Chapter 125 - Act 18. Cheong Un, the Sword of Small Defeats (5)

Cheong Un stood, made his way through the disciples, and held out a hand.

"Your name was Yise, right?"

How grateful Yise was to have someone remember his name correctly.

Unse, Inse, Ten-Se, Twenty-Se.

So many people muddled his name into every conceivable kind of “se” that he was almost moved to tears.

"You remember."

"Of course I do. Not a day has gone by that I haven't remembered our duel."

Cheong Un laughed heartily, then tilted his head.

"But what brings you all this way? You're from the Eastern Con—"

- Keep it a secret that I'm from another continent.

Yise hurriedly cut him off with Voice Transmission. Cheong Un replied the same way.

- Oh? An intercontinental spy?

- Nothing like that. I'm looking for something.

- Understood.

Fortunately, Cheong Un readily agreed. As the two exchanged sound transmissions without speaking aloud, the people around them looked puzzled, unaware of what was happening.

Cheong Un suggested with a bright smile, "How about it? Shall we fight again, for old times' sake?"

"I'll pass. I've seen you fight. One wrong move, and one of us will die."

Cheong Un looked disappointed.

"Is that so? Can't be helped, then. What do you think our odds are?"

"Six to four over ten fights. Six to me."

"So I could win as many as four."

The Tyrant Sword Sect disciples grimaced at Yise's arrogance, but Cheong Un's lips curved upward, as though that was enough to satisfy him.

"Since fate has brought us together again, come visit the Tyrant Sword Sect."

"I can't right now."

"No? Then I'll stay here. Junior Brother Cheong Ryeong, tell the sect leader I'll be traveling for a while."

"Wh-what should I tell him?"

"Tell him I've met a worthy opponent and intend to explore what I can learn."

"... Yes, Eldest Brother."

The sword Cultivator called Junior Brother Cheong Ryeong bowed with a resigned expression. Judging by the similar looks on the other sword Cultivators' faces, this was far from the first time.

Yise and Ryu Seonghan exchanged incredulous looks.

Announcing a trip out of the blue like that? The man was more reckless than Yise had thought.

* * *

Cheong Un tagged along all the way to Yise and Ryu Seonghan's lodgings. His expression stiffened slightly when he saw where they lived.

"However I look at it, these accommodations are hardly worthy of the continent's greatest prodigy. Why not come to the Tyrant Sword Sect instead?"

"Don't flatter me. This is perfectly livable. By the way, how much standing do you have on this continent?"

"Me? I'm just one of the more notable young talents of the Dao. Among Cultivators as a whole, I suppose I'm merely a toddler who's good at walking."

Cheong Un answered without affectation. Yise brewed him a cup of spirit tea and asked, "Would you have enough influence to put me in touch with another sect if I wanted to buy something from them?"

"That shouldn't be difficult, unless it's something like a clan's secret inheritance."

"Nothing like that. Even if they have it, they probably consider it more trouble than it's worth."

"That much would be easy."

"Thanks. I'll ask if I need you. I'll make sure to repay the favor."

That worked out well. If he ever needed to recover the Twin Principles Reversion Art from another sect, he would enlist Cheong Un's help.

"If you're grateful, spar with me. Middle-stage Foundation Establishment already... The continent really is vast, and full of geniuses."

Ryu Seonghan, who had been listening, broke in.

"What? Senior! You've reached the middle stage?"

Even as he spoke, Seonghan flinched and glanced at Cheong Un for his reaction. Fortunately, Cheong Un did not seem to be the overbearing type and paid it little mind.

"Only recently."

"Your cultivation speed is just... The world is so unfair..."

Despite his complaints, Seonghan's progress was hardly slow. His aptitude had never been poor, and with Yise's wholehearted support, he could plausibly attempt a Foundation Establishment breakthrough within three or four years.

Once again, Yise appreciated just how tremendous a fortuitous encounter a high-level Cultivator's support was for someone at a lower level.

"What will you do now?"

"Cultivate. Could you give me a guarantor's token? So I can use it if I need to send you a message talisman."

"Certainly. Here."

Cheong Un readily handed over his guarantor's token. Seonghan stared blankly, mouth agape, as though unable to comprehend the sight.

To the two of them, however, it was only natural to be at ease with each other. They had fought as equals in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm, where betrayal was as commonplace as breathing, and had both maintained their principles to the very end.

They might not be close friends, but that was enough to consider each other trustworthy.

'Still, I'll need to rent a secluded abode.'

Considering someone trustworthy and revealing all his secrets to them were two different things. As long as Cheong Un remained here, freely entering and leaving the Living Spirit Abode would be difficult.

When Yise rose, Cheong Un fell into step behind him as a matter of course.

"Why are you following me?"

"Don't be so cold. Didn't I readily agree to help you?"

"Even so, don't follow me inside my secluded abode. That would be rude."

"What a shame."

Had he actually intended to cultivate together...?

It was an accepted rule of the cultivation world that even parents and children cultivated separately. Tearing out your heart and leaving it in someone else's care would be safer.

Yise rented the cheapest secluded abode, with payment due afterward. He would be installing the Secret Realm Key on an inner door and cultivating in the Living Spirit Abode anyway, so the rented abode was merely a cover.

As he set up a barrier formation disc and opened the abode's door, Cheong Un's sulky voice reached him.

"Rather than cultivate in a cheap abode like this, why not come to the Tyrant Sword Sect?"

"I appreciate the offer, but I'll decline."

Cheong Un smacked his lips in disappointment.

* * *

Yise emerged from the secluded abode two years later. He had finished absorbing all the supreme-grade Qi-Condensing Pills, and his spiritual energy reserves had filled rapidly.

