Jo Mihyeon
I woke to the morning sunlight and headed straight to Nae Cheonha's herb garden. Since I hadn't caught the culprit who tampered with the Cold Yin Grass, I had to manage it even more meticulously. Of course, I had a pretty good idea who it was. It had to be one of Nae Cheonha's disciples who possessed a damaged talisman that allowed free access to the herb garden protected by formations.
Nae Cheonha had three disciples. Her eldest, a Core Formation mid-stage cultivator, had been away from the Unkak Sect on an external mission for half a year now. The second was a Core Formation initial-stage cultivator skilled in pill refining, one of the sect-supported alchemists. There were only a handful of pill refiners in the entire sect, and they were notoriously hard to train, so they received better treatment than cultivators of the same level. The third was my peer, Kang Seolhui, who had reached the 10th star of Qi Refining and turned arrogant and haughty as a result.
One of these three had mishandled the Cold Yin Grass, and excluding the eldest on mission, that left two suspects. My instincts pointed to the second disciple, Jo Mihyeon. Kang Seolhui never even approached the herb garden, but Jo Mihyeon mainly got her pill-refining materials from the sect and occasionally harvested extras from the garden, making her suspicious.
But I couldn't confront Nae Cheonha's disciple outright. What if I, a low-rank disciple with no background, told her, "One of your disciples nearly ruined the Cold Yin Grass"? Would she even listen? In the end, I had to get stronger myself. Only then would my words carry weight— the words of the weak are ignored. Bitterness welled up at my own weakness.
Still, thinking back to last night brought a smile to my face. To think I'd practiced the dual cultivation technique with Moyong Wol, the one person I relied on most in the Unkak Sect... It felt like a dream, and recalling her breathtaking figure made my lower body swell, straining against my robes as if it might burst free. I patrolled the herb garden with my erection, checking if the herbs were growing well.
Then, someone entered the garden. Oh no. It was Jo Mihyeon. I turned my back to her, pretending to inspect the herbs to hide my condition.
"Junior Brother Yuseong, shouldn't you greet your senior when you see her?" Jo Mihyeon's voice slithered in like a ghost's.
I replied without turning. "Yuseong greets Senior Sister Jo."
"Are you toying with me, Junior Brother?" I could picture her venomous glare even without looking. What now? Come on, please. I muttered the incantation from the Yin-Yang Art to try shrinking my erection back to normal. But instead of deflating, it seemed to grow even larger.
I felt her drawing closer. Thwack! She grabbed my shoulder with one hand and roughly spun me around. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I stammered, "Senior Sister Jo, this is... uh..."
She glanced at my bulging pants and made a face like she'd seen a bug. "You filthy pervert!"
With a casual flick of her hand, my right hand flew off, blood spraying from my wrist in a fountain. Spurt!
"Arghhh!" I clutched my wrist with my left hand and sealed the acupoint to staunch the bleeding.
Jo Mihyeon said coldly, "Handle your own treatment at the Medical Hall. If I ever see something like this again, I'll leave what happens next to your imagination."
My arm trembled as I said, "I'm sorry, Senior Sister. It won't happen again."
She flicked her eyes toward the exit. I gathered my severed hand, hopped on my flying artifact, and sped to the Medical Hall.
Jo Mihyeon, you bitch worse than a dog. I'll fuck you someday, and when you're sobbing beneath me, I won't show mercy.
Moments later, at the Medical Hall, I showed them my hand and received a packet of Wood Vitality Powder. I pressed the severed hand to my wrist, sprinkled the green powder, and the bleeding stopped. The stump knit together naturally, healing seamlessly. A young Medical Hall apprentice watching nearby asked, "Senior Brother Yuseong, how did your hand get cut off?"
I kept a straight face. "...It's nothing. Just be careful around women when you grow up." I clenched and unclenched my right fist to test it. As expected, the Medical Hall Lord's Wood Vitality Powder lived up to its reputation.
"Tell the Medical Hall Lord I'm grateful."
"Yes, sir."
