A Crack in the Equilibrium
After Han Cheongyu departed, Jekyeong fell into meditation, sipping his Spirit Wine. Although he could now maintain his human form for extended periods without its aid, one could never be too cautious. Moreover, maintaining his human form was only easy when he was in a state of absolute tranquility. When he had clashed with the Fire Demon earlier, Jekyeong had felt his mind waver slightly, even though he had only thrown a single punch. Had the battle dragged on any longer... something terrible might have happened. Gulping it down, Jekyeong drank the Spirit Wine, cup after cup. Before long, the rich aroma of the wine filled the spacious guest room.
Han Cheongyu, who had left the Yuhyang Pavilion just as dusk began to fall, did not return until the break of dawn.
"Dragon Lord. I have gathered the information." Kneeling before Jekyeong, Han Cheongyu immediately began to report what he had seen and heard.
"It seems the young guide's words were mostly accurate. Gwangyang City is essentially a joint venture between the Heavenly Fire Sect and the Yangbu Cultivator Family, and the City Lord is merely a mediator put forward by both sides. He was able to secure this position due to his unique background. He was originally a disciple of the Heavenly Fire Sect, but he married a woman from the Yangbu Cultivator Family and even had children with her. Of course, that is not the only reason; his strength is undoubtedly a major factor. I hear he is at the Mid Foundation Establishment stage."
"Oh? At that level, he must be one of the top experts in this city."
"Yes. According to what is known, there are only three Mid Foundation Establishment cultivators in Gwangyang City."
Excluding the City Lord, the other two were naturally the stewards sent by the Heavenly Fire Sect and the Yangbu Cultivator Family. Backed by their respective sect and family, those two practically ruled Gwangyang City, while the City Lord, acting as their mediator, served as the nominal ruler.
"Aside from the spirit markets and auctions common to any cultivator city, Gwangyang City's primary source of income is mining. A geothermal river known as the Hot River flows nearby, and a special mineral called Red-Scorched Spiritual Ore is mined around it. Even though it was first discovered hundreds of years ago, new mines are still being opened to this day..." Han Cheongyu trailed off, looking bewildered. In his mind, if they had been digging for hundreds of years, any spiritual ore—even the ancestor of all ores—should have been depleted long ago. Yet new mines were still being discovered quite frequently. Just how much spiritual ore was buried down there?
"While the reserves might be vast, it is also highly likely they simply could not mine it efficiently," Jekyeong remarked.
Unlike Han Cheongyu, he could easily grasp the situation. The Hot River was clearly no ordinary body of water. If the Red-Scorched Spiritual Ore was buried deep within that geothermal region, it was perfectly understandable why they hadn't depleted it yet. If they recklessly dug too deep and accidentally ruptured a geothermal vein, it wouldn't just end with a few casualties.
"Or perhaps they are intentionally controlling the rate of excavation."
In most cases, scarcity and value were directly proportional. The Red-Scorched Spiritual Ore was likely no exception to this rule. As long as they had the power to defend their claim, it was far better to pace the mining and secure a steady, long-term profit rather than rushing to deplete it all at once. Jekyeong realized Gwangyang City was a highly stable and lucrative business.
So that's why, Jekyeong thought. Now that he understood the underlying dynamics, he realized why Jeon Yong-seong had tried so blatantly to probe him earlier. Gwangyang City was a placid pond, and he was a massive boulder that had suddenly plunged into it.
I must leave soon. Jekyeong had absolutely no desire to attract attention. Fortunately, given the excuse he had fed Jeon Yong-seong, departing after a few days wouldn't look suspicious. The real concern, however, was whether information about him would remain confined to Gwangyang City. After all, Foundation Establishment cultivators were rare, and Body Cultivators were rarer still.
Luck is not on my side. His original plan had been to quietly gather information and search for a collaborator, but things had taken an unexpected turn. If only he had held back instead of throwing that punch at the Fire Demon...
