After leaving the Martial Training Academy, the Crown Prince led Lee Hyun to a canal a short distance from the Fengtian Bureau.
Large and small villas lined the canal that ran through the inner city. They were guest villas where envoys from other kingdoms and rogue cultivators invited from outside stayed.
The residence the Crown Prince had arranged for Lee Hyun was one of them, Qingliang Villa.
A high white wall surrounded the villa. Above the main gate hung a signboard bearing the words Qingliang Villa in gold against a blue background, while two warriors in blue martial uniforms stood guard beneath it.
When they reached the main gate, the Crown Prince said,
“Retainer Zheng and I have matters to attend to back at the Fengtian Bureau. If you need anything, please speak to the villa’s steward.”
“Is it really all right for me to stay here? I haven’t even become a Retainer yet.”
Lee Hyun looked at the villa beyond the gate. Even in modern Korea in his past life, he had never stayed anywhere this luxurious.
‘This place looks incredibly expensive...’
The Crown Prince smiled.
“Yunze Kingdom is neither shameless nor poor enough to force someone to become a Retainer merely because we offered them hospitality. Please don’t worry.”
Zheng Yuanbo, standing beside him, cleared his throat.
“At least, not yet.”
“Retainer Zheng, you have a remarkable talent for making things sound strange whenever you add a comment.”
After exchanging a few more words, the two departed.
Inside the main gate, the villa’s staff stood in a line waiting for Lee Hyun.
At the very front stood a thin man in his fifties. A ring of keys and a small ledger hung from his waist.
“I am Cui Da, steward of Qingliang Villa. I pay my respects to the Immortal.”
He bowed deeply at the waist.
After him, a clerk, four maidservants, a cook and assistant cook, two guards, a coachman, and several servants greeted Lee Hyun in turn. Altogether, there were well over ten people.
The four maidservants in particular were all elegant and beautiful. Two of them were even more striking than the beauties in the illustrations of the tales of everyday life Lee Hyun had read before.
‘Did they hire them based on looks alone?’
The four maidservants simultaneously took a step back and opened a path.
Even the height to which they raised their hands matched perfectly, not just their movements.
‘Looks like they’ve been thoroughly trained in etiquette too.’
Cui Da guided Lee Hyun farther inside.
Beyond the main gate lay a spacious garden.
A pond sat in the middle of the garden, crossed by a jade-colored bridge. Gold-and-red carp swam lazily through the water.
Low flowering trees and Insect-Warding Grass had been planted in rows on either side of the stone path.
At the very back stood a large two-story hall.
Its roof, covered in blue glazed tiles, glittered in the sunlight.
And yet water was constantly flowing over the roof.
“What is that?”
When Lee Hyun stopped and asked, Cui Da explained as though he had been waiting for the question.
“The waterwheel behind the villa draws water up from the canal.”
When they went around the back of the building, they saw a huge waterwheel rising higher than the hall’s roof ridge, turning slowly.
Wooden buckets were attached at regular intervals around the outer rim of the wheel, each tilted at an angle.
The buckets scooped up canal water at the bottom and carried it upward. When a bucket reached the top, it overturned and poured its contents into a trough beside it. The water then flowed along the trough into an elevated tank behind the hall.
The water collected in the tank flowed through several bamboo pipes to the roof ridge.
Countless narrow grooves had been carved into the surface of the blue-green glazed tiles.
The water divided along those grooves and spread across the entire roof, then fell from the eaves in thin streams like a curtain.
Some of the water evaporated from the roof beneath the sunlight.
Whenever the wind blew, the cooled air flowed beneath the eaves.
“Is it a device for cooling the roof?”
“As expected of an Immortal. Your wisdom is extraordinary to recognize it at a glance. It was designed to keep the interior cool even at the height of summer. The water that flows over the roof collects in channels beneath the eaves before draining into the garden pond.”
“I see. Fascinating.”
“The entire device was made by craftsmen of the mundane world.”
Lee Hyun stared at the waterwheel and roof for quite some time.
‘I have to admit it. This is way more impressive than Tunnel No. 1’s water supply system...’
When he entered the hall, a genuinely cool breeze greeted him.
