Chapter 49 - Act 7. Designated Mission (6)

The crackle of burning wood brought Yise's excitement under control. Flames were rising around him in the aftermath of the battle.

He could examine the storage pouch at leisure later. First, he needed to check for any other tricks the man might have hidden away.

Pinning the independent Cultivator down with one foot while the Shadow-Net Formation held him bound, Yise resumed searching his robes. Something felt strange beneath his sole.

Looking down, he saw that the man wore armor densely covered in little bumps beneath his robes. Yise seized the ritual implement with one hand and pulled it off. With both arms gone, it slipped off quite easily.

Since it was armor, it was probably a defensive ritual implement.

'Come to think of it, he wasn't lying about having three defensive implements.'

The Yellow Grand Parasol, the automatically activated talisman, and now this armor.

Apparently, the bastard was an honest murderer who never lied.

Yise held the armor up to the opening of the storage pouch. Its form blurred like smoke, then slipped inside.

'That's fascinating.'

He lifted the pouch and peered into it. How on earth did it work?

He had no idea how to retrieve what he had put inside. After examining it from various angles, he reached in, but his fingers found nothing.

'Just give me something. Anything.'

Something abruptly popped out. A talisman lay in his palm.

'It must work by connecting to my consciousness.'

Silently impressed, Yise reached inside again.

'Something to subdue an opponent. Anything.'

Nothing happened. Apparently, his mental commands couldn't be that abstract.

'A Sleeping Pill, a Pressure-Point Suppression Pill—a pill that suppresses pressure points—or a paralytic poison. Any of those will do.'

This time, a small pill appeared. He sniffed it and identified it as a Sleeping Pill.

Yise put it in the independent Cultivator's mouth and held his jaw shut. After struggling briefly, the man went limp.

Blood was still flowing from both of the man's arms. Yise administered first aid using the bleeding-control method he had learned from the Healer Volume of the Demon-Exorcizing Spirit Arts.

Perhaps because this was his first attempt, blood continued to seep out even though he thought he had pressed the correct pressure points.

He considered feeding the man a Healing Pill, but decided against it. Not only would it be a waste, but it might prove troublesome if the man recovered and started causing trouble.

Surely a Cultivator wouldn't die just from losing a couple of arms. With that thought, he slung the man over his shoulder.

'I should learn how to destroy spiritual meridians, too.'

He pulled up the Twin-Banner Spirit-Domain Sealing Standard and surveyed the flames spreading in every direction.

The water-element spell Gushing Torrent sprang from his hand. A powerful jet of water swept back and forth across the flames. The fire had already begun spreading, so extinguishing it consumed a considerable amount of spiritual energy.

Had he been near Daemudo, other Cultivators would have come running to help, but he was already far too distant.

Still, if he simply left, the flames might engulf the entire mountain and harm its spiritual herbs and spirit beasts.

At last, the flames subsided, and everything was taken care of.

With the independent Cultivator slung over his shoulder, Yise set off.

* * *

Yise went straight to the administrative office upon his return and set the culprit down to one side.

U Jeol made no attempt to hide his surprise.

"Is that him?"

"Yes. He's the culprit."

The Cultivator lay unconscious as though asleep, both arms severed. U Jeol cast a binding spell on him.

"That was quicker than I expected. Well done."

"May I write my report now?"

"Go ahead."

While Yise wrote out his mission report to one side and handed it over, U Jeol sent a message talisman to the main mountain.

"The circumstances leave little doubt that he's the one. To resolve in four days a mission that formal disciples attempted twice and abandoned... Your talents clearly extend beyond cultivation."

"It was simply something I could do."

Despite Yise's modesty, U Jeol praised him again.

"And something only you could do. Here, your reward."

"I haven't managed to get a confession from him as evidence. Is that all right?"

"Since you captured him alive, we don't need a confession. We'll verify it through mind reading. It's unlikely, but if he isn't the culprit, you'll have to settle matters with him yourself."

"I'm certain it's him."

Yise accepted the pouch of spirit stones as he answered.

He was about to say goodbye and turn away when U Jeol spoke.

"Return the ritual implements before you go, you greedy brat."

"Ahaha... You didn't forget."

Looking reluctant, Yise removed the armor and set down the pearl.

"That will be the last mission."

His tone was different from usual. Yise looked at him.

"With your mission concluded, the administrative office will be closed for a while. You can cultivate at your leisure until you leave for the main mountain. I intend to enter secluded cultivation myself until the next novice disciples arrive."

"Yes. Thank you for everything."

U Jeol regarded him for a moment before continuing.

"Since my post is overseeing the training compound's administrative office, we probably won't see much of each other again. If you join Kirin Hall, though, I'll take good care of you."

"That's still a long way off."

"Is it, now? I wonder."

U Jeol gave an uncharacteristically broad smile, and Yise smiled back. They must have grown fond of each other over time.

"I'll come by now and then."

At first, U Jeol had merely been an intimidating senior, but the better Yise knew him, the more he recognized the kindness beneath that brusque manner.

He was a Cultivator worthy of respect.

Yise bowed deeply and left the administrative office.

The first thing he did upon returning to his quarters was examine the ritual implements in the storage pouch.

He took out the Yellow Grand Parasol first.

'It sounds rather like a person's name.'

With that idle thought, Yise continued checking the implements one after another.

Next came the bumpy armor, followed by a necklace. Judging from its appearance, the necklace seemed to be the implement that summoned Stone Hand.

He also found something shaped like a long flute, but he couldn't begin to guess what it did.

