Chapter 2567 – 2567. The Ascent To Radiance

I returned to Mount Nakwol and decided to consume the Supreme Unity Pill.

It is said that important cultivation should be done in the most familiar and safest place. For me, the safest place was none other than Mount Nakwol.

The Heavenly Demon Sect? I don’t trust them. The supreme one there is not me, but the Heavenly Demon. There were hardly any people I could call my own within the Heavenly Demon Sect.

‘Mount Nakwol also has a ley line flowing through it, making it perfect for cultivation.’

I sat cross-legged in the center of the training ground and took out the Supreme Unity Pill, placing it in my mouth. I swallowed the hard pill without chewing. Before it even reached my stomach, the pill melted instantly, and the condensed spiritual energy burst out as if it were decompressing.

The spiritual energy, imbued with the profound power of the Supreme Unity, naturally stimulated and attempted to harmonize the brain energy and demonic energy. At this moment, the mental image I recognized, the Heart Seed, was helpful.

The energies within me began to swirl and merge like a storm. I simply focused, felt, and fell into a state of selflessness.

How much time had passed? After absorbing all the spiritual energy of the Supreme Unity Pill, I slightly opened my mouth and exhaled. A portion of my inner force flowed out and dissipated into the air.

I opened my eyes. A blue light flashed and then disappeared. My blood, qi, and body had become even stronger.

‘Finally, I’ve reached the fifth stage of the Three Essences.’

For now, I was satisfied. Of course, I had no intention of being content here.

‘I don’t know when I’ll be able to reach the next stage.’

Advancing through stages using elixirs like this was only possible when the body and mind were ready. The process of preparing involved cultivation, experience, and enlightenment.

Feeling the profound inner force surging within my body, I rose from my seat. Looking outside, the sun was rising. I tore a space-movement scroll and moved to Tongbisi.

• • •

As soon as I entered the brothel, I met the Martial Alliance Leader. That guy, pretending to be a Taoist of the Wudang Sect, wouldn’t even hold a courtesan in his arms, yet he was sitting in the first-floor restaurant, holding his ground. As soon as he saw me, he approached.

“Your energy is even more powerful than it was three days ago. Congratulations on your achievement. Are you now heading to the imperial capital?”

“I’m going to Anhui Province.”

“Anhui Province? To the Namgung Clan, you mean? That’s unexpected. Didn’t you kill Namgung Clan’s Cheongun Dae?”

“…Those Cheongun Dae bastards first joined hands with the Slaughter King and tried to kill me. If you think about it, they’re the traitors of the Namgung Clan.”

“Between the Namgung Clan and the Heavenly Demon Sect, which is more important to you?”

“Both are important.”

“If you had to choose only one?”

“Choose only one? Then I won’t choose either.”

“Haha. I expected as much… It seems that power isn’t that important to you.”

More important than power were my women. But that could also be a weakness, so I didn’t say it. I didn’t trust the Martial Alliance Leader.

“Having power is convenient. There’s no particular value beyond that.”

What was most important in this world was individual strength. If you had overwhelming power, you could make any force kneel. It had already been proven. The Emperor was like that.

“Are you leaving right away?”

“My cultivation is over, so I need to unwind. I’ll go tomorrow.”

And the next day, in the afternoon.

I left the brothel. The Martial Alliance Leader, who had been waiting, approached me.

“It reminds me of the old days. There was a time when I wandered the Jianghu like you do now. I traveled with friends I got along with and merchants I met by chance.”

“Travel, my foot. I’m flying straight there. Follow me if you can.”

I summoned the Cloud-Riding Token from my inventory. The twelve-sided azure metal token was in my hand. As I activated my inner force, a cloud formed in front of me.

I climbed onto the cloud. The cloud floated into the air.

“Amazing. It doesn’t seem like a spell, but the power of a magical artifact. But are you the only one riding? Would it hurt you to let me ride too?”

“I have no intention of riding with an old man. Run. You’re the Martial Alliance Leader, you can do that much.”

“Haha. In the old days, I would have endured hardships for the sake of cultivation… but now, I’m old, and my knees hurt.”

The Martial Alliance Leader suddenly rolled up his left sleeve. There was a crane-shaped tattoo on his left forearm.

The Martial Alliance Leader and a tattoo. I thought it was a bad combination. Then, a mysterious light flowed from his tattoo, and it transformed into a giant blue crane with eight wings.

“Blue Crane. It’s been a while. I didn’t call you for battle. I have a destination, so please carry me.”

The giant crane nodded gracefully. The Martial Alliance Leader climbed onto the crane.

As I flew into the sky on my cloud, the Blue Crane followed, flapping its wings. I looked at the Blue Crane with curious eyes.

“It’s a spirit beast. How did you summon and control a spirit beast? You’re not a sorcerer, are you?”

“Do you know that there are multiple worlds in this universe?”

“I know. They’re divided into several, like the Immortal Realm, the Underworld, and the Material Realm.”

