Yu Yue Secret Realm (4)
“Ugh…. I just can't get used to these space-teleportation formations.”
Clutching my aching head, I looked around.
Still…. something's off about this place.
A strangely familiar feeling clung to everything I saw.
There was a tall building nearby, so I climbed up onto its roof, and only then did the shape of the streets and the layout of the structures come into clearer focus. The overall design was remarkably similar to the Janheowon ruins I had just passed through. Low foundations stretched beyond the outer walls, and at the center stood a great hall — every detail mirrored the place I'd come from.
Don't tell me. This is what it looked like back when it was whole?
The moment that thought landed, the source of the strange familiarity finally made sense. The reason this place, seen for the first time, hadn't felt foreign at all — its structure was identical to the ruins I'd walked through moments ago. Only the surface had changed.
“Then the objective is the central hall again.”
I pulled a flying artifact out of my void pouch and hopped onto it. When I channeled spirit energy into it, it lifted gently off the roof.
Just as I tried to rise higher into the air—
Vmmm.
A heavy vibration burst overhead. It rattled my control of the artifact completely.
“Huh?”
Thud.
I planted myself face-first into the ground, every bit as graceless as it sounds.
“Please tell me nobody saw that. Aigoo…. ow.”
I scrambled to my feet and hastily brushed the dust from my clothes and skin, glancing around to see if anyone had been watching.
So there's a flight restriction formation in place too? That kind of thing belongs in a warning sign at the entrance. No common decency at all.
Well, that settled it. There was nothing for it but to check the place out on foot.
I put the artifact away and turned my gaze to the surrounding buildings. Unlike the crumbling exterior I'd crossed through, the structures here stood intact. It was more as if the formation had forcibly restored them to their old shapes than that they'd never fallen.
Can I actually get inside one?
I approached the nearest modest little house. From the outside it looked immaculate, without a trace of damage. Carefully, I reached out to push the gate open.
Wuum.
The moment my hand extended, a transparent barrier shimmered into being, rebounding against my palm.
“So it won't open the polite way, huh.”
Fine then. Let's see how long you can hold out.
I fished a Mutant Clear Heart Bean from my void pouch. The moment it hit the ground, it swelled up into a bean soldier. I jerked my chin toward the gate.
“Smash it.”
The soldier darted forward and swung its arm.
BANG.
The transparent barrier shuddered violently with a dull thud, but after one great ripple it settled right back into place.
“Keep going.”
BANG.
BANG.
The bean soldier hammered the barrier again and again, but there wasn't the slightest sign of it cracking.
So the Mutant Clear Heart Bean isn't enough.
Well, that made sense. If anyone could break in just by batting at it, everything here would have been looted ages ago.
I drew a single ink-black bean from my void pouch. Looked at closely, it had a deep violet sheen, but at a glance it was dark enough to pass for pure black.
“Rise.”
The bean hit the ground and swelled with a low, resonant hum. Unlike the earlier soldier, a faint ripple of spirit energy washed past as it grew. This was the Black Armor Bean Soldier — and its appearance was that of a veteran general.
Its three-meter frame wore a helmet with wing-shaped ornaments, and over its dark purple skin sat scaled armor tinged with ink-black light. Most striking of all, its hand was closed around a low-grade artifact shaped like a cresmoon blade.
Do I even want to count how much money went into that thing?
For the record, the low-grade artifact was one I'd personally armed it with. A bare-handed soldier just doesn't look the part. Even so, a single unit like this was more than enough to crush a Ninth Stage Qi Condensation cultivator who didn't have an artifact of their own — I'd tested it on myself once, as a matter of fact.
I turned my head back toward the transparent barrier hanging before the gate.
“Good. Let's see you endure this.”
The Black Armor Bean Soldier raised its cresmoon blade at an angle and brought it straight down on the barrier.
KWAANG!
Dust erupted in a great cloud with the boom.
The spirit energy cost is a bit steep, but.
This time, it was unmistakably different. Cracks began spiderwebbing across the whole surface of the barrier, and the formations that anchored it had visibly dimmed.
“Knew I could count on you. One more.”
The Black Armor Bean Soldier drew back its blade and swung again without pause.
Crash!
With a sound like shattering glass, the barrier burst apart and scattered. The fragments that glittered briefly in the air vanished almost at once.
Better strip this place fast.
There would absolutely be people coming to investigate the noise and the spirit-energy ripple. Thankfully, no one was approaching yet.
“Good, good.”
I recalled the Black Armor Bean Soldier and headed for the gate. Eeeek. This time it swung open without any resistance at all.
The interior was as sparse as the exterior suggested — a table, a few storage cabinets. Not that I'd expected much to begin with.
At least there's no sign anyone got here first.
I opened the nearest cabinet. Inside sat two old jade bottles and a single faded book. I uncorked a bottle first and gave it a sniff — better preserved than I'd expected.
