The Dense Jungle (4)
Kuuung!
Jang Po toppled backward. The man who had stood like a great timber tree was now nothing more than an enormous lump of charcoal.
He had mastered the Spring Spirit Divine Tree Art and forged a body as hard as living wood — but the Red Lightning had struck him point-blank from far too close. His bark-like skin burned away entirely, and the shock stopped his heart and every vital organ. His meridians had suffered such grievous damage that even the art's regenerative power could no longer function.
Worse still, the subordinates who had been holding their breath and watching from behind him were caught in the same Red Lightning and killed on the spot. Had Jang Po died first, they would have scattered in terror — but they were annihilated before the thought of running could even form.
There may be others of his scattered elsewhere... but for now, Jangrim Stronghold can be considered wiped out.
Their chief was dead, and his men slaughtered wholesale. Jangrim Stronghold would never rise again.
Then... time to gather some spoils.
Cheon Woo-jin entered the main hall. Loot plundered from passing cultivators lay piled up, but honestly, there was little worth taking — a natural consequence of the fact that they had preyed almost exclusively on Foundation Establishment cultivators. The gear of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator was hopelessly shabby by his standards. Most carried no more than a single low-grade magic artifact, and owning even a mid-grade one was enough to let them swagger in front of their peers. Their pills were of a similar caliber, leaving Cheon Woo-jin with almost nothing he wanted.
So he took spirit stones instead. They had evidently been hoarding for some time — a sizable pile had accumulated.
Enough to stop worrying about spirit stones for a good while.
Once he had taken what he needed, Cheon Woo-jin stepped back outside and drew a single talisman from his storage pouch — a subsidiary talisman of the Crimson Sea True Fire Spear.
Samadhi True Fire will burn this entire region to ash.
Fwoooosh! A tidal wave of true fire burst forth and swallowed Jangrim Stronghold whole, and even the densely packed trees surrounding it burned in a single breath. The trees of this region were spirit-wood that ordinary fire arts could not touch — but even they could not withstand Samadhi True Fire.
He had worn a disguise before raiding the stronghold for precisely this reason. That Cheon Woo-jin could wield Samadhi True Fire was a secret that must never reach anyone's ears, so he had prepared the mask well in advance.
There doesn't appear to be anyone nearby, but you never know...
The area would remain a scorched void for some time to come. From now on, whenever he crossed the jungle zone, he need only soar into the air and locate this burn scar. Passing between the 6th Layer and below would become far easier.
Well then — shall we get going.
Cheon Woo-jin departed without waiting for the flames to die. Word that an unknown figure wielding Samadhi True Fire had annihilated Jangrim Stronghold would soon spread through the middle layers of Ghost Head City — but no one would ever suspect that the figure was him.
To reach the 6th Layer, one had to climb the tower standing at the very heart of the jungle. But to enter the tower, one first had to find one of the underground entrances hidden throughout the jungle. Ordinarily that meant painstakingly tracing spirit meridians one by one — but by the world's design, one such entrance lay hidden near Jangrim Stronghold. Confirm the stronghold's location, and the 6th Layer opened like a back door.
Here it is.
Cheon Woo-jin discovered the underground cavern concealed among the colossal trees, committed to memory exactly how far it lay from the stronghold's ruins, and stepped inside.
Flrrp. Bats — creatures that likely carried every disease imaginable — came swarming at him, so he wrapped himself thoroughly in the Thousand-Seal Warding Formation.
Right, this stretch was genuinely tedious even when I was playing the game.
After the bats came monsters of every variety, hounding his every step. Fighting his way through them through a cavern laid out like a labyrinth, he at last entered a man-made space of hewn stone. He had finally set foot inside the tower itself.
Things should be easier from here.
There was nothing beyond this point that could hold him up. He had only to ascend straight to the 6th Layer.
They call it a tower, but in truth it's practically an elevator.
The tower was a hollow cylinder, open all the way through — fly to the top, and you had entered the 6th Layer. One simply was not permitted to make the ascent under one's own power or with flight arts. Instead, riders ascended by the Flying Circle Ladder — a disc that flew through the air. Within the tower waited Flying Circle Ladders large enough to carry many passengers at once; step aboard, activate one, and it carried you automatically to the 6th Layer.
