Chapter 101
Translator: T_Fan
The old man felt a numbing tingle at the back of his mind.
Cold sweat ran down his spine as he swallowed hard.
He hoped his senses had deceived him.
But as the tiger-masked figure drew closer, that fragile hope quickly faded.
A savage, primal aura radiated from the golden markings he could glimpse on the skin beneath the robe.
The old man had faced Tier 3 demon beasts before. But their demonic qi had been nothing compared to that of the being before him.
What frightened him even more was the power hidden within. The energy leaking out was enough to leave him struggling for breath, yet he could not begin to gauge the strength coiled inside that body.
He had heard that demon beasts who underwent human-form transformation at Tier 3 usually retained features of their original species. Yet the figure before him was indistinguishable from a member of the human race, right down to his exposed hands and build.
With so much demonic qi and a perfectly human appearance… what else could he have been but a Tier 4 demon beast that had undergone human-form transformation, a match for a Nascent Soul great cultivator!
‘Why is a Tier 4 great demon here…?’
The great demons of Cangmang Forest sought no permission to enter the lands of the human race. Some came to capture cultivators who coveted their territory, others to seize things they needed, and some were said to venture out simply because they were bored.
Which of those reasons had brought this one here?
The old man looked at the tiger mask covering the figure’s face.
A mask.
Only then did he remember the masks worn by the Two Heavens Society members around him.
‘It couldn’t be…….’
The man in the reddish-brown robe beside him had also gone grim.
[Elder, that man….]
[Shh! Keep your mouth shut and stay still!]
In the presence of an expert at the Nascent Soul level, even a conversation through divine sense could be detected.
The man in the reddish-brown robe hurriedly reined in his magical power. The paltry pressure the Golden Core cultivators had exerted over the clearing vanished as though it had never been there.
“S-Senior, we pay our respects.”
The cultivators at Foundation Establishment or below whom they had brought along were already prostrate on the ground, unable even to raise their heads.
Lee Hyun clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘I used both the Aura-Concealing Art and the Spirit-Concealing Art, and they’re still reacting like this.’
He had only come to rescue the Two Heavens Society members peacefully and settle the dispute amicably. Instead, they were treating him like a man-eating great demon that had burst out of the forest.
‘But I’m such a nice person…’
Lee Hyun spoke.
“How dare you oppress the Two Heavens Society… Is this Nanming’s will?”
The Nanming cultivators’ faces turned ashen the moment they heard those words.
Meanwhile, shock and elation filled the eyes of the Two Heavens Society members, including the man in the red deer mask.
‘So the Society Head’s message was true! The one who came to help us… is a venerable Tier 4 great demon!’
They had never even heard of a Nascent Soul cultivator being active in the Two Heavens Society. Yet here was a Tier 4 great demon, an existence even harder to win over.
How had a secret network of rogue cultivators, organized into separate cells to siphon qi from spirit veins and trade medicinal ingredients, come to count someone so terrifyingly powerful among its members?
The old man from Nanming hurriedly gave a fist-and-palm salute, his lips trembling.
“S-Senior! I am Xiahou Heng, an Elder of Nanming’s Zhenyang clan! We never intended to offend you!”
Lee Hyun had heard of the Zhenyang clan. It was not one of the twelve powers that made up the Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance.
‘So the Twelve-Sect Alliance’s main sects haven’t intervened directly.’
“I hear you tried to interfere with the Two Heavens Society’s trade network.”
“I-It’s a misunderstanding! We merely wished to make a few adjustments to the distribution of medicinal ingredients along the border…!”
“Adjustments? Then perhaps I should make a few adjustments to the way the Zhenyang clan is run.”
Sweat beaded on Xiahou Heng’s forehead.
“We have no intention of quarreling with either the Two Heavens Society or Cangmang Forest. But Tier 3 demon beasts have recently vanished from several regions of the outer seas, making demon-beast materials difficult to obtain. While searching for new suppliers, we learned of the trade network for medicinal ingredients here….”
