Seeking Aid in the Garden
His battered body, reduced to little more than a heap of rags, desperately craved rest.
Are those humans? Jekyeong thought, scanning his surroundings in an attempt to grasp the situation.
Everything in sight was a complete disaster. The ground was cracked and shattered as if a massive earthquake had torn through, stained with mottled, uneven hues like melted candle wax. Fire still smoldered within several deep craters, and Jekyeong recognized it instantly as his own Yokai Fire. It seemed he had run wild without realizing it while trapped inside that "illusion."
What a pathetic sight. Both the surrounding landscape and his own physical state were in absolute ruins.
That illusion... Just recalling the vision made his mind reel. If the approaching sounds hadn't jolted him awake, he might have lost consciousness entirely.
Clinging to his fading consciousness, Jekyeong attempted human form transformation. A process that was usually as effortless as breathing now felt overwhelmingly taxing. After several failed attempts, he barely managed to shift into a human body. Though he had been struggling in his true form, shrinking into this small, fragile vessel made him feel as if he would collapse at any moment.
I need to hide. A few beast elixirs remained in his interspatial ring. If he could just buy some time, he could recover to some extent. For now, escaping to safety was his top priority.
Searching frantically for a hiding spot, Jekyeong spotted a sheer cliff and dragged himself toward it. He painstakingly climbed down the rock face with his bare hands, carved out a small alcove in the stone, and concealed himself inside.
Not long after, human cultivators in ragged, disheveled states began emerging from the darkness one by one. Their relief at finally escaping the gloom was short-lived; upon seeing the spire, they reacted in wildly different ways. Some merely frowned and swayed slightly, while others rolled their eyes back, collapsed in convulsions, or coughed up blood.
Gwak Yeon and Myeong-ha watched the entire spectacle unfold from the summit of the spire.
"It seems you haven't fully brought it under control yet?" Gwak Yeon asked.
"Forget control, I can barely even endure its presence. Would you care to test it yourself?" Myeong-ha replied.
"No. Certainly not."
Gwak Yeon stared intently at Myeong-ha for a long moment before slowly shifting her gaze downward. She carefully observed each of the cultivators who had begun cautiously scaling the tower.
"Why did you do that to Fellow Daoist Jekyeong?"
"I merely wished to minimize the risks. To be honest, I wanted to make a move on both of you, but my abilities fell short."
Inadequate ability, indeed. Myeong-ha clicked his tongue inwardly. Even as he kept up the conversation with Gwak Yeon, his mind raced to grasp the situation more clearly.
This spire is undoubtedly the Altar of Taotie. However, an entity like Taotie cannot cross the boundary of worlds. Therefore, a path must be opened from this side for him to project his influence.
Opening a path to the heavens beyond was no simple feat. Although Myeong-ha lacked specific knowledge on the subject, he knew it required a multitude of demanding conditions.
If... this Secret Realm itself is the point of contact with Taotie's domain, then everything makes sense.
Myeong-ha glanced sideways at the entity hovering above the spire—or rather, the Altar of Taotie—which seemed to exist somewhere between reality and illusion. This altar and that entity were the very evidence supporting his hypothesis. If his guess was correct, that phantom-like being was a minion of Taotie. Though he couldn't identify its exact nature, it was bound to be an extraordinary existence.
"A fortuitous opportunity belongs to the one favored by destiny!"
"Well said! So do not covet a destiny that is not yours, and back off immediately!"
"Impudent fool!"
While Myeong-ha was lost in thought, the human cultivators, who had been warily sizing each other up in tense silence, finally clashed. Convinced that a miraculous opportunity lay atop this extraordinary "spire," they cast aside their final layer of pretense and revealed their true, greedy natures.
"Die!"
"Fools!"
As the Foundation Establishment stage cultivators clashed with all their might, the "spire" shook violently as if it might collapse at any moment. Alarmed by this, the human cultivators tacitly agreed to keep some distance as they fought, but their concern was entirely misplaced. Just as Jekyeong had felt a sense of awe upon first seeing the "spire," the tower-shaped altar before their eyes was merely an illusion.
The Altar existed at the intersection connecting the Secret Realm and Taotie's domain. With the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it was impossible to even make proper contact with it, let alone shake it.
"..."
Watching the battle of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, Gwak Yeon turned around. Seeing her body float up into the air, Myeong-ha narrowed his eyes.
"Are you about to begin?"
"Yes. Will you stop me?"
"Do I have any other choice? I can't exactly sit idly by and wait for death, can I?"
Myeong-ha slowly loosened his hands. He had no idea how much help those human cultivators below would be, but he had no other options.
While a chaotic battle raged above, Jekyeong was breaking into a cold sweat over an unexpected predicament.
The elixirs are far less effective than I expected. Or is it that my body can't digest their medicinal properties?
Having consumed this many alchemical pills, his strength should have begun to return by now, yet he remained trapped in a state of utter exhaustion. His monster power was not depleted, and there were no visible wounds on his physical body. Despite this, he could muster no energy, which meant the issue did not lie within his physical vessel or his energy reserves.
Then... is it my soul?
Opening his eyes, Jekyeong exhaled a heavy, ragged breath and fell into deep thought. The endless din echoing from above was something he couldn't change even if he paid attention to it, so while his eyes were open, he closed his ears to it.
If my soul has been damaged... ordinary beast elixirs won't do much. But even if there is damage, it doesn't seem to be fatal.
