A Thousand Faces
Like a gourd splitting open, the bead of the prayer beads cracked apart.
The cut was so smooth it looked like polished obsidian.
No wonder they couldn't find it even after looking at the beads. The seams fit together perfectly.
Testing it, he closed one of the beads. A hairline fracture appeared briefly before vanishing like magic.
It was a masterpiece of precision craftsmanship—even the word "perfect" felt insufficient.
The Blood Monk must have crafted it himself, weaving his own dark arts into the design.
Anyway, this is...
Jeok-un opened the bead again and poured out the tiny grains hidden inside.
More than ten small pills gathered in his palm.
They looked like dried, slightly shriveled berries, but Jeok-un smiled with deep satisfaction at the sight.
"You hid them well, Blood Monk. No wonder the Shaolin Temple couldn't find them no matter how hard they searched."
Jeok-un picked up one of the berries and examined it closely.
The more he looked, the more it resembled the hawthorn berries he had brought with him.
Yet their efficacy was worlds apart. In fact, they could not even be compared.
"Who would ever guess this is the essence of the Juanyegwa?"
Anyone overhearing him would have fallen backward in shock.
The Juanyegwa was a legendary medicine comparable to the Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng, the absolute pinnacle of elixirs. It was a rare treasure that could not be obtained simply by wanting it, nor found simply by searching for it.
In short, the Juanyegwa was a priceless treasure that no amount of wealth could buy.
True to the "Vermilion Face" in its name, it restored youth to ordinary people and bestowed a massive amount of inner qi upon martial artists.
And this was not chaotic, impure demonic energy, but the purest, most refined orthodox qi.
While this alone made it a highly coveted treasure, there was another reason its name echoed so loudly throughout the Jianghu.
The Juanyegwa is strictly managed by the Shaolin Temple. Even the Leader of the Murim Alliance cannot easily obtain it.
This was because it only grew in the spiritual lands of Mount Song, the home of the Shaolin Temple, the giant of the Orthodox faction.
Unless one destroyed the Shaolin Temple or became their greatest benefactor, even catching a glimpse of the Juanyegwa was nearly impossible.
And yet, there are ten of them here.
It was only natural for Jeok-un to be gloating.
"If not for the Blood Monk, I would never have laid hands on this."
As mentioned, the Juanyegwa could only be obtained from the Shaolin Temple.
There was a complicated history behind how an apostate Blood Monk who fled Shaolin came to possess it.
The Blood Monk had originally been a genius, boasting the greatest achievements among his peers in Shaolin.
However, he was so arrogant that his character could hardly be called that of a Buddhist disciple.
The Abbot at the time recognized this flaw. Despite the Blood Monk's superior talent, he was passed over as the sect leader's successor.
The Blood Monk could not accept this.
Unable to suppress his resentment, he committed the ultimate sin of betraying his master, severely wounding him before fleeing the temple.
In his quest for vengeance, he stole the entire harvest of the Juanyegwa as he escaped.
It was a heinous crime that mobilized the entire Shaolin Temple.
Yet, there was only one reason Shaolin could never find him.
They never would have guessed the Blood Monk would seek refuge with Yukhonbang.
Indeed. Yukhonbang, which was currently allied with Do Ye-cheon, had surprisingly hidden him away.
Of course, they had not done so out of the goodness of their hearts.
"An elixir born from the combined alchemy of Shaolin and Yukhonbang. What an absurd combination."
Yukhonbang wanted the alchemy techniques the Blood Monk possessed.
And the Blood Monk wanted Yukhonbang's dark alchemy.
However, the only one who achieved a breakthrough in realm was the Blood Monk.
Behind Yukhonbang's back, he compressed the absolute essence of the Juanyegwa, creating ten new elixirs with vastly amplified efficacy.
And that is the Juhandan.
An elixir created by compressing the essence of the Juanyegwa. Restores youth and bestows a massive amount of pure orthodox inner qi.
The Juhandan.
That was the true identity of the grains hidden inside the prayer beads.
The Blood Monk's original plan was to consume all of these Juhandan to break through the wall of the Profound Realm.
But Yukhonbang found out.
As they say, rare treasures often carry a sinister energy that brings ruin to their owners.
Thus, the Blood Monk found himself hunted by both the Orthodox faction and Yukhonbang.
In the end, he met his demise at the hands of Shaolin's Eighteen Arhats.
And so, his prayer beads were left abandoned here in Sadocheon.
Looking at it this way, it seemed like a futile life.
"Yet, the Blood Monk wandering the underworld must have been satisfied. For this became the catalyst for the destruction of the Shaolin Temple."
As he had noted when he first saw Changsha.
Before his regression, the Evil Hegemony Alliance had lost Changsha to the Demonic Cult.
And the Demonic Cult, after plundering the entire treasury of Sadocheon, obtained the Juhandan from the Blood Monk's prayer beads.
The Heavenly Demon bestowed the Juhandan upon the Ten Elders, multiplying the power of their demonic arts.
Eager to unleash their newly gained power, the first target those monsters chose was the Shaolin Temple.
Thus, the Blood Monk's dying wish to destroy his former sect was fulfilled.
The only reason Jeok-un knew these secrets was because the tale had spread across the entire Jianghu during Shaolin's fall.
"Once I wipe out Yukhonbang this time, I should make sure to salvage their alchemy techniques as well."
