Chapter 63
Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Caught the Tail (1)
One month before Yong Yoo emerged from the Ancient Mystery Realm.
Do Mun-hyang decided to head out on an external mission to gauge just how much power she now wielded.
In the past, she would never have left the sect grounds for anything short of Geum So-ryeo sending her out on a mission to claim a fortuitous encounter—she had always focused solely on cultivation. But lately, Do Mun-hyang's mindset had shifted a little.
It wasn't just Yong Yoo, who had proven himself with his exceptional Dao combat aptitude and seized the greatest opportunity of the Ancient Mystery Realm. The main reason was that after demonstrating her own worth at the Dao Leader Tournament, all the suspicion, envy, jealousy, and backbiting from those around her—who had hounded her relentlessly—had vanished like smoke in the wind.
Do Mun-hyang had realized that power solved a great many problems. And to grow that power, it wasn't enough to simply hole up in the sect and cultivate. She needed to venture out, hone herself through experience, and build a solid foundation.
Could Yong Yoo have grown this strong if he'd stayed cooped up cultivating inside the sect? Would Yeom Suk have been pierced through her defenses in that final moment and lost to Yong Yoo if she hadn't wasted decades in closed-door seclusion without sharpening her combat experience?
Even Geum So-ryeo, who placed utmost importance on cultivation, spent every spare moment roaming beyond the sect in search of fortuitous encounters for herself and her disciples, gaining countless battles under her belt.
Cultivation aptitude and Dao combat aptitude were separate qualities, but to advance one's realm as a cultivator, solidify one's foundation, and seize opportunities, one inevitably needed to temper both.
And so, the external mission Do Mun-hyang chose was patrolling Gloommist Valley.
Gloommist Valley lay a mere thousand li from High Heaven Sect, shrouded in a special fog that blocked divine sense—a forbidden land no cultivator should ever approach.
Yet monstrous fiends occasionally burst from Gloommist Valley, wreaking havoc, so High Heaven Sect regularly dispatched cultivators to patrol its perimeter.
The sect had explored Gloommist Valley several times before, but the fog's interference limited their range. Each time, Nakseong Sect would shift their position by moving dragon corpses, so High Heaven Sect still had no idea Nakseong Sect lurked inside.
Naturally, they also didn't know that those occasional fiends emerged when Nakseong elders or disciples, corrupted by heart demons while cultivating on the valley's energies, lost their reason and turned into fiends—or were driven out.
"Are you sure it's okay for you two to come with me?"
Do Mun-hyang glanced at Wi A-han and So Hu, who had followed her all the way to the High Heaven Sect outpost near Gloommist Valley.
Wi A-han had reached the third layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm thanks to the cultivation resources Do Mun-hyang had gifted her, but So Hu couldn't grow through cultivation and had consumed no spirit beasts, so she retained her early Core Formation Realm strength.
Do Mun-hyang herself had successfully advanced to the second layer of Core Formation.
People had taken great interest in her growth. After all, she had been merely at the first layer during the Dao Leader Tournament, yet she'd outshone other formidable Core Formation competitors to advance in the Dao Debates.
"It's my duty to serve the lady of the house until the master returns."
Wi A-han replied politely, as if it were no trouble at all, while So Hu was simply thrilled at the rare outing. She'd grown bored stiff from being stuck in one place cultivating all those years. Her tail wagged furiously.
Fox spirits were generally spirit beasts specialized in stationary guarding, but So Hu had withered away precisely because she'd been confined for ages protecting the sect's treasures.
Unlike her kin, she preferred roaming freely and hunting spirit beasts.
However, contrary to So Hu's hopes, the three women spent a very peaceful month at the Gloommist Valley outpost after arriving.
"It's so peaceful."
Wi A-han, who had started out a bit tense, remarked as such, and Do Mun-hyang smiled shyly.
"I didn't want to dive straight into a life-or-death mission... I figured I'd ease into external activities with something simple like this."
"Smart thinking."
Patrolling Gloommist Valley was undoubtedly dangerous. The fiends that emerged could sometimes reach Nascent Soul Realm strength.
But most disciples returned without even glimpsing a fiend's shadow.
Wi A-han stepped up beside Do Mun-hyang, gazing at Gloommist Valley alongside her in admiration.
"Even with the sun shining from the sky, it's pitch black in there."
"Pretty mysterious, right?"
"Yes. I'm not familiar with anywhere outside High Heaven Sect, but... it feels extremely ominous."
"I used to genuinely believe it connected to the underworld."
"Really?"
"My master once dove all the way to the bottom searching for a fortuitous encounter. She couldn't find any underworld."
Wi A-han marveled at how her master had managed to descend into such an unsettling place. Maybe that was what it took to become a Soul Transformation Realm grand cultivator.
"Anyway, it's been almost a year now, so the master should be emerging soon."
Wi A-han brought up Yong Yoo instead of the uninteresting valley, and Do Mun-hyang nodded.
"Yeah. I wonder how much stronger he's gotten."
Do Mun-hyang was only 48, now at the second layer of Core Formation. The first Dao Leader Tournament champion she'd ever seen was Yong Yoo, so she'd only heard rumors of past winners.
