Chapter 26: Life (1)
The events of the following day were similar to before.
The fox appeared, bit my arm, and the next day a snake came asking for blood.
The day after, a trio of cultivators appeared, healed my arm, and kidnapped my colleagues.
The fourth day, the Sea Dragon King took away Deputy Manager Oh, and the strange hunchback took away Manager Kim.
As usual, Kim Young-hoon and I were pushed into a spatial rift and lost consciousness.
"...This place is."
When I opened my eyes, it was an unfamiliar ceiling.
'A ceiling?'
Startled, I quickly got up and looked around.
Kim Young-hoon was sprawled nearby.
It seems we hadn't been out of the rift for long.
'I knew we'd be randomly transported somewhere in Yanguo, but being transported into someone's room is a first.'
Slightly amused, I pick up Kim Young-hoon and try to leave the room.
Bang!
And then, I lock eyes with a woman passing by the door, who clearly looks like a maid.
"Aaaah! A thief!"
"...Damn it."
I quickly tap the maid's sleep acupoint and hurry out of the room.
'Is this a mansion?'
It seems to be a mansion of someone quite powerful.
"Hey, there! The villains went that way! That villain knocked me out and... no, anyway, he came out of the lady's room!"
Far away, I hear the voice of the maid I had knocked out.
It seems we had fallen into the room of the lady of this mansion.
'Damn, this is crazy.'
Why do we always end up in places like this when we fall?
Thinking this, I was about to escape carrying Kim Young-hoon.
"How dare you sneak into the house of Lord Heo Semin, you must be a mad thief!"
Two elite warriors, looking like guards, were rushing towards me.
'Wait, Heo Semin?'
I paus when I hear that name.
That name was one of the pieces of information I had come across in my past life when digging into the Imperial family's information.
'Lord Heo. One of the top five corrupt officials in Yanguo. Known for his extreme exploitation of the people, he's been audited several times by the central government, but he always bribed the auditors and used his connections to slip away.'
His exploitation was so severe that he used his power to take brides from other families on their wedding nights and turn landowners into tenant farmers, and nobody could say anything against him.
'Ah, right. A memorable piece of trash, that's why I remember his name.'
I turn my steps away from escaping and head back into the mansion.
'If he's such scum, he'll have enough wealth to last a lifetime, so borrowing a bit won't be a problem.'
I quickly entered Heo Semin's inner chambers and began rummaging through the house.
Some of Heo Semin's private soldiers tried to threaten me, but I put them all to sleep with sleep acupoints and continued searching.
After searching for a while, I found twelve gold toads in a wooden chest hidden by Heo Semin.
"Hmm, this should be useful."
I tucked the chest with the gold toads into my arms, gathered a few more coins, and then left Heo Semin's house.
Afterward, wanted posters with my face circulated in Cheolryung City, where Heo Semin's mansion was, but I changed my appearance using a technique and bought a manor to stay in.
In the manor, I taught Kim Young-hoon literacy and martial arts.
A month passed like that.
Shooosh-
I chuckled as I looked at the three flowers floating above Kim Young-hoon’s head.
'It's been a month now.'
A month since I, having reached the state of Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, started personally guiding Kim Young-hoon.
Once he accumulated some internal energy, Kim Young-hoon reached the same state as me.
'The higher the state of the teacher, the shorter the learning time for the student...'
Even though he reached Three Flowers in a month, Kim Young-hoon had not finished learning literacy.
"Ha ha, I never knew I had such talent. To reach this state before learning the language and literacy..."
"Since you have reached Three Flowers, I have a gift for you."
"Oh? What is it?"
A secret manual integrating the six volumes of Gazing Cultivation and Exceeding Martial Arts Scripture created by Kim Young-hoon in my past life.
Secrets of Gazing Cultivation and Exceeding Martial Arts!
'This Kim Young-hoon will reach even greater heights in this life.'
And he will evolve the secret manual again.
I passed on the secret manual to him and taught him the language and letters of Yanguo, then sat in the manor looking up at the sky.
'What should I do in this life?'
I've wandered around the martial world, established factions, followed Kim Young-hoon, and even entered the Imperial family.
'I do want to concentrate more on martial arts training this time.'
But I couldn't just ignore the ruthless deeds of the Makli Clan family.
What could be a way to stop the Makli Clan and still train in martial arts?
After some thought, I quickly found the answer.
'The Jin Clan.'
Yes.
The cultivators of the Jin Clan, who were trying to drive the Makli Clan out of Yanguo.
'In this life, I should cooperate with the Jin Clan.'
Just like in the latter part of my previous life, helping the Jin Clan would indirectly hinder Makli Clan's activities.
After deciding to visit the Jin Clan, I went to Kim Young-hoon.
"I will go my own way from now on."
"Uh!? Why, what happened?"
"...I just want to wander a bit."
Kim Young-hoon seemed a bit anxious like before, but I reassured him and left Cheolryung city.
We had agreed to meet here once every five years, so there would be no problem in meeting again.
I started heading towards a territory of the Jin Clan.
The secret base of the Jin Clan was located in a valley called Surak, north of Changho city, near the Yanguo’s eastern region that borders Byeokra.
It was a place I had visited a few times in my past life.
'As far as I know...'
I heard it was where the lower-rank cultivators of the Jin Clan stayed.
After finding a suitable place, I waited for someone to come out of Surak Valley.
A few days of waiting went by.
Finally, I saw a man in a red robe coming out of Surak Valley.
Around him, his consciousness dominated the space.
'A cultivator of the Jin Clan!'
I secretly followed him.
