly seriously.

Feeling as if he had accidentally praised himself, Jin Somyeong cleared his throat and moved on to the main subject. “Mm… would this Black Night Eagle be usable as material?”

“Of course it would. What sort of function do you want? I’ll match it as closely as I can.”

“More than anything else, I’d like it to be fast in flight.”

“Speed, is it… good. Anything else?”

“It would also be nice if there were a place where I could cultivate while flying.”

In Hu-yeon asked him one question after another for quite some time before finally nodding.

“It’ll take about three months. Come see me after that.”

“Thank you.”

After In Hu-yeon waved and took his leave, Jin Somyeong went straight to the cultivation chamber and sat down cross-legged.

He intended to make Mugeuk, born from the Sword Womb, into his Natal Dharma Treasure.

“Mugeuk. Come out for a moment.”

The instant he tapped the Five Elements Sword, a gold-and-silver sphere sprang from the blade and zipped around every corner of the cultivation chamber.

Like a curious cat, Mugeuk explored here and there before suddenly coming to a stop. As though sensing something, the little thing quietly drifted toward Jin Somyeong and hovered before him.

“Good. Let’s begin.”

He beckoned Mugeuk toward the region of his dantian, then closed his eyes and focused.

How much time passed?

In the darkness, a single sword appeared.

Its hilt was as splendid as if it had been forged from melted gold, and its silver blade was so keen it seemed to have been tempered from gathered sharpness itself.

It was a sword he had never seen before, yet he knew at once who it was. At the same time he sensed Mugeuk’s presence, he opened himself completely—not only his dantian, but even his most vital core, his soul.

He guided Mugeuk to settle in the inner mental space beside his Golden Core.

A wondrous sensation rose as the two beings connected as one.

Joy. Excitement. A longing to become something greater. Hunger. Curiosity.

The vivid emotions Mugeuk felt, young as they were after being born not long ago, were faint yet unmistakably transmitted to him.

It worked.

A bond that could never be severed had formed between them.

The moment he made Mugeuk his Natal Dharma Treasure, Jin Somyeong instinctively understood what had changed.

First, he could now control Mugeuk with thought alone.

In battle, where life and death could be decided in an instant, there was no need to explain the advantage of being faster.

The efficiency of my mana has increased too.

Even when he injected the same amount of energy, the resulting power was greater than before.

He could also store Mugeuk inside his body, which was a basic function of a Natal Dharma Treasure.

Lastly, perhaps because their souls were now connected, he could send Mugeuk directly into the Mental Secret Realm. Naturally, he could also call Mugeuk back out.

This is quite useful.

That meant he could usually leave Mugeuk in the field of spirit herbs to grow, then summon the sword only when needed.

The reverse was possible as well.

When Jin Somyeong cultivated inside the Mental Secret Realm, he could have Mugeuk guard his body’s safety. In other words, he could use the secret realm a little more securely than before.

Good.

Satisfied, Jin Somyeong flicked his finger.

Clang!

As though feeding carp, he fed Mugeuk Sword Qi and sank into thought. He needed to draw up a rough plan for how he would cultivate from here on.

The first thing he had to decide was the primary use of his Boundless Great Ability.

One hundred thousand every month.

He had to decide where to spend such an enormous amount of Boundless Great Ability.

Improving my spirit root?

At present, his spirit root was at the very edge of middle-grade. It was not far from high-grade.

If he invested Boundless Great Ability while taking four or five more medicinal baths, it seemed likely he could raise it to a high-grade spirit root.

After high-grade came earth-grade. At that level, he would be counted among geniuses in both name and reality.

At this point, no one can say my aptitude is poor anymore.

It was a good thing, but he was reluctant to keep investing Boundless Great Ability into it.

The medicinal baths that improved spirit root aptitude were also beginning to show their limits. The efficiency had fallen so low that he felt he would need to find another method.

Rubbing his chin, he opened his status window.

After spirit roots, the thing that affected cultivation speed most was his cultivation technique.

