***
Although he was happy to have risen to 1-seong, it was regrettable that he had used up all three of the lower-grade Spirit Stones, which were meant to last a full month.
"It’s a big problem since I can hardly absorb any Spiritual Qi without lower-grade Spirit Stones."
Lower-grade Spirit Stones could only be received once a month, in sets of three.
Since he had used up everything he received yesterday, he was now stuck in a position where he could not significantly increase his Spiritual Qi for the remainder of the period.
He might be able to absorb the Spiritual Qi of the Five Elements that he felt tingling in all directions of heaven and earth, but the amount was extremely small.
On the other hand, a massive amount of Spiritual Qi was required to go from 1-seong to 2-seong.
Therefore, as long as he lacked lower-grade Spirit Stones, it could be said that cultivation toward 2-seong was almost impossible.
Particularly, as someone with a Mixed Spiritual Root (Jap-yeong-geun), he had to cultivate one more attribute than most other labor disciples who possessed Four-Attribute Spiritual Roots (Sa-yeong-geun), so he needed far more Spiritual Qi than others.
"It can't be helped. Let's at least practice the techniques. Didn't they say that once one reaches 1-seong, one can use something called Talisman Arts in addition to the Qi Technique?"
Talisman Arts (Bumun-sul).
Talisman Arts was a technique of manifesting the harmony of heaven and earth by writing characters with Spiritual Qi on a talisman.
The 'Bu' in the Buyeon Sect meant Talisman Arts (符), and the 'Yeon' meant Alchemy (練), signifying that it was a small-to-medium-sized sect whose specialties were Talisman Arts and Alchemy.
Although the Buyeon Sect was a small-to-medium sect with few cultivators above the Core Formation Stage (Gyeol-dan-gi), its Talisman Arts and Alchemy were quite famous.
They often used talismans made with Spiritual Qi to sell to cultivators of smaller sects or to rogue cultivators (San-su) who traveled alone, which was useful for their finances.
For this reason, once disciples reached 1-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage, they were made to learn basic Talisman Arts early on.
In the basic Talisman Arts written in the Qi Condensation Method, there were two types: the Hundred-Li Talisman (Baekri-bu), which allowed one to move a long distance quickly, and the Attraction Talisman (Jeopin-bu), used to pull or shoot objects.
"The Hundred-Li Talisman probably means going a hundred li at once, right? Is it a kind of teleportation? Since I might end up leaving the sect grounds without permission if I use that, let's try the Attraction Talisman first!"
Because he had stayed up all night, the medicinal effects had worn off. After quickly tossing a Byeokgok-dan, a ConXX, and an InXX into his mouth, he waited for the medicinal effects to circulate.
And the moment he realized the effects had kicked in, Lee An-jeong rapidly read through the phrases of the Attraction Talisman.
The phrases of the Attraction Talisman appeared in his mind as if they were engraved there.
At that moment, Lee An-jeong immediately took out a talisman and engraved the rune with his fingertip, which was filled with Spiritual Qi.
"Haat! Attraction Talisman!"
While holding the Attraction Talisman in his hand, he pointed at a small rock outside the cave.
*Deudeuk— Hoo-ung—*
Then, a fairly large stone block lurched and flew through the air. A heavy stone block was caught at his fingertip.
However, due to the power of the Attraction Talisman, its weight was not felt at all.
Furthermore, it felt as if the Spiritual Qi of his entire body had not been consumed much either.
"Oh! This is quite usable."
When he pushed the Attraction Talisman outward in the opposite direction, that heavy stone block flew back out and fell to the ground.
This time, he used the Attraction Talisman to point at a stone with a sharp, pointed end lying on the ground.
And as he pulled with the Attraction Talisman, that sharp stone flew toward him like an arrow. Subsequently, the moment he directed it toward the wall!
*Ta-ang! Psssss—*
The sharp stone embedded itself into the wall like an arrow.
Because its hardness was not high, it soon crumbled and fell to the floor as stone dust.
However, Lee An-jeong’s expression became brighter than ever before.
"Wow! This is pretty good."
With this much power, it seemed its usefulness would be quite large, no less than the Qi Technique.
'By the way, it’s strange. The Qi Technique I used earlier seemed even stronger than the one that fellow Hwang-cheon used.'
When he thought of Hwang-cheon, he felt the wounds from being beaten by the fellow throb.
'That bastard! Just wait until I meet him again!'
