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Chapter 03
Yoo Yeonseo staggered back to her feet and fiddled with the wooden sword in her hands.
Even though she had fallen, her eyes looked like she felt she could do more if she kept trying.
After thinking for a while, Yoo Yeonseo finally lowered the wooden sword and turned around.
“Um… is this enough?”
“It’s more than enough.”
“But I fell.”
“Even so, it’s enough, so don’t worry. No one is perfect from the beginning.”
Baek Unjin comforted Yoo Yeonseo and told her not to worry.
From that day on, Yoo Yeonseo studied under Baek Unjin at Seoun Pavilion in the mornings, and in the afternoons she practiced swordsmanship and cultivation arts.
“Let’s start with the Azure Flame Technique.”
“Yes!”
In front of Baek Unjin, I slowly formed the hand seals for the Azure Flame Technique.
The Azure Flame Technique was one of the representative ceremonial cultivation arts of the Cheongwoo Immortal Sect. It activated the spiritual veins and acupoints within the body, allowing one to freely control spiritual energy and magical power.
To use a spell, three steps were normally required: activating the spiritual veins, chanting an incantation, and forming hand seals.
Sometimes some steps could be skipped, but the more accurately the process was performed, the stronger the spell became.
As I felt the spiritual energy I had gathered flowing through my acupoints, I intertwined my fingers and completed the seal.
Blue light then rose around me like shimmering heat haze.
Manifesting a cultivation technique into reality was the very first step toward becoming a cultivator.
“It worked! Aaah!”
“Don’t let your energy disperse until the very end.”
“Okayyy.”
Maybe because I was still a beginner, the spell would disappear immediately if I lost focus even slightly.
Still, compared to the beginning, I had improved a lot.
After practicing maintaining the spell, we moved on to swordsmanship training.
At first, Yoo Yeonseo couldn’t even hold the correct posture and kept tripping over her own feet, but as time passed, her form gradually improved.
“How is it?”
“Your posture is still unstable. When swinging the sword, you need to extend your arm forward with more force.”
“Okaay.”
Even though he said that, Yoo Yeonseo was the type of child who understood ten things after being taught one.
Sure enough, she quickly realized what the problem was and corrected her posture herself.
In front of Baek Unjin, Yoo Yeonseo shifted her feet and swung her sword through empty air.
As the sword moved gracefully, traces of heavenly energy faintly rippled around it.
“Ahh!”
But only for a moment.
Yoo Yeonseo’s swordsmanship was far from complete, and as expected, she made a mistake and fell over not long after.
“Are you alright?”
“A-Ah. Yes. I’m okay. Why though? I thought I did it right…”
After landing hard on my backside, I grabbed Baek Unjin’s hand and stood up.
Baek Unjin glanced at my clothes and chuckled softly.
“Your clothes have become quite short. You’ve grown taller already.”
“Really?!”
Only after hearing that did I check the clothes I was wearing.
‘So it wasn’t just my imagination that the sleeves felt shorter.’
Ever since arriving at the Cheongwoo Immortal Sect, Yoo Yeonseo had been growing taller and healthier by the day.
Apparently, the reason I fell was simply because my clothes had become too small. There was nothing wrong with my movements.
Baek Unjin looked over my clothes and muttered,
“I suppose it would be better to make flying robes.”
Flying robes was the general term for the clothing worn by cultivators.
They were made from a special fabric called Heavenly Rhythm Silk. Clothes made from it could regenerate using spiritual power or block outside attacks.
Since cultivators fought frequently, normal clothes would end up torn dozens of times a day.
However, flying robes made from Heavenly Rhythm Silk were known to be extremely expensive.
“I’m okay with wearing regular clothes. Flying robes are expensive.”
“I’ll have something reasonably priced made, so don’t worry.”
“……”
“Isn’t having one better than not? Your face says you want it.”
When Baek Unjin teased me, my face turned bright red and I quickly looked away.
Of course I wanted one!
It was said that cloth made from Heavenly Rhythm Silk changed color depending on the cultivator’s spiritual power, which was why it was also called color-changing fabric.
Honestly, how could I not be curious about what color mine would become?
Besides, with flying robes, I wouldn’t even have to bother doing laundry, and there were plenty of other conveniences too.
“You’ve been working hard lately, so think of it as a gift.”
Baek Unjin gently patted my head, saying it was fine to accept something like this.
“Tomorrow we’ll need to leave the Cheongwoo Immortal Sect to get your robes made, so let’s end training here for today.”
“Yes!”
That night, I was so excited about finally going out somewhere that I practically stayed awake the whole time.
After transmigrating into Yoo Yeonseo, I had never once left the Cheongwoo Immortal Sect, so this would be my first outing.
