Chapter 55
Translator: T_Fan
The crack in the rock wall had widened enough for three or four people to pass through side by side.
Wind blew in from beyond the fissure. The warm scent of earth carried a faint smell of burning.
Of the three Golden Core Elders standing guard before the realm gate, the white-haired Elder in the center spoke in a grave voice.
“Listen well. The invaders use insidious methods and are exceptionally skilled at ambushes and killing. A moment’s carelessness means death.”
The Elder’s gaze swept across the cultivators’ faces one by one.
“Each group is to prioritize harvesting its assigned spirit field and holding its position. If you become isolated, retreat to the nearest stone fort without delay. The reinforcements will relieve you in fifteen days. We still do not know the enemy’s numbers or the locations of their hidden entrances. Come back alive.”
The cultivators cupped their hands in unison.
“We will keep it in mind.”
The Foundation Establishment cultivators at the front passed through the realm gate one after another.
Tao Wenqian looked back.
“Follow me.”
Lee Hyun followed him with his two fellow disciples.
The man on his left was Senior Brother Yue Wugou. He had high cheekbones and thick eyebrows, and three black iron plaques hung side by side at his waist.
The female cultivator on his right was Senior Sister Mei Sujun. Her hair was pinned up with a single jade hairpin, and her sleeves were tightly fastened at the wrists. For some time now, she had been repeatedly checking the map of the secret realm in her hands.
Both were Foundation Establishment Stage 6 cultivators.
Lee Hyun stepped into the realm gate.
Ssssh–
A strange sensation brushed over his body.
It felt as though he had passed through a thin membrane of water, yet his robe remained dry. For a moment, the ground seemed to recede beneath his feet. The next instant, both feet landed on rough stone slabs.
“Mm….”
When he raised his head, he saw a sky tinged red.
Low, long mountain ridges overlapped beneath the clouds. Trees densely covered the slopes, and pale mist drifted along the valleys.
Lee Hyun paused to feel the warm energy rising from beneath his feet.
‘Is this lesser yang qi? It does seem subtly different from ordinary Fire attribute spiritual qi….’
“Do not linger in front of the realm gate! Move farther inside!”
At the shout from ahead, Lee Hyun turned his gaze.
Low stone walls and several halls had been built around the realm gate. Formation flags stood densely outside the walls, and cultivators could be seen keeping watch here and there.
Wounded cultivators sat beneath the eaves on one side of a hall.
One had his entire arm wrapped in bandages, while another sat with his eyes closed, placing an antidote pill into his mouth. The chest of one cultivator’s robe was stained black, yet he showed no reaction even as a fellow disciple beside him cut the fabric away.
‘Things don’t look good.’
…
A short while later.
The leaders from each peak gathered around a map inside a spacious hall.
A cultivator at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection pointed to the red marks on the map.
“While the reinforcements were preparing, we withdrew from three more spirit fields. They never stay in one place for long. When we gather in force, they retreat, then reappear wherever our numbers are thin.”
Tao Wenqian asked,
“So they do not seem to be garrisoning the spirit fields they seize?”
“They remain at some of them. But when we approach, we must not assume everyone we can see is their full force. The enemy is extremely skilled at fighting as a group, and they are cunning. Unlike the cultivators of our Kun Kingdom, they seem to have extensive experience in warfare.”
He pointed to the eastern side of the map.
“We will clear this area first. Yanxia Peak will take charge of harvesting and defending Chishui Garden. I will assign personnel from the Biluo Sect to you as well.”
“Understood.”
…
After leaving the hall, Tao Wenqian explained the mission to the other three.
Chishui Garden was a spirit field located 200 li (about 78 km) east of the realm gate.
“Even when moving separately, remain close enough to keep track of one another’s positions. And even if the enemy flees, do not pursue them recklessly.”
Just then, someone called out to Lee Hyun from behind.
“Fellow Daoist Li?”
Lee Hyun turned around.
A middle-aged cultivator in a pale green robe was looking at him.
The face was familiar.
“Fellow Daoist Su?”
“So it really is Fellow Daoist Li Dongsan!”
It was Su Buyi of the Biluo Sect.
He was a cultivator who had once served alongside Lee Hyun at the Immortal Veneration Court during their posting in Anling Kingdom. Long ago, they had watched Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao spar together. Now, Su Buyi was giving off the aura of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Su Buyi cupped his hands.
