One Head Soars
Karma was better the more of it you had.
Just off the top of his head, there were still two Heaven-Piercing Spirit Treasures he had yet to manifest from the Ohaeng Sect ruins, along with various heavenly treasures. The cost of turning his cultivation progress into reality would only grow more expensive the further he advanced.
With that thought in mind, he returned the books he had finished memorizing to their original places.
If he later referenced these texts to create a flawless Wonryeok cultivation method, countless factions across the murim would come seeking him of their own accord, carrying their highest martial arts and secret techniques in hopes of a 'trade.'
Then he could simply use those as the foundation to create even superior cultivation methods.
Han Yujin tucked this grand plan into a corner of his mind and examined the remaining sections of the tomb.
There were mountains of gold and silver large enough to form small hills, extraordinary weapons that still carried a sharp aura unmarred by the passage of time, landscape paintings that elicited involuntary admiration despite slight yellowing, and a statue that fantastically combined jades of various colors to depict a majestic deer.
This place was truly packed with treasures that could stir greed in anyone.
While the gold, silver, and jewels were one thing, even Han Yujin felt a strong desire to possess that jade deer statue.
“Ahem.”
He cleared his throat for no particular reason and slipped the statue into his spatial pouch. It was the artifact here that had stirred his possessiveness the most.
He had deduced this from the patterns engraved on several of the gold and silver items. Without his divine sense, he might have overlooked it entirely.
The treasures sleeping in this tomb were far too magnificent for any single faction to monopolize. The fact that they had been offered as bait suggested there had to be some underlying problem.
The cultivation method, while containing flashes of genius, was an incomplete product that would cause nine out of ten practitioners to die from qi deviation. Many of the treasures bore the imperial seal, which would inevitably cause trouble later.
No matter how much the imperial family and the murim avoided interfering with each other in this world, the imperial court would never yield such treasures. Even the Jeongdo Alliance would be unable to forcibly swallow items whose ownership was so blatantly marked.
Even if he could not take everything, he should be able to siphon off a portion. The imperial family would have no choice but to turn a blind eye to that much.
With these thoughts, he once again deployed the Earth Escape Technique to handle the remaining areas of the tomb grounds.
It had been three days since Han Yujin disabled all the mechanisms and formations in the tomb grounds, roughly mapped the structure, and shared that information.
The work that could be called either exploration or excavation was progressing at tremendous speed. Each time traces of activated mechanisms or formations appeared, his reputation for having dealt with them in advance soared ever higher.
Even those who were not specialized formation masters or mechanism experts could not help but understand. They realized how many sacrifices and how much difficulty would have followed if they had attempted to dismantle everything 'by the original methods.'
The Jeongdo Alliance leader, who was undoubtedly extremely busy as the person in overall charge of this site, still spent a considerable amount of time by Han Yujin’s side. Having witnessed both his Transcendent-level martial prowess and his seemingly divine abilities, the leader clearly wanted to bring him firmly into his own camp.
However, Han Yujin maintained an appropriate distance, offering only polite responses about getting along well in the future.
The higher his own fame rose, the less he would need the Jeongdo Alliance’s help. Moreover, becoming too close to them would not be particularly advantageous for his future plans.
For the ‘trade’ he had planned, maintaining a neutral stance—refraining from involving himself in any murim disputes—would be more beneficial. Only then would many factions feel sufficiently at ease to approach him.
There was the fact that he had begun his journey through the murim by eliminating Emma Goju, and the current overwhelming power of the Dark Shadow Cult, which threatened both the Jeongdo Alliance and the Sado Alliance simultaneously, made them something of a public enemy. Most of all, their track record was so vicious that even an objective observer could not help but frown. They were not the sort of people one would ever want to become friendly with.
It seemed far better to finish his cultivation to a certain level, then storm their headquarters and conduct a ‘forced trade.’
Of course, there were aspects that required caution.
The one occupying the second rank among the Ten Great Masters of Wulin—also called the Ten Supremes—was none other than the Dark Shadow Cult’s leader, ‘Shadow Demon God Cheon Ra-jin.’ He was one of only two known Life-and-Death Realm experts in the murim.
