The Taste of Home
After hunting down four demon kings at once, Jin Somyeong kept himself busy.
While asking around for a way to leave for another region, he spared no expense in using the treasures he had acquired so far. With the shell of the crayfish-like demon king, he reinforced the defensive power of the Black Jade Flying Boat, and with the violet-red crystal he had obtained from the Thundercloud Sea, he crafted an alchemy furnace for pill refinement.
At first, he considered using the claw-like materials that brimmed with sharpness to forge a third-realm sword, but soon realized there was no need.
He could simply feed the materials to Mugeuk whole.
If I just increase the sharpness Mugeuk possesses, the result will be the same.
The method was hardly difficult. He broke apart the various spiritual materials imbued with edge and scattered the fragments like fertilizer over the spirit herb field where Mugeuk usually rested. That was all.
After that, Jin Somyeong's days settled into a rhythm. He focused on cultivation, set out to hunt whenever the location of a demon king was identified, and continued searching for a way to leave the sea behind.
Of the sixteen demon kings that had once attacked Sky Island, more than half met their end at Jin Somyeong's hands.
By the time the demon kings were shuddering at the mere mention of his name, the Lord of Sky Island came to see him with a troubled expression.
"Fellow Daoist Jin. That should be enough."
"Pardon?"
"I never thought I would be the one to say this, but... if any more demon kings die, it will harm us humans instead."
"Harm us?"
It was difficult to understand at first.
When Jin Somyeong looked at him in open question, the Lord of Sky Island gave a bitter smile.
"What do you think will happen if all the demon kings disappear?"
"Well... wouldn't that obviously be a good thing?"
"At first, yes. But abundant resources will give rise to even more cultivators. In the end, sooner or later, humans will begin competing and fighting among themselves."
"Ah."
For a moment, Jin Somyeong thought of Damun Kingdom, the country where he had first begun cultivating. Even though humans there held an absolute advantage over demon beasts, conflict had never ceased. If anything, they were desperate to devour one another.
Sky Island becoming like Jeokyang Market?
Honestly, he could not say that would be a pleasant change.
"It seems you understand. Unfortunately, the disappearance of demon beasts does not mean eternal peace will arrive. Heaven does not desire such a thing."
"Heaven does not desire peace...?"
"Ah, that is merely my personal view. There is no need to take it too seriously. In terms of results, thanks to you, Fellow Daoist Jin, Sky Island will enjoy peace for at least the next hundred years."
Jin Somyeong chewed over those words, then nodded.
So that was why the Lord of Sky Island, despite being at the late Golden Core stage, never actively hunted demon kings.
To the Lord of Sky Island, demon kings were a necessary evil.
In any case, Jin Somyeong had hunted them only to repay the debt he owed Sky Island. It was not as though he had been driven by some grand mission. This much was enough.
"Understood."
"Thank you for understanding. By the way, Fellow Daoist Jin. Are you perhaps thinking of leaving Sky Island?"
"Yes."
"That is unfortunate. Sky Island is not a bad place to cultivate at leisure..."
It seemed he had heard that Jin Somyeong was looking for a way to leave for another region.
After a brief silence, the Lord of Sky Island let out a sigh.
"There is no point in forcibly holding back someone whose heart has already left. In truth, I know of one teleportation formation. If you wish, I will tell you of it."
Jin Somyeong froze for an instant, then his face brightened.
"Of course I wish to know. Where does the teleportation formation lead?"
"Near Hyeonun City in Dongju."
It was not Namju, where Damun Kingdom was located, but that did not matter. Once he reached a large city, moving to another region would not be difficult.
However, there was something strange about the Lord of Sky Island's tone. The way he spoke so precisely of the teleportation formation's destination made it sound as if he had used it himself.
"...Are you perhaps from Dongju?"
"Yes. It has already been two hundred years since I left that place and came to Sky Island. At first, I thought of returning, but... before I knew it, this place had become my home."
The Lord of Sky Island gazed into the air with distant eyes, as if recalling the remote past, then held out a jade slip.
It was a map containing the location of the teleportation formation.
Somewhere in an underground cavern.
A place no one had entered for two hundred years was suddenly filled with light.
After the radiance pouring from the teleportation formation faded, a young man appeared with a sword at his waist. It was Jin Somyeong, who had quietly left Sky Island so the demon kings would not be informed.
