Returning Immortal

Chapter 48 : Treasure of the Ancient Era

As Gwi Seongjin left the Dark Spirit Council, a person predictably stuck to him.

He was a cunning-looking man in his mid-forties.

"Legal Guard Gwi! My name is Ho Risim, and Academician Yu has asked me to show you around the market."

"Where is the market?"

"Please follow me.

As they walked, Ho Risim told him about the regulations within the fortress.

First was the nameplate.

When Gwi Seongjin had joined the Dark Spirit Council, Academician Yu had given him a nameplate.

It was a silver ghost-faced nameplate with his affiliation, position, and name inscribed on it.

"You must wear the nameplate on your waist like me. Then you can avoid troublesome inspections."

"I understand."

"The silver nameplate is only given to those of executive rank or higher, and you can move freely anywhere within the fortress."

"What color is next after silver?"

"Elders and above have a gold nameplate. Next is purple, and I know that it is only given to the Cult Leader and special distinguished guests."

"Is that the only function of the nameplate?"

Gwi Seongjin already knew that there was another function hidden in the nameplate.

It was thanks to secretly deploying his spiritual sense.

"No. You probably know that you receive contribution points when you fight for the cult or perform a special mission. The place where the contribution points are recorded at that time is also this nameplate."

"I heard about the contribution points from Academician Yu. You can exchange them for mysterious items at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion?"

"That's not all. If your contribution points are high, it's also advantageous for promotion, and you can also use the points to go out to the outer fortress."

At the words that he could go out to the outer fortress, Gwi Seongjin's heart pounded.

But he calmly asked back.

"Are you saying you also need contribution points to go out to the outer fortress?"

"Of course, it's not necessary when you go out on business with permission. But if you want to go in and out on personal business, there is no other way than contribution points. I heard that many people buy an entry pass or move their residence with contribution points."

"I now understand why you said contribution points have more utility value than silver. What happens if you die in battle during a mission?"

"In that case, your family or relatives can use them instead."

"How much have you acquired?"

Gwi Seongjin asked, scanning the wooden plaque hanging from Ho Risim's waist with his spiritual sense.

It was because an iron piece was embedded in the center of the wooden plaque, and a speck of qi was hidden within it.

"I lack ability, so I have only acquired one thousand two hundred points so far. That too is thanks to my late older brother. I hope you, Legal Guard, will help me a lot in the future."

"I'll think about it."

"..."

What Ho Risim explained next was the organizational structure of the Luminous Cult.

What was impressive was the Bright Light Emissary and the six Guardian Venerables who protected the Cult Leader.

They were masters of formidable skill, and each of them possessed enormous power.

Next, Ho Risim introduced the four great families that practically led the Luminous Cult.

The four great families referred to the Iron Blood Ruling Family, where the Cult Leader of the Luminous Cult was the Grand Elder, as well as the Divine Transformation Heavenly Mystery Gate, the Strange Illusion Gate, and the Wheel Turning Demonic Family, which were skilled in manipulating people's minds.

What Ho Risim introduced next was the remaining six great families among the ten great demonic gates...

Ho Risim, who had finished introducing up to the last tenth family, suddenly stopped his steps in front of an old building.

"Unfortunately, I will have to explain the thirty-two heavenly generals next time. The market Academician Yu mentioned is right here."

"An underground market... It's a bit peculiar."

Gwi Seongjin muttered in a low voice, looking at the road that stretched long into the ground.

"I heard that this underground market was established a thousand years ago. The lighting is good, so you can see things clearly like outside during the day, and it's mild all year round, so it's the most optimal place for a market."

"And it looks sturdy."

Gwi Seongjin said, looking at the thick walls of the building.

Since it was hard granite, it seemed there would be no problem for another thousand years.

"You can assume that there are almost no items you can't buy here, except for the sacred objects sold at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. There are also many precious and old items... I even heard that a treasure of the ancient era was discovered."

"A treasure of the ancient era?"

"Yes. It is said that a few decades ago, a treasure used by the immortals of the ancient era was discovered, and a big fight broke out."

"Interesting. What happened to the treasure?"

"It disappeared without a trace."

"Disappeared! Do you also think so?"

Gwi Seongjin asked Ho Risim.

The reason Ho Risim had followed him was because of Academician Yu's instructions.

There was no way he had been chosen by chance.

Gwi Seongjin, as a Legal Guard, had the authority to choose three Transformation Lives in the future.

Academician Yu, who knew that, had attached one of his trusted subordinates.

A person Academician Yu trusted and recommended...

The intention of Gwi Seongjin's question was that he was quite curious about that level.

"No. The item would have flowed into one of the four great families."

"Why do you think so?"

"Because the fight stopped. If the treasure had passed to a family other than those, the fight would not have stopped even if corpses were piled up like mountains and blood flowed to form a river."

"Are the four great families that great?"

"Three hundred years ago, the imperial family and the orthodox and unorthodox alliance joined forces and attacked this Luminous Cult. What blocked that was the four great families. Now, their influence has developed even more, so even if they go out to the martial world, they can stand alone."

