Chapter 100
Translator: T_Fan
Lee Hyun gathered some additional information before leaving Lulin Pavilion.
He asked in turn about the residences and trading posts of the demon race near Qingshi Mountain, then about the rare spiritual resources found in Cangmang Forest. Master Hu patiently explained everything without the slightest sign of annoyance.
He explained that the various clans and factions occasionally held markets for major trades, but everyday necessities could also be found in nearby settlements.
“Does the demon race use spirit stones as well?”
“Of course. Though compared to the human race, we don’t tend to carry as many.”
“What about pills?”
“They’re useful for barter, provided their quality and effects can be judged. But many are made by alchemists of the human race, so they aren’t necessarily useful to the demon race. Constitutions can differ from clan to clan as well.”
Lee Hyun asked several more questions.
Could he obtain seeds and young saplings of spirit trees? Were there craftsmen who worked with high-grade spirit materials? Was it common to exchange ancient inheritances?
Master Hu looked a little more pleased with each question.
This Junior certainly had an inquisitive mind.
He had said he lived alone in the lands of the human race, yet he seemed to have taken an interest in much more than simply tempering his body.
“Surely you aren’t thinking of growing plants?”
“I might, depending on the circumstances.”
Master Hu was stunned. He was actually thinking of growing plants? Li Dongwu was more cultured than he could ever have imagined.
Master Hu took a jade slip from a small box beneath the bookshelf and held it out.
“This shows the territories of the mountain lords near Lulin Pavilion.”
When Lee Hyun sent his divine sense into it, mountain ranges, lakes, and distant residences unfolded before him one after another. Qingshi Mountain was marked as a tiny dot on one side of the map.
Lee Hyun found the coast they had departed from at the edge of the map. They had traveled through that enormous forest for so long, yet even the full area shown on the map covered only the southeastern corner of Cangmang Forest.
‘So we’re barely past the entrance.’
Master Hu said,
“Don’t pass directly over another fellow practitioner’s residence without good reason. At first, you’d be better off following the established routes.”
“What about traveling underground? I imagine some clans dig burrows and live beneath the earth.”
Master Hu nodded.
“Of course they do. But traveling underground doesn’t make it any less of an intrusion into someone else’s territory. If anything, approaching an underground spirit vein or nest may provoke an even stronger reaction.”
“I see.”
Cultivators of the human race found it troublesome to travel deep underground, but there was no guarantee the same held true for the demon race of Cangmang Forest.
‘I can’t assume I’ll be safe here just because I dig deep. Perhaps this isn’t a suitable place for Tunnel No. 4 after all…’
Only after committing the map’s borders and travel routes to memory did he collect the diagrams from the ancient Record of Transformation and rise from his seat.
“Thank you for all your help.”
Master Hu saw him off.
After returning to Qingshi Mountain, Lee Hyun used the Aura-Reading Art and Ground-Sense Art to survey the entire mountain.
He checked where water collected and drained away, the thickness of the bedrock layers, and the directions in which the fractures ran.
The mountain streams flowed through the lake in the basin before draining outward. Behind the lake rose a long, blue-tinged cliff face, through which the main current of the spirit vein ran.
When Lee Hyun placed his palm against the rock, he felt spiritual qi flowing from beyond the bedrock. It was different from energy forcibly gathered by a Qi-Gathering Formation. This current flowed without interruption, formed over long ages by the interplay of mountain and water, earth and trees.
‘A Tier-3 spirit vein….’
For a long while, he could not bring himself to take his hand away. How much trouble had he once gone to just to set up a vein seat that secretly tapped someone else’s spirit vein? He had spent long years cautiously drawing off only a little spiritual qi to avoid discovery, frequently shifting the positions of his formation flags.
Yet now he had been given an entire mountain, complete with a Tier-3 spirit vein, right from the start. It really did pay to grow stronger!
…
Before sunset, a small cave abode had been carved into the cliff some distance from the temporary cave he had dug the previous day. Its layout was simple: a room for receiving guests, an empty cultivation chamber, and a storeroom dug only a short way into the rock.
Lee Hyun leveled the floor and brought in a table and stools carved from the cliff rock.
He set up a Tier-2 Spirit-Concealing Formation and a basic alarm formation around the cave abode. They were better than nothing, but they fell far short of what his current strength called for.
