Core Condensation (2)
"How many?"
"Hmm... a lot! Way more than a thousand!"
Jekyeong fell into deep thought at those words. Soon, he peppered the bird with questions: what exactly were they doing, where were they moving if they were on the move, and what did the atmosphere seem like?
Cheongo answered some parts clearly and others vaguely. As Jekyeong listened, his mind grew increasingly complicated, but he was still able to piece together a few conjectures.
‘Since they don't seem to be in a rush, it doesn't look like an external enemy is invading. But seeing the entire sect's disciples moving so busily, there must be some sort of large-scale movement at the sect level.’
Several possibilities crossed his mind, but they all pointed to a single conclusion.
"Jekyeong! Jekyeong! What do we do now?"
"We wait."
"Here?"
"Yes."
Since they could observe them from outside their line of sight, Jekyeong intended to wait and see how the Heavenly Fire Sect moved. If they ventured outside the sect, that would be ideal. Whether he sneaked in secretly or confronted them head-on, there was no reason to refuse if their forces were divided.
"Are you tired?"
"No! I'm fine! Fine!"
Though it usually showed only its unreliable side, Cheongo was still a bona fide **Great Demon**. Flying non-stop for a few days was hardly a chore for the creature.
"Let me know immediately if there's anything unusual."
"What kind of unusual thing?"
"Like the cultivators of the Heavenly Fire Sect leaving in droves, or some change occurring in the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array."
"Ah! Got it! I got it!"
Cheongo's clear eyes stared at the seven towering peaks in the far distance.
On the tenth day of observing the Heavenly Fire Sect from the sky, Cheongo reported that hundreds of cultivators, including Foundation Establishment cultivators, had emerged from the **Mountain-Protecting Grand Array**. Since they were heading in the exact direction of Jekyeong and Cheongo, Jekyeong instructed the bird to fly even higher.
‘Where are they going?’
Before Cheongo widened the distance, Jekyeong spread his **Divine Sense** as far as possible one last time to gauge the strength of the Heavenly Fire Sect's cultivators. If his assessment was correct, there were five Foundation Establishment cultivators among those who had left the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, and one of them even seemed to be at the late Foundation Establishment stage. The rest were all at the late Qi Condensation stage. A force of this caliber was more than enough to completely steamroll one or two ordinary sects or clans.
At first, Jekyeong assumed they were embarking on an expedition to secure lacking resources. No matter how vast the **Yanghu Mountain Range** was, a great sect with thousands of disciples could not possibly be entirely self-sufficient. He figured they had to periodically procure supplies from the outside.
However, even after hundreds of cultivators, including the five Foundation Establishment experts, departed the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, the Heavenly Fire Sect remained just as bustling as before.
A few days later, another group of cultivators left the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array. This time, they were led by two Foundation Establishment cultivators, with well over a thousand Qi Condensation disciples following them. Seeing this, Jekyeong finally realized what was happening.
‘They are leaving.’
A small vanguard clearing the path, followed by the rest. It was a textbook evacuation procession.
‘Have they decided they can't hold out any longer?’
It was not incomprehensible. Although the murderous aura was gradually thinning, it would still take at least several decades for the spiritual energy to recover to a level suitable for normal cultivation. Holding out until then was one issue, but even if they did, it would still be problematic. It was not strange at all if the leadership of the Heavenly Fire Sect had realized this belatedly and made their decision.
‘But... what an incredible coincidence.’
To think they had resolved to evacuate at this exact moment. It felt as if the heavens themselves were aiding him.
‘The heavens, huh?’ Was it truly a coincidence? Jekyeong suddenly felt a flicker of doubt.
‘Well, whatever.’
Whether it was a coincidence or not, sweet dew had appeared before a thirsty man, so he might as well drink it with pleasure. With that thought, Jekyeong watched silently. Since the Heavenly Fire Sect was moving out, he was more than happy to wait. Although it was a pity to lose the sect's **Sect-Guarding Heavenly Fire**, there was no reason to refuse if giving it up meant he could safely attempt his Core Condensation.
Jekyeong estimated that all the sect's members would leave the mountain gate within a month at the latest, and judging by the steady stream of crowds exiting the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, his prediction seemed correct.
But there was one thing he had failed to anticipate.
‘Hmm?’
When the fifth procession departed the Heavenly Fire Sect's mountain gate, Jekyeong sensed an anomaly. At some point, as the light of the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array enveloping the seven peaks of the Yanghu Mountain Range faded, he was able to faintly perceive the spiritual energy inside the formation. But now, the spiritual energy that had been quite dense just a day ago had grown noticeably faint.
Thinking it might be his imagination, he focused his senses, but the result was the same. It was absolutely not an illusion. The spiritual energy had definitely decreased.
‘What is this?’
Jekyeong instantly came up with several possibilities, but analyzing them in his head from such a distance was meaningless.
"Let's go."
"Huh? Is it okay?"
"...You wait here."
Jekyeong, who had grown anxious, regained his composure at Cheongo's question. In a situation where he didn't know if a late Foundation Establishment cultivator still remained inside the Heavenly Fire Sect's mountain gate, he couldn't just approach recklessly. Since the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array seemed to have lost a significant amount of its power, it was best to investigate alone.
"......."
Unleashing his **Presence-Concealing Technique** to its absolute limit, Jekyeong cautiously entered the Yanghu Mountain Range. Having watched them from the sky for days on end, he could find the seven peaks of the Heavenly Fire Sect even with his eyes closed.
‘It's certain. The spiritual energy has decreased. And it's continuing to drop.’
