The Dark-Soul Secret Realm (2)
Big as expected.
Cheon Woo-jin stared at the spine he had extracted from the corpse of the Soul-Mixed Ape Sovereign.
It was enormous — as large as a great tree that had stood for a thousand years.
Which meant, naturally, that he couldn't carry the whole thing out. There was no way to fit something that size into a Storage Pouch. And if he simply hauled it out as it was, the representatives of the three sects waiting outside would lose their minds.
It's not as if I need the spine intact anyway.
Cheon Woo-jin closed his eyes.
Within his spiritual domain, he began forging a sword. A remarkably sturdy, heavy thing — closer in shape to an axe.
"……"
He invested a considerable stretch of time into crafting the visualization, then manifested it as sword qi. And brought it down upon the Ape Sovereign's spine.
Crack!
The spine split apart.
Cheon Woo-jin kept swinging his sword qi until he had cleaved the entire backbone into pieces.
"Whew……"
A fatigue crept over him as though he'd spent hours swinging an axe for real.
Wiping the sweat from his brow and withdrawing the sword qi, he extended his spiritual power and drew out the marrow from within the spine.
The marrow of a powerful ape yokai like the Soul-Mixed Ape Sovereign was known as Great Ape Marrow, and it commanded tremendous value. It was used in the crafting and reinforcement of dharma artifacts, capable of dramatically improving their performance.
With this, I can forge a genuinely useful artifact.
Cheon Woo-jin's thoughts turned to the external skeleton of the Dark Road Great King Wukong, tucked away in his Storage Pouch.
Combined with the Great Ape Marrow, the resulting dharma artifact would be quite something.
Now then — shall I move somewhere with a bit more breathing room?
After securing the Great Ape Marrow, he climbed to a high vantage point and scanned his surroundings. Drawing on his memories of playing the game, he located a spot where valuable spirit herbs could be gathered with ease.
I'll spend the day harvesting spirit herbs over that way…
Cheon Woo-jin soared into the air on his spiritual power.
He flew above the bizarre landscape of the Dark Soul Hidden Realm, heading for his destination.
After twenty-four hours pass, I'll take down one more boss-tier yokai.
About three days remained. There was still plenty left to do.
After that.
Cheon Woo-jin roamed the Dark Soul Hidden Realm alone, racking up an impressive haul of spoils.
Just as he had slain the Dark Road Great King Wukong on the first day and the Soul-Mixed Ape Sovereign on the second, on the third day he brought down yet another powerful Foundation Establishment yokai.
It was a beast he could have felled by pouring out every ounce of his strength — but he killed it instantly with the Instant Killing Heavenly Eye instead.
Burning too much stamina and time struggling against a formidable opponent would have interfered with his true objective: combing every corner of the hidden realm for resources.
It had been true in the game as well — when exploring a time-limited hidden realm like this, strategic thinking was essential.
Time to head for the Silver Shadow Cave, I think.
Around noon on the fourth day, Cheon Woo-jin made his way back to the safe zone of the Silver Shadow Cave.
There, the four Yukga-jang brothers were hiding quietly, exactly as he had ordered.
"Ah, you've finally come. Look here, we've been… hk!"
The eldest, Yuk Baek-dal, went wide-eyed at the sight of him — because Cheon Woo-jin was coated head to toe in some foul-smelling substance.
The truth was that Cheon Woo-jin had spent the morning fighting a motley assortment of yokai in the swamplands. Under normal circumstances he would have conjured water with the Water-Making Art and washed it all off, but since he was due to meet the Yukga-jang brothers, he had simply come as he was.
"Good heavens, what in the world happened to you?"
"You're not hurt, are you?"
"Sounds like you've been through the wringer."
"Let's get you cleaned up first."
The four brothers used dharma arts to cleanse his body.
"Is the situation outside that bad?"
"I've already dealt with four of the five demonic cultivators."
"……!"
The brothers collectively swallowed their breath.
"Th-that's really true?"
Cheon Woo-jin pulled out the Storage Pouch he had obtained on the first day and showed them the demonic pills inside.
"Hmm, this one is definitely…"
"No doubt about it — these are pills made by the demonic path bastards."
The brothers examined the pills and nodded.
"But the most dangerous one — the Foundation Establishment demonic beast — is still out there."
"……!"
"And the Dark Road Great King Wukong has been chasing that beast, tearing the entire hidden realm apart. The other yokai are feeding on the chaos and running wild in every direction."
