Yu Yue Secret Realm (3)
"Hm. This is a tough call."
Of all times, the sound of fighting came drifting in from the very direction of the spirit herbs I'd sensed. Judging by the aura, it felt stronger than the herbs I'd gathered earlier—simply walking away would have stung.
While I was still weighing it, something cracked and collided in the distance, punctuated by a short scream.
Well. I might as well go see how this plays out.
Just in case, I pulled out my Swift Movement Talisman and Stealth Talisman and activated them both.
How long had I crept forward, careful to keep myself hidden? A cluster of boulders came into view, and what I saw before me were three disciples of a minor sect. One lay slumped against a tree, blood smeared at his mouth; the other two stood over him, warily watching the demon beast before them. The beast didn't look to be in great shape either, if the white blood seeping from its body meant anything.
One Qi Refining Six-Star with two Five-Stars. And that beast—is that a Withered-Branch Silkworm?
Behind the creature—a demon beast that looked exactly like a dry tree branch—sat a single grayish-blue mushroom. Its cap spread like an umbrella, its rim a pure, snow-white, as if dusted with frost.
So that's the Cold Snow Lingzhi they were after.
One of the targets the major sects had requested.
Then I can't just walk past.
Still, instead of stepping out right away, I decided to watch a little longer. Because aside from the beast and those three, there seemed to be someone else. Behind the boulders, a faintly pricking aura was stirring—hidden with real effort, but not well enough to escape my senses entirely.
Late-stage Qi Refining. Around Eight Star, I'd guess.
Nothing like the ones fighting the silkworm out front.
They're waiting too.
No reason to stick your neck in first, after all. Let the situation resolve itself, then scoop up the fisherman's share. I settled in leisurely to watch.
The fight out front was still going. Of the three minor-sect disciples, the only one worth a damn was the Qi Refining Six-Star—probably because he had the highest cultivation of the bunch. But he was clearly at his limit already; his labored breathing was plain to see. The disciple beside him was in the same state.
"Now! Throw the talisman!"
"Yes, Senior Brother!"
The senior brother gritted his teeth and shouted the order, and the disciple beside him hastily flung a talisman. Crimson flame coiled around the Withered-Branch Silkworm's body, and the beast immediately panicked. Seizing the opening, the disciple who'd called the command drove his sword into it. As the blade sank deep beneath the creature's neck, white fluid sprayed out. Its body convulsed violently, then went slack.
Color bloomed back into the disciples' faces, which only moments ago had looked ready to collapse.
"We did it!"
"We got it, Senior Brother!"
"Haah... it's over. Hurry, the Cold Snow Lingzhi—"
That was the moment. A clean, slicing sound rang out.
The disciple was mid-word when he froze. A thin, thread-fine line had appeared across his senior brother's throat. He didn't seem to understand what had just happened to him.
"Uh...?"
His body pitched forward and crumpled. And at that instant, a cultivator burst out from behind the boulders. A robe woven with gold thread, a sword-shaped artifact floating at his back. A disciple of Golden Phoenix Valley.
He glanced once at the silkworm sprawled on the ground, flicked a look at the Cold Snow Lingzhi behind it, and spoke.
"Appreciate you doing the dirty work for me."
The remaining disciple's face drained white. Only moments ago it had been flushed with the thought of claiming the Cold Snow Lingzhi alongside his senior brother—now every trace of that was gone.
"You spared me the tedium, at least."
"...You were watching from the start?"
"So what? Would it change anything? You're not from a major sect, so don't feel too cheated when you die."
The disciple ground his teeth and squared his stance. "You son of a bitch—!"
"Like I said—you shouldn't have coveted things above your station."
The Golden Phoenix Valley disciple walked forward slowly. His gaze was no longer on the lone survivor; it was fixed on the Cold Snow Lingzhi behind him.
Watching that, I decided there was no reason to keep observing.
His eyes are glued to the mushroom.
Still hidden, I drew a mid-grade talisman and hurled it at him. The talisman tore through the air, flying straight for the Golden Phoenix Valley disciple. To his credit, he wasn't slow to react—his eyes flashed toward the direction of the throw.
"Who's there!"
BOOM—!
The talisman burst against his side. He yanked his artifact back to defend, but couldn't block it entirely, and confusion flickered across his face at the ambush. He'd probably thought he was hiding cleverly—but it seemed it hadn't occurred to him that someone else might be watching too.
Using that opening, I stepped out from behind the boulders.
"Why don't we call it here?"
The Golden Phoenix Valley disciple swept his eyes over me once, and his face hardened. He'd felt the gap in our cultivation.