After arriving in Changho City, the man went into a tavern and began ordering food and drinks.
'Good, time to get closer.'
I casually joined him and ordered more good drinks.
"Uh? Who are you?"
"Ha ha, I saw you looked lonely, so I came to drink. I'll pay for the drinks."
"Well, if you're really paying..."
After ordering enough food and drinks to break the table, we chatted.
When he was somewhat drunk, I subtly steered the conversation towards cultivators.
Soon, the inebriated Jin Clan cultivator confessed to me that he was a cultivator and had come to the secular world for a mission.
"Truly impressive. A cultivator, I'd have no regrets working with such a noble lineage of cultivators."
"Hmm, well, but in our home, there are already too many mortals like you..."
When he seemed to reject my offer, I showed him the twelve gold toads I had stolen from Lord Heo.
"If I could work under a cultivator clan, I could give these toads to you..."
"Hmm, hmm...!"
Staring blankly at the gold toads for a moment, the Jin Clan cultivator coughed and accepted the wooden chest I offered.
"Well, I'll mention it to the elders of my family. Hem hem..."
"Ha ha, thank you. I'll rely on you."
I smiled amiably and obtained a promise from him.
The next day, though he seemed a bit troubled sobering up, he couldn't resist the temptation of the gold toads and pretended to take me to his clan before casting a flame spell at me.
He wanted the gold toads but didn't want to introduce me to the clan.
'This guy seems to be in the 1st Star of Qi Refining...'
I frowned, split his flame spell with my sword, and shattered his defensive technique with my Sword Gang.
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, I... I..."
"If you don't want to introduce me to your clan, just say so. Do you think I'm some mortal to be taken lightly?"
"Hi, hic..."
I glared at the Jin Clan cultivator and grabbed him by the collar.
'Good, I'll use this as an excuse to make him take me to his clan.'
I nudged him to spit out six of the gold toads he had taken.
"Now that you've accepted six gold toads, you will guide me properly, right? I'm counting on a proper introduction this time."
"Alright, I'll introduce you to the elders of the cultivator clan. I had no idea you were a master of Three Flowers Gather at the Summit!"
Stuttering, he guided me.
I learned that his mission was to deliver a letter to the Jin Clan's territory in another city.
Together, we arrived at a Jin Clan's secret base near Yongho City in Yanguo.
After delivering the letter to an older Qi Refining cultivator, he introduced me.
Hearing that I was a master of Three Flowers, the eyes of the older Qi Refining cultivator lit up.
"Good timing. Someone of your caliber is certainly qualified to serve the clan. Ha ha, we needed an instructor to teach martial arts to mortals. Three Flowers at the Summit, that's a high realm for mortals, correct?"
"Yes. I dare not compare to the clan, but I have reached a high level among mortals like myself."
"Good, good. Follow me."
I followed him to a training ground in the Jin Clan's territory.
There, children around sixteen were practicing.
The instructor seemed to be at the early-Pinnacle Realm, struggling with the large number of kids.
"The education of these mortal children was entrusted to that instructor, but it seems he isn't doing well. You seem to have a higher level of martial arts, so you could teach them better, correct?"
"Yes, leave it to me."
I was quite pleased with the task of teaching kids.
It wouldn't take too much of my training time.
Especially since entering Three Flowers, I needed to study more about intent. teaching kids would allow me to explore their intents too.
"By the way, why are these kids learning martial arts?"
"Oh, that's because..."
The Qi Refining cultivator stroked his beard and explained.
"Recently, many cultivation sects that dominated the cultivation world suddenly disappeared. I don't know the details, but it's said that cultivators above Core Formation suddenly vanished.
So currently, the cultivation world is like the calm before the storm. The cultivator who reaches beyond Core Formation the fastest will become the authority, and their cultivator clan could become the leading faction.
The current cultivation world seems calm on the surface but is in a state of fierce hidden battles. Those ruthless Makli Clan are extending the lives of Core Formation cultivators with forbidden elixirs, creating an opportunity for their elders to reach beyond their realm."
'So that's what happened...'
I could roughly guess the chain of events that had occurred.
The Ascension Gate, which opens once every thousand years.
Many high-ranking cultivators and sects gathered at Ascenion Path to challenge the Ascension Gate, leaving only Core Formation cultivators in the current cultivation world.
The cultivator who reaches the next realm fastest could control the cultivation world, so the Makli Clan was draining the vital blood of mortals to extend the lives and cultivation of the Core Formation cultivators in their clan.
'I thought it was no big deal whether those monsters ascended or not... but it turned out to be the starting point of all these events.'
I nodded, listening to the Qi Refining cultivator's explanation.
"The Makli Clan, that devilish clan, needs a vast amount of mortal blood for the process of creating their forbidden elixir. Because of that, disappearances are increasing everywhere in Yanguo...These kids are survivors rescued by our Jin Clan.
They all harbor immense resentment towards the Makli Clan and the current Imperial family for killing their relatives. Our Jin Clan wants to prevent the Makli Clan from making the elixir by draining mortals' vital blood and stop their Core Formation cultivators from surpassing their realm."
'Do the interests of the cultivator clan and these kids align...?'
Then, these kids...
"We plan to first reclaim Yanguo from the Makli Clan and prevent them from indiscriminately capturing mortals. As part of that, we're planning to assassinate the current Emperor of Yanguo, Makli Jung."
I felt a chill hearing the next words.
"These kids have all volunteered as assassins. Can you teach them martial arts?"
That's when I realized the true nature of the unsettling feeling.
I had to teach the kids whom I had personally beheaded in my past life.
