Pseudo Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talisman
A moment later, she pulled a thick book from the bookshelf and handed it to me.
"If you diligently practice the consciousness cultivation outlined in this book, it'll be great preparation for the heart demons you'll face down the line."
I immediately scanned the book Yeop Inyeong had given me with my consciousness right there on the spot. It wasn't just consciousness cultivation—there was a vast amount of information on the Puppet Technique as well. This seemed to cover most of what Yeop Inyeong knew about puppetry.
"I'll study it diligently so I don't tarnish your esteemed name, Master."
"That's only natural for my disciple. From now on, you're mine."
Her final words sent a slight chill down my spine, but becoming Yeop Inyeong's disciple was a position any Unkak Sect disciple would kill for, so I bowed once more.
"I'll do anything you command, Master."
Yeop Inyeong's hand gently stroked my head. For an instant, I felt like one of her puppets. I quickly checked my body and consciousness space, but there were no traces of any restrictions. Just my imagination?
"Let's go meet Sect Leader Wiyeon."
"Yes."
I left the Library Pavilion with Yeop Inyeong and flew off using flight techniques. Sect Leader Wiyeon resided in the Cangkong Hall, overseeing sect affairs from the highest peak in the sect grounds. We had to soar high into the sky for quite a while to reach it. Breaking through the clouds, the Cangkong Hall came into view—a pristine, azure palace standing majestically atop the peak. Clouds drifted around it, while the other sect halls below looked like tiny specks. I'd never had occasion to visit until now, and the sight was breathtaking. I found myself thinking that one day, I wanted to become sect leader and live there myself.
At first, becoming Unkak Sect's leader had seemed impossible, but with my steady growth and now having an exceptional figure like Yeop Inyeong as my master, hope glimmered on the horizon.
Upon arriving at the Cangkong Hall, the image of Sect Leader Wiyeon before his dispatch to fend off the overseas investigators flashed in my mind. His blood-boiling speech back then was a memory I'd never forget.
"Yeop Inyeong has come to see you, Sect Leader."
"Yuseong has come to see you, Sect Leader."
The Unkak Sect's sect leader, Wiyeon, sat in a chair, rapidly scanning the numerous jade slips on his desk with his consciousness.
"What brings you here, Hall Lord Yeop?"
"I've taken on a new disciple."
Yeop Inyeong gave me a glance.
"Sect Leader, I'm Yuseong. I've just been fortunate enough to take Hall Lord Yeop as my master."
Wiyeon paused his reading and let out a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! Hall Lord Yeop taking a disciple... that's Unkak Sect's fortune. And what a disciple—proficient in both spells and body techniques, with consciousness and mana far surpassing peers at the same level. Who knew we had such talent in the sect? Astonishing."
Wiyeon's consciousness probed me, accurately assessing my state.
Yeop Inyeong smiled softly.
"Thank you for the kind words, Sect Leader. I'll raise Yuseong into an outstanding Unkak Sect disciple."
"With you as his master, that's a given."
Wiyeon and Yeop Inyeong exchanged light conversation about sect matters. I hung back, listening quietly.
"It'd be rude to take more of your time, Sect Leader, so we'll take our leave."
"On the contrary, you've given me a break—hardly rude."
After bidding farewell to Wiyeon, Yeop Inyeong and I left the Cangkong Hall. Wiyeon sent me a voice transmission.
"Never betray her."
With Yeop Inyeong as my master now, I focused solely on cultivation for the time being. She bestowed several pills suitable for the Qi Refining 10th star upon me. I consumed them and circulated my energy to absorb their qi. To someone at Nascent Soul mid-stage like her, pills for Qi Refining cultivators were meaningless, so she gave them all to me. And with me as her only disciple, there was no one else to share them with anyway.
Now that I had a master, I asked freely about any cultivation difficulties or questions I had, and Yeop Inyeong patiently explained each one. Cultivating alone had left me with many blind spots and misconceptions, so I peppered her with questions all day long. Thanks to that, I even found a clue to restoring the Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talisman.
Yeop Inyeong taught me the ancient characters needed to fill in the blanks on the Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talisman. She wasn't entirely sure if they'd work, so she told me not to get my hopes up. Still, I returned to my secluded chamber and tried crafting it once more.
After meditating to clear my mind, I drew the ancient characters on paper made from radiant yellow wood. For the blanks, I used the ones Yeop Inyeong had specified. Even before completion, the talisman's spirit energy felt extraordinary. This time, it seemed like a success.
A whirring sound filled the air as I drew the final ancient character and cast the spell seal. The talisman turned golden, and wind swirled from its center. Its appearance closely resembled the Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talisman that Tak Hwaryeon had used against the Blood Shadow Sect woman. The spirit energy emanating from this golden talisman fell short of that one, but it felt far more powerful than any standard lightning talisman.
I wanted to test its might firsthand, but it seemed too precious to waste, so I saved it for a strong foe. Using up all the remaining Class 3 beast blood, I crafted two more.
Since it wasn't the true Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talisman, I named these golden talismans Pseudo Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talismans.