"Qi Refining Nine Star...!"
Either way, what mattered now was momentum.
"Get up."
The mutated Verdant Heart Beans I'd been carrying in reserve swelled and split. In an instant, five bean soldiers rose, sharp limbs leveled in his direction. I deliberately took one more step forward.
"Care to continue?"
The Golden Phoenix Valley disciple clenched his jaw. The sword-shaped artifact floating behind him swung to point at me. Going by his energy, he could probably launch it this instant—but he clearly had no intention of making the first move. He seemed to consider something for a moment, then recalled his artifact and raised a placating hand.
"Fine, that's enough. I've no intention of gambling my life over a single Cold Snow Lingzhi on the first day."
I said nothing, just looked at him. No reason to lower my guard first.
"No sense picking a fight with the Cheongyun Sect elder's direct disciple and leaving loose ends behind, either." He shrugged. "Fighting here would be nothing short of idiotic."
I narrowed my eyes. "How did you know who I was?"
"Come on. Who else at the Cheongyun Sect fights at Qi Refining Nine Star with the Bean Soldier Art? Knowing the key rivals in this realm is just common sense."
...Tch. So the Bean Soldier Art really is too conspicuous.
The Golden Phoenix Valley disciple caught my expression and smirked. "No need to brood over it. Even having seen you, I've no intention of running around broadcasting it."
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"If you can't, feel free to attack right now."
Even as he said it, his body was already half-turned. He had no real intention of fighting. That suited me fine too—no reason to burn strength on the first day.
"Take it all this time. The Cold Snow Lingzhi, the Withered-Branch Silkworm, all of it. But if you run into other senior brothers of mine, you won't get off this lucky."
"Same goes for them."
"Bold, aren't you."
With that parting shot, the Golden Phoenix Valley disciple turned fully away. I kept my guard up, watching until he slipped past the edge of my senses. A few times his energy stirred, probing for me, before he gradually drew farther off. Only after his presence vanished without a trace did I let out a short breath.
"Good. Return."
At my command, the bean soldiers shrank back into little beans. I recalled every last one and walked toward the Cold Snow Lingzhi. I drew out my jade case and harvested it with care—and didn't forget the chip of rock it had been rooted in, either.
Next was the silkworm's corpse. It had been swept by fire once, so it wasn't in the best condition, but there was still something to salvage. Fragments of its hard shell would serve well enough as material. I quickly harvested only the parts I needed and stored them in my pouch.
Only after I'd finished did a ragged breathing reach my ears. I turned to find the surviving minor-sect disciple still standing there, dazed. He hesitated a long while before finally finding his voice.
"Th-thank you... for saving me, Senior."
Without answering, I looked him up and down. His wounds weren't few, but if he could get out on his own, he'd live. I drew a jade vial from my pouch.
"That is...?"
"Yosang Pill. The one who lost his head is beyond help, but the one back there—he'll live if he takes it fast."
"Thank you, Senior!"
I moved to hand over the vial—then lightly drew it back.
"By the way. Were you planning to take that with your mouth shut and nothing to say?"
"...I beg your pardon?"
"I saved your life, I'm giving you medicine. Taking it and clamping your mouth shut wouldn't be proper."
"But we have nothing.... You took the Cold Snow Lingzhi too, Senior..."
"So you really are broke."
My gaze landed on his storage pouch, and the color drained from his face. To those disciples, that pouch was their entire fortune.
"N-no, we can't! That's what our sect's disciples pooled together from the realm—!"
"Can't, huh. And if I just walk away, do you actually survive? Your choice is free. Oh—don't misunderstand, I'm not asking for everything. One of the ones lying back there, and your senior brother's pouch. Not yours. What do you say? Fair deal, isn't it?"
I rattled the Yosang Pill casually, hands clasped behind my back.
"……"
His eyes darted between the jade vial in my hand and the fallen disciples, and at last his head drooped.
"...Understood."
Stumbling, he gathered the storage pouches from the fallen. He hesitated a moment—then bit his lip hard and held them out to me. Only then did I toss him the jade vial I'd been holding.
"Feed that one first. Wait too long and he really won't make it."
"Y-yes, sir!"
I turned without another word. A few steps on, I paused.
"And about today—keep your mouth shut and don't go running your tongue. Let's not make things tiresome for either of us."
"...I'll remember it. Thank you, Senior."
"Good."
With that, I left the place. If luck held, he'd live. If he ran into someone less agreeable, well—that would be the end of it. Meeting someone like me was probably the luckiest thing to happen to him today.