“So you succeeded in Foundation Establishment as well, Fellow Daoist. Congratulations.”
“Congratulations to you as well, Fellow Daoist Su.”
“It has been about twenty years for me. When did you…?”
“About ten years ago.”
“I see. Has it already been forty years since we met in Anling Kingdom?”
Su Buyi studied Lee Hyun’s face.
“I still remember how you handled a spear back then. Commander Lu and Instructor Ruan thought very highly of you.”
“Are you heading to Chishui Garden as well, Fellow Daoist Su?”
“I am. Two of us from our side will be going, including myself.”
When Tao Wenqian approached, Su Buyi once again offered a respectful greeting.
Once the cultivators had finished exchanging greetings, spirit light flared beneath their feet. They rose into the air, passed beyond the formation surrounding the realm gate, and flew east.
…
There were two burned forests along the way to Chishui Garden.
Collapsed walls and blackened water barrels could be seen among the trees. Uprooted spirit plants lay scattered across slopes that had once been spirit fields, and only deep pits remained where formation flags had stood.
Mei Sujun looked down below.
“Most of what’s left there is unusable.”
…
The spirit fields of Chishui Garden.
Tao Wenqian hovered above the center of the spirit fields, while Yue Wugou and the Biluo Sect cultivators surveyed the surroundings from different altitudes. Below them, Mei Sujun and Lee Hyun were gathering medicinal ingredients.
Mei Sujun carefully spread apart the red petals.
Fine red lines ran neatly along the inside of the petals.
“We can take this one.”
She planted a small wooden marker beside the plant.
“Junior Brother Li, the roots extend a long way sideways, so check from this side first.”
“Understood.”
Lee Hyun placed a hand on the ground.
He could faintly sense the roots extending beneath the soil. As he moved his fingers, the earth around the Fire-Heart Orchid gently split apart.
Scrrk–
A small clump of earth containing both roots and soil rose from the ground. Though surprised, Mei Sujun quickly placed it inside the jade casket she had prepared.
“Heavens… I’ve never seen anyone use the Soil-Turning Art this well.”
“Haha….”
The two moved through the field, checking the medicine age of each plant, separating the roots, and sealing them inside jade caskets. Since the secret realm had yet to be secured, they intended to harvest anything usable before another attack ruined the spirit fields.
Lee Hyun had just crouched beside the next plant when his Keen Hearing Art caught a very faint but sharp sound cutting through the air.
‘Hm?’
Humm–
Spirit Light Shields appeared on all sides of Lee Hyun.
Clang-clang-clang!
Dozens of bone needles coated in pitch-black deadly poison struck the shields and sent sparks flying across their surfaces.
At the same moment, a white bone sword swept out through the reeds across the waterway and shot toward Lee Hyun’s neck.
One of the Spirit Light Shields, already being battered by the bone needles, was pierced through by the sword tip. Lee Hyun dodged sideways. The bone sword grazed past his neck, changed direction in midair, and curved around behind him.
A second bone sword rose from the front.
Mei Sujun had already put away the jade casket and risen into the air. A strip of blue-green silk unfurled from her sleeve and was just about to cover Lee Hyun’s back when black saber light slashed diagonally upward from within the forest.
“Not so fast!”
Mei Sujun flipped her wrist. The softly hanging silk snapped taut and met the saber light head-on. The force of the collision burst beyond the spirit field, and a saber-wielding cultivator emerged between the trees.
Mei Sujun immediately split the end of the silk in two and stabbed toward both of his shoulders.
Explosions rang out one after another overhead as well.
Yue Wugou’s iron plaques blocked sword light flying in from every direction, while Su Buyi’s blue jade ring shot toward a flag spewing poison mist.
Tao Wenqian swept out a hand, sending a long stream of red flames forward. Talismans drifting downward like falling leaves caught fire in midair, but several cultivators hidden behind them changed altitude and launched their magic tools again.
Meanwhile, the black-iron longspear had already appeared in Lee Hyun’s hands below.
His figure blurred as he shifted position, and the black-iron longspear skimmed across the side of the first bone sword.
Clang!
Almost simultaneously, another collision rang out. The first bone sword was knocked away and struck the second bone sword head-on in midair.
The cultivator behind the reeds froze for an instant at Lee Hyun’s almost unbelievable maneuver. To make two magic tools controlled by his own Sword Control Art collide like that… it was difficult to believe Lee Hyun had done it intentionally.
