Law Instrument (1)
What kind of law instrument do you want to make?
At Song Pyo's question, Cheon Woo-jin reached into his Storage Pouch without a word.
"Let me show you the materials first."
"What the—"
Thud!
A massive hook-shaped object and a slab of iron-like plating tumbled out, filling the room to bursting.
Song Pyo's eyes went wide at the sheer size of what Cheon Woo-jin had pulled out — but a moment later, recognition struck him, and his jaw dropped open as well.
"Don't tell me... that's the jaw and carapace of the Great King Centipede?"
"It's been around for over a thousand years."
"A—a thousand years?"
Song Pyo's voice began to tremble.
"A centipede yokai that's lived over a thousand years is at least Core Formation realm... you realize that, don't you?"
Certain yokai did outlive humans, but unless they reached the Core Formation realm, they would die before their thousandth year.
Therefore, any creature deserving the modifier 'thousand-year-old' was, at minimum, a Core Formation being.
It was the same as declaring this a rare, powerful yokai that no ordinary Qi Condensation or Foundation Establishment cultivator could dream of laying hands on.
"Where on earth did you get this?"
"Do you really need to know that?"
At Cheon Woo-jin's frigid voice, Song Pyo's face went blank, his question dying on his lips. Watching him flounder, Cheon Woo-jin finally revealed what kind of law instrument he wanted made.
"I'd like you to make top-grade Flying Spirits out of these."
"Flying Spirits...!"
Flying Spirits referred to combat-support law instruments that flew autonomously through the air. Some attacked enemies of their own accord; others automatically intercepted enemy strikes.
And some, on occasion, were hybrids that handled attack and defense simultaneously.
The great advantage of a Flying Spirit was that it fought alongside you without any direct control. Since it attacked or defended on its own, it would lighten Cheon Woo-jin's burden enormously.
For a Qi Condensation cultivator like him, managing offense and defense at the same time was no easy feat.
Blocking an enemy's assault with the Hidden Spirit Barrier Formation while simultaneously preparing a powerful offensive spell, for instance, taxed him heavily.
But if he could deploy Flying Spirits to handle his defenses automatically, Cheon Woo-jin would be free to devote everything to the attack.
"Is that possible?"
"Well... that depends."
Song Pyo sank into serious thought.
"Without a doubt... these are top-grade materials, worthy of top-grade Flying Spirits."
Torn from the body of a Core Formation yokai, they lacked nothing as materials for a supreme law instrument.
"However, on their own, it's impossible."
Yet Song Pyo spoke in a hard voice.
"To craft a top-grade law instrument, having only the core material at the top grade isn't enough. Every one of the auxiliary materials must be top-grade as well."
"Auxiliary materials?"
"You need a complete set of Ruler, Minister, Assistant, and Envoy."
As he spoke, Song Pyo held up four fingers.
"Whenever you craft a law instrument or a pill, you need all four — Ruler, Minister, Assistant, and Envoy — to get a good result."
Song Pyo counted them off on his fingers one by one.
"The Ruler is like a sovereign — it means the material that forms the core of the law instrument or pill."
"The Minister is like a high minister — it means the material that reinforces that core."
"The Assistant is like an aide — it means the material that prevents unwanted side effects."
"And the Envoy is like a herald — it means the material that lets every component communicate and harmonize."
Having explained, Song Pyo turned his gaze back to the jaw and carapace of the Dark Path Great King Centipede.
"This jaw and carapace can be called the 'Ruler' of the set. But without a Minister, an Assistant, and an Envoy, no top-grade law instrument can be made."
"......"
"Do you have any top-grade materials capable of playing the Minister?"
Instead of answering, Cheon Woo-jin reached into his Storage Pouch again. He drew out a single jar and showed Song Pyo its contents.
"Is that... marrow?"
"Great Perfection yokai marrow."
"What—!"
It was the bone marrow of the Soul-Warming Great Perfection yokai he had obtained in the Dark Soul Secret Realm.
"Th-that's really Great Perfection marrow?"
