Under the Moonlight

Beneath the moonlight, Yeop Pung wrestled with the Golden Disc for a long while and could not wring a single response from it. The struggle was not wasted, however. Through it, he came to understand that his golden Profound Qi was bound to this disc by a direct and intimate tie.

The instant the Heaven-and-Earth Profound Qi he drew in from the outside world entered his dantian, it seeped into the disc and turned gold — like clear water meeting an inkstone and drinking in the ink.

"So the reason my golden Profound Qi is this powerful is because of this disc… Just what is this thing?"

In the end, Yeop Pung threw up his hands at the Golden Disc's icy indifference.

He had no leisure to dwell on it, in any case. The thrashing he had just taken from a Cheonun Sect master of a hundred years past had blurred a great deal of the constellation diagram he had committed to memory, and that was a problem that would weigh heavily on his cultivation.

He sat down at once and tried to call the star chart back into his mind.

The qi-drawing art that employed the constellations of the night sky was truly wondrous. Parts of Yeop Pung's recollection were plainly hazy, yet, strangely, it had little effect on the speed at which he absorbed Profound Qi. Even the small details he had remembered wrongly posed no great trouble. What mattered was that the orbital sequence of the principal stars within the domain was correct.

"Whoever created this qi-drawing art was truly remarkable. It raises the rate of absorption by leaps and bounds, yet the complexity of the star chart is designed so that errors won't send you spiraling into qi deviation…"

"But if a practitioner can't remember the chart in full, the efficiency will still fall short of training from a perfect recollection!"

Yeop Pung muttered to himself as he picked the art apart. He had no way of knowing that those words of his had touched the deepest sorrow the Cheonun Sect had carried down through hundreds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of years.

Piecing his memories together, he began to cultivate. After about an hour, he had recalled roughly one-tenth of the constellation diagram from the mural. Even with that incomplete qi-drawing art, his cultivation speed was more than five times what it had been before.

At this rate, he would break through to the 2-Vein Profound Realm within ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a month at the latest — and that would be an achievement earned through training alone, without a scrap of spiritual medicine or outside resource to help him.

The pity was that he had come completely unprepared this time. If another chance were ever given to him, he would make every possible arrangement and hold out in front of that mural for an entire day.

If I could just copy down the entire star chart and study it at my leisure, my cultivation speed would become unimaginably fast. Just thinking about it is enough to set my blood racing!

The problem was that he had no idea when the next time jump would come. That was what truly tormented him.

Lost in those thoughts, Yeop Pung gathered his mind, and little by little he slipped into a trance of complete absorption.

Just then, the golden-furred dog lazily sprawled in the courtyard of the little cabin suddenly pricked up its ears and looked toward the side door. With a creak the door opened, and an old Daoist reeking of liquor stumbled out.

The man looked to be around fifty, lean of build, his face haggard. Salt-and-pepper hair was tied up any which way and pinned with a black wooden hairpin, and his robes, which looked as though they had not been washed in years, gave off a fierce stench of wine.

Yet in contrast to that shabby appearance, the gaze with which he narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance was like a sharp sword piercing the night sky.

"Woof?"

The golden dog wore a look of curiosity, as if to ask, Old man, what's got you coming out looking so sober today?

"Bone. Where's that kid who arrived today?"

"Woof?"

The large dog named Bone blinked.

You all right, old man?

The hound was bewildered. The Daoist's manner today was far too different from usual. This was the first time since Bone had come to Nagun Peak that it had seen him speak with such gravity. It was enough to make one wonder whether this really was the same idle old man who did nothing but drink and sleep every day.

"I asked you where he is!"

The Daoist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠asked again. The solemn atmosphere only piqued Bone's curiosity further. The dog sniffed the air, then indicated the distant cliffs with its snout.

"Good!"

Without another word, the Daoist shot off like lightning and vanished in an instant in Yeop Pung's direction.

This drunk old man is acting weird today!

Bone streaked after him. The dog's running speed did not fall behind the Daoist's sprint in the slightest.

Maeng Chang-haeng found himself seized by tension for the first time in a long while.

He had once been one of the seven Peak Masters of the Cheonun Sect. In the eyes of every elder of his generation, however, he was now nothing more than a wreck who lived drowned in drink at Nagun Peak.

Only Maeng Chang-haeng himself and his senior martial brother, Sect Master Lee Sujol, knew the truth. Not for a single moment had Maeng Chang-haeng ever abandoned his dream of restoring the Cheonun Sect.

This boy named Yeop Pung was the hope of the future that his senior brother had personally entrusted to him — a being of tremendous potential who might well change the fate of the sect.

And this very night, Maeng Chang-haeng intended to test Yeop Pung with the Cheonun Sect's divine art, the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture, without anyone else noticing. It was the supreme divine art the Cheonun Sect Founder had used when he swept across the entire continent, the very pillar that still upheld the sect's reputation.

