Ise waited for Ryu Seonghan with a tense expression.
At times like this, he wished he had the ability to read the workings of Heaven.
Apparently, only cultivators from the Nascent Soul Realm onward could read the workings of Heaven, so that was still far beyond his reach.
After a while, Ryu Seonghan entered with a grim expression.
Ise immediately sensed that things had gone awry.
He handed over a small, folded piece of paper.
– Lower volume of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art: Stored in the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley’s Scripture Repository, Section C.
After reading it, Ise let out a sigh.
Somehow, he had always felt that his repeated entanglements with them would eventually lead to something like this.
In the cultivation world, becoming entangled in some minor matter related to an event shortly before something major occurred was called an omen.
Ise felt that everything he had been involved in with the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley had been a series of omens leading up to the day he would eventually have to enter that place.
“What… are you going to do now?”
“Let’s ask Cheongun for some advice first.”
Ise sent a communication talisman to Cheongun.
Half a day later, Cheongun came to Ise’s residence.
He gave Ise a casual nod in greeting, then sensed Ise’s divine sense and let out a hollow laugh.
“You’ve already reached the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
When did you break through the minor realm?”
“Not long ago.”
“Impressive.
Truly… Do you want me to start calling you Senior?”
Until now, Cheongun had thought that even if there were a single minor realm between them, he would soon catch up.
But now that Ise’s rise in cultivation had surpassed his expectations, he had to reconsider things based on reason.
“Call me whatever is comfortable.
I’m fairly easygoing with close friends.
You’ll reach the middle stage soon too.”
“…Thank you.”
Cheongun briefly looked stunned at the term “close friend,” then responded with his characteristic hearty laugh.
Ryu Seonghan merely stared at the two of them as though he were looking at monsters.
“When I first met you, you were both in the Qi Condensation Realm, but now you’re already in the late stage of Foundation Establishment… I thought it was simply that one’s divine sense grew enormously upon reaching the middle stage….”
“Be careful about judging someone’s cultivation realm by their divine sense.
You could end up like Beomseo.”
“Yes, Senior.
Ah!”
Ryu Seonghan suddenly clapped his hands.
“I have a great idea.”
“What is it?”
“Why don’t you just rapidly break through all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm, conquer the Northern Continent, and then go retrieve the cultivation manual?”
“…”
It wasn’t worth answering, so Ise ignored him and turned his gaze toward Cheongun.
“What are we going to do now?”
“Could you perhaps request the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art from the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley and obtain it that way?”
Cheongun shook his head.
“No.
I don’t know about other places, but the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley is impossible.
The moment we request it because we need it, they’d sooner burn it to ashes than willingly hand it over.”
“Then there’s no other way.
I’ll have to go in and find it myself.”
Both of them immediately hardened their expressions and tried to stop Ise almost as though shouting at him.
“I object.
Those bastards are like black-hearted hungry ghosts.
It would be safer to keep watching them as we have been and wait for them to slip up.”
“Yes.
I agree.
Enter the Heavenly Ice Palace, Senior.
I can prove your identity with a letter of recommendation.
I heard the Sect Master gives a gift when someone reaches the Core Formation Realm.
Why not ask for it then?”
Ise shook his head from side to side.
Cheongun’s method was a gamble based on uncertainty.
Ryu Seonghan’s method appeared safer, but for Ise, it could actually be more dangerous.
Attempting a breakthrough to the Core Formation Realm without the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art meant facing head-on the Heavenly Tribulation that even Lord Haeil had described as an extremely difficult ordeal, without any means of preparing against it.
There was also still the danger of his constitution being exposed.
Rather than hiding his demonic qi and entering the Heavenly Ice Palace, it would actually be safer to conceal his spiritual qi, disguise himself as a demonic cultivator, and infiltrate the place.
“Unless you enter the tiger’s den, how will you obtain the tiger cub?”
He would prepare as thoroughly as possible and, as he had always done, find a way.
If there truly was no way, he would consider retreating and asking Lord Haeil for help.
But using force against a Nascent Soul Realm clan wouldn’t be easy either.
The situation could easily escalate into a war between continents.
And doing so would only reveal the value of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art to his enemies.
With his resolve strengthened, Ise turned toward Cheongun.
“The spar we promised each other in the contract.
Let’s do it now.”
“Once I enter the valley, we’ll have trouble meeting anyway.