No, that's not it. Jekyeong immediately dismissed the rising regret. In his human form, he was occasionally seized by uncontrollable impulses, and that single punch had been one of them. Even in hindsight, his actions during the day could not be considered a mistake. How could he tolerate a mere insect lunging at his face? Was he supposed to let that bastard singe his hair with his pathetic playing with fire? The fact that he hadn't reduced the fool to a puddle of blood on the spot was already a testament to his immense self-control.
Noticing that Han Cheongyu's face had turned pale from the aura he had unconsciously leaked, Jekyeong quickly suppressed his anger. He emptied another bottle of Spirit Wine, dismissed Han Cheongyu to rest, and resumed his meditation in the darkness.
Calm down. Stay cold. The realization that he had stumbled on his very first step in such a perilous territory had caused him to momentarily lose control of his emotions.
Is it impatience, or is it fear? The first step to mastering one's Mind State was absolute honesty with oneself. Jekyeong felt like he had been dropped alone into enemy territory, and that reality terrified him.
I am overthinking. The situation is not that bad yet. Even in the absolute worst-case scenario, I can easily escape with my life, so there is no need to worry. Jekyeong did not try to comfort himself with empty platitudes. Instead, he maintained his composure and reasoned with himself using objective facts.
Gradually, his vertically slit pupils reverted to those of an ordinary human, and his body, which had grown hot enough to emit steam, cooled down. His feverish mind was instantly plunged into the depths of an icy cavern. It was a jarring sensation, but it successfully anchored his anxious heart, which had been trembling like a lost child.
How pathetic. Having regained his composure, Jekyeong smiled bitterly in self-derision. A Great Yao of the Mid Great Yao stage? The Dragon Lord of the Heukgyo Water Territory? What a joke. Just moments ago, he had been nothing more than a pathetic earthworm, trembling in blind terror and losing all sense of reason. He could have blamed it on the psychological instability of his human form, but he refused to make excuses. That would be a cowardly act of denial and escape. Was the anthropomorphized version of him not himself?
"Whew." Jekyeong let out a sigh, but his despondency was short-lived. Once he had reflected sufficiently on his shortcomings, there was no need to wallow in negative emotions. Having cleared his thoughts and unburdened his mind, Jekyeong naturally turned his attention elsewhere.
It really is incredibly dense. He was sensing the extremely unbalanced spiritual energy of heaven and earth. He had felt it even before entering Gwangyang City, but once inside, the sensation became incomparably sharper. Simply sensing the energy brought a wave of warmth. Any cultivator with sharp Spiritual Awareness or one who practiced fire-attribute techniques would undoubtedly feel something similar, though to varying degrees.
The balance is severely disrupted. If this goes any further, will it become a Land of Extinction? Today, the term "Land of Extinction" was commonly used to describe a perilous zone where one must never set foot. However, it was originally a concept devised by the human race in ancient times to denote a place where the balance of heaven and earth's spiritual energy had completely collapsed. In such places, all manner of unpredictable anomalies occurred, most of which carried extreme danger, barring any cultivator from approaching. That was how the name had come to be. Jekyeong was well aware of both definitions, and his current thought was based on the latter.
To his senses, the spiritual energy of Gwangyang City had already lost its equilibrium. Assuming the total spiritual energy was one hundred, the ratio of each of the Five Elements should normally not exceed thirty nor fall below ten. That was the minimum threshold for a healthy balance. Yet, in Gwangyang City, none of the other elemental energies exceeded ten, save for the fire-attribute energy. The water-attribute spiritual energy, in particular, was practically nonexistent.
This is fascinating. If the other four elemental energies were like starving beggars, shriveled to the bone from not having a single proper meal, the fire-attribute energy was like a gluttonous, grease-covered noble who had snatched all their food for himself.
I can't resist this. As someone who was practically a half-Fire Dao cultivator himself, Jekyeong found the temptation of this dense fire energy irresistible. Part of him also wanted to soothe his exhausted mind with a bit of indulgence. He wasn't worried about his Monster Power leaking. The room he occupied was the highest-grade suite in Yuhyang Pavilion, and according to the manager, whatever transpired inside could not be detected from the outside. Of course, Jekyeong was not naive enough to take those words at face value. Thus, he had already set up a simple isolation barrier using his own true qi to prevent any unforeseen mishaps.