The closer he got to the seven peaks, the more convinced Jekyeong became that something was wrong with the **Spiritual Vein**. Although he had never seen a grade-one spiritual vein, he had seen the grade-two spiritual vein of **Gyeongwang Palace**. No matter how inferior a grade-one vein was compared to a grade-two vein, a spiritual vein was still a spiritual vein. The current level of spiritual energy here was barely any different from a standard spiritual territory. Of course, he had to take into account that he was still outside the Heavenly Fire Sect's mountain gate, but...
‘What on earth are they doing?’
The closer he drew to the Heavenly Fire Sect's mountain gate, the more Jekyeong's expression contorted. His instincts were screaming at him. Those damn humans were doing something incredibly foolish.
"The extraction process? Is it still far from finished?"
"It seems it will take a bit more time."
**Yang So**, an elder of the Heavenly Fire Sect, frowned at his disciple's words but turned away without a word. Personally, he felt the progress was too slow, but he knew his disciples were doing their best. Furthermore, extracting the spiritual energy of a spiritual vein was not something to be rushed; rather, it was a task that required the utmost care and time.
‘To think I would be the one to sever our sect's spiritual vein with my own hands.’
Though he had volunteered out of a sense of duty, he could not help the bitterness welling up in his heart. He, his master, his grandmaster, and all the ancestors before them had pursued the immortal path here. It was no exaggeration to say that the history of the Heavenly Fire Sect began in this very place.
Yet now, he was bringing an end to that history. Extracting the spiritual energy of the vein meant leaving no room for return; the seven peaks of the Yanghu Mountain Range would be permanently severed from the history of the Heavenly Fire Sect.
‘This is an inevitable decision made to preserve the sect's legacy, so I pray our ancestors will understand.’
Yang So soothed his hollow heart with a sigh, taking in the beloved scenery piece by piece. The landscape he had grown sick of seeing over a century suddenly felt foreign. It was likely due to the hideous iron towers erected between the familiar seven peaks.
Squelch!
Lost in thought, his body suddenly jolted. A dizzying pain surged through him, and his consciousness began to fade.
‘Huh?’
He saw something reddish. Was that... a hand? What was it holding? And... why did his vision keep spinning upside down?
"I wanted to let you go peacefully, but you brought death upon yourselves."
A low, murderous voice echoed faintly.
*Crack!*
And everything went pitch black.
Disposing of the dazed early Foundation Establishment cultivator was as easy as pie. Jekyeong had silently approached from behind, severed his neck with a hand blade, and pierced his heart in rapid succession. Stomping on and crushing the head that was still blinking blankly at the end was pure venting. It was something he wouldn't normally do, but right now, he found it difficult to control his rage.
‘There are only a few hundred of them left. Disposing of them isn't hard... but that is the problem.’
Jekyeong stared at the iron towers erected all over the place. They were called towers, but in reality, they looked like long iron rebars driven haphazardly into the ground.
‘Those things are extracting the spiritual energy of the vein. If I had been even a moment later, it would have been a disaster.’
The moment he passed through the Mountain-Protecting Grand Array, Jekyeong recognized what was happening at a single glance. In that instant, he was seized by an urge to return to his true form and reduce the entire Yanghu Mountain Range to ashes, but he forced himself to regain his composure. He moved to find the only remaining Foundation Establishment cultivator here and eliminated him the moment he was found. Now, all that was left was to wipe out the rest of the trash and tear down those hideous iron towers.
‘No, wait. I have the order backward.’
If he acted recklessly and accidentally damaged the spiritual vein, it would be a catastrophe. He had to perform a **Soul Search** on a few of them first to gather information. Cleaning up could wait until afterward.
"Kuh... aaargh...!"
A short while later, Jekyeong performed Soul Searches on over ten Heavenly Fire Sect cultivators. Under his brutal, reckless Soul Searches, they died in less than a minute, but Jekyeong didn't care. After searching five cultivators in a row, Jekyeong finally discovered that the Heavenly Fire Sect was extracting the spiritual energy of the vein using the **Vein-Extracting Grand Method**.
‘It's a good thing I didn't act hastily.’
Those hideous iron towers were artifacts called **Vein-Extracting Needles**, and they were the core of the Vein-Extracting Grand Method. To deactivate the Vein-Extracting Grand Method, the Vein-Extracting Needles had to be pulled out in a specific order. Otherwise, pulling them out or destroying them haphazardly would trigger a backlash of spiritual energy, risking shaking the very foundation of the spiritual vein.
‘Those absolute bastards.’
The anger he had barely managed to suppress flared up once more. Suppressing his urge to return to his true form, Jekyeong silently leaped forward. He would naturally eliminate all the cultivators of the Heavenly Fire Sect, but he had no intention of making a scene. If communication from this place was cut off, the departed cultivators would eventually realize something was amiss, but handling this quietly would buy him at least a few days. Those few days would be precious time to safely attempt his Core Condensation, so he had to secure as much of it as possible.
*Crack!*
Armed with his hunter's instincts, his perfected Presence-Concealing Technique, and the wealth of experience he had accumulated, Jekyeong swiftly dispatched the cultivators of the Heavenly Fire Sect. The Qi Condensation cultivators collapsed one by one, unable to offer even a shred of resistance before him. In less than a few hours, not a single living human remained in the Yanghu Mountain Range.
*Boom! Boom!*
Once the Heavenly Fire Sect's cultivators were cleared out, next came the Vein-Extracting Needles. Jekyeong destroyed the Vein-Extracting Needles in the exact order he had learned, hoping these hideous objects would spit back at least a portion of the spiritual energy they had drained.