Returning Immortal

Chapter 47 : Entering the Dark Spirit Council

Gwi Seongjin, who had sealed the skull cultivator in the red jade box again, stood up and moved his steps to the entrance of the cave.

When he looked at the sky from there, a bright, full moon was hanging in the air.

As he looked at it for a long time, the round moon gradually distorted and changed into someone's face.

A longed-for face...

A dewdrop formed in Gwi Seongjin's eye.

Gwi Seongjin, who had quietly shaken his head, headed back into the cave.

Gwi Seongjin, who had entered the training room, sat cross-legged in the center of the room.

And he examined his inner self with his spiritual sense.

Perhaps because he had been carrying the poison-repelling pearl for a long time, there was no poison qi left.

It seemed he shouldn't touch the gu that was crouching in his head yet...

Gwi Seongjin, whose mind suddenly turned to his middle dantian, moved his spiritual sense there.

His middle dantian had become quite a bit wider than when he had examined it in the absolute forbidden zone.

The true qi contained within it was also much more...

However, he couldn't find the golden pearl that had been hiding in it.

'Where did it disappear to?'

Gwi Seongjin, who had been searching for a long time, finally found the pearl in question in his spirit platform.

Surprisingly, the pearl was inside the pond.

'How did it get into the spirit platform? What on earth is its identity?'

There was a scene that flashed through Gwi Seongjin's mind as he was contemplating the identity of the pearl for a long time.

It was the golden eye in the brow of the Three-Eyed Toad he had encountered at the end of the absolute forbidden zone.

According to Gwi Seongjin's observation, the golden eye had the ability to break through spiritual sense.

It wasn't that it blocked or repelled spiritual sense.

It was a strange ability that made it impossible to sense the energy flowing from the body.

The divine power of the golden eye was not just that.

Surprisingly, the golden eye also had the heaven-defying effect of stopping time.

How could such an object...

Gwi Seongjin, who had been unable to close his mouth for a while at the mysterious phenomenon, spread his spiritual sense wide into his spirit platform.

It was to see if anything had changed from before.

But no matter how much he looked, there was no special change other than the new pearl.

The pond of consciousness had widened, and the primordial spirit had grown a little...

The ghost qi he had left after eating the evil ghost was still hanging in the air like a cloud.

* * *

To raise one's realm, one had to cultivate diligently for even a moment.

Gwi Seongjin's current realm, who had been cultivating the family's cultivation method, the Primordial Chaos Spirit Qi Art, was the late stage of the second stage of Qi Refinement.

If he went one step further from here, it was the realm of the third stage of Qi Refinement, where he could manifest his spirit energy.

Although it was right to concentrate on cultivation, Gwi Seongjin was now in a dilemma.

It was because of the visit to the Dark Spirit Council in three days.

The Dark Spirit Council was a huge organization located in the center of the main fortress, and to get there, he had to go through numerous checkpoints.

The spiritual sense of a cultivator who might be among them.

He was worried about that now.

For Gwi Seongjin to be able to act freely in this Luminous Cult, he had to hide the fact that he was a cultivator.

But an immortal cultivator could grasp the realms of other people with their spiritual sense.

The reason a cultivator could grasp another's cultivation realm was because the divine nature of the primordial spirit was expressed outside the body.

This was sensed with spiritual sense.

There were not a few secret methods to defend against spiritual sense in the cultivation world.

Secret arts, strange treasures, legal treasures, and even formations...

In fact, Gwi Seongjin had experienced this several times in the absolute forbidden zone.

The Nine Palaces Peach Blossom Formation and the lake at the entrance of the ancient formation had weakened his spiritual sense, and the formation in the Xuan Tian Cave Mansion had made it so that the inside could not be seen from the outside with an illusion.

Moreover, even the Three-Eyed Toad, the evil ghost, and the three-headed snake...

Even ghost beasts and demonic creatures had a secret art to hide their own realm.

Thanks to examining the evil ghost's memory, Gwi Seongjin also knew roughly how to hide his realm.

The method the evil ghost had used to hide its realm was ghost qi.

This was an energy corresponding to a cultivator's legal power.

