Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: World Opening
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In the martial world, distinguishing between types of spiritual medicines doesn't really hold much meaning.
As long as it contains qi energy, anything you shove down your throat counts as a spiritual medicine.
Naturally, most spiritual medicines are ones that humans process directly.
To qualify as a spiritual medicine, it has to contain qi in the first place. But naturally occurring Natural Qi is wild and scattered in nature, making it hard for it to seep into herbs or minerals. Unlike internal energy, it's unrefined, so it doesn't accumulate easily.
But there are always exceptions.
There are spiritual medicines that form naturally by defying astronomical odds, and as you'd expect, these natural varieties are exceedingly rare.
Among them is one that resembles icicles crystallized from extreme yin energy.
Its name: Ice Essence.
To Cheongun, who desperately needed yin energy right now, it was nothing short of a once-in-a-millennium stroke of fortune.
"…"
Cheongun closed his eyes.
He briefly recalled the process from the original story of searching for the Millennial Ice Essence.
First, he had to travel from Sichuan Province here all the way to the northern snowfields.
Finding a carriage or merchant caravan willing to go to such remote lands was no easy task, to say nothing of the fierce beasts and bandit hordes that popped up along the way.
And as you headed north, the accumulating cold steadily wore down your stamina. Supplies were limited, so you'd have to endure both starvation and frostbite at once.
Once you finally pushed through the blizzards to reach the snowfields, that was when the real ordeal began.
You had to scour that vast expanse to find a single cave whose location you didn't even know.
Once you barely managed to enter the desired cave, then you had to wander a labyrinthine ice cavern.
Evasive traps hidden everywhere, and after pushing forward, you'd finally face an ice cliff.
A massive ice wall called the Ice Heaven Wall, astonishingly towering a full thousand zhang high.
Only after arduously scaling that cliff to the summit could you finally obtain the Millennial Ice Essence.
And now, he could skip all that?
'Not just any Ice Essence, but a Millennial one?'
Ice Essence itself was already a natural product where extreme yin energy had accumulated over long ages and crystallized. And now, the prefix "millennial" was tacked onto its name?
It was literally an icicle.
No—a super premium lucky icicle!
And in the world, they were giving away something that precious as a gift.
The condition? Becoming the vice leader of the escort agency.
Turning that down just to save face would make him the world's biggest idiot, wouldn't it?
Thus, Cheongun's conclusion was simple.
"From now on, I'm the vice leader of the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency."
"…"
Yi Gun-baek was taken aback.
Cheongun's complete about-face had been far too abrupt.
And so brazenly natural, too.
Yi Gun-baek chuckled dryly and asked,
"I'm not forcing you. Take your time to think it over."
"I've already thought it over carefully."
"…Are you really sure?"
"Yes. By the way, Leader, may I ask you something?"
"Ask away."
Cheongun nodded.
"Where did the Millennial Ice Essence come from?"
"I received it as a gift."
"A gift?"
Yi Gun-baek replied,
"I once had ties with the Filth Gate."
"The Filth Gate?"
Yi Gun-baek nodded.
"There was a time when the Filth Gate was in dire straits, and this agency helped them out. This is the spiritual medicine they gave in return."
"Why haven't you used something this precious until now?"
"Because raw yin energy this potent would be poison to my constitution."
Fair enough.
Unlike pills or pellets artificially refined solely to boost human internal energy, natural spiritual medicines usually had an excess of either yin or yang energy.
In other words, they were perfect for ignorant fools to swallow and drop dead.
Ice Essence was the same.
Take it wrong, and you'd be swallowed whole by the raging yin energy and freeze to death on the spot.
But Cheongun didn't need to worry about that.
Because he'd reached the Primordial Unity realm, where distinctions between types of qi vanished entirely.
Plus, didn't he have his unique trait?
Once Void Spirit Body activated, he could wield Natural Qi at will, so fully absorbing raw yin energy posed no issue.
"What do I have to do as vice leader?"
"The actual work is handled by others anyway, so no need to worry much. Just keep patrolling the branches like you are now."
So, normalize things like before?
That was a piece of cake.
