***
The surroundings of the training cave became quite tumultuous the following day.
It was due to the sudden disappearance of Na Un-yeon, a fourth-generation disciple.
To find the vanished man, dozens of third and fourth-generation disciples appeared throughout every corner of the training cave and conducted a search.
They thoroughly combed through not only the nearby streams but also the cliffs and deep valleys.
However, Na Un-yeon’s traces were not discovered anywhere.
Lee An-jeong felt a sense of gratitude for the first time toward that crazy old man who had turned Na Un-yeon into ash and shoved him into a furnace.
The search continued for several days afterward.
Because they frequently entered and exited the training cave during this process, Lee An-jeong found it difficult to proceed with his cultivation properly for a while.
Just as the complaints of the miscellaneous labor disciples, who were suffering collateral damage, began to pile up, the search finally came to an end.
It was thanks to the belated testimony of one of the fourth-generation disciples who had witnessed Na Un-yeon’s final movements.
That disciple claimed to have seen Na Un-yeon secretly slipping out of his own cave dwelling while wearing black clothes and a mask.
With that, the entire situation was concluded.
The elders of the sect were relieved by the fact that no spiritual treasures or secret manuals had been stolen from the grounds, and Na Un-yeon was forgotten as a traitor, believed to have fled to a demonic sect.
<><><>
Another ten or so days passed by in a flash after that.
Since there was no longer anyone to disturb him, Lee An-jeong devoted most of his time to cultivation during that period.
Once he began training by turning the hundreds of talismans he had obtained from Na Un-yeon into contact-sealing talismans, Lee An-jeong started to absorb spiritual energy ceaselessly once a day.
The results were truly astonishing.
This was because, in the meantime, Lee An-jeong had reached the 3rd star of the Qi Condensation stage.
The 3rd star was a realm where one achieved the Small Heavenly Circulation of spiritual energy through a total of 65 meridians, opening a portion of the Conception Vessel and all 25 meridians of the Governing Vessel.
Lee An-jeong had reached this 3rd star of the Qi Condensation stage only a month after entering the Bu-yeon Sect.
This was despite the fact that he had to accumulate all the spiritual energy of the five elements into his dantian because he possessed the lowest-grade mixed spirit root.
This was truly nothing short of a tremendous achievement.
It would have likely been impossible if not for the spiritual energy of the incredibly deep underground spirit vein, which was nearly infinite.
Furthermore, before he knew it, Lee An-jeong became capable of freely using not only spiritual energy techniques and talisman arts but also flying sword techniques.
However, all the absorbed spiritual energy ended up disappearing into the pattern on the back of his right hand, just as it had before.
For that reason, Lee An-jeong’s outward realm appeared to be no more than roughly the 1st star of the Qi Condensation stage.
If he were to demonstrate the use of the flying sword technique, people would realize he was at the 3rd star, but Lee An-jeong never revealed such a sight to the outside world during that time.
It was because of the memory of being distressed by that madman old man and Na Un-yeon previously.
Therefore, the surrounding miscellaneous labor disciples expected that Lee An-jeong would still be around the 1st star.
"Haat!"
Lee An-jeong pulled out a longsword from his storage pouch.
Whir!
A dark-toned black longsword was grasped in Lee An-jeong’s hand.
It was one of the ten ink-colored longswords belonging to that crazy old man named Jin Wi-dong.
Because Lee An-jeong had painted it black with soot whenever he had spare time, it had lost its auspicious light and took on a shabby appearance.
After placing the longsword on the floor, Lee An-jeong gathered and projected spiritual energy through his fingertips.
"Haat! Flying Sword Technique!"
Vrrr-
At that moment, the spiritual energy at his fingertips vibrated and was shot toward the longsword.
And the moment the longsword and the spiritual energy were connected, the longsword began to fly around, following Lee An-jeong’s fingertips.
The blade was so sharp that a thin line appeared on the cave wall even if it just grazed it slightly.
'As I thought, this doesn't seem like an ordinary longsword? It couldn't possibly be of the Earth Grade or higher, could it? Ehehe—I really hit the jackpot!'
Lee An-jeong continued to practice the flying sword technique with a wide, foolish grin on his face.
Shwaaa—Whoosh—
As the ink-colored longsword rapidly traversed the inside of the narrow training cave, a fierce wind whipped around.
"They say immortals fly around while riding on flying swords, so should I try getting on top of the flying sword for once?"
At that thought which suddenly crossed his mind, Lee An-jeong loaded his body with spiritual energy and hopped right onto the ink-colored longsword.
However, at that moment, the spiritual energy connected to the ink-colored longsword was severed, and it dropped straight to the floor.
"Uh?"
Startled, he tried to extend his spiritual energy toward the flying sword again, but this time, the spiritual energy wrapped around his entire body was sucked right out.