Cultivation elixirs good enough for a Seventh Stage Qi Condensation practitioner?
Not bad at all. The book looked mostly unremarkable, but wedged between its pages like a bookmark was a small jade pendant.
Will this be of any use?
Even when I fed spirit energy into it, it only gave off a faint glow. No reaction at all.
Well, you never know. In the pouch it goes.
I pocketed everything worth taking and searched the rest of the house. Nothing new turned up.
That's everything worth grabbing, I guess. Honestly, this place was a bust.
A little disappointing, but I had no reason to linger any longer.
“Good enough. That covers my losses.”
The area was still quiet. Though I could feel clashing energies coming from a large building some distance off — they presumably couldn't be bothered with small fry like this.
Hm. Still, heading straight for the central hall feels a bit premature.
Buildings like that were scattered all over. Skipping them sight unseen felt like leaving loot on the table.
Like I could ever resist a gacha pull.
Salvaging what I could from the surroundings first was the right call.
“Well, this is a problem.”
While making my way toward the central hall, I'd been ransacking the buildings along the route. The houses already broken open were empty, just as expected — inside, only the wreckage of roughly shattered furniture greeted me. And when I did break through a restriction on a promising-looking building, the haul was simply mediocre. The genuinely good buildings all had eyes swarming around them already.
Scraping things together one by one like this wasn't pointless, but it was far too inefficient.
Time to stop wasting daylight.
“Alright, let's get moving again.”
After so much walking, I rubbed the stiffness out of my shoulders and set off toward the central hall. Not long after I began, several small energies brushed past me.
At first I took them for people just passing by. But when I stopped, they stopped too.
Feigning indifference, I resumed walking.
I've got a tail.
They were keeping a careful distance. They weren't openly following me, but it was far too deliberate to call coincidence. If they were truly confident, they'd have come out into the open by now. From what I could read of their energy, none of them seemed to be above my realm.
I smirked to myself.
So they think I've picked something up, do they.
Well, it wasn't an unreasonable assumption. I had smashed my way through several formations on the way here, so they could easily believe I had something to show for it. And even setting that aside, I was traveling alone — which probably made me look like easy prey.
My haul had been thin enough to be disappointing, so in a way this worked out well.
Affecting total obliviousness, I slowly turned my gaze forward again. After passing through one more street, a rather imposing building caught my eye — different from the assorted shabby houses I'd been rifling through so far.
Oh?
Even at a glance, it was in another class entirely. At this caliber, something might well remain inside. And by the same token, it would look just as appealing to the people trailing me.
That's right. If you want to follow me, follow me all the way.
I deliberately slowed my pace and angled toward the estate. The presence behind me crept a little closer — not closing in outright, but clearly intending to watch whatever I pulled out, right to the end.
Stopping in front of the gate, I muttered loudly enough to be overheard, being careful not to glance backward.
“Maybe this one'll have something decent in it.”
Then I shook out my sleeve.
The moment the ink-black bean struck the ground, a general's figure rose from it, cresmoon blade in hand. The watching presence behind me wavered.
Yep. They're watching.
There was no reason to keep pretending otherwise.
“Why don't you come out already?”
A brief silence passed.
Then three figures emerged from behind me. Judging by their clothing, they were disciples of one of the minor sects.
One at Eighth Stage Qi Condensation and two at Seventh, huh….
The one leading them was a middle-aged male cultivator.
“Sharp instincts.”
“Did you consider that you were following me far too obviously?”
As I spoke with a hint of mockery, the man's eyes narrowed. He looked me and the bean soldier over in turn, then twisted his lips into a sneer.
“A disciple of the Cheongwoon Sect wandering around alone, smashing restrictions left and right — hard not to get curious.”
“And it's just the three of you?”
“Why, worried? You think the three of us can't handle one little girl.”
The young cultivator standing behind the middle-aged man picked up where he'd left off.
“Hand over what you've got, while we're being civil.”
“Why on earth would I, against the likes of you?”
“Did you think we'd go easy on you just because you're from one of the Four Great Sects?”
All three of them flared their auras at once.
Great. This just got tedious.
The middle-aged cultivator stepped forward.
“One last question. Are you handing it over, or not?”
“Spare me the nonsense. Come at me and I won't hold back, so if you want to keep living, get lost.”
Before the words had even finished leaving my mouth, one of them hurled a talisman. Where it burst, a dark green barrier sprang into existence. I blocked the talisman with my Darkwood Spirit Pendant and called out two more Black Armor Bean Soldiers.
Their faces darkened instantly.
Never said I could only manage one, did I?
The middle-aged man pulled himself together and immediately barked orders at the others.
“Attack, quickly! How long do you think she can keep those things going? She'll tire out soon — all we need to do is buy time!”
How hilarious.
“She'll tire out soon, so buy time”?