The doors and windows were wide open, yet not a single insect was in sight.
“That’s impressive. There aren’t any insects?”
As Lee Hyun looked around, Cui Da pointed to a thin silk mesh fixed over the window frame.
“This mesh keeps out flying insects. We also use Insect-Warding Grass and Insect-Warding Incense throughout the villa. We have even stocked the pond with fish that feed on mosquito larvae.”
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“An Immortal will be staying here. There must be nothing lacking.”
The first-floor reception room contained tables and chairs made from reddish wood.
Landscape paintings and calligraphy hung on the walls, while a brazier in the corner gave off an extremely faint grassy fragrance.
Farther inside were a bedroom, a study, and a separate bathing room.
The bedroom contained a bed wide enough for three people to lie side by side with room to spare. A soft mattress and thin silk quilt had been neatly laid across it.
Tea chilled with ice and sliced fruit had been prepared on the table.
After explaining the villa’s facilities and meal times, Cui Da withdrew.
The maidservants also brewed fresh tea, set down a plate of fruit, and left the room.
Once alone, Lee Hyun first used the Aura-Reading Art to examine the walls, ceiling, and floor in turn, but he found no suspicious traces of spiritual power.
He circulated the Keen Hearing Art and listened even to the faintest sounds nearby.
He could hear the maidservants speaking softly in the distance and the sound of a knife striking a cutting board in the kitchen, but there was nothing suspicious.
Finally, he used the Ground-Sense Art.
An intricate network of drainage channels and water pipes ran beneath the villa, but there did not seem to be anyone hiding below or any secret passages.
‘There really aren’t any traps...’
He carefully sat on the edge of the bed.
The soft mattress yielded beneath his weight.
A moment later, he lay back completely.
He could faintly hear water flowing across the roof, and a cool breeze drifted through the open window.
He picked up a piece of fruit a maidservant had peeled and put it into his mouth.
It was sweet and cool.
‘So this is what a life of wealth and luxury is like....’
Even as he simply lay there, a cool breeze continued to blow.
‘I think I understand a little why people like power so much.’
Lee Hyun marveled at it for a moment before sitting up again.
‘Maybe I should look around some more.’
...
Hundreds of books filled the shelves in the study.
Perhaps because this was a place where guests of the royal family and the Fengtian Bureau stayed, many of the books concerned the history, geography, and etiquette of Yunze Kingdom.
Lee Hyun first took out Lives of the Fengtian Retainers.
It was a collection detailing the deeds of Retainers who had left their names in history since the Fengtian Bureau was founded.
There was a cultivator who had saved a village by killing a demon beast, and a Craft Retainer who had spent three years studying aquatic plants to eradicate spirit insects breeding in a river. Another Retainer had fought a master at the Profound Realm from Qianyang Kingdom, only for both of them to fall into a river and disappear.
Lee Hyun next opened Record of Yunze Waterways.
It was a book describing the rivers and canals of Yunze Kingdom, along with its ferries, sluice gates, and waterwheels.
The book was surprisingly interesting.
It contained discussions of floods, rivers, wetlands, and embankments, as well as an account of enormous sluice gates beneath Yunjing that diverted the flow of water depending on the rainy and dry seasons.
There were also illustrated diagrams of devices similar to the waterwheel that cooled Qingliang Villa’s roof.
As Lee Hyun flipped through the pages, he found an illustration of a small waterwheel lifting water and supplying it to several tiers of fields.
‘Come to think of it, could I combine the tunnel’s water tanks into one...?’
Lee Hyun had also built elevated tanks and stored spirit rainwater in them, but each spirit field had its own separate tank.
The tunnel’s spirit fields did not use flowing water, so he could not use a waterwheel, but he wondered whether it would be better to connect several spirit fields to one large tank and manage them together.
‘If I ever end up making Tunnel No. 2... it might be worth laying out the water supply system properly from the start.’
Lee Hyun studied the illustration for a long while before taking out the next book.
Eleven Days in Baishui City.
It was a record written by a clerk of what had happened inside Baishui City during the final eleven days before its fall. Lee Hyun browsed it briefly, his expression growing grim at the heavy subject matter, then returned it to the shelf.