If one wrapped the soul in the spirit platform with it, one could prevent the divine nature of the primordial spirit from leaking out to some extent.

'Shall I ask the skull cultivator for advice?'

Gwi Seongjin, who had been hesitating for a moment, eventually called out the skull cultivator.

It was because he might have a better method.

But unfortunately, the skull cultivator had almost no knowledge in that area.

Well, if he had known the method, he wouldn't have had his realm seen through by Gwi Seongjin.

Having no choice, Gwi Seongjin decided to use the evil ghost's secret art.

But it was not the same method as the evil ghost.

The evil ghost had another plan besides the method of wrapping the soul with ghost qi.

It was the method of surrounding the spirit platform with ghost qi.

Although the evil ghost had not chosen this because of the disadvantage that the ghost qi would leak out of the spirit platform, Gwi Seongjin's situation was completely different.

The reason he had left the ghost qi in his spirit platform was because he had no proper way to deal with it.

It meant that he would not be disappointed even if it was consumed.

Phew!

Although the method was decided, the result of its execution was not very good.

Even though he had followed the evil ghost's memory exactly, the divine nature had leaked out.

Although he had tried wrapping it with his legal power and had tried persuading it with his consciousness, there was no clear progress.

One day, two days.

Only time passed endlessly.

Then, on the night of the third day, a clue to the solution was suddenly discovered.

If he spread the ghost qi thinly and overlapped it, the leaking divine nature was significantly reduced.

What was surprising was that he could even deploy his spiritual sense in that state.

* * *

The next morning.

Gwi Seongjin, who had succeeded in surrounding his spirit platform with dozens of layers of ghost qi, left the cave with a light heart.

After going down Mount Shinmok and going through several checkpoints.

Gwi Seongjin, who had finally arrived at the Dark Spirit Council, was immediately guided to Academician Yu's room.

He was a little paler than a few days ago.

"Is life in the cave bearable?"

"Thanks to you providing a good residence, I have been living peacefully and well."

"So it seems. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"...Thank you."

"Then sit down and wait for a moment."

Academician Yu, with a relaxed expression, lifted the teapot and poured tea into Gwi Seongjin's cup.

Trickle, trickle.

The tea water was clear and brilliant.

Gwi Seongjin, who had lifted the cup and had savored the fragrance, carefully drank the tea water.

And after rolling it in his mouth, he slowly swallowed it down his throat.

"The fragrance is good."

"A friend who lives far away sent it."

"A friend who sends tea... You have a good friend."

"I think so too. By the way..."

Academician Yu, who had been speaking, poured tea into his own cup and drank it.

The speed at which he drank the tea was very slow.

It was to the extent that he was getting impatient from waiting.

Even so, Gwi Seongjin waited patiently.

"As it is everywhere, you need silver to live here in the Luminous Cult. If you have a lot of silver, it's convenient to live, and you can become stronger faster than others. How much of the silver I gave you before is left?"

"A little over seven taels are left."

"You haven't spent much. Still, you will feel it's not enough. Isn't that right?"

"It sounds like you're going to tell me a way to make money... Is that right?"

"That's right. There are many ways to make money here. There are people who learn professional skills such as education or medicine and make it their profession, and there are also people who do business or sell their martial power. Some people hunt and sell demonic beasts or spiritual beings, and there are even people who search for hidden treasures. But the method I recommend is not those things."

"Then, what is the method?"

"It's to enter an organization and accumulate achievements."

"What's good about it?"

"If you enter an organization and accumulate achievements, you can not only earn a lot of money, but you can also gain the status and honor to protect that money. Do you understand?"

At Academician Yu's explanation, Gwi Seongjin's head slowly nodded.

It was because, considering his situation, protecting money would be more difficult than earning it.

"I understand well. By the way, do I also have the right to choose a profession?"

"With the contribution you have accumulated in the absolute forbidden zone, you are now a free man. Of course, you have the right to choose a profession..."

"Anywhere?"

"Of course. Although you can't enter the martial force unit with your current skills, you should be able to apply for the defense unit without any problem. Since you're smart, you should also be able to apply for a place that handles finance or education..."

"What about here, the Dark Spirit Council?"