It was, of course, a lie. He had already killed both the Organic Spirit and the Dark Road Great King Wukong on the first day.
"We understand it's a dangerous situation…"
Yuk Baek-dal spoke with a grave expression.
"But look here, friend. We can't just keep hiding in this cave forever."
"……"
"We came into this hidden realm because we need things too."
The Yukga-jang brothers had entered the Dark Soul Hidden Realm for their own growth as cultivators. Hiding in a hole indefinitely had never been the plan.
"The Golden Radiance Moistening Flower above all — that one we absolutely must take."
Golden Radiance Moistening Flower. It was a name he'd never heard before — a spirit herb that didn't exist in the game, at least not that he knew of.
"What's it used for?"
"It's an essential herb for cultivating the breathing method passed down through our family line, generation to generation. The details are a family secret, but…"
Apparently it was a herb used only by the Yukga-jang lineage.
Which meant it was a cultivation resource Cheon Woo-jin had no particular need for.
"Could you tell me roughly where it grows?"
"Ah, then the map…"
Cheon Woo-jin produced the hidden realm map he had received in advance, and Yuk Baek-dal marked a spot on it.
"It grows well on the foothills around here."
"Then I'll go check whether that area is safe. If it looks secure, we'll all go together."
"Will… will you be all right?"
"Nothing to be done about it."
After seeing him off, the four brothers watched Cheon Woo-jin leave the cave. He rose into the air with a dharma art.
There was no real need to consult the map — he had a fair idea where the place was already.
"……"
About half a shijin of flight brought him to his destination.
Examining the foothills closely, he found flowers glowing a golden hue, radiating a potent yin energy.
So that's the Golden Radiance Moistening Flower.
The characters for "moistening" meant replenishing the body's yin fluids, keeping it supple and hydrated. Given the strong yin aura, these flowers certainly fit the bill.
Cheon Woo-jin studied the flowers at length for a while.
But no way to put them to use came to mind.
Well, no harm in taking a few, just in case…
Just as he was reaching to harvest them with that thought in mind —
He sensed a presence at his back.
"……"
It was a mantis yokai with a petal-like form, reminiscent of an orchid mantis.
Its appearance was quite beautiful, but its body was the size of a house, and serrated spikes jutted from its forelimbs — making it plenty menacing in its own right.
And then there was…
My head's spinning.
The creature was whirling its forelimbs round and round, and merely watching the motion brought on vertigo.
It wasn't simple dizziness. The yokai was radiating some kind of wave through its spiritual power, directly disturbing Cheon Woo-jin's sense of balance.
In the game, wasn't this an accuracy debuff effect?
Even through the vertigo, Cheon Woo-jin remained perfectly composed.
After all, he had come to this place in the first intentionally — to meet this very mantis.
Instant Kill.
Flinch.
The mantis, busy waving its forelimbs, went rigid.
Then it collapsed where it stood.
This White Blossom Mantis was a yokai with power roughly on the level of the late Foundation Establishment realm.
Fighting it head-on while its dizziness sapped his accuracy would have been sheer inefficiency.
The White Blossom Mantis's forelimbs can be used to craft dharma artifacts. They'd fetch a decent price if I sold them, too.
Cheon Woo-jin formed sword qi and severed the mantis's forelimbs.
But when he tried to stow them in his Storage Pouch, they wouldn't fit. He tried another pouch — same result.
Nothing for it, then.
He emptied every Storage Pouch he was carrying and reorganized their contents. Discarding the lower-value items outright, he packed each pouch tight and tidy, leaving not an inch of dead space.
Only after all that was he finally able to clear room for the mantis's forelimbs.
So this is the true limit now, huh.
Beyond the pouches, even the inside of his robe and sleeves were packed to bursting. He considered testing whether he could squeeze in a few stalks of the Golden Radiance Moistening Flower, but decided it was better to let it go.
The rest, the Yukga-jang brothers can harvest themselves.
He'd taken everything worth taking.
The Dark Road Great King Wukong's Golden Core and external skeleton, the Soul-Mixed Ape Sovereign's Great Ape Marrow, the mantis's forelimbs… every last corner was stuffed with expensive, high-quality goods.
He couldn't carry any more no matter how he tried, so the brothers could gather whatever remained.
With that settled, Cheon Woo-jin made his way back to the Silver Shadow Cave.