“Tier 3 demon beasts have vanished? Were you humans responsible?”
Xiahou Heng’s face went white in an instant.
‘Oh no!’
He had brought up the disappearance of demon beasts at sea right in front of a great demon of Cangmang Forest!
There was a good chance Cangmang Forest already knew that Nanming’s great sects had established bases on islands throughout the outer seas and hunted demon beasts.
If this great demon had entered the lands of the human race over the disappearance of his own kind, the Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance would be the first to come under suspicion here.
“W-We had nothing to do with it! We are still investigating what happened ourselves!”
At that moment, the man in the reddish-brown robe, Xiahou Zhen, quietly shifted his footing.
He had thought they only had to answer for interfering with the trade network. Now they were about to be blamed for hunting demon beasts as well.
If the great demon had really come because of his own kind, would he listen to anything the Elder had to say?
Xiahou Zhen glanced toward the edge of the clearing.
He had no intention of defeating his opponent. He only needed to obscure his opponent’s vision and hold him in place for a single breath, just long enough to escape with the Elder.
The flying needles inside his sleeve silently fanned out.
In the next instant, dozens of flying needles burst outward!
Silver trails arced in at different heights, converging on Lee Hyun’s face and upper body all at once.
“Xiahou Zhen!”
Xiahou Heng shouted, but it was too late.
Just as the web of flying needles reached his face, Lee Hyun raised his left hand and grasped at empty air.
Hummm!
A powerful surge of Earth-Origin Force gathered before his palm. The incoming silver streaks veered toward a single point in midair, then were sucked into his hand!
Crunch.
The tiger-masked figure clenched his hand, then opened it.
In that instant, the flying needles had been crushed into a tangled lump of metal the size of a fist.
‘…’
Xiahou Zhen gaped at the impossible sight.
He had painstakingly refined that set of flying needles. Though they fell short of magic treasures, they were exceptional supreme-grade magic tools that could pierce even an early Golden Core cultivator’s body-protecting magical light when wielded with a Golden Core cultivator’s magical power.
Yet a bare hand had crushed them like taffy!
Thud.
Lee Hyun dropped the lump of metal to the ground and took a step toward Xiahou Zhen.
Xiahou Zhen hurriedly retreated, raising his body-protecting magical light. A thick barrier of light enveloped his entire body.
Tap.
Lee Hyun was suddenly beside him, resting a hand on the barrier over Xiahou Zhen’s shoulder.
‘When did he…!’
As the palm pressed down on his shoulder, the thick barrier of light crumpled.
Crack!
Xiahou Zhen’s knees slammed into the ground, splitting the bedrock. The crushing pressure on his shoulder drove through his entire body.
“Urgh…!”
Lee Hyun only withdrew his hand after Xiahou Zhen had planted both hands on the ground.
Silence descended over the clearing.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators from Nanming and the Two Heavens Society scarcely dared breathe.
“Were you trying to test my strength?”
Xiahou Zhen could not answer.
Xiahou Heng hurriedly spoke.
“I apologize for my subordinate’s insolence! The fool didn’t know who he was dealing with…!”
Without waiting for him to finish, Lee Hyun turned to Red Deer.
“Have they already taken any of your goods?”
“They intercepted two of our shipments. We recovered some of the goods, but they said they would settle up for the rest once the terms of trade were decided.”
“And the payment?”
“We have not received any yet.”
Lee Hyun turned to Xiahou Heng.
“Hand it over.”
The old man hurriedly nodded.
“Of course. All the medicinal ingredients and payment we still owe….”
“Those belong to them. I’m telling you to hand over your storage pouches.”
“…….”
The clearing fell quiet.
The old man stared at the tiger mask. Cold sweat broke out as their eyes met.
He slowly untied the storage pouch at his waist.
“Please accept this as compensation.”
