Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill
"That is for Father, the head of the family, to decide, not for you to settle as you please. And you, Miss Dong-a, should give up the notion of undoing what the clan has ordained. Without the clan, there is no us."
My eldest brother spoke exactly as he always did, bluntly and with complete self-assurance.
In response, the Baekri family's daughter turned her gaze on him and said, "Young master, are you truly confident that you could spend your whole life with someone you don't even like, simply because your family chose her for you?"
"My parents did it, and so did many others. Once you live together, affection follows naturally. If the match was arranged by the clan, then surely it is someone worthy of becoming a lifelong partner."
Having been refuted without a single concession, the Baekri girl's expression stiffened, and she turned on her heel at once.
"I think we can say we've seen all there is to see here. Thank you for your hospitality."
The moment she finished speaking and began walking toward the guest hall, my second brother, who had been fidgeting the whole time, immediately hurried after her.
Then my eldest brother spoke again to me, still standing there in silence.
"A Immortal is not something anyone can become just because they want to. To become one, you must possess the qualifications from the start. Even if hundreds of men with exceptional bones and sinew gather together, only about ten of them will have that remarkable aptitude for becoming an Immortal. Without it, the cultivation sects won't even take you in. So stop chasing foolish dreams and focus on your martial training. If I become head of the family someday, I'll make very good use of you."
Of course, I was more interested in the words that came before than the promise tacked on at the end.
"How do you know whether someone has the qualifications to become an Immortal or not?"
"People like us have no way of telling. But I hear Immortals can recognize it at a glance. Surely you don't still have hopes left, do you?"
He reached out and patted my head as if he were some great adult, though he was only a few years older than I was.
I gently pulled my head back and said, "I was merely curious. The same way I was curious about the elixir brought from the Baekri family."
But then I heard an answer I hadn't expected.
"In fact, once the person chosen for this marriage is decided, that elixir will be given to me."
"Even if I don't end up with Miss Dong-a, it is still Father's decision, and it contains his intention to support me as the family's young master. Of course, once I become the young master, I'll use the clan's resources to get you an elixir just as fine, if not better. I may not be able to turn you into an Immortal, but I should at least be able to get my hands on one elixir for you."
My eldest brother seemed to care about me more than I had thought.
That, at least, was not something I had expected.
Still, even that was not as surprising as the fact that the elixir's owner had already been decided.
When I heard those words, it felt as though the elixir had been snatched from my own arms.
As it was an elixir called the Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill, I had been looking forward greatly to how it would harmonize with the Yin Moon Vibration Classic I cultivated. That made losing it all the more frustrating.
So I made him a fairly good offer.
"That may be so, but how about this? If you yield that elixir to me, I can repay you with a secret manual of an extraordinary divine art that I happened to acquire."
In truth, the martial arts I knew after conquering the world were not limited to those of our own Divine Cult.
I had examined most of the useful martial arts from the orthodox sects I had sealed away or destroyed.
Given that Father, the head of the Neung family, was only a first-rate martial artist at best, if I were to hand over even one of Mount Hua's peak techniques, such as the Eighteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, it would be enough to turn the entire family upside down.
Perhaps because my offer had been so unexpected, my eldest brother wore a blank expression for a moment before asking, "A divine art? You have something like that? Where in the world did you get it?"
I smiled faintly and gave him my answer.
"A young lady gave it to me, along with a great many gifts."
On that day when Mount Hua was drenched in blood—when I severed the throat of Mount Hua's sect leader for the last time—the sect leader's granddaughter, who had witnessed it all, came to me on her knees, begging me to stop the slaughter. In the end, she presented me with the Mount Hua sect leader's command tablet and countless other things with her own hands. Thanks to that, Mount Hua was sealed off instead of suffering complete annihilation.
What I had just said was pure fact, without a trace of exaggeration.
But after hearing me, my eldest brother immediately shook his head and continued, "I once saw a martial arts manual in the market with the outrageous title Heaven-Cleaving Sword Art. The name was so grand that I simply had to buy it. I paid quite a high price for it, but what was written inside was nothing but nonsense—hardly even a proper sword art. Just because the name on a manual sounds impressive doesn't mean it's a divine art. You'll understand that in time as well. Since I've promised to get you an elixir once I become the young master, don't be greedy and wait your turn."
