The Formation-Breaking Spear would be highly effective against formation practitioners. The trouble was that Yise had never held a spear in his life.

The Crimson Flying Sword certainly had a romantic appeal, but he had never wielded a sword, either. He wasn't even sure how it differed from moving a sword with telekinesis.

The Vajra was good against curse practitioners and evil spirits, but had no other use.

The Earth-Travel Gauntlets would be useful for both attacking and escaping, but learning the Earth-Travel Art from a secret manual seemed more efficient.

After some deliberation, Yise picked up the Vajra. It was an iron club that fit neatly in one hand. Each end tapered into three points, but they were too blunt to serve as a weapon.

All he had to do was hold it and channel spiritual energy into it. It would dispel active curses and allow him to physically strike evil spirits.

Its uses were limited, but it was certainly something he needed.

Every enemy Yise had faced so far had been either a demonic beast or a demonic practitioner. He had never encountered a curse practitioner or an evil spirit.

But that was no guarantee his luck would hold on his next mission. Practicing the Demon-Exorcizing Arts often meant facing one unanticipated complication after another. He could not afford any weaknesses.

He could already counter formations to some extent, so the Vajra was the only supernatural treasure that covered a gap in his abilities.

Yise went to the trading house's clerk to purchase the Vajra.

"Fellow Daoist, would a discount be..."

"Ha ha, six hundred and sixty."

The heartless clerk collected 660 spirit stones, recorded the transaction in the ledger, and handed over the Vajra. Yise's purse shrank in an instant.

Leaving the trading house, he made the rounds of the permanent shops in pursuit of his next objective. He wanted elixir pills for his cultivation, but the results were dismal.

All four trading houses told him their orders were fully booked, and the smaller pill shops nearby had been picked clean of Spirit-Gathering Pills and Qi-Condensing Pills.

As he left the shopping street, Yise pondered his predicament.

'It doesn't matter how many spirit stones I scrape together if no one will sell me pills.'

Hong Wonseo would at least make some if he went to her and pulled the "What are fellow entrants for?" card, but she was just as short on ingredients. Procuring them would fall entirely to him.

The problem was that all the useful spiritual herbs were either monopolized by the main mountain's pill refiners or shipped directly from the four founding families' farms, never reaching the shops.

'Should I try a secular branch's market town outside?'

Going as far as the Jeong Empire would be dangerous, but he ought to be able to find some in the market towns of secular houses within the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula.

'What a damned inconvenient sect...'

Such irreverent thoughts were inevitable. Its members' demand was more than ample, yet the sect's own policies were obstructing their growth.

However charitably Yise tried to view it, he couldn't make sense of it.

According to Bu Chun, the Spirit Beast Forest was packed with enough spiritual herbs to make one's eyes pop. They even dug up herbs discovered on other mountains, soil and all, and transplanted them there. He couldn't begin to imagine how many resources were sitting idle.

'If Daemudo were even a little weaker, the Hungry Ghosts would descend on it in a heartbeat.'

Surely they weren't secretly siphoning it all off to supply only the great Core Formation Cultivators?

Yise was having quite a few irreverent thoughts today.

* * *

A fortnight later, Dine Before You Depart's second day of business was another success. Not only did they fill all one hundred seats, they sold out the meal tickets for the next opening as well.

One more day of business would more than replenish the spirit-stone purse his ritual implement purchase had depleted.

He cultivated whenever he could spare the time. Just as he was about to leave the main mountain to visit a nearby secular house's market town, a message talisman flew toward him.

His mandatory mission had arrived.

'A little late this year.'

He took the talisman and read its contents.

-Mandatory mission assigned. Deliver the items held at the training compound to Gwisu Temple.

'Gwisu Temple?'

Delighted by the familiar name, Yise checked the message again. He was to stop by the training compound, collect the items, and take them to Gwisu Temple.

A delivery mission.

'After all those grueling assignments, they're finally giving me an easy one.'

The corners of his mouth lifted. It was a mission that would let him catch his breath. As a bonus, he finally had an excuse to visit Gwisu Temple again.

It felt like an unexpected gift.

They had probably singled him out for the assignment because they knew he had come from Gwisu Temple.

'Just when you think Daemudo has no human warmth, it surprises you.'

Yise set off.

The training compound was just as he remembered it. Apart from the time he had been turned away at the entrance, it had been nearly three years since his last visit, yet little had changed.