Instead of taking it, Lee Hyun looked at the old man’s other sleeve.
A moment later, a second storage pouch emerged.
The man in the reddish-brown robe watched nervously before untying the storage pouch at his own waist. When Lee Hyun’s gaze lingered briefly on his chest, he took another small storage pouch from inside his robe.
Lee Hyun suspended all four storage pouches in the air.
“Remove the restrictions too.”
The two men used their divine sense to disperse the energy sealing each pouch in turn.
Lee Hyun examined the contents: spirit stones, jade caskets, bottles of pills, and various spirit materials. As expected, the possessions of two Golden Core cultivators amounted to quite a fortune.
‘Good.’
He had plenty to spend spirit stones on at the moment.
Lee Hyun looked at the old man.
“Take out what you’re still hiding in your sleeve.”
The skin around the old man’s eyes tightened.
“Senior. That is my life-bound magic treasure. I have nurtured it for many years.”
“How generous of you.”
“The contents of my storage pouches alone would more than cover the compensation. Please….”
Lee Hyun did not answer.
Golden demon markings shimmered beneath the collar of his robe.
The old man’s gaze fell on them, then moved away.
What would he have left if he gave up even his life-bound magic treasure?
He could always amass the wealth in his storage pouches again. His life-bound magic treasure was another matter. He had nurtured it with essence blood and magical power for years, and it had seen him through countless crises.
If he relinquished his connection to it as well, he would have no way to resist should his opponent change his mind.
The old man moistened his dry lips.
“…Understood.”
A thin, curved black blade slipped from his right sleeve.
A little over one chi (about 33 cm) long, it had no clear division between hilt and blade, and its ends curved in opposite directions.
Dark blood-red patterns surfaced along its spine.
Lee Hyun looked down at the blade.
At that moment, the old man bit the tip of his tongue.
Flash!
The black blade he had been respectfully presenting shot upward like lightning!
Red radiance erupted from the blade, engulfing Lee Hyun’s head and upper body at once.
The old man did not expect to kill his opponent.
But his life-bound magic treasure far surpassed Xiahou Zhen’s flying needles. A lightning-fast surprise strike with this blade at point-blank range was devastating!
Even against a Tier 4 great demon, all he needed was to inflict an injury. That would give him an opening to flee.
But before the old man’s feet could leave the ground, Lee Hyun’s right hand plunged straight into the red radiance.
Skrrrch!
A long tear opened in Lee Hyun’s sleeve.
Sparks flew as the black blade scraped his bare arm. Instead of cutting flesh, it produced a bone-chilling screech like metal grinding against metal.
Lee Hyun’s fingers clamped around the spine of the blade.
Through his divine-sense link to the magic treasure, the old man felt it being seized.
‘…!’
The old man hurriedly changed his hand seal.
Blood-red radiance poured from the black blade as it tried to spin, but it could only tremble in Lee Hyun’s grip.
In the next instant, Lee Hyun stepped forward.
Boom!
The bedrock sank beneath his foot.
Just as the old man abandoned his magic treasure and tried to flee in a streak of light, Lee Hyun’s left hand seized the back of his neck.
His body stopped dead just as it was about to shoot into the air.
‘No…!’
The old man frantically poured in magical power. His escape light stretched into a long streak, but his body did not budge.
Lee Hyun wrenched his arm downward.
Booom!
Dragged down, the old man’s body slammed into the ground. Dust billowed across the clearing in a ring, and the escape light he had forced into being scattered.
“Ghh…!”
The old man spat blood.
Lee Hyun’s left hand still gripped the back of his neck. When the old man barely managed to turn his head, he saw his own life-bound magic treasure in Lee Hyun’s right hand.
That hand was bare.
The old man’s eyes widened as he stared at those fingers.
Not even a drop of blood had welled up where the magic treasure’s blade had touched Lee Hyun’s skin!
‘…….’
