The Offer (1)

Cheon Woo-jin examined the status window that had appeared without warning.

He had suspected it from the man's outward appearance, and sure enough — this was someone he had encountered in the game.

Unlike the generic NPCs that were randomly generated with every new playthrough, this was a named character — one who existed permanently within the game world and took part in its storyline.

So it really is Jin Cheong of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect.

The man carried a fan made of crane feathers — a crane-feather fan — and wore blue robes. He looked exactly like the Jin Cheong of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect as he appeared in the game.

Qi Condensation, Great Perfection… a cultivator above my own level.

Great Perfection was the final stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. It granted power surpassing the late stage, but it was also the point where one confronted a wall far greater than any that had come before.

That was why so many cultivators spent long years treading in place at Great Perfection until their lifespans ran out.

Only a rare handful who managed to break through that wall and enter the Foundation Establishment Realm could continue walking the path of cultivation.

And what they needed for that was precisely a Foundation Establishment Pill.

The Foundation Establishment Pill was a pill refined from a special combination of rare spiritual treasures. Only by consuming it and performing the attendant ritual could one challenge the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Ordinarily, you'd join a sect and earn the right to a Foundation Establishment Pill through service and merit.

The problem was that the supply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of pills was hopelessly scarce. Only the rare few who outperformed everyone else were granted one.

And so cultivators at Qi Condensation Great Perfection grew desperate. They roamed even harder than their juniors at lower stages, scrambling to pile up achievements.

That's exactly the state Jin Cheong is in.

He could have delegated the work to his juniors, yet he had flown all the way here himself — because only then could he claim the credit for himself alone.

"So you are Elder Jin Cheong of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect."

Reciting the game's lore in his head, Cheon Woo-jin pressed his hands together in salute.

"It is an honor to meet such a distinguished elder in a place like this."

"Hm?"

Jin Cheong's eyes widened slightly.

"You know my name?"

"Of course. Are you not the one who single-handedly subjugated the Bear-Dusk Demon far off in the northern reaches?"

"Hoh…"

The Bear-Dusk Demon was a monster that had run rampant in the north of Weijin Country. Subjugating it alone was a point of pride for Jin Cheong.

"How does a mere rogue cultivator come to know of that?"

"Though I am a rootless loose cultivator, I have long looked up to the seniors of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect."

Cheon Woo-jin spoke calmly, hands still clasped.

"I often conversed with Daoist Gwiyeongja as well. About how I wished to become a cultivator like you, Elder."

"Gwiyeongja… Ah, yes. This was where that fellow lived."

Jin Cheong nodded, recalling how Gwiyeongja had once attempted to join the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect.

"But where has Gwiyeongja gone?"

"He failed to see out the winter. He passed away."

"His lifespan ran out, then."

Jin Cheong fluttered his crane-feather fan and nodded.

"He wasn't born to the path of cultivation to begin with — he lived as a martial artist, and only became a cultivator when he was already old. It was about time for him to go."

"Exactly so."

Cheon Woo-jin gestured at the corpses scattered around them.

"I have been staying here while sorting through Gwiyeongja's belongings. But these martial artists arrived unannounced, and blood was spilled."

"How on earth did it come to this?"

"Because I discovered that they were mocking cultivators — mocking the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect itself."

"What? What is that supposed to mean?"

One of Jin Cheong's eyebrows rose.

"Only learned it myself today, but that one-eyed man lying dead over there had been finding children among the Won Clan's disciples who showed signs of a spiritual root — and handing them over to Gwiyeongja."

"Children with visible spiritual roots?"

"Yes. He would select disciples with keen perception of the unseen, so that Gwiyeongja could refine them into pills and consume them."

"Heh heh. And he was carrying on like that, was he?"

Jin Cheong glared down at Won Hang's corpse on the ground.

"He knew full well that our Taiyi Easy Separation Sect regularly takes such children in — and he was siphoning them off like that?"

It was not only Gwiyeongja who wanted children with spiritual roots. The Taiyi Easy Separation Sect also took in children with such perceptive sight and taught them their cultivation arts.

