Chapter 122 - Act 18. Cheong Un, the Sword of Small Defeats (2)

Yise planted his newly acquired spirit-rice seeds and spiritual herbs in the Living Spirit Abode. Ryu Seonghan helped him with a look of fascination, then bowed to him.

"I'll head back now, then."

Before they parted, Yise asked him one question.

"Could you get me information on Foundation Establishment Demons or demonic practitioners?"

"Are you going hunting for demonic beasts?"

When Yise said yes, Seonghan considered for a moment before offering a suggestion.

"In that case, why not go to the Thousand-Demon Mountains instead? That's a better place to hunt without any worries. As long as you don't venture too deep, there shouldn't be any danger."

"How far is it from here?"

"About five thousand li to the south."

That was closer than he had expected. Back when he traveled on foot, it would have taken ages, but on the Dream-Saving Cloud, he would be there in no time.

"I'll do that, then. Keep working hard on your cultivation. Send me a message talisman if anything comes up."

"Yes, Senior. Take care of yourself."

Yise raised a hand in farewell, then retrieved the Secret Realm Key and stowed it in his Heaven-and-Earth Pouch.

* * *

Passing the unfortunate Heavenly Ice Palace Cultivators who were still conducting inspections, Yise headed south on the Dream-Saving Cloud. Tiandogyeong's landscape dwindled as it slipped beneath his feet. Once he left the territory, familiar snowfields greeted him again. Even so, the cold was not especially fierce, perhaps because this was the southernmost part of the Northern Continent.

The Dream-Saving Cloud sped onward. Gray-brown earth began to show through the once-pure-white ground, and the conifer forests gradually gave way to mixed woodland dotted with broadleaf trees. The cold eased little by little. Where the rivers began to flow rather than lie frozen, an immense mountain range came into view.

'That river and those mountains form the boundary.'

The peaks stretched endlessly, their dark blue-green ridges linked together like a human spine. There was no wall. Rather than piling up walls with brute force like the Jeong Empire, the humans of the Northern Continent had settled in a climate too bitterly cold for Demons to cross into. The complete absence of cities between the Thousand-Demon Mountains and the Frozen Lands was proof of that. Such was humanity's tenacity: it found a way to survive in any environment.

Yise hovered in the midst of the range and used a Farseeing Talisman. Despite the name Thousand-Demon Mountains, scarcely any Demons were visible near the Northern Continent. It seemed he would have to venture farther in.

He flew slowly, searching for prey with the patience of a hunter following deer tracks. With Emer flying beside him, he gave the bird instructions.

"When I go down to hunt, keep watch from above. If anything approaches, don't fight it. Call out and come straight down to me."

"Coo-roo!"

Emer bobbed its beak as though it understood. Just then, an unfamiliar Qi Refining demonic beast entered Yise's sight. He descended at once, plunging straight down as if in free fall, and swung his hand axe just before reaching the ground. His target was cut in two before it could even scream.

Yise immediately devoured its Demonic Energy, then stowed the half-carcass, its head and chest gone, in the Demon-Sealing Album. For this hunt, he intended to skip exorcism and rely solely on devouring. He already had a self-sufficient supply of spiritual energy; what he needed now was Demonic Energy. The thought that the lingering resentment would give rise to other Demons troubled him, but he resolved to make up for it with further hunts later.

The sun sank steadily toward the west as the hunt continued. Still hungry after hunting nothing but Qi Refining Demons, Yise spotted an early-stage Foundation Establishment monstrous thing—a wooden man—emerging through the undergrowth. It towered far above a human, with blue-green blades of grass sprouting from thick, vine-like limbs.

He immediately descended toward his prey. Dozens of vines shot from its arms like whips. Yise halted in midair, flames surging from his body. Before the thorn-studded vines could reach him, the fire blazing around him raced back along them like a spark dropped into oil.

At the same time, he unleashed the Firefall Art, forming a gigantic flaming meteor in the air. It plunged toward the wooden man with a thunderous impact. Even as it burned, the wooden demonic beast kept firing sharpened vines. But Yise sent out a mass of primordial energy in the shape of a scythe, severing every vine in its path before cleaving the wooden man's body in two. Blue-green sap oozed from the cut.

The Foundation Establishment creature's Demonic Energy flowed into him. Only now did he feel his thirst begin to ease.

* * *

A little deeper in, Demons began springing out in numbers worthy of the Thousand-Demon Mountains' name. It was like water so thick with fish that half of it was fish. Demonic beasts piled up one after another inside the Sealing Album. He had been sealing away every edible beast, but at this rate he would run out of room, so he began keeping only those at late-stage Qi Refining or above.

"Where's the next one?"

Yise chose his next direction according to Emer's guidance. Most of what he hunted were Qi Refining Demons, with the occasional Foundation Establishment Demon among them. Each yielded little Demonic Energy, but by cramming it in through sheer numbers, he was edging toward his goal.

'Killing Feathered Man really was a masterstroke.'

Devouring Feathered Man, a demonic beast at Foundation Establishment Perfection, had provided a considerable amount of Demonic Energy. Without that, he would have had to hunt for much longer.

As night fell, Yise left the Thousand-Demon Mountains. Evil spirits emerged in the darkness at night. He did have the Vajra, but a Qi Refining supernatural treasure was hardly reassuring. If he could help it, he did not want to tangle with evil spirits alone, without a shaman.

