What Is a Fortuitous Encounter?
What exactly was a fortuitous encounter?
Baekroe pushed through the pure white clouds, slowly advancing toward the unknown. Among the Five Elements Puppets, Baekroe was crafted from the metal-attribute wood, making it the sturdiest of the bunch. Even if a yao beast lay in wait, it would hold its ground at least once. As Baekroe pressed forward, the silhouette beyond the clouds gradually drew nearer. Yet even as the distance closed, its true form refused to resolve. No matter how she extended her divine sense, it kept slipping away like oil on water. When she tried to probe it with her fingertips, nothing caught—only empty air swirled around her hand. There was definitely something there, but her divine sense could not even sketch its outline.
What the hell? Why can't I grab it?
Baek Cheong tilted her head and stretched her divine sense outward, trying to wrap around the anomaly. The result was the same. It felt as though the very heart of the clouds had been scooped out and left hollow. Her divine sense could detect even the tiniest speck of trash without fail. The fact that it registered nothing at all left her deeply unsettled.
What on earth is this?
Just then, Baekroe drew close enough to touch the mysterious object. She swallowed hard and halted the puppet. If it were a yao beast, it should have reacted by now. Yet even with Baekroe practically pressed against it, there was not the slightest stir. No resistance hindered its approach whatsoever.
...This is weird.
An object her divine sense could not detect still allowed her to draw near without protest. None of it added up.
Whatever it is...
After a long moment of hesitation, Baek Cheong cautiously ordered Baekroe to extend its hand. Just in case, she had already flooded the First Star Sword with spiritual energy. Her grip on the jade escape plaque tightened, ready to crush it at the first sign of danger.
At last, Baekroe’s fingertips gently closed around the mass of unease. A hard something settled obediently into the puppet’s grasp. Again, no resistance. It did not thrash or even twitch—perfectly docile.
It could be a yao beast playing dead. Keeping her guard high, she commanded Baekroe to squeeze. Even with added force, the object remained utterly still.
Not a yao beast, then?
Any living thing would have lashed out by now. Yet the unknown continued to act as if it were dead, quiet and compliant. The longer it stayed that way, the more her curiosity swelled inside her chest. She could not pin down its identity at all. If divine sense failed, she would simply have to look with her own eyes.
At least it doesn’t seem dangerous.
Baek Cheong ordered Baekroe to return with the object in hand. Since it offered no resistance, retrieving it should be simple enough. The puppet cradled the mysterious thing and retraced its path through the clouds. If anything went wrong, she was fully prepared to abandon Baekroe without a second thought and shatter the plaque immediately. She manipulated the puppet with meticulous care through her divine sense, throat dry as she swallowed.
The closer Baekroe came, the harder her small heart pounded.
Then, when the puppet had closed a certain distance—
Huh?
Suddenly, something bizarre occurred. The clouds, packed as densely as water, scattered like a lie. The pure white mist that had constricted her from every side rapidly lifted away. All at once, the muffled senses that had felt like being buried in cotton returned in full force. Crushed sounds sharpened, the clammy pressure weighing down her body vanished, and her vision—previously no better than if her eyes were shut—opened wide and clear. With her five senses restored, her mind felt refreshingly light. Even the persistent unease that had been crawling along the back of her neck disappeared as if washed away.
The sense of danger... is gone?
Still dazed, Baek Cheong blinked at the cleared view. Baekroe stood tall where the clouds had parted. Her gaze dropped to what the puppet held in its arms. The instant she saw the object clutched in Baekroe’s hand, her mind went blank.
A bead...?
What Baekroe held was a tiny bead, no larger than a common glass marble. She had assumed it was something massive, yet the reality was the complete opposite. Now that she could see its true form, her confusion only deepened. It was hard to believe such a small object had triggered such intense wariness.
It doesn’t look like an ordinary bead, though...
Upon closer inspection, the bead was anything but normal. Clouds within a ten-jang radius were continuously being drawn into it. The absorbed mist did not leak away but accumulated neatly inside the sphere. A single small bead had somehow imprisoned an entire swath of clouds. The more she examined it, the more she realized its interior was packed solid with white vapor. It defied comprehension how so much cloud could fit inside something so tiny.
“Ah!”
Only after studying it this thoroughly did Baek Cheong finally understand the source of her unease. The bead was sucking in every wisp of cloud around it. The space it occupied was completely empty, devoid of even a single puff. Within the Cloud Sea, the area around the bead existed like an entirely separate world.
So that’s what it was?