Lee Hyun looked for something lighter.
A collection of popular novels fashionable among common folk occupied the lower shelves. Their spines were more worn than those of the other books, and their corners had been polished smooth by many hands.
My Youngest Daughter Turns Out to Be the Greatest Master Under Heaven
I Emerged from Ten Years of Secluded Cultivation to Find My Junior Sister Had Become the Sect Leader
I Took In What I Thought Was a Demon Beast, but It Was a Prince of Qianyang Kingdom
...
By the time he finished browsing through the books, evening had already arrived.
Just then, a maidservant spoke cautiously from outside the door.
“Immortal, your evening meal is ready.”
“Come in.”
Two maidservants entered carrying a low dining table.
Upon it were clear fish soup, roast duck, glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves, pickled vegetables, and fruit.
It was food of the mundane world, but both the ingredients and preparation were excellent.
For the first time in a long while, Lee Hyun ate a properly prepared meal while reading.
At first he found the maidservants’ attendance somewhat uncomfortable, but by the third day he had grown accustomed to it.
He refused to let them go so far as to remove his shoes, but he no longer objected to ordinary services such as bringing him tea and food.
Cleanly laundered clothes were prepared every morning, and bathwater at the perfect temperature was made ready without him even asking.
‘This is dangerous...!’
Lee Hyun thought as he sipped plum tea.
‘How am I supposed to go back to living in a dank tunnel after getting used to this kind of luxury?’
...
On the morning of the fourth day.
Zheng Yuanbo came to Qingliang Villa.
“The Retainers conducting your examination have arrived.”
“Have they?”
Lee Hyun quietly closed I Became a Prisoner of Qianyang Kingdom, and Now I’m Popular, which he had been reading.
He slipped it beneath another book so the title would not be visible.
“I’ll be there shortly.”
“Take your time.”
Zheng Yuanbo’s gaze swept over the pile of books.
Lives of the Fengtian Retainers lay on top.
“Looks like you’ve been studying hard.”
“There seemed to be a great deal I should know before entering the Fengtian Bureau.”
“Excellent.”
...
Within the jade-colored walls of the Fengtian Bureau stood a cluster of massive tiled buildings resembling government offices.
Above the main gate hung a signboard bearing the words Fengtian Bureau in gold against a black background.
Stone statues stood on either side of the gate, one holding a sword and the other a fan. One seemed to depict a martial artist, the other a cultivator.
Beyond the main gate, a broad road split into several branches.
Directly ahead stood the Retainers Hall, which handled the Fengtian Bureau’s administration, while the Military Service Hall was to the right.
To the left were buildings used by Craft Retainers, including the Alchemy Hall, Talisman Court, Formation Court, and Infirmary.
The entire Fengtian Bureau felt like a small city unto itself.
Many of the people traveling along its roads were officials and clerks from the mundane world.
Cultivators with storage pouches or retainer badges hanging from their waists could also be seen from time to time.
Most appeared older than Lee Hyun, and there were hardly any young people.
‘Come to think of it, a young Qi Refining cultivator with a promising future would probably join a cultivation sect rather than serve the royal family of the mundane world.’
Zheng Yuanbo guided Lee Hyun into a spacious room inside the Retainers Hall.
Three tables stood side by side inside. A gray-haired female cultivator sat at the center table, while a middle-aged cultivator sat at the table beside her reviewing documents.
Both appeared to be at mid or late Qi Refining.
Zheng Yuanbo sat down at the remaining table.
The female cultivator at the center table spoke.
“I am Standing Retainer Lu Xiaoyan.”
The middle-aged cultivator beside her also cupped his hands.
“Standing Retainer Ma Zhenhao.”
“I am Li Dongyi.”
Lu Xiaoyan unfolded the documents on the table.
“Calling it an examination makes it sound more impressive than it is. We merely verify that there are no problems with your identity, realm, or cultivation art, then explain the rules of the Fengtian Bureau.”
“Understood.”
“Where are you from?”
“I cultivated in the mountains of the north.”
“Can you disclose the exact region?”