‘I should get some better formations eventually.’
After hanging Lulin Pavilion’s identification token somewhere clearly visible from outside, Lee Hyun closed the cultivation chamber door and looked down at the floor.
Swish.
His body sank beneath the floor.
…
Lee Hyun made a small temporary stone chamber between the layers of bedrock and sat in the lotus position.
First, he examined the Qi-Regulating Method he had received from Master Hu once more. For half a shichen (about one hour), he compared several passages and tried circulating a little energy himself, but as expected, the method did not suit his body.
He set down the jade slip containing the Qi-Regulating Method and pressed to his forehead the one containing the complete Golden Core Section of the 《Primordial One-Qi Art》.
Rereading the passages on the Primordial Body was a different experience now that he had completed the Leakless Golden Body.
In the past, he had merely memorized the mnemonic formulas and understood the diagrams. Now he could clearly feel which currents within his body those passages described.
Lee Hyun slowly steadied his breathing. For now, gaining full control of his new body mattered more than further increasing his magical power. The problem was that the demon markings began to show across his skin whenever he drew on even a little energy.
‘If only I could at least reduce the demonic qi leaking out….’
According to the experimental records of the Baoguang Temple monks, refining the demon markings themselves would take many years. But that did not necessarily mean he had to spend all those years radiating such menacing demonic qi. Surely there was some way to dampen that aura?
Lee Hyun gradually circulated energy from his toes to the crown of his head.
After a long while, he took a flat stone tablet from his storage pouch. He rubbed away the old writing and engraved new information with his fingertip.
【Age: 3,207 years】
【Realm: Golden Core Stage 1】
【Magical Power: 24,500 → 50,000】
【Constitution: Primordial Body, Leakless Golden Body】
【Cultivation Art: Primordial One-Qi Art (Golden Core Section)】
‘Does that look about right?’
Following the conventions of the cultivation world, Lee Hyun changed the label from spiritual power to magical power. The power wielded by cultivators from the Golden Core realm onward was generally called magical power.
He had given considerable thought to the numerical value of his magical power.
A breakthrough into a new major realm drastically altered both its quantity and quality, making it difficult to express with a single number.
Still, this was a handmade status panel for his own convenience, so he settled on a value that felt about right, even if it wasn’t entirely precise. The number he arrived at was 50,000.
Lee Hyun left the stone tablet floating before him and stared at it for some time.
He now possessed the Leakless Golden Body, a Nascent Soul-level physique, along with fifty times the magical power of an early Golden Core cultivator…
Back when he first began cultivating, that realm had seemed impossibly distant, attained only by the Patriarchs who upheld the various sects. Now he stood among them.
Lee Hyun fixed the stone tablet to the wall and lay back. He couldn’t help smiling as he lay there admiring his handmade status panel.
A short while later, he sat up and inspected the items that had survived the heavenly tribulation.
The Sinking Moon Sword he took from his storage pouch had a hairline crack along one side of its silver-gray blade. If he poured his current magical power into it without restraint, it would snap in an instant. The Six-Leaf Shield, the yellow flying swords, and the Three-Molt Silkworm Robe had already been destroyed beyond recognition.
‘I’ll have to get some magic tools or magic treasures. Fortunately, I have plenty of spirit stones and sixteen Golden Core Condensing Pills left. I can sell those while I’m buying what I need.’
He also took out the jade caskets with scorched surfaces and checked that their contents were unharmed. Then he applied fresh Spirit-Sealing Talismans and put them back in his storage pouch.
…
For the next several days, Lee Hyun lived quietly on Qingshi Mountain.
He practiced controlling his new body, studied the map Master Hu had given him, and alternated between examining the diagrams from the ancient Record of Transformation and the Golden Core Section of the 《Primordial One-Qi Art》.
The diagrams showed an enormous beast in various stances, sometimes crouching low to the ground.
At first, he struggled to understand what the pictures meant. But after examining the workings of his own body and assuming those postures, he realized there was an unusual principle behind them.
‘Unlike the Qi-Regulating Method the demon race uses today, this seems to suit my body a little better…’
On reflection, it was not all that strange.
