Even If It's a Trap, I'll Admit It
The date is the night of the fifth day of the sixth month, Year 35 of the Shinmu Era.
Duration of stay: three days.
Geumban's calm, matter-of-fact voice echoed through Yeop Pung's mind. For the third time, he had returned to the familiar Nagun Peak of a hundred years past.
This time, though, he did not scramble about the way he had on his first two journeys. Upon arriving, Yeop Pung first drew a deep breath of mountain wind from a century ago. Then he sat down slowly, settling into a lotus position, and gazed at the magnificent wall spread before him.
Of all the plans he had laid, the most important task was the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture. The virtues of this divine art—enough to stun the world—needed no further praise. Yeop Pung's current rate of gathering spiritual energy was likely the fastest in the entire Cheonun Sect, though he himself had yet to realize it.
This stay would last only three days. Every minute, every second was precious if he was to master the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture. He had no way of knowing when he might be discovered, so absorbing even a fraction more of the divine art was of the utmost importance.
Enough wasting breath. Memorize it. Now.
Yeop Pung sank his focus deep into the river of stars overhead. Time slipped past him unnoticed.
He could not have said how long he had been immersed in that sea of stars when the starlight before his eyes vanished all at once.
What?
He lifted his head. The moon had already sunk behind the far side of the mountain wall. With the moonlight gone, the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Wall had returned to being an ordinary cliff.
Has that much time passed already?
"I've been here at least two hours," Yeop Pung muttered, rising to his feet. "And with Peak Master Yeo gone, everyone else's watch is this sloppy?"
What he did not know was that the other disciples of Nagun Peak were not lazy at all. The heart of this Profound Qi Grand Formation had always rested in Yeo Sogong's hands. Everyone else lacked the cultivation to sense what was happening inside it, and so Yeop Pung had been free to memorize the star chart to his heart's content for those two hours of the night.
This time, however, he felt none of the excitement of his first two visits.
"Hit a wall again, in the end…"
Coming back to himself, Yeop Pung looked out at the mountain wall beneath the distant night sky. He kept turning over that intricate star chart in his mind, murmuring as he did.
"I had a fair stretch of time this round, and I still haven't memorized even a fifth of it. There are just too many changes among the stars…"
It was not his fault. In all the years since the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture had been created, no one had ever tried to replicate that vast sea of stars by memory alone. The stars within it numbered in the tens of millions. Remembering even the sequence in which the major ones brightened and dimmed was a feat no ordinary person could hope to achieve.
That Yeop Pung, gifted as he was, had managed to hold a half-complete star chart after three short visits was nothing short of a miracle.
"Every time I add to the star chart, the amount I have to remember grows exponentially. Keep going like this and my cultivation will only get slower. And besides…"
Turning the thought over, he unfolded the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture according to the half-complete star chart's formula.
Hundreds of tiny starlights flocked around him—twice as many as before.
When those starlights tried to enter his body, however, they did not flow in as smoothly as they once had. Whether his meridians were simply not wide enough, a great many of the lights seemed to stand outside him in a queue, slowing the rate at which profound qi could pass inward.
Yeop Pung frowned.
"The profound qi is coming in faster, but… it feels like my body's hit its limit. The qi the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture draws in won't enter my meridians cleanly. Why is that?"
With that, he stopped being anxious about memorizing more of the star chart. First, he had already spent too much mental strength. Second, if he did not solve the problem of his body, it would not matter how much more profound qi he pulled in—he would not be able to absorb it. He had no answer for the problem now. He would go back and put the question to Maeng Chang-haeng.
"In that case… next is the second plan."
Yeop Pung called up the half star chart in his mind once more. A faint smile touched his lips, and he suddenly launched a strike.
Lightning-attribute force crashed into the nearby profound qi barrier.
Uproar erupted outside at once.
"Who dares trespass upon Cheonun's forbidden grounds!"
Nagun Peak turned upside down.
Moments later, several shadows punched through the wall and came to a halt before Yeop Pung, killing intent rolling off them in waves. Every one of them held a weapon flashing with profound light, and their faces were full of undisguised alarm and murderous will.
The man at their head was the most agitated of all. He looked to be around thirty, with a sturdy build, a dark-tanned face, and a hard, upright gaze. His profound qi was not so overwhelming as Peak Master Yeo Sogong's, but he was clearly a powerhouse who had surpassed the Profound Realm. When he arrived, the entire mountain trembled slightly.
The moment that man and those behind him stepped into the grand formation, however, the scene before them left them bewildered.
This… who is this kid?
A boy stood boldly at the foot of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Wall. He had his back to them, his chin lifted high toward the sky. No powerful profound qi could be felt from his body, and yet an aura that defied description poured off him. Everyone hesitated, none of them quite daring to approach.
"Tsk, tsk… To think that after a hundred years of closed-door cultivation, the disciples of Cheonun Sect wouldn't even recognize me. How lamentable."
Yeop Pung turned. His long hair swept through the air in a handsome arc, and a leisurely smile played across his face—a smile that only left the people in front of him more at a loss.
The dark-faced man, however, was not so easily swayed. He looked Yeop Pung up and down, and his expression hardened.
"Who are you? How dare you spout such nonsense on our Nagun Peak!"
