Chapter 61
Translator: penny
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Brewing the Golden Core (4)
I ascended to the maximum height I could reach with the Water Escape Art, then began slowly climbing higher by reinforcing my body with the spirit power of the Core Formation Realm.
The spirit power of the Core Formation Realm was at least ten times stronger than during Foundation Establishment, making the ascent far more comfortable.
"But what the hell is this pressure?"
The environment of the Celestial Realm was being shielded by the pagoda, so this pressure had to be some external force...
Is there some kind of array? I thought they'd cleared them all out.
'No human hands have touched this spot, so maybe some arrays are still lingering.'
The base of the mountain had been thoroughly combed by High Heaven Sect cultivators over many years, with signs of human activity everywhere, but there was nothing like that here.
As I climbed, the most striking thing was the bamboo.
There hadn't been a single stalk at the bottom, but at this height, bamboo grew thick and dense, blanketing the entire mountaintop.
Whenever I grew tired, I leaned against the thick bamboo groves to rest. Sitting down felt like I might never get back up.
After persistently alternating between rests and climbs over several days and nights, I finally reached the summit.
"This is...?"
The mountaintop was a flat expanse, as if someone had artificially leveled it.
A black hole gaped in the sky above, and below it lay a modest house, a bamboo grove, a beautiful flower garden, and a pond.
For a place where an immortal lived... it felt far too lived-in.
Next to the pond stood a laundry rack made of thin bamboo, with men's and women's clothes fluttering gently in the breeze. Beside a cold hearth lay stacks of old firewood.
At the very least, an immortal wouldn't need any of those things, so it seemed like mortals had lived here.
I cautiously approached the house and peered inside. The shelves were lined with blue gourd bottles.
Seeing them, I unconsciously stroked the Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle at my waist.
"......"
As I wandered around in a daze, a thunderous voice suddenly boomed from the black hole in the sky.
"Who dares defile the nest of this lady and her husband?"
Startled, I looked up to see a beautiful woman in a green robe descending from the black void.
I could tell at a glance.
The woman before me was an immortal.
I was dumbfounded. No way... how many times have I run into celestial beings in just the past year?
Battle Guardian Buddha Elder's remnant soul.
The dragon and bird from my enlightenment vision.
And now this woman.
This couldn't be real.
This wasn't even a realm close to the Celestial Realm, and here I was, a mere Core Formation cultivator, encountering celestials left and right?
Puzzled but desperate not to incur her wrath, I hurriedly bowed low and pressed my forehead to the ground.
"Forgive me, Immortal Lady! This lowly one climbed up here without knowing it was your nest!"
"So you're the ant who's been probing my divine sense."
......Probing her divine sense?
As I puzzled over her words, the pressure crushing me vanished in an instant.
Could it be... that the external force weighing down the entire Upper Antiquity Secret Realm was this immortal's divine sense leaking out?
With a casual wave, she drew me toward her and raised a hand brimming with immense power to strike—then froze upon seeing my face.
"......Hm."
She snorted, dispersed the energy in her hand, and scanned me from head to toe.
"You... you resemble my husband a little."
"Y-Yes...?"
"And you're carrying a dharma treasure he made during Soul Harmony Realm."
The immortal plucked the Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle from my waist and severed the bond between it and me.
I knew its functions well and felt a deep pang of regret, but my life was worth more than any treasure, so I held back my tears.
"I meant for that Geum Yang-pyeong kid to use it well and bring it back when he ascended... but he didn't, so I half-killed him for it."
Released from the invisible force, I sprawled on the ground and reacted to the name Geum Yang-pyeong.
"D-Do you know Founding Patriarch Geum Yang-pyeong?"
"Founding Patriarch? Ah, right. That Geum Yang-pyeong boy founded a sect in the mortal world, didn't he?"
"Y-Yes. It's called High Heaven Sect."
The immortal looked at me and smiled warmly.
"Fate works in mysterious ways. It wouldn't be so bad to hear news from my homeland after all this time."
With that, she led me to a pavilion in the courtyard and sat across from me at a small round table.
Gazing nostalgically at the Upper Antiquity Secret Realm, she said,
"It's been ages since I came here too. I haven't visited since my husband entered reincarnation."