‘Was that bastard just lucky?’
Two more cultivators shot out from behind the reeds and rocks.
The cultivator controlling the bone swords also soared into the air, conjuring a skull-shaped seal above his palm.
A blood-red hooked chain and a ghastly blue yin wind surged in from either side. As the two attacks narrowed Lee Hyun’s escape routes, the seal overhead came crashing down.
Just as the three attacks were about to converge, Lee Hyun’s figure swayed strangely.
The Square-Inch Step flowed directly into the Distance-Shrinking Step, leaving overlapping afterimages where he had stood. Lee Hyun, black-iron longspear in hand, seemed to split apart and shoot toward all three cultivators at once.
“…!?”
A flash like lightning seemed to pierce through all three directions, then two of the figures dissolved into illusions.
But the last one, reflected in the eyes of the cultivator who had been about to recall his bone swords, was no illusion.
Flash!
A dazzling single-point thrust, stripped of every unnecessary motion.
A streak of spear shadow tore through the bone token and body-protecting spirit light the cultivator had hastily raised, then pierced his right chest like a thunderbolt.
The impact transmitted through the spear shaft made his eyes roll back, while the seal overhead and the bone swords all lost their light at once.
“…!”
Far away, Su Buyi froze in place as he flew over while retrieving his jade ring.
‘How… did he do that?’
Of the three Foundation Establishment cultivators who had ambushed Li Dongsan, two had been fooled by the illusions, while the last hung limp with his chest pierced through.
Su Buyi could even tell that the illusory figures he had just seen had not been created by a technique. Li Dongsan had displayed an absurd feat purely through his attainment in the martial path.
The image of Li Dongsan turning aside the attacks of Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao on the training ground in Anling Kingdom flashed through his mind.
Even then, Su Buyi had thought it strange. But had it truly been a skill capable of overturning the deadly attacks of three Foundation Establishment cultivators at once and bringing down one of them in a single strike?
Su Buyi poured spiritual power into his jade ring again. Even as he knocked away a black flag flying toward him, the movement of that spear tip refused to leave his mind.
The remaining two cultivators around Lee Hyun did not charge in again.
Bang!
One released a poisonous smokescreen while the other swung his chain across Lee Hyun’s path. Using the opening, the two retreated in different directions.
…
Meanwhile, the battle overhead was also winding down.
When Tao Wenqian’s flames swept across the sky above the spirit fields, the enemy’s offensive faltered. Yue Wugou caught a fleeing cultivator’s flying sword between his iron plaques and snapped it, while the cultivator who had been fighting Mei Sujun also hastily withdrew.
The remaining enemies immediately scattered. Yue Wugou raised an iron plaque toward the fleeing cultivators as they spread out vertically by dozens of zhang (on the order of a hundred meters), but Tao Wenqian lifted a hand to stop him.
“Do not pursue them. Let us account for our people first.”
A short while later, the fellow disciples descended beside Lee Hyun.
Tao Wenqian placed his fingers against the fallen cultivator’s neck to check his pulse, then sprinkled medicinal powder over the wound in his chest and placed restrictions on his dantian and limbs in succession. Only after confirming that the bleeding had slowed did he turn to Lee Hyun.
“Junior Brother Li made quite a showing. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No.”
“Well done.”
…
The administrative hall of Chishui Garden.
The Biluo Sect cultivator who had come with Su Buyi pressed a blue talisman between the prisoner’s brows. He then formed a hand seal, and the talisman’s pattern slowly sank into the prisoner’s forehead.
“Aaaaargh!”
The prisoner twisted and screamed. When the cultivator stopped forming the hand seal and repeated his question, the tightly sealed lips finally opened.
The prisoner confessed that he came from the Haigu Island branch of the Yin Bird Sect, which belonged to the Nanming Twelve-Sect Alliance.
As his account continued, the expressions of the listening Danxiao Sect and Biluo Sect cultivators grew increasingly grave.
According to him, war had not ceased even once in several hundred years in the waters occupied by the Nanming Twelve Sects.
Wars of slaughter between sects over spirit veins, along with raids to seize sea routes and resource islands, had become part of everyday life. Whenever one faction was driven out, the conflict spread elsewhere and stained another place with blood. Cultivators had to survive amid killing and ambushes from the time they entered Qi Refining.