“I’m afraid I cannot.”
“Rogue cultivators who keep their master and the origins of their cultivation art secret are hardly uncommon. The Fengtian Bureau will not pry. Is there anyone within Yunze Kingdom who bears you a grudge, or any faction pursuing you?”
“No.”
“Have you ever practiced a demonic cultivation art, or used a mortal’s essence blood or soul in your cultivation?”
“No.”
Lu Xiaoyan nodded to the clerk beside her. The clerk recorded Lee Hyun’s answers in the retainer register.
“Your age?”
“Twenty-nine.”
After careful consideration, Lee Hyun had decided to claim he was twenty-nine.
If he said he was in his early twenties, it would be difficult to explain why someone his age had chosen a mundane dynasty over a cultivation sect. On the other hand, if he claimed to be too old, it would shorten the amount of time he could continue living without arousing suspicion even if his appearance never aged.
‘No one should find it strange if my appearance doesn’t change for around twenty years. I have to get the pill recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill and learn alchemy before then.’
Lu Xiaoyan did not seem particularly suspicious.
“Next, we will verify your realm and attributes.”
Lu Xiaoyan took a black stone from beneath the table. It was round and about the size of an adult’s head, with three overlapping circles engraved into its surface.
“This is a realm-measuring stone. It roughly determines one’s realm by examining the quality of their spiritual power. Send a little spiritual power into it.”
Lee Hyun placed a hand on the stone.
He drew only an extremely thin strand of the Primordial True Qi throughout his body into his palm.
Hummm―
The innermost circle of the realm-measuring stone shone brightly.
“The peak of early Qi Refining...”
Lu Xiaoyan said.
“You’ve reached the end of Stage 3, but the qualitative change has not occurred yet.”
“That’s correct.”
“Your control over your spiritual power is extraordinarily stable. Enough to make me wonder whether you possess an exceptional inheritance...”
Ma Zhenhao said as he examined the realm-measuring stone.
“It seems my spiritual power is pure because I have cultivated the same cultivation art steadily without ever switching to another.”
Next came a round tray inset with five differently colored pieces of jade.
When Lee Hyun sent spiritual power into it, the blue jade representing Wood, the red jade representing Fire, and the yellow jade representing Earth lit up in sequence.
“A triple spiritual root?”
Lu Xiaoyan recorded the result.
“At twenty-nine... you are still fairly young, and your spiritual root is not bad. Is there a reason you came to the Fengtian Bureau of Yunze Kingdom rather than joining a cultivation sect?”
“In a cultivation sect, I would have to live as a low-ranking disciple, while in a kingdom of the mundane world, I can enjoy a high status and be treated with respect.”
Lu Xiaoyan fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
“...Well, you are not wrong. Most Qi Refining cultivators spend their entire lives in sects laboring like slaves before dying there. Though if I were in your position, I think I would have aimed for Foundation Establishment.”
Finally, Ma Zhenhao took a small bronze lamp from beneath the table.
The lamp’s body was densely carved with the faces of beasts with gaping mouths, and a single silver wick stood in its center.
Although it contained no oil, when Ma Zhenhao rubbed the wick with his finger, a white flame the size of a fingernail sprang to life.
“This is a demon-detecting lamp, a magic tool used to determine whether someone has practiced a sinister cultivation art. You need only send a little spiritual power into it.”
Lee Hyun placed a hand on the body of the lamp and sent a strand of Primordial True Qi into it. The white flame did not change. If anything, its light became even clearer than before.
“No problem.”
Ma Zhenhao closed the demon-detecting lamp’s lid.
“Lastly, show us one technique you use frequently. It is rare, but there are some who cannot properly use even a single technique.”
Lee Hyun formed a simple hand seal with his fingers.
Hummm―
A translucent Spirit Light Shield appeared before his palm.
It was about the size of a small tray.
Lu Xiaoyan flicked a small iron ball from the table with her finger.
Clang!
The iron ball struck the Spirit Light Shield and fell to the floor.
Not even a ripple appeared across the Spirit Light Shield.
“Good.”
Lu Xiaoyan said so, but Ma Zhenhao examined the Spirit Light Shield a little more closely.