"Ah......"
What do you even say in a moment like this?
Seeming to sense my dilemma, she waved it off.
"No need to mind. We'll meet again after his long cycle of reincarnation anyway."
"I... I see."
"My husband's talent was inferior to mine, so when I reached Great Ascension Realm, he was still only at Soul Harmony. Desperate to ascend together, I sought a place strongly linked to the Celestial Realm."
The immortal quietly began her tale.
"But how many such places exist? So I made contact with celestial entities and happened to connect with a Buddhist sect fleeing a kalpa. By performing the ascension ritual alongside them, I created this space with strong ties to both the mortal world and the Celestial Realm."
I recalled Battle Guardian Buddha Elder's remnant soul.
"That was 180,000 years ago."
"180,000 years......"
A Great Ascension cultivator's lifespan was 100,000 years, right? An unimaginably vast span of time.
"I halted my own cultivation to aid his, but before he even reached Great Ascension, I attained Great Ascension Perfection and was forced to ascend alone. I waited for him afterward... but one day, when I checked here, he was gone, and some Soul Harmony kid had shown up."
"That must have been Founding Patriarch Geum Yang-pyeong."
"Yes. Since I'd made this secret realm for my husband back when he was at Soul Harmony, I figured it was fate and gave the boy one of his dharma treasures."
She shook the Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle as she spoke.
"A shoddy thing, but it must have been a huge help to a child with middling spirit roots."
Only then did the true history of High Heaven Sect's founding click into place.
Geum Yang-pyeong hadn't built the sect here because he'd broken through to Soul Harmony and later discovered the Upper Antiquity Secret Realm to cultivate in.
He'd found this place before his Soul Harmony breakthrough, achieved it here, then founded High Heaven Sect atop it to ensure no one else could find the secret realm.
"Now tell me your story."
At her urging, I began recounting my life as Yong Yoo in the mortal world from the start.
I skimmed over his rogue days and delved into the details after my possession.
"I... haven't formally tied the knot yet, but I do have a dao companion. Her name is Do Mun-hyang—a beautiful woman."
"Ho. Do you love her?"
"......"
I pondered how to answer, then smiled and said,
"At the very least, she seems to take up the biggest part of why I like this world."
She seemed pleased with my response and smiled.
"That's not how you'd describe someone you've given your heart to completely—yet you have women all around you."
"Uh."
"Even more in the future."
"What?"
"Ah, watch out for your disciples."
"Disciples? I have disciples?"
What on earth is this immortal talking about?
"If you don't, those disciples will suck you dry, so take this."
With that, she handed me a jade bottle.
"It's a Youth Preservation Pill."
"Youth Preservation Pill."
"It'll keep you young, so at least your body won't age and cause potency issues. Potency aside, even if you don't need meals, make sure to eat nourishing foods regularly."
Hmm. The person before me looked like a strikingly young and beautiful immortal maiden, but the way she spoke felt like a village auntie gossiping obscenely on a neighbor's porch.
I carefully stored the Youth Preservation Pill in my storage pouch and resumed my tale.
"Ho. A power that transcends great realms? Could it be related to those two spirit roots inside you?"
Her words startled me, and I reflexively shielded my body. She laughed, finding it endearing.
"Hee hee. In my 300,000 years of life, you're the first I've seen with two spirit roots."
"......You knew? Battle Guardian Buddha Elder's remnant soul......"
"Remnant souls left intentionally often have non-essential functions stripped away. It's more efficient that way. A remnant soul guarding a Buddhist treasure doesn't need the power to peer into spirit roots, does it?"
"True."
"If you hadn't brought my husband's relic as a benefactor, even I might have done something to you. Keep those dual spirit roots well hidden."
"Thank you for the advice."
She nodded, then inquired about the abilities of my dual spirit roots.
"Ah, well... having two means I can use any spell as if it were a joint art. When I use a true joint art... it's like two cultivators perfectly synchronized, with immense power."
"Indeed. Fascinating. My husband and I loved using joint arts too."
As she spoke, she gestured.
"Using joint arts solo must differ from the norm."
"Yes. It's called Pseudo-Joint Art. It demands stricter conditions than regular ones, so if the gap between spirit roots widens, I can't use it."
