Chapter 32 - Act 5. Iron Sun Thunder Sect (2)

U Jeol stared at Yise for a moment before murmuring, “Remarkable.”

There was admiration in that single word. The murmuring audience fell silent again.

“Let me explain why I did not so much as mention the fifth star. Those who have reached the third star, raise your hands.”

At his words, the assembly remained as still as a tranquil lake. Then one hand slowly rose.

It was Hae Unchan’s.

“Even the exalted Heavenly Root Constitution remains at the third star. Then let those who have reached at least the second star raise their hands.”

There were fewer than ten.

That meant most were still at the first star of Qi Refining.

“That is only natural. Barely a month has passed. It means your advancement is abnormally fast. Do you understand?”

“... Yes.”

“It is nothing to be ashamed of, but do not grow arrogant. Envy is like a venomous snake, and everyone eventually encounters a wall.”

“I will take your teaching to heart.”

U Jeol looked directly into Yise’s eyes. There was no deceit or pretense in them.

That was fortunate indeed. He had seen all too often what happened when those hailed as geniuses lacked character.

Whether the boy would retain that character, however, remained to be seen.

Still, he needed to make the boy recognize the reality of his rate of progress, if only for the sake of the other disciples who would compare themselves to him, blame themselves, and despair.

“In Daemudo, we expect the journey from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment to take at least twenty years. The fastest breakthrough to Foundation Establishment on record is the nine years achieved by Winged Dragon Hall Master U Yuhee. She was also the youngest to reach Core Formation and the youngest to be appointed Hall Master. Her genius for comprehension is such that she is considered the only one capable of shattering every record and catching up to Hall Master Hae Il’s realm.”

Winged Dragon Hall Master U Yuhee.

She was so famous that even Yise had heard of her, though he could not remember her face, since she had worn a mask during the final round of the entrance examination.

“Even the Winged Dragon Hall Master took a full year to reach the fifth star of Qi Refining. Perhaps you will surpass even that.”

“You give me too much credit.”

U Jeol briefly declared that enough of a digression and returned to the subject.

“The insight for the fifth star is Spiritual Energy Manifesting as Spell Power. It is the process of converting the spiritual energy of heaven and earth within your body into spell power. An extremely important stage, in which you manifest the five elements or other attributes of heaven and earth to maximize your spiritual energy’s might.”

Eyes gleaming, Yise waited for U Jeol to speak again, as though determined not to miss a single word of the explanation.

“The fifth star of Qi Refining is the first minor threshold a Cultivator encounters... and is known as the most insurmountable wall of despair in the lower realms.”

U Jeol visibly wrestled with his thoughts for a moment. Yise did not interrupt his silence.

“Explaining the process of cultivation is like explaining how to move your arms and legs. You learn it naturally, but putting it into words is quite difficult. All the more so with Spiritual Energy Manifesting as Spell Power. It feels rather like moving a tail that does not exist.”

A tail that did not exist.

Yise thought that description remarkably apt. Even he, who had bounded up most of the steps, could scarcely get a feel for this wall.

“But to suggest one useful training method, obtain an elemental secret manual suited to your spiritual root and practice its spells diligently. Let me recommend a suitable manual. Your spiritual root is...”

Searching his memory, U Jeol faltered.

The young Cultivator before him was someone Hall Master Kang Itae had specifically instructed him to keep under close supervision: a boy with an unusual constitution whose spiritual root could not be identified.

That meant he would have to overcome the minor threshold entirely through his own comprehension.

Whether that was a blessing or a curse would depend solely on the boy.

“Then this is hardly a situation in which I can tell you how to go about things. Do your best.”

“... Yes. Thank you.”

“That will be all for today. You are dismissed.”

* * *

As soon as the lecture ended, three Cultivators rushed toward Yise.

Hae Unchan, Pi Garam, and Seol Ryeong.

“It’s been a while.”

Apart from Seol Ryeong, who had accompanied him on his mission, he had not seen them in some time.

“You’d only just reached the third star when we went on that mission together... Good heavens... How can anything be this unfair?!”

“It just happened.”

“What do you mean, it just happened?!”

Seol Ryeong burst out in indignation.

Unperturbed, Hae Unchan expressed his unreserved admiration.

“You’re truly incredible, Yise. Honestly, I know that pace makes no sense, but I admire you.”

“I got lucky, that’s all.”

“That’s taking modesty too far. Faster than even the Winged Dragon Hall Master!”

At a loss for a reply, Yise merely nodded.

It really had simply turned out that way. He knew he had concentrated harder than others, but in truth, he had probably just been lucky enough to be born with this constitution.

As though reading his expression, Hae Unchan clapped him on the shoulder and added, “In the cultivation world, talent is part of your skill and ability. They say heaven bestows talent on those worthy of it, don’t they?”

“Not terribly convincing coming from someone with a Heavenly Root Constitution.”

