Chapter 20 – I Had Talent

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Translated by Frog in the Well

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Thousand Treasures Pavilion.

Jin So-myeong, disguised as a middle-aged man in his fifties, visited the largest shop in Red Yang Market.

He was there to dispose of the gift Baek Gwi had left behind.

“Welcome, customer. Are you looking for something?”

“I came to sell some items. I heard Thousand Treasures Pavilion buys things too. Did I hear correctly?”

“That is correct. We purchase any item without asking about its origin, at sixty percent of market price.”

“Sixty percent? That is too cheap… Let me show you the items first.”

Jin So-myeong casually placed the storage pouch he had at his waist on the counter.

“I will sell the entire storage pouch. Tell me how much you will offer. If I like the price, I will sell.”

“Umm! Please wait a moment. I will appraise them myself.”

The manager of Thousand Treasures Pavilion took out a pair of glasses-shaped dharma tool from his bosom.

With a cautious expression, he carefully examined each item inside the storage pouch one by one.

“…This golden translucent dharma tool has slightly damaged spiritual properties. It seems the maintenance was poor. Oh? This blue dharma robe appears to be brand new, never used. Are you really selling it?”

“Yes.”

Jin So-myeong answered casually and crossed his arms.

He had no intention of caring what the other party said. He would only listen to the final price and make his decision.

Before he knew it, the appraisal was finished.

“As I mentioned earlier, Thousand Treasures Pavilion originally purchases at sixty percent price, but…”

The manager glanced between Jin So-myeong and the storage pouch, then cleared his throat and spoke.

“The items you showed us have high demand and are easy to sell. We will specially apply a seventy percent price and give you 392 spirit stones.”

“392?”

Jin So-myeong fell into thought.

It was roughly the price he had expected, but he did not accept immediately.

“Too little. I need at least 500.”

“Oh my, you are asking for too much. The dharma tools with damaged spiritual properties need repairs before we can sell them, and the labor costs are not small. To make it clean, we will give you 400 spirit stones.”

“I do not need clean numbers. The bigger the better. 495.”

“Customer. 400 is already a very generous offer. Please check with other shops.”

After haggling with the manager for a while, Jin So-myeong shouted.

“460! That is my final offer.”

“…Haa. Fine. Today I will take the loss.”

Loss, my foot. Never trust a merchant’s words.

If there was no profit, they would not have accepted the negotiation in the first place.

“Customer. If you obtain items like this again, come to Thousand Treasures Pavilion. We do not ask about origins.”

“…”

Glancing. Jin So-myeong met the owner’s gaze and left immediately.

With those meaningful words as his last, he exited the shop and entered an alley.

After confirming no one was around, he touched the Faceless Mask to change his face.

Before he knew it, he had transformed into a thin man in his twenties and returned to the eastern district.

‘Whew… disposing of stolen goods is exhausting too.’

Killing people and taking their wealth provided enormous benefits, but the risks were equally significant.

He had to be especially careful when disposing of items.

If his identity was revealed, there was no telling what kind of karma might entangle him.

What if someone suddenly appeared demanding he revive their disciple, like that old monster Chuk Gi?

Without the Faceless Mask, he would not have been able to act so freely.

‘Well, if I am careful for a while, it will be fine. With this many spirit stones, I should have enough for cultivation for some time.’

Whirrr!

Blue crystals poured out from his storage space.

With hundreds of spirit stones piled up, the spiritual energy concentration seemed to have thickened.

“If I add the ones I already had, that makes over 500.”

It was an enormous amount.

Including the spirit stones produced in the Secret Realm of the Mind over the past few days, he had gathered half of the thousand he needed.

The mountain of spirit stones piled up felt like a great mountain.

He was overwhelmed with emotion.

As a mortal, how much effort would it have taken to accumulate this much wealth? At least 1,000 years.

It was truly a time for hollow laughter.

With these spirit stones, he could do so many things.

He could buy dozens of spell techniques he liked from the Scripture Pavilion, and perhaps even find a decent dharma tool.

“…But I will invest it all.”

Resisting the impulse, he swept all the spirit stones into his storage space. Then he moved to the Secret Realm of the Mind.

As always, the gray mist welcomed him. The cozy little hill was the same.

He was admiring his small but precious Secret Realm of the Mind when he stopped.

“It seems to have grown a bit?”

The keen senses of a cultivator could precisely measure distances just by focusing his gaze.

The hill that was clearly around 20 pyeong seemed to have grown by about 10 percent.

‘Is it because the mine grew?’

While pondering, he realized the reason. Searching through the information that had awakened when he unlocked his divine sense, it seemed correct.

‘Good.’

Being small had its own cozy charm, but spiritual domains were always better when larger.

If it continued to grow like this, he might eventually be able to raise his spiritual beasts in this Secret Realm of the Mind.