One of the special martial arts within the Divine Cult's heart methods I had cultivated was called the Heaven-Cleaving Heart Method, and only the Heavenly Demon of the age could learn it.
So for some cheap martial manual sold in the market to be called the Heaven-Cleaving Sword Art was absurd beyond reason.
I could understand why my eldest brother, having experienced something like that, would reject my offer. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to give up an elixir that was practically right in front of me.
If negotiation failed, I would simply use another method. That was the way of the demonic path I had walked.
In my previous life, I had conquered the world because I had sought the world.
And now, since I sought this elixir, I would certainly obtain it.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Hoo-oo... Hoo-oo...
In the deep of night, when darkness settled like a cold breath over the world, I began to move at the hour when only owls that had forgotten sleep remained awake.
Even if I possessed only a sliver of inner power, I was confident I could avoid being detected by anyone in this estate.
Using even the Ghost Breath Great Method practiced by the Divine Cult's assassins, my movement was as silent as a shadow's. I slipped past the night watch with little trouble and into Father's study.
At last I found the wooden box containing the Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill, and without hesitation I lifted the lid. In that instant, a clear, pure energy and fragrance unlike anything I had ever encountered burst forth with a sharp whoosh.
And the scent was so extraordinary that it even drew out a startled voice from someone who had failed to notice my movements at all.
"Who goes there?"
In truth, ambushing and bringing down someone in this manor would not have been difficult for me, even in my current state.
But I did not want to harm anyone in this house.
So I chose another path: I leapt swiftly up the wall of the hall, then hid myself atop the beam supporting the ceiling.
Fortunately, my judgment proved correct before long.
Bang!
"Hm? I could have sworn I sensed something odd."
The one who had entered Father's study was none other than my second brother.
Though I was not especially close with him, I still had no desire to take his life, so abandoning the ambush had been the right choice indeed.
With his modest martial ability, he merely glanced around the empty study for a moment before leaving once more.
Then another voice sounded from outside.
"Young master? What brings you to the family head's study at this hour?"
One of the family warriors assigned to guard the estate tonight must have approached the disturbance and spotted my second brother leaving the study.
"Ah, nothing serious. I must have mistaken something, that's all. Please carry on with your duties. It seems I can't sleep, so I'll take another walk and turn in later."
After my second brother sent the warrior away, the area beyond the door fell quiet again.
After listening for any further movement a while longer, I too soon left the study.
Yet the moment I stepped outside, I saw my second brother still roaming the manor in the distance, unable to sleep.
He stood by the tree where he had spoken with the Baekri girl, lost deep in thought. It seemed his affection for her had only grown heavier.
I slowly shook my head at his utterly unmartial conduct, his mind fixed on nothing but romance instead of training, then returned to my room.
Using what I'd learned from the earlier attempt, I sealed every gap in the room tightly before opening the wooden box I'd brought back.
Once again, the pill revealed itself, releasing that clean, cool fragrance.
It was unmistakably the appearance of a rare treasure, one I had never seen even after conquering the world.
I was the one who had personally eaten treasures like the Great Rejuvenation Pill of Shaolin and the Clear Azure Pill of Wudang—yet even those had not radiated such miraculous vitality.
That only made me more curious about the so-called Immortals who had supposedly taught others how to make such astonishing things.
Were they truly beings who lived a thousand years above the clouds?
In truth, as a martial artist's realm rises, so does their lifespan.
The higher one climbed, the longer one could live.
And yet even I, after reaching the Life-and-Death Realm, still found the claim that someone could live a thousand years absurd.
So I merely shook my head.
With that useless line of thought cast aside at once, I took the pill between my fingers and swallowed it lightly.
Even if it was a precious elixir, if I recovered my true strength I could obtain far more valuable things than this. There was no reason to hesitate.
But this elixir was very different from any I had ever taken before.
Along with a cool freshness that seemed to clear the nose, the elixir slid down into my stomach and immediately began to release its power with fierce intensity.
