Chapter 72
Translator: penny
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Another Heavenly Instruction (5)
The next morning, reflecting on Geum So-ryeo's previous visit, I rose before dawn and inspected everything to ensure it was perfectly tidy.
The building was immaculately arranged, just like last time. All we needed to do was straighten our clothes.
Pyeong Yu-ran had scurried off from the treatment center, and after finishing all my preparations, I sat in quiet meditation, waiting for the Sect Master to arrive.
With nothing much else to do while awaiting the Sect Master, I spent the time reviewing the Apex-Dragon Five Steps that I had already fully comprehended.
I couldn't grasp any new insights yet, but revisiting what I already understood might reveal something fresh.
Especially since such enlightenments grew richer with repeated contemplation, uncovering hidden meanings and subtle hints. It was crucial to reflect on them whenever I had spare time.
How much time passed like that?
True to his busy routine of overseeing the sect gates every day, the Sect Master had little leisure, yet he arrived right at daybreak.
Coming alone without attendants, he exchanged light morning greetings before leaving Wi A-han and So Hu behind and heading off with just the two of us.
The Sect Secret Repository was accessible only to the Sect Master, so I was fitted with special restraints that blocked divine sense, my senses sealed as I was transported. When the bindings were released, I found myself standing with him at the entrance to the Sect Secret Repository.
"This place is..."
The High Heaven Sect's Sect Secret Repository was exactly as depicted in the original story.
A crude field overgrown with withered crops amid scattered stones and pebbles.
Nearby, a dilapidated thatched hut half in ruins.
A rickety wooden fence around the hut that served little purpose.
This humble corner of the High Heaven Sect's Sect Secret Repository was literally lifted straight from the childhood home where Geum Yang-pyeong had grown up.
No joke—it was in the truest sense. Geum Yang-pyeong had returned to his hometown, sliced off the old house, field, and land still there, and transplanted them here.
Later, Mun Yoo learned it was created during his struggle against heart demons, as a way to "reflect on his past and revisit his origins."
'No wonder it feels similar to Senior Ok's house.'
The secret sanctum of the High Heaven Sect's Sect Master.
The pinnacle of the Supreme Ancient Secret Pavilion.
Yet it held this utterly ordinary, nostalgic scene.
Perhaps Geum Yang-pyeong had drawn the hint to overcome his heart demons from Senior Ok.
'If I ever can't conquer my heart demons, will I end up revisiting my past and seeking out cozy old places too?'
As I silently took in the scenery of the Sect Secret Repository, the Sect Master chuckled softly.
"Yong Yoo, you're quite unique."
"Pardon?"
"Most who see this Sect Secret Repository are disappointed or doubtful. Every elder who earned the chance to enter felt the same."
"Ah."
Of course. That made sense.
I scratched my cheek awkwardly and replied.
"In my view, Founding Ancestor Geum Yang-pyeong seems like a simple man. The plain robes of the High Heaven Sect and the lack of ornamentation in the Sect Master's Pavilion, which I've visited a few times, led me to that conclusion."
The Sect Master nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. The Founding Ancestor sought neither power nor wealth. As a cultivator, he pursued only cultivation and secret transmissions. He founded the High Heaven Sect solely for cultivation. Power, authority, wealth—they were mere byproducts of walking the path of cultivation."
I wanted to say that if Geum Yang-pyeong truly shunned power and wealth, he'd have lived out his days in the mountains and rivers, but I held my tongue to avoid trouble.
Once someone reached Geum Yang-pyeong's stature, underlings would embellish even trivial anecdotes.
The chairman casually strolls near home, grabs a bowl of jjajangmyeon because he's hungry—suddenly it's a tale of how, despite his vast empire, he remains humble, with jjajangmyeon evoking rare treats from his poor youth.
I toured the Sect Secret Repository with the Sect Master.
It looked unadorned, but everything here was the cream of treasures amassed by the High Heaven Sect over tens of thousands of years.
Racks carved into the surrounding walls held them: mighty dharma treasures radiating intense spirituality, jade bottles containing elixirs with potent fragrances.
"Choose two, whatever you desire."
"Pardon? Two?"
"Yes. One for exceeding expectations in the Supreme Ancient Secret Pavilion, the other for uncovering traces of our sect's enemy, the Falling Star Sect."
With that, he gestured for me to pick freely and settled into a chair by the field to rest.
'Two. Two of them.'
In that case... a treasure to replace Nectar Spirit Liquor, and a defensive dharma treasure or comparable spell manual.
I calmly scanned each treasure with divine sense.
A formation blocked sensing outside the repository, but I could examine everything inside freely.
'In the original story, this repository appeared exactly twice.'
Once for Mun Yoo, once for Hyang Mae. Mun Yoo picked a special dharma treasure he could use, Hyang Mae a water staff infused with unique spirit water.
'A gourd.'
Perhaps because of the Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle, my eyes first went to gourd-shaped dharma treasures.
Some trapped souls, others were water staves with sealed spirit water.