While he was unable to do one thing or another, Lee An-jeong and the ink-colored longsword both fell to the floor at the same time.
Thump— Clang—
Fortunately, the condition of the longsword seemed fine.
"Ugh—riding a flying sword isn't easy, is it?"
Lee An-jeong felt regretful while stroking his sore buttocks.
However, though Lee An-jeong did not know it, this was not something to be regretful about.
The realm of the flying sword technique that Lee An-jeong wanted to perform required completely transforming one's body into a spiritual energy entity.
It was a realm where one could control external objects through mental intent.
In other words, it was something that was only possible once one entered the Foundation Establishment stage.
For Lee An-jeong, who was only at the 3rd star of the Qi Condensation stage, it was impossible from the very beginning.
However, Lee An-jeong, who was unaware of this, swallowed his disappointment and tried his best to become as familiar with it as possible by manipulating the flying sword again and flying it here and there.
"Good! I'm quite used to it now! Well, if I had succeeded in Sword-Soul Recognition, I would have been able to handle it more properly...! To think it would reject my essence of blood. Well, it can't be helped. It was originally that crazy old man's sword anyway. Tsk!"
Sword-Soul Recognition was a ritual where one dropped essence blood onto a flying sword and engraved their soul into it to create a resonance with the sword.
Only after achieving Sword-Soul Recognition could one finally make the power of that sword entirely their own.
While learning the flying sword technique, Lee An-jeong had tried several times to complete the Sword-Soul Recognition by shedding essence blood onto those ten ink-colored longswords, but he had failed.
It seemed that for it to succeed, that old man had to die so that the old man’s blood which stained the swords would disappear.
Lee An-jeong smacked his lips again as if disappointed and continued to train with the flying sword.
However, it was at that moment.
Dong—
The sound of a familiar bell was heard from afar.
"Hm? What is it? Is it already labor training from early in the morning?"
But the sound of the bell was a bit different than usual.
During labor training, it usually sounded twice shortly, but this time it sounded only once and for a long duration.
It was also strange that it was heard early in the morning rather than after noon.
"Hmm—Ah! Today is the first day of the month. The first day of a new month! It must be supply distribution time!"
It seemed to be the supply time for the fasting pills, low-grade spirit stones, and talismans that happened once a month.
"Ah, I don't really need them now. It's a hassle, so should I just not go?"
He had already obtained dozens of low-grade spirit stones, about ten mid-grade spirit stones, and even hundreds of talismans that were in Na Un-yeon’s storage pouch.
Furthermore, as he rose to the 3rd star of the Qi Condensation stage, he was now able to perform metabolism through spiritual energy, so he was in a state where he didn't even need fasting pills that much.
Naturally, he felt a sense of annoyance about going to collect supplies just to get a mere three low-grade spirit stones, fasting pills, and a few talismans.
"Whew... even if it's a hassle, I guess I have to go, right? If I want to avoid drawing unnecessary suspicion!"
The incident where that old man named Jin Wi-dong and Na Un-yeon appeared last time suddenly came to mind.
He did not want to bring about such danger ever again.
Lee An-jeong reluctantly stepped out of the training cave.
As he left the training cave, Mak Cheong-un from the neighboring cave was just leaving his own training cave when he spotted Lee An-jeong, flinched, and stared at him.
"L-Lee An-jeong..."
Mak Cheong-un’s eyes contained suspicion along with fear.
For him, it was only natural to have doubts, as the guy who couldn't even memorize the oral formulas for the Qi-gathering method on the first day and asked him for help had surpassed the 1st star of the Qi Condensation stage in such a short time.
"Y-you... were you making fun of me back then? Even though you possessed such body-strengthening techniques..."
There was even a hint of a sense of betrayal in Mak Cheong-un’s eyes.
It seemed he thought that Lee An-jeong, whom he had assumed was a talentless dullard just like himself, had deceived him by raising his realm faster than anyone else.
He even felt it was unfair that he had stepped forward to get beaten along with him when they were being bullied by Hwang-cheon’s group.
"Hey, Mak Cheong-un! I really didn't know anything back then! The body-strengthening technique suddenly awakened after that!"
'Of course, it was all done through the power of medicine!'
He kept the last part to himself.
However, what he told the fellow was all the truth.
"What? Y-you expect me to believe that? To suddenly awaken a special cultivation method. Are you saying you were born with some kind of special bloodline or something?"
Mak Cheong-un still wore a fearful expression, yet he did not seem to believe it at all.
It was perhaps a natural thing.
A guy with the lowest-grade mixed spirit root suddenly awakened a body-strengthening technique?
As the guy said, it would be impossible unless one was born with a special bloodline.
"Ha! Anyway, I only told the absolute truth. Whether you believe it or not is up to you!"
When Lee An-jeong shouted that as if it were a hassle, Mak Cheong-un stared quietly, seemingly trying to gauge Lee An-jeong’s intentions.
