I'll Prove My Worth
The party halted nearly a hundred miles clear of Eumgwerim. Yi Yeok could have run on as long as he liked, but Hwan Mong and the others were wrung out from matching his pace, and for their sake he had no choice but to stop.
"Honestly. Daoist or Buddhist, cultivators are all the same. The stronger they get, the more their brains seem to rot."
Scorn dripped from Yi Yeok's voice. Hwan Mong's group answered with incredulous little laughs.
"Still—we met a living legend and walked away breathing. And we got what we came for."
Hwan Rang said it easily. Hwan Mong's face was more guarded.
"The Buddhist sect sets great store by karmic ties. I'm worried you'll end up bound to the Battle Buddha."
Yi Yeok lifted a brow.
"Bound? What are you talking about?"
"If a giant like that remembers your face, it can turn into trouble later."
"Judging by his wits, I wouldn't count on the memory either."
The unease didn't leave Hwan Mong's eyes.
"As promised, the Demon-Subduing Pearl is yours. I'll keep the sarira."
Yi Yeok said it as though it scarcely mattered. The pearl gave off nothing he could feel—no special aura at all.
"Job's finished. We ought to head back, right?"
Hwan Do nodded.
"Right. Let's go."
They were in Buddhist territory, and every one of them was growing more uncomfortable the longer they stayed.
Without warning Yi Yeok spun and lashed a kick at Hwan Rang. Hwan Rang startled—but he had never been the target. Something clinging to his calf flew off under the blow and cracked against a rock. At a glance, it looked like a scrap of wood.
Hwan Mong jerked in surprise.
"That's Old Demon Heukmok!"
Crushed by the Battle Buddha, Heukmok had kept his shape, but he had shrunk to barely a foot tall—like a doll a child had twisted together out of twigs.
Yi Yeok strode over without a word and ground him underfoot. The overwhelming power of before had fallen off to almost nothing.
"Spare me! Please, just spare my life!"
Yi Yeok stopped, bent down, and looked at him.
"You can talk?"
Heukmok faltered, flustered. The instant Yi Yeok raised his foot again, he blurted out in a rush.
"My lord, spare me! I was a virtuous Wood Spirit once—resentful souls devoured me and dragged me onto the wrong path!"
"That's fine."
Yi Yeok's eyes narrowed.
"You can pay for your sins starting now. Next life, don't spend it committing crimes."
Heukmok cried out, desperate.
"My lord, I will seek out every spirit-treasure in the world and offer them up! Spare me, and I swear my loyalty!"
A spark of interest crossed Yi Yeok's face. He studied the little figure a moment.
"Fine. From today, you serve under me. Get any other ideas, and you can die whenever I feel like it."
Heukmok flattened himself against the ground.
"Thank you! Master—this Heukmok will serve you with every shred of strength he has!"
Hwan Mong hesitated.
"Phantom, are you sure?"
Hwan Do backed her at once.
"No telling when he'll turn. Keeping him at your side is a risk."
Heukmok bowed his head over and over, words tumbling out.
"Master, that isn't true! My power is already gone. My root is nearly shattered—I'm only clinging to a wretched scrap of life!"
Yi Yeok tilted his head.
"So once you get your strength back, you betray me."
"No! That is absolutely not what I meant!"
Hwan Rang spoke as if it hardly concerned him.
"Cleaner to just end him. Why go to the trouble of letting him live?"
Yi Yeok laughed lightly.
"It's fine. If he gets ideas later, killing him then won't be too late. I'll drop him in a roaring cauldron and boil him soft."
Relief and terror struck Heukmok together.
Hwan Mong's voice went quiet.
"You've made up your mind, so I won't argue. But don't relax your guard."
Yi Yeok nodded.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's move. That monkey might still be on our trail."
Hwan Rang nodded and took the lead. Heukmok latched onto Yi Yeok's leg as they shot forward. All the while Yi Yeok circulated the Hidden Soul Divine Spirit Art, wiping the party's presence from the world so cleanly that nothing remained. He had reached the point where the art no longer veiled only himself—it could bend everything around him.
Heukmok climbed from leg to shoulder and whispered, small and eager.
"Master, I know a place where a precious Buddhist treasure rests. Might you be interested?"
Yi Yeok didn't so much as turn his head.
"Talk."
"The Sacred Blood Lotus Bodhi Seed. It strengthens the soul-core, and fused with the heart it refines blood qi. Even within the Buddhist sect, few treasures rank higher. A Wood Spirit like me hears the voices of all things—secrets others never learn."
Yi Yeok gave no particular reaction, and Heukmok's panic spiked. Fickle as a boiling pot. I have to prove my worth, no matter what.
"They say whoever obtains the Sacred Blood Lotus Bodhi Seed will one day become a Buddha."
"I've got no interest in becoming a Buddha."
"Only a figure of speech! The Buddhist path and the Daoist path differ, but the essence of power is the same. Put in Daoist terms—it means one could become an immortal."
Yi Yeok merely cocked his head.
"Fused into the heart meridian, it multiplies blood qi several times over. Cultivate further, and you gain the chance to turn that blood qi into Divine Blood!"
Yi Yeok sounded startled in spite of himself.
"Divine Blood?"
Heukmok nodded.
"Yes. Many refine blood qi into true qi, true qi into spiritual qi, spiritual qi into immortal qi—but to reach the stage of Divine Blood is all but impossible. With this treasure alone, Master, you would seize an enormous opportunity!"