Perfect. Once he confirmed that the isolation barrier was functioning properly, Jekyeong slowly circulated his cultivation method to draw in the ambient spiritual energy. Instantly, a scorching heat began to swirl around him.
Just as I thought. It was exactly as he had anticipated. The incoming spiritual energy was so pure that it could practically be called raw fire energy itself.
Such dense fire energy must be both a blessing and a curse for Fire Dao cultivators. Those who trained in the Fire Dao here were, so to speak, walking on a path paved with flowers. Their cultivation would progress as smoothly as a ship sailing with a tailwind, allowing them to reach their bottlenecks with ease. However, once they hit those bottlenecks, the very ease they had enjoyed would transform into an insurmountable wall blocking their path. In the end, cultivation must neither be too difficult nor too easy. If it were the former, none could transcend; if it were the latter, the act of cultivation itself would lose all meaning.
For Jekyeong, however, this dense fire energy of Jimagwon was nothing short of ecstatic—like a sweet treat he was tasting for the very first time. The spiritual energy he drew in so greedily melted directly into his powerful physical body and soul without even needing a refinement process.
"How utterly gluttonous." Just as he was savoring the sweetness, Jekyeong heard a bizarre voice. It sounded like a whisper right next to his ear, yet it also seemed to echo from the deepest recesses of his mind.
"You, of the Beast Race. You are truly peculiar." His vigilance instantly spiking to its absolute limit, Jekyeong halted his cultivation and narrowed his eyes. Who is there? None of his senses could detect another presence. Yet, this voice was absolutely not a hallucination.
"There is no need to be on guard. I am merely a pitiful thread of residual resentment. I have neither the power nor the desire to harm you." Upon hearing those words, a sudden realization flashed through Jekyeong's mind. Half-skeptical, he asked internally, Are you... a Fire Demon? No, Hwaryeong? A strange sound, resembling both a sigh and a chuckle, seemed to drift past him.
"I am called by those names, yes. But names hold no meaning for me. Call me whatever you wish." At those words, Jekyeong's already tense expression darkened further. The entity claimed it didn't care what it was called, and Jekyeong felt the same. Whether it was Hwaryeong or a Fire Demon made no difference to him. The history of Jimagwon, the blood feuds between races—none of it was his concern. Fine. Then why have you come looking for me? The moment Jekyeong asked this indifferently, the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuated violently. Simultaneously, a figure manifested before him. It was a bizarre form, both blurry and distinct, defying any description other than uncanny. Jekyeong could feel the figure staring at him, yet he could not sense even a shred of an aura from it. In this cultivation world, even vengeful ghosts possessed some form of aura, but absolutely nothing could be felt from the shape before him.
"Your phrasing is incorrect. I did not come looking for you. You found me." Staring at the manifested figure, Jekyeong spoke slowly. Did you latch onto me when I clashed with that Fire Demon earlier? "You still do not understand. Let me repeat myself. It is true that I became aware of you at that moment, but I did not seek you out. You sought me."
The entity's speech was remarkably coherent, making Jekyeong feel as though he were conversing with a human. He could guess the reason. Eloquence was only refined through frequent use, and the fact that its speech was indistinguishable from a human's meant... it had considerable experience in conversation. Pondering the entity's claim that Jekyeong had found it, the meaning became clear. "You were hiding within the spiritual energy, weren't you?" Since Fire Spirits were said to be born from fire energy, it wouldn't be impossible for them to dissolve back into it.
"Hiding? No. 'Driven into a corner' would be a more fitting description. Fleeing the relentless pursuit of the human race, I dissolved my origin source and abandoned my very self, just to cling to a single thread of life." Beneath the calm tone, Jekyeong could feel a burning resentment, simmering like quiet lava.