Rebirth and Assembly
It had been nearly two months since Han Yujin began living full-time inside the information repository.
The phrase “living full-time” was no exaggeration. He rarely returned to the lodging he had originally secured as part of his ordinary-citizen disguise. More often than not, he would lose himself in the study of training manuals and techniques, only to surface and realize two or three days had slipped away unnoticed.
Even so, Mu-yong’s presence forced him to venture outside from time to time. No matter how diligently she studied alongside her master, she would eventually begin pestering him for something tasty, making trips to nearby restaurants unavoidable.
“Because of you I keep wasting both time and money. This is becoming a serious problem…”
Jjik? Jjijik—!
Even as he scolded her, the emotions flowing through their Tongmyeong Eosu-gyeol bond told a completely different story. Mu-yong tilted her head in momentary confusion, then promptly decided it didn’t matter and happily leaned into the hand stroking her head.
Fortunately, the area around the information repository was filled with excellent eateries. Beyond simple restaurants, there were countless shops selling ice cream, desserts, and other snacks.
Advanced civilizations inevitably bring advanced cuisine with them. Thanks to that, whatever he bought and ate, the flavor was superb and the time spent genuinely pleasant.
Wherever they went, Mu-yong drew a great deal of attention, tempting him to use Monghwan Yusim. Naturally, he never actually did; it would only have created more complications.
In any case.
Over those two months, Han Yujin had thoroughly mapped out the differences between the Empire’s training methods and those of the cultivation world.
Major Brenar’s statement that things changed in earnest from spiritualist level 5 had been correct. Explaining every precise divergence would take forever, but a rough summary went like this.
The cultivation world’s methods transformed an ordinary soul into a Dharma Soul, then elevated that into a Dharma Core. From there they birthed a Nascent Soul and ultimately sublimated it into an Origin Spirit—a process of literal “rebirth.”
It was a mystically flawless, supremely sophisticated path of growth. The feeling was that one was laying an entirely new foundation from the ground up in preparation for even greater heights later.
Yet in that very process, the first and second of the Three Tribulations of Cultivation would descend: the Heartless Tribulation and the Soul-Burning Tribulation.
They were unavoidable dangers, as inevitable as shadow following light or misfortune balancing fortune—the two sides of a single coin.
In contrast, the Empire’s training methods had abandoned that perfect rebirth.
From the very stage of Dharma Soul sublimation—or “astral soul” in local terminology—they deliberately introduced controlled gaps for the sake of stability. Instead of a Dharma Core, they generated spiritual blood vessels called astral vessels throughout the entire body.
From that foundation they began “assembling” the Nascent Soul—or astral body—one piece at a time.
Rebirth versus assembly…
What stood out was that this assembly-oriented approach borrowed heavily from the training methods of mages.
Naturally, while studying he had also absorbed knowledge of the mages’ realms and techniques.
Neophyte, Zelator, Theoricus, Practicus, Philosophus, Adeptus Minor, Adeptus Major, Adeptus Exemptus, Magister, Magus, Ipsissimus.
The realm names were utterly unfamiliar and lacked one-to-one correspondence with those of the cultivation world, so there was no need to examine each in exhaustive detail.
What mattered were the underlying principles and reasoning behind the divisions. Even if the knowledge seemed to lack immediate application and stirred no particular inspiration, it was in truth immensely valuable.
When I truly begin seated meditation and seek harmony with the primordial chaos in the future, the harvest will be considerable.
The difference between knowing and not knowing such information while meditating to explore the Dao through resonance with higher dimensions would be anything but small.
In that respect, Han Yujin was currently reinforcing foundations whose true worth had not yet revealed itself.
There had been other gains over the past two months.
While searching for cultivation-world techniques merely to maintain his disguise, he had discovered a method that far exceeded expectations.
Techniques based on the five elements were extremely common in the cultivation world. Given their nature as representations of every state of matter, they were surely just as prevalent in magical sanctuaries.