Only then did he truly realize how close he was to death.
“Please spare me!”
The old man cried out desperately.
“Never again… I’ll never interfere again! Take anything I have!”
Lee Hyun spoke without releasing the back of his neck.
“Break your link to the magic treasure.”
The old man did not hesitate.
He recited the mnemonic formula, his lips trembling, and the blood-red patterns on the black blade dimmed one after another. The blade stopped struggling in Lee Hyun’s hand.
The old man’s face grew even paler.
The aura that had permeated the magic treasure over the years had not been completely erased, but at least its owner could no longer control it for the time being.
Lee Hyun put away the blade and looked at the man in the reddish-brown robe.
The man was already holding out a long red iron ruler in both hands.
“Here it is.”
Even before he finished speaking, he was withdrawing the aura he had left in the magic treasure.
Lee Hyun extended a hand, and the red iron ruler flew to him.
“What else are you hiding?”
“Nothing.”
When Lee Hyun continued to stare at him in silence, the man hurriedly pulled a flat jade casket from inside his belt.
“Th-This is an emergency talisman. It slipped my mind….”
Lee Hyun took that too.
Keeping his head bowed, the old man likewise produced a small jade plaque from inside his robe and unfastened the bracelet around his wrist.
Before long, both men’s attire had become remarkably modest.
Lee Hyun stowed everything he had taken.
Xiahou Heng spoke, carefully gauging Lee Hyun’s reaction.
“Senior. We will remember what happened today until our dying day….”
Lee Hyun considered the matter for a moment.
He had intended to settle their interference with the Two Heavens Society’s trade by recovering the goods and making them pay compensation.
But he had no intention of letting men who had aimed magic tools and magic treasures at his throat walk away.
They were already Golden Core cultivators. They might someday reach Nascent Soul or Spirit Transformation and come back for revenge.
Lee Hyun snapped the old man’s neck with his left hand while making a short, sharp sweep toward Xiahou Zhen with his right.
The crack of breaking bone and a heavy thud rang out in quick succession.
Xiahou Heng collapsed on the spot, his neck shattered. Xiahou Zhen instinctively tried to dodge, but he too went tumbling across the ground, his chest caved in.
One after the other, the two Golden Core cultivators could no longer be sensed in the clearing.
…
The Foundation Establishment cultivators from Nanming barely dared breathe.
The two Golden Core cultivators who had led them moments ago now lay dead side by side. Their magic treasures, the magical power they had cultivated over the years, and even their clan’s name had been useless against that tiger-masked figure.
Someone moved a foot to flee, and Lee Hyun’s gaze turned toward him.
The man immediately sank to the ground.
“You didn’t attack me, so I’ll let you leave alive.”
Only then did people throughout the clearing release the breaths they had been holding.
“Th-Thank you!”
“We are grateful for your mercy, Senior…!”
“But leave your storage pouches.”
The cultivators reached for their belts in unison.
They removed pouches from their belts, from inside their sleeves, and even from beneath their robes. Storage pouches large and small piled up on the ground.
After confirming that they had lifted the restrictions, Lee Hyun called over the man in the rabbit mask from among the members. He was in charge of communications and settling accounts.
“Check for the goods they took.”
Rabbit hurriedly took out a jade slip.
By comparing its records with the jade caskets from the Nanming cultivators’ storage pouches, they recovered most of the medicinal ingredients that had not yet been disposed of. The cultivators were made to pay for anything missing or damaged with their own spirit stones.
Only after the accounts were settled did Lee Hyun jerk his chin at the Nanming cultivators.
“Take those two with you as well. When you return, report everything that happened today, down to the last detail.”
The cultivators prostrate on the ground nodded repeatedly.
“And tell them that if they touch the Two Heavens Society’s goods again, next time I’ll visit the Zhenyang clan myself.”
“We will remember!”
They gathered the two bodies and left the clearing without daring to look back.