Just as Lee An-jeong was grinding his teeth like that, the sound of a bell was heard from afar.
*De-eng— De-eng—*
It seemed it was time for labor training once again.
Lee An-jeong placed the Attraction Talismans into his storage bag (Jeo-mul-dae) and headed toward the labor training ground.
In Lee An-jeong’s eyes as he headed toward the labor training ground, a confidence that had not been there before was overflowing.
"You just need to carry these water buckets, one in each hand, and fetch water from the Cloud Mist Valley a total of ten times each! Now! Everyone, depart!"
Lee An-jeong’s labor training this time was fetching water.
That certain senior disciple (Sa-dae-je-ja) gave the instructions with an arrogant expression and then made the hundred or so labor disciples carry the water buckets in turn.
The size and weight of the wooden water buckets were considerable. He didn't know what material they were made of, but the weight of the two water buckets was equivalent to the body weight of the children.
It was a substantial weight for young children between the ages of ten and fifteen or sixteen.
However, because most of them had cultivated Spiritual Qi, there weren't many who struggled.
It was only a few new disciples who had entered yesterday or those with poor natural talent.
"Uwahaha— look at those guys! Their legs are already shaking, aren't they?"
"With that, will they even be able to fetch water properly even once?"
As expected, ridicule was directed at those children without fail.
What was surprising was that most of the children gathered here who were at 1-seong or higher of the Qi Condensation Stage showed such a reaction.
'These little brats, don't they all have personality problems?'
They were just like the children of the cold and inhumane xianxia world.
To them, it seemed only the height of one's stage was important.
They relentlessly ignored and bullied those who seemed to have a lower stage or be weaker than themselves.
'Sigh, these little brats with trash personalities!'
Lee An-jeong clicked his tongue at those young kids with evil expressions and stepped forward abruptly to grab the water buckets.
*Pa-at—*
However, at that moment, he felt someone approaching rapidly from the side.
Even without looking back, Lee An-jeong realized it was Hwang-cheon, who had bullied him in the valley yesterday.
'It’s that bastard! You've walked right into it! I'll take proper revenge today!'
*Cheok—*
Lee An-jeong stood his ground on the floor, putting strength into his legs and shoulders as if he had been waiting.
Then, the Spiritual Qis of his entire body rapidly gathered in his legs and shoulders.
At that moment, Hwang-cheon shouted loudly and collided with his body strongly against him.
"You pathetic fool! Where do you think you are to come here again!"
Hwang-cheon did not doubt for a moment that in the next second, Lee An-jeong’s body would be sent flying and rolling over there.
Therefore, he was already feeling pleasure internally and even wearing a smile on his face.
However, in the next moment, a surprising thing happened.
*Teo-o-ong— Teol-sseok—*
"Ugh?"
Suddenly, due to a massive counter-force, Hwang-cheon’s body was violently sent flying backward with the same momentum he had run with.
Then, he ended up rolling on the ground in a miserable state.
"Khuk— W-what? What happened?"
Hwang-cheon, who had rolled on the ground, caressed his stinging body and then looked at the standing Lee An-jeong with a shocked expression.
"Y-You, how...?"
Surprisingly, at the moment their bodies collided, the one who rolled was not Lee An-jeong but himself.
Lee An-jeong cheered internally when he saw Hwang-cheon’s miserable state.
'As expected, after becoming 1-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage, my body became incredibly hard.'
Lee An-jeong felt an immense thrill at making Hwang-cheon, who had brought him humiliation just a single day ago, roll on the ground in an instant.
It seemed that although they were both at 1-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage, his own level was higher than Hwang-cheon's.
'Shall I try trampling him properly this time?'
Subsequently, Lee An-jeong wore a smile of satisfaction and abruptly rushed toward the fallen Hwang-cheon.
"Uh? Th-This guy?!"
Hwang-cheon was startled and quickly gathered Spiritual Qi at his fingertips.
And he immediately shot Spiritual Qi toward Lee An-jeong just like last time.
*Woooo-ung—*
The air vibrated, and something abruptly flew toward Lee An-jeong’s eyes. Seeing that, Lee An-jeong’s eyes sparkled.
'Qi Technique! As expected, you're bringing out the Qi Technique this time too! But what can you do? I can use that now too, you know?'
Lee An-jeong gathered spiritual power into his rushing fist. Feeling his fist become hard in an instant, he struck away the incoming Spiritual Qi.
*Peok— Pssss—*
The sound of something breaking occurred in the air.
