Chapter 24
Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Sea Severing Peak Direct Disciple Yong Yoo (3)
A short while later, as I returned to Sea Severing Peak from the Main Peak, my arms were laden with rewards.
The lavishly adorned storage pouch was practically handed to me for free, and thanks to the Sect Master personally imparting the secret technique, my mind was filled not only with information on the technique itself but also with his profound insights into it.
Beneath the near-white pale pink robe gifted by Hyang Mae, I wore a silvery light armor set. With Geum So-ryeo's help, I'd successfully imprinted it as my own—a Core Formation-grade dharma treasure. It was said to be among the finest of its kind, capable of blocking even a Nascent Soul attack once.
'Its name was Moonhoosu, right?'
I didn't know much about it, but apparently, it was clothing made from the whiskers of a monster called the Whiskered Tiger.
Inside the storage pouch was a jade token proving my identity. Just having it allowed me to receive treatment befitting a core direct disciple anywhere in the High Heaven Sect. It also contained jade slips with detailed information on the Spirit Farming Technique and Spirit Liquor Brewing I needed, so at least until the Nascent Soul stage, I wouldn't have to worry about advancing those skills.
Most importantly, there was the Sect Master's mark imprinted on my soul. Once I reached Foundation Establishment Perfection, if I wished it, all the complicated processes would be skipped, and I'd receive the Tribulation Evasion Pill directly.
"Is there anything else you need?"
Geum So-ryeo even wanted to give me more. So I answered honestly.
"I'm not talented in formations or geomancy, so I have trouble deploying the Spirit Farming Technique."
"Hmm. Alright. I can handle that for you."
Geum So-ryeo said she'd resolve it right away and led me to the eastern chamber.
"Now that you're a direct disciple, I've prepared this eastern chamber and some gifts in my own way. If the location doesn't suit you, just say the word."
"Ah, no. It's fine. I hardly ever leave the chamber anyway..."
I took the formation tool Geum So-ryeo gave me and imprinted it as my own.
'This is a dharma treasure too?'
What kind of formation had she set up in my chamber that even the activator was a dharma treasure?
With those thoughts, I stepped inside—and gaped at everything laid out within.
I'd heard that elders went all out for their direct disciples, giving them everything they had... but this exceeded my wildest imagination.
For starters, the chamber itself looked completely different.
The entire space was draped in luxurious fabrics, making it cozy and refined. It made my old chamber look like a primitive cave-dweller's den.
At the center of this beautiful chamber stood a large wooden table piled with jade slips and books—clearly containing the techniques and spells I needed to learn.
Along the walls were three storage pouches and a massive wooden ruler etched with intricate incantations. They looked like dharma treasures Geum So-ryeo had prepared for me.
Flags placed all around gathered fire, water, and wood spirit energy, deploying a formation over my entire chamber to create the perfect cultivation environment.
On top of that, considering it unrelated to cultivation, she'd even prepared top-grade tools for my Spirit Farming Technique and Spirit Liquor Brewing, a space to craft spirit fields, and setups for growing various spirit crops and herbs.
"Master..."
I hadn't expected her to go this far.
As I looked at Geum So-ryeo in awe, she smiled beautifully and patted my back.
"It's good to be moved, but don't feel burdened or push yourself needlessly. These are yours because you've proven your talent. Keep proving it, and I'll gladly provide even more support than this."
Geum So-ryeo said I probably needed some time alone and left my chamber. Left by myself, I examined the items she'd given me.
The ones that caught my eye most were the ruler and the cultivation methods.
'They already bestowed the Whiskered Tiger Whisk Robe at the sect assembly...'
More dharma treasures and tools were always better. As I inspected the ruler, I found a small note hidden beneath it and read it.
The note described the ruler's name and abilities.
'Harm-Filtering Ruler.'
It was an excellent defensive dharma treasure that absorbed damage in my place as long as I carried it. A bit disappointing that it was only Foundation Establishment grade, but I imprinted it without hesitation.
After imprinting all the storage pouches as well, I finally pressed the jade slip containing the cultivation method to my forehead and scanned it with divine sense.
"...Hmm."
The method in the jade slip was the Triune Origin Scripture, a technique usable only by Three-Element Spiritual Root holders who met specific conditions.
Those conditions being that the three elements formed a chain of mutual generation.
In my case, water nourished wood, wood fueled fire—so I qualified. The same went for metal-water-wood or fire-earth-metal combinations, as long as the conditions were met.
A cultivator who met those conditions and cultivated the Triune Origin Scripture wouldn't just refine their gathered spirit energies from the three elements into spirit power. By leveraging the five elements' mutual generation cycle, they'd undergo another refinement step to produce a special spirit power called Unified Origin Spirit Force.
This Unified Origin Spirit Force was far more potent than ordinary spirit power and combined the traits of all three attributes at once. Mastering it would let me freely cast water, wood, and fire spells without converting it into different attributes first.
The Unified Origin Spirit Force was incredibly powerful, but it required perfectly balanced spirit energies from the three attributes during cultivation. Imbalance could cause internal injuries or scatter all the painstakingly accumulated spirit power.
Thus, aside from specially balanced pills, no other pills could be consumed, and cultivation speed was slower than standard methods.
'But... if the power of this Unified Origin Spirit Force is as described, it's worth the risk. This chamber has excellent balance of the three energies, and I can substitute nectar spirit liquor for the pills—so the drawbacks don't apply to me.'
If I seriously started Spirit Liquor Brewing and stocked up on nectar spirit liquor, I was confident I could cultivate faster than with mediocre methods.
But to do that, I first needed to deal with the excess water spirit power accumulated disproportionately in my body.
'Wasting this spirit power would be a shame, so let's transfer it to my wood spiritual root.'
