Looking at a loss over how to accept such generosity, Yise asked, "How can you give away such precious things so readily? I am grateful, but I truly don't know whether I should accept them."

"The task I've entrusted to you warrants it. If I fail to reach Spirit Transformation, there will be more wars like this one. Cultivators have such a sluggish sense of time that it might be a hundred years or two hundred, but war will come all the same. In the end, this is a war that will only end when either they or we cease to exist."

Yise felt the weight of this mission. He found himself wondering whether it ought to be entrusted to another great Core Formation Cultivator instead. Reading his thoughts, Hae Il shook his head.

"Every Hall Master is a pillar supporting Daemudo. They are its present, and you are its future. I am providing this support for Daemudo's future. So don't get overwhelmed with gratitude yet. I'm not even finished."

Grinning, Hae Il offered him the black ruler next. He added that it was a supernatural treasure needed to activate the ancient teleportation formation.

The final object he handed over was an elixir-pill case made of diamond. Yise was wondering what sort of pill warranted a diamond case when the answer left him astounded.

"A supreme-grade Qi-Condensing Pill."

Supreme grade. A pill that only one person on the Eastern Continent, the leader of the Pill Refining Sect, was said to be capable of making. Of course, its ingredients could only be obtained from secret realms, so he had never known whether one actually existed.

"As far as I know, this is the only one on the entire continent. It's yours. Break off tiny pieces and eat them over a long period. Get greedy, and the spiritual pressure will burst your body apart."

"Thank you."

That was all Yise could say. Hae Il had not exaggerated about investing in the future. He truly believed Yise would return with the complete Twin Principles Reversion Art, and intended to devote himself to his duties as Lord.

"Must I leave immediately? I still have a few things to do."

"You'll be away for a long time, so you may prepare thoroughly before leaving. How many spirit stones do you have?"

"A few hundred at the moment, but I'll be fine."

"You'll need travel funds. I'll tell Kang Itae to provide them."

"No. I'll cover my expenses by 'taking' what I need."

Hae Il gave a disbelieving chuckle at Yise's unabashed declaration that he would steal the funds.

"Don't tell me this unfinished business means hunting down the Iron Sun Thunder Sect?"

"Yes. My temperament won't let me leave without repaying at least some of what was done to me. I intend to leave once I've vented my anger sufficiently."

Hae Il laughed in disbelief, but then gave his permission.

"Even your temper resembles his. Very well. Come back when you're ready. I'll tell you exactly where the teleportation formation is."

Then he added, "One last thing."

There was still more? Yise was beginning to feel burdened by all this generosity.

"I'll train you to survive an encounter with a great Core Formation Cultivator."

Yise's eyes shone at those words. He would welcome any number of gifts like that. Such instruction was precious. But this, too, was a debt—one he would have to repay someday.

"The primordial energy of the Heavenly-Demonic Dual-Meridian Constitution is offensive in nature. It's a spear that can pierce anything, but a soft, flimsy shield that can block nothing."

Yise straightened and listened closely.

"The previous Lord compensated for that poor defense by piling spells on top of one another, but even that wasn't enough. Your best defense, then, is nothing but a stronger offense. You must be able to cut through your opponent's primordial energy to protect yourself."

Hae Il put some distance between them and drew his sword.

"I'm going to cut your legs off now. Try to cleave my primordial energy. Tell me when you're ready."

Yise formed primordial energy and imbued the Black Phosphor Axe with it. Watching the process, Hae Il tilted his head.

"Do you need to take a shit?"

"... No. I'm ready."

At his answer, Hae Il slowly swung his sword. The movement was so slow that it was more a languid wavering than a swing. The primordial energy it sent flying was just as sluggish.

Yise swung the Black Phosphor Axe with all his strength to cleave the crescent-shaped primordial energy. But Hae Il's energy sliced both his legs off instead.

Looking down at Yise's pain-contorted face, Hae Il murmured, "I didn't expect you to manage it on your first try. Don't worry. We can keep going until you get it."

* * *

The training continued without end. Once again, Hae Il's primordial energy flew toward him. Once again, his legs were severed. Yise lost his balance, slammed into the ground, and rolled.

It was an ungainly sight, but the moment Hae Il healed him, he sprang up and gripped the Black Phosphor Axe again.

'His mental fortitude really is something.'

His tenacity was enough to astonish even Hae Il. He could not possibly have grown accustomed to the pain, yet at some point he had stopped even groaning.

Whether or not he knew what Hae Il thought of him, Yise simply raised the Black Phosphor Axe. But he had no internal reserves left to form primordial energy. His Dharma-Transformed Dantian was empty.

"Again."

As Hae Il prepared to swing, Yise bit his lip lightly and answered, "Forgive me, my lord. My internal reserves are exhausted."

Hae Il gave him an appraising look and lowered his sword.

"Circulate your energy."

Yise immediately sat cross-legged and drew in ambient energy through the principles of Spirit Drawing.

Once his internal reserves had recovered somewhat, Hae Il beckoned.

"Stand up."

"Yes."

Yise immediately resumed his stance. Another mass of condensed primordial energy drifted slowly toward him.

SLICE!

His legs were severed again. Grimacing at the pain he could not grow used to, he asked Hae Il, "Might you... have any advice for me?"

"Advice, eh?"

Hae Il seemed to consider it for a moment, then scratched his temple and replied, "Concentrate when you cut."

"..."

His tentative question had received something closer to a rebuke than an answer.

"Yes. I'll concentrate."

Watching Yise focus harder without complaint, Hae Il added, "Can't you make more primordial energy? That rat-dropping-sized speck wouldn't cut a radish."