"In your opinion, which family do you think it went to?"

"I don't know."

"In my opinion, it seems the Iron Blood Ruling Family, where the Cult Leader is the Grand Elder, is the most likely?"

"It's not the Iron Blood Ruling Family. If that happened, the power would be excessively concentrated on one side, and the other families would never have stood by and watched."

"Are you saying the fight would have continued?"

"That's right."

"Hmm... What is your specialty?"

The reason Gwi Seongjin had asked this was because he had acknowledged his ability.

Although he could be Academician Yu's spy, it was an undeniable fact that he was a talented person.

"My friends call me Zhuge Ho Ri."

"Does that mean you're good at cunning tricks?"

"Not a few people say that. But the majority say I'm excellent at strategy and tactics..."

"That's enough. By the way, let's look around the market. Today, I'm just going to look around, so you guide me."

"I understand. Then let's look around from the east gate side. This area mainly sells secret medicines that revive the dead, pills that increase internal energy, and rare spiritual herbs and medicinal materials. The most famous shop is the Blue Crane Pavilion..."

Ho Risim, who had guided the east area, this time guided Gwi Seongjin to the south area.

In the south area of the market, there were many shops that sold weapons, talismans, and martial arts manuals.

Next was the west area.

Here, the materials necessary for deploying formations and barriers were sold.

"Oh! What is that...?"

A few stones that were left outside the shop and were abandoned.

Gwi Seongjin's steps, who was walking down the road, stopped abruptly.

And after finding the owner and haggling for a long time, he bought the flags necessary for deploying a barrier and the stones he had seen a little while ago.

When he came out of the shop, Ho Risim asked Gwi Seongjin.

"Legal Guard Gwi! Why did you buy the barrier stones?"

"I'm going to install a formation around the cave."

"If that's the purpose, didn't you buy the wrong thing? The barrier stones you just bought are old and weathered, so they can't perform their function."

"I also know that."

"You know? Then why...?"

Ho Risim tilted his head as if he couldn't understand.

Whether he did or not, Gwi Seongjin carefully picked up the twelve barrier stones he had just bought.

The barrier stones he had just bought were not ordinary stone pieces.

Although they were of the lowest quality, they were stones with spirit stones embedded in them, carved in the shape of the twelve zodiac animal statues, and on top of that, a spirit energy incantation was engraved.

Perhaps because of that, the stones still retained a divine energy.

"I bought it with a thought. Is it time to look around the north area now?"

"That's right. Here, old and peculiar items whose identity is unknown are mainly sold. The place where the treasure of the ancient era was discovered is also right here."

"I see. Let's look around roughly and go back."

"Yes, I understand."

As he had said, Gwi Seongjin looked around the north area roughly.

The only time he had opened his pouch was when he had bought the grain-abstaining pills.

However, he had bought a sufficient quantity of the grain-abstaining pills.

After leaving the market, Gwi Seongjin instructed Ho Risim to return.

Even so, Ho Risim insisted on accompanying him to the entrance of Mount Shinmok.

There was also a convenience in having him.

It was that the number of eyes watching in the dark had decreased.

* * *

Gwi Seongjin, who had entered the cave, immediately withdrew the ghost qi that had surrounded his spirit platform.

When the ghost qi was withdrawn, the gloomy spirit platform became brightly lit.

The primordial spirit, which was in a good mood, wrapped its legal power around its waist and swung it, and sat on a purple cloud and flew around the sky.

When the spirit platform became quiet, Gwi Seongjin stood up and examined the Nine Palaces Peach Blossom Formation.

When he examined the inside with his spiritual sense, the Ghost-Patterned Red-Tailed Scorpions were still sleeping in the white cocoons.

But there was one thing that had changed from before.

A bump was bulging out on their backs.

Gwi Seongjin, who had been looking at the cocoons for a long time, went into the training room and circulated the Primordial Chaos Spirit Qi Art.

Huff. Huff.

Gwi Seongjin, who was cultivating the spirit qi art, had a strange feeling.

It was a feeling that it would not be unreasonable to challenge the third stage of Qi Refinement now.

When he examined his spirit platform and upper dantian, he could see why he had felt that way.

His upper dantian was full of spirit energy, and his spirit platform was also not lacking.

His consciousness was full, and his legal power was also at a satisfactory level.

Even though the moment to raise his realm had come, Gwi Seongjin did not rashly attempt to advance.

Thud.

Gwi Seongjin, who had taken out the red jade box from his Qiankun Pouch, this time tore off two talismans.

[What is it?]

[What do you, cultivator, think of my cultivation realm?]

[Are you trying to challenge the third stage of Qi Refinement?]

[That's right. Since you, cultivator, must have a lot of experience, please tell me if you have any advice.]

[Advice... As you have experienced when you rose to the second stage of Qi Refinement, a low-level cultivator can advance without much difficulty if they have enough spirit energy.]

[Are you saying there won't be much difficulty with the third stage?]

[Even if it goes wrong, it will only slow down the advancement, so don't worry too much. However, you must thoroughly prepare to prevent external interference during the advancement. Also, use spiritual medicines without reservation...]