Heaven-and-earth spiritual qi was said to have been far more abundant in ancient times. It was plausible that members of the ancient demon race, not just cultivators of the human race, had tempered their bodies in ways similar to the Primordial Body.
‘I’d like to see the complete inheritance, but I can’t just approach someone like a Tier-5 Demon Lord and ask for it… Cangmang Forest is vast, and I don’t even know who might have anything useful. I’ll have to start gathering information little by little.’
…
He spent the rest of his time searching for a site for Tunnel No. 4. At first, he had planned to descend deep beneath the rocky mountain and create a spacious cavern, but surveying the underground layers with the Ground-Sense Art and Aura-Reading Art revealed a problem.
At around twenty li (about 7.8 km) underground, as with Tunnel No. 3, almost none of the rich spiritual qi he felt on the mountain remained. That would defeat the purpose of possessing a Tier-3 spirit vein.
In the end, Lee Hyun drew upon his experience as society head of the Two Heavens Society and found a relatively deep location that could still receive enough energy from the spirit vein.
By channeling spiritual qi from the Tier-3 spirit vein, he could create an area five li underground with conditions comparable to those around a Tier-2 spirit vein. An adjoining natural cavern in the bedrock also provided plenty of room for trees to grow.
‘But five li is far too shallow… A Tier-4 great demon might find it even with a Tier-2 Spirit-Concealing Formation. In that case… I’d better bring only the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree.’
Unlike Tunnel No. 3, which had proven safe for more than a thousand years, there was still far too much he did not know about Cangmang Forest.
Still, he reckoned he could quickly uproot a single Heaven-Origin Divine Tree and pack it into his storage pouch if an emergency arose.
Of all his spirit plants, the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree was also the one that most urgently needed an environment rich in spiritual qi.
‘And I want to try using Heaven-Origin Force as soon as possible.’
Lee Hyun laid a hand against the rock wall. The solid stone softened beneath his palm, flowing inward as though melting.
***
On the fifteenth day after settling on Qingshi Mountain, Lee Hyun sat beside the lake brewing tea.
A map of the surrounding area and a diagram of the underground layout lay side by side on the stone table.
As he poured water into his teacup, he suddenly raised his head.
Whoooosh―
Heavy wingbeats thundered from beyond the ridge. The air above the lake was driven aside, sending broad ripples across the water. Four black shapes emerged as the forest’s upper branches bowed in unison.
They were four Tier-3 black hawks.
Boom!
The enormous black hawks landed roughly beside the lake, smashing the rocks beneath them. When the gust from their folding wings made the diagrams on the stone table flutter, Lee Hyun calmly reached out and stowed the papers in his storage pouch.
Despite being only Tier-3 demon beasts, the black hawks seemed capable of human-form transformation.
The four soon assumed human form. The man at their head had a sharply hooked nose, and black feathers with a metallic sheen sprouted along his brows, below his ears, and across his shoulders.
His realm was the highest of the four, seemingly close to the peak of Tier 3. All of them, however, had retained their wings.
The man surveyed the cave abode and lakeshore with an arrogant air. He hesitated briefly when he sensed Lee Hyun’s demonic qi, then lifted his chin again.
“Who are you, and what are you doing on this mountain?”
“I am Li Dongwu. What brings you here?”
“Who gave you permission to use this mountain?”
“Master Hu permitted me to stay here.”
Lee Hyun pointed toward Lulin Pavilion’s identification token hanging at the cave abode’s entrance, but the man’s scowl only deepened.
“The Black Horn Immortal Lord of Heiyi Ridge has reserved this mountain. The Immortal Lord’s nephew will make it his residence after undergoing human-form transformation. Pack your belongings and leave at once.”
He evidently expected the Black Horn Immortal Lord’s name alone to make Lee Hyun leave.
Lee Hyun regarded the man for a moment.
He had settled on a guest mountain under Master Hu’s care only fifteen days ago, and someone else was already claiming ownership.
‘I see. He’s already dragged me into a dispute! I knew there was no such thing as kindness without a price. The demon race is every bit as political as the human race.’
It seemed Master Hu had placed him on a disputed mountain. Still, considering everything Master Hu had done for him, it was only right that Lee Hyun handle a matter like this in return.
Just then, one of the black hawks behind the man strode toward the cave abode’s entrance. The stone steps before the cliff cracked beneath its talons.