As an aside, game users once debated whether the structure had been modeled on the "orbital elevators" of science fiction — not least because a later event saw the tower attacked and the connection between the 5th and 6th Layers severed entirely.
Either way, from here I just ride the ladder up in comfort.
Other cultivators who had entered through different passages were gathered nearby, though their numbers were few. It didn't look as though he would have to wait long.
But as Cheon Woo-jin moved to join the line, someone addressed him.
"Aren't you Cultivator Cheon Woo-jin?"
One of the prominent figures of Ghost Head City's middle layers — Hoyeon Rin, field commander of Cheonryong Pavilion, the grandest house of pleasure on the 4th Layer. They had met only once, at the auction house, yet she remembered his face.
"You're alive! When I heard you'd been taken by a Nascent Soul old monster, I thought I'd never lay eyes on you again!"
So the rumor really had spread far and wide.
"How on earth did you make it back?"
"The whim of a Nascent Soul old monster, nothing more. I was lucky."
"Is that so? Well — I'm glad you came back alive all the same."
Hoyeon Rin seemed genuinely delighted at his return.
"To go straight for the 6th Layer after everything you've just been through — you really are something, Cultivator Cheon."
"And what business takes Cultivator Ho Yeon up to the 6th Layer?"
Ordinarily, Hoyeon Rin stood on standby on the first floor of Cheonryong Pavilion, venturing out only when something demanded her attention.
"Don't tell me some incident has occurred?"
"Ah... this time I'm escorting our Pavilion Master up."
Pavilion Master. Almost the instant the title left her lips, footsteps sounded from the passage on the other side.
"Hoyeon Rin. Let's be moving up."
A strikingly handsome man of mysterious bearing, hair gleaming in five colors. Between those strands rose deer-like horns.
Oh Hwi-seong, Pavilion Master of Cheonryong Pavilion. He was not human, but of the Dragon Clan — and no ordinary dragon at that, but one born of the Oh clan, the highest nobility of the dragon race.
The Cheonryong Pavilion he ran was, on its surface, a pleasure house in the entertainment district; in truth, it served as the Dragon Clan faction's branch in Ghost Head City. Every piece of intelligence he gathered through the pavilion flowed straight into the hands of the Dragon Clan.
Of all people — to run into Oh Hwi-seong here.
Oh Hwi-seong was a figure a player inevitably crossed paths with when conquering Ghost Head City in Tale of Immortal Cultivation on the Eternal Road. There was even a route in which the player placed themselves under his command and fought at his side. Depending on how a playthrough unfolded, he was an important character whose face kept appearing clear into the late game.
"Pavilion Master, there is someone I would like to introduce."
Hoyeon Rin presented Cheon Woo-jin to her master.
"This is Cultivator Cheon Woo-jin, of Foundation Establishment. The very man who defeated Gi Shin-ryeo, Sect Master of Mandokyuksamun, not long ago."
"Oh?"
Oh Hwi-seong's eyes turned toward Cheon Woo-jin.
"I had heard you were taken by one of those Sama old monsters."
"By good fortune, he returned alive."
"If that is true, then the light of a lucky star shines above your head."
His voice carried a natural dignity as Oh Hwi-seong smiled.
"I am called Oh Hwi-seong. A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is mine, Pavilion Master Oh."
The man before him stood at Core Formation Great Circle — the same realm as Gi Shin-ryeo or Lee Seon-gyeong. But Oh Hwi-seong, a pureblood dragon born of the Oh clan, was a being who transcended the limits of that realm entirely.
"Oho..."
Hummmm. Both of Oh Hwi-seong's eyes lit with an otherworldly glow.
"Truly mid-stage Foundation Establishment. No concealed realm, no disguise."
He had seen straight through Cheon Woo-jin's cultivation.
"A Foundation Establishment body felling multiple Core Formation cultivators of Mandokyuksamun — and in the end, even Gi Shin-ryeo himself, a Core Formation Great Circle..."
"..."
"You must possess a formidable artifact. But no artifact, however powerful, could achieve such feats without the skill of the one who wields it."
Murmuring half to himself, Oh Hwi-seong smiled.
"A truly exceptional talent. The rumors were no idle boast."
"I thank you for the assessment."
When Cheon Woo-jin answered in a level voice, Oh Hwi-seong abruptly shook with laughter.