I don’t know what method I’ll end up using to obtain the item, so I might not have time afterward.”
“I’d be happy to, but… if you don’t want to, we can forget about it.
We can simply amend the contract.”
“No.
A promise is a promise.
And I think sharpening my senses before entering enemy territory would be useful.”
“In that case, I’ll gratefully accept.
I really do like your straightforward personality.”
Cheongun couldn’t hide his delight as he took the lead.
The two stood facing each other in a private sparring arena, while Ryu Seonghan kept watch near the entrance to make sure no one was secretly watching them.
“I’ll learn from you.”
“We agreed to hold back.”
“That’s something I should be saying.”
Cheongun took a moment to regulate his breathing before placing his hand on his sword.
Ise hardened his body with Metal Hardening Art and watched Cheongun’s hand.
Spiritual qi was seeping into the sword.
‘An invisible strike.
Can I evade it?’
It would be difficult to see it and dodge.
He would have to predict it in advance and move beforehand.
The moment the flow of spiritual qi into Cheongun’s sword stopped, Ise cast Swift Wind Step and rapidly slid to the left.
But his upper left arm split open, and a faint trickle of blood seeped out.
Only then did Cheongun’s draw finish.
Ise had reacted, but he hadn’t managed to evade it.
Even so, the attack was not powerful enough to inflict a fatal wound.
As soon as Ise cast Wood Vitality Art, the wound healed as though it had never existed.
“You actually reacted to that?”
Cheongun approached Ise with an impressed expression.
This time, instead of attacks that could be seen with divine sense, far sharper and fiercer sword strikes rained down.
Judging that Metal Hardening Art alone would not be enough to block them, Ise activated the Intrusion-Banishing Ring.
A translucent layer of qi field spread out and blocked the sword strikes.
‘Fast.’
Cheongun’s body refinement had advanced even further since the last time they met.
He was a pure body-refinement cultivator who sought to defy Heaven with nothing but a sword and his own body, rather than relying on both Dharma and body cultivation.
He had even broken through the limits of a cultivator’s physical capabilities.
It would be difficult to gain the advantage in speed.
Whoosh, whoosh.
The sound of sword strikes slicing sharply through the air brushed dangerously past Ise.
Knowing firsthand how quickly Ise could unleash Arts, Cheongun pressed him relentlessly, almost brutally, so as not to give him any opening.
Even so, Ise’s Arts occasionally forced their way through the gaps between the sword strikes.
Scratches began appearing one after another across Cheongun’s sturdy body.
Ise infused primordial qi into his attacks between Arts and swung toward the arm holding Cheongun’s sword.
His concern that Cheongun’s sword might accidentally split his body outweighed his desire to continue humoring him.
‘…’
But Ise’s attack cleaved through empty air.
Cheongun, who had deflected every attack until then, reacted violently to the attack infused with primordial qi and pulled his body backward.
It was the first time someone at the early or middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm had seen through Ise’s primordial qi, and Cheongun could not hide his bewilderment.
He had not seen it.
His divine sense could not perceive it.
Ise asked Cheongun, who had retreated a considerable distance.
“How did you evade it?”
“I can’t tell you that.
The spar isn’t over yet.”
Could he have evaded it through instinct alone?
As expected, he was an interesting fellow.
Cheongun immediately closed the distance again, and his sword clashed with Ise’s Small Axe.
Ise’s hand was knocked far backward.
A series of smoothly connected sword strikes came for his body.
The Intrusion-Banishing Ring blocked them once again.
“You’ve got a seriously troublesome magical artifact.”
Cheongun cut through the Dokkaebi Flame Art rising from Ise’s hand, then began pouring spiritual qi into his sword at close range.
A considerable amount was being converted into magical power and condensed within the sword.
Since neither continuous attacks nor speed could break through the defense, he intended to pierce the qi field with a single powerful strike.
Judging that this would not be an ordinary attack, Ise poured as much spiritual qi as possible into the Intrusion-Banishing Ring.
A faint blue radiance erupted along the blade and slammed into the qi field.
Cheongun’s sword strike broke through the defensive barrier, tore through the Metal Hardening Art Ise had hastily deployed afterward, and blew away one of Ise’s arms when he swung the Small Axe to block it.
The severed arm fell onto the earthen floor.
‘That’s absurd power.’