Taking in the situation, Yeop Pung recalled a passage from the historical records. When Yeo Sogong had departed for Zhenling to debate the Dao, the man left in charge of guarding Nagun Peak had been a high elder of Cheonun Sect named Song Gyeol. Yeop Pung smiled faintly.
"Song Gyeol, I can hardly blame you for not recognizing me. You're all still so young… Heh. But every time Senior Brother Yeo came looking for me, he spoke of you often. Said he could rest easy, knowing you were at Nagun Peak."
The dark-faced man's eyes twitched. Yeop Pung had spoken his name with perfect accuracy.
And the rest of it left Song Gyeol inwardly baffled. Senior Brother Yeo? Who is he calling Senior Brother Yeo? Don't tell me he means the Peak Master himself?
If this kid is calling the Peak Master his senior brother, then what in the world is his standing supposed to be?
It can't be—
"You…"
Song Gyeol was not, of course, so foolish as to believe Yeop Pung on a few words alone. Even so, the killing intent between his brows eased a fraction without his quite meaning it to.
Above all, Yeop Pung's bearing was simply too assured. What lunatic would dare show up here impersonating the Peak Master's junior martial brother? Unless the boy really had lost his mind, it occurred to Song Gyeol that it might actually be true…
"As far as I know, the Peak Master has no junior brother so young."
"Young? Hahaha. I'm only three years younger than Senior Brother Yeo. How would any of you know the secret art I use to preserve my appearance? Enough—talking with you lot is just tiring my mouth."
"Where is Senior Brother Yeo? It's been ten years since I last saw him. Now that I'm here, I'd like to share a drink face to face… Ah, that's right. Have a cup of Wuyingchun tea prepared first. I've missed that flavor more than I can say."
At those words, the faces of Song Gyeol and the others grew even stranger.
Wuyingchun…? That's the spirit tea the Peak Master treasures, isn't it?
Even within Cheonun Sect, almost no one outside a handful of people on Nagun Peak knew of it. How did this boy know? Don't tell me he's actually… It was not that Song Gyeol and his people were slow. Yeop Pung's performance was simply too complete.
Tossing out the bits of bait he had prepared as if they were nothing at all, Yeop Pung strolled unhurriedly toward the outside, paying not the slightest attention to the killing intent of Song Gyeol's party, carrying himself as though Nagun Peak were his own inner courtyard.
It was fortunate, at least, that Yeo Sogong was not present. Had he seen the Formation Prince who had trapped him half a year ago fooling his subordinates all over again, he would likely have turned the entire peak upside down.
Then Yeop Pung added, as if in passing,
"Oh, and how is Senior Brother Jang Gong? I'd like to share a drink with him today as well."
Senior Brother Jang Gong.
Song Gyeol's eyelids twitched twice.
This time he means Sect Master Jang Gonghwang of Cheonun…? Just who is this man?
If all of this was an act, then the man's talent for bluffing had reached its absolute peak.
"Look well, Song Gyeol. If I had merely stolen a glance at the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture, could I have reached this realm so easily?"
As he spoke, Yeop Pung circulated the mind method of the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture.
In an instant, more than two hundred motes of starlight coiled around his body.
The starlight only brushed past him and did not soak into his flesh, but to Song Gyeol and the others it delivered a pressure that could not be denied.
"Hundred Stars Flowing like a Stream…"
Song Gyeol muttered the words, his mind racing through the calculations. If this man had only stolen a first look at the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture, he could never have reached Hundred Stars Flowing like a Stream on the spot. That realm takes years of cultivation at the very least. But if he really is of a martial uncle's generation, he shouldn't be lingering at a level like this…
"I can see what you're thinking… Unlike Jang Gonghwang or Yeo Sogong, I don't care for fighting. What I primarily cultivate are formations and pharmacology. My attainment in the Nine Heavens Cloud-Spirit Scripture may not be high, but that Nine Spirit Cloud Grand Formation of yours is child's play to me. I came back this time precisely to adjust it…"
"Ahem. I've talked so much my mouth's gone dry. Is the Wuyingchun tea ready yet? What's taking Yeo Sogong so long? One look at me and he'd know everything, wouldn't he?"
Confidence poured off Yeop Pung from head to toe. The last of Song Gyeol's inner defenses, already shaken by the boy's words, collapsed completely.
Damn it. I have to admit it. This man isn't even afraid of facing Yeo Sogong.
He's clearly only at the Profound Realm. Meeting Peak Master Yeo would be as good as walking to his death. If even this is an act, then I've been thoroughly played.
Moreover, just as it had been with Yeo Sogong half a year ago, the greatest source of confidence in Song Gyeol's heart was that Yeop Pung's skill was simply too pathetic. The situation was entirely under his control. Even if there really was something wrong with this person, he could beat him down in an instant. Better, then, to play along for now.
If he really does turn out to be someone of high standing, at least I won't find myself in an awkward position…
With that thought, Song Gyeol finally lowered his weapon and offered Yeop Pung a respectful bow.
"Ah… given what you've said, please forgive this disciple's rudeness. I failed to recognize you, Martial Uncle, and committed a grave discourtesy. Please, come inside so that we may speak…"
Haha. Success.
A faint smile on his lips, Yeop Pung cheered inwardly.
"Tsk. All that talking's just dried out my throat. Wuyingchun! When is my Wuyingchun tea going to be ready?!"