Song Pyo leaned in and peered into the jar. "I... I can definitely feel an incredibly dense spiritual power. This would serve perfectly as the Minister."
Great Perfection marrow was used in crafting or reinforcing law instruments, where it could dramatically elevate an instrument's performance. It was more than sufficient as the Minister in the Ruler-Minister-Assistant-Envoy scheme.
"But you'd still need a material for the Assistant, and one for the Envoy..."
The Ruler and Minister were accounted for; the Assistant and Envoy were not. As Song Pyo pointed this out, Cheon Woo-jin produced two mantis forelegs and five flowers.
"These mantis forelegs belonged to the Hundred-Face Mantis, a hypnotist yokai. And these human-faced flowers — they bloomed in the Human-Face Flower fields of the Wonyeon Plain."
"......!"
"These should manage the Assistant and Envoy roles just fine."
Cheon Woo-jin had, after all, been well versed in the Ruler-Minister-Assistant-Envoy theory from the start.
In the game, too, crafting a powerful law instrument or pill required combining at least four materials to trigger the right interactions before a craft could succeed.
"......"
Song Pyo was at a loss for words. He stared at the materials Cheon Woo-jin had laid out, then at Cheon Woo-jin's face, then back at the materials — and after several passes back and forth, he spoke with great care.
"...Are you a proxy for someone?"
"A proxy?"
"A cultivator who doesn't want to expose his identity sends you on his errands... something like that."
For a rogue cultivator active in the lower layers of Ghost Head City to possess four such precious materials was deeply unnatural. Which meant, surely, he must have come here on someone else's behalf. That was the assumption behind the question.
"......"
The guess was completely wrong, but Cheon Woo-jin saw no need to correct it.
There was no reason to reveal information about himself just to dispel Song Pyo's misunderstanding. Letting the man keep his misconception would, if anything, work in his favor.
There were times when it paid to lure an opponent into underestimating you — and there were times when it paid to make them overestimate you and treat you with caution.
This was a case of the latter.
"No, never mind. I won't pry any further..."
When Cheon Woo-jin gave no answer at all, Song Pyo let out a resigned sigh.
"I've seen plenty of people come to grief from excessive curiosity. I'll just tend to my own work."
"A commendable attitude."
"With these materials, the Ruler, Minister, Assistant, and Envoy are all accounted for. I can make the top-grade Flying Spirits you want."
Having given up on extracting more from Cheon Woo-jin, Song Pyo offered his professional assessment as a smith.
"Two jaws and four carapace plates — that's two offensive Flying Spirits and four defensive ones."
"The carapace is enormous. You can only get four?"
"Split one carapace and its durability suffers. One whole carapace per Flying Spirit — no exceptions."
"I see."
"And they won't keep this size, either. Once they're crafted into Flying Spirits, these huge carapaces will shrink down to the size of your palm. The jaws too."
Song Pyo offered several more technical explanations like that.
"As for the crafting fee... I'd say it comes to about this much."
Song Pyo worked his abacus and showed the calculated cost.
It was a staggering sum — far beyond what an ordinary Qi Condensation rogue could afford.
"That is quite a lot."
"Top-grade law instruments take a mountain of spirit stones."
Even in Cheon Woo-jin's judgment, it wasn't an unfair price.
That didn't mean he had any intention of meekly paying it in full, of course.
"I'll pay half up front. The other half when I collect the finished instruments."
"Now, hold on a moment—"
Song Pyo's face flushed.
"Didn't I just tell you it takes a lot of spirit stones?"
"Surely the spirit stones stored in Hwangju Neungnyeong Sect's vaults are more than enough to cover it?"
"That's..."
In truth, paying the full amount with what Cheon Woo-jin currently had on hand was impossible.
He had scraped together spirit stones from here and there, but not nearly enough to cover the forging cost of a top-grade law instrument in a single lump sum.
"Then let's start with the deposit."
"Ah..."
Cascade.
Spirit stones came pouring down onto the table — half the crafting fee, exactly.
This was nearly everything Cheon Woo-jin possessed. In practical terms, he was now flat broke — yet not a trace of it showed on his face as he maintained his cool composure.