He had expected them to be easy to find, but he had not anticipated their quality would be so high.
The technique he discovered was called the Five Elements Circulation Art. Unusually, it did not employ the five elements as a direct attribute; instead, it used them solely to generate a far more powerful and pure form of energy.
The energy produced this way was literally pure. No matter which type of spell one cast, there was zero loss. In other words, training in this art allowed one to learn and wield every kind of technique at will.
It’s even a transformation technique.
Unfortunately, his current citizen level only permitted purchase of the first half. Even so, that portion alone allowed him to reach the Nascent Soul stage.
Besides, I never intended to make this my primary method anyway…
His true main technique remained the Taiyi Five Elements Dao Scripture. He could not even guess how far it might take him; it might well be a true immortal-grade art.
The Five Elements Circulation Art could be operated as a specialized supplementary technique, much like the Samgyeong Johwa-gyeol, so it was already useful enough. Even if he felt insufficient far in the future, he could supplement it through his own seated meditation and enlightenment.
There had also been gains on the spell front.
He had only wanted a stealth technique suitable for camouflage, yet he had found the Dream Illusion Escape Art, which would pair beautifully with his divine abilities.
He had sought a decent offensive technique for casual use and had obtained the highly efficient Five Elements Divine Light.
The Dream Illusion Escape Art possessed the utility of stepping outside the boundaries of reality, granting it an overwhelming advantage in stealth. Combining it with Monghwan Yusim would produce a truly remarkable synergistic effect.
The Five Elements Divine Light, enhanced by radiant properties, consumed little dharma power while boasting incredible speed. There would be few spells better suited for surprise attacks or rapid suppression.
Yet the greatest harvest had been something else entirely.
He had discovered the exceedingly rare fate-sensing spell known as Hyeongjo Hyeoneung-sul.
Though it was merely an incomplete fragment, it appeared sufficient for divining his own safety.
Having gained one more tool to consult when facing important decisions left his heart feeling abundantly rich.
The only problem was that purchasing all those high-level techniques and spell knowledge had completely exhausted his credits.
He had gone beyond spending what he originally possessed and had even taken out a loan from the bank, becoming a debtor. He had drawn upon every ounce of potential available to a level-3 citizen.
There’s still so much leave left…
Only two months had passed. At least another month remained no matter how one counted it, and if mission assignment was delayed, he might end up spending several more months on vacation.
How the Empire’s elixir manufacturing differed from pill refinement, what the refinement techniques were like, whether he could learn the nectar production method, which scientific technologies would be worth bringing back to Earth—there was so much he could have studied if only he had the credits. Now it seemed those opportunities would simply slip away.
Should I look for a short-term part-time job?
Whether a soldier could even take on such side work was secondary; the fact that it would consume time was both frustrating and disappointing.
Without realizing it, he had begun fiddling with his Nexus Band more and more often. He was seriously considering swallowing his pride and asking Major Brenar—whose contact information was registered—for help.
Just as he began to seriously waver and deliberate—
Coincidentally, Major Brenar contacted him first.
Even without knowing her business, Han Yujin’s face brightened automatically.
Inside a quiet, luxurious café.
“So……”
Brenar sat across from the soldier, experiencing both admiration and utter bewilderment at the same time.
“You’ve been living in the information repository this entire time, studying until you became a debtor. That’s what you’re telling me……”
Even as she spoke, the realization struck her anew—how admirable and absurd it was.
She had heard rumors, but she had never expected to meet someone who actually embodied them.
His demeanor made it clear this wasn’t driven by mere overflowing ambition. Growing stronger simply brought him pure joy.
They say the greatest geniuses are those who truly enjoy the process.
After a moment of thought, she took a sip of her drink, then retrieved something from her spacer ring and slid it across the table.
It was a stiff sheet that resembled an official certificate.
“Take this for now. It’s a warrant officer recommendation letter.”
Though it looked like paper, it was actually crafted from special metal—impossible to forge and virtually indestructible.