Just smash the teeth out of scum like Nam Hyeok whenever they showed up.
"I'll take it."
Cheongun accepted the wooden box Yi Gun-baek handed him.
It was a long, simple wooden case with no decorations or patterns on the outside.
He cracked open the lid, revealing a translucent crystal glowing with blue light.
It was shaped like a sharp chunk of ice about as thick as a finger, and a chilling yin energy faintly emanated from within.
"…"
Cheongun quickly closed the box.
He looked up to see Yi Gun-baek grinning at him.
To Yi Gun-baek, the Ice Essence had been nothing more than a sight for sore eyes.
He couldn't consume it himself, so it was useless, but too valuable to discard, leaving it as an awkward eyesore.
Selling it off would draw the Filth Gate's ire, too.
So it had been a thorny problem, but now that the vice leader before him was so delighted, Yi Gun-baek couldn't help but beam with a gummy smile.
Yi Gun-baek let out a hearty laugh, and Cheongun joined in with his own haha.
They laughed boisterously for a good while, sharing the remaining wall liquor, and for some reason, a strange sense of camaraderie welled up.
Yi Gun-baek liked Cheongun, and Cheongun found himself liking this man Yi Gun-baek as well.
Yi Gun-baek handed Cheongun a plaque.
It was the token proving his status as vice leader of the Myriad Dragon Escort Agency.
"Looking forward to working with you, Vice Leader."
"…Hold on."
An old man widened his eyes and spoke.
"Did you just say you've identified him?"
"Yes, Elder."
The reporting masked man bowed his head.
He was one of those dispatched to investigate the rat who slaughtered the fiends in Blood Flow Valley and stole the Demon Sword, and the dog who raided the Blood Demon Squad's sub-branch.
"Tell me."
"Same guy's handiwork."
"What's his name?"
"Real name Cheongun. Alias: Mad Heavenly Swordless."
"Mad Heavenly Swordless? Isn't that the Sword Sovereign's disciple? Is the intel solid?"
"Yes. It's from the Shadow Flight Gate, so it's reliable."
The old man clicked his tongue. He'd figured it wasn't some ordinary punk, but the Sword Sovereign's disciple, of all people.
He hadn't crossed paths with the Sword Sovereign directly since their active periods differed, but he'd heard plenty about the legend who could fell birds in flight.
For that old monster's disciple to suddenly raid the Blood Demon Squad?
Was it the Crimson Night Sword Sovereign pulling strings through his pupil?
Or was the Justice Alliance involved?
"Tch. This is a hassle. Or maybe it's for the best. We were looking to expand our territory anyway—this makes a fine pretext."
At that moment, the masked man asked,
"Shall we track him down immediately?"
The old man chuckled at the question.
"No need to rush."
He continued,
"The Division Leader is already moving personally."
Cheongun removed his upper garments.
He sat cross-legged in the center of his private room.
Without hesitation, he swallowed the Millennial Ice Essence in one gulp.
Vast yin energy began spreading through his meridians across his body.
At first, it flowed like a gentle stream, but soon it surged like raging waves.
A lump of utterly raw yin energy.
Cheongun immediately circulated his energy.
The Primordial Unity Qi filling his dantian bubbled up and spread throughout his body.
Calm. Stay calm.
There was no need to rush at all.
He had plenty of time to refine it.
Blue text floated in the air.
It was the incantations of the Heaven-Earth Primordial Unity Qi Art that Cheongun had mastered.
Huu, sseup.
Cheongun recited the incantations in his mind, breathing in and out at regular intervals.
It was time to transcend the Primordial Unity realm and advance to the Singular Qi realm.
Mutual generation and restraint. Extremes birth opposites. Yin-yang harmony. Unity of heaven and man. All things return to one…
What is qi?
What determines qi's nature, why is it so defined, and what makes it that way?
Why does it divide into yin-yang and five elements?
Why does the qi originating from heaven and earth converge into a single point of Primordial Unity?
Can it advance to Singular Qi?
The Ice Essence's yin energy rampaged wildly from the dantian, freezing his blood vessels as it went.
"Kuh!"
