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Chapter 8
The boy felt secretly relieved at the word benefactor.
At least it seemed he wouldn’t be beaten to death by this divine being.
Then the man spoke.
“Our sect has a rule: if we receive a favor, we must repay it. Do you desire anything?”
The boy cautiously asked back.
“Forgive my ignorance, but when you say sect, do you mean a martial faction of the Jianghu?”
“Something like that.”
The man didn’t bother to explain what a sect was.
If one was not a cultivator, there was no need to know. Even if one was, it had nothing to do with the human world anyway.
“In that case, there is one thing I wish for.”
“What is it?”
“Please tell me how I can survive the pursuit of the Xiaoyao Sect.”
The man chuckled.
“Did you not say that you can hide your eyes with the Eye Concealing Mirror technique?”
“Yes, but… there’s always the chance of something going wrong. Isn’t there a saying: better safe than sorry?”
“Hmm.”
The man let out a low hum. The boy’s wish was quite a troublesome one.
The Xiaoyao Sect was one of the nine great sects that ruled the Celestial Realm.
How could there possibly be a method within the human world to escape their pursuit?
The only way was to learn the cultivation methods of a sect on par with the Xiaoyao Sect.
To the cultivators of the Celestial Realm, the mortal realm was nothing more than a filthy quagmire.
It did nothing to aid their cultivation, so only true immortals would occasionally pass through.
Though descendants of the Xiaoyao Sect existed in the human realm, their cultivation would be insignificant.
Still, even if he taught the boy one or two things, it might be enough to help him escape death.
The problem was that doing so would require revealing his own identity and explaining his sect—an act that went against the natural order of the mortal world.
‘Or perhaps not.’
He recalled that he had already issued a Heaven-defying Order to this boy, and the boy had followed it to arrive here.
After some deliberation, the man finally opened his mouth.
“If you can learn the cultivation method of a sect on par with the Xiaoyao Sect, you may have a chance to survive.”
“So… it’s not certain?”
“Of course not. Even if you learn how to fish, that doesn’t mean you’ll always catch fish. Life and death depend only on individual achievement.”
“I understand. Then… do you, my lord, know such a cultivation method?”
At that time, the boy still thought sect referred to an unknown martial faction of the Jianghu.
There were countless factions under heaven, after all.
“I do. I myself was once a cultivator of such a sect—the Taego Sect.”
The boy immediately prostrated himself flat on the ground and cried out.
“My lord! Please grant this lowly one a path to survival! If you do, I will never forget your grace for the rest of my life.”
“You wish to learn the Taego Sect’s methods from me?”
“Yes!”
“Blessings always walk with misfortune. If you learn from me, you must also bear my grudges and debts. Will you still do it?”
“I may lack ability, but at least in spirit, I will do so.”
His words sounded pragmatic, but in truth, his intent was simply to obtain whatever he could.
The man knew this, but he pressed no further.
In the end, it wasn’t something that would proceed according to the boy’s will anyway.
“Very well. Bow three times to me. The first is to show respect to the Taego Sect, the second to honor your teacher, and the third to follow the senior cultivators of the Taego Sect who came before you.”
The boy quickly bowed three times before the man could change his mind.
When the boy finished, a satisfied smile appeared on the man’s face.
Though now his primordial spirit was split and weakened, if this boy could master the art of Unity of Yin and Yang into One, he would become a disciple with great potential.
“My name is Red Pine Master (Jeoksongja). By the decree of the Heavenly Emperor, I descended to the mortal realm together with Shijega and Yuk Yakbin… but they betrayed me. In the battle against them, my life force was greatly damaged. Since then, I have remained as you see me. In the future, if you encounter Shijega, Yuk Yakbin, or their descendants, you must kill them. Otherwise, you will surely lose your life to them.”
“Um… my lord—”
“I am not your lord. Call me Master.”
“Yes, Master. You said you descended to the mortal realm by the Heavenly Emperor’s decree… Forgive me, but I cannot fathom what that truly means.”
The boy could not understand Red Pine Master’s words.
That he had been injured and hid in a royal tomb to cultivate—that much he could accept.
After all, even Hao Sect currently resided in the underground mausoleum that was part of a royal tomb.
But suddenly hearing of the Heavenly Emperor and the mortal realm confused him greatly.
“There is no hidden meaning. Surely you have at least heard the names of the Wind Lord, Rain Lord, and Cloud Lord?”
“Yes. Weren’t they deities of the ancient age?”
“Deities… I suppose in the eyes of mortals, that is what we appeared to be. In those times, people called me the Rain Lord (Usa), called Shijega the Wind Lord (Pungbaek), and called Yuk Yakbin the Cloud Lord (Woon-sa).”
“……”
The boy stared at Red Pine Master in half disbelief.
Yes, it was shocking that he had awakened from the stone coffin—but to say he was the Rain Lord?
Even if he was now his teacher, that seemed a bit too far-fetched.
Red Pine Master read the doubt in the boy’s eyes but did not demand belief.
“Then why did they betray you, Master?”
“Because the people revered me, the bringer of rain, more than them. The cruel Wind Lord could not bear it. In the end, he persuaded the Cloud Lord to join him in trying to kill me.”
“Ah…”
“The owner of this royal tomb was a person whom even the Wind and Cloud Lords feared. That is why I hid here to heal my wounds.”
“So that’s why you left behind those paintings and writings.”
“Indeed. Had you defiled them as a man rather than a serpent, the backlash would have annihilated you without even leaving a corpse.”
In truth, the paintings and writings were meant to expose Shijega and Yuk Yakbin.