Originally, to refine various spiritual herbs into a spiritual pill was to intensify the medicinal energy while improving its stability.
Thus, once an elixir entered the stomach, its force would usually disperse smoothly.
But this one writhed violently, as though a furious eel had taken up residence inside me.
At once I began to circulate the Yin Moon Vibration Classic, the heart method that would guide this unruly force.
Let the mind be calm as the moon.
Let power flow as the rising tide.
Embrace the heart like the moon.
Move force like a tide.
The moment the Yin Moon Vibration Classic began to ride the current and gently wrap around the violent force, that force split in two as if it had been waiting for exactly this.
Then the two streams immediately took opposite paths.
Let qi be drawn in as broad and deep as mist.
Let breath be exhaled as far-reaching as a rainbow.
Swallow qi like mist.
Exhale breath like a rainbow.
Under the continued guidance of the Yin Moon Vibration Classic, the greater stream of energy slowly began the ordinary small heavenly circulation, while the smaller stream, as though made from scattered fragments, still moved in a bizarre direction.
Before long, it had extended all the way to the Naehu Acupoint at the back of my skull.
Startled by that strange flow, I tried desperately to coax it back into line.
But despite my efforts, it struck the Naehu Acupoint with full force.
Thump.
The impact rang through my entire head, and my waist buckled for an instant as a thread of blood even leaked from the corner of my mouth.
Still, though I was bewildered by this unexpected turn, I could not be angry.
To my astonishment, that small stream of energy pierced the Governor Vessel as sharply as a needle, then settled directly into my upper dantian.
The upper dantian that in my past life had only opened after I reached the Life-and-Death Realm had opened now, at the utterly lowly realm of third-rate.
Once the upper dantian opens, one can draw upon the qi filling heaven and earth according to the size of one's own vessel. Naturally, I was stunned by this absurd providence, yet I could not hide my joy.
I could not tell what sort of wondrous compatibility the Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill possessed with the Yin Moon Vibration Classic I cultivated, but it proved that my decision to take it had not been wrong in the slightest.
Of course, the amount of inner power I currently possessed was still pitifully small, so the vessel that could draw upon the qi of heaven and earth was also tiny.
Even so, the fact that I could use this small power almost endlessly meant I might as well have opened a new realm entirely.
My stagnant third-rate cultivation had leaped at once into the second-rate.
And since the elixir's energy I had not yet fully absorbed could still be made wholly mine with time and continued refinement, this rise might not even be the end of it.
At last, overcome by a pleasure I had not felt in a long time, I used my sleeve to wipe the blood from my lips with satisfaction and began circulating my inner power heart method through the night.
With hope that my lost cultivation would return several times faster than I had expected...
But my good mood, which had held for so long, began to sour after my servant Wang Wi brought me breakfast.
"Young master, they say a thief broke into the family head's study last night. The watchman saw Second Young Master leaving the study, so... right now, Second Young Master has been summoned to see the family head."
Something had gone wrong.
Originally, the Great Ultimate Yang Brightness Pill was supposed to be used when my eldest brother's succession as young master was announced, so I had thought there was still time before even the appointment ceremony, which had not yet been scheduled. I had intended to obtain another suitable elixir and replace it in the meantime.
But it seemed my second brother's visit to the study yesterday had caused trouble after all.
In the Divine Cult, even one's own blood relatives were merely rivals vying for the highest seat.
For me, this too should have been no great matter, yet for some reason it gnawed at me.
"Second Brother would never do such a thing. So that matter will soon be resolved."
But in response to that line, spoken both to Wang Wi and to myself, a completely unexpected answer came from outside the room.
"Young Master Neung So! You must come at once to the family head! Because of the disgraceful incident that occurred last night, the family head has ordered all household members summoned so that he may punish Young Master Neung Jeon!"
My foolish second brother, unable to sleep because he was thinking of the Baekri girl.
As I pictured his pitiful state, a faint ripple began to stir within my heart.
It was an emotion only Neung So—not the Heavenly Demon Ak Bi who had once ruled the world—could feel.