"I heard one senior once entered the Ancient Mystery Realm at the sixth layer of Core Formation and shot straight up to the fifth layer of Nascent Soul."
"They say a year in the Ancient Mystery Realm is like a century in the mortal world... So breaking through to Nascent Soul in a hundred years—and reaching the fifth layer?"
"Yep. Impressive, huh?"
"Who was it?"
"Our master."
"Whoa..."
Wi A-han thought of Geum So-ryeo, whose age was impossible to fathom.
"After that, she broke through to Nascent Soul in a mere five hundred years. And before even hitting three thousand, she reached the mid-stage of Soul Transformation."
Do Mun-hyang puffed out her chest proudly, boasting about Geum So-ryeo with glee. Her master was always her pride and joy.
"How old is Elder Geum So-ryeo?"
"Two thousand eight hundred twenty-seven this year!"
"Hah..."
Wi A-han was stunned by the number.
Two thousand eight hundred twenty-seven?
She herself was sixty-seven. If she'd been a mere mortal instead of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she'd have long since withered away.
Geum So-ryeo had lived ages that would take forty lifetimes for Wi A-han to match.
What must it feel like to endure such an eternity?
'The master will probably become a Soul Transformation cultivator too, so as his servant, I need to reach that realm to serve him properly...'
Wi A-han had no grand ambitions as a cultivator. Captured by High Heaven Sect and forced into the path of the Dao, then coerced into becoming a spirit servant due to her spirit root aptitude, she'd endured torturous techniques amid constant torment.
Her sole purpose was one: to serve Yong Yoo using her formations and geomancy talents.
If she had a Dao as a cultivator, it was Yong Yoo.
"I'm a little worried, though. Master neglects her own cultivation while hunting fortuitous encounters for her disciples."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Her breakthroughs in the minor realms slowed down after Soul Transformation. Actually, it was only after becoming her disciple that I saw her break through a minor realm for the first time."
They had one month left on the mission.
Like the past month, the two planned to cultivate and chat through it.
But then, an anomaly erupted from Gloommist Valley.
A man cloaked in a blood-red robe suddenly rose from the valley's center.
He wore an abnormally long- and wide-sleeved robe, gripping a sinister spear made of dark red wood in one hand.
And the hand clutching that spear? Thick crimson fur sprouted thickly from the arm, while the hand itself was blindingly pale white—like a monkey's.
"Who is that?"
Do Mun-hyang wondered at the figure: too human for a fiend, yet its arm was pure fiend. But not Wi A-han.
"That man..."
The arm had changed, but she couldn't mistake him.
"Y-Yes! It's the cultivator at Core Formation perfection we ran into at the sect ruins when we went for the Wood Spirit Lotus—he fought the master!"
It had been over ten years ago, but Wi A-han remembered that face perfectly.
Do Mun-hyang's eyes widened in shock at the enemy of Yong Yoo, but suddenly a colossal pressure shook their outpost.
"Kyaaak?!"
"Ahh!"
Krrrrrr rumble!!
So Hu swiftly dashed to their side, steadying the pair as they staggered.
Ye Ga-seok unleashed a physical-force divine sense to sweep the area, zeroing in on what offended it most, then flew straight for the High Heaven Sect outpost.
The outpost was shielded by an elder's formation, but Ye Ga-seok ignored it, stroking the air with his left hand.
His fiend senses detected a faint spatial distortion.
"A formation? And a pretty high-level one at that."
Judging it wouldn't shatter easily, Ye Ga-seok calmly probed with his monkey hand.
Finding the formation's weakest point, he thrust his wooden spear, shattering it in one go.
As the outpost lay exposed before him, Ye Ga-seok grinned and formed hand seals, summoning a massive wood dragon.
After learning Yong Yoo belonged to High Heaven Sect, his grudge had extended to the sect itself.
He couldn't topple it alone, but he could harass them. He intended to torment High Heaven Sect to his utmost and kill Yong Yoo.
"Alright, let the fun begin."
Revenge time—pure delight.
Ye Ga-seok's colossal wood dragon devoured the High Heaven Sect outpost whole.
Now at Core Formation, Yong Yoo marveled at his shield dharma treasure's speed—several times faster than before—as he periodically swept divine sense around him.
Just like the incident on his way back to the sect last time, he checked for trouble nearby so he could detour if needed.
'Still tailing me.'
His divine sense had caught Ping Yu-ran pursuing from behind since earlier.
'Did they assign her as an escort because I'm a heavenly prodigy?'
Unaware of Young Master Pursuit Devotees' true nature as his guards, Yong Yoo felt a twinge of annoyance. Ironically, the actual Devotees couldn't keep up with his sudden departure from the sect.
His mindset had grown excessively bold—though he remained oblivious to it.
Inside, he still aimed to be as cautious and prudent as ever, but his actions betrayed that.
And so, flying lightheartedly to meet his lovers, unaware of his own changes...
"Huh?"
...Yong Yoo spotted it: a massive wood dragon, eerily familiar yet dozens of times larger, chomping through part of a small mountain.