The next morning, when I rushed over as soon as dawn came, Baek Unjin said only one thing.
“You seem excited.”
“Of course! But where are we going? To Cheongseo?!”
Cheongseo was the region where the Cheongwoo Immortal Sect was located.
Even going there would have been a huge adventure for me.
“We’re going to Hyeonbaek in Seongyul Province.”
“Isn’t Seongyul Province really far from here?”
The Baekryeon Kingdom was divided into five provinces.
The Cheongwoo Immortal Sect was located in Cheongryeon Province, and to get from Cheongryeon to Seongyul, we would have to cross at least two provinces.
Just getting there should have taken half a month, meaning a round trip would take at least a full month…
Maybe cultivators simply didn’t think a month was a long time.
That was what I was thinking when—
“It won’t take that long.”
Baek Unjin took out a flying artifact from his storage pouch.
It looked like a giant carpet, and as Baek Unjin poured spiritual power into it, the carpet slowly rose into the air.
“Wooow…”
A flying artifact!
I had heard about them in novels before, but this was my first time actually seeing one with my own eyes.
I lightly jumped onto the carpet.
The carpet sank slightly under my weight.
Baek Unjin stepped onto the flying artifact after me.
“You should hold on tightly.”
“Ah, what? Waaaah!”
Before he even finished speaking, the carpet shot forward at incredible speed.
If I hadn’t tightly grabbed onto the carpet with spiritual power just like Baek Unjin had taught me, I probably would have been flung right off immediately.
We were moving so fast that the mountains and villages below blurred together.
Thanks to the flying artifact, we crossed a distance that should have taken half a month in less than half an hour.
The problem was—
“Ugh.”
Unable to adapt to the incredible speed, I stumbled the moment we landed. I lost my balance and slammed my head into a wall.
“Ow!”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m just a little dizzy… no, actually, I’m not alright at all.”
It felt like the whole world was spinning.
Motion sickness from flying? Anyway, I realized traveling too fast apparently came with side effects too.
As I stood there dazed with my eyes spinning, Baek Unjin finally grabbed me and placed something into my mouth.
“Do you feel better now?”
“Yes! But what did you give me?”
“Motion sickness medicine.”
“Oh.”
“It’s common for cultivators riding a flying artifact for the first time to get sick.”
So it wasn’t just me. Instantly, peace returned to my heart.
It definitely wasn’t ordinary motion sickness medicine, because the effect kicked in immediately after swallowing it.
After recovering, I looked around Seongyul Province curiously.
“Fresh fruit! Just arrived this morning!”
“Anyone need medicinal herbs? We’ve got herbs that instantly relieve fatigue!”
“Only this price today! It might go up tomorrow!”
“Wooooow.”
Together with Baek Unjin, I explored the central marketplace of Hyeonbaek in Seongyul Province.
The market was full of life, with people and shops lining every corner.
There were so many unfamiliar items and fascinating foods that it was hard to look away.
“Don’t wander too far.”
“Yes!”
“Young miss over there, how about a sweet sugar figurine?”
At the voice calling out to me, I stopped and turned around.
Sculpted candy made from melted sugar was displayed across the stall.
The craftsmanship was so delicate that if someone didn’t know it was candy, they might believe it was a real flower.
Come to think of it, how long had it been since I’d eaten something sweet?
The meals at the Cheongwoo Immortal Sect were good, but there really weren’t any snacks.
“How much is it?”
“Five jeon.”
I searched through my pockets.
Only then did I realize I didn’t actually have any money.
Just as I was about to sadly step away—
“I’ll take one of the large flowers.”
“That’ll be seven jeon.”
“Keep the change.”
Baek Unjin stepped forward behind me and bought the sugar figurine for me.
“If you wanted one, you could’ve just asked instead of worrying so much.”
“I felt bad asking.”
“You really do apologize a lot.”
Just becoming his disciple already made me feel like I owed him so much.
Because of that, even asking for something small like this felt difficult somehow.
Baek Unjin handed me the flower-shaped sugar candy.
“Go ahead and enjoy it comfortably.”
“Yes!”
Well, that was that, but food was food.
I happily licked the sugar figurine while following after Baek Unjin.
The place Baek Unjin visited was a hidden fabric shop tucked away deep inside the market district.
From the outside, it looked like a crumbling old building, but once we stepped inside, the interior transformed into a completely different space, revealing a massive shop filled with countless bolts of silk.
“……You don’t have any Heavenly Rhythm Silk?”
“W-Well, yes. It seems an evil spirit appeared along the route of the merchant group transporting the Heavenly Rhythm Silk, so the delivery has been delayed.”
