Central Continent - Minor Gathering of the Three Sects (2)
Central Continent - Minor Gathering of the Three Sects (2)
"Is, is there such an outrageous fellow! Do you even know who that person is?!"
"Shut your trap."
I pointed a finger at the guy who had been standing quietly before shouting.
The guy flushed red and huffed, but upon seeing Gwak Cheolwoo caught in my grip, he suddenly became a master of anger management.
"...I was very impolite, dou. However, on such a fine day like today, there is no need to cause a big commotion, is there?"
"This bastard picked a fight with me first."
"If you have done that much, Gwak-dou must have come to his senses by now."
The young noble lord's gaze fell upon the dazed Gwak Cheolwoo.
"Gwak-dou, isn't that right?"
"Heok! That is right, doryeong-nim! I made a huge mistake."
Slipping out of my grip with nimble footwork, Gwak Cheolwoo bowed deeply.
"Please forgive me! I committed an offense against dou!"
"Just with words?"
At my single phrase, his shoulders shivered, and he pulled a red elixir out of his storage pouch and handed it over.
"This is the Red Silk Pill, a high-grade Qi Refining elixir excellent for regulating qi to heal injuries. It will easily cure most fatal wounds!"
"Is that so."
"Please take it!"
"Don't need it!"
I shoved the red elixir into Gwak Cheolwoo's mouth.
"U-eup!?"
"If it's a recovery pill, eat it yourself. If you want revenge, do it during the tournament. Got it?"
"Gulp! Keuk! I-I understand!"
Since he has a sturdy physique and even took the elixir, he should recover before the tournament starts.
With this, this incident never happened.
"I, I shall take my leave now."
"Good luck, Cheolwoo-ya."
"I am Gwak Cheonu!"
Gwak Cheolwoo rushed outside with his face turning bright red.
The young noble lord shook his head and approached me.
"My greetings are late. I am an inner disciple of Heaven's Degree Palace, named Do Yunbaek. And you?"
"Mu Jayeon. No affiliation."
"Heoheo, your skills are extraordinary for a rogue cultivator. Did you happen to stumble upon a fortuitous encounter somewhere?"
"It is a fortuitous encounter, yeah. Though I went through hell to get it."
"I see."
The young noble lord, Do Yunbaek, spoke amicably and smiled at me with his eyes.
"As expected, Samjongsohoe is truly a place where brilliant talents from all over Jungju gather. Meeting a splendid cultivator like you makes me so excited to discuss the Dao right away that I hardly know what to do with myself. This too is karma, so will you accept my gift?"
Do Yunbaek pulled a small box from his sleeve in a polite tone.
As he gently opened the lid, a refreshing scent of medicinal herbs spread thickly.
"It is the Meridian-Nourishing Jade Pill, a low-grade Foundation Establishment elixir. It is a pill that widens and strengthens the meridians. It might not be of great utility to someone like you who seems to have reached Great Perfection of Qi Refining, but it can still be used for recovery."
"Mhm."
Meridian-Nourishing Jade Pill, I feel like I heard about it while studying alchemy.
Normally, it is supposed to emit a jade-green luster, but this Meridian-Nourishing Jade Pill was white, looking as though there was a problem during the refining process.
Or maybe it was made like this on purpose.
I don't particularly need it. It's not like I have only one or two pills stacked in my storage pouch.
However, as they say, you can't spit on a smiling face.
Doing anything more would just be acting like a nuisance, so I obediently accepted it.
"Thanks, I'll take it. Let me buy you a meal sometime later."
"I know a good place. I look forward to that day."
Do Yunbaek waved his hand at me and walked out with his party.
No, wait, the waiting room is right here, so where does he keep going?
"Ugh! Wuegh!"
In a secluded, quiet spot.
Gwak Cheonu was desperately trying to vomit up the Red Silk Pill he had just swallowed.
However, once the elixir passed down his throat, it was absorbed into his body.
Even though Gwak Cheonu shoved his fingers down his throat and tried hard, nothing came out except stomach acid.
"Are you alright? Gwak Cheonu."
At that moment, hearing a voice that shouldn't be heard made him flinch and shiver.
"D-Doryeong-nim."
"Heoheo, why are you like that? As if you've seen something you shouldn't."
"S-Sorry! I have shown you a shameful sight!"
Gwak Cheonu fell to his knees and kowtowed.
Do Yunbaek merely fanned himself while speaking in an easygoing tone.
"Shameful sight? In this cultivation world, as long as you preserve your life, isn't that a concept you can redeem as much as you want? Gwak-dou, stand up. It makes even me embarrassed to watch."
"U-Understood, Doryeong-nim!"
To Gwak Cheonu, who stood at attention, Do Yunbaek asked while covering his mouth with his fan.
"I know that Gwak-dou has mastered the secret heritage cultivation technique of the Iron Wall Gate, so your durability is equivalent to a top-grade defensive magic tool. If you achieve great success during Qi Refining stage, when breaking through to Foundation Establishment, you can enjoy the effect of wrapping a defensive magic treasure around your skin."
"T-That is correct."
"Heoheo, Mu-dou's moves must have been remarkably harsh. Your whole body is covered in bruises. Even though you ate the Red Silk Pill."
"...... Yes!"
Do Yunbaek groaned softly as if full of regret.
"That Red Silk Pill seems to be a defective product. Instead of replenishing flesh and blood, isn't it draining them in reverse? If left like this, it is obvious you will meet a terrible end before even passing the preliminary rounds."
Gwak Cheonu stared with trembling eyes at what Do Yunbaek pulled out.
"It is a Meridian-Nourishing Jade Pill. Low-grade Foundation Establishment. Eating it will make you feel a bit better."