"Cultivator Ho Yeon, look at this one. In all my years, I have never met a man who kept such composure the first time he stood before me."
"Ah — yes..."
"Ordinary folk freeze at the mere sight of these horns, even without knowing who I am. That is no ordinary nerve."
Watching Oh Hwi-seong take such unfeigned delight, Hoyeon Rin wore an awkward expression.
"In truth, I had been planning to offer you a place in Cheonryong Pavilion. I am glad I thought better of it — I very nearly did something foolish."
"..."
"Cultivator Cheon is not a man meant to labor beneath another. He is one who will carve out his own path and find the way to overcome his destiny."
Gazing deep into Cheon Woo-jin's eyes, Oh Hwi-seong went on.
"Mark my words. Before long, Cultivator Cheon will become a man of great standing."
A man of great standing. It was no mere prediction of fleeting fame — he foresaw Cheon Woo-jin growing into a presence of genuine weight in the cultivation world.
"That is high praise."
"Hm?"
"My interests begin and end with my own cultivation. I am not like you — folk who seek to bend the world itself to your will."
Cheon Woo-jin answered with cool detachment.
"..."
Oh Hwi-seong's eyes went wide. Beside him, Hoyeon Rin stared at Cheon Woo-jin, mouth hanging open.
"C-Cultivator Cheon! You can't just say whatever—!"
She moved to rebuke him, but Oh Hwi-seong raised a hand to stop her. Then he looked straight at Cheon Woo-jin and spoke.
"The powers of the cultivation world do not toy with this world on a whim, Cultivator Cheon. There exist things that no amount of individual effort can overcome — and so, whether they wish it or not, they are compelled to move the world itself."
"..."
"And yet your bearing... suggests you believe that individual effort alone can achieve anything at all."
Cheon Woo-jin did not bother to answer the observation. It was nothing more than Oh Hwi-seong's personal impression, after all.
"I do not know what you are aiming for. But to reach it, you will inevitably find yourself entangled with those such as us. Are you aware of that?"
"Of course."
Cheon Woo-jin answered flatly.
"That is how one makes a living."
"Heh heh..."
At the jest, Oh Hwi-seong smiled, his eyes narrowing to slits.
"So you have no intention of living as a complete loner. Good to hear."
If need be, I will shake hands even with the likes of you.
Oh Hwi-seong smiled, having understood exactly what Cheon Woo-jin had left unsaid.
"Cultivator Cheon."
Still smiling, he pressed on.
"As I understand it, you have always taken your commissions through Seo Seol-ryeong of the True Human Race—"
At the sudden mention of that name, Hoyeon Rin flinched.
"—do you accept work through her alone?"
"That has been the case until now."
"And evidently, it is no longer."
After a brief nod, Oh Hwi-seong opened his mouth once more.
"Then I should like to entrust a task to you myself."
Hoyeon Rin's eyes went perfectly round at his words. Ordinarily, such work went to her and the other subordinates — never to an outsider from beyond Cheonryong Pavilion's walls. This was a highly unusual occurrence.
"Naturally, you will be paid a reward worthy of your satisfaction. I hear you have trained in the lightning arts..."
Oh Hwi-seong spread his arms wide — as though to flaunt his mastery of Cheonryong Pavilion itself.
"Among the treasures recently brought into the pavilion is a legacy of Master Thunder Spirit. We intended to auction it to our most privileged clients alone — but should you carry out this commission to my satisfaction, it shall be paid to you instead."
Hoyeon Rin looked ready to faint at the outrageous offer. An item reserved for auction to the pavilion's most privileged clients meant a treasure that no one below the rank of sect master or elder would even dare covet. And a legacy of Master Thunder Spirit, on top of that — an inheritance of truly staggering value. To hand such a thing to a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like Cheon Woo-jin was more than reason enough to be dumbstruck.
And yet.
Cheon Woo-jin's expression did not so much as flicker. A man whose eyes spun at the sight of a reward, nodding blindly at every offer, was fated to be used by others and to die for it. Knowing this, he asked coolly:
"Perhaps we should discuss the commission itself first."
"Ha...!"
Just as he'd thought — this man was the genuine article. Oh Hwi-seong laughed, both eyes gleaming.