The unsettling feeling had simply come from the environment around the bead being completely different from its surroundings. More than that, the bead seemed to shield itself, preventing her divine sense from registering it properly.
“This is ridiculous.”
Now that she understood the truth, a hollow laugh escaped Baek Cheong. Since it was not a yao beast but merely a bead, there was no need for such high alert. She relaxed her tense vigilance and put away the First Star Sword. Then she examined the bead in Baekroe’s hand once more, slowly and carefully.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind.
Could this be a Spiritual Pearl?
The moment the possibility occurred to her, her small heart began to race. Spiritual Pearls were heavenly treasures that only formed when specific environmental conditions reached perfection. They were treasures born from condensed spiritual energy in places rich with heavenly and earthly qi. The spiritual power they contained was so vast they were called natural wonders created by the heavens themselves. She had only heard passing rumors about them on Mumeongbang; very few users had ever actually obtained one. It was a genuine, drool-worthy fortuitous encounter that any cultivator would kill for.
“Hik.”
Reaching this realization, she involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath. She had grown thoroughly disappointed by the trivial opportunities she had found so far. Yet here, right in front of her, was a real one.
A real fortuitous encounter for me!
Now that she knew its identity, there was no reason to simply observe anymore. Without hesitation, she reached out and took the bead directly from Baekroe’s hand. When she placed it on her palm, the small sphere proved surprisingly heavy for its size.
Refining it right away is out of the question, but...
Baek Cheong slowly channeled her spiritual energy into the bead. The moment her qi touched it, a change occurred. The constant suction that had been devouring clouds without pause stopped as if someone had flipped a switch. With the intake halted, her divine sense could finally perceive the bead clearly. She pushed her divine sense deep inside.
Yet even then, she could not find its limits. The interior of the tiny bead was filled with immeasurable clouds and spiritual energy. No matter how far she stretched her divine sense, she could not measure its depth.
As expected of a Spiritual Pearl.
She nodded in satisfaction. Examining the cloud-filled interior left no doubt about its identity. With this much cloud and spiritual energy contained within, it could only be a Spiritual Pearl born from clouds.
A Spiritual Pearl of clouds... It’s a Cloud Spiritual Pearl.
Baek Cheong personally bestowed the name Cloud Spiritual Pearl upon the bead. Calling it by that name made the treasure in her hand feel even more magnificent. Best of all, because she had infused it with her own spiritual energy, the Cloud Spiritual Pearl now obeyed her commands docilely. When she lightly circulated her qi, it drew in clouds within a ten-jang radius. Continuous supply of energy made the clouds appear as transparent as air. Pouring in a large amount at once even caused it to expel the stored clouds. Absorbing, seeing through, and emitting clouds—all of it happened exactly as she wished.
“Hehe...”
Since it had not yet been properly refined, the abilities she could wield were still limited. Even so, for traversing the Cloud Sea Secret Realm, it was more than enough. Above all, she could not help but marvel at the Cloud Spiritual Pearl’s foundation. She could tell it had not been formed long ago because it was still growing in real time.
“Seo Jua must be so pitiful.”
Roughly judging its rank, it seemed to be at least Third Rank. If she used such a heavenly treasure as her core during Core Formation, the outcome would be entirely different. A mere Core Formation cultivator would be able to wield power comparable to the mid Golden Core stage. Originally, Core Formation was little more than the desperate flailing of those who had failed to form a proper Golden Core. For such a stage to reach for mid Golden Core power was no ordinary feat.
“The opportunity I bought with the Cloud Sea Map won’t even compare to this, hehe.”
Though it was only half-formed and far from a complete Cloud Spiritual Pearl, such a windfall meant one of the items she would take out of the secret realm was now decided. She could not contain the joy bubbling up inside her. Something she had wanted to say out loud for a long time finally slipped free.
“Lucky me.”
Baek Cheong found that saying it aloud felt incredibly good. Honestly, the Cloud Spiritual Pearl alone made entering the secret realm completely worth it. For a moment she even considered leaving now that she had obtained it. But after thinking it over, she realized she had not been inside the secret realm for very long.
It’s way too early to leave already, isn’t it?
The Cloud Spiritual Pearl had only just formed and still had plenty of room to grow. If she diligently fed it clouds, it would mature even a little more. Besides, the appearance of one true fortuitous encounter implied there were others.
Since I’ve already come into the secret realm, I might as well sweep up every last valuable thing here.
Baek Cheong poured her spiritual energy into the Cloud Spiritual Pearl, commanding it to steadily absorb the surrounding clouds. Then she spread her divine sense once more and set off deeper into the heart of the Cloud Sea.