Actually, You're Lower Class Too
"Honestly, I told you I'm going alone. Keep watching your turtle. Left by himself, that guy's bound to cause trouble."
Mo Yeong had somehow caught up behind Yi Yeok without him noticing.
"Aww, Darling. How could you think of leaving your true love alone with that ugly turtle?"
Yi Yeok didn't answer — he simply picked up the pace. To his regret, Mo Yeong barely fell behind at all.
About two hours later, they stopped at a spot from which the Yangcheon Sect was visible in the distance.
"Well, well... so this is an immortal sect. It certainly lives up to the name."
Yi Yeok grew a little serious. They had carved into the mountainside itself and raised a colossal palace atop it.
That alone would have been astonishing enough, but more than anything, it was the unique aura of the place that set his nerves on edge. The energy suffusing the entire Yangcheon Sect was distinctly palpable even to Yi Yeok and Mo Yeong, all the way from here.
His whole body prickled with goosebumps. An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to endure it. Any fierce beast or demon creature that routinely prowled the Cheonjung Seongyeong would sense that aura and retreat of its own accord.
"So what's the plan? Wait until nightfall?"
"No. We go now."
"What?"
Mo Yeong panicked and scanned the sky. The sun was beginning its slow descent, but it was still as bright as broad daylight.
"A job like this is actually easier in broad daylight. At night there are fewer people around, so the smallest movement gives you away."
"Are you insane? That's not confidence, that's recklessness."
"Listen to the professional. Have you ever stolen as much as I have?"
Yi Yeok cut off her retort with a question of his own.
"What does that woman Song Chui look like?"
"No idea."
"So what, am I supposed to knock on every single door until I find her?"
Yi Yeok rose from behind the boulder where they'd been hiding.
"You wait here."
"You're going alone?"
"Keep a sharp eye out in case something unexpected happens. That was the plan from the start."
"You actually have a real plan?"
"Relax. Even a virgin figures out what to do on his wedding night."
"Oh my..."
Mo Yeong's cheeks flushed crimson.
"Darling, you really are a dirty old lecher..."
Not in the mood to keep banishing, Yi Yeok strode off toward the Yangcheon Sect with long, purposeful steps.
* * *
Yi Yeok passed through the main gate of the Yangcheon Sect — built to look like the city gate of some great metropolis — with the confident gait of a man who belonged there. Someone was stationed at the gate, but they didn't stop him. They merely glanced at him and looked away.
Exactly as he'd expected. Hundreds of people — perhaps thousands — came and went every day; no one was going to run inspections each and every time.
The interior was far vaster than its exterior had suggested. It would have held its own even against Jinsung or Wunso City.
Yi Yeok followed the mountain path as much as possible in the shadows of fences and trees, while spreading the Silver Soul Divine White Knot to its fullest to conceal his presence.
A few members of the Yangcheon Sect brushed past him, but not one of them gave him a second look.
Well, of course. Who in their right mind would imagine a mortal from the secular world could make it all the way up here?
Confidence swelled in Yi Yeok's chest.
Partway up the mountain, clusters of tile-roofed residences came into view. The lower-ranked disciples would be housed in communal dormitories, so these dwellings presumably belonged to outer disciples of considerable standing. The grand estates spaced among them at intervals were almost certainly reserved for the elders.
Should I head straight for the summit?
Higher up, there would surely be the residences of the high-ranking elders and the sect master, along with the sect's most important buildings.
Naturally, the inner sect wouldn't be as easy to enter as the outer one. It might well be reckless. And yet Yi Yeok's heart churned with excitement.
Back in the secular world, no illustrious clan could stimulate him anymore. This was the first thrill like it he'd felt since crossing the age of ten.
"Hey, you."
From quite a distance away, a young man called out to him. Yi Yeok flinched.
He had the Silver Soul Divine White Knot spread to its maximum. True, it didn't make a person invisible, but it was usually enough that no one paid him any particular attention.
Don't tell me he sensed something off about me? Is this the skill of the immortal world?