After spending the night in the sky outside the Thousand-Demon Mountains, he resumed hunting at first light. Luckily, he managed to kill a middle-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beast soon after he began.

'Only a few more now.'

A single late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon would be perfect right about now. Just as that thought crossed his mind, fire suddenly descended from the sky—a crimson pillar of light linking heaven and earth.

"...?"

For a moment, Yise doubted his eyes. A bolt from the blue was one thing, but a pillar of fire? It was clearly visible despite the considerable distance. Its sheer scale was staggering. As he stared blankly at the flames, a thought flashed through his mind.

Heavenly tribulation.

That was a fire tribulation, one kind of heavenly tribulation. Lightning tribulations were the most common, but he had heard they could take many other forms, including fire and wind. In other words, a Demon was attempting to break through to Core Formation.

A glint appeared in Yise's eyes. A Core Formation breakthrough demanded thorough preparations, from erecting barriers to arranging guardians. But given its surroundings, a Demon in the Thousand-Demon Mountains was bound to be ill-prepared. With luck... this might be a chance to take down a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Demon for next to no effort. Even if he could not hunt it, he would someday face heavenly tribulation himself. Watching one now would be worthwhile experience.

Cultivation was like walking a tightrope. Every Cultivator was destined to balance the risks of a challenge against the safety of avoidance. Choosing only safety meant never growing; choosing only challenges made survival difficult.

When an opportunity came within reach, seize it. When an insurmountable crisis arose, evade it. The key was to maintain that balance through sound judgment.

Yise put Emer into the spirit-beast pouch, then used a Spirit-Concealing Talisman and an Invisibility Talisman before slowly heading toward the site of the Core Formation breakthrough.

Once nearby, he descended to the ground and moved with even his physical presence suppressed. Fierce pillars of fire were still crashing down from the sky, with blazing meteors hammering the earth between them.

Standing at the center of the heavenly tribulation was a flower. More precisely, a monstrous thing shaped like a flower. Its upper body was almost human, but its pale pink skin looked as though it were made of overlapping, exquisitely delicate petals. Luxuriant petals cascaded from its head in place of hair. Where its legs should have been were only light green stems that seemed to sprout from the soil. Below the knees, they swayed like a ghost as they rested on the earth.

He guessed it was a Wondrous Transformation Demon that had advanced to Foundation Establishment. Similar-looking Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment creatures stood guard all around it. They were probably its underlings.

'I can't attack it during the tribulation.'

Anyone who attacked or aided the subject during the heavenly tribulation rite would be caught up in it. That meant those insane flames would spread to him. No matter how he looked at it, that fire was beyond anything water-attribute spells could extinguish.

'Could I take it if I waited for the tribulation to end, then ambushed it right after it formed its golden core?'

He considered it carefully. After crossing a major threshold, one needed time to adapt to the changes. Even so, combat across realms carried risks. It might have been different had he reached late-stage Foundation Establishment, but for now, it was too soon.

His gaze turned to the creatures standing guard. If he attacked them, might the flower creature's mental imagery waver? The mere presence of a nearby threat during the tribulation rite was certain to disrupt its concentration.

If its mental imagery faltered and its breakthrough failed, he would devour it. If its center held firm and it seemed likely to succeed despite that, he would withdraw before it finished.

His decision made, Yise gathered primordial energy and cut down a nearby flower creature in a surprise attack. A strange trilling cry rang out, and the surrounding creatures charged him all at once.

As he had anticipated, the flower creature undergoing the tribulation appeared to lose focus, and its body began to catch fire.

'That's right. Waver.'

Yise began hunting down the charging flower creatures one by one. He burrowed underground with the Earth-Travel Art to burn their roots, then burst out in surprise attacks, wielding primordial energy.

The creatures frantically scattered paralyzing poison everywhere, but his body was immune to all poisons. Mere pollen could not affect him. Their thorn-sharp vines, however, posed something of a threat. They could scratch even his body reinforced with the Hardening Art.

Yise raised the Yellow Grand Parasol, taking particular care to protect his head, and calmly hunted down the guardians. Once every guardian had fallen, the flames clinging to the creature undergoing tribulation grew steadily more intense. It was definitely wavering.

Not content with that, Yise formed a Firebolt. He made it swell menacingly, as though ready to hurl it at the creature at any moment. Of course, he did not throw it. He was merely threatening it and disturbing its composure.

But the creature was no ordinary foe either. Gradually, the heavenly tribulation began to subside. Despite his relentless interference, it had endured the tribulation to the end and succeeded in refining its Demon core into a golden core.

'What a shame.'

It truly was a pity. Had he killed it, he would not have needed to worry about Demonic Energy for quite some time. Even so, he could not take that risk. The might of a creature on the very verge of Core Formation was plainly threatening.

The creature began spreading its divine sense far and wide, as though intending to take revenge on Yise the moment its tribulation ended.

'That would be troublesome.'

He had already achieved his objective. By gathering its underlings so neatly in one place, it had saved him the trouble of searching for prey. Yise immediately mounted the Dream-Saving Cloud and sped away.

The flower creature let out strange screams as if venting its rage, but with the aftereffects of Core Formation to deal with, it would struggle to pursue him right away. Instead, it opened its mouth and fired a pillar of light that glittered like pollen.

'You're pushing yourself.'