As I settled into position, intending to test a light cultivation session—
Hyang Mae arrived at my chamber, bringing urgent news.
"Mun Yoo fled the High Heaven Sect?"
"Yes, Yoo Lang. And during his escape, he killed five sect enforcers, so the Enforcement Hall has sent people to track him down."
Fled? The protagonist? From the High Heaven Sect? Why?
The guy who'd stuck to the sect until the grand ascension—why flee now?!
This world was vast! The land alone was several times Earth's surface area!
And yet! They expected to track down and kill one fleeing person there?!
"......"
"Yoo Lang? What's wrong?"
We're screwed.
"No, I just don't understand why Mun Yoo would flee."
"I don't get it either. But... lately, that guy's been acting incomprehensible more often than not."
We're screwed.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He kept volunteering for outer missions in a weird way, and every time he came back, he'd gotten strangely stronger... Last time, he even muttered something weird like, 'I only found a few fortuitous encounters.'"
"That's odd..."
We're really, truly, utterly screwed.
No matter how his growth path had deviated, the protagonist was still the protagonist—a fact reconfirmed just days ago. If that protagonist grew on his own whims without me and achieved grand ascension?
I'd be done for.
Not just as Yong Yoo, but my life after death, my reincarnated future—everything would be dominated by Mun Yoo, trapped in eternal torment at his hands.
"...I feel kind of sorry for him."
"Huh?"
"If it's because of how I bullied him during my wandering days, doesn't that make me feel guilty?"
"No way. You think something like that would shatter his Dao Heart enough to kill fellow sect brothers and flee? If so, he was always that kind of guy. It's not your fault, Yoo Lang, so don't worry about it."
"Yeah. Thanks..."
I need to get stronger.
Stronger than anyone, faster than anyone. Before Mun Yoo can do anything to me, I have to achieve grand ascension first and become an immortal. Then kill Mun Yoo and utterly annihilate his soul so he can't reincarnate!
Otherwise, even if I managed to kill him, the reincarnated Mun Yoo would sweep up every fortuitous encounter, grow strong, recover his past-life memories, and torture me in revenge.
I knew it all too well.
How low the so-called "virtuous" personality of Mun Yoo in Black and White Immortal Chronicle—packaged as good karma accumulation—could sink!
No one was as petty, held grudges as long, demanded revenge without fail, or prolonged that revenge endlessly!
"Anyway, so this is Yoo Lang's chamber!"
"Yeah. Master put some thought into it."
"It's amazing. Oh, right. After Master took you away, something happened."
"What happened?"
I chatted amiably with Hyang Mae, steadying my Dao Heart that felt on the verge of crumbling.
Luckily, talking with her was remarkably effective. I quickly stabilized my mind and sorted out my jumbled thoughts.
'Come to think of it, Mun Yoo achieving grand ascension is far in the future. In the original story, it was around 10,000 years old, right?'
10,000 years—an unimaginably distant time, but for a cultivator, becoming an immortal as a Five-Element Spiritual Root holder in a mere 10,000 years was extraordinary.
A truly miraculous growth rate.
'So, I just need to achieve grand ascension within 10,000 years from now.'
Grand ascension in 10,000 years? Utterly insane. Was Soul Transformation lifespan 100,000 years for nothing? Even using all of it, the number who succeeded could be counted on one hand!
Even Geum Yang-pyeong, the greatest genius of the Central Continent's Orthodox Alliance, ascended at 52,000 or something.
After chatting with Hyang Mae a bit, I said I wanted to cultivate my new method and naturally sent her off. Then, as originally planned, I tried shifting the water spirit power from my water spiritual root to wood.
'10,000 years... I'll have to live busily. But no rushing. Haste makes waste—especially on the path of cultivation, where Dao Heart stability is paramount. I can't be stupid enough to obsess over Mun Yoo and shatter my own Dao Heart.'
Fortunately, objectively speaking, I was pretty calm and composed.
After the initial shock and turmoil from Mun Yoo's flight news, I soon returned to my usual state and threw myself fully into cultivation.
About a week of intense cultivation later, an unexpected guest arrived at my chamber.
"Yong Yoo, are you in?"
"Master."
The visitor was Geum So-ryeo.
The moment she entered, I halted my cultivation, prostrated myself deeply, and greeted her. Smiling at me, she presented the woman she'd brought along.
She possessed beauty rivaling Hyang Mae or Geum So-ryeo, but with a different, chaste allure.
Flaming red hair like vivid flames. Clear silver eyes reflecting the world like a mirror. An elegant figure wrapped in plain black robes without adornment.
"Master, who is this...?"
"A ritual slave."
I flinched at "ritual slave."
Ritual slaves were slaves trained in the Hundred Arts of Cultivation. Cultivators lacking talent in those arts captured the talented and turned them into slaves to cultivate the arts on their behalf.
"Her name is Wi A-han. She's from a traitorous clan that committed great crimes against our sect. When the entire clan was captured, her spiritual root was discovered, and she was raised as a ritual slave. Trained in formations and geomancy, she'll be a great help if you soul-bind her. Here."
"...Thank you, Master."
The slave aspect felt deeply uncomfortable, but with Geum So-ryeo urging me, I had no choice but to perform the soul-binding.
Soul-bound ritual slaves pledged eternal loyalty to their soul master, could never defy their orders, and had to prioritize their master's will over self-preservation or ego.
In short, it turned a person into a person-shaped tool.
With Geum So-ryeo's help, the soul-binding was done in the blink of an eye. I gazed at the woman who'd become my soul-bound ritual slave. Geum So-ryeo left with a satisfied look, as if her duty as master was fulfilled.
"......"
"......"
And so, I was forced to share an awkward silence, staring at the slave thrust upon me.