"I see."
At her gesture, books and jade slips flew from the house into her hand. She leafed through them nostalgically.
"These contain all the materials on the joint arts we enjoyed. Read them—they'll help."
I bowed deeply, accepted the joint art materials into my storage pouch, and hesitantly asked,
"Um... may I ask your husband's name?"
"My husband? Why so suddenly?"
"You've helped me so much. If I ever find his tomb, I'd like to express my gratitude."
"My husband was called Dongbimun."
"Ah. Dong......"
Dongbimun? Wait.
That was a name I knew. The one who appears during the Karmic Apocalypse...
I couldn't finish the thought.
The immortal roughly seized my throat, glaring with eyes sharp as blades.
"Why react like that to my husband's name? As if you know it."
"Ugh...! Ack...! Gah!"
Immense pressure crushed me.
My body and soul shrank smaller than an ant.
No—it wasn't an illusion.
My body truly dwindled until it fit snugly in her grip, and she squeezed tighter, demanding,
"I'll ask again. Why the reaction to his name?"
"Hus...!"
Desperate to live, I cried out,
"I know about your husband! He didn't enter reincarnation!"
"What?"
"Human Immortal! He became a Human Immortal and chose to remain in the mortal world!!"
I screamed the info on Dongbimun until my throat burned, and her grip loosened.
I slipped from her hand onto the pavilion, my body gradually returning to normal size.
"Hah...! Hah...!"
"Human Immortal? My husband became a Human Immortal?"
"Yes...! Yes!"
Human Immortal Realm.
Among those who reach Great Ascension, some forgo ascension to stay in the mortal world.
They ascend to Human Immortal Realm, wielding Earth Immortal power without restraint, achieving immortality that even Earth Immortals can't—though they can't cultivate further, reincarnate upon death, or anything else; they simply perish.
As far as I knew, Dongbimun was one such Human Immortal powerhouse who emerged during the Karmic Apocalypse.
"......Ha."
The immortal mulled it over, then let out a hollow laugh.
"Ha, haha! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA!!"
Staring skyward, she unleashed a chilling laugh, her eyes flashing with ecstatic fury.
"Husband... you wanted to flee me that badly? Enough to abandon ascension! To become a lowly immortal bound to the mortal world and its lifespan! Just to get away from me!!"
She grabbed my face with both hands and stroked it gently.
"But what can be done? Heaven joined us as husband and wife. Look—this child has reconnected us, hasn't he?"
......I think I know why Dongbimun became a Human Immortal now.
But didn't she say I resembled her husband and was handsome? Dongbimun was described as plain...
"Child."
"Y-Yes! Y-Yes, Elder."
"No need for such formality. My name is Ok Ha-hee. Call me Jade Senior."
Jade Senior allowed me—a Core Formation pipsqueak—to address her, a celestial pinnacle being, as "senior." It was more shocking than befriending a cockroach.
With a gentle, benevolent expression, she said,
"You've helped me find my beloved husband, so I must reward you fittingly."
She scanned the surroundings, then uprooted a nearby bamboo stalk with a gesture.
Bamboo roots interconnect, so pulling one dragged up a chain— but Jade Senior compressed the entire grove into a single thin, elongated stalk, just as she'd shrunk me.
The condensed bamboo gleamed with an ore-like texture, a clear jade hue. She drew materials from her sleeve, shaped a handle onto it.
Apart from the glossy jade color, it was a bamboo club—like an iron whip.
"It's simple, but a dharma treasure forged by this Jade Senior will outclass anything in the mortal world. Your current level might make it hard to wield, though, so be careful."
"Th-Thank you. May I ask its name?"
"Hm? Sure. Since you've let me reunite with my husband, whom I thought lost... let's call it Must-Return Whip."
Handing me the Must-Return Whip, Jade Senior stood abruptly.
"Then this senior must go find her husband. Do you know his whereabouts?"
"I-I'm sorry. Not that far..."
"......I see. You're not lying. Understood. I hope we meet again after you ascend safely."
With that, Jade Senior vanished into the black hole, leaving me alone to fiddle with the Must-Return Whip she'd given me.
......What the hell just happened?