"It's the most optimal place for smart people like you to work. Why? Do you have the intention to work in the Dark Spirit Council?"

"It doesn't seem so bad to start here..."

"An excellent choice."

A faint smile appeared on Academician Yu's calm face.

It was because it seemed he wouldn't have to disobey Ne Jinja's instructions.

Due to the aftereffects of returning from the absolute forbidden zone, Ne Jinja was still recuperating.

When he had gone to visit him yesterday, Academician Yu had received a special order from him.

It was an instruction to definitely recruit Gwi Seongjin.

So he had even served him his cherished tea and had been slowly laying the groundwork, but Gwi Seongjin, who was clueless, had kept talking about other things.

Still, thanks to his patience and guidance, in the end, he was able to end it in the direction he wanted.

"What is my job?"

"The first thing you will do here is... learn the hierarchy. Since you have decided to enter the Dark Spirit Council, you will have to use honorifics to me from now on."

"...I understand."

Gwi Seongjin answered politely.

It was a voice without any emotion.

Even so, Academician Yu made a rather satisfied expression.

It was because, from experience, the first one was difficult, but the second and third were not so difficult.

"The Dark Spirit Council is an organization that oversees strategy and information in the Luminous Cult. Although there is a spy organization called the Silver Shadow Pavilion directly under the Director, basically, the three Academicians handle all the work. The positions below the Academician are the Legal Guard and the Transformation Life."

"What kind of work do you, Academician Yu, oversee?"

"I oversee the organization that researches mechanisms and formations, and the prison. You will be researching mechanisms and formations under me from now on."

"What is the position?"

"Here, skill represents everything. You will be a Legal Guard, and you will be in charge of three Transformation Lives from now on."

Gwi Seongjin was silent for a moment at the position of Legal Guard.

It was because he had thought he would be thrown under the Transformation Life, but it was unexpected.

"How many Legal Guards are there under you, Academician?"

"Including you, there are only four."

"Four... Then it seems my work will not be small."

"No, you just have to research mechanisms and formations. I heard your performance in the absolute forbidden zone was great. Even so, in the end, you couldn't reach the Heavenly Demon's Tomb... Researching the formations and barriers there and dismantling them is the first mission given to you.

"I understand."

"You should select your subordinates yourself."

"..."

Academician Yu, who had appropriately unraveled Ne Jinja's arrangement, taught Gwi Seongjin the details of his duties.

They were the contents about his residence, salary, and what to be careful of while living here.

Listening to Academician Yu's words, the Legal Guard was a considerably high-ranking position.

Not only was the salary not small, but there were also many benefits.

The best thing was that he could freely enter and exit the library, the Spring and Autumn Pavilion.

Although it could not be compared to the Heavenly Demon Library, a huge amount of books were also stored in the Spring and Autumn Pavilion.

Especially, the books on mechanisms, formations, tactics, and linguistics, and the scriptures were to the extent that they could be compared to the Heavenly Demon Library.

"How do I use the contribution points?"

Gwi Seongjin asked what he was curious about.

It was a word Academician Yu had mentioned while explaining about the mission.

"I said that contribution points are given in correspondence to special achievements for the cult. This cannot be transferred or traded to others, and the method of use is simple. You just have to go to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion and exchange them for items."

"Spirit Treasure Pavilion! A very splendid name."

"The Spirit Treasure Pavilion is a place specially managed by the Cult Leader, and items that are one of a kind in the world are stored there. The price of the cheapest item is ten thousand points, and it's a place where you can't even enter if you have less than ten thousand contribution points."

"I understand well."

"And this is a reward given by the Cult Leader for returning from the absolute forbidden zone. With this much, you should be able to buy a decent pill... I will introduce you to someone, so go to the market and see if there are any necessary items."

Academician Yu, who had finished his words, handed a small money pouch to Gwi Seongjin.

Inside the money pouch were ten gold coins.

It was a value of a whopping 200 taels of silver.

'A few days ago, there was no mention of it at all...'

Gwi Seongjin, who had stored the money pouch in his bosom, gave a bitter smile inwardly.

It was because he had a thought that if he hadn't joined the Dark Spirit Council, he might not have received this money.

(End of Chapter)