Lost in nostalgia, Yise walked through the compound, watching the first- and second-star Qi Refining novice disciples scurry about. As he passed, his juniors bent at the waist in deep bows.

"Senior, thank you for your help back then!"

There was a familiar face among them: a novice disciple he had rescued from a demonic practitioner who had been draining his blood with the Blood Cultivation Method.

The boy made an enormous fuss about what an honor it was to see him, then hurried away.

'They are rather cute.'

Watching the half-grown novice disciples really did feel like watching chicks scamper about. He hadn't understood when Hall Master Hae Il kept calling them chicks.

With that idle thought, Yise headed for the administrative office.

He intended to pay his respects to Senior U Jeol. The man was reading a secret manual in his usual place, in his usual posture.

"Senior. It's Yise."

U Jeol looked up at him.

"It has been a while, Cultivator Yise. I've heard the news. You're taking a mission to Gwisu Temple."

"Senior, please don't be so formal. It's embarrassing..."

"Eighth star, is it? You haven't reached the ninth yet?"

"No. I'm almost ready."

"It is a stage where you must tread carefully. The items are at the Medicine Hall. Off you go."

"Don't you think that's a rather cold reception after all this time?"

"Three years is hardly a long time. You haven't quite shed your mortal habits yet."

"That's true."

Smiling, Yise took a cloth-wrapped bundle from inside his robes and handed it to U Jeol.

"I brought you something to eat. I've reopened Dine Before You Depart on the main mountain. Please stop by whenever you have the chance. You'll always eat for free."

"I won't refuse. Perhaps I'll be calling you a fellow Daoist the next time we meet."

"I'll do my best."

Yise bowed and made his way to the Medicine Hall. Another familiar face awaited him there: the hall's youngest Cultivator, at seventh-star Qi Refining, who had somehow become his junior.

"I-it's been a while, Senior..."

"It has. I'm here to pick up the items."

Once his sworn enemy, this sensible junior had paid a fair price to settle the grudge between them. Yise greeted the tense young man warmly and accepted the delivery.

With a respectful air, the youngest Cultivator handed him a neatly stacked bundle of talismans. Symbols embroidered in silver thread glowed faintly on their inky-black surfaces.

"What are these?"

"They're called Demon-Concealing Talismans. Apparently, the Dokkaebi use them to conceal their Demonic Energy when traveling incognito."

Yise's eyes gleamed. Talismans that concealed Demonic Energy would be useful to him as well. Spirit-Concealing Talismans were good, but their effects were far too short-lived.

"Do you know how long they last?"

"One use should last several days."

"I see. Do you always deliver them directly to Gwisu Temple? I never saw any humans coming in when I lived there."

"Normally, someone from Gwisu Temple comes to collect them. This time, they specifically requested that you bring them, Senior."

Yise thought of his master. This easy assignment hadn't simply fallen from the sky. His master had probably arranged it so he could pay a visit.

He accepted the bundle of talismans and stowed it in his storage pouch.

* * *

The road to Gwisu Temple was so familiar that it felt strange.

The Ulta Mountains of Aegul County, at the easternmost edge of the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula. Even using Dokkaebi Steps at full speed, it was a full two days away.

Before becoming a Cultivator, Yise had taken a month to walk the same distance. That change in his sense of distance felt strange—the realization that this road was so short.

Since he was in the area, Yise stopped at the family graves to pay his respects. The gravestones were so neatly tended that someone might have visited just yesterday.

Master Wisaeng must still be looking after them regularly. Thinking he ought to offer his old teacher at least a Longevity Pill, Yise headed for Wisaeng's residence.

"The master has been away for quite some time."

Wisaeng, however, was out traveling.

"He said he would travel the country, taking in abandoned children."

Yise nodded. That was just like Wisaeng. He had heard him speak of it several times back when Wisaeng had taken him in.

"... It is rather curious, though," the servant added. "He rarely had visitors all his life, but now that he's away, more people have been coming to see him."

"Visitors?"

"Yes. People dressed in white, just like you. They come from time to time."

Yise glanced down at his sleeve. If they were dressed like him, that meant Daemudo Cultivators had been visiting.

"At any rate, we've had no word of his return. If you have a message, please leave it in the letter box."

"... No, thank you. Just give him my regards when he returns."

Yise closed the wicker gate and turned away.

