Chapter 42: Gong Jeonhu
With the gold crystal secured, all he had to do now was head to So Gong and trade it for the White Soul Flower. Surely no one had snatched it up in the meantime, right? Anxious, Yuseong hurried to where So Gong was stationed.
Thankfully, the White Soul Flower was still there.
"Senior Brother So, I've got the gold crystal."
He pulled the gold crystal from his storage ring and showed it. So Gong, who had been lounging, shot up and snatched it, inspecting it closely.
"Ho, it's the real deal. Here—the White Soul Flower is yours now."
"Thank you."
Yuseong took the White Soul Flower from So Gong and carefully stowed it in a jade box. Now he had all the ingredients for the Soul Spirit Pill, and he'd even bought the pill formula from Moyong Wol. He was fully prepared to refine it.
He could head back to the cave and start refining right away, but since the exchange meet was held only once a year, he decided to stick around, browse a bit more, and pick up anything else useful.
As he wandered among the various ingredients, he politely asked about unfamiliar pills and spirit herbs, steadily building his knowledge. None of the seniors or juniors got annoyed or refused to answer just because he didn't know something. It seemed his reputation within the Unkak Sect was solid. Already at the 9th star of Qi Refining and eyeing Core Formation, on friendly terms with several Nascent Soul seniors—no one dared pick a fight.
Back when he was a low-rank disciple, he'd been pushed around left and right. But now... was he one of the sect's core disciples? With his Iron Skin Art reaching the 9th stage and forming a golden body, he could hold his own against almost any early Core Formation disciple in the Unkak Sect.
Heh, I'm pretty talented after all.
A laugh bubbled up unbidden, and before he knew it, he was guffawing out loud.
"Hahaha!"
The people around stared at him like he was some lunatic, but he didn't care.
"What's so funny?"
A young man in crimson robes spoke up. Yuseong didn't recognize him, but his aura was no joke, so he responded politely.
"Junior Yuseong greets Senior Brother. I just got my hands on something I'd been desperately after, and I couldn't help laughing."
"You don't even know my name, huh? I'm Gong Jeonhu."
Gong Jeonhu! Now Yuseong recognized him. Gong Jeonhu was one of Killing Heart Hall Lord Chil Hyeon's disciples, at the mid-Core Formation stage.
"It's Senior Brother Gong. I'd heard of your fame but never had the chance to meet you—I've been regretting that."
Gong Jeonhu sneered.
"Fame? You mean infamy."
"......"
Infamy was right, actually. Gong Jeonhu had nearly killed fellow sect members multiple times because he couldn't control the killing intent overflowing from his body. Killing Heart Hall Lord had taken him as a disciple anyway, teaching him techniques that harnessed that killing intent without letting it consume him. Even so, he still caused trouble around the sect, earning whispers that he was born with a "killing spirit root"—a mocking nickname for a nonexistent root, just to poke fun at his thick killing aura.
Even now, a faint killing intent shimmered visibly around Gong Jeonhu's entire body. Yuseong wasn't confident he could win a fight yet, and with Killing Heart Hall Lord backing him, it was smarter to let this slide. No need to tangle with a madman.
"Everyone in the Unkak Sect knows Senior Brother Gong is strong among peers of the same realm, thanks to your mastery of the Black Killing Art."
"Is that so? Well, for the benefit of clueless juniors like you, how about I test it out right here... on you?"
Gong Jeonhu's killing intent began to materialize. A sinister tsst-tsst sound accompanied black killing aura swirling around him, whipping up wind that stung the skin.
Why the hell is this guy picking a fight out of nowhere? Just because I laughed a bit loud?
The commotion at the exchange meet—packed with Core Formation disciples—drew a crowd. Looking around, Yuseong saw a wide open space had already cleared, with people egging them on to fight.
"......"
He waited, hoping someone might step in, but no one did. Gong Jeonhu's infamy ran deep.
"Senior Brother Gong, this is the exchange meet. Starting a ruckus would trouble us both, no?"
"It's fine."
What kind of asshole is this?
Gong Jeonhu's killing intent intensified, shrouding his crimson robes in black aura like armor. He was manifesting the Black Killing Art into tangible killing armor.
Was he seriously doing this? Over a hundred Core Formation disciples had formed a circle around them, eyes gleaming with anticipation for the show.
Backing down now with all these eyes on him? His pride wouldn't allow it. The old Yuseong would've bowed and scraped, but after beating peak early Core Formation Tak Ho-pyeong, he itched to test himself against mid-stage.
"Senior Brother Gong, to avoid bruising each other's pride, let's end it after one exchange."
"Kuhaha! Good. I was getting bored anyway."
Gong Jeonhu wore a demonic mask formed of black killing aura, his body clad in spiked black killing armor. Yuseong considered pulling out his Flame Orb but held off since Gong hadn't used a magic treasure. Besides, he wanted to test how far his golden body could go.
Channeling the Iron Skin Art at full power, golden light enveloped his body. Gong Jeonhu advanced step by step.
Thud! Thud!
The oppressive pressure of his killing intent grew with every step. Worse, it was stirring the dormant killing intent deep within Yuseong's own body.
He circulated both Iron Skin Art and Yin-Yang Art to suppress it, but it was hard to contain the aura leaking out.
"Hahaha! You've got some impressive killing intent yourself!"
Killing aura surged above Gong Jeonhu's head. Before long, dark crimson streaks from the stirred killing intent began mixing into Yuseong's golden glow. Gong controlled his via the Black Killing Art, but Yuseong's was wild—suppression was all he could manage.
Gong Jeonhu formed hand seals, and the killing aura coalesced into a massive black spear, which he hurled straight at Yuseong.
Yuseong whipped out a basic protective talisman and activated it, erecting a shield as fast as he could. Just block this.