The Importance of Image Management
Baek Cheong let out a sigh of relief as she watched the Biun Sect delegation depart on a flying artifact that had materialized like a cloud. She was finally free from the persistent goodwill of Mongyo and the burdensome, piercing glares of Jin Wi. With the tedious official events finally over, all that remained was to return to her quarters, rest, and enjoy some time on the forum.
'This is really the end, right...?'
Just as Baek Cheong turned to head toward her quarters, a voice called out from behind her, making her shoulders flinch. "Cheong-ah, could you spare a moment to talk with your uncle?"
She turned to see her uncle, his eyes sunken from the exhaustion of the past few days, standing there with a benevolent smile. "Yes? Oh, of course, Uncle."
With a resigned expression, Baek Cheong followed Baek Muyeong to his office in the inner hall. As soon as they stepped inside, Baek Muyeong clapped a hand on his niece's shoulder and began to speak.
"I don't even know how to praise you enough, my dear niece!" Baek Muyeong’s voice was filled with deep admiration. "Thanks to the information you tipped us off about during the banquet, our merchant association has gained an incredible advantage, allowing us to control the southern commercial sphere. To think that the Changmyeongsa and Cheolsamun, who usually hold their noses high just because they are sects, were trembling and signing the contracts! Hahaha!"
Baek Muyeong burst into hearty laughter, commending his niece's contributions. "And the Ohaengdan you brewed yourself! Because of that, we were able to firmly push through our conditions during the negotiations with the Biun Sect without losing a single thing. You truly are the treasure of the Yeonha Baek clan and a shining talent of the upper realm!"
As her uncle’s endless stream of praise continued, Baek Cheong nodded awkwardly, offering a forced smile. "Ah, haha... I didn't do much. It’s all thanks to your excellent negotiation skills, Uncle."
Feeling burdened by the outpouring of praise, Baek Cheong tried to play along just enough to find an opening to escape. However, her uncle’s lecture lasted for a good half-shichen, and she had to endure the boredom while feeling as though her ears might start bleeding.
"Now, go get some rest. I must return to my official duties."
Finally released from Baek Muyeong’s office, Baek Cheong trudged toward her quarters with hollow eyes. But her ordeal did not end there.
"Cheong-ah, come here."
This time, it was a summons from her grandfather, who was preparing for seclusion deep within the Supreme Elder's Hall. Baek Cheong was so startled her legs nearly gave out, but she couldn't defy her grandfather’s order. She dragged her heavy feet toward the hall.
Baek Mu-ae had shed his usual benevolent expression, greeting her with a face that was grave and solemn. "Before I enter my long seclusion soon, there is something I must urge upon you."
Baek Mu-ae examined her dantian with a sharp gaze. "It is true that your absorption rate has increased dramatically since you consumed the Danmun Ohaengdan. Your dantian has grown beyond the scope of a normal Qi Refining stage, to the point where it is wider than even that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root user. However, there is no need to be impatient and go against the natural order by comparing yourself to them. It is sufficient to solidify your realm steadily, as you have been doing, and fill your dantian solely through natural absorption."
Her grandfather’s voice was heavy with deep concern. "Therefore, if you rashly try to deeply comprehend the mystery of the Ohaeng-Hapil, it will not only be a dangerous act that could collapse your energy channels and tear your spiritual roots apart, but even if you suddenly gain the realization of Ohaeng-Hapil, you must know how to govern that realization."
Having narrowly overcome a crisis while facing the Blue Giant Star in her mind, Baek Cheong knew better than anyone how piercing her grandfather’s warning was. "Yes, Grandfather. I will keep that in mind."
As Baek Cheong nodded obediently, Baek Mu-ae finally looked relieved and patted his granddaughter’s head with a generous expression. Just as she left the hall, thinking it was finally over, a voice stopped her.
"Where do you think you're going? You must receive your master's teachings before you leave."
Yakseon dragged Baek Cheong straight into the alchemy room. "I intend to enter seclusion soon to further refine the Ohaeng Taiji Alchemy Method. Since you might end up refining pills alone during that time, I will teach you everything thoroughly—from fire control and herb storage to the deployment of formations in case of a pill explosion."
Yakseon meticulously drew diagrams with his energy, teaching her all the important precautions for alchemy. Baek Cheong had to hold onto her fraying sanity, forcing herself to nod and shove Yakseon’s nagging into her brain.
***
By the time all the adults had finished their business with her, the sun was already setting.
"Ah... I'm dying..."
Baek Cheong threw herself onto her bed without even washing up. She was more mentally exhausted from the adults' overwhelming interest and nagging than from any physical fatigue. Just as she closed her eyes to drift off to sleep—
'Oh, right. What happened to the auction?'
Her obsession with the forum overcame the persistent pull of sleep. Forcing her heavy eyelids open, she moved her divine sense to connect to Mumyungbang. As soon as she connected, a flood of auction notifications poured in. Her sleepiness vanished instantly, and her eyes snapped wide open.
"What? What is this?"
She dismissed the notifications and navigated to the market board to check the auction post she had written. Her jaw dropped at the unbelievable sight before her.
The bid, which had started at a single premium spirit stone, had skyrocketed at a frantic pace. The current highest bid had reached a staggering [15 Premium Spirit Stones].
"Fifteen premium spirit stones!? That’s 150,000 low-grade spirit stones!"
Baek Cheong doubted her own eyes and checked the realm IDs of the bidders. There were clear traces of a bidding war between DaoistFriend(466.73), DaoistFriend(77.21), DaoistFriend(382.11)... and even the O-spiritual-root test subject DaoistFriend(237.309). The bidding seemed to have entered a lull, hitting the wall of 15 premium spirit stones. Even for wealthy cultivators with spirit stones to burn, it seemed they were hesitant to pour so many premium stones into a pill of uncertain authenticity.
Feeling dazed, Baek Cheong left the auction post and scanned the general discussion board. Mumyungbang was completely occupied by the Ohaengdan bait.
The users were desperate to uncover her identity by digging through Baek Cheong’s past posts.
Baek Cheong giggled, delighted by the immense attention being showered upon her. There was plenty of nonsensical gibberish, and some guesses hit the nail on the head, as if they were watching her. But her lips were starting to ache from the constant smirking at the endless stream of reactions from the users.
"This is why I love the forum."
However, not all reactions were positive. There was also a fair amount of negative sentiment from users whose jealousy was piqued by the soaring price.
Whether the negative opinions poured in or not, Baek Cheong felt no impact. She was in an invincible state, having gained an astronomical 15 premium spirit stones for a lump of impurities—a low-grade Ohaengdan she had thrown out with nothing to lose. She was even in a good mood because even strangers who usually didn't pay her any mind had joined the bait.
"If you're jealous, go make an Ohaengdan yourself."
But her desire to stir up chaos, which wasn't satisfied just by earning spirit stones, began to stir. She moved her divine sense and boldly wrote a new post.
It was a promotional troll post intended to incite bidding while scratching the pride of the Heavenly Spiritual Root users. But contrary to her intentions, the users' reactions went in a different direction.
The comment about being a "1000-root" user, which she had written in the past to troll others, had returned as karma. And ruthless, mocking replies from other users were pouring in.
"Ah, this is why you have to manage your image well."
Baek Cheong held her head and let out a deep sigh at these reactions.