I left for my duty at the Library Pavilion to sort books. When I arrived, other Qi Refining cultivators in similar straits were already at work. When would I ever get time to focus solely on cultivation? True Unkak Sect disciples were those at Core Formation; only upon reaching that realm did the sect truly acknowledge you. The hurdle from Qi Refining 10th star to Core Formation was brutal for most—many died failing to cross it. Of course, talent or a strong background made it trivial.
But with the Yin-Yang Art, I was confident I'd hit Qi Refining 10th star quickly. My qi was purer than my peers', so the breakthrough should be smooth too.
As I sorted books, I focused intently, hoping for another fortuitous encounter like the Yin-Yang Art, but nothing turned up. I finished my shift and left. With the remaining work, I'd wrap up Library Pavilion duties soon. Then I'd only have the herb garden, freeing up more time.
Moyong Wol was coming tonight, so I headed to my cave to cultivate. It had been my solo bachelor pad, messy and cluttered, but since she'd visit often now, I decided to clean it up. I tossed useless junk, blew away dust with wind, and tidied thoroughly. Then I sat cross-legged and began circulating qi.
Time flew as I focused on breathing and incantations; night fell before I knew it.
"Yuseong, were you cultivating?"
Hearing the familiar woman's voice, I stopped. "Wol, how was the Yin-Yang Art effect?"
Moyong Wol grinned. "Better than expected. I feel like I'll break through Qi Refining 7th star soon."
"Ah! What about the Fortune Cloud Grass?" I asked about the batch we hadn't divided yesterday.
"I asked Master to refine it into Fortune Cloud Pills. I had the auxiliary ingredients, and once we get them, I'll split according to our deal."
Fortune Cloud Pills! Pill refining had a high failure rate; I'd have wasted the materials. But the Medical Hall Lord, her master, would produce top-quality ones. And she'd covered the extras too. Overjoyed, I pulled her into a hug and kissed her.
"Mmph... wait a sec..."
I kept devouring her lips, but she punched my side, and I doubled over. "Gah!"
"I told you to stop for a moment."
I won't always lag behind her, will I? I don't want to live getting bossed and beaten by a woman.
"I came to share some insights from the Yin-Yang Art last night. Did you read the part on efficiently using yin and yang qi?"
"Yeah, but it didn't click."
I'd gathered yin qi in my left hand to form a cold orb and yang qi in my right for a flame, but both were smaller than my fist. Moyong Wol demonstrated.
"It's hard simultaneously at first, so start with yang qi."
She effortlessly conjured a head-sized fireball in her right hand and hurled it outside. Boom! It exploded with surprising force, shooting a pillar of flame a zhang high. Then she flung the cold qi from her left hand at it. Sizzle! Steam rose, extinguishing the flames, leaving ice shards around.
To master this in a day—her talent astonished me. I clapped. Clap clap clap!
She smiled shyly. "Impressed? Curious how?"
"Yeah."
Moyong Wol looked away, fiddling. "Don't tease—tell me quick. What do you want?"
She eyed me steadily. "Help me like this next time I go digging Fortune Cloud Grass?"
"It benefits me too, so obviously. Now teach me efficient yin-yang qi use."
"Alright, sit here."
I sat cross-legged beside her. All night, with her guidance, I cultivated, ending entwined as we circulated the Yin-Yang Art. At dawn, she left, and I went to manage Nae Cheonha's herb garden.
Normally, it was routine, but after Jo Mihyeon severed my hand, I felt uneasy. Was getting erect in the garden really worth chopping off a hand? I couldn't comprehend it. Nae Cheonha and Kang Seolhui were eyeball collectors, Jo Mihyeon a hand collector. How were these upright cultivators? Other sects would call them demonic.
But Moyong Wol kept me going in the Unkak Sect. At the garden, I pulled out my damaged talisman to enter as usual.
Crackle! The formation barrier repelled me. What the—?
A voice transmission talisman flew in, Nae Cheonha's voice issuing from it. "You no longer need to come to the herb garden starting today. I've found someone else to manage it. Don't ask why—just go."
Unbelievable! Herb garden duty was easy but rewarding, highly competitive, and now I was fired! Nae Cheonha must have booted me after Jo Mihyeon snitched about yesterday. She wouldn't have spilled the details verbatim, right?
I bowed politely. "Understood, Elder Nae. I'll take my leave."
I didn't dawdle and quickly withdrew.