The prisoner himself claimed that even after reaching Foundation Establishment, the combined time he had spent away from the battlefield over the past thirty-odd years did not amount to three full years. Most of even that time had been spent recovering from injuries.
According to the prisoner, the twelve sects had formed their alliance to reduce excessive competition among themselves and redirect their cultivators’ fighting strength overseas. They had invaded Lan Kingdom long ago, and while subsequently extending their influence as far as Cang Kingdom, they appeared to have discovered a realm gate leading into the Huatian Secret Realm.
Tao Wenqian examined the identity token taken from the prisoner.
“Where is that realm gate?”
“I don’t know…. My eyes and divine sense were sealed when I came through. They were only released after I arrived here….”
“Who guided you?”
The prisoner’s head sagged, and he could no longer answer.
The Biluo Sect cultivator examined his condition and shook his head.
“If we push him any further now, he will die.”
Tao Wenqian set the identity token down.
“Send him to the main force.”
…
Lee Hyun was examining the medicinal ingredients taken from the Haigu Island cultivator’s storage pouch.
The unfamiliar jade plaques, talismans, and objects bearing restrictions had already been set aside.
Aside from the spirit stones, what caught his attention were several small wooden boxes.
The boxes were packed with young Fire-Heart Orchids.
The soil clinging to their roots varied from plant to plant, and their sizes were inconsistent. Since none bore the markers used in sect spirit fields, they seemed to have been gathered from plants growing wild inside the secret realm.
Beside them were two sacks filled with red soil.
Lee Hyun pinched up a little, and warm energy touched his fingertips.
‘Were they planning to try growing them outside too?’
Tao Wenqian approached.
“Interested in the soil?”
“I was looking because they brought both the Fire-Heart Orchids and the soil with them.”
“It seems they intended to transplant them. Our sect has tried that as well.”
“Does it still fail even if the soil is moved with them?”
“We tried bringing the soil and water, even stones from beneath the spirit fields. Some of the plants survived. But we could not obtain the medicinal potency we needed.”
Tao Wenqian looked down at the box.
“Their medicine age is low, and some even have damaged fine roots mixed in. None of them are usable as medicinal ingredients. Just take them, Junior Brother. You can experiment with cultivating them or examine their medicinal potency. After all, you were the one who subdued that guy.”
“Thank you.”
After Tao Wenqian left, Lee Hyun examined the Fire-Heart Orchid roots again. The soil inside the box had not dried out, and vitality still remained in the roots.
Lee Hyun packed away the young plants the Yin Bird Sect cultivator had collected, then stored the red soil separately.
***
Three days had passed since they entered the secret realm.
The battle situation was growing steadily worse.
They had repelled the enemy at Chishui Garden, and the other units had captured or slain quite a few foreign cultivators as well, but the territory held by their side continued to shrink.
Cultivators escorting a supply convoy were attacked, and two cultivators sent to retrieve the wounded never returned. Those who remained behind to guard reclaimed spirit fields were ambushed during the night.
…
The next day.
An order arrived telling them to gather the remaining medicinal ingredients at Chishui Garden and the supplies in its storehouse, then withdraw to the stone fort in the west.
Tao Wenqian lowered the voice-transmission talisman.
“We will leave before the day is out.”
Mei Sujun looked toward the spirit fields.
“What about the young plants?”
“Leave them.”
“Understood.”
She studied the map briefly, then pointed to two locations marked for harvesting.
“Then we will only harvest up to these two places.”
Lee Hyun rose as well.
He first went to the open ground in front of the administrative hall and took a yellow formation plate and nine formation flags from his storage pouch.
Yue Wugou looked over.
“A defensive formation?”
“The Nine-Bend Dust and Sand Formation. I thought it would be useful to set it up where we are gathering the supplies.”
Lee Hyun moved around the clearing, planting the formation flags.
Some were placed inside the stone wall, while others were set between the waterway and the storehouse. When he inserted spirit stones into the formation plate, faint lines of light linked the nine formation flags.
Humm–
Lee Hyun slipped the formation plate into his robe and headed toward the spirit fields.
…
It was shortly past noon.
Mei Sujun returned to the clearing in front of the administrative hall and finished sealing the last jade casket.
“We’re finished over here.”
Yue Wugou descended from the roof of the hall.
