Divine Sense Surges
When the work was done, it was time for the reward.
To put the conclusion first, Jin Somyeong obtained five petals of the Moonlit Gold Grass.
One was his original compensation, three more came from Un Bi's share, and Madam Ryeo added another in gratitude for all he had gone through.
Five out of nine petals. More than half.
For a single night's hardship, it was more than enough, and Jin Somyeong was satisfied.
Five petals should be plenty.
If he enhanced their effect with the Boundless Great Ability before taking them, his Divine Sense would grow enormously. Perhaps before long, he might even possess Divine Sense on par with a late-stage Golden Core cultivator.
"Madam Ryeo. Thank you."
"I should be the one thanking you. In truth, I'd like to give you more, but I have an important use for the remaining Moonlit Gold Grass."
Madam Ryeo had regained the composure she'd shown when they first met, and she smiled with her eyes. She must have decided Jin Somyeong was someone she could trust, for the excessive fear she had shown toward him had faded.
Just then, Hye-gong, who had awakened after fainting, gave an awkward laugh and spoke.
"Ahem, I feel rather embarrassed since I didn't really do anything... but the Moonlit Gold Grass is something I truly need, so I'll shamelessly accept it."
For reference, Hye-gong received one petal as promised, while Madam Ryeo, the original owner of the spirit herb, kept three.
In the fairly warm atmosphere, Hye-gong, who had been looking sheepish, turned serious.
"I heard that Fellow Daoist Jin treated me. If you ever require my assistance, please come find me. I will do everything in my power to help."
"Hmm... Understood."
Jin Somyeong wasn't sure whether he would ever need such help, but there was no harm in accepting the offer, so he nodded. Hye-gong grinned broadly.
"Haha. Good. Then I shall take my leave. I intend to find a quiet place nearby, absorb the medicinal effect, and then return."
With that, Hye-gong promptly swallowed the Moonlit Gold Grass petal and vanished across the sky.
Jin Somyeong could roughly guess why the man had taken the petal despite the poor state of his body. By showing them that he had used his one and only petal, Hye-gong had cut off, at the root, any possibility that his companions might covet it.
It seemed excessively cautious, but Jin Somyeong couldn't mock him as a coward.
The world is cruel. He probably had no choice.
It was Hye-gong's own survival strategy.
Jin Somyeong shook his head and was just about to leave when Madam Ryeo stopped him.
"Fellow Daoist Jin. If you intend to return to Gwangya Immortal City, may I go with you? Once we arrive at the city, I'll give you another Moonlit Grass petal."
"Not Moonlit Gold Grass, but ordinary Moonlit Grass?"
"Yes. I plucked it just before it reached a thousand years of age, so its medicinal efficacy should still be more than sufficient."
An escort, then... Since he was heading that way anyway, it wouldn't be difficult. Still, something felt strange.
Why did Madam Ryeo have Moonlit Grass petals in her possession?
He suddenly remembered that of the twelve petals that should originally have been there, only nine had remained.
"By any chance, are those from the spirit herb that transformed into Moonlit Gold Grass today?"
"That's right. I personally harvested them a month ago."
He had already been curious as to why three petals had been missing, but she had plucked them herself? It was difficult to understand.
"Why would you damage a perfectly intact spirit herb?"
"Because I judged that I couldn't handle it."
"Handle it?"
"Ah, the more petals Moonlit Gold Grass has, the range over which its fragrance spreads increases exponentially. If more than ten petals had remained, not only the black cloud insects but other things as well would have swarmed here."
As she continued explaining, Jin Somyeong more or less understood.
A complete Moonlit Gold Grass was a fourth-tier, Nascent Soul-class spiritual object. As precious a treasure as it was, there was no telling what sort of danger it might attract.
That was why she had damaged the petals: to lower the level of risk.
Should I call that wise?
It was unusual to see someone refuse to be swept away by greed and instead coldly aim only for what lay within their ability to obtain.
Among cultivators, that temperament was rare. Those who were satisfied with what was given to them usually found it difficult to advance their realm.
If it had been Jin Somyeong, he probably would have challenged a complete Moonlit Gold Grass, whether it ended in triumph or disaster.
"It's meaningless to say now, but... in truth, I judged that we should have left only six petals, not nine."