“If you pass the written and spiritualist exams, you can skip the interview. It will be registered on the network, but they sometimes request the physical copy, so keep it with you.”
“Thank you.”
As the letter also served as a form of command-level guarantee, gratitude was only natural.
She then gave him a detailed explanation of the promotion test’s location and schedule.
Yujin had achieved significant merit in his previous mission and had already become a level-3 citizen, so he was fully qualified even without the letter.
He could probably take the officer promotion exam in as little as two or three years.
He was the very model of meteoric advancement.
“And……”
After a brief hesitation, she produced a metal card she had not originally planned to give him yet and handed it over.
“Credits. This should be enough for the time being.”
“This… seems personal.”
“It is. I’ll make arrangements for the official educational support funds to be processed as quickly as possible once I return today.”
Yujin stared at her with his mouth slightly open, then expressed his gratitude again and again in a voice filled with genuine sincerity.
It was not overly effusive, yet his profound thankfulness was unmistakable. Even though she had originally intended to extract a “promise” before handing it over, her heart felt deeply satisfied.
Taking another sip of her drink, her gaze suddenly drifted to the adorable creature on the corner of the table. It was noisily lapping at its own serving of sweet fruit juice from a small plate.
Because it was a pet brought by the usually serious Yujin, her curiosity was all the stronger.
“What’s its name?”
“Baek-neung.”
“Baek-neung?”
The pronunciation sounded unfamiliar—probably a nomadic tribal dialect.
While she was still guessing, Yujin spoke again.
“You may pet her if you like.”
“Mm……”
The moment she was about to politely decline, the creature lifted its head and stared straight at her. Its black eyes were filled with curiosity as it tilted its head.
Before she realized what she was doing, her hand had already reached out to stroke the creature.
Jjik! Jjik!
Once she became aware of her own actions she tried to stop, but the fur was far softer than she had imagined—addictively so. Then the creature approached on its own and settled comfortably against her, making it impossible to pull away.
“It seems the captain has taken a liking to you. She doesn’t usually approach people this easily……”
Hearing those words somehow made her feel even better.
Deciding to spend the time this way, she brought up a subject she had not originally intended to mention.
“That single pill you submitted.”
“Ah, yes.”
“It turned out to be the infamous demonic pill from the cultivation world known as the Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill. It is normally refined into six pills, but it appears that man had already consumed three of them.”
She then provided a detailed explanation of the Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill. Yujin listened intently, nodding repeatedly before speaking.
“Then… the one I consumed must have contained the emotion of fear.”
“That would be correct. I didn’t mention it at the time, but the one I took fortunately contained the emotion of joy.”
It really had been fortunate. Had it been one carrying negative emotions, given his already poor condition, the side effects could have been catastrophic.
The conversation naturally shifted to the memories of the cultivator Gun Yu-gyeom, the person who had become the pill’s raw ingredient.
As they talked, the topic arose on its own.
“If you have the time, organize the memories you obtained and submit them as a report. That too can count as merit.”
“I will definitely organize and report them.”
Watching Yujin nod as though he had realized an unexpected benefit, Brenar found herself wondering what sort of report he would eventually submit.
The Hwan Hwa Ju Cheon Gong, huh…
Gun Yu-gyeom had not become the ingredient for the Soul-Eating Dao-Achieving Pill for nothing.
He had possessed a unique spiritual ability capable of partially stealing the lifespan of his blood relatives, which explained his intense interest in seeing his descendants.
When a cultivator is deeply interested in descendants, dual cultivation methods practiced by men and women together cannot be overlooked. As it had been the main technique of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, the knowledge was by no means low-level.
In fact, calling it outstanding would not have been an exaggeration.
After pondering it a little longer, Brenar unconsciously shook her head and turned her attention back to the exceptionally well-behaved pet, Baek-neung.
If it was truly this gentle and adorable, she thought she might like to raise one herself someday.