“The western route is still clear.”
At the western wall, the two Biluo Sect cultivators were keeping watch over the surroundings. The supplies collected from the storehouse had also been gathered on one side of the clearing.
Tao Wenqian nodded.
“Then let us organize the supplies and….”
He stopped speaking.
The sound of waves came from somewhere.
Whoooosh–
Lee Hyun raised his head.
Chishui Garden contained only waterways and a small pond. There was no body of water large enough to make such a sound.
At that moment, the Essence-Protecting Seal within his sea of consciousness lit up.
Hummm–
The Primordial True Qi that normally flowed in a faint trickle was suddenly drawn away at great speed, and multiple layers of patterns rotated around his primordial spirit.
Lee Hyun’s expression changed.
“Guard against the sound!”
The eerie sound of waves appeared to contain the principles of soul-seizing, bewildering the primordial spirit and numbing the senses.
Mei Sujun’s pupils briefly unfocused, and she nearly dropped the jade casket in her hand. Even Yue Wugou’s iron plaques veered off course.
But Tao Wenqian, Eldest Senior Brother at Foundation Establishment Stage 9, was different.
“How dare you use such sinister tricks!”
Violent energy erupted from Tao Wenqian’s dantian. His roar, infused with spiritual power, exploded like thunder, briefly cutting off the empowered voice boring into the group’s ears.
“Retract your divine sense and guard your primordial spirit!”
Mei Sujun and Yue Wugou snapped back to their senses. But a pale streak of light was already flying toward them.
Fwoooosh!
The light split in midair, simultaneously targeting Mei Sujun’s back, Yue Wugou’s neck, and Tao Wenqian’s chest.
Lee Hyun unleashed his Spirit Light Shields while activating the formation plate inside his robe. Sand surged up from the surroundings, covering the clearing in multiple layers of yellow curtains.
Boom-boom-boom!
Two streaks aimed at Mei Sujun and Yue Wugou pierced the curtains and struck the Spirit Light Shields.
Tao Wenqian stood outside the Nine-Bend Dust and Sand Formation, but he had already stretched out a hand and wrapped the projectile flying toward him in flames. The stench of burning bone spread through the fire as a finger-sized bone nail, charred black, fell to the ground.
After confirming that his three fellow disciples were safe, Tao Wenqian immediately thrust out both hands. Two fire dragons carrying immense spiritual power tore through the air and instantly vaporized the water curtain that had risen from the waterway in front of the hall.
Rooooar–
A cultivator hidden behind the water curtain while forming a hand seal was engulfed in flames and screamed. Yue Wugou’s three iron plaques spun through him, mercilessly crushing his chest as they passed.
Mei Sujun also reacted quickly, sending three defensive talismans into the air to layer another barrier over their defenses.
At the western wall, Su Buyi and the Biluo Sect cultivator beside him were battling the enemy.
Lee Hyun looked farther away.
On a rock beyond the spirit fields.
A cultivator in a blue-gray robe stood there.
A huge clam floated before him, and ripples of sound streamed continuously from its open shell.
The aura he revealed was no weaker than Tao Wenqian’s. When he pressed down on the upper shell, the blue ripples gathered into one point, and the head of one of the advancing fire dragons burst apart from the inside.
Four sword cultivators rose into the air from behind the rock, while another five or six cultivators emerged from the forest. In an instant, more than ten enemies were closing their encirclement from all sides.
Amid the rain of sword light filling the sky, Lee Hyun spread his fingers.
Fwoosh–
The flames split into slender flame threads.
Dozens of strands slipped through gaps in the sand curtains and swept across the sword cultivators’ path. Some pursued their flying swords, while others clung to the body-protecting spirit light around the cultivators themselves.
In that brief interval, Tao Wenqian completed his hand seal.
Red flames swelled violently and cut menacingly through the space between the sword cultivators.
“West!”
Tao Wenqian shouted.
“Fellow Daoist Su, you two clear the way. Junior Brother Yue, collect the remaining supplies!”
Mei Sujun was already placing the jade caskets into her storage pouch.
Yue Wugou’s three iron plaques spread out in different directions. He used them to cover the clearing while sweeping the remaining supplies into his storage pouch.
Lee Hyun gripped the formation plate and watched beyond the sand walls.
After battering the Nine-Bend Dust and Sand Formation several times, the enemies began spreading out to either side.