“Could this really be... a Spirit Light Shield?”
“That’s right. Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s... not a problem... It’s just incredibly stable. You look like someone who has cast the Spirit Light Shield every day for decades.”
“I didn’t know many techniques. I suppose I naturally became proficient by repeatedly practicing the few I had learned.”
“Excellent.”
Zheng Yuanbo spoke.
“It’s better to master even one technique properly than to constantly covet new ones. And if that technique happens to be the Spirit Light Shield, you may have a talent well suited to becoming a Military Retainer.”
...
The examination ended without any particular problems.
Lu Xiaoyan opened the retainer register.
“At present, the Fengtian Bureau’s Retainers are divided into four categories: Standing Retainers, External Retainers, Military Retainers, and Craft Retainers. Do you know the differences?”
“Yes.”
“Which do you want?”
“Can I change categories later?”
“As often as you like.”
“Then I’ll start as an External Retainer.”
In truth, Lee Hyun would have liked to become a Craft Retainer and practice alchemy, but he knew nothing about alchemy.
If an alchemist volunteered to become a Craft Retainer, Yunze Kingdom would practically bow in gratitude, but someone who merely wanted to learn alchemy was just another nobody.
If Lee Hyun wanted to learn alchemy, he would instead have to accumulate merit points and ask a Craft Retainer to teach him.
There was also the option of choosing spirit plants as his Craft Retainer specialty, then mingling with the other Retainers and subtly learning alchemy from them. But spirit plants were not a field that produced results quickly, so it was unsuitable for earning the merit points he needed to learn alchemy and obtain the pill recipe within twenty years.
Moreover, there was another problem with becoming a Craft Retainer through spirit-plant work. Every one of Lee Hyun’s spirit-plant cultivation techniques had been learned at Qinghe Valley.
If it were discovered that Qinghe Valley’s spirit-plant cultivation techniques were being used by a mortal dynasty, both Lee Hyun and Yunze Kingdom could find themselves in tremendous danger.
Even excluding Qinghe Valley’s Golden Core Patriarch, there were dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators serving as Elders. If even one of them came and began slaughtering people, the royal family of Yunze Kingdom would be laid waste.
Of course, Lee Hyun had no way of knowing whether Qinghe Valley still retained the same strength it once had. But unless its power had declined drastically in the meantime, Yunze Kingdom was in no position to contend with it.
‘Even if nothing happens while I’m here, disaster could strike Yunze Kingdom after I leave. I can’t take on spirit-plant work...’
...
Lu Xiaoyan explained the merit-point system and the rules Retainers were required to follow.
Most of it was common sense, such as prohibitions against killing mortals without cause or seizing their property.
“If you have no particular objections, I will register you as an External Retainer.”
“I have no objections.”
After recording the final details, the clerk stamped the Fengtian Bureau’s seal onto the retainer register.
The moment the red seal paste soaked into the paper, the tiny formation patterns engraved along the edges of the retainer register lit up one after another.
The clerk placed a blue jade badge atop the retainer register and engraved Lee Hyun’s name into it with a silver needle.
Lu Xiaoyan handed him the jade badge.
A crane soaring above the clouds was carved on the front, while the back bore the words ‘External Retainer Li Dongyi.’
“Your retainer badge, fellow Daoist.”
It felt strange to have suddenly become a Retainer of a kingdom in the mundane world.
“Your registration is complete. You may continue using Qingliang Villa as your residence. Do you have any other questions?”
Lee Hyun was about to put the jade badge into his storage pouch when he stopped.
“How many merit points would I need to learn alchemy and obtain the pill recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill?”
“See for yourself.”
Lu Xiaoyan gestured to the clerk.
The clerk retrieved the Fengtian Merit Register from a bookshelf on one side of the room.
The Fengtian Merit Register was a ledger classifying missions, rewards, and the requirements for using various facilities. Dozens of colored index tabs lined the edges of its pages.
Lee Hyun immediately opened the section on pills and alchemy.