In particular, Cheonroedochegyeol, his natal cultivation technique, increased the rate at which he accumulated mana as its proficiency rose, so it ranked high on his list of priorities.

What happens if I reach the stage after Orthodox?

Would he perhaps obtain a Nascent Soul-grade divine ability? There was a very high chance of it.

The proficiency he needed to fill before the next stage was roughly nineteen million.

With his current ability, it would take 190 months.

About sixteen years, give or take…

It was a long time, yet also a short one.

For a cultivator who had reached the Golden Core realm, spending ten years or so in cultivation was ordinary.

If they could obtain a Nascent Soul-grade divine ability after only sixteen years of cultivation, no Golden Core cultivator would refuse.

As Jin Somyeong scanned the status window, his gaze turned to Ojangbaekryeongyeol.

With only 2.7 million proficiency left, it looked relatively easy.

This is a dilemma.

There were more than enough places to spend Boundless Great Ability besides cultivation techniques. He could learn the Spirit Plant Art or alchemy as well.

Whoosh!

Watching Mugeuk buzz around the cultivation chamber, Jin Somyeong, who had been deep in thought, made his decision.

For now, I’ll raise Cheonroedochegyeol while cultivating.

If he needed something along the way, he could respond flexibly when the time came.

Three months later.

While concentrating on cultivation, Jin Somyeong realized a few troublesome points.

I have nowhere to spend high-grade Spirit Stones.

There were too few Golden Core merchants on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sky Island.

Even including him, there were only six, which meant a proper market had never formed.

Of course, that did not mean high-grade Spirit Stones were completely useless.

Absorbing the energy contained in the stones directly would still help his cultivation. It was merely inefficient compared to buying and consuming spirit medicines.

…A pity, but I suppose it’s about time I left.

Sky Island was an excellent place for Foundation Establishment cultivators to train, but not for Golden Core cultivators.

The greatest problem was that he could no longer use his preferred cultivation method of drinking spirit medicines like water.

Of course, he had no intention of simply leaving.

I should repay what I owe.

He would hunt more Demon Kings so that Sky Island would not run into trouble even without him, and he also needed to replenish the treasure in the Cleansing Spirit Pond he had visited after winning the boarding tournament.

When he took the Thunder-Sealing Pearl from the lightning-attribute spirit spring in the Cleansing Spirit Pond, he had promised that once he formed his Golden Core, he would replace it with something better.

He also planned to gather some local specialties that could only be obtained in this sea before departing.

There was a lot to do.

As he wondered what to handle first, the Blue Radiance Spring he had created in the Mental Secret Realm suddenly came to mind.

Come to think of it, someone said there was a sea where lightning struck all year round.

It was called the Thundercloud Sea, a dangerous place where the entire sky was filled with dark clouds and lightning poured down without cease.

…Not bad.

It seemed perfect.

Since it was a sea where lightning fell all year round, lightning-attribute spiritual objects should be everywhere.

After forming his Golden Core, the effects of the Blue Radiance Spring that had served him so well during Foundation Establishment had begun to feel weak. If he replenished it with lightning-attribute spiritual objects from that place, the problem might be solved.

And while I’m at it, I should be able to find treasure to place in the Cleansing Spirit Pond as well.

Two birds with one stone.

Nodding to himself, Jin Somyeong left his cave residence. Before setting out for the Thundercloud Sea, there was somewhere he needed to stop.

He left Hyo-wol City and headed to the city managed by In Hu-yeon.

“I was just wondering whether I should contact you, but your timing is perfect. Here’s the item you entrusted to me.”

“Oh… thank you.”

Jin Somyeong observed the black vessel floating before his eyes.

It was a sleek-looking boat, long and sharp at both ends, rather like a kayak.

Of course, it was far larger than a kayak.

As befitted a Dharma treasure, its size could be adjusted, and at maximum expansion, around ten people could ride in it.

There was even a cabin at its center, making it seem convenient for resting during flight.

“I named it the Black Jade Flying Vessel. What do you think?”

“I like it very much. How fast is it?”

“About as fast as a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator flying at full speed. Of course, in that case, it consumes a great deal of high-grade Spirit Stones.”