At a gesture from Lee Hyun, all the remaining sand surged upward at once and blanketed the front of the hall.
Using the opening, the nine formation flags pulled free and flew toward him. Lee Hyun retrieved both the formation flags and the formation plate, then kicked off the ground.
The four from Yanxia Peak followed the Biluo Sect cultivators ahead of them and vaulted over the low stone wall behind the hall.
Tao Wenqian’s flames opened the path ahead, while Yue Wugou’s iron plaques intercepted magic tools flying in from behind.
The four rapidly advanced between the shadows of the rocks. Whenever the ground dropped away, they floated low through the air, then immediately darted beneath the next rock wall.
Flying high would leave them nowhere to hide. The sword cultivators followed above the group, raining down their flying swords, while the other cultivators spread out on either side and waited for the instant the group emerged between the rocks. Each time sword light swept past, chunks were sliced from the edges of the cliffs.
Spirit light flashed beyond the western canyon. The Biluo Sect cultivators ahead were clearing the way. The group changed direction toward them and raced along the rock wall near a stone bridge.
Tao Wenqian and Mei Sujun crossed first.
Yue Wugou had just reached the middle of the bridge when three sword cultivators pursuing Lee Hyun simultaneously lowered their altitude. The sword light that had been widely scattered moments earlier converged between the two at the rear.
Boom!
The center of the stone bridge collapsed.
Yue Wugou swung his iron plaques beneath his feet to block the sword light and flew to the far side. Lee Hyun also launched himself into the air behind him, but at that instant, water surged up from the canyon below.
Splaash–
The water curtain curled around him, surrounding Lee Hyun from the front and both sides. The three sword cultivators overhead redirected their flying swords in different directions, pouring sword qi into every position from which he might cross the water curtain.
“Junior Brother Li!”
At that moment, amid the chaos, a blue-green bell rose into the air.
Boom-boom-boom!
Sword light crashed into the bell from every direction, producing ear-splitting bursts. Fine cracks appeared across the Protective Bell, a high-grade magic tool, while its spirit light shook violently.
Amid that storm, Lee Hyun’s voice transmission struck Tao Wenqian’s ears.
[Go on ahead! I’m confident in my ability to escape!]
As soon as he finished speaking, Lee Hyun used the Thousand-Jin Drop while anchoring his Earth-Origin Force to the bedrock at the bottom of the canyon, dragging his own body downward.
Fwoooosh– Boom!
His rapidly accelerating figure tore through the rushing water and slammed into the ground. The instant dirt and stone erupted like an explosion, he was sucked beneath the earth without leaving a trace.
“…!”
Li Dongsan had even managed to retrieve the bell-shaped magic tool in the middle of all that!
After witnessing the unbelievable sight before them, Tao Wenqian and the others stopped worrying about Li Dongsan and hurried west.
…
Earth and stone continuously flowed around Lee Hyun’s body.
Rather than descending deeper immediately, he first moved sideways through the canyon bedrock to get away from the spot where the enemies had been attacking. Once the impacts shaking the earth grew distant, he turned west, in the direction his fellow disciples had gone.
Along the way, he rose close to the surface several times and peered outside through gaps in the rocks. Only after confirming that the enemies pursuing his fellow disciples had finally abandoned the chase did Lee Hyun slow down.
He could have done more if he truly wanted to, but revealing his full strength in front of his fellow disciples while maintaining the identity of Li Dongsan, a Foundation Establishment Stage 2 cultivator, would have been troublesome. Of course, if his fellow disciples had been placed in danger, he had intended to reveal his abilities if necessary to save them, but fortunately there had been no need.
Lee Hyun poked his head out from beneath a rock on a deserted slope and took out a Tier 2 voice-transmission talisman.
[This is Li Dongsan. I escaped safely. I’ll take a detour underground, so please don’t take any risks trying to find me. I’ll keep watch for signs of the enemy and take my time rejoining you.]
The voice-transmission talisman gathered light and flew away.
Lee Hyun slipped back beneath the rock and gradually descended deeper, putting ample distance between himself and the surface. As he did, a warm, clear energy brushed past his body.
He paused and examined his surroundings. The lesser yang qi he had sensed in the spirit fields above was flowing upward from below through thin fissures in the bedrock.
‘Huh? I do happen to be alone now… should I try looking for the source of the lesser yang qi…?’
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