He had successfully raised both the Five Elements Life-Promoting Art and the Life-Promoting Art to the seventh star, the limit attainable at middle-stage Foundation Establishment. His spiritual herbs now grew at nearly fifty times their normal rate.

That meant he could mass-produce hundred-year herbs once every two years.

His mass of primordial energy had grown to the size of his palm. He had grown accustomed to the pain, and the speed at which he gathered it had increased considerably.

With a stable cultivation environment to support him, every aspect of his progress truly seemed to have taken wing.

'I'm pleased with this.'

At this rate, he would soon reach late-stage Foundation Establishment as well. Hall Master U Yuhee's record no longer meant much to him, but he intended to use it as a target for now.

He eagerly awaited the day he could swiftly reach Core Formation and sink his teeth into his enemies' throats.

Cheong Un was still at the lodgings.

"Aren't you going home?"

"If I stay near you, surely an opportunity to spar will come up. Besides, I have plenty of questions. When something makes me curious, I simply have to find out."

"What an exhausting personality. Keep neglecting your cultivation like that, and the gap between us will only widen."

"Don't worry. I've rented the finest secluded abode in Tiandogyeong to cultivate in."

If he was going to cultivate here anyway, why not just go home?

Yise did not bother saying that aloud.

"By the way, Ryu Seonghan is from the Northern Continent. He's a disciple of an annihilated sect, so why do you keep him under your wing? You don't seem the type to look after someone."

Had he been digging into their backgrounds?

As Yise's eyes narrowed, Cheong Un hastily added, "Don't misunderstand. He told me himself."

"I take good care of the people I know. You just don't know me very well yet."

"Is that so? My apologies. Still, I doubt you accept just anyone into your circle. Am I right?"

"Well, yes."

"They must be fortunate, then."

Yise could never get used to that look, as though Cheong Un were studying some curious animal. Life for a Cultivator in such a stable environment was probably boredom itself.

That must be why he had braved the dangers of a secret realm despite being the Tyrant Sword Sect's successor.

Yise decided to try to be understanding.

"You said you came to the Eastern Continent to find something... But Ryu Seonghan seems to have a different goal."

"Nothing good will come of getting involved. Everyone has their own circumstances. I don't intend to go out of my way to get tangled up in it either."

"The people who say that always end up the most deeply entangled."

"Are you trying to jinx me?"

Grumbling, Yise opened the Meat Preservation Chest.

"Want something to eat? I'll charge you just a hundred spirit stones for a meal."

"A meal worth a hundred spirit stones? If you're taking me for a sucker, I'm not pleased."

"Try it. You won't regret it."

Yise pried a hundred spirit stones out of him, prepared immortal cuisine from a Foundation Establishment demonic beast he had hunted in the Thousand-Demon Mountains, and served it to him.

Soon, Cheong Un's expression turned to surprise.

"Now I have one more reason to stay by your side."

"I shouldn't have fed you."

Despite his words, amusement shone in Yise's eyes.

He had secured himself a wealthy regular customer.

As the two scraped up the last of their immortal cuisine, Ryu Seonghan arrived.

"... Senior. I think you need to come with me."

"What's happened?"

"Well..."

Seonghan hesitated. He glanced at Cheong Un, clearly wondering whether it was safe to speak. After a brief pause, he chose words that only the two of them would understand.

"Something has happened to Cultivator Sin."

- Don't tell me she's dead?

Seonghan nodded at Yise's sound transmission.

Realizing they were exchanging words only they understood, Cheong Un interjected.

"I don't know what you're up to, but couldn't you let me join in? I'd like to help."

"You? Why?"

"Simple curiosity."

"As I said, you're better off staying out of this. I'm telling you for your own good."

"That's for me to deal with. You need only decide whether to allow it."

Yise studied his unchanging expression.

Having an ally would be good. Cheong Un was roughly his equal in strength. At the very least, he would not hold Yise back if they worked together.

His backing from the Tyrant Sword Sect would also be a great help.

'He said the Tyrant Sword Sect disapproves of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.'

Still, involving someone with no personal stake in the matter required careful consideration. All the more so when Yise could not precisely discern his intentions.

"I'll let you join if you sign a private soul-binding contract to maintain secrecy."

It was Yise's roundabout way of refusing. No one was mad enough to sign a binding contract out of mere curiosity. At this point, anyone would back down.

But Cheong Un did not.

"Very well."

"..."

In the end, Yise presented a contract stating, “I shall not interfere with Yise and Ryu Seonghan's activities, nor disclose them in any manner or in any place.”

"You can change 'not interfere' to 'cooperate.' In return, add just one more clause: 'Before returning to the Eastern Continent, Yise must spar with Cheong Un once.'"

So that had been his goal.

Since Yise had refused, he could not force the issue, but he was clearly itching to fight him.

"But I don't remember you being such a fighting dog back in the Dark Heaven Secret Realm."

"Everyone else was so dull. I defied my sect's opposition and snuck into that secret realm, only to find that was all it had to offer. Then I met you. Fighting you was the most enjoyable experience of my life."

After hearing him go that far, Yise could hardly refuse.

The two entered into a private soul-binding contract.

They immediately followed Ryu Seonghan to the inn where Sin Yeoran had been staying. Her body lay there.

It looked as though she had fallen victim to Robber Cultivators, but Yise detected traces of demonic arts lingering on her corpse.

Cheong Un seemed to have noticed them as well, for he murmured, "A spell from the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley. Are those bastards at it again?"

At his words, both men turned their eyes to Cheong Un.