"Six? Isn't that too few?"
"No. Given Un Bi's strength and mine, that would have been appropriate. But Un Bi insisted we could absolutely handle it and stopped me at every turn. Something about it felt off, so I hurried to find someone who could help."
"Ah."
After hearing her explanation, he understood how things had unfolded.
Madam Ryeo had added companions because she was worried Un Bi might betray her.
"I thought that if I brought allies with me, Un Bi wouldn't dare act rashly... Haah."
She looked up at the sky and sighed, a bitter smile on her lips.
Hadn't she said they had known each other for thirty years?
Being betrayed by someone like that would cut deep. It might even make a person lose faith in others altogether.
"Oh my, I'm sorry. I said something pointless. Shall we head back at once?"
"...Let's."
Still, like a true cultivator, Madam Ryeo did not drown in her emotions. Once she gathered herself, Jin Somyeong returned to Gwangya Immortal City with her.
Ten days later.
A man and a woman appeared at the southern gate of Gwangya Immortal City.
The young man in a gray Daoist robe with a sword at his waist was Jin Somyeong, and the beautiful woman with the voluptuous figure was Ryeo Jeong.
Madam Ryeo, who had looked somewhat exhausted, brightened at once. Only after seeing the city gates did she seem to fully relax, and she did not hide the smile on her face.
"Fellow Daoist Jin. Thank you so much. Thanks to you, I reached the immortal city safely."
"I merely did as promised."
"That's exactly what matters. If everyone kept their promises as well as you do, Fellow Daoist Jin, life would be so much easier."
Her tone was far more familiar than it had been at their first meeting.
Whatever wariness remained had vanished completely, and reaching the immortal city seemed to have increased her trust in Jin Somyeong even further.
After handing over the Moonlit Grass petal that served as his escort fee, she said,
"Fellow Daoist Jin. Are you planning to enter the Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda? Someone as strong as you shouldn't encounter much danger inside."
"I haven't decided for certain yet."
"Hmm. If you do go in, how about going with me?"
"Well... If you have any worthwhile information, Madam Ryeo, I'll consider it."
"Information?"
"A map of the secret realm's interior, for example. Something like that."
"How demanding you are. The Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda changes every time it opens, so how could anyone obtain reliable information?"
If that was the case, there was nothing to be done. Instead of answering, Jin Somyeong shrugged, and Madam Ryeo gave him a sidelong look.
"Fine. If you change your mind, come find me. With my skill in arrays, I'll be useful when breaking restrictions in the secret realm."
He watched her leave with a wave of her hand, then turned away.
Back in his eastern cultivation chamber after a long absence, he laid out the spoils he had obtained this time.
Let's see.
First, he examined the belongings of the demonic cultivator who had worn the windproof robe. Unfortunately, nothing there satisfied him.
There were several magical treasures, but all of them were related to spirit insects, so he had little interest.
Insect-Blood Essence? This is at least somewhat useful.
When he shook the small jade bottle, barely large enough to fit within his palm, he felt liquid slosh inside.
According to the jade slip the demonic cultivator had possessed, applying this Insect-Blood Essence to the body prevented insects from attacking. A single drop lasted for a full day, making it a fairly decent item.
Is it something like a pheromone that makes them mistake the user for one of their own? So this was why he wasn't attacked by the black cloud insects.
It was not something Jin Somyeong had seen in the markets of Gwangya Immortal City. That meant it wasn't easy to obtain.
Click.
He opened the jade bottle containing the Insect-Blood Essence and estimated how much remained.
About seven drops? I won't sell this. I'll keep it.
Next was Un Bi's storage pouch.
It had a restriction on it, but opening it was easy. Jin Somyeong consumed ten units of the Boundless Great Ability and absorbed the contents wholesale.
He inspected the new items that had appeared in his subspace. As expected of a cultivator who wielded flames, the pouch was full of fire-attribute spiritual objects.
Red Sun True Flame Art.
It was a fire-attribute cultivation art that could be practiced from the Qi Refining stage all the way to late-stage Golden Core.
It was a proper secret inheritance that included Fire Escape, one of the Five Element Escape Arts.
After reading the jade slip repeatedly, Jin Somyeong nodded.
Not bad.
