The Birth of a Nascent Soul
The Primordial Forest never failed to impress him with its dense, rich spiritual energy every time he returned.
If this world truly belonged to the Primordial Sanctuary, it made perfect sense why its overall level of civilization lagged so far behind the others yet its power and potential fell hardly short at all.
It was also easy to guess that the place harbored dangers so immense that no one could simply claim it just because they coveted it.
“Huu—”
Jjik! Jjik!
Having returned to her long-missed homeland, Mu-yong wagged her tail in pure excitement. At the same time, she urged him to hurry and find “the other me.”
“…No matter how I look at it, you really are just simple-minded and therefore carefree.”
Jjijik—! Jjik!
She paid his scolding no more mind than if it were dog shit, simply pressing him to move faster. Han Yujin let out a helpless chuckle. Since she herself insisted she was fine, he decided she probably was and activated the Five Elements Heavenly Escape Art.
The search did not take long. A weak beast like a rabbit-weasel could not possibly have a vast territory.
Since he had decided to do this, he swept the area two or three times more than necessary just in case he missed anything.
Fortunately—or perhaps as expected—no second Mu-yong was found. Thanks to that, he could now confirm what he had suspected about his own awakening ability.
Jjik! Jjik!
Watching Mu-yong puff out her chest and cry out as if to say “See? I told you,” he suddenly realized something and reached out to stroke her.
“You suggested the search so I wouldn’t feel uneasy, didn’t you?”
The way the little thing nodded with such smug pride was unbearably cute and lovely.
“To think the same little rascal who used to throw a whole tantrum for a single drop of spiritual nectar would one day worry about me like this…!”
The moment he accidentally voiced his inner thoughts like an exclamation, Mu-yong looked slightly offended. After spending a short while soothing her, he was about to head straight for the wolf beasts’ lair when he paused.
“…Isn’t it getting a bit much to keep killing them and stealing their homes every time I come?”
…Jjik!
Fortunately, he had already scouted another suitable spot near the lake last time.
Having made up his mind, he transformed into a streak of light and shot off in that direction.
He reached the monkey monsters’ nest in less than a minute and harvested the black tree fruits from the center of the clearing. Wrapped in Monghwan Yusim, the creatures noticed nothing at all.
“Should I leave two behind?”
Jjik—!
It seemed that as his skill grew, so did his generosity.
Out of the six fist-sized scarlet fruits, he took only four. In any case, refining them into main pills would be useless to him now, and since he still had some left over from before, he had more than enough to share with Lee Won-hee and Park Heewon.
If I ever run out, I can just come back then.
Thinking that, he turned into light once more and soon arrived at the chosen location.
Honestly, it was not as good as the wolf beasts’ lair, but it would only take a little effort with earth-manipulation arts and the like to improve it.
For a Core Formation cultivator, it was neither difficult nor time-consuming. With the help of the spiritual being Elb, he barely even needed to use his head.
With a few casual waves of his hand, the ground rumbled heavily, cliffs rose, and thickets moved on their own. The uneven, ugly terrain flattened into a spacious clearing, while vegetation was transplanted into the previously barren areas.
In just a few minutes, the hill backed by a cliff had transformed into a natural scenic wonder.
“No need to make a pond, right? The lake is right nearby.”
Jjik!
Speaking as if to console Mu-yong, who loved catching spirit fish in ponds, he made full use of the nicely prepared terrain to set up formations. When he even deployed the equipment he had brought from the Galactic Empire, the site reached a level where even a Core Formation-level wild beast would have trouble breaking in.
“Let’s go catch a few fish.”
He headed to the lake with Mu-yong as if they were simply going out to play.
Just as he had always done before a breakthrough, he planned to fully acclimate himself to the Primordial Forest and calm his mind.
Three days later.
After giving the formations and barriers one final inspection, he sat down cross-legged on the flat rock at the center of his dwelling and closed his eyes. His posture was utterly relaxed, and not a trace of worry or burden could be felt.
