My Struggle (3)
A cultivator followed the Dao, grasped the principles of the world, defied Heaven—and at the same time built a world of their own within.
Inside Baek Sang-ah’s body, too, there was a small world.
The place where Muyeonja resided was not in Baek Sang-ah’s head, but in that very microcosm.
Something round and black floated high above, a thing that seemed to swallow light rather than reflect it. A black void.
Beneath it, flowing along the border between heaven and earth, was a river of vermilion light. The unique aura of a Great Immortal.
And added to that was a vast sea, newly formed there. It was the signature energy of the seawyrm race’s Battle Immortal.
In short, Baek Sang-ah’s inner world—the happy household reserved for her—had just taken in a lodger: the avatar of a Battle Immortal, Gomin-iyeong.
Battle Immortal and Great Immortal.
Both were beings so far beyond ordinary cultivators that even a single glimpse of them might have sent a lesser soul collapsing in terror.
And yet the avatars of those exalted existences were coexisting inside a single shark. There was no need to say more than that.
"Even with both the avatar of this so-called Great Immortal and mine dwelling within you, you remain this composed. That alone proves you are an anomaly."
Gomin-iyeong could only marvel as he slowly surveyed the small world flowing within her.
To see Baek Sang-ah’s world remain so tranquil despite harboring the energies of two immortals made even him look forward to what she might become one day.
"The principle of emptiness that can contain anything—Malrangjiche. I had only heard the stories, yet to feel it directly is truly wondrous."
“I still don’t know what that is.”
"There is only one thing you need to understand. My adversary, you are unique not only in the lower realm, but in the higher realms as well."
“Unique?”
"What other cultivator is there who comes from the sea, yet is not of the seawyrm race, and who also bears the principle of emptiness?"
Baek Sang-ah tilted her head.
"You may yet reach, in some distant future, a place even I could not touch. I find myself hopeful of that."
“Is that good?”
"Is it not? It means I, the foremost battle-ghost of the seawyrm race, truly acknowledge you."
“Thanks.”
Meanwhile, the floor noise in Baek Sang-ah’s happy-household inner residence had become so unbearable that, in protest, the homeowner had imposed a few rules.
First: the two avatars were not to speak at the same time.
Second: they would take turns helping Baek Sang-ah cultivate.
Third: if Baek Sang-ah said to be quiet, they would be quiet.
Fourth: if they were going to fight, they had better do it somewhere Baek Sang-ah couldn’t hear.
If they hadn’t established rules like that, her head would have become far too noisy to bear.
That was also why Muyeonja couldn’t speak right now.
Today was the day Gomin-iyeong was overseeing Baek Sang-ah’s cultivation, so he had no right to speak.
"In any case, let my admiration stop here. What matters more is that I shall personally teach you."
“What are you teaching me?”
Baek Sang-ah sat cross-legged at the center of the cultivation cave the Battle Immortal had left behind long ago.
Then she closed her eyes and focused on Gomin-iyeong’s voice.
"Do you know that the cultivation of humans and beastfolk differs?"
“I-it did? I didn’t know that….”
Gomin-iyeong let out a sigh.
Human cultivators had already been accumulating their practice within Baek Sang-ah’s inner world, while the aura of beastfolk was almost nonexistent.
"At the most basic level, what humans and beastfolk pursue is different. Naturally, their methods of cultivation differ as well."
According to Muyeonja, human cultivation was the process of shedding humanity.
Human cultivation was the act of moving away from being human, transcending one’s limits, and ascending to a higher plane.
Then beastfolk cultivation was simple.
To move away from the shell of beastliness, and transcend the limits of a beast. That was beastfolk cultivation.
"You are a beastfolk cultivator. So the guidance of that so-called immortal or whatever will be a billion times less useful than mine, a seawyrm cultivator."
“Th-that much? What even is a billion times….”
Baek Sang-ah spread out her fingers and began counting. One, two, three, four…. Ten.
No matter how she counted, the largest number she could tally on the spot was a hundred, because Baek Sang-ah was Baek Sang-ah.
In the end, she gave up on counting to a billion.
“Anyway, that means it’s good, right?”
"As it happens, this place where you now sit was prepared by me for cultivation. It is a most fitting location for your practice."
“How do I do it?”
Baek Sang-ah stroked Rangi, who was beside her scratching at the stone floor with a paw, and then turned her head to look around the cave.
Only then did she notice the things she had missed earlier, when she had been too fixated on Gomin-iyeong’s presence.
This was no mere cave, but an ancient cultivation site intentionally built for training.
At the center stood a low, round stone dais.
Its surface looked smooth and damp, yet when she placed her hand on it, a faint pulse from hidden waterways traveled to her fingertips.
Around the dais lay a small desk, a book chest, and bamboo slips and wooden tablets half toppled over.
Within them were records of techniques aligned with water among the five elements, as well as theories on meridian channels, all preserved through ages long past.
Some of them were even secret manuals passed down only among the seawyrm race.
Of course, there was no chance Baek Sang-ah would recognize how valuable they were.
"First, by human-cultivator standards you have already surpassed the Foundation Establishment stage, but by beastfolk standards you are only at the threshold of Qi Condensation."
“R-really?”
"Yes. So what I will teach you is the foundation of beastfolk cultivation."
“So I had to learn both.”
Baek Sang-ah’s tail drooped.
"As you feared, this will be a difficult road. As far as I know, there has never been a immortal who cultivated both sides."
“Being an immortal means you’re amazing. Why isn’t there one?”
"How many beings like you were ever both human and beast to begin with? And even if there were such a one, the soul would not endure it. But you are different."
“Different?”
"You are a body that simultaneously bears the avatars of me and that Great Immortal or whatever. It may indeed be possible for you to accumulate both beastfolk and human cultivation at once."