[Secret Realm of the Mind]

[Facilities]: Rank 1 Low-Grade Spiritual Vein, Rank 1 Low-Grade Spirit Stone Mine

[Resource Production]: 3 spirit stones / 1 day

Jin So-myeong, who had been watching the management window, rubbed his palms together.

Anticipation filled him. It was time to pour in all 500 spirit stones.

“I am investing everything!”

As he shouted softly and exerted his will, the 500 spirit stones in his storage space vanished without a trace.

And then.

The wind blew. In an instant, the thickened spiritual energy concentration was felt on his skin.

He had not yet reached the Rank 1 Mid-Grade spiritual vein, but he felt he had reached the limit of the low grade.

With a little more investment, it seemed it would grow to mid grade!

“Kuuh! This is it!”

Feeling like he had doubled his profit. The fact that just growing the mine caused the spiritual vein to grow was delightful.

Now his cultivation speed had increased once more!

The hazy aspirations were becoming clearer and clearer. It was no longer a dream!

Then he checked the mine production as well.

From 3 to 8.

Nearly tripled production greeted him. He was so ecstatic he was speechless.

“Eight spirit stones per day.”

Without working, even while sleeping, spirit stones accumulated every day.

It was an enormous income.

He could now afford to take the Qi Condensing Pill every 3-4 days, which he had previously been reluctant to use except when breaking through realms.

Countless cultivators who spent most of their days earning spirit stones would vomit blood with envy if they knew.

“Hahaha!”

In that moment, the entire world seemed bright. Whether it was an illusion or not, his soul felt fulfilled as well.

Jin So-myeong, who had returned to the eastern district, headed straight to the field in the backyard.

He planted two Dragon Form Grass seeds covered in scale-like shells in the spiritual field.

Whoosh!

After roughly learning the principles, he cast the Cloud Rain Creation Art to condense moisture. He sprayed rain over where he had planted the Dragon Form Grass.

“Done.”

He had set aside the White Jade Beauty seeds separately.

He planned to plant them later, after the Dragon Form Grass sprouted and he confirmed there were no problems with the spiritual field.

The miscellaneous tasks were finished.

Now all that remained was to devote himself to cultivation.

‘To obtain the aspiration spiritual object from the Red Cloud Secret Realm, I need to raise my realm as high as possible. When I reach the 4th layer of the Qi Condensation stage… I will have to lure Beom Chang.’

If he subdued Beom Chang and made him a slave, the benefits would be endless.

He could even use Beom Chang’s influence to enter the Red Yang Sect.

Of course, he would write a proper contract.

He had no intention of becoming a slave like a fool. He had absolutely no desire to work himself to death for a stranger.

The Red Yang Sect was merely a tool to dramatically increase his cultivation speed, one of many options.

‘As long as my weakness is not exposed… it would not be bad.’

If he could receive the help of a sect, it would be better than being alone.

He could receive the experience of his seniors and reduce trial and error.

His cultivation speed would also increase dramatically.

Jin So-myeong, who had been running through various plans, nodded.

To raise his realm before the secret realm opened, he needed to take some risks.

‘Let me cultivate.’

In the end, it was about strength.

To proceed smoothly with his plans, he needed to dramatically increase his combat power.

He sat cross-legged and focused all his energy on circulating the Five Elements Qi Condensation Art.

“Mmm…!”

The dense spiritual energy pressing in from all directions made his meridians tingle.

Combined with the Rank 1 Mid-Grade spiritual vein and the greatly grown Secret Realm of the Mind, the effect was tremendous.

Whoosh!

He absorbed the swirling spiritual energy with all his might, forgetting the passage of time.

How much time had passed?

The raging spiritual energy subsided, and the eastern district returned to peace.

“…Did it take three hours?”

The time to reach spiritual saturation had shortened again. Moreover, the total amount of spiritual energy accumulated in his dantian had increased.

Ju Hong’s claim about the high-grade spiritual vein was true!

By absorbing pure spiritual energy, his efficiency had improved dramatically.

‘At this speed… it should take half a year to reach the 4th layer of the Qi Condensation stage? If I take the Qi Condensing Pill frequently, it will be even shorter.’

The 4th layer of the Qi Condensation stage was a kind of milestone.

It was the boundary between the early and mid stages, and the realm where a clueless hatchling transformed into a confident Qi Condensation cultivator.

‘I heard it becomes easier to use spells too.’

When he reached the mid stage of Qi Condensation, he would become strong enough to be treated as an immortal in the mortal world.

This 4th layer was originally a wall so difficult it was called a bottleneck, but with his numerous resources, he felt he could break through easily.

‘When I reach the mid stage… the Supreme Great Ability will grow stronger too, right?’

Imagining what was to come, Jin So-myeong rested briefly before beginning his Wind Control Art training.

He went out to the wasteland, controlled the wind, and soared through the sky.

The taste of gradually getting faster as he became familiar with the Wind Control Art was addictive.

“Haa.”

When his spiritual energy was about half depleted, he returned to the safe eastern district.

