Foundation Establishment Realm 3
After Dam So-dam successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, the Ungyu Sect entered a period of calm.
The number of cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage had risen to two, counting the sect leader, and the disciples’ progress had not slowed in the least.
Of all the changes, the greatest was the spirit stones.
Spirit stones were minerals filled with pure spiritual energy, a universal resource in the cultivation world.
As such, they served as currency throughout the cultivation world, and were used both for cultivation and for magical implements—artifacts only cultivators could wield.
That made the spirit stone cave Baek Sang-ah had discovered the Ungyu Sect’s greatest stroke of fortune.
What was more, even after they had mined more than a hundred spirit stones from the cave, the supply still had not run dry. It was enough to call it a boom.
“This really is peaceful.”
Sect Leader Un smiled in quiet satisfaction as he looked out over the tranquil courtyard of the Ungyu Sect’s main hall.
Since Baek Sang-ah had arrived, the sect had gained wealth; since she had arrived, his disciples had advanced. There was nothing more he could ask for.
Still, as sect leader, he had no intention of growing complacent in this peace.
Thinking back to what had happened during the labor union incident, Sect Leader Un told the disciples and the mole spirit beasts to stop mining spirit stones.
Of course, it wasn’t as though the labor union had actually succeeded in its revolution. There was simply something else they needed to do.
“Everyone, gather your belongings. Make sure nothing is left behind.”
“W-What? What do you mean by that all of a sudden, Sect Leader? You want us to leave overnight?”
At the abrupt order, the Ungyu Sect cultivators protested in surprise.
But Sect Leader Un shook his head.
“That isn’t what I mean. Aren’t you lot more than a little lacking in the head? You’re proper cultivators, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“Then look around you. Our sect is far too cramped, and there’s hardly any decent place to stay. How can one build a foundation in such a shabby place?”
“Don’t tell me you mean…”
Sect Leader Un nodded.
“At the very least, shouldn’t we have the appearance of an actual cultivation sect?”
In truth, Sect Leader Un had felt guilty toward his disciples for some time.
It was true that he had taken in cultivators who had been abandoned or left alone and made them into members of the Ungyu Sect, but they were talented people who ought to have had a place in a much better sect.
By contrast, the Ungyu Sect was shabbiness itself, with no proper cultivation space and no personal quarters to speak of.
They cultivated in the courtyard, and they slept by cramming everyone into one broad room.
If they had been any other cultivators, they would have fled long ago, complaining that it was unbearably inconvenient.
That was why he thought now was the time.
The spirit stones would not be used for personal greed, but to tear down the Ungyu Sect’s buildings and rebuild them, outfitting the sect with the facilities any proper cultivation sect should have.
And the remaining spirit stones would go toward the disciples’ cultivation, or toward buying the magical implements they needed to protect their bodies.
“So I can finally sleep alone?”
“We don’t have to listen to snoring anymore?”
“When I cultivate, I won’t get distracted by other people talking!”
The Ungyu Sect cultivators cheered. Sensing the courtyard instantly grow noisy, Sect Leader Un barked,
“Listen to the rest of it! What good are you as cultivators if you don’t know how to be patient?”
“Yes, sir!”
“We don’t have that many people, so each room will be used by only one person, and they’ll be built to allow cultivation as well.”
“Wow!”
“I’ll also build a training hall for group cultivation, and another training hall where you can strengthen your bodies through all that digging with pickaxes and practice body-tempering techniques.”
One by one, Sect Leader Un laid out how he intended to transform the sect and shared his plans.
Then, from among the Ungyu Sect cultivators, a pale, slender hand shot up.
“Hm?”
It was Baek Sang-ah’s arm.
“Then what about my room?”
“O-Of course we’ll prepare a room for Senior Baek as well. A much finer room than this humble one, naturally. In truth, the Ungyu Sect’s buildings will essentially belong to Senior Baek anyway.”
“It has to have water.”
“I’ll remember that for certain, Senior.”
That wasn’t wrong.
All the money needed to build the Ungyu Sect had come from Baek Sang-ah in the first place, so it was only natural.
“Ahem!”
After hearing Sect Leader Un’s answer, Baek Sang-ah made a satisfied sound.
Then, all of a sudden, a mole spirit beast poked its head up from beneath the ground.
The mole spirit beast held out a wooden plaque toward Sect Leader Un.
Written on it were these words:
[The Mole Spirit Beast Labor Union demands housing!
- Ungyu Sect Labor Union -]
Sect Leader Un blinked several times, staring at the plaque for a long while before nodding in resignation.
“You lot are practically part of the Ungyu Sect now too, aren’t you? You should have somewhere proper to stay.”
After that came Rangi.
“Don’t you live with Senior Baek?”
“Grr? Grrr.”
It was true enough when he thought about it, so Rangi nodded in agreement.
In any case, she would be staying beside Baek Sang-ah. She could simply use that luxurious room.
Now that I think about it, ever since Senior Baek arrived, an unusually large number of spirit beasts have begun living in the Ungyu Sect. We’re going to need to build more rooms and lodging—guest rooms too.
Although Sect Leader Un had only reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, he was the sort of cultivator who could see far, thanks to a long life.
Before long, the atmosphere grew heated.
It was nearly the same festive mood as when Dam So-dam had broken through to Foundation Establishment.
Then Sect Leader Un said quietly, “There is, however, one condition.”
“Yes?”
“Our Ungyu Sect is still weak among cultivation sects. We can’t escape interference from outside forces, and for that reason we can’t bring in outside labor.”
The meaning was simple.
All at once, the Ungyu Sect cultivators and the mole spirit beast labor union raised their heads and looked at Sect Leader Un.
“So you lot will have to help.”
And just like that, the cultivator-spirit beast labor union was reborn.