"When should I come to collect them?"
"......"
Song Pyo sighed, the picture of resignation.
"Ten days from now."
Song Pyo had, at last, raised the white flag.
His words amounted to saying, Fine — I'll make them however you want.
"Sooner than I expected."
"With my skill, it's no trouble at all. Dragging out the timeline for no reason is something only talentless smiths do."
Song Pyo was a smith whom even Seo Seol-ryeong had endorsed. There would be no need to doubt his craftsmanship.
"Ten days, then."
"Don't forget to bring the balance."
Cheon Woo-jin nodded and rose from his seat.
After seeing him out, the shop clerk bade him farewell, and Cheon Woo-jin stopped by several other establishments on his way. He meant to sell off a portion of the cultivation resources he had obtained in the Dark Soul Secret Realm.
Resources he had no immediate use for were more efficiently converted to spirit stones right away.
The sales brought in a decent pile of spirit stones. He'd been left all but penniless after paying the deposit, and this at least let him breathe again.
Still nowhere near enough for the balance, though.
Within half a month, he would need to earn spirit stones equal to half the crafting fee. That wasn't a problem he could solve by clearing one or two of Seo Seol-ryeong's commissions.
And yet he felt no particular urgency.
Because if his prediction was right... a fortune would come rolling in before long.
In the days that followed, Cheon Woo-jin passed his time refining his body and studying his spells.
About time by now.
Five days later, Cheon Woo-jin emerged from the eastern district. As he walked, he glanced briefly past Jo Hyu's shop.
Whether he had taken Cheon Woo-jin's advice to keep out of sight for a while, neither Jo Hyu nor his granddaughter was anywhere to be seen.
Good. That's how it should be.
Leaving Jo Hyu's shop behind him, Cheon Woo-jin headed for the second layer.
But as he walked, he could feel that the atmosphere was different from before.
So the second layer's rogue cultivators have started watching me now.
It hadn't been like this until recently. In the first layer, everyone had eyed him warily, but the cultivators of the second layer had shown no particular reaction even when they recognized his face.
Now, however, they were openly, brazenly taking notice of him.
Some stared at him while whispering to their companions. Others flinched the moment they crossed his path on the street and backed away.
Leaving all those stares behind him, Cheon Woo-jin slipped into a back alley at the edge of the market. The moment he stepped into the tent, Seo Seol-ryeong spoke without so much as a greeting.
"You felt the eyes on you on your way here, didn't you?"
"I did."
"There's a rumor going around lately."
Seo Seol-ryeong said in a calm voice,
"That you wiped out the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect's demonic cultivators all by yourself."
"So people are being swayed by sloppy rumors. Typical."
Cheon Woo-jin answered, keeping his manner cold. But Seo Seol-ryeong paid it no mind at all.
"That brings me to my point — there is a faction that wishes to borrow your strength."
"Which one?"
"The Mad World Yin Spirit Sect."
"......"
Before the silent Cheon Woo-jin, Seo Seol-ryeong explained at an unhurried pace.
"They noticed that Yu Gajang had let an outsider in and conducted their own investigation on the side. The result seems to be that they've taken an interest in you."
"Was this latest rumor their doing as well?"
"Yes. Because the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect has been sniffing around asking questions, the rumor has spread all through the second layer."
From the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect's perspective, they had little choice but to fix their attention on Cheon Woo-jin.
They had prepared everything down to the last detail and sent in Yu Giryung, a Foundation Establishment cultivator — only for their own people to be annihilated while Yu Gajang's crew alone walked out alive.
Doubting Cheon Woo-jin, Yu Gajang's supposed reinforcement, was only natural.
"They don't appear interested in revenge for the last incident. Quite the opposite — they seem fascinated by the ability of a mere rogue who annihilated their men."
"......"
"Right now, the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect is trying to establish a foothold in Ghost Head City and grow its influence. The last incident set them back badly, but their thinking is that if they can recruit you, they can more than make up for it."
It was a thoroughly cold-blooded calculation.
