A Monumental Misunderstanding
It was a quiet dawn shrouded in deep darkness. Around her small body seated in the lotus position, the energies of the five elements swirled ceaselessly. Water, wood, fire, earth, metal. The spiritual energies of the five attributes chased each other's tails, circling her dantian and drawing in more energy without pause.
"Heh heh."
Baek Cheong poured her overflowing spiritual energy generously into crafting nonsense posts. There was no longer any reason for hesitation. The skills honed over years in her previous life as an internet-addicted community troll were now on full display in Moomyeongbang.
You're gonna get struck by lightning and die anyway if heaven screws you over.
Doesn't it hurt when you get stabbed?
Provocative and rude nonsense posts flooded the casual chat board without respite. Cultivators, drawn in by the sensational titles, swarmed like clouds. Reply notifications battered the corner of her vision like mad.
Reading down through dozens of replies laced with fury and mockery, Baek Cheong's lips curled up to her ears. Cultivators, with their rigid personalities, were vulnerable to trolls.
"Puhuhu."
The stagnation in expanding her dantian since reaching Qi Refining 1-star was wiped clean from her mind. Grand goals like reaching the pinnacle of the cultivation world and ascending to immortality as an immortal held no appeal for her. The joy of endlessly posting on Moomyeongbang, bantering with other Dous, and pulling aggro was worth more to her than eternal life.
Dawn light began filtering through the window. Despite pulling an all-nighter gallerizing, her body circulating the five elements felt no fatigue. If anything, vitality overflowed, her skin even glowing faintly.
"Morning already?"
Baek Cheong smacked her lips regretfully and withdrew her divine sense from Moomyeongbang. To enjoy her beautiful girl life, she had to maintain the act of the obedient, pitiful youngest daughter. She rose, stretched lightly, and straightened her clothes.
Soon, cautious footsteps approached from beyond the door.
"Miss, did you cough?"
At the maid's call, Baek Cheong opened the door. The maids entered with warm wash water and a steaming breakfast tray. Clear tea brewed from spiritual herbs and soft spiritual porridge were neatly arranged on the table.
"You've worked hard."
Baek Cheong sat and picked up her spoon. Her empty stomach growled fiercely after the all-nighter. She devoured the porridge more ravenously than usual, scraping the bowl clean.
As she finished, heavy, urgent footsteps echoed down the hall.
"Cheong-ah!"
The one bursting through the door was her father, Baek Mujin. His face was etched with deep fatigue and worry. He'd pulled an all-nighter handling family affairs but rushed straight to his youngest daughter's residence out of concern.
"Father, I hope you've been well."
"Yes. How's your body? I heard from Elder Un-ho that you visited the library yesterday and read books. I told you to rest fully—why push yourself?"
Baek Mujin scolded, but his voice brimmed with affection. He plopped down across from her and grabbed her slender wrist. To check the dantian of his daughter, freshly entered into Qi Refining 1-star.
With trash mixed roots, her energy was likely scattered or meridians blocked. Baek Mujin carefully infused his pure energy through her wrist acupoint. As gently and warmly as possible, he scanned her meridians.
"...!"
The moment his energy reached near her dantian, Baek Mujin's eyes widened like saucers. He swallowed hard, staring at his daughter's wrist as if to bore through it.
What his senses conveyed from Baek Cheong's interior was pure astonishment. The dantian of a Qi Refining 1-star, which should be a shallow puddle, had expanded into a vast lake. Moreover, within the lake, the five energies—water, wood, fire, earth, metal—harmonized strangely without devouring each other, circulating smoothly. A majestic scene of massive spiritual energy pouring in from outside, endlessly filling the dantian, registered clearly.
"W-what is this energy?! The five elements have nested in your body!"
At Baek Mujin's shocked shout, Baek Cheong flinched inwardly. If he found out she'd self-taught five techniques on her own, her father—who knew the risks of qi deviation—would surely scold her. She quickly rolled her eyes and spat out the most plausible excuse.
"Yesterday at Baekgyeonggak, I read some dusty old basic books. Things like Cheong-yeop-gyeol and Baek-geum-gyeol. They were different from Yeonha-gyeol, so out of curiosity I mixed a bit of their energies and circulated... and suddenly my belly cleared right up, and the energy started spinning around."