Once again, Hyeongeuk was put in charge as union leader.
…
…
…
While the Ungyu Sect cultivators bustled about, Baek Sang-ah also went into her room to pack.
That was when she realized something.
She didn’t really have anything that could be called luggage.
The clothes she’d gotten from Dam So-dam were the ones she was wearing now, and she had nothing else at all.
So Baek Sang-ah left the room and headed straight for Sect Leader Un.
“No, Senior Baek. What is it?”
“I have somewhere to go for a bit.”
“Somewhere to go?”
“I have to. Cultivate.”
Sect Leader Un’s brow twitched once, but he asked nothing further.
“You’ll be coming back, yes? Senior Baek, you are the Ungyu Sect’s benefactor. At the very least, shouldn’t we hold a grand farewell before you go?”
“Mm. I’ll just be gone for a little while.”
“Then I understand. Please travel safely.”
Sect Leader Un looked at Baek Sang-ah in silence for a moment, then nodded.
Baek Sang-ah climbed onto Rangi’s back at once and left the Ungyu Sect.
She had been thinking about this ever since before her breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Hmm. No matter how I look at it, it’s strange. That black inner core at the center of you.
“Why?”
You know this already, don’t you? The five elements have colors, and inner cores take on colors according to the nature of those elements.
“Yeah.”
And yet I have never once heard of a black inner core. Did it change like this because you instinctively used the principle of emptiness back then?
“If Muyeonja doesn’t know it, I don’t really know either.”
We’ll need to observe it further from here on. We must also determine what nature this inner core possesses.
“Mm.”
It was then.
From behind her came a woman’s voice.
Reacting to it, Baek Sang-ah turned around and saw Dam So-dam.
“Unni!”
She had chased after Baek Sang-ah leaving the Ungyu Sect without even bothering to put on her shoes.
There were even tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.
“Unni!”
Baek Sang-ah stopped where she was and walked over to the girl.
“What’s wrong?”
Dam So-dam gasped for breath, then looked up at Baek Sang-ah.
As though hurt.
“How could you just leave like this! I thought we’d gotten really close, Unni. And you didn’t even say anything…!”
She was on the verge of crying. Baek Sang-ah, who had never once comforted either a person or a shark, flapped her hands awkwardly in the air.
“I was packing my things, and I saw you quietly leaving the sect, so I came straight after you.”
Baek Sang-ah thought for a moment, then spoke.
“I’m not leaving. Me.”
“T-Then?”
“I told Sect Leader Un. I’m just going somewhere for a bit. Cultivate.”
“Oh, that makes sense. The sect leader called for me too, but I was too busy chasing after you to answer….”
Only then did Dam So-dam stop crying, lowering her head in embarrassment.
“Yeah. I’ll come back. Soon.”
Dam So-dam wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and looked up at Baek Sang-ah again.
“Really? You have to come back. Even if you leave later, I want us to be able to say goodbye properly.”
“Mm.”
Baek Sang-ah stared at Dam So-dam’s face for a moment.
In response, the girl’s cheeks reddened.
But Baek Sang-ah didn’t care. She reached out a finger and gently pressed Dam So-dam’s nose.
“When cultivation is over, I’ll return.”
That was the shark’s own way of showing affection.
In the creature known as the great white shark, the nose was a weakness.
It was an area densely packed with nerves; if it was stimulated from the outside, the whole body could go numb or fall into confusion.
For a great white shark especially, the nose was even more important, since it used it to choose prey and to sense the heartbeat of living things.
So when Baek Sang-ah carefully touched Dam So-dam’s nose without pressing hard, it meant, I’m not dangerous.
Of course, there was no way Dam So-dam could have known that.
“Thank you for saying that. Go ahead, Unni. I’ll head back after I’ve watched you leave.”
“Mm.”
Just before turning away again, Baek Sang-ah looked down at Dam So-dam’s lower abdomen.
It was because she was thinking about that inner core Muyeonja had mentioned.
What Baek Sang-ah saw was an ochre inner core. A heavy current seemed to rise up from below it.
It was the energy of the earth.
So the colors really are different.
That’s the color of a normal inner core. Someone with a single spiritual root has just one color like that. Those with multiple spiritual roots carry several colors.
So mine isn’t just a bunch of colors mixed together?
How could it be? The colors of the five elements left within an inner core do not blend; they each take their own territory and remain separate. What you have is not some mixture, but something far stranger.
By the time Baek Sang-ah reached her destination, it was night.
To be fair, Dam So-dam had rushed after her in such a dramatic fashion, but the place she had actually reached was not far from the Ungyu Sect’s main hall.
The Spirit Stone Cave.
One of the reasons she had wanted to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm was this very spirit stone cave.
No—more precisely, it was the cultivation grotto deep within the cave, the one that had been used long ago.
At last, when Baek Sang-ah reached the deepest part of the Spirit Stone Cave, she closed her eyes and extended her awareness inward.
Once again, she felt some kind of thought from inside.
Be careful. We don’t know what might be in there.
At Muyeonja’s words, Baek Sang-ah nodded. The moment her consciousness touched that thought, unlike last time, nothing burned.
Baek Sang-ah understood.
That thought was a memory left behind by a cultivator who had spent many years training in this cave.
In that instant, the rock blocking the cultivation grotto slid open, and Baek Sang-ah’s tail bristled upright.
“How dare a beast spirit like you stick your head in here?”
That wasn’t a threat sensed through consciousness.
It was danger felt by the beast’s own instincts, tied directly to survival.
“Grr!”
Rangi seemed to sense it too and let out a low growl, so Baek Sang-ah answered with a similar sound.
“Kraang?”
Inside, a black silhouette rippled.
SECTION BREAK