“So you’re copying the human race, even carving stone steps. You’ll leave on your own once there’s no cave left for you to squat in.”
Lee Hyun’s gaze turned icy.
“Stop.”
But the black hawk only snorted, gathering a razor-sharp wind around one wing. Just as it was about to swing at the cave abode’s entrance, Lee Hyun vanished from the lakeshore without a trace.
Before the black hawk could register anything amiss and look down, an iron grip clamped around its right ankle.
‘…?!’
Its body was yanked into the air. Gripping its ankle, Lee Hyun twisted at the waist and hurled it straight into the chest of the black hawk beside it before it could even spread its wings.
Boom!
The two tumbled to the ground in a tangled heap, black feathers flying everywhere.
Unable to maintain human form through the pain, they reverted to their true bodies and rolled across the lakeshore.
The leader’s eyes widened as two of his companions went down in an instant.
“You bastard!”
He whipped up a black gale and slashed a wing diagonally down at Lee Hyun’s chest. Lee Hyun’s plain robe tore open, and a harsh metallic screech rang out as the feathers struck his skin.
Screeech!
The black feather tips scraped across his skin, scattering sparks.
Lee Hyun turned the momentum of the man’s twisting torso against him, slipping deep inside his guard before the opposite talon could strike.
The moment Lee Hyun’s shoulder slipped out of the man’s sight, a heavy blow struck the man in the side.
Thud!
A single elbow strike caved in the metal-hard feathers. As the man gasped for breath, Lee Hyun seized his wrist.
Crack!
“Ghk!”
Agony flared as his bones were crushed, and the man frantically unleashed his demon power. His two black wings swept upward behind him, whipping up a vortex that threatened to swallow the lake water and gravel. He tried to use it to pull away, but his trapped wrist did not budge.
As Lee Hyun tightened his grip, golden demon markings flared across his entire body. He hauled on the captured arm and twisted, slamming the hulking man into the ground just as he tried to take flight.
KRAAAASH!
The bedrock by the lake gave way. The man landed on his back, one wing bending at an unnatural angle. The rising vortex broke apart at once, raining down water and stones.
Without giving him a chance to recover, Lee Hyun drove a knee down onto his shoulder and violently twisted the arm in his grip.
Crack-crack!
“S-Stop!”
The man spat blood as black feathers erupted across his neck and cheeks and his body began to swell. Seeing the signs that he was about to revert to his true body and fight back, Lee Hyun slammed him into the ground once more.
Boom!
“…”
The last uninjured black hawk stood with its wings awkwardly half-spread, trembling without a trace of the dignity expected of a Tier-3 demon beast.
The two that had been knocked down also managed to struggle upright, shaking, with broken wings and blood running from their beaks.
“Anything else you want to say?”
One of their beaks opened a fraction, then closed again. Lee Hyun addressed the man pinned beneath him.
“Go to Master Hu and confirm who this land belongs to.”
Lee Hyun lifted the man’s head slightly by the back of his neck. He groaned, coughing up dust and blood.
“…I’ll confirm it.”
The man barely managed to shift his eyes toward Lee Hyun’s hand clamped around his arm. Even with his demon power shielding him, the iron-hard feathers were crumpling wherever those fingers pressed.
Beyond the golden demon markings flickering beneath Lee Hyun’s skin, he sensed an aura like dozens of different kinds of ferocious great demons tangled together and snarling in hell. A chill ran down his spine.
‘Just what kind of monstrous bloodline does he have…!’
If Lee Hyun applied even a little more force, his entire arm would be torn off.
“We apologize.”
Lee Hyun looked down at him for a moment, then loosened his grip and lifted his knee from the man’s shoulder.
The other three black hawks hurried over, wrapping their wings around the man to help him up as one of his arms hung limp. When Lee Hyun’s gaze flicked toward the shattered stone steps, the black hawk with the cracked beak flinched. It hastily pushed the rock fragment it had dislodged with its talons back into place, then backed away.
The black shapes disappeared beyond the ridge in a hurried retreat.
Lee Hyun stretched.
“Hmm… That should have made Master Hu’s position even more secure!”
***
Two days later, at Lulin Pavilion.
Master Hu stared incredulously at the man in black robes, who sat before him with one arm in a cloth sling.
