episode_0025

The spy was rooted out.

It was purely thanks to Hong Soyeon’s efforts.

As soon as his identity was exposed, the man employed his footwork to escape, but he had no means of enduring the coordinated attack of three demonic practitioners—Hong Soyeon, Baekseol, and Jeok Hwaryeon—all by himself.

As a result, he was subdued somewhat roughly and was currently sitting bound beside Cheongun.

Cheongun looked at Hong Soyeon as she returned after subduing the man and sat down.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

“Excellent work.”

“It was nothing.”

Jin Cheonwoo looked at the bound spy and asked.

“What shall we do with him? Should we kill him?”

“Kill him? What are you talking about? Do you just want to kill everyone whenever something happens? This guy is completely insane.”

“……”

I stared silently at the spy.

The single rat my Master spoke of was clearly this guy.

Soon, I asked Jin Cheonwoo.

“What kind of people are spies?”

“Aren’t they people who steal information?”

“That’s right. It’s an extreme profession where one must be prepared for death if caught. So who would be this guy’s backer?”

“Isn’t it those Righteous Alliance guys?”

“What do those Righteous Alliance guys value most?”

“Righteousness?”

A nod.

Cheongun nodded his head.

They say that where there are people, there is Jianghu, and those Righteous Alliance guys take responsibility for anyone they let into their domain until the very end.

But if you just kill him because he’s a spy, what then?

It’s obvious they’ll swarm in like a gang of thugs, demanding revenge, asking, “How dare you kill one of our own?”

“Therefore, the most important thing when dealing with the Righteous Alliance guys is justification.”

“Justification, you mean?”

“Exactly. If we kill the spy, they gain justification for revenge, but if we keep him alive, we gain justification to hold them accountable for all the information they’ve been stealing like rats.”

Jin Cheonwoo nodded, as if he finally understood.

“So he’s a prisoner, then?”

“Precisely.”

As soon as he said that, Cheongun abruptly stood up.

He strode over to the man, then crouched down slightly to meet his eye level.

And a moment later.

He tore off the cloth gagging the spy’s mouth with his right hand, then spoke.

“What’s your name?”

“Kill me!”

*Thump thump thump!*

Cheongun struck the man’s acupoints.

The man, whose acupoints were instantly sealed, trembled uncontrollably, letting out a sound like air escaping.

“……”

Jeok Hwaryeon involuntarily swallowed at that moment.

Perhaps memories of being interrogated by Cheongun once before came back to her.

As she swallowed, cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

****

The bound spy’s name was Im Jaecheon.

His backer, who sent him to Hyeongak, was, as expected, the Righteous Alliance.

Specifically, he was an individual sent directly by an Elder of the Righteous Alliance, said to be a martial artist from the Kunlun Sect.

Perhaps he was well-trained, as it took more than ten days for him to spill the information.

Compared to Jeok Hwaryeon, who confessed everything in just a week, the man’s patience, enduring for three more days, was truly remarkable.

After that, Cheongun entered a period of seclusion.

The antidote for the Gu poison had been entrusted to Elder Jang in precise quantities, so he would distribute it properly on his own.

There was no need for him to pay special attention to it.

“……”

He spent time sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor of the Lodge Leader’s separate residence, but the lotus position was indeed not an easy posture.

In other words, the full lotus position.

A posture where both legs are crossed left and right, sitting in a relaxed cross-legged way.

The key was to have the soles of the feet facing upwards.

“……”

The problem was that this posture was incredibly difficult.

If one’s body isn’t trained, even sitting like this for a short while can cause twisting pain in the joints.

However, once qi circulation began, it would last for hours as a minimum, so every time he sat in the lotus position for cultivation, the physical fatigue was immense.

But it was necessary.

The reason he entered seclusion despite having the ‘Demonic Cult Annihilation!’ unique trait was that his current level in the Heaven and Earth Primordial Unity Qi Cultivation was ambiguous.

What good was it if his body became robust and his internal energy soared due to the trait?

He couldn’t properly utilize it because his attainment was shallow.

But now.

With his surroundings now filled with demonic practitioners.

He felt certain that he could move beyond the first stage of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Unity Qi Cultivation, Heavenly Mystery, to the next stage, Primordial Chaos.

[Unique Trait: Demonic Cult Annihilation! is active!]

As the trait activated, Cheongun focused his mind on the clear natural energy that surged in.

He recited the cultivation chants floating in the air and felt the flow of true qi coursing through his body.

The true qi, starting from the Dantian below the navel, descended to the Huiyin acupoint near the anus, then ascended from the tailbone along the spine.

The true qi, having reached the crown of his head, passed through the Baihui acupoint, descended through the glabella and philtrum, and finally arrived at the navel.

He didn’t forget to recite the cultivation chants at various points.

Thinking one way at this acupoint and another way at that acupoint, applying each like a formula, it wasn’t difficult to circulate true qi throughout his body.

The nurturing true qi, originating from the Dantian, circulated through all the meridians of his body.