The color of the elixir was pure white. It was so clean that it seemed as if there was nothing inside it.
"T-Thank you."
"Though you may be nervous about the tournament, do not tremble. Have you not worked hard all this time?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Good. I shall look forward to Gwak-dou's performance. You are a cultivator too, so deal a solid blow to Mu-dou during the tournament."
"I will keep that in mind!"
Tapping Gwak Cheonu's shoulder, Do Yunbaek left the spot.
Left alone, the man bit his lip tightly and swallowed the Meridian-Nourishing Jade Pill.
The discord occurring inside his body quieted down.
Yet Gwak Cheonu could not feel relieved.
Because his stomach felt heavy and bloated, as if he had swallowed a python.
"That bastard......."
Looking at the departing Do Yunbaek, Gwak Cheonu burned with cold rage toward Mu Jayeon, who had humiliated him.
Samwonseong, Samjongsohoe tournament grounds.
The packed spectator stands were filled with unextinguishable excitement.
[Starting now, we will host the preliminary rounds of Samjongsohoe!]
Holding a magic treasure that amplified his voice, the host pointed toward the empty arena and spoke to the audience.
[Are you puzzled as to why our prospects are nowhere to be seen even though the preliminary rounds have begun? Do not worry! It is all according to plan! If they want to reach the main tournament, they must find their own way to where you spectators are sitting! That is precisely the test of this preliminary round!]
As the host snapped his fingers, the screen illuminated the flustered contestants.
[From the moment the announcement echoed and they stepped out of the waiting rooms, the contestants became caught in an illusion formation installed by the organizers. This illusion formation was prepared by none other than Heaven's Degree Palace! Speaking of formations, one can hardly leave out Heaven's Degree Palace, can one? The difficulty of the preliminary rounds won't be ordinary!]
As soon as the host finished speaking, a cultivator shown on the screen sat cross-legged.
[Ah-ah! No sooner had I finished speaking than a cultivator who can't pull himself together inside the illusion formation has already appeared! He needs to move quickly, but to just sit there like that! At this rate, he will exceed the time limit and end up disqualified!]
The host rolled his eyes to identify the cultivator's background.
Recognizing the cultivator by the token on his chest, he nodded as if he roughly understood.
'A cultivator named Oh Yeonggeun at peak Qi Refining? If he is 48 years old, he must have stumbled upon some fortuitous encounter somewhere.'
There were occasionally such cultivators—those who thought maxing out a minor realm meant everything.
'Meaningless. A minor realm is a stage for building inner substance while moving forward. A realm built without depth is merely a castle in the sand.'
The host clicked his tongue inaudibly.
'If it's Oh Yeonggeun, it makes sense he'd be anxious. What's more, being a rogue cultivator, he might barely be able to attempt Foundation Establishment only near the end of his lifespan.'
At that moment, the cultivator on the screen gathered his hands above his dantian.
[Ah! Is he trying to overcome the illusion with a cultivation technique!? No way! If one hasn't trained one's mind from the start, breaking through the illusion formation is impossible!]
The host switched to another screen.
There were contestants advancing with unstoppable force.
[That's right! As expected of the pride of our Jungju! Truly fitting for disciples of the Three Great Sects! Having trained so well normally, it's natural for them to show such results!]
In truth, this illusion formation was extremely difficult to break through unless one was a disciple of a prestigious sect.
Heaven's Degree Palace had designed it that way from the beginning.
It was not out of malicious intent to rob other participants of their opportunity.
At a time when the political situation was chaotic due to the fall of Nanhuang, they had simply raised the difficulty significantly to filter out unpolished gems.
'It's just unfortunate. Aim for the next opportunity.'
Making such an evaluation, the host glanced sideways at the cultivator he had initially singled out as an example.
The man, who had been meditating with closed eyes, half-opened them and muttered.
[Ah, messing with the formation core won't work. Then, I'll just make one here.]
Drowned out by the audience's cheers, his voice did not reach the arena grounds.
However, the host heard it loud and clear.
'What did this guy just say?'
At that instant, a small sphere began to condense between the cultivator's hands.
Although sitting in the position of host, he was originally a Core Formation Master cultivator.
He instinctively deciphered what that was and what kind of phenomenon it represented.
'Did he try to break the illusion formation itself by tampering with its formation core? When that failed, is he trying to deploy his own formation?'
It was a sight occasionally seen among formation masters.
When trapped inside a superior formation, it was a method of deploying a new formation from within to fight back.
'So he was a formation master. If so, he might actually pass.......'
[Explosion is birth (Explosion becomes birth).]
"Huh?"
The host's dumbfounded exclamation resonated through the sound magic treasure.
At that, the gazes of the audience converged upon the cultivator he was looking at.
[Wh-What is that? N-No, isn't he at the Qi Refining stage?]
'What, what, what?!'
[Why is a Qi Refining stage cultivator using a divine ability?!]
They can use it! They can!
But a divine ability is something one properly enters only around the Foundation Establishment stage!
He wondered if he was mistaken, but he wasn't.
That man was not hiding it.
He was displaying it for all to see.
[The climax is annihilation (The extreme is extinction).]
He released the sphere held in his hands.
The makeshift formation core absorbed all the spiritual qi of the formation—
○
And exploded forward.
In front of the exit where the preliminary qualifiers were emerging, a figure stepped out, snatching the lead where disciples of the Three Great Sects should have been standing.
"Ah, I failed to control the power."
The cultivator who made his entrance by completely shattering the illusion formation itself.
He, who had been predicted to be the very first failure, passed the preliminary round in an unimaginable manner.
He was Mu Jayeon.
He simply used a divine ability because he thought it would work.