The Weight of Ambition
The karma Han Yujin had accumulated so far was truly staggering.
He had gathered more than twice the amount he obtained after dealing with the self-proclaimed apostle of the Eternal Goddess Church. Four years had not been wasted at all.
Moreover, because he had paved the road so well, a steady stream of karma continued to flow in even now, and the volume of that stream was only growing larger with time.
Yet he was far from satisfied, like a man whose greed knew no bounds.
‘This should be enough to reach Soul Formation at an ordinary pace.’
The problem was that his plans were anything but ordinary.
The most concerning factor, of course, was how expensive the ingredients for the Seonwon Dojong Pill would be. No matter how he obtained them, they were materials originally used to create elixirs for breaking through to Dharma Soul stage. They would never come cheap.
‘Since the ingredients are expensive… bringing the completed pill into reality and transferring its effects will cost just as much.’
On top of that, he still needed to obtain the Taeul Ohaeng Yeonche Dan first.
If he wasn’t careful, he might end up having to accomplish everything in reality due to a shortage of karma.
Of course, with enough practice using his awakening ability—or rather, with sufficient rehearsal through the Honwon Jibo—performing the task in reality wouldn’t carry too much risk. Wasn’t that the kind of danger other cultivators always had to endure anyway?
It was simply that the methods he had used until now had been absurdly safe.
Besides, even if he somehow managed to gather enough karma to guarantee that safety again, he had to consider that only about thirty years remained until the invasion of the Kamayusgul Empire.
That meant he also needed to keep karma for reaching Body Integration stage in mind.
‘Looks like I’ll have to find the right moment to push Earth’s humanity into other dimensions.’
Simply exploring the Great Rifts wouldn’t be enough anymore. He needed to create encounters between civilizations and expand his sources of karma themselves.
Suddenly, the phrase “history repeats itself” came to mind, and he let out a soft chuckle. Wasn’t this essentially opening the age of imperialism that followed the Age of Discovery?
If the opposing civilization’s technological level lagged far behind, it might even unfold like a classic isekai invasion cliché—warriors armed with spears and swords being crushed by guns, tanks, and fighter jets.
Of course, no matter the circumstances, he would never act against his own moral boundaries for the sake of profit.
By the time he finished organizing his thoughts, he had arrived at the Yeongsikwon in the outer sect area almost unconsciously.
More precisely, he had come to see Lee Won-hee, who resided there.
“Ah, Master.”
Lee Won-hee, who had been diligently practicing the Baekun Yunshik Sul and Heukun Simto Sul in one of the now more than twice-expanded Yeongsikwon areas, immediately lit up with a bright expression.
She paused slightly upon seeing Ghost Wonhee standing beside Han Yujin, but it wasn’t out of fear or aversion. It was closer to simply not knowing exactly how she should interact with her yet.
He had revealed Ghost Wonhee’s true identity a few months earlier, during her grandmother’s funeral.
Since Lee Won-hee was still just a girl who had recently entered middle school, Han Yujin had helped with most of the arrangements. During that time, Ghost Wonhee had appeared, stood motionless before her grandmother’s portrait, and remained there for over a day.
Han Yujin wasn’t the type to believe every truth had to be revealed. But in this case, he had no choice but to explain everything in detail.
As time passed and Lee Won-hee grew older, she would inevitably realize how eerily similar she and Ghost Wonhee looked. The fact that both could manipulate darkness imbued with spiritual power only made it more obvious.
If he had given her a vague explanation, she would have been left alone with questions and worries. It was better to tell her everything beforehand and prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings.
Thanks to his careful explanation, Lee Won-hee had come to clearly recognize Ghost Wonhee as a being entirely separate from herself. It was truly the best possible outcome.
“Please try this.”
After bowing politely to Ghost Wonhee, Lee Won-hee took something out of her Spacer Ring and offered it. It was a sizable chunk wrapped in vibrant lime-green leaves.
“It’s a sandwich made with bread from sun-gold corn, filled with beef and various other ingredients.”
“Where did you get this?”
“Sierra gave it to me. Apparently cooking all sorts of things with sun-gold corn is trending lately, so she tried recreating one of the popular recipes.”