There were quite a few consumables, too: talismans, bombs, and assorted pills. This much remained even after the man had unleashed so many.

Just how many Cultivators had he murdered? Was he not afraid of heavenly tribulation?

The last item he took out was a pouch of spirit stones. It was quite heavy, and counting its contents one by one revealed no fewer than 240 stones.

The sixty-five he already had, the 240 from the storage pouch, and the hundred he had received as his reward.

A total of 405.

If he sold off the single-use implements he didn't need, he would easily have over five hundred.

It felt strange to have become rich so suddenly.

It was the same feeling he had experienced when his adoptive parents first gave him spending money, when he had happily daydreamed about what to do with it.

As he hefted the weighty pouch up and down, his gaze fell on his battered hand axe.

Now that he had a shield-type ritual implement, perhaps he should get a weapon of that kind as well. But he soon changed his mind.

This was black iron that Master had personally procured for him. He would use it until it broke.

He could take his time deciding how to spend the spirit stones. The immediate problem was getting the other three implements appraised.

Daemudo's rules only permitted outings on missions, which meant he would have to leave his new acquisitions buried in the storage pouch. He was wary of testing them when he had no idea what might come shooting out or how.

This predicament had arisen because he couldn't very well drag a blood-drenched independent Cultivator around town.

'I'll have to see Seol Ryeong.'

She aspired to become a ritual-implement artisan and knew more about implements than any other novice disciple. Asking her was his only option.

An embarrassing memory briefly held him back, but Yise shook his head and dispelled it.

His curiosity about the implements had overcome his shame.

Yise promptly headed to the female novice disciples' lodgings, only to realize once he stood outside that he didn't know which room was Seol Ryeong's.

He had hardly ever visited this area.

In the end, he decided simply to call for her.

"Seol Ryeong!"

His booming voice rang out in front of the lodging building.

"Seol! Ryeong!"

He intended to call about three times and, if she wasn't there, try the cultivation rooms. But a door on his left flew open.

"You're going to burst my eardrums! What's all this racket?"

Seol Ryeong poked her half-disheveled head out. She glared at Yise, then grumbled as she fumbled her shoes on.

"It's only the middle of the night, and you're asleep already? How lazy."

"I was doing research, thank you! Besides, the middle of the night is when people are supposed to sleep. Not visit the women's lodgings. And if you're going to visit, you should knock quietly, not yell at the top of your—"

Seol Ryeong's rapid tirade broke off. She had belatedly checked Yise's realm.

"Huh? Wha?"

Yise tilted his head as she spluttered strange noises.

He had met Bu Chun and several other novices before setting out on his mission, so he had assumed the news had already spread.

"What, you didn't know?"

"I've been on an implement-crafting mission, so I've hardly left my room... But if you're at the sixth star... Then I've been talking to you..."

"'You'? You should address me as Senior."

"..."

Seol Ryeong couldn't bring herself to open her mouth. She looked as though she wanted to drop dead on the spot.

Amused by her reaction, Yise burst out laughing.

"I'm joking. Third star is still pretty fast."

"I'll have you know I'm the fourth fastest among the novices. I think I'll reach the fourth star soon, too."

"What about Hae Unchan?"

"Probably nearing the end of the fourth star. Last time I saw him, he said he could almost grasp the minor threshold."

It seemed he had been working diligently while keeping to himself.

"So, what brings you here?"

Seol Ryeong's eyes lit up when Yise explained.

"In that case, the great Seol Ryeong shall lend you her aid. Come inside. No! Don't come in yet!"

Having contradicted herself without any help from him, she hurried inside first.

A commotion came from within, followed by permission to enter.

When Yise took the armor, necklace, and flute out of his storage pouch and laid them out, Seol Ryeong's eyes went wide.

"A storage pouch! You got a storage pouch?"

A storage pouch. Ah, what a lovely sound.

"There are people who still don't have storage pouches? Can they even call themselves Cultivators?"

"You're so infuriating..."

Grumbling, Seol Ryeong began carefully examining the three implements.

The appraisal took longer than expected. She seemed to have particular trouble deciphering the flute-shaped one.

"Ugh... Well, this armor is a Qi Refining supernatural treasure called Needle-Firing Armor."

"A supernatural treasure? Not a ritual implement?"

"Right. A supernatural treasure."

Within each cultivation realm, ritual implements were classified into four grades according to their quality: ritual implements, supernatural treasures, greater supernatural treasures, and divine relics.

Supernatural treasures were implements effective even against Cultivators of higher attainment.

Greater supernatural treasures allowed their wielders to contend with opponents beyond the next minor threshold.

Divine relics were implements that transcended major thresholds, enabling combat across realms. In other words, a Qi Refining divine relic could exert its power even against a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

"When you infuse it with spiritual energy, large needles shoot out like a hedgehog's quills and devastate the surrounding area. Judging by the spirit stones inside, it's quite powerful, so be careful with it."

Thinking how fortunate it was that he hadn't tried it out, Yise waited for her to continue.

"This necklace is a Stone-Hand Necklace. It's a ritual implement containing the earth-element spell Stone Hand. And this flute..."

Seol Ryeong shook her head before continuing.

"I've never seen one before. It seems to have something to do with beast taming."

"Beast taming? As in taming spirit beasts?"

"Yes, though that's just a guess. I think you'll need a more specialized ritual-implement artisan to tell you exactly what it is. If you don't mind, shall I study it some more?"

Without answering, Yise put the implements back in his storage pouch and held out a spirit stone.

"Thanks."

"Do come again, dear customer."

Seol Ryeong accepted the spirit stone as she spoke. Yise rose to his feet.