It was the voice of a perfectly innocent, bright-eyed child. Baek Mujin's lips trembled at the excuse.
Baek Cheong's words shattered every common sense in the cultivation world—a miraculous tale. Mixing incompatible attribute energies was an extremely perilous act even Gold Core grandmasters avoided. Yet a mere ten-year-old girl had skimmed basic texts in the library and intuitively grasped the cycle of five elements mutual generation.
A flash of enlightenment blazed through Baek Mujin's mind.
Truly a genius. Our Cheong is a once-in-ten-thousand-years prodigy, not just once-in-a-century!
Heaven granting such a great intellect a trash O-yeong-geun was clearly to give her a vessel that could handle all five elements. She'd awakened mutual generation without teaching—unprecedented.
"Hahaha! Heaven hasn't abandoned our Baek family!"
Baek Mujin sprang up, bellowing a hearty laugh that shook the room with heavy presence. Gripping Baek Cheong's shoulders firmly, he shouted in a voice thick with emotion.
"Cheong-ah, you're our family's pride! Shattering the limits of O-yeong-geun on your own! The path you walk will become the new history of the cultivation world!"
"Uh... I'll work hard not to shame the family."
Baek Cheong nodded with a dazed expression. Her father had thoroughly misunderstood, but it beat endless nagging by a mile. Lost in his own fantasies, Baek Mujin untied a luxurious pouch glowing blue from his waist and tucked it into her arms.
"This is a Jeomuldae. Inside are over a hundred low-grade spirit stones and a jade for calming mind and body. To fill a sea-like dantian, you'll need vast resources—I'll have the servants fetch high-grade Chwi-ryeong-dan too. Use it lavishly, don't hold back. If it's not enough, tell your father anytime!"
Baek Mujin left with a face like he'd conquered the world. Once the door closed and footsteps faded, Baek Cheong blankly stared at the Jeomuldae in her arms. It looked like a light cloth pouch, but housed a vast expanded space—a magical bag.
"Jackpot."
Baek Cheong slipped a bit of divine sense into the Jeomuldae's opening. Inside the vast space, spirit stones sparkled in a mountain pile. Like waking up to tens of millions in her bank account from her past life.
With this immense wealth in hand, a brilliant idea flashed.
Moomyeongbang had more than just the casual board—there was the intriguing marketplace board for Dous to trade items.
"Can't resist shopping."
Baek Cheong settled back on the bed and extended her divine sense. She summoned Moomyeongbang in the air and selected the marketplace from the top categories. Countless item listings updated in real-time before her eyes.
Moomyeongbang connected the entire lower realms. How did physical items get exchanged across distances? She checked the small notice at the top of the board.
You can link your possessed Jeomuldae to Moomyeongbang.
Purchased items will be sent directly to your Jeomuldae.
"Like this?"
Baek Cheong held the Jeomuldae against Moomyeongbang. It passed through the translucent window, sending out an intangible wave. But the wave was so subtle even she holding it didn't notice.
"Should be good?"
To test, she browsed the marketplace. Looking for something cheap to blow money on without regret.
Got pissed during cultivation, hunted and dried one from the back mountain. Salty and tasty. 1 spirit stone.
For cultivator trades, it was pathetically humble. Baek Cheong unhesitatingly clicked purchase with her divine sense.
Proceed with payment? (Cost: 1 low-grade spirit stone)
She agreed with divine sense. The alert vanished, but nothing seemed changed. Just "[Sold Out]" appeared on the listing.
"This is awesome."
Baek Cheong withdrew her divine sense from Moomyeongbang and checked the Jeomuldae. A pile of dark-red glossy jerky appeared. Spicy, salty aroma teased her nose, stirring appetite.
She cautiously picked up a piece and chewed.
"Ugh, tastes awful..."
Accustomed to delicacies, the cheap jerky was inedible. Still, satisfaction from buying via Moomyeongbang welled up.
"Ptooey."
Baek Cheong spat out the cheap jerky and logged back into Moomyeongbang. With cheeks puffed in dissatisfaction, she hammered out a post.
Bought black goat spiritual beast jerky from the marketplace board and it ruined my appetite.
As soon as the new post went up, furious replies poured in as expected.
Baek Cheong rolled on the bed, reveling in the onslaught of attention. The endless reactions from countless Dous. Her once-boring cultivation life couldn't be more fun.