Yu Giryung, whom Cheon Woo-jin had destroyed in the Dark Soul Secret Realm, had been the right hand of Jeok Ya-wol, the sect leader of the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
But Jeok Ya-wol would never move to avenge him.
Killing Cheon Woo-jin in the name of vengeance would gain him nothing whatsoever.
Drawing in Cheon Woo-jin — a man a cut above Yu Giryung — as an ally was, by contrast, pure profit.
"By the way."
Seo Seol-ryeong raised a single finger.
"There is one more faction that wants to borrow the strength of Cheon the Rogue."
"And which one is that?"
"Don't be alarmed."
Having begun thus, Seo Seol-ryeong lowered her voice.
"It is the Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect."
"......"
The Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect.
One of the most powerful forces within Ghost Head City — a massive sect whose might was not even comparable to that of Yu Gajang and his kind.
Though it belonged to the Orthodox camp, it kept its distance from the Taiyi Inverse Principle Sect, and it had long exerted enormous influence over the orthodox cultivators inside Ghost Head City.
"The Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect holds as its creed the preservation of order and balance throughout all of Ghost Head City."
"And yet they don't involve themselves in the chaos of the lower layers at all."
"Because from their point of view, the lower layers in their current state are exactly as they should be."
The lower layers of Ghost Head City were a place far removed from any notion of order or balance. Yet the Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect left them to rot in precisely that state — because they believed only then could order and balance prevail across the city as a whole.
"So even the Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect cannot overlook the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect's advance into Ghost Head City."
"They can't simply stand by while the sect spreads its demonic arts and pills and builds its strength in the lower layers."
Worse still, the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect was suspected of being a subordinate organization of the Blood World Mara Sect.
From the Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect's standpoint, they could not let the intrusion pass unchallenged.
"So they have decided to dispatch a single True Transmission Disciple."
"A True Transmission Disciple..."
A True Transmission Disciple denoted a sect's senior disciples.
As the name — 'a disciple to whom truth is transmitted' — implied, they were the ones who received the sect's core teachings in full.
Depending on the sect, they might be called Personal Transmission Disciples, Direct Transmission Disciples, or Heir Transmission Disciples — the nuances differed slightly, but in every case they were the disciples a sect poured its heart and soul into raising.
Outer and Inner disciples were nothing more than consumables for a sect to exploit, but True Transmission Disciples were different.
Raised on lavish allocations of cultivation resources like Foundation Establishment Pills, they received special management from their sects and a steady stream of investment.
"Even so, subduing the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect with one True Transmission Disciple won't be easy."
"No, it won't."
This affair was, first and foremost, a matter unfolding in the lower layers of Ghost Head City. A supreme sect like the Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect would never commit several True Transmission Disciples to it.
And the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect was hardly so feeble an opponent that one True Transmission Disciple could suppress them alone.
"They say they'll mobilize around a hundred inner disciples for a start, but numbers alone won't be enough to contend with the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect."
The Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect was a powerful orthodox sect — but that didn't make its rank-and-file disciples any more capable in battle. Demonic cultivators and Dark Sect cultivators with real combat experience would hold the edge.
"Which is why they want my help."
"Yes — particularly with the rumor circulating that you annihilated their demonic cultivators."
A rogue cultivator who knew exactly how to slaughter demonic cultivators. To the Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect, he was a war asset worth recruiting.
"How ironic — to catch the attention of two factions that are about to become enemies at the very same time."
"Indeed. How ironic."
"In a situation like this, it becomes possible to drive up your price between the two of them."
A smile curved Seo Seol-ryeong's lips.
For Seo Seol-ryeong the broker, such a situation was more than welcome.
"So, Cheon the Rogue — which side do you wish to join?"
"......"
The Holy Awakening Single Origin Sect, and the Mad World Yin Spirit Sect.
The choice of which to side with fell to Cheon Woo-jin alone.
Would he cooperate with the Orthodox camp and purge the demonic cultivators?
Or would he conspire with the demonic sects and drive the Orthodox camp back?