Unable to find what I wanted among the gourds, I turned to weapon-form dharma treasures next.
'Maybe there's a good one for my life-bound dharma treasure.'
Kang Spiritual Root's life-bound dharma treasure was the Pagoda of Eighty-Four Thousand Sutra Texts. It seemed capable of both offense and defense, but leaned heavily defensive.
I'd been hoping for a powerful offensive dharma treasure to complement it.
'Hmm. No. Not quite.'
Ah. Was it the pagoda's influence? My standards for dharma treasures had risen too high. These weapons were all top-notch, yet they felt insufficient to me.
I gave up on weapons and examined the other dharma treasures I'd skipped.
Jade scepter, fan, banner, bell, statue, scissors, book, scroll, coin, rope, gauntlets, shoes...
I first pulled out the statue for inspection.
'A puppet dharma treasure? Puppets consume a ton of spirit power.'
The shoe dharma treasure was unique: wear them and dance to unleash illusions. But the dancing requirement was tricky.
'Hard for me to use.'
Glancing at the fan dharma treasure reminded me of Hyang Mae, so I picked up the scroll and infused it with divine sense.
"...Hmm."
Found it. A dharma treasure that generated water.
Its name: Five Rivers Pulse Axis Chart. A scroll depicting five river branches.
I unrolled it, gazing at the five rivers.
One vast like the great river, another serpentine and winding, one with raging currents, another under rain, the last blocked by rocks and fallen trees in a storm.
I examined the scroll carefully, narrowing my eyes.
'...As expected. Excluding the pagoda or scripture banners, even compared to the Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle, these dharma treasures are on a much lower level.'
I pondered that briefly but, with no better options, selected the Five Rivers Pulse Axis Chart as my first dharma treasure.
Resuming my scan, I noticed the jade scepter and book weren't dharma treasures but dharma tools.
They held potent divine powers, limited to a set number of uses before vanishing. With enough spirit power to activate without consumption, they unleashed those powers—powerful enough for the Sect Secret Repository.
As I examined, realization dawned.
'...I see.'
No matter how grand the High Heaven Sect, resources had limits.
'Cultivation resources cap at Nascent Soul Realm. These dharma treasures... are the limit too.'
The High Heaven Sect wasn't lacking. Quite the opposite—it provided an overflowing cultivation environment up to Nascent Soul.
Even Soul Transformation might be feasible within the sect.
'But beyond that, I'd have to venture out for fortuitous encounters. Mun Yoo spent more time outside than in the sect from Soul Harmony onward.'
No avoiding it—eventually, I'd leave the sect and roam the entire Mortal Realm.
And the day would come when I supported the High Heaven Sect and became their backer, rather than the reverse.
With my vow to ascend within ten thousand years, that moment was inevitable.
Would I still be in the High Heaven Sect then?
Or, like most cultivators from Soul Transformation to Great Vehicle, would I depart to seek personal fortuitous encounters and ancient secrets, living as a hermit in mountains and rivers?
I pictured my future self wandering the Mortal Realm with just A-han and So Hu. Hyang Mae would surely stay in the sect.
Someone like her, honoring even lower-realm cultivators as senior brothers or juniors, could never abandon the sect that raised her.
...Would I stay in the High Heaven Sect for her then?
'...Enough. That day, if it comes, is thousands of years away. I can grow solidly to Soul Transformation within the sect, so I'll think about it then.'
I set aside thoughts of the future and selected my second dharma treasure.
The final one I chose was the Seven Lotus Cascade Bell, a defensive dharma treasure. With few options available, I picked the best among them.
It was a wooden-framed set of seven bells engraved with lotus flowers, capable of deploying seven layers of barriers.
'For defense, portable ones are ideal, but nothing good fits that.'
Cultivators cherished their lives above all. Most previous visitors had claimed the defensive dharma treasures.
"I'll take these two."
The Sect Master nodded approvingly at the Seven Lotus Cascade Bell but eyed the Five Rivers Pulse Axis Chart curiously. Noticing the absence of the Vast Bounty Gourd Bottle at my waist, he understood and nodded.
"Then let's head out."
Once more senses and divine sense sealed, I was led outside. When they returned, I stood at the Sect Master's Pavilion entrance.
"I originally planned to give you an extra defensive dharma treasure, but the best one our sect can offer now is that Seven Lotus Cascade Bell."
He patted my shoulder apologetically, consoling me.
"Not exactly compensation, but I'll assign you a better master for your arts."
"For the arts? Come to think of it, you mentioned something similar last time."
"Yes. Spirit Liquor Brewing and Spirit Farming aren't popular arts, so finding a master was tough. I barely secured one. But if you're willing, I'll find you a higher-level master."
I accepted the offer, and the Sect Master promised to arrange it quickly before vanishing into the pavilion.
I bowed politely to him, then took Wi A-han and So Hu—who had been waiting—and returned to the eastern sector.
Back east, I immediately began the ownership rites for my two new dharma treasures.