I’ve worked this hard to build up my strength. If even I fail, who in the world could possibly reach the Nascent Soul stage?
On top of that, the potential of the Dragon Heart was backing him. There was truly no chance of failure.
He began operating the Taiyi Five Elements Dao Scripture with the same casual mindset he usually had while training. Of course, despite the feeling, the actual spell formulas being used were clearly different from normal.
Countless spell formulas composed of infinite runes surged out from the Oral Golden Core at the center of his body, filling his entire being before being absorbed again in a repeating cycle. In response, the abundant spiritual energy of the Primordial Forest flowed in like a mighty river.
Ooooong…!
The suction was so powerful that the formation barriers surrounding his dwelling detected the local spiritual energy shortage and began drawing power from the prepared spirit stones.
In that state, he forgot the passage of time.
With his entire mind focused, he continuously operated the spell formulas for birthing his Nascent Soul. At the same time, he kept steeling his resolve to endure the “terrible agony” and other ordeals he had read about in various records.
Then, at a certain moment.
The nine revolving Dao patterns emitted light as cracks formed across the somewhat unstable Oral Golden Core. There was no resistance or pain. Through the fissures, brilliant light leaked out.
It was light, yet not light. It was neither spiritual energy, divine power, nor Dao force.
A clean, clear shattering sound rang out. It seemed to be audible only to Han Yujin himself, yet at the same time it felt as though it pierced the entire world.
Countless cracks spread across the Oral Golden Core, releasing even more “light” that swirled wildly. Soon, the core—now covered in so many fractures it could no longer hold together—shattered completely. The nine Dao patterns that had wrapped around it detached on their own, merged with the spell formulas for Nascent Soul ascension, and melted into one.
Then.
The Oral Golden Core fully collapsed, and its fragments began forming a Purple Mansion.
It could be called a kind of microcosm, a mysterious domain harboring infinite possibilities.
Like the Primordial Realm that half-overlapped with reality, it existed yet could not be seen with the eyes or touched by hand. It did not interfere with space-time, yet could influence it at any moment—the resting place of the Nascent Soul.
To Han Yujin, the Purple Mansion felt like a magnificent place where an infinitely vast and beautiful purple-gold nebula flowed.
At the same time, he could see his newly born Nascent Soul at its center.
True to its name, it had the form of a small, adorable baby. Its pure white, delicate skin gave off an incomparably innocent feeling. There was also a mystical aura about it that simply could not belong to the mortal world.
Behind the gently smiling infant hovered the faint halo of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Its innocently wide eyes were the Yin-Yang True Dragon Eyes, and it held the Monghyeon-gyeong tightly in its arms. It wore the dreamlike power of Monghwan Yusim like clothing, while the energy of the Yin-Yang Five Elements Extinction Great Hand flickered between its small palms.
So this is my Nascent Soul.
He had finally achieved “rebirth.”
While he watched and felt his Nascent Soul, moved by deep emotion—
The Purple Mansion that had been born alongside it spread throughout his body, triggering profound changes. It was the process of opening his space-time perception and fusing with the higher-dimensional power that could interact with it.
From the outside, his body—which had been sitting on the flat rock—rose about a meter into the air, enveloped in a faint purple-gold radiance.
It was not as flashy as when he had broken through to Core Formation, yet an indescribable presence overwhelmed everything around him.
It was the presence of a True Person.
A title clearly superior to the respectful “Superior Person” used for Core Formation cultivators, it signified a being who had been newly born as a “true human” from the perspective of the Immortal Dao.
If an ordinary person witnessed the scene right now, it would not be strange at all for them to prostrate themselves in worship or faint from the overwhelming pressure.
Mu-yong sensed that her master had successfully reached the Nascent Soul stage and was overjoyed. At the same time, she scanned the surroundings in case anything tried to interfere.
Then, at one point.
Thanks to the Tongmyeong Eosu-gyeol, she detected that her own special divine ability—which had remained only a seed until now—was blooming.
