Standing Punishment

At the heart of Gi-gye.

In the great city of Gigagiljin — a capital so vast that fully four sects made their homes there, two of the Righteous Path, one of the Demonic Path, and one of the Heretical Path — cultivators thronged and muttered among themselves. It was less a city than a capital of cultivation itself.

"I hear Elder U was defeated by the Demon Immortal."

"What? Elder U lost his life to the Demon Immortal as well?!"

"No, I heard Elder U came back perfectly fine."

"Then what on earth happened?"

"No idea. But looking at how the council hall just reopened and the sect masters are gathering, something big must have gone down."

As the great city that held the entrance to a secret realm opening only once every few thousand years, and that housed the Ascension Platform for climbing to the upper realm, Gigagiljin swarmed with wandering cultivators and disciples from every sect imaginable — and rumors raced through it like wildfire.

Meanwhile, inside a council hall that by rights should only have opened when the secret realm's entrance was about to unlock — for regulating who entered and managing the gate among Gi-gye's countless sects — two Nascent Soul cultivators and six late-stage Golden Core cultivators sat with grim faces.

"Brother U, is that truly so? Deity Transformation?"

"It is. He had descended to the lower realm, constrained to late Nascent Soul, and was only a clone besides — yet the gulf in realm was unmistakable. It would have been harder to misread it than to feel it correctly."

"So the Demon Immortal's backer is a giant of the upper realm. Yes — that finally makes sense. Nothing like that could have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠appeared in under a century otherwise. But Brother U, you laid hands on the giant's baby. How did you walk away alive?"

At that, the words the giant had spoken to him rose unbidden, and U Yukgyeong's face twisted.

"Because I was kind, apparently."

"An eye that sees Good Karma and Evil Karma? You mean the Eternal Sleep Eye of Ksitigarbha?"

"That was the Demon Immortal's line, not the giant's. No need to overthink it — would a being with the Eternal Sleep Eye go around spilling blood like that?"

"Unless heart-demons had taken hold… And if the giant you spoke of called the Demon Immortal a newborn, then perhaps the Demon Immortal achieved an incomplete transcendence."

"Is incomplete transcendence even possible?"

"It exists only in the records, but yes. There is an account of Gangcheol, who failed an incomplete transcendence as a dragon and turned the far edge of Gi-gye into wasteland."

The conversation wandered off into the mountains and back again; more than a full day passed before they returned to the original point and began discussing countermeasures against the Demon Immortal.

"We wait for our seniors to return, then begin the giant hunt. We must show the upper realm, clearly and thoroughly, that Gi-gye is not to be trifled with — through the strength of Gi-gye's cultivators."

"Agreed. Then I shall go rest."

"You've worked hard, Brother U. We've prepared lodgings — go settle in."

The cultivator who had entered the secret realm in the seniors' place, then left early to manage Gigagiljin, let out a long breath and finally allowed himself a sigh of relief at the plan they had somehow scraped together.

The secret realm was already a powder keg — sects colliding, grudges from emotional spats flaring into pride-fueled wars of destiny — and now something had appeared that could bind Gi-gye's sects into one. Even the seniors and fellow disciples who, the moment they stepped out of the secret realm and heard the rumors, would have charged off alone to catch the Demon Immortal would quietly listen to the plan once they heard the word giant.

As for the reliability of the information? It had come from Brother U, who held the Law of Righteousness. Even most of the seniors would nod and say, If Junior U said it, that tracks — the credibility overflowed.

"After all this chaos, we will catch and kill it without fail."

"Acting Deputy Mayor! The vice sect master of the Ferocious Ghost Path is currently violating the divine beast charged with Gigagiljin's defenses!"

Seniors, please hurry back!

While the cultivator who had become Gigagiljin's acting deputy mayor — screaming inwardly as every senior vanished into the secret realm — scrambled to punish the cultivators causing every manner of incident across the great city—

"Now, now. No using Slaughter Tribulation, little newborn."

"Yeees…"

At the base, Yu Hee was standing punishment with both hands holding the Disaster Mountain.

Elder Togo's presence had visibly weakened, so there was no room for acting spoiled. After all, she had forced out spiritual power to save her, pressing down hard enough to drive off a early Nascent Soul cultivator.