It was about time to liberate the Yukga-jang brothers from that cave. He would protect them for the remaining time, then escort them out of the hidden realm at midday tomorrow — at which point his mission would be complete.
His reward would be Foundation Establishment spirit treasures of the fire attribute and earth attribute.
That would bring him to five of the six Foundation Establishment spirit treasures.
He would stand just one step away from the Core Formation realm.
The fifth day.
At the entrance of the Dark Soul Hidden Realm, the Core Formation cultivators of Yukga-jang, the Dragon-Subduing Society, and the Doyo Sect stood waiting — watching for the Qi Condensation cultivators of their respective sects to emerge.
Of course, the one Gwak Yu, Seat Master of the Doyo Sect, was actually waiting for was the demonic cultivators of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
Gwak Yu had surrendered the entire Doyo Sect to the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect, and in place of the disciples who had been slated to enter this year's hidden realm, he had sent the demonic cultivators through instead. In exchange, the contract granted him powerful demonic cultivation methods and pills from Jeok Ya-wol, head of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
Those Qi Condensation disciples were nothing more than expendables anyway! My own ascension to the Nascent Soul realm comes first!
While Gwak Yu was lost in such thoughts, a crackling sound began to rise from the fissure in the ground.
At that sound, the Core Formation cultivators of Yukga-jang and the Dragon-Subduing Society rose to their feet.
"About time for them to come out."
Gwak Yu stood as well.
The three of them chanted in unison and unfolded their spiritual power, and within the fissure, a gate through space began to open.
Some hidden realms — like the small one discovered on the first layer not long ago — could be entered and exited at will, but a realm sealed under a prohibition like this one could only be entered at the appointed time and exited at the appointed time.
Miss the window, and there was no way out. You would be trapped inside the Dark Soul Hidden Realm until it reopened, twenty years hence.
"Hm…!"
Before long, a group of cultivators emerged through the spatial gate.
Gwak Yu's jaw dropped in astonishment.
What is this?
They were the cultivators of Yukga-jang. Disheveled and filthy from head to toe — but all five of them had come out alive and whole.
And that was strange. The Mad World Yin Spirit Sect had sworn to kill every last one of the cultivators from Yukga-jang and the Dragon-Subduing Society. That was precisely why Yu Gi-ryeong, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had entered with his realm concealed…
Did they fail?
While the Doyo Sect's Seat Master Gwak Yu reeled in confusion, the Yukga-jang side was in a mood nothing short of festive.
"Haha, what an auspicious day! Every one of you made it back safely — I couldn't be prouder!"
They were laughing heartily as they inspected the cultivation resources their disciples had carried out of the realm.
Watching the scene, a Core Formation cultivator from the Dragon-Subduing Society spoke up.
"What about our kids? Why haven't they come out yet?"
"Ah, that is…"
Yuk Baek-dal, eldest of the Yukga-jang brothers, turned his head carefully. He gauged the eyes of the cultivators who had come out with him, then spoke with deliberate caution.
"The other cultivators all appear to have lost their lives."
"What—!"
The Dragon-Subduing Society's Core Formation cultivator's eyes went wide.
"You're telling me all our children are dead? Jin Cheol-uk too?"
"Yes."
"What in the world happened in there?"
"Well, you see…"
Yuk Baek-dal's gaze slid toward Gwak Yu.
The Dragon-Subduing Society cultivator understood at once, and fixed Gwak Yu with a venomous glare. He didn't raise an open protest, however.
Fights over cultivation resources during hidden realm exploration were common enough — and with no way to investigate the scene and assign fault, the unwritten law of the cultivation world was to leave whatever happened inside a hidden realm unquestioned.
"Now, hold on a moment."
Gwak Yu spoke up hastily.
"Then what became of the cultivators we sent in?"
"They all lost their lives as well."
"What did you say?!"
At Yuk Baek-dal's answer, Gwak Yu could hardly believe his own ears.
The Yu Gi-ryeong who had entered this time was a peak-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator — strong enough to single-handedly massacre the Qi Condensation cultivators of both the Dragon-Subduing Society and Yukga-jang.
And yet a powerhouse like that had died along with everyone else, while the Yukga-jang lot alone walked out alive?
"How?! What in the world could have…!"
At that very moment —
Behind the four Yukga-jang brothers, Gwak Yu's eyes caught sight of an unnamed cultivator standing with his mouth firmly shut.