"Uh-oh? What? How was your Spiritual Qi...!"
While the startled Hwang-cheon widened his eyes, Lee An-jeong, who had reached point-blank range, swung his foot strongly.
Spiritual Qi was instantly inhabited in the swinging foot as well.
*Peok—*
"Aaargh—"
Hwang-cheon was hit in the head and rolled over from the kick, which was kicked as strongly as if he were kicking a ball.
"Have you ever heard of it? This is a Soccer Kick from Hell Joseon! Be grateful that I kicked you lightly because I was afraid you'd die! Otherwise, your head would have burst!"
"Ugh— Uwek—"
Hwang-cheon vomited up a lot of what was inside him, perhaps because his brain was shaken and he felt dizzy.
He must have eaten well, as pieces of meat came out mixed in the vomit.
The contents were different, but the appearance was exactly the same as Lee An-jeong’s appearance yesterday.
Lee An-jeong felt a surge of pleasure internally as he paid back the opponent who gave him yesterday's humiliation in the exact same way today.
'Yes! This is the taste of xianxia possession! Shibal! As expected, the world is all about being strong!'
Everyone in the surroundings widened their eyes and wore shocked expressions.
This was the same for Mak Cheong-un, who was in the corner, and Mak So-hyang, who stood by Hwang-cheon’s side.
As if they truly could not believe it, they each had their eyes wide open and could not even blink.
At that moment, one fellow among Hwang-cheon’s group approached in surprise.
"Uh? H-Hwang-cheon! A-Are you okay?"
The rest of the fellows were alone, perhaps because they had been assigned to different labor training.
"It’s you! You were together with him yesterday too, weren't you? You son of a bitch! You've walked right into it today!"
Lee An-jeong immediately rushed toward that fellow.
"Uh? W-Wait a minute!"
Just as that startled fellow tried to pull up his Spiritual Qi, Lee An-jeong, who had approached rapidly as if he had attached a Hundred-Li Talisman, swung a fist heavily laden with Spiritual Qi at the fellow.
*Peok—*
"Ugh—"
The fellow who was hit in the face was sent flying and rolled on the ground.
'As expected, he’s even weaker than Hwang-cheon!'
Lee An-jeong felt that the Spiritual Qi this fellow possessed was inferior to Hwang-cheon's.
It felt as if the fellow had only just passed 1-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage.
Compared to that, Hwang-cheon had a bit more Spiritual Qi, and compared to such a Hwang-cheon, he himself seemed to have double the amount.
If he were to compare it specifically with the stages here, the fellow would be at the Early Stage of 1-seong Qi Condensation, Hwang-cheon at the Middle Stage of 1-seong Qi Condensation, and he himself would be at the Late Stage of 1-seong Qi Condensation.
'Well, I wonder if anyone would divide something like 1-seong Qi Condensation so minutely, though!'
Somehow, after absorbing three lower-grade Spirit Stones, his own level seemed to have surpassed 1-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage and exceeded the level of those two in an instant.
To think his Spiritual Qi, after absorbing a mere three lower-grade Spirit Stones, was denser than their Spiritual Qi, who must have already absorbed dozens of lower-grade Spirit Stones.
It was truly a bizarre and amazing thing.
Lee An-jeong smiled again as he looked at the fallen fellow side-by-side with Hwang-cheon.
Then, he rushed at the two of them as they were and rained down fists and kicks recklessly.
*Peok— Peok—*
"Ugh— S-Stop!"
Hwang-cheon and his subordinate fellow just screamed while huddling up, as if they had given up on resisting.
Just like himself yesterday. Lee An-jeong only stopped his hands and feet after hitting them more than double what he had received yesterday, making them froth at the mouth and faint.
While panting, he looked around and shouted.
"Did you see? If you mess with me, I'll take revenge twice over like this! Got it?"
At Lee An-jeong’s attitude, the other children wore surprised or disgusted expressions.
Mak So-hyang stood a step away and was showing a strange expression toward Lee An-jeong while licking her lips.
And some children who had reached 2-seong of the Qi Condensation Stage sparkled their eyes as if intrigued.
To suppress Hwang-cheon’s group, who were skilled individuals, in just a single day after entering—this was something whose precedent was hard to find among those with the lowest-grade Mixed Spiritual Roots.
Such a person was only one in the history of the Buyeon Sect: an elder named Yeon Cheon-geuk from three thousand years ago.
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