Incidentally, the one holding the first rank was the abbot of Yunhoeseongbul Temple, ‘Hye-gak Daesa Baek Ji-dam,’ who was also a Life-and-Death Realm expert.
At present, Han Yujin was leisurely passing time in a corner of the expedition camp, receiving Eun Miryeong’s attentive service.
He also took the opportunity to hear from her about Shadow Demon God Cheon Ra-jin.
“Is that story actually confirmed?”
“Yes, Eun-gong. Until four years ago, the Ten Supremes were actually called the Twelve Supremes.”
“Hmm…”
“Of course, there may have been some exaggeration regarding the details of that event. Very few people actually witnessed it.”
He nodded as he thought to himself.
From what he could tell, the offensive capabilities of a Transcendent expert in this world seemed comparable to a Dharma Soul Stage practitioner. If they could utilize their internal energy—called strong qi—in more varied ways than Core Formation experts, that would naturally follow.
That was only regarding the offensive aspect, however. He was confident he could win against a Transcendent expert without fail.
Simply making proper use of the Earth Escape Technique could put his opponent in serious trouble, and no matter how many enemies there were, he could hit and run as he pleased, always fighting on his own terms.
What made him wary, then, was only the power suspected to be a true divine sense technique possessed by Life-and-Death Realm experts.
If it really was a proper divine sense technique, a single mistake could lead to an absurd death. Conversely, if he simply never gave them the chance to use it, he might be able to handle them as easily as any Transcendent expert.
Looking at the history of the murim, there had been many occasions when only one side—either the righteous or the demonic—possessed a Life-and-Death Realm expert. If such an expert had truly been at the Determination stage, there would have been no reason not to unify the murim at those times.
Even setting aside such circumstantial reasons, the idea of possessing Determination-stage power without being able to handle higher forms of spiritual energy such as dharma power or primordial force was simply impossible in a world already lacking in spiritual energy.
It was while he was thinking along these lines that the area outside one side of the campsite suddenly grew noisy. Han Yujin’s gaze naturally turned in that direction. A moment later, both Eun Miryeong and Seogwang Gahu noticed the disturbance and looked the same way.
Soon after, a figure appeared atop the hill at the campsite’s perimeter.
Before the shout could finish, something struck the back of the man’s neck with a thud. Blood sprayed as he collapsed.
Several other warriors appeared shortly after, shouting at the top of their lungs with inner energy. They were likely members of the outer perimeter patrol who had been chased all the way here the moment they spotted the enemy.
Han Yujin thought calmly. Thanks to his efforts, the exploration schedule had been drastically shortened. If there had been spies, they would have urgently sent word to their factions. It was only natural that the responding side would rush here much faster than originally planned.
The Jeongdo Alliance leader’s massive roar shook the entire area. As the Jeongdo Alliance members each gathered their weapons and formed ranks with what order they could manage, countless small black objects suddenly shot up from beyond the hill. By the time people identified what they were, a rain of arrows accompanied by piercing sounds was already pouring down.
Whatever type of bows they were using, more than ten arrows flew all the way to the spot where Han Yujin had been sitting and resting, despite being somewhat removed from the direction of the attack.
Before Eun Miryeong and Seogwang Gahu could react in surprise, a golden radiance burst from Han Yujin’s body and lightly deflected all the arrows.
“Th-thank you, Eun-gong.”
“Thank you!”
Han Yujin casually waved his hand to acknowledge their gratitude and examined the deflected arrows. They were iron arrows crafted with such precision that they almost looked like works of art.
Soon, hundreds of enemies appeared atop the hill from which the arrows had been launched.
They all wore identical black martial uniforms to indicate their affiliation. A significant number of them were already nocking new arrows onto blood-red, sinister-looking longbows. The Dark Shadow Cult’s emblem embroidered on their chests and forearms was unmistakable.
Their numbers seemed slightly lower than those of the Jeongdo Alliance side.