Yise suppressed the urge to say that he had cut off Bihyeong Rang's arm with it, and answered that this was his limit for now. Then he reached within his dantian, formed primordial energy, and channeled it into the Black Phosphor Axe.

'Concentrate.'

It sounded vague at first, but Hae Il would not have said it for nothing. When Yise had cut Bihyeong Rang's arm, his focus had certainly peaked to the point where time seemed to slow.

Ultimately, all a Cultivator's power was the power of mental imagery, born from consciousness and will. Concentration was tenacity itself. Rather than making some halfhearted resolution, he should imagine that the primordial energy approaching him belonged to Bihyeong Rang.

Finely honed killing intent began to burn in Yise's eyes. Noticing the change, Hae Il subtly raised the corners of his mouth and lifted his sword.

"Here it comes again."

The sword traced a diagonal line to the right. Choking up on his hand axe, Yise swung with all his might. The blow carried the lethal resolve to take Bihyeong Rang's head in a single stroke.

HUMMM.

He felt no sensation of cutting anything, but the approaching primordial energy split in two and dispersed in midair. Sweat poured from him like rain as he panted raggedly.

Hae Il gave a satisfied whistle.

"Oho. Good. Let's try again."

But the next wave of primordial energy severed his legs once more.

They repeated the exercise many more times, but he succeeded only twice in ten attempts. Looking down at Yise lying battered on the ground, Hae Il sheathed his sword.

"Tsk. That's enough for now. Focus on increasing the amount of primordial energy you can produce. That will improve your success rate."

"Yes."

"If your success rate doesn't improve... don't use it at all. Trusting a power you haven't mastered will get you killed."

Yise did not answer that last remark. His mind held only the determination to make it work somehow.

Sitting on a broad, flat rock, Hae Il casually asked what other cultivation methods he had learned. Yise replied that he had learned only the Demon-Exorcizing Spirit Arts and the Dokkaebi Shadow-Gathering Demonic Art, and was searching for lightning and wind spirit grounds to learn the Divine Thunderclap Art and the Wind-Breaking Qi-Shattering Art.

"Lightning and wind cultivation methods overlap in their uses. Learning both would waste time. Choose one."

"Yes. Are there any lightning or wind spirit grounds nearby?"

"No lightning spirit grounds. There was one in the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula, but Bihyeong Rang took its source. That makes it difficult for anyone outside the Iron Sun Thunder Sect to learn lightning-attribute cultivation methods here. Unless they seek out lightning and get struck by it."

Yise concluded that he had no choice but to learn the wind-attribute method. Hae Il seemed to agree, for he added, "Wind spirit grounds are fairly common, so that should work. Wind spiritual roots are exceptionally rare even among unusual constitutions, and the Wind-Breaking Qi-Shattering Art is a reasonably good cultivation method. I'll tell you about a wind spirit ground near the teleportation formation."

"Thank you for your kindness, as vast as rivers and seas."

Yise bowed his head deeply. Hae Il watched him for a moment, then added, "I've made an unprecedented investment in you. Be sure to complete the mission before you return."

"Yes. Without fail."

Yise nodded, his expression resolute.

* * *

Geommuk Market Town, Tabaro.

It had originally been run by one of Daemudo's secular houses, but that house had been wiped out in the war, leaving the town without a master.

Two factions had been the first to plant their flags here after Daemudo lost Azure Mountain Capital: the New Martial Sect and the Iron Sun Thunder Sect.

The New Martial Sect was the name of the sect newly founded by the traitors who had seized Azure Mountain Capital. Yise thought even the name exuded unrestrained malice.

The two factions had chosen an uneasy coexistence to survive between Daemudo to the south and the Jeong Empire to the north. They had left Geommuk Market Town as neutral ground and divided the territory to its left and right between them. Their actions suggested they might even join forces if circumstances demanded it.

Seeing them stoop so low as to join hands with demonic practitioners filled Yise with almost unbearable disgust. He could not act rashly on his own for now, but once the order came, they too would face a bloodbath.

With his robes drawn firmly closed, Yise walked slowly into the center of the market town. His ostensible reason for coming was to obtain Primordial Defense Talismans, but that was virtually impossible. He had acquired only three in the past four years, and even those had come from within Daemudo.

His true purpose here was Demon hunting. More specifically, hunting demonic practitioners.

Yise spread his divine sense wide. Now considerably larger in reach, it swept through the market town, tracking Demonic Energy. It immediately caught a thick presence: a demonic practitioner at late-stage Qi Refining.

The arrogant bastard was strolling through town, exuding Demonic Energy without even trying to hide it. Yise leaped and landed behind him.

"What?"

Before the demonic practitioner could finish turning around, the blade of Yise's hand axe reached out and severed his neck. Having beheaded him with one clean strike, Yise muttered, "A filthy demonic practitioner dares strut openly through the streets?"

"Aaaah!"

The ordinary people screamed and scattered in panic at the murder committed in the street in broad daylight. Seemingly unconcerned, Yise impaled the man's head on an Earthen Spear and raised it high, where it could be seen from anywhere in the market town.

After devouring the Demonic Energy and stripping the dead man of his spirit-stone pouch to store in the Heaven-and-Earth Pouch, Yise stayed where he was. He kept only single-use ritual implements that needed to be immediately accessible in his belt-shaped storage pouch; everything else was in the Heaven-and-Earth Pouch.

Nearby Cultivators emerged to steal glances at the disturbance in the middle of town. But once they ascertained Yise's realm, they ducked their heads back inside and scattered like nocturnal insects exposed to light.

Among them, Yise picked out the Demonic Energy of demonic practitioners. They hastily tried to conceal it with Demon-Concealing Talismans, but his divine sense had already caught them.

Another head was mounted above the market town's streets. Yise began tracking down and hunting the fleeing demonic practitioners one after another.