Still, Yi Yeok betrayed nothing on the surface. He approached at the young man's beckoning gesture.
"You called for me?"
Yi Yeok bowed his head meekly, his voice servile and soft. If the man really had seen through his disguise, then it was do-or-die. Whether it worked or not, he would have no choice but to kill or knock the man out right here.
"Don't recognize your face. New recruit, are you? Looks like you haven't even been assigned a task yet, judging by how you're lazing about."
It seemed he wouldn't need to act — at least not yet. A servile smile spread across Yi Yeok's face.
"That's right, Elder Brother. I only arrived recently, so I was wandering about to learn my way around."
"Follow me."
So certain was the young man that his orders would be obeyed that he turned and walked off without even waiting for a reply.
Yi Yeok hesitated briefly, then decided to go along. If it came down to killing or knocking the man out anyway, it was better to do it somewhere out of others' sight.
He deliberately quickened his steps as if struggling to keep up, and asked,
"Might I ask what business you have with me?"
"The Alchemy Hall needs an extra pair of hands. A cauldron blew up. It's a complete mess."
"I see! A task like that is only fitting for a newcomer like myself. Thank you for the opportunity, Elder Brother."
Only then did the young man truly look at Yi Yeok's face for the first time.
"Sharp one, aren't you. I like how eager you are. Yes, that's the proper attitude. Even if your family is some prestigious clan that lords it over a corner of the countryside, out here, that's how it's done."
"I will engrave it into my very bones, Elder Brother. Engrave it, and engrave it again."
"What's your name?"
"It's... Chunbong. Yi Chunbong. Call me whatever's easiest for you. Heh heh..."
The young man laughed despite himself.
"What a ridiculously rustic name. Fine, Yi Chunbong. I'm Jeong Tak."
"An honor to make your acquaintance, Elder Brother Jeong."
Yi Yeok kept his bowed head lowered, practically walking with his nose to the ground. But a smile of an entirely different meaning than before crept across his lips.
The Alchemy Hall, you say. That's like handing someone a pillow when all they wanted was a nap.
He let out a sudden sigh. A crease formed between Jeong Tak's brows.
"Now what is this insolent..."
"No, no, forgive me, Elder Brother Jeong. Please don't misunderstand. It's just... there's something that's been weighing on my mind."
"What is it?"
"Word is that I'm to train under Elder Song."
"Which Elder Song?"
"Elder Song Chui."
Jeong Tak nodded as though he understood everything, and pointed a finger toward a distant detached residence.
"Her quarters are over there. But showing up to pay your respects in advance won't change anything, you know."
Yi Yeok put on a deliberately crestfallen expression.
"Elder Song Chui mostly handles external affairs — receptions and the like. Hm. I take it your spirit root isn't anything special."
"It isn't. They say Elder Song takes charge of layabouts like me in particular. So does that mean I'm to spend my days playing gatekeeper at the foot of the mountain?"
"Even that gatekeeper post is a greater honor than everything you ever amounted to back in the secular world."
Yi Yeok heaved another earth-shaking sigh.
"That said, it's not as if there's no way. Across the long history of the immortal sects, there are plenty of examples of seniors who rose to high position despite utterly ordinary talent."
A spark of hope lit Yi Yeok's eyes.
"Then... could I do the same?"
Jeong Tak burst out laughing.
"Not a chance in hell! Hahahahaha..."
Yi Yeok laughed along with him — and slipped his hand into his sleeve.
Maybe I should just kill him right here?
"Buuut... if I were to help you, well, it's not impossible."
"If it means climbing higher, I'll do anything you ask, Elder Brother."
Jeong Tak smiled, satisfied. Yi Yeok smiled right back the same way.
You miserable leech. And from the look of you, you're not exactly high-ranking yourself, are you?
Still, he let none of it show, and bowed his head once more with a soft, deferential dip.
"Then from this day forward, this Yi Chunbong will trust your word alone, Elder Brother Jeong, and follow it to the very end."