What business would Daemudo Cultivators have with an ordinary man like him? Were the visitors Daemudo disciples, people impersonating them, or members of an entirely different faction who had somehow acquired Daemudo robes?

Whichever it was, it left him uneasy.

'... I'll ask him next time I see him.'

Putting those thoughts aside, Yise quickened his pace.

The sign at the entrance to Gwisu Temple was unchanged.

Yise recited the formula for the Dokkaebi Shadow-Gathering Demonic Art, activating the Demonic Energy inside him, then stepped across the sacred rope.

A prickling sensation ran through him, and the scenery flipped.

As he passed through Gwisu Temple's main gate, the Dokkaebi nearby stopped in their tracks. Cold stares converged on him, wary of a human outsider entering the temple.

Yise bowed to the familiar faces.

"Brother Yeonggyeong, Elder Dok Saenggu. It's me, Yise."

"..."

"Yise? You mean Yise?"

"Yes, Brother. It's me."

"Good heavens, you little rascal! Look how you've grown!"

"We nearly forgot your face, you brat!"

The other Dokkaebi gathered one by one. Dok Saenggu ambled over with his cane, and familiar faces welcomed Yise with pats on the back and pinches to his shoulders.

From the outer edge of the gathering, someone familiar yet changed came running at full speed.

"... Yise!"

She hurtled into his arms, practically tackling him.

"You jerk! What have you been doing for four years without so much as a message?"

It was Gong-ah. Yise caught her small body in his arms. She was much smaller than he remembered. No—he must have grown larger since then.

"Have you been well?"

"No, I haven't! Why did you take so long to come? Master was terribly hurt, you know!"

"... Sorry."

Gong-ah tilted her head back to look up at him. After staring for a while, she grumbled.

"... You've gotten so tall."

"You too. You're nearly an adult Dokkaebi now."

Yise studied her face. She had lost some of her childish roundness, and her features were considerably more defined.

"Of course. I'm thirty-one now."

"Isn't that still sixteen in human years?"

"Quiet. There you go, mouthing off to your elder again."

Yise chuckled. Gong-ah found her friend a little harder to approach now that he seemed so grown-up.

"What about the others? Are they still in the Cave of Repentance?"

"Yes. They should be getting out soon, though. They come out sometimes for personal lessons with the Head, so I do see them now and then. They've matured a lot."

"That's a relief. Give them my regards."

"I will. How's life at Daemudo?"

"Good. Cultivation's going well, too."

"... I'd like to visit."

Yise took a moment to choose his words, then answered gently.

"It wouldn't be a good place for you."

Spiritual energy and Demonic Energy were like two sides of a coin. They naturally existed together, but sometimes one predominated. Daemudo's main mountain was filled with spiritual energy, while Gwisu Temple was the opposite.

A Dokkaebi setting foot on the main mountain would suffer nausea from its stifling spiritual energy.

"... I see."

Gong-ah bit her lip lightly, then quickly released it and smiled.

"Then you'll just have to visit more often, Yise."

For no particular reason, he stroked her hair.

"Where's Master?"

"Out patrolling nearby. I sent word as soon as I heard you were here, so she should be on her way."

An apologetic look crossed Yise's face. Had he made her interrupt her busy schedule to return?

Just as he was thinking he ought to send a message ahead of his next visit, a shadow fell to one side.

It was a small shadow. A wisp of cloud was swiftly cutting across the sky above Gwisu Temple.

Mongryeon stepped down from it. She looked no different from four years ago. Her robes fluttered easily in the wind, and her horns rose straight above her head.

Overcome with emotion, Yise unconsciously stepped forward and bowed.

"Master. It has been far too long."

"Indeed. Come here."

Without a change in expression, Mongryeon beckoned him with one finger.

Yise hurried over to stand before her. Mongryeon raised her right hand and flicked his forehead with a finger.

CRACK!

His head snapped back first. An instant later, his entire body went flying.

"...?!"

He flew in a straight line to Gwisu Temple's main gate, smashed through it, and lay buried in the wreckage, utterly bewildered. His mind went blank.

"You dare use spiritual energy to block your master's discipline?"

"It was a reflex..."

"You ungrateful brat. I fed you, housed you, raised you, and you couldn't come pay your respects once in four years? Drop your spiritual energy and come here. One more for you."

Master, if I take that without spiritual energy, I think I'll be crossing the River of the Dead...

Yise didn't dare protest.