"I pointed that out to him as well — that it was a deception against the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect. Whereupon he flew into a rage and came at me, the aggrieved party, as if I were the offender… and so it came to this."

"Tch. So that's how it was."

Jin Cheong clicked his tongue.

"For mere culprits to dare raise their anger against a cultivator — they died exactly as they deserved."

Kuguung!

With a sweep of Jin Cheong's hand, the corpses lying about were torn to ribbons. He was venting his frustration on the dead with his spiritual power.

"I am angry at Gwiyeongja too, for intercepting children who should have come to the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect… but he's already dead, so there's nothing to be done."

There was a considerable difference in his attitude toward the martial artists and his attitude toward Gwiyeongja.

Cultivators, as a rule, did not regard rootless mortals as human beings. They thought of them as slaves or livestock, beings meant for absolute submission.

And such creatures had dared to divert resources destined for the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect.

From Jin Cheong's standpoint, it was an unforgivable offense.

"In any case…"

Sreureung.

Having ground the martial artists' corpses entirely to powder, Jin Cheong turned his gaze back to Cheon Woo-jin.

"Punishing those insolent culprits is praiseworthy. But cutting them down at your own discretion, without bringing them before our Taiyi Easy Separation Sect — that was a mistake. Reflect upon it."

"I apologize. Having no ties to the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect, I did not think of such an option."

"Hm…"

Watching the impeccably polite Cheon Woo-jin, Jin Cheong fluttered his crane-feather fan.

"There is a branch office of our Taiyi Easy Separation Sect nearby, is there not? All you had to do was knock on its door."

A branch office was a regional post of a sect or school. The Taiyi Easy Separation Sect maintained branch offices across every corner of Weijin Country.

"I had no way of even finding out where such a branch office might be…"

"Pitiful. You truly are a rogue cultivator with no connections whatsoever."

Jin Cheong clicked his tongue and turned his head away.

"Very well. I shall say no more about it."

"Thank you for your magnanimity, Elder."

Cheon Woo-jin bowed his head, hands clasped in respect.

"But did you come here today because of the Black Haze Dragon?"

"Hm?"

"You mentioned something of the sort earlier."

"Ah, that's right."

Jin Cheong nodded.

"Yes — word came that the Black Haze Dragon's presence had vanished, so I came to investigate in person. Do you know anything?"

"The Black Haze Dragon appears to be dead."

"What did you say?"

"I did not witness it myself… but according to Gwiyeongja, he saw the Black Haze Dragon suddenly vomiting blood and plummeting from the sky."

Of course, that was a lie. Gwiyeongja had told him nothing — Cheon Woo-jin had witnessed it with his own eyes.

Moreover, the one who had reduced the Black Haze Dragon to that state was Cheon Woo-jin himself.

"Is that truly the case?"

"Gwiyeongja did not seem the type to speak nonsense."

"The Black Haze Dragon, bleeding from the sky as it fell…"

Jin Cheong's expression grew grave.

"Who in the world subjugated a dragon that had reached the Nascent Soul Realm?"

"Would it not be a cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm itself? Or perhaps someone at the Soul Formation stage."

"Why would a being at the Soul Formation stage bother subjugating the Black Haze Dragon? Those beings do not meddle in worldly affairs."

The Soul Formation Realm stood above even the Nascent Soul Realm. It could be called the highest realm attainable in the human world — for upon reaching it, one's goal became severing ties with the mortal plane and ascending to a higher dimension.

"Did you hear nothing else from Gwiyeongja?"

"When he entered Mount Goeyu later, the corpse was gone, but traces of blood remained. He said the bloodstains gave off a nauseating stench, like the carcass of a serpent."

"The one who subjugated the Black Haze Dragon must have taken the body. A dragon's corpse has any number of uses."

Jin Cheong was on the wrong track entirely.

Cheon Woo-jin had killed the Black Haze Dragon — but it was someone else who had carried the corpse away.

"Anything else?"

"That is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠everything I heard. My apologies."