After a brief moment of hesitation, she scurried over to the rock where Han Yujin sat, closed her eyes, and lay down in meditation.
Oooong…!
Soon, the only sound echoing through the area was the occasional resonant hum of the formation barriers enduring the aftershocks of the breakthrough.
When he opened his eyes, everything had changed. The awakening of his space-time perception brought a sense of wonder comparable to when he had first gained divine power.
It felt like opening eyes he had kept shut his entire life and finally seeing the world. There was no going back to how things were before, nor did he want to.
Having descended from his floating state back onto the rock, he quietly stared at a tiny pebble far away, then pointed a finger at it and flicked lightly.
A moment later, the small pebble shook briefly. It really looked as if it had been struck by his flicked finger, and he couldn’t help but smile.
He had not used any illusion art. This was done through a power that could only be called space-time interference.
This time, the pebble shook first, even before he did anything, and only then did his finger flick. It was a small thing, but it was clearly the future influencing the past.
To get used to his newly opened senses, he spent time continuing these trivial pranks.
Then a thought occurred to him, and he took out the Mountain Sea Pearl, the Blood Spirit Red Flower Wine Bottle, the Golden Radiance White Phoenix Brush, and other items from his Spacer Ring.
All of them had been refined using the Three Realms Harmony Art. The moment they appeared, they flashed with purple-gold light and mysteriously vanished.
At the same time, the items manifested inside his Purple Mansion and began orbiting around his Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul let out a satisfied giggle, sat down on the Mountain Sea Pearl—which was now the size of its own body—and pulled the Blood Spirit Red Flower Wine Bottle and Golden Radiance White Phoenix Brush close, wearing them at its waist like a belt. The power of Monghwan Yusim tied the two items with dreamlike strings to hold them in place.
Now that he had a Purple Mansion, there was no longer any need to store refined treasures inside the Spacer Ring.
In fact, since the Mountain Sea Pearl was now inside the Purple Mansion, he no longer needed to put everything into the Spacer Ring at all. He could store and retrieve items from the Pearl without having to open its entrance every single time.
Thanks to his awakened space-time perception, he could freely take out or store any object anywhere inside the Mountain Sea Pearl.
This was true even if the target was a living being. Of course, if the target resisted, it would require that much more effort. And there would be no reason to forcibly store something that was resisting in the first place.
Should I make a prison or something?
He thought about it for a moment, then chuckled and shook his head. If he ever needed to keep someone inside the Mountain Sea Pearl, it would be safer to freeze them with the Indestructible Ice first.
To think I’ve become a Nascent Soul cultivator…
The more he thought about it, the more his heart raced with excitement. How could he not be thrilled when even his title had become the brilliant “Nascent Soul True Person”?
Now I too have earned the right to think with a Nascent Soul perspective!
Naturally recalling Brenar’s mischievous antics—or rather, her creative economic activities—he spent a brief moment lost in longing.
About an hour later.
Mu-yong stirred and rose to her feet. He could feel that her divine ability had fully bloomed.
As Han Yujin seriously examined the nature of that ability, a fun idea suddenly came to him and the corners of his mouth lifted on their own.
“Mu-yong.”
Jjik?
“Remember that bear bastard?”
Jjik…!
Only after hearing the words did she seem to remember. Mu-yong’s eyes sparkled with determination and excitement as her nose twitched.
“It’s time for you to get your revenge yourself.”
Jjik—!
“You’ll be able to literally stomp it flat. Sounds fun, right?”
Jjik! Jjijik! Jjik—!
She spun around wildly, wagging her tail like crazy. Then, as if she had suddenly realized she needed to get used to her new divine ability, she closed her eyes again, lay down, and fell back into meditation.
Watching her, Han Yujin smiled and began making other plans in his head.
Once Mu-yong finished her revenge by dealing with the bear, he intended to handle the winged-horned snake on the same day and claim the Honwon Stone pillar.