Right Then, Wrong Now?
The Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand bit down on the enormous sword in a single mouthful, and a crushing pressure rolled off it in waves.
"Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand..." Dong Pil murmured. "It's rather famous for what it can do."
"So what? Senior Brother's blood spirit is the Sword Armor Spirit — attack and defense in one!" Mok Geom-in shot back.
Blood spirits fell, broadly, into two kinds. One was the Innate Form, which remained exactly as it had appeared at the moment of awakening. The other was the Acquired Form, reshaped at will according to the cultivator's intent. An Acquired Form, however, was nothing more than an outer shell. It had no bearing on the blood spirit's essential nature.
The core nature of the Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand was Devouring — a gift for eating an opponent's blood spirit and stripping away weapons and defenses alike. The core nature of the Sword Armor Spirit was the power to wield techniques in which offense and defense were one and the same. Between the two, it was difficult to say which stood higher. Victory would turn on nothing but the depth of one's blood qi, and the skill with which it was put to use.
Yi Yeok and Ju Uk tore into each other for the better part of a quarter-hour, and little by little shock began to take hold of Ju Uk. Yi Yeok's blood qi was powerful beyond anything he had imagined.
Don't tell me he's been hiding his cultivation.
He rejected the thought at once. Yi Yeok's blood qi was still only half-true qi, which meant he remained within the Harmonious Qi-Blood Realm. And yet realms were nothing more than names people invented for the convenience of sorting one another. Surpassing them was always possible. Ju Uk himself had said as much to Jam Yun.
Fury and humiliation crashed over him.
Yi Yeok, by contrast, was far calmer. The instant Ju Uk's mind wavered, he closed the distance and swung Yojiyu.
Ten-fold Wave!
A tremendous current of force shot into the sky and kicked up a storm. Ju Uk's enormous sword shattered to pieces, and the Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand swallowed the Sword Armor Spirit in a single gulp.
Yi Yeok's voice was cold.
Ju Uk stared at him with terror in his eyes. For the first time since he was born, he felt fear. So there really were people in this world greater than he was.
The moment Ju Uk fell, the inner disciples who had been watching charged Yi Yeok as one. Blood qi stacked layer upon layer, and a vast current of force heaved and churned — yet not one of them could pin down his form. He moved as he pleased, wind one moment and shadow the next, too quick for the eye to follow and far too quick for their feet to match.
In a blink his strikes landed among them, and the inner disciples dropped one after another. Then his fist crashed into Ju Uk's jaw. Ju Uk rolled across the ground and collapsed where he lay.
At that instant sword-shadows poured from the sky like a waterfall, and a powerful sword qi burst outward, driving everyone back.
"Stop."
It was So Cheong-ha. As ever, his lips barely stirred, yet the voice reached every ear with perfect clarity.
From Ju Uk on down, every inner disciple present shall, from this day, confine themselves in reflection for ten days. Thereafter, regardless of the reason, they are forbidden to stand against Yi Yeok. Those who defy this order will be expelled.
The inner disciples' faces twisted. Expulsion would not only cast them out of Nokhyeon Sect — it would strip them of any chance to enter a middle-rank immortal sect.
"Yi Yeok. What do you think?" So Cheong-ha asked again.
Yi Yeok let his eyes slide sideways and grinned. "We can't very well call it finished like this. From now on, the outer sect will be collecting tribute from the inner sect."
So Cheong-ha answered with perfect calm, as if he had expected nothing else. "And what do the rest of you think?"
The air froze solid. Ju Uk, unconscious, could give no answer. Mok Geom-in drew a long breath and stepped forward.
"Junior Brother Yi. How much do you want?"
He had already decided Yi Yeok would soon be gone to some middle-rank immortal sect. When that day came, this place would recover its old "order." For now, bowing the head was the wiser play.
Yi Yeok smiled. "I won't take much. Pay five years at once. Same rate you've been collecting."
"Isn't this going way too far?" Jam Yun burst out.
"When you collect it, it's only right — but when I collect it, it's unfair?"
"This can't be happening. Humiliating us wasn't enough? Now you want our money too?"
Yi Yeok's eyes narrowed. "Then there's nothing for it. For the next five years, I'll just have to temper you the way I did today."
Today, every single day, for five years? Jam Yun's body shook with fear. Yi Yeok glanced around at the lot of them.
"Decide. Either way, I don't care."