However, if all of them were combatants, they could be considered more numerous than the Jeongdo Alliance, which included formation masters and mechanism experts.
The fact that no word had arrived despite this many people approaching was enough to send a chill down one’s spine.
There were likely multiple spies inside the Jeongdo Alliance who had skillfully bypassed the multi-layered perimeter, or perhaps they had received more active cooperation that created a major opening for them to exploit. Or they might have simply pushed through with such exceptional operational capability that they successfully blocked all attempts to spread news.
Otherwise, they would not have revealed themselves in this manner. They would only show themselves if they were confident of victory.
At that moment, someone from the Dark Shadow Cult stepped forward and shouted. His voice was extremely raspy, as if his throat were damaged, which only made it sound all the more sinister.
When the representative of the Dark Shadow Cult raised one hand, his subordinates occupying the hill drew their blood-red longbows and took aim. Two more figures appeared on either side of the representative—an old man and an old woman. At a glance, it was clear their skill was in no way inferior.
“It, it seems… three elders of the Dark Shadow Cult have come!”
Seogwang Gahu, who was beside Han Yujin, explained the situation.
“When you say elders, are they all Transcendent experts?”
“Yes! The one who just spoke with the leader is definitely the Bloodfiend Demon Blade. The old man with the silver-red hair beside him must be the Six Vein Sword Demon. And that hunched old woman is most likely the Black Yin Hag!”
“I see.”
Thanks to this, he could roughly gauge their respective strengths.
As he had observed earlier, the enemy had the advantage in numbers. They also had one more Transcendent expert, and the number of Core Formation experts below them was likely higher as well.
It seemed there truly were spies. The fact that they had gathered a force capable of overwhelming this location without hindering their mobility proved it.
The timing was also extremely convenient. Most of the important treasures had already been excavated and neatly organized to one side.
The Jeongdo Alliance leader, whom he glanced at, appeared deeply conflicted. However, Han Yujin could already guess what decision he would ultimately make.
If both fighting and retreating would bring enormous loss, he would choose to fight for the sake of his own honor. The moment he did, a storm of blood would sweep over this place.
Since a fight was going to break out anyway, there was no reason not to use it as a stepping stone for his own plans.
“You two, stay far back. Hide well enough that I do not have to worry about you.”
“Pardon? Ah… yes, Eun-gong!”
“Eun-gong, surely you don’t mean…!”
Seogwang Gahu understood the meaning a beat later and answered. Eun Miryeong, on the other hand, seemed about to urgently dissuade him.
But Han Yujin, holding Mu-yong in his arms, moved slightly faster.
A deafening thunderclap rang out across the tense battlefield. As everyone looked toward the source of the sound in shock, only the Transcendent experts sensed something else and looked up at the sky.
There, Han Yujin appeared in a flash of light. Using the Wind Escape Technique, he shot forward at tremendous speed, aiming straight for the Dark Shadow Cult elders.
A violet radiance flashed within Han Yujin’s eyes.
The bloodshot gaze of the man called the Bloodfiend Demon Blade—who had been leading the conversation until now—met Han Yujin’s rapidly approaching figure. In that instant, the man’s focus shattered and his body froze for a brief moment.
“Huk…!”
It was an extremely short instant. Yet it was more than enough time to decide life and death between high-level experts.
Before anyone realized, a streak of Hard Metal Sword Qi shot from Han Yujin’s outstretched sword fingers like a beam of light, slicing straight across the Bloodfiend Demon Blade’s neck.
He came to a dignified stop in midair a short distance away and spoke softly.
The head of a peak Transcendent expert—one whose objective skill was unquestionably worthy of the Ten Great Masters despite the Dark Shadow Cult’s poor reputation—flew through the air in a surreal arc.
The sturdy body toppled backward, blood fountaining from the severed neck like a geyser. He had not even managed to draw his weapon, let alone display the blade techniques he had boasted of.
The head that fell to the ground a moment later rolled once, its eyes wide with shock.
Before the other two Transcendent experts of the Dark Shadow Cult could even react, Han Yujin unleashed a second and then a third spell in rapid succession.