The symptoms he was experiencing were merely lethargy and a severe lack of focus. There might be other hidden issues, but for now, these were the only two he could perceive.
What should I do?
Identifying the problem did not mean he could solve it. Jekyeong had never heard of nor experienced such an affliction before. While he felt that a thorough rest would eventually cure him, there was no way he could rest peacefully in a situation like this.
Ugh.
The elixirs he possessed were useless, and he had very few left anyway. Yet, simply sitting here waiting for the chaos to blow over... a strong premonition warned him against it. A very ominous premonition.
I can't do anything on my own, but perhaps...
As frustration gnawed at him, a sudden spark of inspiration flashed through Jekyeong's mind like lightning.
I don't know if it's possible.
This was a Secret Realm, and no ordinary one at that. It was a place where two Core Formation cultivators had fallen, and above all, it was heavily cast under the shadow of Taotie.
But since I have no other choice.
Suppressing his inevitable anxiety, Jekyeong decided to give it a try.
"Whew."
As he had felt during his human transformation, concentrating his mind was dozens of times harder than usual. Previously, focusing had been as easy as shaping wet clay into a ball; now, it felt like trying to mold bone-dry sand. If he forced it, he could manage to hold it together, but the slightest slip would cause it to crumble instantly.
Yet, even with his concentration at rock bottom, Jekyeong possessed instincts honed through long experience. His successful human transformation had relied on those instincts, and this attempt would be no different.
When Jekyeong opened his eyes, he was already in Bul-mang-won.
It was impressive that he could enter Bul-mang-won without any issues even from a Secret Realm shrouded in the shadow of Taotie, but he had no time to indulge in idle wonder. The moment Jekyeong opened his eyes in Bul-mang-won, he realized that his spiritual body was unusually faint, even dangerously unstable. This meant that the time he could remain in this realm might be extremely limited.
I must hurry.
Jekyeong moved immediately. His destination had been decided from the very beginning. Someone who possessed the ability to help him, with whom he shared enough of a rapport to ask for aid, and who was highly likely to be present in Bul-mang-won. Among those Jekyeong knew, very few met all three conditions.
May Senior Hyeon-do attain the Great Dao.
Bul-mang-won was vast. It was far too immense to be called a mere sub-world, to the point where most cultivators below the Core Formation stage rarely ventured outside their narrow, familiar territories. Given enough time, one could eventually traverse the entirety of Bul-mang-won no matter how vast it was, but there was simply no reason to waste time doing so.
But that was a story of the past. Now, Bul-mang-won featured the Teleportation Pillars. Erected across the spiritual realm by Hyeon-do-jin-gun prior to hosting the Bul-mang-seong-hoe, it was no exaggeration to say that the arrival of these pillars had completely transformed Bul-mang-won.
Among the cultivators of Bul-mang-won, especially those below the Core Formation stage, many went so far as to praise the Teleportation Pillars as "the True Lord's grace." While Jekyeong did not go to such extremes, he had always felt a sense of gratitude toward Hyeon-do-jin-gun whenever he used them. This time, however, his gratitude bordered on outright reverence. Had it not been for the Teleportation Pillars, he wouldn't have even dreamed of coming to seek this particular senior's help.
Finally.
After utilizing the Teleportation Pillars five consecutive times, Jekyeong finally reached his destination. However, the dwelling of the "senior" he sought was still a considerable distance away. If he hadn't been absolutely certain that this "senior" would be at home, Jekyeong wouldn't have bothered seeking out someone with such an eccentric personality.
He truly has a bizarre personality.
For a proud Demon King to shut himself away in a place like this. No matter how much he preferred quietude, this was far too desolate. It was amusing for someone coming to beg for help to complain, but because his spiritual body was unstable, Jekyeong was already feeling a heavy strain despite using the Teleportation Pillars. He wished this eccentric "senior" were a bit more normal. Well, if he were, perhaps he wouldn't be cooped up in Bul-mang-won all day like this.
"Senior. I have committed this discourtesy because I am in urgent need of your assistance. Please forgive my intrusion," Jekyeong called out.
Jekyeong was well aware of this "senior's" unique quirks. He had sensed it from their very first meeting, and their subsequent interactions had only confirmed his intuition. The man despised troublesome matters above all else. To him, almost everything in existence was a chore. If there were a Dao of laziness, he had undoubtedly attained its peak.
There was no way a mighty Demon King—one who was infinitely close to becoming a Yao Emperor—remained unaware of his arrival. It was even more impossible that he hadn't heard Jekyeong's loud shouting. Yet, the lack of response was a clear sign that he simply did not wish to meet. It was too much of a bother. Still, this was a hopeful sign. At the very least, he wasn't angry. It meant the relationship Jekyeong had painstakingly maintained hadn't been entirely in vain.
"Senior. I have no wish to disturb you, but I had no choice as I am currently facing a matter of life and death. I am trapped inside a Secret Realm, and to my surprise, I have become entangled with Taotie."
Jekyeong threw out the bait openly, and just as he expected, the other party bit.
"What did you say?"
By the time the voice registered, the figure was already standing right in front of him.
"Senior Yu Gon."
"Taotie? Did I hear you correctly?"
"Without a doubt."
Unlike humans, most of the beast race had little patience for empty formalities. Of course, there were exceptions—some beasts acted even more human than humans themselves—but Yu Gon was not one of them. Moreover, given his extreme aversion to anything troublesome, describing his manner of speech as merely "direct" was a massive understatement.