The cinnabar, brush, talisman paper, and my talisman techniques were all inferior to those for the real thing, making these imitations. But if I improved my talisman arts and used better materials, I figured I could reach a level close to the original.
I stored the three completed Pseudo Heavenly Thunder Spirit Talismans in my storage ring and took out the Soul-Trapping Flag. Inside it, the three cultivators' nascent souls and Yidugoeung's soul were bound in black threads.
Yidugoeung's soul could serve as a puppet's soul later once I obtained the materials, but the nascent souls were problematic. Now that I was officially Yeop Inyeong's disciple and had learned how to use nascent souls in puppets, I knew the process wasn't simple.
To use a nascent soul as a soul substitute in a puppet, it first had to retain its intellect. A nascent soul that had lost its mind would rampage uncontrollably in the puppet, unable to distinguish friend from foe. But the nascent souls trapped in the Soul-Trapping Flag for so long had long since lost their intellects, rendering them unusable.
After a moment's thought, I decided that since I wasn't a demonic cultivator and had no use for mindless nascent souls, I'd mercifully release them to reincarnation without pain.
I painlessly disposed of all the nascent souls in the flag, leaving only Yidugoeung's soul. I stored the Soul-Trapping Flag in my storage ring and headed to the spirit herb garden outside.
The Clear Heart Yin Herb and Yellow Sea Mountain Herb were thriving there. The Clear Heart Yin Herb was for breakthroughs to Core Formation to ward off heart demons, while the Yellow Sea Mountain Herb went into body cultivation pills. I needed the recipe for those.
Cooped up cultivating in seclusion, I'd grown lonely for company. So, to get the recipe for Yellow Sea Mountain Herb pills and some social interaction, I flew to the Mibong Shop.
I had to brag to Hwang Danha about getting a master and reaching the Qi Refining 10th star. It might seem childish, but little things like this doubled the satisfaction from cultivation and made life worth living.
As I arrived at the Mibong Shop and moved to enter, Kang Seolhui pushed open the door and stormed out.
"Greetings, Senior Kang."
She, once at Qi Refining 10th star, was now at Core Formation initial stage. I greeted her while trying not to stare at her chest. I remembered her threat about gouging out my eyes if I looked again. But a man's gaze is inevitably drawn to a big chest, so I sneaked a quick peek.
"Your cultivation has grown a lot."
A ton, yeah. Back when I was Qi Refining 3rd star, you were at 10th. Now I'm at 10th.
"Going through all those ordeals made my cultivation skyrocket before I knew it."
Kang Seolhui shot me an arrogant glare.
"Are you saying you suffered ordeals while I just lounged around comfortably?"
Is she picking a fight? She doesn't seem to realize how different I am now from back then.
I smirked.
"Pretty much."
Kang Seolhui bellowed in fury.
"How dare you get cheeky!"
"I'm not the old me anymore. You don't scare me just by glaring like that."
Kang Seolhui pulled a gray bowl from her storage ring.
"I'll make you regret those words!"
I circulated the Iron Skin Art, enveloping my body in golden light, and drew my Flame Pearl and Goeung Sword. If she attacked first, I'd counter.
"Enough! Put away your magic tools, Junior Sister Kang and Junior Brother Yuseong!"
Hwang Danha burst out from the Mibong Shop. Kang Seolhui, usually so haughty, looked wronged as she turned to her.
"But Senior Hwang, that punk started—"
"I know what happened. Put it away."
Kang Seolhui glared daggers at me but said nothing more, flying off with flight techniques.
While you holed up in the sect, swallowing pills from your master and focusing on cultivation, I survived grueling missions. I'd planned to show her the gap in our strength this time and straighten her out, but Hwang Danha must have sensed my power and intervened.
Hwang Danha eyed me curiously.
"Why'd you talk to Junior Sister Kang like that? That's not like the sweet Junior Brother Yuseong I know."
"That's... a secret."
"Tell me the truth, or you're banned from the Mibong Shop from now on."
I could just use other shops if banned, but since Hwang Danha had once blocked Gong Jeonhu's attack for me, I decided to come clean.
"Ahem, well, back then I peeked at Senior Kang's chest once, and she said she'd gouge out my eyes if I did it again. It's been stuck in my mind ever since."
Hwang Danha looked dumbfounded.
"You didn't have to be that detailed..."
"......"
You told me to tell the truth.
"Oh, right—do you happen to know the recipe for any pill that uses Yellow Sea Mountain Herb?"
"Yellow Sea Mountain Herb... Come inside for a sec."
I followed Hwang Danha into the Mibong Shop. She pulled out several books and scanned them quickly with her consciousness.
"Got any spirit stones?"
"Of course."
She finished scanning and said,
"No recipe, but it mentions it's an ingredient in the Gold Scale Pill."
"Thanks for that much at least. How many spirit stones?"
"It's not even a full recipe—just an ingredient mention—so no charge."
Oh? The spirit stone ghost is turning down stones? Miracles do happen. Maybe it's because I'm so handsome? Just in case, I flashed Hwang Danha a dazzling smile.