Pi Garam’s dry interjection made Hae Unchan burst into hearty laughter.

“Anyway, I’m thinking of heading out on a mission soon myself. I think there’s a limit to what training alone can do.”

“A good decision.”

“I keep you very much in mind. You’re my rival, and a friend I’m proud of. I’ll work to catch up to you, but I won’t let myself grow impatient.”

Yise looked at Hae Unchan for a moment, then nodded.

There was little he could say. Delivering such cringe-inducing lines without the slightest embarrassment was simply part of the fellow’s nature.

Beside them, Seol Ryeong grumbled, “You monsters really are insufferable. How are those of us who haven’t advanced supposed to bear the misery?”

“I reached the second star, though,” Pi Garam quietly put in.

“You’re the most insufferable of all. Seriously.”

The three boys laughed at Seol Ryeong’s endearing sulk.

Even her complaints did not make them uncomfortable, because there was no envy or jealousy in them.

Cultivation was a solitary battle.

In the end, it was measured against an absolute standard, not against others. The only things one had to overcome were one’s own constitution, talent, and comprehension.

“Oh, I heard Hall Master Hong Mihui will be giving us our ritual implements soon.”

Yise spoke as though he had only just remembered.

All three faces brightened at once. They looked like younger siblings waiting for their New Year’s gift money on Jeongil (*New Year’s Day), and Yise could not help laughing.

* * *

Three months later.

A private training room in the training compound.

“Heavens above...”

Yise muttered as he stared at the patterns on the wall of his now all-too-familiar private training room.

“Why am I...”

It had been three months.

“Still...”

For three full months, he had rammed his head against the minor threshold, yet never mind overcoming it—he had gained no feel for it whatsoever.

Truly, not the faintest hint of a clue.

In other words, he had simply buried himself in the training room and killed time.

He had tried everything he could.

Some might dismiss it as a mere three months, but he averaged less than two watches of sleep a day. He had even given up enjoying food, subsisting on fasting rations as he devoted himself to training.

Yet the wall of the minor threshold would not reveal so much as a fragment of itself, as though mocking him.

‘I should just go on a mission.’

Ultimately, it was actual combat that had broken his cultivation deadlock before. Wasn’t Daemudo’s cultivation method itself founded on tempering the body and advancing through battles on the brink of life and death?

Enough wasting time. He should go on a mission.

If cultivation alone would not work, he was better off getting out and moving.

His decision made, Yise rose.

During their interviews, Park Gangseo had told him that Hae Unchan was still the only other disciple to have broken through to the third star. The novices, most of whom were stalled at the second star, had begun venturing out on missions little by little.

In light of that, perhaps this was the normal pace. Even so, he could not help feeling an undercurrent of impatience.

U Jeol had said it was learned naturally and therefore difficult to explain in words.

A tail that did not exist.

He had been turning those words over in his mind for three months, and he still did not understand.

Yise sighed and was just about to take a step.

HUMMM.

A strange vibration spread throughout Azure Mountain. An overwhelmingly destructive yet auspicious force surged upward.

Startled, Yise reflexively scanned his surroundings.

The spiritual energy enveloping Azure Mountain was flowing to one side, as though something enormous had appeared and was pushing the surrounding spiritual energy away.

‘The source is...’

Just outside his private training room.

Right under his nose.

He instinctively drew up spiritual energy to protect himself.

At that very instant, however, the entire private-training-room building rose into the air, leaving only the floor behind.

“...?”

Faced with that surreal, bewildering sight, Yise could only blink like an idiot.

“...?”

This was a place built for Cultivators to train. A building that would not even crack under most impacts... and someone had lifted it?

What in the world?

“So here you are! Hello, little ones.”

Yise and the other novice disciples struck by this natural disaster discovered its source.

A Core Formation Cultivator with a fan in one hand, dressed in elaborately tailored red Daoist robes. Vermilion Bird Hall Master Hong Mihui.

She was peering down with utter nonchalance, as though looking for something she had misplaced.

Spotting Yise, she smiled brightly.

Then she set the building back down as if nothing had happened.

THUD.

The vibration traveled up through the soles of his feet. Panic-stricken screams erupted inside the building.

Without so much as batting an eye at the noise, Hong Mihui opened the door to his private training room.

By unwritten convention, no one was permitted to enter another’s private training room without permission.

Apparently, though, that convention applied only among underlings. To a Cultivator capable of lifting an entire building, it was effectively a pointless rule.

“Little one.”

“Yes, Hall Master.”

Hong Mihui drew an ornate box from her storage pouch and smiled sweetly.

Just as Yise was thinking what a truly terrifying smile it was, she said, “I’ve made a treasure for you.”

Yise immediately assumed his most respectful bearing.

What did a little breach of etiquette matter?

With a supernatural treasure before him, even that smile looked like nothing more than beauty enough to topple a kingdom.