In Hu-yeon hesitated before speaking. “If you fly at full speed, it uses one high-grade Spirit Stone every two hours.”

Two hours, roughly speaking.

So if I fly all day, it’ll consume about twelve.

For reference, one high-grade Spirit Stone was worth more than ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones.

The Black Jade Flying Vessel was, quite literally, a Dharma treasure that flew while scattering Spirit Stones like rain.

Still, for Jin Somyeong, that was an expenditure he could bear.

“One every two hours… not bad.”

“That isn’t bad?”

The corner of In Hu-yeon’s mouth twitched. Like a man who had heard something utterly bizarre, he opened and closed his mouth several times before clearing his throat.

“Because you killed the Black Night Eagle so cleanly, its inner core was almost perfectly preserved. Thanks to that, I was able to embed the divine ability it used into the Dharma treasure.”

“A divine ability?”

Among the divine abilities the Black Night Eagle had used, the one that left the deepest impression was its clone technique.

Jin Somyeong looked at him half in expectation, half in disbelief, and In Hu-yeon did not betray that hope.

“A clone divine ability. When activated, the Black Jade Flying Vessel splits into five and scatters in every direction. It should be useful when you need to escape from a powerful enemy.”

“Ohhh.”

“For reference, this ability must be used with your mana, not Spirit Stones.”

“Excellent. May I try riding it?”

“It’s yours now, so of course.”

“Then I’ll take a quick lap around the surrounding sea as a test.”

The moment Jin Somyeong boarded the Black Jade Flying Vessel and poured in high-grade Spirit Stones, the vessel became wrapped in wind and shot straight upward.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

At the same time, the Black Jade Flying Vessel split into five and scattered in all directions. Even In Hu-yeon, who had made the Dharma treasure, could not tell which one was real.

Flash!

Five streaks of light vanished beyond sight in the span of a few breaths.

Left behind, In Hu-yeon stared up at the sky in admiration.

“I made it myself, but that speed really is incredible. …But just how much does that flight cost?”

Two months later.

After crossing the boundless open sea and arriving at the Thundercloud Sea, Jin Somyeong could not help but marvel.

Rumble! Crack!

East, west, south, north—wherever he looked, lightning was striking without pause.

What a spectacle.

The sky was packed with dense black clouds, without a single ray of sunlight in sight.

Rrrrrumble…

The sight of the dark sea being dyed blue by lightning stirred awe for nature ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠itself.

It was the kind of place where any human—no, any living creature—could not help but feel instinctive fear.

But to Jin Somyeong, who had learned Cheonroedochegyeol and could absorb lightning, it looked like a treasure vault.

The instant he guided the Black Jade Flying Vessel into the Thundercloud Sea—

Boom!

As if it had been waiting for him, lightning struck.

Three high-grade Spirit Stones being used as power shattered at the same time. The protective barrier surrounding the vessel turned hazy in an instant.

“Whoops.”

It did not seem as if the vessel would last long, so he simply stored it in his subspace. In a sea as ominous as this, flying around with his bare body was better.

Boom!

A baptism of lightning poured down on him as soon as he disembarked, but because he had cultivated Cheonroedochegyeol, it posed no problem.

It stings a little.

Each time he was struck by lightning, he converted it into mana and steadily accumulated it in his dantian.

It’s a bit dangerous, but… if I handle this properly, I can cultivate here.

How long had he flown over that dark sea?

By the time the number of lightning strikes he had taken surpassed a hundred, he discovered the lightning-attribute spiritual object he had been seeking on a desolate rocky island.

A Thunder-Sealing Pearl!

He stared as though bewitched at the rock that emitted blue lightning.

This single chunk radiated more lightning energy than all twelve Thunder-Sealing Pearls inside his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Mental Secret Realm combined.

As expected, after becoming a Golden Core merchant, every harvest he obtained was on an entirely different level from before.

I’ll collect exactly one hundred of this size.

If he did, the Blue Radiance Spring in the Mental Secret Realm would become powerful enough to aid him even at Golden Core.