Of course, considering how desperately they had hunted the Blood Monk, it was highly likely that a specific recipe for the Juhandan did not exist.
Still, Yukhonbang's unique alchemy methods, which served as the foundation, would surely be recorded somewhere.
Jeok-un resolved to claim them.
"Whew. I wonder if those bastards in the White Night Unit realize their leader is running himself ragged for their sake."
Jeok-un had no intention of keeping all the Juhandan for himself.
In any case, there was a limit to how much elixir a single body could absorb.
Consuming too much would turn the medicine into poison.
I only need to keep about three for myself. The rest will be used to strengthen the others.
The battle with Do Ye-cheon, which would determine the future of Sadocheon, was right around the corner.
Beyond that lay the war with the Demonic Cult.
His subordinates had to become stronger.
If they could not reach a much higher realm than they currently occupied...
They will die too.
He remembered his subordinates dying in the war.
He remembered himself, left entirely alone.
Jeok-un's gaze darkened.
But only for a moment.
I just have to change it.
Seeing them die before him once was more than enough.
Jeok-un would never let that happen again.
To do that, first...
"Let's pack these first."
Rustle.
Shaking off his thoughts, Jeok-un slipped all the Juhandan into the pouch containing the hawthorn berries.
Once mixed, the hawthorn berries and the Juhandan were completely indistinguishable to the naked eye.
This way, even if the warehouse keeper inspected his belongings on the way out, he would never notice.
No matter how meticulous the keeper was, he couldn't possibly know the exact count of hawthorn berries in the pouch, let alone suspect that new ones had been added.
"Now, only the last item remains."
Jeok-un moved again, rummaging through the treasures.
Whoosh! Swish!
He casually inspected all sorts of rare treasures before tossing them aside.
The neatly organized treasures were now scattered all over the floor.
If the warehouse keeper had witnessed this, he would have clutched the back of his neck in horror, but unfortunately for him, there was no one to stop Jeok-un.
"Man, this is buried incredibly deep. Where on earth is it?"
Jeok-un muttered as he searched, then froze as if struck by lightning.
A strange light gleamed in his eyes.
"Found you, you little rascal."
The final item Jeok-un was looking for.
It was a mask used in Kunqu opera.
Kunqu was a form of opera that blended romantic tales with lyrical melodies.
It was beloved by commoners and nobles alike.
In Kunqu, actors often wore masks depending on their roles, and the mask Jeok-un now held was one of them.
The role this mask represented was none other than...
"Consort Yu, is it?"
It was the famous beauty, Consort Yu, the wife of Xiang Yu.
The elaborate patterns painted on the mask seemed to stare back at Jeok-un.
This doesn't feel like a coincidence.
Jeok-un suddenly felt as though this was a gift from his ancestor, given to him as the descendant of the Overlord of Western Chu.
Thus, Jeok-un apologized in advance for the rudeness he was about to commit.
"Forgive my rudeness for a moment, Ancestor."
Jeok-un flipped Consort Yu's mask over.
Just like with the Blood Monk's prayer beads, the mask itself was not what Jeok-un wanted.
Tack!
It was the fluttering veil attached to the back of the mask like an ornament.
Extremely thin, like a cicada's wing, the translucent veil fluttered in his hand.
It felt like silk, yet also like a thin sheet of paper.
Jeok-un breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at it.
"Whew. Finally, I won't have to suffer because of cheap human-skin masks anymore."
It felt like only yesterday that he had been exposed because of a crude human-skin mask when destroying the Blood Dye Sect's branch.
But now that he had this, he would never have to worry about such things again.
No one would ever guess.
Even if one combined all the divine weapons and treasures in this place...
...this veil was the most valuable treasure of them all.
"There are times when knowing the future is truly a blessing."
Jeok-un smirked and offered his gratitude to the original owner of the veil.
"Master Thief, I shall make excellent use of your Cheonmyeonji."
Grade: Legendary Artifact
A legendary veil that allows the user to freely alter their facial appearance and hair color, leaving absolutely no trace of disguise.
The Master Thief was called as such because he was literally a thief who had reached the realm of the gods.
Serving as the leader of the Shadowless Sect for generations, no leader of their sect had ever been caught since their debut in the Jianghu.
The Master Thief was a legendary figure who appeared and vanished like a ghost.
Since the previous Master Thief, the Shadowless Sect had only one supreme commandment.
Find the Cheonmyeonji.
But because the subsequent generations of Master Thieves never knew its location, they were still searching the entire Central Plains to this day, treating it as their lifelong mission.
Unfortunately for them, it had now fallen into Jeok-un's hands.
I will never let it go.
...For the Shadowless Sect, retrieving the Cheonmyeonji had now become an impossible task until the day Jeok-un departed this world.
Jeok-un stretched, loosening his muscles.
"Now, shall we prepare to strike the Geumhwang Merchant Group?"
He had obtained all the treasures he wanted.
Thus, Jeok-un intended to head straight for the Geumhwang Merchant Group the moment he left the treasury.
Only one final preparation remained.
Let's see if your reputation is true or false, Cheonmyeonji.
With that determination, Jeok-un placed the Cheonmyeonji over his face without hesitation.
The moment the fluttering veil touched his skin—
Flash!
Whoosh!
The veil clung to his face like wet mulberry paper, radiating a mesmerizing glow.
And then...
Swoosh!
Jeok-un's pitch-black hair began to transform, turning as white as freshly fallen snow.