…
Having relieved the Zhenyang clan’s Foundation Establishment cultivators of their belongings as well, Lee Hyun left with the members of the Two Heavens Society.
Only after they reached a small clearing beyond the valley did several members drop to the ground, gasping for breath.
Red Deer bowed deeply.
“We will never forget your help.”
The members behind him paid their respects in unison. Some even dropped to their knees.
“Rise. I merely came in response to the Society Head’s message.”
Those words made Red Deer even more tense.
‘A single message was enough to bring a great demon like this?’
There were all kinds of rumors about the society head of the Two Heavens Society. But even one of the demon race’s great demons was involved in its affairs!
Lee Hyun beckoned Red Deer and Rabbit closer.
Rabbit looked at him anxiously.
Was he going to demand a separate reward?
He had come at the society head’s request, but he was still a Tier 4 great demon. Rabbit could not begin to guess what they could offer him without giving offense.
As the two approached, Lee Hyun took two jade caskets from his storage pouch.
“The Society Head said to put these up for trade as well.”
A faint medicinal fragrance drifted out as the lids opened.
Rabbit froze.
There were two pills, slightly different in color. Their surface markings and the pulses of medicinal strength they emitted matched the descriptions he had studied over and over in the illustrated guide.
“G-Golden Core Condensing Pills?”
“Yes. They were refined using a pill recipe from Baoguang Temple’s tradition. Tier 3 demon cores were among the ingredients.”
‘…!’
The society head had a Tier 4 member of the demon race casually offering Golden Core Condensing Pills made from demon cores for sale?
And he had not taken on the task in ignorance, either. He was explaining the ingredients himself!
‘Just how terrifying must the Society Head be….’
Red Deer leaned forward.
“May I appraise them?”
Lee Hyun pushed the jade caskets toward him.
A moment later, Red Deer swallowed.
“They have lost none of their medicinal strength. The quality is good, too.”
Before attempting Core Formation, he had spent a long time searching far and wide for a Golden Core Condensing Pill. These appeared to have been refined to a higher purity than the one he had obtained back then.
Beside him, Rabbit studied the pill markings and took in the medicinal fragrance before speaking cautiously.
“Based on their medicinal strength, both are mid grade. They contain little impure qi and have been kept in good condition… each should fetch five thousand mid-grade spirit stones.”
Red Deer hesitated briefly before looking at Lee Hyun.
“May I buy one myself? There is a Junior I have been helping with cultivation….”
“Anyone may buy one, so long as they pay a fair price.”
Lee Hyun lightly tapped an open jade casket with a finger.
“But you understand the drawbacks of a Golden Core Condensing Pill made from a demon core, don’t you?”
Red Deer nodded.
“Yes. I know that demon markings remain after Core Formation and make advancing to Nascent Soul difficult.”
He smiled bitterly.
“For that child, a chance at Core Formation now matters far more than reaching Nascent Soul someday.”
“Then that’s fine.”
Red Deer opened his storage pouch. He took out bags of mid-grade spirit stones and made up the difference with high-grade spirit stones.
Once Rabbit counted them and handed them to Lee Hyun, Red Deer tucked one jade casket inside his robe.
Rabbit’s gaze briefly lingered on the remaining jade casket.
As a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, he too desperately needed a Golden Core Condensing Pill.
But the thought of how many spirit stones he actually had quickly dampened his hopes. It was not enough.
“I will look for a buyer for the remaining pill at the same price. Is there anything the Society Head would like to receive besides spirit stones?”
“He said to take spirit stones, but useful items would do as well.”
Lee Hyun handed over the jade slip he had prepared.
The requests were for ready-to-install Tier 3 concealment formations and alarm formations, as well as an artisan able to repair damaged exceptional supreme-grade magic tools or refine magic treasures.
Rabbit read the jade slip and spoke.
“Completed Tier 3 formations are rarely available. Commissioning one to your specifications may be faster.”