As Lee An-jeong looked at the fellow, he slowly felt the limit of his patience.
'Ah, damn it! Should I just leave him behind and go?'
It was at the moment he was about to brush past Mak Cheong-un.
Mak Cheong-un suddenly clapped his hands and shouted.
"Ah! If it's a bloodline that suddenly awakened a body-strengthening technique, could it be... the S-Soft-Root Bloodline? That's it! There's no mistake! Now that I look at you, you were an amazing person! No wonder I thought your achievements were fast!"
Mak Cheong-un spoke like that and grabbed Lee An-jeong’s hand.
'Eh? Soft-Root Bloodline? What kind of ghost-story nonsense is this again?'
"Aish! Why is a guy grabbing my hand so creepily? Ugh!"
When Lee An-jeong was startled and shook off his hand, Mak Cheong-un scratched the back of his head, smiled, and spoke while stuttering.
"S-sorry. I was just too surprised. Anyway, I-I misunderstood you. Looking at your flexible muscles and bones, it's definitely the Soft-Root Bloodline! I didn't even know that. I'm really sorry. I-I sincerely apologize."
"Uh-huh... okay. Well, if that's the case..."
'Soft-Root Bloodline? What is that?'
Lee An-jeong, feeling bewildered, asked Mak Cheong-un.
"What exactly is that Soft-Root Bloodline?"
"Th-the Soft-Root Bloodline is one of the Nine Heavenly Bloodlines, which are nine peculiar bloodlines passed down since ancient times."
"What? Nine Heavenly Bloodlines? It's one of such great bloodlines?"
In response to Lee An-jeong’s startled question, Mak Cheong-un’s expression changed strangely.
"Th-that's right. But... although it rises as fast as the legendary Heavenly Spirit Root until the Foundation Establishment stage, it is a bloodline that possesses a Heavenly Punishment where one cannot break through to the next realm after Foundation Establishment. Of course, for people like us, even that much is like a dream."
"What? Then it's not a good thing? Dammit!"
Lee An-jeong’s expression completely crumpled at those words.
To think he could only rise as far as the Foundation Establishment stage.
In the world of Xianxia, wasn't Foundation Establishment truly the lowest of the low among experts?
Mak Cheong-un crumpled his face unlike his usual self, as if Lee An-jeong’s reaction was absurd.
"Chi... Even if you just become Foundation Establishment, you're counted as an elite in our Bu-yeon Sect! D-do you know what an amazing realm that is!"
Mak Cheong-un’s eyes shone with a longing gaze as he said the word 'elite.'
However, even at those words, Lee An-jeong’s expression showed no signs of loosening.
'This body, which has an infinite spirit vein down below and even has some kind of food world or hidden realm inside, is limited to just Foundation Establishment? Does that make any sense!?'
Then, the crazy old man named Jin Wi-dong, who was trapped in the world inside the pattern on the back of his right hand, suddenly flashed through Lee An-jeong’s mind.
'Right! If it's that crazy old man Jin Wi-dong who said he reached the Soul Transformation stage, wouldn't he know well? If I ask that crazy old man, I'll be able to find out if I have the Soft-Root Bloodline or whatever! Well, in there, that old man is just a small fry, so I'm not even scared. '
Only then did Lee An-jeong feel at ease.
"Well, that's true too. Since it means I can rise quickly until Foundation Establishment as you said, I should think of it as a good thing anyway."
When he replied nonchalantly like that, Mak Cheong-un got excited and his eyes sparkled.
"Y-yeah. I-if you really have the Soft-Root Bloodline, it won't even take 10 years to reach Foundation Establishment! The advantage of the Soft-Root Bloodline is..."
Mak Cheong-un talked incessantly with a very excited face, as if it were his own business, all the way to the supply location.
Lee An-jeong frowned, finding this side of the timid and quiet Mak Cheong-un to be unfamiliar.
It was so noisy that his ears hurt, so he had to start letting it in through one ear and out the other.
As he did so, he briefly checked the fellow's realm.
Quite a bit of time had passed since then, but the fellow had still not even reached the 1st star of the Qi Condensation stage.
He was in the state of an ordinary person, with not even a tiny bit of spiritual energy felt from his body.
'Man, he really is a guy with no talent. Poor fellow. Since this is also a fated connection, I should look for a way to raise his realm if I get the chance later.'
As Lee An-jeong looked at Mak Cheong-un with pity while having such thoughts, the mountain gate leading to the main mountain came into view before he knew it.
At the mountain gate, hundreds of miscellaneous labor disciples were already standing in a long line, waiting for supplies.
Seeing that, Mak Cheong-un hurriedly went and stood at the very back of that line.
Lee An-jeong also intended to stand behind him, following Mak Cheong-un.
However, it was at that moment.
"Hey, that's my spot!"