As Gomin-iyeong’s explanation lengthened, Baek Sang-ah’s once-clear black eyes gradually went dull.
Even the single tuft of hair sticking up between her bangs drooped.
"Hmph. This sort of dry explanation is not suited to me. I shall relieve your boredom."
“Huh? I-I was concentrating….”
Then, from Baek Sang-ah’s center—the black dantian—blue spiritual energy began to seep out.
It was the unique spiritual force of a Battle Immortal, and it was Gomin-iyeong who stirred it and drew it outward.
"Beastfolk cultivation is the shedding of beastliness. So then, do you know the greatest trait of a beast?"
“What is it?”
"Survival. Most of a beast’s actions are tied to its own survival."
Rangi, who had been digging at the ground, gave a startled twitch and sprang upright.
That was because the clumps of spiritual energy flowing from the black inner core had suddenly begun to take shape.
Baek Sang-ah stared at it with widened eyes, blinking rapidly.
“W-what is it?”
"So, cast off the instinct to survive."
“Grrr!”
At that moment, the blue spiritual energy spreading across the ground gathered into a single form, and eyes appeared, then teeth, then a tail.
Two horns rose from its head, and hard scales covered the surface of its body.
"Since this is your first time, it ought to be an easy trial."
A translucent shape made of water and water qi.
"Those are fragments of seawyrm cultivators who once fought life and death battles against me. Every one of them is a beastfolk cultivator above the Foundation Establishment stage."
“Foundation Establishment. Me too.”
There were five of those shapes made of spiritual energy in total.
In other words, five beastfolk cultivators above Foundation Establishment had appeared before her.
"There is only one thing I need to teach you. From this moment on, fight them and gain enlightenment that transcends the instinct to survive."
Feeling the rough, murderous intent radiating from them, Baek Sang-ah rose to her feet instinctively, just as Rangi had done.
"What a loyal little beast. So your name is Rangi? A beast too is a being similar to beastfolk. If the two of you continue cultivating together, you will surely become a faithful retainer who can protect you."
Seeing the aura emanating from Rangi, Gomin-iyeong spoke as if intrigued.
"From now on, for ten years, I shall personally raise you as a beastfolk cultivator—and that beast of yours as a beastfolk cultivator as well."
Rangi stood beside Baek Sang-ah as if to say she would protect her.
Baek Sang-ah also stood with her tail held stiffly upright, staring at the five seawyrm cultivators.
"From now on, kill each other."
And so began the joint front of Rangi and Baek Sang-ah.
That, too, was a struggle.
….
….
….
The time of a cultivator exists on a different scale from that of ordinary men.
Even reaching Qi Condensation would add seventy years to one’s lifespan, and Foundation Establishment would add another three hundred.
Once one reached the Golden Core stage, the years began to climb into four digits. Time became something endless.
The same was true for the time of Ungyu Sect.
When they first began tearing down the old, shabby buildings, it felt impossible to imagine when they would ever finish rebuilding them all.
Yet before long, clean and magnificent structures worthy of a cultivation sect had risen in their place.
The old Ungyu Sect had become so hard to find that even traces of it were gone.
In its place stood orderly ranks of pavilions and buildings, all shaped by the laws of the five elements.
Like structures strung together in a melody carved by nature itself, each building was divided according to its function.
The main hall was built of white stone, its roof covered with gray tiles that glimmered softly.
The doctrinal hall stretched long toward the north, and within it five pillars stood in accordance with the directions of the five elements.
Past that hall, at the very edge of the cliff and the highest point, stood Cloud and Mist Terrace.
Cloud and Mist Terrace was the place where cultivators performed their daily rites and reflected upon their own insights.
Beyond that, new cultivation grounds had also been established, such as the Five-Corner Hall, where one could comprehend the principles of the five elements; the Body-Tempering Hall, where the flesh was trained; and the Clear-Heart Pavilion, where the mind was purified.
In the cultivation world, spirit stones made everything possible.
“No, Junior Sister Dam So-dam. What are you doing here?”
How much time had passed?
Dam So-dam sat in front of Ungyu Sect’s enormous gate, gazing endlessly outside.
“I’m waiting for Senior Sister. She said she’d come back.”
“Even if the passage of time is different for cultivators, hasn’t it already been more than ten years since Senior Baek left? No matter how I think about it….”
Hyeongeuk, who had spotted her and approached, asked in a low voice while watching her expression.
At that, Dam So-dam sprang to her feet and glared at him.
“Senior Sister keeps her promises. She’s not like those people who only ever talk beautifully, like senior brothers do.”
“But, Junior Sister Dam, you’ve already passed the mid stage of Foundation Establishment, and I’ve reached Foundation Establishment as well, yet not a single word has come back from her during all that time….”
That was when it happened.
Both Hyeongeuk and Dam So-dam turned their heads toward the sky at the same time. A powerful aura had begun to descend from above.
Dam So-dam murmured unconsciously, “Senior Sister?”
And not long after, disappointment filled her face.
The visitor in the sky was not Baek Sang-ah.
That being descended slowly through the air.
The moment she saw the face revealed through the clouds, Dam So-dam’s breath caught in her throat.
A face she remembered far too clearly.
Those eyes that had looked down at her on the threshold of death.
“So, at last we’ve found you. Single-Spirit Root child.”
There was no way she could mistake the identity of that male cultivator.
The cultivation sect that had once captured and kept Dam So-dam as livestock before she was rescued by the Wind Cultivator.
A cultivator belonging to the Qingcheng Clan.
“To think you would dare forget the kindness our Qingcheng Clan raised you with and run away. You really do have a bold face, don’t you?”
A Golden Core cultivator.