I gave the pouches a quick once-over. A handful of spirit stones. A few serviceable talismans. And an assortment of miscellaneous spirit herbs, either gathered or looted before they came in here.
Not bad at all.
"No wonder people turn to banditry, honestly."
Not that I intended to make a habit of playing the robber. I had taken their pouches, taken their pouches—but I'd swallowed a sliver of conscience and spared their lives on the way out. Of course, if they'd been the sort to fear loose ends, the mercy would've had to end differently.
I moved deeper in, picking up spirit herbs as I sensed them nearby. I didn't plan to dawdle too long in the outskirts—but what was worth taking, I'd take.
Incidentally, that Golden Phoenix Valley fellow hadn't seemed all that hung up on a mere Cold Snow Lingzhi. Which meant things far more precious than that lay deeper inside.
The real bloodbath will happen in the heart of the realm.
Lost in such thoughts, I walked for quite a while before the end of the forest came into view. The dense tree cover cut off all at once. Ahead lay a crumbled wall, half-collapsed stone platforms, and shattered pillars scattered here and there.
"Nothing but ruins as far as the eye can see."
Slowing my pace, I drew the jade slip from my pouch. The place I'd arrived at was called Janheowon—the Plain of Broken Ruins.
The atmosphere really is different from the Eumsurim.
Compared to being inside the forest, my energy felt as if it were draining away, and no spirit herbs worth catching registered at all. I climbed atop a collapsed stone wall nearby. From the higher vantage, the layout of the place came into focus. Beyond the broken walls stretched low house foundations, and at the center stood one great hall. Toward that hall—the only structure left standing—trailed footprints of groups that had passed through, along with the residue of spirit energy.
So I'm not the only one here.
I looked again at the central hall. Even scanning my surroundings, that single hall was the only thing intact. And the density of spirit energy there looked higher than anywhere else, too. Examining the jade slip more closely, I found a description of the hall: a formation remained within it, and those who passed through the formation could obtain relics inside. Moreover, it was written that the hall changed every time the realm opened.
"Well, that explains it."
No wonder the ones who'd arrived first had all gravitated toward the hall. I climbed down from the wall and set my steps toward it.
There were more people near the hall than I'd expected. On the broad clearing before the central hall, disciples of the major sects had already claimed their spots. The four great sects, naturally—and small knots of cultivators from the lesser sects stood three or four deep, ringing the hall's entrance. As for the Cheongyun Sect contingent, I didn't recognize a single face among them.
It felt awkward to just walk up and stand there, so I hung back alone, watching the groups. And oddly enough, not one of them was entering first. Everyone was waiting for someone else to go in first, scout the danger, and eat the loss. A textbook case of hunting for a canary in the coal mine. They craved the treasure, but hated taking the hit—so they were all shoving at each other with nothing but glances.
Then disciples in crimson robes—Blood Demon Sect—shoved roughly past the cultivators blocking the front and strode out.
"Move it. Watching cowards circle each other bores me. The Blood Demon Sect goes first."
Curses erupted from the crowd that had been tiptoeing around one another, but the sheer killing edge in those disciples' bearing pressed them quiet again. Paying the onlookers no mind, the crimson-robed cultivators flung themselves into the light wreathing the hall.
"Damn it, we can't let only those bastards in!"
"Move, hurry!"
Once the crimson robes went first, the rest began filtering into the light in twos and threes. While I stood alone, a group in Cheongyun Sect robes had drifted up beside me.
Qi Refining Nine Star, same as me.
"You there—Ryu Dou, is it? Pleasure. I'm Seo Munhyeok of Mystic Qi Peak. Looks like you're on your own—perfect timing, then. Care to enter with us?"
"I'll pass."
"This is exactly the time it pays to stick with your own sect."
When my response came up lukewarm, a female disciple beside him picked up the thread. "Won't it be dangerous alone?"
She wasn't wrong—but even among people of the same sect, I had no intention of turning my back on total strangers.
"I have some other places to look over first."
Seo Munhyeok smiled briefly. "Fair enough. I won't force you. In return, don't trip us up if we cross paths inside."
"You make sure you don't trip me up."
At my flat reply, he chuckled and turned away. "Let's go. We can't afford to be late either."
The three Cheongyun Sect disciples exchanged no further words and headed for the hall. A short while later, they too pushed into the light cloaking the entrance.
The once-crowded clearing grew sparse. Most had already gone inside, and those who remained only kept watching one another.
When I come out, I'll need to watch for ambushes too—people lying in wait for whoever's carrying treasure.
I hesitated no longer and walked toward the hall. The moment I pushed my body through the entrance, my vision flared white.