Mok Geom-in ground his teeth. "We'll abide by Junior Brother Yi's wishes."
Yi Yeok clapped his hands. "Good. Dong Pil, sort out the roster. Make certain you know exactly who doesn't pay."
Dong Pil nodded with grave seriousness. "Set your mind at ease. I shall do precisely as Junior Brother Yi says."
Yi Yeok yawned and started off toward his quarters. "Fine weather. On a day like this, cultivation's the only proper thing. Seniors — thanks for the spar!"
Those left behind could only stare blankly at his retreating back.
The moment Yi Yeok returned to his quarters, he threw himself into cultivation with the spirit stones he had just obtained, pouring his effort above all into strengthening the Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand. This time he was bold about it, burning ten spirit stones at once. After a full day sunk in training, dragon scales slowly surfaced across his skin, and he was deeply satisfied with what he had gained.
"Late Harmonious Qi-Blood Realm. Figures — give me enough resources and the strength climbs in a hurry." He thought a moment, then muttered again. "But I've been strutting around too much lately. From here on I ought to keep my head down and focus on cultivation. Rest a few days, find somewhere quiet, and take a run at a new realm."
He still had more than four hundred spirit stones left.
Around evening, Dong Pil came to his quarters. Yi Yeok asked, indifferent, "The money?"
Dong Pil set down a large chest. "Tribute from forty-eight inner disciples. This is the list. Would you care to look it over?"
Yi Yeok glanced through the document and could not help a private flicker of admiration. A full year's income from his own family wouldn't have come to this much. No wonder the great clans gritted their teeth and raised talents to send into the immortal sects. It was hardly for nothing.
"Still plenty of complaints, I imagine?" he asked, sweeping the entire chest into the Qiankun Ring.
Dong Pil forced a smile. "How could we possibly dare to complain?" He hesitated, then asked, "That said... has Junior Brother Yi no thought of entering a middle-rank immortal sect?"
Yi Yeok grinned. "Sounds like you want me gone."
"Ah — of course I hope you remain in Nokhyeon Sect and lead our sect to greater heights. But a man who harbors great ambition ought to climb higher still, should he not?"
Yi Yeok snorted as if he couldn't believe his ears. "You want me to clear out quickly so you can have your little world back. That it? So long as you don't pick a fight with me first, the way you did today, I've got nothing to do with you. I don't plan on staying here long anyway."
A flash of joy crossed Dong Pil's eyes. He hid it at once. "A shame. If you remained with the sect, we would all rest easier."
"Yeah? Then maybe I should just settle in."
Dong Pil's face went stiff. "Th-that is..."
"Enough. I can see right through you."
Sheepish, Dong Pil nodded and fled the quarters as if making an escape.
The strife among the disciples of Nokhyeon Sect came to an end with Yi Yeok's victory. With even Eldest Senior Brother Ju Uk beaten into submission, no one left in the sect would come looking for trouble with him. The outer disciples, freed at last from protection fees, were grateful. Bang Cheon swaggered about as if the whole affair had been his doing, but he didn't push it past the point of sense, and out of regard for Yi Yeok's face, no one laid a hand on him.
For the first time in a long while, Yi Yeok gave himself over to quiet cultivation.
Time passed, and fallen leaves scattered on the wind.
On a hill ten li from Nokhyeon Sect, a dreadful power surged upward, wreathed in a blood-red glow. Yi Yeok sat in a field of dry grass while the Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand coiled about his body, the two of them trading energy back and forth. For a full month he had absorbed more than ten spirit stones every day, driving his cultivation without pause, until at last he broke through.
"So the medicinal power of the Heavenly Origin Immortal Soul Pill has finally all been absorbed." Yi Yeok rose as he spoke. A blood-red radiance swirled before him, and the Heavenly Dragon Flying Sand lifted into the shape of an enormous sword — a dragon for a hilt, a blade that shone. "Worth every spirit stone I poured into it."
The stones he had taken from Black Phoenix Hall were nearly gone. A satisfied smile on his face, Yi Yeok stamped off the earth and rose. He had cultivated this hard for one reason alone: he wanted to fly. The early Daoist realm could not yet carry him through the sky on its own, so he had to gather his strength into the blood spirit and make a mount of it.
"Let's go."
The enormous blood-red sword took him up and flew for Nokhyeon Sect, leaving a crimson line across the heavens.