So this is Dongju.
Jin Somyeong looked around the dim cavern and fell into thought.
There were two things he needed to do first. One was to find a place suitable for cultivation, and the other was to return to Damun Kingdom, the place that could be called his hometown.
There was only one reason he needed to go back to Damun Kingdom. Revenge.
Jin Somyeong had an enemy he needed to repay.
The Young Master of the Cheonsi Sect.
He was a demonic cultivator who, long ago, when Jin Somyeong had just reached Foundation Establishment, had tried to refine him into a jiangshi. Now that Jin Somyeong had achieved Golden Core, it was time to find him and make him regret it.
I hope he's been living well.
Disaster stood out best when it arrived in the midst of happiness. The higher the young master had flown, the more satisfying it would be to drag him down.
Imagining the sweetness of revenge, Jin Somyeong let out a faint chuckle.
Since this was his first time in Dongju, his priority was to grasp the situation.
First, I should find the largest nearby city.
Standing in the underground cavern, Jin Somyeong flicked his finger.
Whoosh!
Sword Qi shot forth and carved a tunnel leading all the way to the surface.
A certain shop in Hyeonun City, Dongju.
At the Jade Reflection Pavilion, a shop specializing in medicinal pills that had been operated for seven generations, an old man who appeared to be the owner had been staring fixedly at the entrance since early morning.
"Grandfather. Who are you waiting for so intently?"
At the question from his grandson, who had only just reached the middle stage of Qi Refining, the old man gave a small laugh.
"I had an auspicious dream today. It was an omen that the god of wealth would descend upon us."
"Oh, come on. I thought it was something serious. Nine times out of ten, your dreams are wro— ow!"
The old man rapped his grandson on the head and clicked his tongue.
"Do not dampen the mood. If you have nothing to do, go clean. What will you do if the god of wealth comes and then turns back because of your laziness?"
"But I already cleaned everything..."
"Ahem."
The grandson pouted and cast a wind-control spell. He was sweeping away nonexistent dust for the second time when the shop entrance opened and someone stepped inside.
It was a young man wearing a top-grade second-realm sword at his waist. His plain white dharma robe, devoid of ornament, and his calm expression suited him perfectly; he was unmistakably a sword cultivator.
The grandson did not even have time to react.
"Welcome!"
The old man, who had been watching the entrance from inside the shop, ran forward so quickly that the wind whistled around him and greeted the young man.
"Hm?"
The young man who had just entered the shop—no, Jin Somyeong—hesitated.
The eyes of the Golden Core old man who seemed to be the shopkeeper were sparkling so intensely that they felt burdensome.
"...I came to buy some third-realm cultivation pills. Do you have any?"
"Of course! Here is the list of pills our shop currently has in stock."
Jin Somyeong scanned the jade slip the old man respectfully offered with Divine Sense.
There was, of course, a wide variety of first- and second-realm pills, and there were also quite a few third-realm pills, which were suitable for Golden Core cultivators.
It was certainly different from Sky Island. Perhaps because this was on land, where transportation routes were connected, even an ordinary shop sold third-realm pills.
Of course, he did not think all of those pills belonged to this shop. They might have been selling goods on behalf of a large merchant association.
"Ink Cloud Pills and Fire Essence Pills. These two seem the best."
The price was fifty high-grade Spirit Stones per pill. They were expensive pills, but they had no side effects.
When Jin Somyeong chose the two most premium options, the old man's mouth spread into a broad grin.
"Haha. Your eye is truly exceptional. Those two pills are the finest among all the pills our Jade Reflection Pavilion carries. How many shall I prepare for you?"
"How many do you have?"
"Pardon?"
"Just give me everything in the shop."
The old man swallowed hard, then spoke in a trembling voice.
"Together, those two pills exceed one hundred in number. Will that be all right?"
"Yes."
If it was only around a hundred, there was no need to hesitate. Even combined, the price would only be five thousand high-grade Spirit Stones.
Jin Somyeong gave a firm nod, expressing his intent to buy them all.
How many high-grade Spirit Stones did Jin Somyeong currently possess?
Although he had absorbed a considerable amount while cultivating, he still had more than fifty thousand left. After breaking through to Golden Core, the Mental Secret Realm's daily production had increased to forty stones.
I should spend them lavishly.
Spirit Stones had meaning only when converted into cultivation resources.