[Thank you for your advice.]

[After the advancement, it would be better to change your cultivation manual and cultivate. How long are you going to cultivate with a low-grade cultivation manual?]

[I'm thinking about that.]

Gwi Seongjin, who had sought advice from the skull cultivator, began to prepare for the advancement with a relaxed mind.

In fact, Gwi Seongjin also did not lack the knowledge necessary to raise his cultivation realm.

He just needed confidence.

Although he had decided to join the Dark Spirit Council, there were still twenty more days before he had to officially start working.

He had postponed it as much as possible under the pretext of renovating the cave, when they had urged him to start working from the next day.

'I have to finish the advancement by then.'

Strengthening his resolve, Gwi Seongjin took out the items he had bought at the market today in front of him.

They were the barrier stones.

Although they were weathered and had lost their original form, Gwi Seongjin could infer the original form of the stones placed before his eyes.

Snip, snip.

Perhaps because of that, the work did not take very long.

In half a day, Gwi Seongjin, who had restored the form of all the twelve zodiac animal statues, began to engrave strange patterns on the surface of the statues.

As he had confirmed while buying at the market, the barrier stones still retained a divine energy inside.

Activating this was Gwi Seongjin's specialty.

Gwi Seongjin, who had made use of his specialty and had finished adjusting so that the energy inside the barrier stones would connect to the external patterns, went out of the cave, examined the terrain and the direction, planted the flags, and installed the barrier stones.

The name of the barrier was the Guardian Divine General's Boundary.

It was a barrier where twelve divine generals took charge of the designated directions and defended their respective areas.

Gwi Seongjin, who had strengthened the defense of the cave with the Guardian Divine General's Boundary, returned to the training room again and took out a small jade bottle from his Qiankun Pouch.

It was a bottle with a silver pattern engraved on its surface.

Clink, clink.

When he shook the jade bottle, the sound of a rich liquid sloshing inside was heard.

Gwi Seongjin, who had opened the jade bottle in the underground cave, already knew what the liquid inside the bottle was.

It was because he had seen it in the 'General Essentials of Spiritual Beings'.

The name of this liquid was Kongqing Stone Milk.

It was an item that could be called a treasure of the cultivation world, a liquid in which the primordial qi of heaven and earth had been refined deep underground.

Pop!

Gwi Seongjin, who had boldly pulled out the stopper, poured two drops of the spirit liquid into his mouth without delay.

In an instant, a clear fragrance spread throughout the cave.

In response, Gwi Seongjin, who had closed the stopper of the jade bottle and had put it into the Qiankun Pouch, immediately entered into qi circulation and breathing.

Was it because the effect of the Kongqing Stone Milk was so great?

Gwi Seongjin's lower dantian began to boil, then his middle dantian expanded as if it would explode, and a huge amount of spirit energy rose like a wildfire and flowed into his upper dantian.

When the spirit energy rushed into his upper dantian like a flood, the primordial spirit, which had been leisurely playing in the spirit platform, hastily jumped onto the stone platform.

Then it sat down quietly and contemplated the Dao.

Although the spirit energy was somewhat lacking, Gwi Seongjin's primordial spirit had already reached the realm of the third stage of Qi Refinement.

His legal power was also sufficient, and his consciousness had long surpassed his cultivation realm.

It was to the extent that the evil ghost had been astonished when it had seen his pond of consciousness.

As time passed, Gwi Seongjin's primordial spirit, which was sitting on the stone platform, slowly floated into the air.

A stream of water shot up from the pond of consciousness like a fountain, and the purple mist that enveloped the primordial spirit stretched up to the sky and finally reached the end of the spirit platform.

At that moment, an auspicious light bloomed beautifully from the end of the sky, then emitted a dazzling radiance, descended, and seeped into the crown of the primordial spirit.

Whoosh!

When the dazzling light disappeared, a larger primordial spirit appeared and let out a rough roar at the sky.

In response, the crystal threads from the pond shot out like crazy and competed to enter the primordial spirit's mouth.

The primordial spirit, which had eaten all the strands of thread, slowly sat down on the stone platform.

"Hmm."

Gwi Seongjin, who had woken from his trance, knew that he had risen to the third stage of Qi Refinement.

His spirit platform had widened, and his primordial spirit had also become much stronger.

That was not all.

An internal energy corresponding to the late stage of the first-rate remained intact in his lower dantian.

"This is troublesome..."

Gwi Seongjin muttered as if he were in a difficult situation.

The reason Gwi Seongjin had reached the mid-stage of the first-rate was after taking the Three-Eyed Toad's inner core.

On top of that, he had even added the Child Ginseng and the Three-Leaved Nine-Leaf Grass, so at that time, no one had thought it was strange.

But it was different now.

If he had already reached the late stage when it hadn't even been a month since he had reached the mid-stage of the first-rate...

Not a few people would be wary of him.

Having no choice, Gwi Seongjin emptied more than half of the internal energy in his lower dantian.

But that didn't mean he had thrown the internal energy out of his body.

He had just scattered it a little in his meridians so that others wouldn't notice.

(End of Chapter)