Sun-gold corn was a spiritual grain cultivated in the sect for the disciples’ food supply. As the name suggested, it closely resembled corn, but its core was smaller, the kernels were more than twice as large, and they shone with a beautiful golden hue.
Having undergone thorough selective breeding over many years as a spiritual plant from the Galactic Empire, it was easy to grow, delicious, and highly beneficial.
It tasted rich and delightfully crunchy even when eaten raw, but it could also be boiled, steamed, grilled, or fried in countless ways. Each cooking method brought out different flavors and textures that never failed to impress.
The leaves could be eaten raw for a crisp, fragrant bite, or used in seasoned vegetables, soups, or wrapped around meat for grilling. They offered just as much variety. They could even be processed into excellent tea leaves.
Being a proper spiritual plant, long-term consumption strengthened the body, purged impurities, and aided those in the Qi Condensation stage. The fact that a single serving kept one from feeling hungry for two or three days was merely a minor benefit.
As a Nascent Soul cultivator, Han Yujin would gain no real cultivation benefit from something like sun-gold corn. Still, from a culinary perspective, he could enjoy it thoroughly. He unwrapped the sandwich nestled in the leaves and took a bite.
“…Mm!”
“It’s good, right?”
“There’s a reason the recipe’s popular. Did they press the bread while grilling it? The lime juice pairs perfectly too.”
He tore off the other half of the sandwich and handed it to Mu-yong.
The little one, who had been watching with sparkling eyes, immediately grabbed it with both hands and began munching away with happy little noises. Han Yujin glanced at Ghost Wonhee, but she simply shook her head.
While he was still eating the sandwich, Lee Won-hee naturally asked about difficulties she had encountered in her training. He answered in detail, even drawing glowing Dharma seals in the air to demonstrate.
A few nearby disciples who were on duty managing the Yeongsikwon deliberately slowed their movements and pricked up their ears.
Since the discussion concerned Five Elements techniques at the Dharma Soul level, outer sect disciples like them would find it difficult to understand. Nevertheless, they listened with extreme focus, as if they had seized a priceless opportunity.
Without bothering to chase them away or give them any pointed looks, the two continued their conversation.
After the training questions were settled, the topic naturally shifted to Lee Won-hee’s school life. At that point, the surrounding disciples quickly withdrew, as if they didn’t dare intrude on such personal matters.
After her grandmother’s funeral, Lee Won-hee had moved her residence entirely inside the Mountain Sea Pearl. This had been at Han Yujin’s suggestion, a privilege reserved solely for his most cherished disciple.
Even so, she had not stopped attending school. That, too, had been at his urging.
“Even if classes feel boring and useless, this is the only time in your life you’ll get to experience them. Don’t think of it as a waste.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard that so many times I feel like my ears are going to bleed.”
The way the young girl grumbled and pouted in response to his nagging momentarily overlapped with scenes from the past that he had experienced through Ghost Wonhee. Han Yujin chuckled softly and ruffled Lee Won-hee’s still-childish hair.
“Ugh…! I told you I don’t like it when you do that!”
She covered her head and quickly stepped back.
“My, my. So disrespectful to your master. You used to be so obedient and well-behaved just a little while ago.”
“That’s only because I was too weak to resist back then!”
“So now that you have some strength, you’re going to rebel? I’ve raised a tiger cub!”
Lee Won-hee had already achieved Perfect Foundation Establishment and reached the Dharma Soul stage, so she was indeed much stronger than before. What caught his eye now was the bracelet on her wrist.
It was the Ohaeng Hwan, a supreme-grade Dharma artifact he had obtained from the ruins of the Ohaeng Sect during his own Dharma Soul stage.
“How is the refinement of the Ohaeng Jinryeong Stone going?”
“I’ve managed about forty percent so far.”
“Even with Hwaryeong helping you, that’s all you’ve done?”
“…It’s the Cheoncheon Ryeongbo, after all.”
Hwaryeong—meaning “Brilliant Spirit”—was the name Lee Won-hee had personally given to the spirit of the Ohaeng Jinryeong Stone a few years ago.