The feathers below his ears had fallen out in patches, and a vivid blue-black bruise in the shape of five fingers showed on the back of his neck above his collar. Of the three black hawks crouched in the branches outside the pavilion, one even had bandages wrapped around its beak.
“But that’s Qingshi Mountain, not Qingjiao Mountain…?”
“…?”
As the man raised his head blankly, Master Hu removed his jade spectacles, then put them back on and adjusted them.
‘What a complete birdbrain!’
“The place I discussed with the Black Horn Immortal Lord was Qingjiao Mountain, a little over a thousand li east of Qingshi Mountain.”
“…….”
…
After sending the group away, Master Hu stood by the window for a long while, lost in thought. The fault lay entirely with Heiyi Ridge, but their injuries had been severe.
‘He was formidable enough when he matched strength with Tan Yue, but I never imagined he could be this heavy-handed. He beat those subordinates without hesitation, even with a Tier-4 great demon like the Black Horn Immortal Lord backing them! Could he really be descended from some fierce ancient bloodline that revels in battle….’
He pictured Li Dongwu speaking gently, observing proper etiquette, and reading the human race’s books. His nature was not bad; he probably just hadn’t learned how to get along with his neighbors or control his strength yet.
‘So even with all that intelligence, he’s still a beast… But he’s the most promising member of the demon race I’ve ever seen. He’s only so rough because he’s lived in the wild like a demon beast. Given time, I can teach him to become a civilized member of the demon race!’
***
One month later.
Lee Hyun followed the routes Master Hu had indicated as he traveled through the forest, only descending deep underground once he approached the lands of the human race.
He was heading through Xu Kingdom and Xuan Kingdom toward Tunnel No. 3 in northwestern Kun Kingdom.
In the past, he would have stopped at cultivator markets along the way to buy supplies and popular novels. Now, however, even the Spirit-Concealing Art and Aura-Concealing Art could not hide the menacing demonic qi leaking from beneath his skin.
If he showed up at a cultivator market in this state, every cultivator he met would piss themselves.
At least his greatly increased magical power made the Earth Escape Art and Metal Escape Art incomparably smoother to use than before. He could channel energy through any of his limbs, and the layers of earth flowed apart like water.
Before long, he sensed the familiar vibrations of the bedrock and water veins.
When he emerged into one of Tunnel No. 3’s passages, a Bonefuzz carrying a water bucket in the distance stopped walking. The golden ball of fuzz inside its skull perked up its antennae.
Squeak?
Lee Hyun raised a hand slightly and sent his mental intent through the Spirit-Nurturing Seal.
“It’s me.”
A moment later, the fuzzbee emerged from the Bonefuzz’s head and buzzed twice around Lee Hyun. Only then did the other fuzzbees begin flying over from all around to welcome him.
Lee Hyun first inspected the spirit fields. The work he had done before leaving had kept everything in good order.
After examining the life force flowing through the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree’s branches and checking the Ringless Divine Tree’s leaves and trunk, he felt much more at ease.
“Let’s go somewhere nice.”
He prepared the items needed to transplant the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree. He intended to dig it up just before leaving, but first, there were a few things he wanted to test.
…
Standing at the center of the underground training chamber far from the spirit fields, Lee Hyun brought two fingers together.
Hummm―
Great Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Qi gathered at his fingertips, radiating an intense aura. He followed it with the Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal, and a golden palm imprint appeared, far more sharply defined than before. It seemed almost solid.
‘It really is different.’
Lee Hyun dismissed the sword qi and palm imprint, then activated the technique from the Sumeru Visualization Scripture that he had been most eager to test.
Hummmm―
The air behind him brightened, and the All-Hearing Heavenly King manifestation, compressed to a little over one zhang (about 3.3 m) tall, planted its feet on the stone chamber floor.
When he used its golden hand to lift a rock from the floor, the sensations of weight and resistance reached him clearly through the energy flowing within the Dharma manifestation.
“Finally!”
Reciting the mnemonic formula in his mind, Lee Hyun opened the parasol in the manifestation’s left hand. A curtain of golden light flowed down from its rim, curving around the front of the Dharma manifestation.
An iron shard launched with the Sword Control Art struck it with a clang and bounced harmlessly away. The thread of flame he sent after it hit the densely woven golden strands and scattered in all directions.