“Then find out who accepts such commissions as well. I’ll decide once I know what materials are needed and what it will cost.”
“Understood.”
Lee Hyun entrusted the remaining jade casket to Rabbit.
He still had fourteen pills on hand. The members at this base could not afford to buy them all. He would need to enlist the other bases in finding buyers for the rest.
After recording the consignment details, Rabbit put away the jade slip. Lee Hyun spoke again.
“Shut down this base today.”
Red Deer immediately bowed his head.
“Understood.”
“Move all the brokers elsewhere. Change your masks and the way you make contact, too.”
“Understood.”
Lee Hyun nodded. Red Deer hesitated for a moment, then sent him a voice transmission.
[I know this is presumptuous, but… is it called the Two Heavens Society because it has members from both the human race and the demon race?]
‘Huh?’
Lee Hyun thought for a moment.
[Don’t pry too much.]
[….]
The tiger-masked figure vanished into the darkness.
…
Before visiting another contact point, Lee Hyun stopped somewhere secluded and checked his spoils for tracking restrictions or anything similar.
He checked for and erased the divine-sense marks on the storage pouches and other items, then sealed the two life-bound magic treasures separately.
There was too much loot to inspect in detail, so he left that for later and visited several contact points.
One was in the mountains, some distance from a cultivator market. Following a seam in the bedrock inward brought him to a small hidden stone box.
He first checked that the mark inside was undamaged, then took out a jade slip.
This time, he recorded requests for inheritances he planned to study, rather than items for immediate use.
He listed inheritances for Tier 3 formations and the artifact-refining art, along with information on flight magic tools or flying boats and on restrictions. He offered spirit stones in payment.
Lee Hyun was about to add an entry on the Puppet Art, but paused.
He already had the methods for crafting Tier 3 bone puppets from 《Profound Yin White Bone True Scripture》, along with the remains of the White Bone Flood-Dragon Puppet and the Six-Armed White Bone Demon.
Instead, he requested methods from various traditions for preparing bone materials.
‘I just need to learn how to avoid the telltale signs of Haigu Island’s work.’
Lee Hyun also added information about the Golden Core Condensing Pills at the end of the jade slip.
He specified that they were Golden Core Condensing Pills made with demon cores using a recipe from Baoguang Temple’s tradition, gave an approximate price, and included a warning about the demon markings they would leave behind. He planned to confirm the quantity and quality for each purchase request, then fill the orders in turn.
‘There should still be plenty of buyers.’
Lee Hyun left a mark verifying his identity as society head and placed the jade slip inside the stone box.
He put the pills back into his storage pouch.
‘With all this demonic qi, it’ll be easier this way. I shouldn’t go scaring the members every time I visit a base…’
***
Lee Hyun was on his way back to Cangmang Forest.
Deep underground, he alternated between the Metal Escape Art and the Earth Escape Art, surfacing once he reached the forest’s boundary.
After passing the prohibition marker on the coast, he showed his Lulin Pavilion identification token, and the demon race guards bowed once again.
…
Upon reaching Qingshi Mountain, Lee Hyun went straight into the cultivation chamber of his cave abode and sank through the floor.
Five li (about 2 km) underground.
The ceiling rose more than ten zhang (about 33 m), and the floor stretched for dozens of zhang in every direction. The formation inscriptions Lee Hyun had carved glowed faintly across the rock walls. Heaven-and-earth spiritual qi diverted from the Tier 3 spirit vein on the mountain flowed in through the channels and formation inscriptions he had prepared.
Lee Hyun stood in the center of the cavern.
With each breath, pure energy suffused his flesh and blood.
“All right, come on out.”
Lee Hyun took four Bonefuzz puppets from his storage pouch and set them on the floor. Then he opened his spirit-insect pouch, and golden balls of fluff poured out, their wings buzzing.
Several fuzzbees slipped into the Bonefuzz puppets’ skulls with practiced ease.