His body grew warm, his blood vessels expanded, and the internal energy, naturally imbued with heat, melted away the fat accumulated in every corner of his blood vessels.

Sweat flowed.

It was sweat mixed with fat, so the odor was quite pungent.

It could truly be called a revolution in dieting.

Cheongun gulped down the prepared water and refocused on his cultivation.

At some point, he even forgot the passage of time.

He only vaguely guessed it by watching the moon wax and wane outside the window.

Before he knew it, dawn broke, the morning sun rose from the horizon on the opposite side of the mountain, and then the sun set again.

*Clang—*, a clear sword cry, like the sound of a bell, struck his ears like a hallucination.

He had entered a state of self-oblivion.

All worldly worries vanished.

Even as the sun rose and set multiple times, Cheongun’s state of self-oblivion did not break.

He etched countless cultivation chants one by one into his body and mind, repeating the Small Heavenly Circulation within the Heavenly Qi realm countless times.

As time passed.

Just as whispers of, “Did our Lodge Leader perhaps die?” began to circulate among his subordinates.

“……”

Finally, Cheongun completely conquered the second stage of the Heaven and Earth Primordial Unity Qi Cultivation, the Primordial Chaos realm.

If the first stage, Heavenly Qi, was the stage that boosted internal energy and allowed for smooth absorption of natural energy.

The Primordial Chaos realm, in its truest sense, refers to a state where the distinction of qi itself vanishes.

‘When Yin reaches its extreme, Yang arises; when Yang reaches its extreme, Yin arises.’

‘The energies of the world merely circulate; they are never fixed.’

‘All things originated from one; thus, returning to one is the principle.’

The distinction between Yin and Yang disappeared.

The distinction between internal energy and natural energy vanished.

Yin and Yang merged into Primordial Chaos, and the energies between heaven and earth transformed.

This finally exploded into light.

“Hoo…”

Internal energy circulated simultaneously with his breath.

A vibrant blue true qi stretched forth through his entire body.

It reacted with the natural energy, and then the profound principles of lightning partially unfolded.

*Crackle!*

With his breath, a sharp current flashed in the empty air.

Seeing that, Cheongun grinned.

“Second advancement, success.”

****

Cheongun emerged from seclusion, which had lasted for nearly two months.

As soon as his seclusion ended, Cheongun focused solely on eating, as if he intended to make up for lost time.

Whatever he ate seemed to turn directly into muscle rather than fat, as Cheongun’s previously slender physique was now visibly taking on the form of a martial artist’s body.

However, there was a problem.

“Who is the cook?”

At Cheongun’s question, Jin Cheonwoo subtly raised his hand.

“That would be me.”

“You’re the cook? What happened to the original cook?”

“Huh? Didn’t Lodge Leader-nim cut off one of his arms and imprison him in the golden prison?”

Ah.

So that demon was the cook, huh.

“Why do you think I called you?”

“Why, sir?”

“The food isn’t tasty. And I mean, extremely not tasty.”

*Damn it, just eat what you’re given.*

Jin Cheonwoo grumbled internally.

Of course, he didn’t say it out loud, but Cheongun, feeling somehow offended, smacked Jin Cheonwoo’s head.

*Thwack!*

“Argh! Damn it!”

Only then did Cheongun lift his head with a look of satisfaction.

And he looked around at the assembled people and said.

“Anyone confident in their cooking, raise your hand.”

“……”

Hmm.

No one, then.

Cheongun clicked his tongue and left the separate residence.

“Lodge Leader, where are you going?”

“I’m going to find a cook.”

And so, Cheongun came out into Chengdu and wandered through the inns.

For the time being, he planned to visit inns, searching for Chengdu’s best restaurants to recruit a cook.

Just as he had sat down anywhere and was gulping down Bijeolju from a gourd flask.

A man who looked like a bandit leader came and sat next to Cheongun, then swiftly snatched Cheongun’s gourd flask and poured the remaining Bijeolju into his own mouth.

“Hey, country bumpkin.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Do you know? Every time you walk, the silver coins in your pocket clink noisily.”

“So?”

At those words, the man smirked.

As the man flicked his thumb and forefinger, a dozen or so similarly-built men swarmed forward and surrounded Cheongun.

The man bared his yellow teeth and grinned.

“You know, right? Hand it over.”

Cheongun was dumbfounded.

He was so dumbfounded that it was absurd and unbelievable, to the point where he just kept laughing.

As Cheongun laughed as if insane, the men surrounding him also began to chuckle.

*Shiiing!* Cheongun drew his sword.

Seeing that, the men also drew their swords demonstratively.

Cheongun enveloped his sword with sword qi.

In response, the men also demonstratively enveloped their swords with sword qi.

Cheongun’s sword glowed a vibrant blue, and threads of sword qi extended from it like fine silk.

From that moment, the men began to panic.

Huh, sword threads?

They couldn’t do that.

And then.

“!!!”

*Crackle!*

The sword threads compressed to their limit, and then bright blue lightning bolts shot straight up vertically.

Finally, Cheongun faintly parted his lips.

“Come, let us die.”

“……”