But Maeng Chang-haeng already knew the rest of it well. After Emperor Shinmu of Great Jin had suppressed the Cheonun Sect a hundred years ago, every elder and senior brother who had received the complete divine art had already gone to their deaths.

In the Cheonun Sect of today, even Sect Master Lee Sujol had not grasped the scripture's complete essence. And yet tonight, Maeng Chang-haeng would mobilize everything he had cultivated to test whether Yeop Pung possessed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the aptitude to train in this tremendous divine art.

That was why he was tense, and why he was afraid. He feared that this boy, in whom his senior brother had placed such great hopes, would ultimately fail to comprehend the profundity of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture. Even in the relatively prosperous days of the Cheonun Sect a hundred years ago, only disciples of the most outstanding aptitude could resonate with that complex and vast star chart and grasp the true meaning of constellation qi-drawing.

It was truly a difficult thing. Maeng Chang-haeng knew perfectly well that what he himself had cultivated was an incomplete fragment, not even one-tenth of the complete star chart. Even so, he had thrown himself into training for a full month before he could finally draw Profound Qi into his body using the constellation qi-drawing method.

After that, he had trained without rest for a year before reaching the minor accomplishment of Star Resonance. Only those who had suffered and cultivated beneath the star chart could understand the hardship of training in the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture.

This boy, Yeop Pung… Can he possibly comprehend the secret of that vast star chart?

Thoughts flickered through Maeng Chang-haeng's mind. Before he knew it, he had passed the ruins of the collapsed palaces and arrived at the place where Yeop Pung was cultivating.

Hm? What is that light?

Until that moment, Maeng Chang-haeng had no idea what he was about to see. And when he took one more step and properly confirmed Yeop Pung's current state… he froze completely.

Th-this is…!

Maeng Chang-haeng went rigid on the spot, his face a mask of utter disbelief.

Around Yeop Pung now, starlight glittered in beautiful radiance. The starlight, formed of condensed Profound Qi, flew freely about him like obedient sprites, and it flowed endlessly into his body.

This is the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture! That kid has already learned it? And that appearance is clearly the minor accomplishment of Star Resonance. That's impossible!

How could an ordinary outer disciple of the Cheonun Sect have cultivated the qi-drawing method of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture to this degree?

That was truly difficult… Was it… really that difficult?

Maeng Chang-haeng began to doubt his own talent.

But what he found even more incomprehensible was how this boy Yeop Pung had learned the mental method of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture in the first place.

The upper ranks of the Cheonun Sect had recently been guarding that mental method with extreme strictness; there was absolutely no way it could have leaked outside. And yet the Yeop Pung before his eyes had appeared like a miracle, displaying this bizarre spectacle. Even if Sect Master Lee Sujol came and saw it himself, he would fall over in shock.

Countless thoughts flashed through Maeng Chang-haeng's mind. In the end, he recalled the words his senior brother had spoken when Yeop Pung arrived.

Could this be why the boy made the Cheonun Stele of Inquiring Qi react? He's already cultivating the Cheonun Sect's strongest divine art!

"Woof??"

While Maeng Chang-haeng stood there dazed, a golden shadow flashed up beside him. The golden hound that had drawn up at his side looked at Yeop Pung's strange appearance and grew equally puzzled.

"Rrrf??"

Bone looked at Maeng Chang-haeng and asked, in so many snorts and stares,

"This kid… what the hell is he doing?"

"How should I know?"

Maeng Chang-haeng glanced at the golden hound with a complicated expression.

Joy and unease coexisted in his heart. He was glad, because Yeop Pung had proven himself a genius beyond all expectation. If the boy could draw in Profound Qi with the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture at such a young age, his future achievements would be incalculable.

But on the other hand, he was uneasy. How had Yeop Pung come to learn the Cheonun Sect's divine art? This matter had to be reported to the Sect Master and discussed.

The biggest problem facing Maeng Chang-haeng right now, however, was quite simply embarrassment. Tonight he had been filled with resolve to accomplish something great for the Cheonun Sect.

So what was he supposed to do now? He had come here turning over method after method to help Yeop Pung understand the constellation map — and the kid was already cultivating on his own!

What's more, he had put on such a solemn act in front of Bone earlier. Was he just supposed to turn around and go back now?

Maeng Chang-haeng could feel Bone looking at him with eyes full of suspicion and contempt.

What made it even more mortifying was that, across from them, Yeop Pung sensed their presence, stopped cultivating, and opened his eyes. Without a hint of fluster, he rose politely and offered his greeting.

"Disciple Yeop Pung greets Martial Grand-Uncle Maeng."

"Hahaha…"

Maeng Chang-haeng laughed awkwardly.

Hmm… what am I supposed to say? I came to teach you cultivation, but you already know how…?

At a loss for words, he looked at Yeop Pung, blinked a few times, and finally managed to get a sentence out.

Yeop Pung blinked. The golden hound beside him also blinked, looking at Maeng Chang-haeng.

This guy… is he still drunk…?