The two got along extremely well, so not only was there no interference in the refinement process, it should have been even smoother than her current skill level would suggest. The fact that she had only reached forty percent was clearly due to the overwhelming dignity of the Cheoncheon Ryeongbo.
There was no end to the warm, casual conversation between master and disciple.
Promising to continue another time, Han Yujin bid her farewell and headed elsewhere.
Jjik-! Jjik!
Mu-yong waved over his shoulder, saying goodbye to Lee Won-hee for now.
He leisurely observed the interior of the sect, which now carried the atmosphere of a small city. Every disciple he encountered bowed with utmost respect—more deeply than they possibly needed to—and he could feel genuine reverence radiating from their hearts.
As he passed near the administrative office, he caught a glimpse of Park Seryong in the distance.
After formally becoming a true disciple through a public ceremony about three years ago, Park Seryong’s current role and status within the sect made him truly Han Yujin’s right hand.
For that very true disciple and right-hand man, Han Yujin had personally crafted a Dharma artifact two years earlier. It was a sword-type weapon at Park Seryong’s request, crafted primarily from Lunarium obtained from a dragon’s lair within an African Great Rift. A supreme-grade Dharma artifact.
The materials had been excellent, and neither his crafting skill nor tools had been lacking. As a result, he had produced a supreme-grade artifact with relative ease.
It also possessed performance that harmonized beautifully with Park Seryong’s cultivation method, the Taechung Hyeonsu Chiweon Gong, which he had only recently—after considerable difficulty—mastered to achieve Perfect Foundation Establishment and advance to Dharma Soul stage.
Exchanging a simple greeting from afar, Han Yujin passed Park Seryong and continued touring the sect, lost in thought.
Teaching the Suseonsa Ye still had a long way to go before its framework was complete, but devoting spare moments to it was sufficient. In other areas, he had reached a point where he could begin stepping back.
The various items disciples could exchange for their accumulated merit points—Dharma artifacts, spiritual pills, technique manuals, and other cultivation texts—were now stockpiled in quantities that left no immediate shortages.
Thinking of it, he changed direction and headed toward the library.
Guarding the entrance were two sect disciples assigned to the duty, along with four androids that required no rest, twenty-four hours a day, three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
The androids had naturally been built by Han Yujin himself, based on various blueprints acquired from the Galactic Empire.
However, he hadn’t overinvested in them. He had built them at a level barely reaching early Dharma Soul stage and deployed them only where strictly necessary.
Their structure was extremely basic, with Lunarium-plated skeletons clearly visible, and their intelligence was low. Without the control of the fused intelligence spirit Elb, which was linked to the sect’s formation, they could only perform the most rudimentary security tasks.
Even so, one notable feature stood out: their aura.
In the past, Han Yujin had obtained an item called Gawibu through an exchange meeting at Cheonwon Fortress.
It was a charm designed to project the aura of a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator for a short time—a purely showy talisman. Some of its principles had been incorporated into the androids’ frames, giving them an imposing presence far beyond their actual combat power. It was enough to affect real battles.
In other words, they were more than adequate for maintaining minimal defense and upholding the sect’s dignity. Using a small amount of Honwon Stone as their power source was well worth it.
‘Even if I use them for thirty or forty years, I’ll easily get my money’s worth.’
Even then, early Dharma Soul stage androids would still be useful. If he ever grew dissatisfied, he could modify them at any time.
After taking a lap through the neatly maintained library, which rivaled any renowned library on Earth, he stepped back outside.
Having spent half a day thoroughly inspecting every corner of the sect, he felt a renewed sense of satisfaction and used the time to review his future plans.
‘It was worth all the hard work.’
Feeling that there were no urgent matters requiring his immediate attention, his steps naturally turned toward the main sect hall.
He intended to return to the Mountain Sea Pearl and use the Honwon Jibo.
It was time to refine and consume the Taeul Ohaeng Yeonche Dan in the peaceful Primordial Forest.
He needed to calculate exactly how much karma would be required to bring those results into reality, weigh the risks he would have to bear and the costs involved, and decide whether to create and consume it directly in the real world or not.