Cheongun gritted his teeth and gripped the Demon Sword he'd prepared in advance.
In that instant, his pupils turned pitch black as Natural Qi swirled into his body like a storm.
Void Spirit Body had activated.
Natural Qi mixed in, neutralizing the rampaging yin energy from the Ice Essence.
Blood trickled from Cheongun's mouth as he barely managed to send the neutralized energy through his extraordinary meridians up to the Crown Acupoint.
A blinding flash split his body in half.
A massive thunderclap boomed in his mind.
Yin and yang.
The five elements.
The tangled mass of qi pierced the Life and Death Gate, surged past the Conception and Governor Vessels.
Thus, he circulated his inner power through his entire body, beginning the Grand Circulatory Cycle.
Then, a distracting noise echoed faintly from outside.
Clang! Clash!
Weapons clashed noisily, screams rang out.
Shouts of intruders and chaos faintly battered his ears.
Cheongun's closed eyelids trembled.
His extraordinarily keen qi sense captured the sounds and presences drifting through the air.
Faint voices reached him.
'What now… looking for someone… Cheongun… vice leader…?'
It was unmistakably Yeon-baek's voice.
'Why would I… no matter how much you ask… I can't tell… Ack!'
Bam—!
Something crashed into a wall. Yeon-baek's groan followed.
Thud. Thud.
Someone was approaching.
Footsteps drew nearer.
…Had Yeon-baek died?
Fortunately, faint breathing sounds meant he was still alive, at least.
Which bastard was this?
His focus scattered.
Circulating this damn qi mass through his meridians was already overwhelming, and now worrying about that side too—he felt like he was going mad.
Cheongun kept raising his energy.
Something ominous was afoot, so the best course was to concentrate fully and push through to completion, no matter the strain.
Step. Step.
A presence drew close.
Thick killing intent. Sneering laughter. Faint bloody scent.
Creeak. The door opened.
The sound of a sword dragging across the floor.
"You're Cheongun…"
Some bastard was blabbering.
Something about the Blood Demon Squad, the Demon Sword, his life.
Shut up.
His head throbbed madly.
His body burned hot. Then froze. Yin and yang churned, freezing and melting his meridians.
Indescribable qi transformed over a thousand times, steadily stacking in his dantian.
It was neither pure qi nor demonic qi.
Just qi.
Qi drawn from nature through breath.
The qi of all things in creation.
Yin energy and yang energy at once.
True qi bearing the properties of the five elements.
And at the same time, it was intent.
Spiritual. Something straddling the mental realm.
All manner of distractions flooded his mind.
Yet it was serene. Like his head was empty, devoid of feeling.
Whoosh. Something cleaved the air.
It was the sword tip dropping from above.
At that moment, Cheongun's eyes snapped open.
The first thing he saw upon opening them was the sword tip plunging toward his throat.
The man gripping the sword shouted,
"Die—"
——————————!!
In an instant, it was like plunging into water—his ears rang deaf.
A tearing tinnitus stabbed his eardrums like needles.
Vast temporal pressure bore down, slowing everything to a crawl before suddenly smearing into white like spilled paint.
At the same time, his senses expanded.
In the all-white space, black ink dropped like ink, scenes drawing themselves.
Azure wood sprouted, crimson fire blazed, yellow earth piled, white metal flashed, black water flowed.
Amid it, sprouts budded and withered, life cycled anew.
Then it shifted forms again.
Bright energy and dark energy embraced, eternally rotating in the pattern of the Taiji.
"!!!"
His flesh underwent world opening.
The nature of his qi began to transform.
Yin qi, yang qi, turbid qi, mixed qi, primal qi.
The jumbled forms of qi gradually whitened, becoming like utterly empty, void qi.
Cheongun reached toward it.
Infused it with intent.
In that instant, the empty void burst forth with vivid colors.
Crack—!
The all-white space cracked like shattering glass and fragmented.
The bastard dropping his sword was still visible.
But what had changed was that he was frozen mid-swing, his face contorted in shock.
No, not frozen.
The man was moving.
Just the sword had stopped.
Crackle—!
Azure lightning gripped the descending sword, halting it.