It was extremely difficult to gauge the true might behind Cheongun’s attacks.
Were all sword cultivators like this?
Ise replaced his lost arm with Metal Body Art and retrieved the Black-Scale Axe from the ground using telekinesis.
Cheongun had apparently poured a considerable amount of spiritual qi into his previous attack.
A final exchange unfolded, with both of them instinctively realizing that each attack might be their last.
In the end, after their final clash, Ise’s Small Axe infused with primordial qi severed Cheongun’s hand.
His right hand rose into the air, still gripping his sword.
“I lost.
You’re strong indeed.”
“You’re strong too.
Among the Foundation Establishment cultivators I’ve met, you’re the best.”
“What exactly is that energy?”
“This?
Primordial qi.”
Ise answered without reservation.
He also had something he was curious about.
“Primordial qi?
The power used by great cultivators of the Core Formation Realm?”
Ise nodded.
“Have you reached the Core Formation Realm?”
“No.
I obtained a fortuitous opportunity that lets me use it, although it’s incomplete.
Let me ask you one thing too.
How did you evade the first attack?
You shouldn’t have been able to see it.”
“It was possible because I knew that you could launch invisible attacks.
Whenever you swing that Small Axe, you always use Vajra Shattering, but when you use primordial qi, you swing the weapon without using an Art.”
“…I see.
Rather, it was suspicious precisely because the attack contained no energy.”
“I couldn’t predict the final attack because of your Metal Body Art.
I didn’t have enough strength left to block it either.”
He might never again fight someone who knew his habits this well, but discovering one of his own unnoticed habits was still a worthwhile gain.
Ise thought Cheongun was truly a remarkably sharp swordsman when it came to combat instincts and was about to give him some Regeneration Pills.
“Use mine.
I was the one who insisted on having this spar, so I can’t have you waste your own resources.”
Regeneration Pills were fairly precious in the Northern Continent, but Ise didn’t hesitate.
The kid came from a wealthy family, after all.
“Facing you directly has really cleared my head.
It feels like I finally got rid of a nagging tooth.
Primordial qi, huh?
When we both reach the Core Formation Realm, fight me again.”
“We’ll see then.
Losing isn’t exactly pleasant.”
“What?
Ahahaha!”
Cheongun burst into laughter for a long while.
After laughing hard enough to bring tears to his eyes, he snapped his fingers and handed Ise a jade slip.
“Information about the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley that I’ve investigated.”
Ise unfolded the jade slip, but it appeared to be empty.
“There isn’t anything written on it.”
“Do you write characters directly onto jade slips in the Eastern Continent?
Try infusing it with spiritual qi.”
When Ise infused it with spiritual qi, the information naturally flowed into his mind.
He examined the jade slip with interest while committing its contents to memory.
“One thing that stands out is that after remaining quiet for a while, they’ve recently been involved in an unusually large number of wars between cities.
Enough to become conspicuous.
If this is also their doing, there must be a reason they’re taking such risks.”
“Could someone be preparing for a breakthrough?
For example, suppose the master of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley is actually in the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Realm but has concealed his cultivation, and is now preparing to break through to the late stage.
He might be willing to take some risks.”
“Impossible.
The cultivation realms of Nascent Soul cultivators are the most closely monitored matter by the Heavenly Ice Palace.
If he were concealing his cultivation realm, he couldn’t possibly survive.”
Cheongun answered firmly before adding,
“Still, the assumption that he’s preparing for a breakthrough does make sense.
If he could surpass our Sect Master’s cultivation realm, then from the valley’s perspective, its greatest threat would disappear.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Ise used Voice Transmission to call Ryu Seonghan, who had been keeping watch outside.
“You two should pass information on to me without taking unnecessary risks.
I’ll look for a way to infiltrate the valley.”
“Senior.
Among the missions available to Foundation Establishment cultivators, there is one in which a special envoy checks whether each sect’s reports match the actual situation.
I’ll see if I can get myself dispatched to the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley, even if I have to bribe one of the great cultivators I’m currently trying to get in contact with.”
“Good idea.”
Ise agreed with Ryu Seonghan.
After sharing what might be their final meal together, Ise tidied up the residence and stood.
He never imagined that he would end up having to enter territory ruled by demonic cultivators.
It felt like stepping directly into a tiger’s jaws, and even imagining it was enough to make his skin crawl with tension.