She was in tile form, and trying to hold an eight-slot tile with pure physical stats alone — no Slaughter Tribulation — made both arms tremble on their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠own.

Shut up! Gyaaah — the second I let my focus slip, my strength gives out! Uwaaagh!

"I told you not to pull out my Golden Core or spiritual root, did I not?"

"But…"

But that was the fastest way to recover Slaughter Tribulation… She almost said it, but Elder Togo's furrowed brow left no room even for excuses. Fair enough — she had done every single thing he had told her not to.

"Still, the balance did not collapse as badly as I feared, which is a mercy. Likely thanks to the children inside the newborn putting in effort."

"Huh?"

"I told you before — if you take another cultivator's spiritual root or Golden Core, the souls mix, breakthroughs become extremely difficult, and eventually the path is blocked entirely."

"Yeees…"

"That is for cultivators. For mortals, eating a spiritual root or Golden Core merely makes the body healthier or extends lifespan by a few months. Barely any effect. The children inside the newborn are nearly mortals, so the harm was probably milder because of that."

"Then that means I can eat them— Ow!"

Gyaaah my head! My head is ringing! Aaagh!

"Do not interrupt me — listen to the end. Milder, not absent. You do not intend to remain a newborn forever after an incomplete transcendence, do you?"

"Well, no…"

Unable even to clutch her aching head while holding the Disaster Mountain, she gritted through the pain and kept standing punishment as Elder Togo's lecture rolled on without pause.

"And what do you think happens if you go around casually killing cultivators who are not even passing wanderers? If they unite to kill you or seal you, what then?"

"Urgh."

"Hands back up. Same as earlier — if you earn a Nascent Soul cultivator's grudge, you should be thinking how to resolve it, not charging in headfirst. Do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you have any idea how startled I was?"

"But…"

"No buts. A cultivator who has reached Nascent Soul — if you kill one, do you think the connections built over thousands of years number only one or two? Every last one of them will grind their teeth for revenge. You must account for all of that… I worry you will do the same even after you take me to the upper realm."

"…"

"Did you truly think I spared that cultivator only because the children inside the newborn stopped me? Even in that situation, he was ready to throw his life away to kill the newborn. As a mere clone, I could not have stopped him — so instead I made a deal: I would spare him and release him, and he would not touch the newborn."

Uh, I don't remember any such conversation. Do they talk with their eyes alone?

At any rate, after being scolded nonstop by Elder Togo and finally being released—

"So, Hee-a, where's my present?"

"Ah, right."

"Then I've got plenty of scolding left too!"

"Prisoner Exploration! Prisoner Exploration! Hup!"

"Not a chance! I'm finishing every last word of this lecture before I go!"

Aaaaagh!

After being tormented by Cheon Nan-cho right on the heels of Elder Togo and barely escaping, she bolted straight to San Gi-yeon and poured out her full store of grievances.

"You've been through a great deal, Senior."

"Mm-hmm!"

Only after a long while nestled in Yeona's arms, finally soothing body and mind, did she creep into the training grounds. She needed to inspect her Mental World — the stabilized Sea of Slaughter Tribulation and everything else.

Honestly, getting jumped by a Nascent Soul cultivator the second I left the temporary eastern sector was a bit much.

…Wait. Come to think of it, I never lowered the Event Probability Mode, did I?!

"Event Probability Mode! Check mode!"

She frantically opened the mode window, dropped the still-set 400% event probability back down to 100%, and exhaled in relief.

Come to think of it, while I was with Elder Togo, Cheon Nan-cho, and San Gi-yeon, I was mid-interaction with friendly NPCs — so almost no events fired?

Gracefully ignoring the decorations' racket and San Gi-yeon's distant scream, she closed her eyes and sank straight into her Mental World.

Inside, she checked the Golden Core, the expanded Sea of Slaughter Tribulation, and the tower that had grown even larger. Looking at how precarious the foundation was, she would probably need to drop a few levels just to widen the tower's base.

Better to drop levels now and raise them again than reach Nascent Soul, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠level up, then drop — and I can't level up right now anyway, so dropping first is the right call.

She focused at once, consciousness sinking beneath the four-layered Sea of Slaughter Tribulation, down to the Status Window — her innate talent that upheld this entire Mental World.