He had no intention of learning the Red Sun True Flame Art, but Fire Escape interested him. If he studied it well, it seemed as though it might help with Lightning Escape.
After the jade slip, he examined the other items.
Fire-attribute talismans with mid-stage Golden Core power, a gourd specialized for storing flame, and more.
He sorted the spoils into things he would use himself and things he would sell. Then he discovered a pure white petal and let out a soft exclamation.
Oh? There's a Moonlit Grass petal here too.
Where had Un Bi obtained this petal?
Most likely, when the three petals were removed from the original twelve, Un Bi had taken one for himself.
Thanks to that, I got one more.
Jin Somyeong did not bother suppressing the smile that naturally formed on his lips. After finishing the sorting in a pleased mood, he roamed Gwangya Immortal City to gather information.
Before consuming the Moonlit Gold Grass, he investigated how he could obtain the greatest possible effect.
The more you take at once, the stronger the effect?
In other words, taking five petals all at once was better than taking one petal five separate times.
Tap, tap.
He tapped the scabbard out of habit and fell into thought.
Moonlit Gold Grass was a fairly precious item, so eating it raw felt wasteful. Naturally, he had to use the Boundless Great Ability to amplify its effect.
How many units of the Boundless Great Ability should I consume?
Ten thousand? Twenty thousand?
Or should he make it clean and simply use one hundred thousand?
At present, he was focusing the Boundless Great Ability on the Five Viscera Hundred Refinements Art, but delaying that by a month or so should be acceptable.
After turning the matter over from every angle, he made his decision.
I'll pour in all one hundred thousand.
Tempering the divine soul was extremely important.
The stronger the divine soul, the stronger the Divine Sense, the sense by which one perceived the surroundings. That would allow him to gain an advantage in any information war during battle.
His five senses would sharpen, and his resistance to illusions would increase as well... In short, the stronger his divine soul became, the better.
He waited fifteen days with the same feeling as waiting for a delivery.
The moment the half-filled Boundless Great Ability fully recovered, he swallowed five Moonlit Gold Grass petals and two ordinary Moonlit Grass petals.
Seven petals in total, all at once. Nor did he forget to consume one hundred thousand units of the Boundless Great Ability to amplify their effect.
It tastes sweet.
The moment the petals slid down his throat and melted away, a clear, refreshing energy rose from his stomach, so pure it felt as though it had opened a hollow all the way through his chest.
This was the critical moment, so he focused.
He carefully gathered the energy reminiscent of moonlight and guided every last trace of it between his brows.
"Mmm!"
His entire body trembled. For a brief moment, the sensation was so refreshing it sent a chill down his spine.
...Cold.
It felt as though his soul were freezing.
A cracking sound echoed by his ears, but he could not tell whether it was real or an auditory hallucination.
Was it because he had eaten seven petals at once? Or was this the power of one hundred thousand units of the Boundless Great Ability?
As expected of a spirit herb that had gathered moonlight for a thousand years, its medicinal effect was tremendous.
Ah...
The first thing to vanish was his sight.
Even with his eyes open, he could not see, and at some point every sound abruptly cut off.
Then touch, smell, and taste followed. All five senses disappeared.
It felt like sinking into the deep, dark sea. A coldness colder than polar ice froze even his thoughts.
His Divine Sense shrank as well. As though imprisoned, it could no longer leave his body.
Complete darkness.
Would being lost in space feel like this? His sense of time grew hazy.
He clung to the single faint thread of consciousness that remained and drifted through the darkness.
Crack!
Along with the sound of something solid splitting apart, light poured in.
His suppressed Divine Sense erupted outward in every direction.
It easily surpassed its original limit of two kilometers, and still it did not stop.
Expanding with an almost cathartic clarity, his Divine Sense finally reached four kilometers.
Its range had doubled.
"Ah!"
His divine soul had reached the level of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, and Jin Somyeong could not contain his joy.
Clenching his fist, he sprang to his feet. He wanted to go somewhere secluded right now and test Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust.
If he succeeded in controlling Condensing Light to Extinguish Dust...
I should be able to fire it in succession, or mix it into my Sword Qi.
His combat strength would rise to an entirely different dimension. Eyes gleaming, he hurried out of the eastern chamber.