Instead of simply training to run fast, he focused on making sharp turns.

The interior of the eastern district was cramped compared to the outdoors, but that was actually better.

He bounced off walls and ceilings at speeds of tens of meters per breath.

“Ugh!”

What would happen if he ran in a narrow room?

Naturally, he crashed into everything. The log cabin built with spiritual wood harder than steel shook from the impacts.

His shoulders and entire body were covered in bruises, but he did not give up.

He wanted to master the Wind Control Art to the point where it was like an instinct carved into his blood.

A sword not wielded properly would only hurt its owner.

The same applied to movement techniques.

Being fast was not everything. If he could not freely change direction, it would only be useful for escaping.

To display its power in combat, he needed to go one step further.

He practiced the Wind Control Art with the goal of freely navigating an indoor space filled with obstacles.

Bang!

It was so demanding that he crashed dozens of times a day, but he gradually got used to it.

Before he knew it, a month had passed.

The results of devoting himself to cultivation with the Supreme Great Ability fully mobilized began to show.

The various furniture he had deliberately set up as obstacles no longer posed a problem.

Whoosh!

Jin So-myeong swept through the room, passing between furniture like a breeze.

He bounced off the wall and laughed brightly.

‘This level of Wind Control Art should be considered proficient.’

From beginner to proficient, he had reached a level where he could display proper power in actual combat.

‘Should I start practicing other spells now?’

The price of Rank 1 low-grade spells was typically 10 to 30 spirit stones.

Unlike before, it was not a burdensome amount. He could save enough in just a few days.

“Hmm?”

While searching through his storage space, he stopped.

Two martial arts manuals he had obtained long ago but discarded and forgotten caught his eye.

“Rising Dragon Steps, Flying Swallow Horse-Slaying Saber Art.”

They were mortal martial arts without spiritual energy.

For a Qi Condensation cultivator, they were lacking in many ways, but he read them for entertainment.

‘The Rising Dragon Steps is a footwork technique and a movement technique. When mastered, one can freely roam the sky like a soaring dragon. It is the ultimate martial art that allows a mortal body to reach Void Treading. Void Treading?’

The phrase about walking in the sky sparked his curiosity.

Reading a bit more with focus, he learned what the Rising Dragon Steps was created to pursue.

‘They wanted to fly like immortals… The Wind Control Art allows brief flight even with just beginner mastery, but the Rising Dragon Steps requires full mastery to tread the void. It truly is a mortal martial art with a low level.’

The greatest difference between martial arts and immortal techniques was the presence or absence of spiritual energy.

Spiritual energy, which ordinary people could not even perceive, possessed spiritual properties in itself.

It was fundamentally different from regular qi.

‘It is said to be energy that descended from the heavens when the sky opened in ancient times.’

Spiritual energy could be thought of as energy containing super-high-performance artificial intelligence.

The spiritual properties of spiritual energy greatly helped in circulating techniques and casting spells.

In contrast, regular qi required manual manipulation of everything, and its energy efficiency was abysmal.

Even if one worked hard to master it, it was too weak.

No matter how precisely one burned wood, it was still just wood. Compared to nuclear fusion, it was nothing but dust.

Regular qi lacked spiritual properties and had limited potential for growth, making it inferior to spiritual energy in every way.

“Sigh.”

About to close the book in regret, he stopped. An inexplicable feeling kept whispering for him to keep reading.

Hesitating, he eventually did not let go.

Since it would not take long, he planned to read it to the end.

“Mmm…”

With his chin resting on his hand, Jin So-myeong flipped through the pages casually, but his movements gradually slowed.

Before he knew it, he had straightened his posture.

He focused without even making a sound, forgetting the passage of time.

“Haa.”

The moment the last page ended, a sigh escaped.

It was because the first complete immersion he had ever experienced left a lingering impression.

The dozens of techniques swirling in his mind intertwined into one. All meanings pointed to a single stance.

Flying Dragon Ascending to Heaven.

The beginning and end of the Rising Dragon Steps. This one and only stance was the method to tread the void and roam the sky.

“Shall I try it once?”

The inexplicable curiosity was hard to resist. There was no reason to resist in the first place, so he immediately drew up his spiritual energy.

He intended to use spiritual energy instead of regular qi to perform the martial art.

His thigh muscles bulged.

The moment the energy condensed beneath his feet reached its limit.

Bang!

A heavy impact pushed him forward. His accelerated body shot out like an arrow.

Where the explosive sound had erupted, nothing remained. He had already moved over three meters.

“At the same time. Jin So-myeong was certain.

With just a single attempt, he had completely mastered the Rising Dragon Steps. He had succeeded so easily that he was bewildered.

Standing blankly for a long time, Jin So-myeong murmured unconsciously.

“I had talent?”

A strange emotion arose in his heart, leaving him speechless.

To discover that his first talent was in martial arts… He did not know whether to be happy or sad.