Magical power and divine sense were consumed in proportion to the force of the attacks it blocked, but its defenses far surpassed those of the Spirit Light Shield or Qi Sphere Barrier.
When he folded the parasol and raised the pagoda in the manifestation’s right hand, a golden boundary descended onto the floor. An iron shard sent flying inside immediately wavered and slowed as if caught in a swamp. The tighter he drew the boundary, the stronger the suppressive force became.
‘This is fun!’
Lee Hyun dismissed the Dharma manifestation, took out a jade slip, and pressed it to his forehead to study the other three Heavenly Kings described in the Sumeru Visualization Scripture. There were teachings on the Growth Heavenly King manifestation with its sword, the Wide-Seeing Heavenly King manifestation with its dragon and jewel, and the Nation-Guarding Heavenly King manifestation with its pipa.
‘Which should I learn next? The sound art Nie Xingya from the Yin Bird Sect used last time was quite unusual… Perhaps the Nation-Guarding Heavenly King manifestation with its pipa would be a good choice?’
After briefly reading the Dharma teaching, Lee Hyun sensed that mastering the manifestations of the other three Heavenly Kings would take quite some time.
…
Lee Hyun prepared to leave Tunnel No. 3.
He loosened the surrounding soil with the Soil-Turning Art, dug up the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree without damaging even the finest root, and placed it into a large storage pouch.
He also took along several Tier-2 fuzzbees, some young ones, and a few Bonefuzz puppets to use at his new residence. The remaining fuzzbees and Bonefuzz puppets stayed behind to tend the spirit fields in Tunnel No. 3.
All that remained was to return to Qingshi Mountain, but there was now one place he needed to visit first.
Several days earlier, he had opened the hidden stone box at the society head’s private contact point to arrange the sale of some Golden Core Condensing Pills. Inside, he had also found a report that the Two Heavens Society’s trade network connecting southern Xuan Kingdom and northern Kun Kingdom had been exposed.
The two sides had arranged to meet near the border soon. According to the report, however, the other side had a Golden Core cultivator, and the Two Heavens Society’s own Golden Core member would be hard-pressed to handle the situation.
‘It’s about time I went to see for myself.’
***
The meeting took place in a clearing outside a mountain cultivator market, not far from the border between southern Xuan Kingdom and Kun Kingdom.
Under the moonlight, a dozen or so members of the Two Heavens Society stood around an early Golden Core cultivator wearing a red deer mask. They might as well have been standing on thin ice.
Cultivators from Nanming had taken up positions all around them, all but encircling the group.
Across from them, an old man at mid Golden Core who had not even bothered to conceal his face used his magical power to send a jade slip floating toward Red Deer.
“We aren’t asking for anything difficult. From now on, simply deliver the specified quantity of your incoming medicinal ingredients to us before anyone else, and hand over the transaction records and broker lists for three of your bases.”
“What does that have to do with trading medicinal ingredients? That isn’t how we conduct business.”
“Then change how you do business, starting now.”
The man beside him, an early Golden Core cultivator in reddish-brown robes, sneered.
“Did you think hiding behind masks would frighten us? Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be.”
One of the members stiffened, and Red Deer let his magical power flare. The two Golden Core cultivators opposite him immediately unleashed their own auras, making the air all around them tremble.
Red Deer felt cornered.
He had thought that, with only one Golden Core cultivator on the other side, he could order the members to withdraw and then escape himself if things went wrong. He had never expected a second Golden Core cultivator!
Although the society head had sent word that he would look into the matter, Red Deer hadn’t been certain he would come all this way to intervene personally.
Then it happened.
All three Golden Core cultivators suddenly looked in the same direction.
Someone was crossing the clearing toward them, radiating a terrifying aura.
The Nanming cultivators parted to either side, barely daring to breathe, much less block his path.
At last, a man in neat robes stepped out of the shadows. The tiger mask on his face shone white in the moonlight.
He carried no weapon, yet with every step he exuded a savage pressure that seemed to crush the very air around him.
The old man at mid Golden Core instinctively extended his divine sense, then turned deathly pale and immediately withdrew it.
‘A-a Tier-4 great demon who has undergone human-form transformation…?!’
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