「One Barrier-Breaking Pill: 100 merit points. 10 low-grade spirit stones charged separately.」
「Introductory Alchemy Lecture: 20 merit points.」
「Advanced Alchemy Lecture: 50 merit points. Completion of the Introductory Alchemy Lecture required.」
「Rental of pill furnace and earth fire facilities: 10 merit points per month. Medicinal ingredients and auxiliary materials must be prepared separately.」
「Pill recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill: 500 merit points. External transmission and sale prohibited.」
‘Hmm... Even if I only learn introductory and advanced alchemy, obtain the pill recipe for the Barrier-Breaking Pill, and rent a pill furnace for a single month... that comes to 580 merit points? But to actually practice alchemy, I’ll need medicinal ingredients too, and I’ll have to rent the facilities for longer.’
In practice, Lee Hyun would need well over 600 merit points.
‘How much work would it take to earn 600 points?’
Lee Hyun flipped farther through the Fengtian Merit Register.
This time, he found missions available to External Retainers.
But most missions rewarded only between one and five merit points.
‘Why are they so stingy...?’
“Can I apply for this mission now?”
“Four people have already applied. Priority goes to those who have served as External Retainers for a long time and those who have not received a mission recently.”
“What about removing the spirit insects from the Qingshui River?”
“The same applies.”
“Then this investigation mission....”
“It has already been assigned.”
“There are fewer missions than I expected.”
“It cannot be helped. There are many External Retainers, but very few missions worth awarding merit points in the first place. Aside from fighting Qianyang Kingdom...”
‘There’s no way I can learn alchemy and obtain the pill recipe within twenty years as an External Retainer...’
Lee Hyun examined the Fengtian Merit Register again. Other types of Retainers, particularly Military Retainers, had far more missions available and received the most merit points as rewards.
‘Maybe I’d be better off becoming a Military Retainer. First, I need to find out whether I’m actually strong enough to handle Military Retainer missions.’
Lee Hyun closed the Fengtian Merit Register and asked,
“Do I also need merit points to receive sparring instruction from masters of the martial path at the Martial Training Academy?”
“No.”
Zheng Yuanbo answered with a smile.
“The martial artists of the Martial Training Academy love sparring with cultivators, so do not worry. I will contact Academy Head Guo for you.”
...
The next day.
Lee Hyun visited the Grand Drill Ground of the Martial Training Academy.
Unlike before, when it had been filled with soldiers preparing for deployment, the Grand Drill Ground was quiet. In the distance, soldiers were practicing shield techniques, while pairs of martial artists crossed weapons on several smaller training platforms.
Lee Hyun was guided to a separate training ground enclosed by walls.
Wooden swords, wooden spears, and blunted iron weapons were neatly arranged along one side.
Two people were waiting in the center of the training ground.
One was Academy Head Guo Tianxiong, a master of the Profound Realm. The other was a middle-aged martial artist who appeared to be in his mid-forties. He wore a dark navy martial uniform, and an old scar ran from his temple down to his jaw.
Guo Tianxiong introduced him.
“This is Instructor Xu Zhenming of the Martial Training Academy. Not only is he a master of the Transformation Realm, he is also better at teaching people than I am.”
“Greetings, Immortal. I am Xu Zhenming.”
“Nice to meet you. I am Li Dongyi.”
A short while later, Lee Hyun and Xu Zhenming each held a wooden sword with its edges rounded smooth.
“First, we need to see where you currently stand. Since this is your first time, don’t overthink it. Just fight however you like. There’s no need to be too afraid, either. I’ll be right beside you, so neither of you will suffer any serious injuries.”
“Understood.”
Lee Hyun and Xu Zhenming faced each other from about ten zhang (about 30 m) apart.
Guo Tianxiong turned to Xu Zhenming.
“Zhenming, this Immortal is a young, newly appointed Retainer. Show him a little of what real combat is like. Just don’t press him too hard from the very beginning.”
“Yes.”
Xu Zhenming answered, but his voice cracked slightly. His right hand trembled around the wooden sword.
Xu Zhenming tightened his fingers to suppress the trembling. But the moment he focused on Lee Hyun standing before him, the sword began to shake again.
Cold sweat ran down his back. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and without realizing it, his breathing grew shallow.
‘What is going on?’