"H-here they are. I will include the storage pouch at no extra charge."
When Jin Somyeong scanned the storage pouch the old man offered with trembling hands, he saw exactly one hundred and thirty-one third-realm pills inside. Just in case, he examined the pills carefully, but there were no issues.
Satisfied, he paid without complaint.
"...Thank you very much!"
"Shopkeeper. By the way, do you know how I might get to Namju?"
"Namju? One moment, please. I will ask my friends."
The old man, who had been delighted like a child after receiving the Spirit Stones, turned serious. He took out a voice transmission talisman and began contacting people here and there like a man given an important mission, leaving no chance for Jin Somyeong to stop him.
How kind.
Perhaps because he had spent so many Spirit Stones, the treatment was different.
After some time, the old man spoke with a much brighter expression.
"Honored customer. I have found out. They say there is a regular ship from Gwangya Immortal City to Namju."
"Gwangya Immortal City?"
"Yes. It is a Nascent Soul-level immortal city located two thousand li to the southwest..."
After listening to the explanation for quite a while, Jin Somyeong nodded.
Two thousand li. Converted to modern units, it was roughly five hundred miles.
When he had been at Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment, that would have been a rather burdensome distance, but now that he was at Golden Core, it was no problem at all. It was a distance he could simply fly with his bare body.
After also purchasing a nearby map and some body-refinement pills, Jin Somyeong left the shop.
Looking at the shops stretching all along the market district, he made up his mind.
I should stop by a few more places.
He had just bought more than a hundred and thirty pills from the Jade Reflection Pavilion, but it was not enough.
Because he had learned the Seondanjisul, he could consume four times more pills than ordinary cultivators, so one hundred and thirty pills would not last even a few years.
He no longer wished to cultivate slowly without pills. He wanted to stockpile a sufficient amount in his subspace.
He entered an alley and activated Cheonbyeonmanhwagong. After changing his appearance, he went not into the Jade Reflection Pavilion he had just left, but into another shop.
"Shopkeeper. Do you have any third-realm cultivation pills?"
For several days, he traveled throughout the entire city and purchased all kinds of cultivation resources.
Materials for practicing alchemy, body-refinement spiritual medicines, and more. If he needed something, he bought it all. It was an act that drew considerable attention, but he paid little mind to that.
The extent of his caution was changing his appearance each time he entered a shop.
With Jin Somyeong's current strength, most disputes would not amount to problems at all.
And just as he was pouring out Spirit Stones like a man with a grudge to settle...
What is this?
A problem arose at a shop located in a remote alley.
He sensed faint Divine Sense marks hidden on several of the pills he had just purchased.
"Honored customer. Is something the matter?"
"...No."
He left the alley with the shopkeeper seeing him off in a kindly manner, and from that moment on, gazes clung to him.
Three of them?
The pursuers were three early Golden Core cultivators.
Just in case, he spent some of his Boundless Great Ability to amplify his senses, and he was certain. A faint malice was directed at him.
Unbelievable.
At a glance, they were robbers coveting his Spirit Stones.
To think they had reached the Golden Core realm only to resort to robbery. It was both pathetic and laughable.
Those Golden Core merchants had probably robbed countless people since their Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment days. Fortune had gone well for them, and they had reached Golden Core, but to think they would choose to provoke him of all people...
Then again, this is the cultivation world as it is.
He had not even reached Namju yet, but the feeling of returning to his hometown came over him in full force.
Of course, it was not a feeling he missed in the slightest.
He forced down the hollow laugh that wanted to escape and kept his face expressionless.
Extending his Divine Sense, he gauged their combat power, but the other side failed to notice at all. They seemed to believe they were hiding themselves, but he could see their positions clearly.
That meant all three of them had weaker Divine Sense than Jin Somyeong.
They are worse than demon kings.
There was nothing more to see. He stopped by a few more shops, then left the city as he was.
He was curious to see how far they would follow him.
And indeed, the robber bastards did not disappoint. Once he had moved some distance from the city, they began maneuvering to surround him.
If you want to die that badly, then fine.
Jin Somyeong let out a sigh and summoned Mugeuk, allowing them to seep into the Five Elements Sword.
Just as he drew his sword—
"Are you Yeo Dongbin?"
From the mouths of the robbers—no, of men who were no longer clearly robbers—came a name he truly had not expected.