Clatter.
The Bonefuzz puppets rose one after another. After looking around the cavern, they scattered as though someone had given them orders and began clearing the stone fragments from the floor.
The other Tier 2 fuzzbees and the younger ones circled cautiously near the ceiling of the unfamiliar cavern. Their movements visibly slowed when they approached the formation inscriptions where the spiritual qi was densest.
Bzzzz― bzzz―
A young Tier 1 fuzzbee wobbled through the air and bumped its head against the rock wall. Rather than falling, the little fellow clung to a formation inscription, let its wings droop, and stretched.
‘…Is it drunk on spiritual qi?’
Lee Hyun picked up the little fellow between his fingers and set it on a rock at the edge of the cavern.
“Take your time getting used to it.”
…
Lee Hyun used the Soil-Turning Art on the floor at the center of the cavern.
The spirit soil he had mixed beforehand turned over smoothly, opening a deep pit. He lined the bottom with a layer of soil from Tunnel No. 3.
Then he turned the opening of his storage pouch toward the pit.
Hummmm―
Amid the light streaming from the storage pouch, the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree slowly expanded.
Supporting the entire tree with magical power, Lee Hyun gradually lowered it.
Once the root tips touched the fresh soil, he filled the spaces between the roots so no gaps remained, then used his fingertips to loosen the earth where the old and new soil met. He formed a gentle slope around the trunk to prevent water from pooling.
For a while, nothing happened.
Then the spiritual qi inside the cavern slowly began flowing toward the tree. Streams of spiritual qi entering along the formation inscriptions wound around the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree’s trunk, and a faint light spread among its leaves.
Rustle―
The leaves swayed.
When Lee Hyun placed his palm against the trunk, he felt a lively energy unlike anything he had sensed in Tunnel No. 3. It gathered, dispersed, then seemed to reach outward once more.
‘It likes it here.’
Lee Hyun circled the tree, driving the formation flags of a Tier 2 Spirit-Concealing Formation into place one by one. He then inserted mid-grade spirit stones into the formation plate and activated the formation.
Only then did he use the Spirit Rain Art.
Patter, patter.
Clear raindrops struck the leaves and soaked into the soil.
He fixed a wooden sign to the rock wall at the cavern’s entrance.
「Tunnel No. 4.」
He then reached inside his robe and laid out the storage pouches he had taken from the Nanming cultivators on this outing.
Thud, thud… There were more than thirty storage pouches!
Just as Lee Hyun cheerfully began opening the pouches to take stock of his spoils, the alarm formation on the surface signaled a visitor.
…
When Lee Hyun surfaced, he found a figure above the forest radiating a gentle but powerful aura.
It was Master Hu.
The moment he landed beside the lake, the elderly scholar in green jade spectacles examined Lee Hyun’s face. Then he glanced over Lee Hyun’s hands and the repaired stone steps at the entrance to the cave abode in turn.
‘What is he checking for?’
Puzzled, Lee Hyun paid his respects.
“Welcome.”
“Mm. Have you been well?”
Master Hu took something out.
《Neighborly Etiquette in the Village》, 《Three Ways to Resolve Disputes》
They were books written by members of the human race.
“…These?”
“These were at Lulin Pavilion. They were written by members of the human race. I heard you could read the human race’s script, so I brought a few along.”
‘He must have liked the way I treated my neighbors last time.’
Master Hu cleared his throat.
“More importantly, there’s something I need to tell you. I heard those birdbrains from Heiyi Ridge treated you disrespectfully.”
Lee Hyun nodded.
“The Black Horn Immortal Lord also expressed regret on hearing the details and wishes to apologize to you in person.”
“Is that so?”
“As it happens, a gathering will be held near Lulin Pavilion in fifteen days. The nearby mountain lords and great demons will be attending, and the Black Horn Immortal Lord will be there as well. Would you like to come?”
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