"Hm, there is nothing to apologize for."

Jin Cheong smiled. He seemed to be in a very good mood indeed.

"I ought to verify it by examining the site myself, but thanks to you, I have obtained extremely valuable information. I'm grateful."

"I'm glad I could be of help."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"And since I've been helped, I must offer something in return."

"I did not speak up in hopes of a reward."

"Do not decline."

Jin Cheong said it in a condescending, magnanimous tone.

"To let this pass without repayment would tarnish the honor of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect. Even for a mere rogue cultivator, a debt must be answered."

The Taiyi Easy Separation Sect belonged to the Orthodox faction. In wuxia terms, it could be called a sect of the righteous path.

In the original game, too, Orthodox cultivators like Jin Cheong always repaid those who aided them. To merely say "thank you" and move on, they believed, would diminish their sect's honor.

Of course, if they judged that betraying the other party would yield greater profit, they would strike at your back without a moment's hesitation. Orthodox or not, cultivators were selfish creatures all the same.

So how would Jin Cheong choose to repay him?

In truth, Cheon Woo-jin could already predict what form the reward would take. There was a high likelihood the man was thinking in exactly the same patterns as his in-game behavior.

"Right — this will do nicely."

Jin Cheong spoke with the air of a man bestowing a great favor.

"I shall recommend you for entry into the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect."

"A recommendation, you say?"

"I am offering you the chance to become a disciple of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect."

To become a disciple of the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect. That was the dream Gwiyeongja had craved so desperately — and never attained.

"With a recommendation from me, a disciple of the inner court, you can become a disciple of the outer court without any entrance trial. You would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠learn the true cultivation arts passed down through the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect — not some third-rate technique circulating out in the world."

Jin Cheong drew a single sheet of paper from within his robes. With a few strokes of his hand through the air, characters inscribed themselves across the page of their own accord.

"Write your name at the bottom and let fall a single drop of your essence blood. Then you will be qualified to enter the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect."

Tossing the paper to Cheon Woo-jin, Jin Cheong declared:

"For you, nothing could be a greater reward than this. Isn't that so?"

"…"

Cheon Woo-jin kept his mouth shut as he read the contents of the paper.

It stipulated that Jin Cheong, as senior brother, would guarantee Cheon Woo-jin's qualification for entry — and that Cheon Woo-jin, as junior brother, would revere and honor Jin Cheong in all things.

But Cheon Woo-jin fixed his attention on the substance buried within the verbose clauses. Strip away the formalities, and the document was nothing more than a contract.

Except that its terms had a glaring problem.

Why, it's a slave contract, plain and simple.

Disciples of a sect were required to pay regular tribute of cultivation resources to the sect. But according to this contract, tribute would also be owed to Jin Cheong, the recommender himself.

In other words, if he entered the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect carrying this document… he would be exploited by Jin Cheong for the rest of his life.

And it binds me to absolute obedience to Jin Cheong besides… a monstrously unfair contract.

An ordinary rogue cultivator of this world would have found it difficult to grasp what the document truly meant — it buried its substance under layer upon layer of convoluted phrasing.

But Cheon Woo-jin had already encountered contracts like this in the game, and so he understood at once.

Once you entered the contract, there was no undoing it.

A pact sealed with essence blood like this carried tremendous binding force. Should the contract be violated, a direct blow would fall upon the signer's divine soul.

A slave contract in the real world could at least be contested in court; a slave contract in a world of immortals and heroes ended the moment it was signed. Full stop.

"Come, now — let fall your essence blood."

Even while offering a slave contract, Jin Cheong showed not the slightest pang of conscience.

He was giving a rootless rogue-cultivator nobody the chance to enter the Taiyi Easy Separation Sect. In Jin Cheong's way of thinking, terms like these were only what the man should be willing to accept.

"From now on, I shall guide you thoroughly as your senior brother."

"Thoroughly guide," meaning thoroughly exploit, no doubt.

Cheon Woo-jin stared at Jin Cheong with cold, level eyes.