“The Material Realm. This world we’re in is also called the Intermediate Realm because it’s between other worlds. Do you know which world is closest to our world?”

“…The Immortal Realm?”

“It’s the Spirit Beast Realm. It’s also called the Spirit Realm. There are no humans there, only spirit beasts. They are born and cultivate to become immortals. It’s much smaller than the Intermediate Realm, so it doesn’t have many resources. That’s why spirit beasts from the Spirit Beast Realm sometimes come down to the Intermediate Realm for cultivation or to trade.”

“Is that crane a spirit beast that came down from the Spirit Beast Realm? Judging by the energy I feel, it’s at the Five Qi level.”

“It’s a young one. It’s not even 100 years old.”

“Not even 100 years old and at the Five Qi level?”

Unless you’re a genius, it usually takes more than 120 years of cultivation to reach the Five Qi level. To reach the Five Qi level before 100 years of cultivation? That means it’s a genius.

“Spirit beasts of the Spirit Beast Realm are born from nature. They usually start at the level of Emerging Will.”

“Born with Emerging Will is too much of a cheat.”

“Haha. There are differences even among spirit beasts. Very rarely, dragons are born, and they start at the Three Essences level.”

“In other words, their very nature is different.”

The Martial Alliance Leader knew a lot. Most of it was useless and boring anecdotes, so I just let it flow through one ear and out the other.

It was during this boring time that a change occurred in the circulating spiritual energy of heaven and earth. I and the Martial Alliance Leader stopped in the sky and looked around the world.

“…The spiritual energy of the sky is fixed, and the spiritual energy of the earth is gathering in one place… This is unusual. Someone is preparing for ascension.”

“Ascension? Is this a sign of ascension? Was there a master of the Myriad Forms realm nearby?”

“Hmm? It seems you don’t know much about ascension.”

“Isn’t the Ascension Realm the next stage after the Myriad Forms Realm?”

“You’re wrong. That’s a common misconception. Didn’t your master, the Heavenly Demon, teach you?”

“The Heavenly Demon is not my master.”

I had never received detailed teachings about realms from Yuwi. Yuwi’s teachings were mainly focused on martial arts. It wasn’t like I became her disciple from a time when I knew nothing. She didn’t bother to teach me things she knew.

‘The realm settings I know are from the original Ascent to Radiance. Did the realms change as they mixed with other worlds?’

For now, I listened to the Martial Alliance Leader.

“Once you break through the wall of the Harmony Realm, you can choose between Myriad Forms and Ascension. Usually, people choose Ascension. Myriad Forms only adds 500 years to your lifespan… but by ascending and being reborn as an immortal, the limits of your lifespan disappear, and you can go to the Immortal Realm and enjoy eternal life. There are quite a few people in this world who abandon the mortal world and cultivate only for ascension.”

“If you reach the Myriad Forms, can you never ascend again?”

“That’s not true. They say you can ascend if you perform a ritual during a time that comes once every 100 years. The problem is that you can fail. That’s why most cultivators aim for ascension.”

I remembered hearing that ascension was a trap. It was definitely something the Emperor’s teacher had said.

The spiritual energy of the sky began to ripple. The spiritual energy soon turned red. There was a bloody smell in the sky.

“This is bad. The spiritual energy is heavily tainted with the smell of blood. Usually, in such cases, the ascender is likely to be a monster.”

Thunder Heaven Flow Electromagnetic Wave.

I tried to find the ascender, but the fluctuating spiritual energy of heaven and earth interfered. It was too vast an area in this mountainous region to search with my Heavenly Eye.

“…You. You just did something.”

“If someone is trying to ascend, it’s the perfect opportunity to ambush them. If it’s a monster, I can get its core, so I’ll find it and kill it.”

I felt a wave of energy from the Blue Crane. The energy wave was directed at the Martial Alliance Leader. I guessed it was something like telepathy.

“The Blue Crane says that the monster trying to ascend is a White Tiger. You can have the White Tiger’s core, but I’ll take the rest of the White Tiger’s corpse, including its skin. How does that sound?”

“You’re giving up the core? The most valuable thing? What are you up to?”

“Haha. You don’t know much. Not to mention the White Tiger’s skin, its claws, whiskers, and eyes are all excellent materials for making magical artifacts. Above all, the White Tiger’s meat is a spiritual medicine that strengthens the bones and muscles, which is a great help to young disciples just starting out in martial arts.”

The Martial Alliance Leader swallowed hard as he spoke. It seemed he had killed and eaten a White Tiger before.

“Alright. But how do you know where the White Tiger is?”

“If we go down to the ground and examine the flow of the ley lines, we can find it. And a monster of this level must have ordered its disciples to protect it. If we capture and threaten those disciples, we might be able to easily find the White Tiger’s location.”

“So, we need to go down first.”

We descended to the ground.

It was an opportunity to gain a free advantage. I couldn’t resist.