Under normal circumstances, it would have been a sound judgment. Running multiple bean soldiers at once did burn through spirit energy at a considerable rate.
But because these were grown with my own spirit energy, they consumed less than they should have.
And besides—
That only matters if you live long enough for it.
With a flick of my hand, I ordered the attack. All three Black Armor Bean Soldiers began advancing at once.
When the hulking ink-black generals leveled their cresmoon blades, cold sweat broke out across the three cultivators' faces.
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and drew an axe-shaped artifact.
“Don't falter! Take them down one at a time!”
I simply pointed with my fingertip.
“Strike.”
One of the Black Armor Bean Soldiers shot straight ahead. The middle-aged man caught the cresmoon blade with his axe, but it was nowhere near enough. The blow was heavier than he'd braced for — the color drained from his face.
In that gap, another soldier swung its blade in a horizontal arc.
“Senior brother!”
One of the disciples, who had been staring in a daze, frantically flung out a talisman. It burst against the bean soldier's chest — and did nothing at all. Without breaking stride, the soldier swung its cresmoon blade at the middle-aged man.
Shlk.
Blood spattered. The man had twisted his body on reflex, but he couldn't dodge completely. The tip of the blade carved a long line from his shoulder down to his side.
“GAAAH!”
He staggered with a scream. When he finally steadied himself, the hand gripping his artifact was trembling visibly.
The other two moved, belatedly. One furiously wove hand seals while the other desperately produced three talismans at once and hurled them. Explosions detonated one after another. Flame and smoke swallowed the bean soldier — but when it emerged a moment later, it was perfectly unharmed.
Their faces went deathly pale.
“Senior brother, it's not working!”
“Just block it and shut up!”
But no sooner had the words left his mouth than the man turned and bolted.
“Senior brother!? You're abandoning us and running away!?”
“The ones who can survive should survive!”
The two remaining disciples screamed after him, but the middle-aged cultivator fled without so much as turning his head.
I snorted.
“What lovely brotherly devotion.”
Watching him go, I drew out an artifact. The thing my fingertip found was the Blood Crimson Awl — the one that had been shattered once before, and repaired alongside the cresmoon blade when I'd commissioned that work.
It's been a while since I've used this, too.
Before the man could get any farther away, I fed spirit energy into the awl and threw it.
Shweeee—!
The Blood Crimson Awl split the air in a red line. The man only belatedly sensed the danger and whipped his head around — far too late. The awl sank deep into the back of his neck, and he crumpled forward, face-first into the ground.
Watching their fleeing senior brother die just like that, the remaining two began glancing at each other. And then — the very men who had been pumping themselves full of bravado moments before abruptly started deflating. The killing light faded from their eyes, replaced by very visible mental arithmetic.
Can I run? Would I win if I fought? Or do I have to kneel here?
I rolled the recovered Blood Crimson Awl in my palm and watched them at my leisure.
“So.”
They flinched.
“Shall we continue?”
The first to open his mouth was the one who'd thrown the talismans earlier.
“W-wait a moment…! We won't attack again, I swear. It seems our eyes were blinded for a moment, senior… ma'am.”
“Is that so?”
“Truly!”
The other one nodded his head in frantic agreement.
“If you'll only spare our lives… we'll give you everything we have.”
“…….”
I didn't answer, only looked between the two of them.
“Toss them on the ground first.”
They didn't hesitate. Two void pouches thudded onto the ground. I moved a bean soldier to slide them over in front of me.
If they were going to fold this easily, why even attack?
I skimmed the contents. Talismans, spirit stones, a handful of minor artifacts. Decent haul — maybe they'd shaken someone else down for it. In a situation like this, the more talismans I had, the better.
“Consideration fully shown. I see it.”
“Then please — spare our lives.”
The two bowed their heads almost in unison. I deliberately didn't answer right away. Instead, I looked down once at the middle-aged cultivator's corpse sprawled on the ground.
“I didn't spare that one. So tell me — why exactly should I spare you two?”
I twitched my fingers. One of the Black Armor Bean Soldiers raised its cresmoon blade — just a hair. That alone was enough to drain the color from both their faces.
I watched them squirm for a moment, then lowered my hand.
“Forget it. I'm in a good mood today.”
Their eyes went wide at the same time.
“But in exchange.”
“Y-yes, of course!”
“If you get caught by me again — you'll know what happens then, right?”
“It will never happen again!”
They bowed as if to drive their heads straight into the dirt. With a gesture, I dismissed the Black Armor Bean Soldiers.
“Get lost.”
Not sparing a single glance for their senior brother's corpse, they scrambled over one another to get away.
I stood there quietly, looking down at the middle-aged cultivator as he grew cold. The end of a greedy man was a shabby thing.
If I'm careless, that could be me someday.
Looking at it only left a bad taste in my mouth, so I collected just his artifact and pouch and gave him no further thought.
“Alright, let's grab everything and head for the center.”