If it were them, their rage upon seeing them would have caused them to destroy it instantly.
The boy was secretly shocked.
He had thought the murals were merely riddles hiding mechanisms, but to think such a terrible trap lay within!
The scheming of his master was as terrifying as that of Shijega and Yuk Yakbin.
Frightened, the boy dared not even breathe too loudly.
Soon, Red Pine Master began to teach him the cultivation of the Taego Sect.
“The Great Canon of Refining the Primordial Essence of Taiyi is a method of cultivating the Taiyi Essence. This essence is the sacred energy of creation, that which gave birth to heaven, earth, and the stars. By harmonizing the microcosm within and the macrocosm of the universe into one flowing circle, the Taiyi Essence will be stirred into motion…”
After explaining a doctrine of some three thousand characters, Red Pine Master asked casually:
“Have you memorized it?”
“Yes.”
“You have quite a decent mind. However, to fully master the Canon, your primordial spirit must be whole. Once mastered, the boundary between inner and outer worlds disappears, and you can connect to the Imaginal Realm. If your heart harbors deep darkness, you will experience the Asura Realm; otherwise, you may glimpse the Heavenly Realm.”
(He left out the fact that to physically enter the Imaginal Realm, one needed to form a divine body of primordial spirit—something impossible for a mortal cultivator.)
“What are the Asura Realm and Heavenly Realm?”
“The Asura Realm is where sinners go after death, a world of endless war. The Heavenly Realm is where the enlightened ascend after death.”
“Then if I master this art, I can enter them without dying?”
“Not with your body, but through the consciousness of the spirit. Think of it as seeing with the Celestial Eye.”
He tapped the boy’s brow between the eyes with his finger.
The boy finally understood: it was not the body, but the mind’s eye that would travel.
‘Of course… how could a living body go where only the dead go?’
Red Pine Master then taught him only three forms of the Great Void Shadowless Sword, the sword art available even to outer disciples.
If the boy were captured by the Xiaoyao Sect or the descendants of Shijega and Yuk Yakbin, they might extract the Taego Sect’s methods from him—thus only limited techniques were given.
“The Great Void Shadowless Sword is as ancient as the Taego Sect itself. If mastered, you could indeed be called the greatest under heaven.”
“Then… could I defeat the Xiaoyao Sect?”
“It would be best never to fight the Xiaoyao Sect, nor the descendants of Shijega and Yuk Yakbin. With your strength, you would not last three breaths. If they fought in earnest, you would not withstand even one strike.”
“But you just said ‘greatest under heaven’…”
“That is because they are beyond heaven itself. Even the ‘greatest under heaven’ is not even a fraction of them. So do not become arrogant, and never reveal you are a disciple of the Taego Sect.”
“……”
The boy pouted.
He had joined the Taego Sect to survive, yet he was still told he would die—what kind of nonsense was this?
Seeing this, Red Pine Master felt a twinge of guilt.
But even if he taught him the inner arts, at his current level the boy could not contend with them.
It was better for him to accept reality quickly.
If he could remain in the mortal realm to guide the boy, things might be different, but that was not possible now.
From what he gathered, the boy lived in a later age, far beyond the ancient times he once knew.
If he was to take revenge on the Wind and Cloud Lords, he had to return to the Celestial Realm as soon as possible.
‘What irony, to be resented even after giving the sect’s teachings.’
Then the boy muttered wryly:
“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll live my life like a rat, hiding away forever.”
Those words struck Red Pine Master like a thunderbolt.
The Taego Sect was one of the Nine Great Sects that ruled the Celestial Realm, its fame spanning the cosmos.
Most sects would tremble at even seeing the robe of a Taego cultivator.
Yet his disciple, a member of the Taego Sect, claimed he would live like a rat?
As a member of the Taego Sect, Red Pine Master was overcome with indignation.
“What nonsense! How could a disciple of the Taego Sect live like a rat? In all the history of the sect, no such cultivator has ever existed!”
“But…”
“Silence!”
He cut the boy off and suddenly shrugged off the golden jade robe he wore.
Clink, clink.
Each collision of the jade plates produced a resonant sound, filling the heart with vigor—it was clearly no ordinary garment.
Then, chanting the incantation of the Great Law of Returning to the Source, flames of red and blue sprang from the robe.
The red flame flowed into the boy’s head, the blue flame into Red Pine Master’s.
When he finished, he handed the robe to the boy.
“Take it. This is the Starlight Golden Jade Robe, one of the greatest treasures of the Taego Sect. Ninety-nine jade plates within it contain the primordial energy of creation. Wear it while cultivating the Canon, and your progress will quicken.”
“Oh! Master, may I truly accept such a precious thing?”
Without even a pretense of refusal, the boy quickly accepted the robe.
“According to the sect’s tradition, the ninety-nine jade plates contain the secret of the Primordial Starlight (混元星辰).”
“What is the Primordial Starlight?”
“‘Primordial’ means the energy of creation; ‘Starlight’ means the order of heaven. In those ninety-nine plates lies the beginning and end of the universe itself. I cultivated within the stone coffin for tens of thousands of years, yet never unraveled its secret. Perhaps it was simply some ancient cultivator’s cruel joke. Know this, but do not dwell on it.”
“But… can I really keep such a treasure? If other sect heirs learn of it, they’ll kill me to take it.”
His face, which had been lit with joy at receiving a treasure, grew gloomy.
Hadn’t they said that possessing treasure is itself a sin?
He might not even need to fear other sects—his own superiors in Hao Sect could take it away.
Seeing this, Red Pine Master pulled something from his sleeve and tossed it before the boy.
A walnut-sized bundle swelled until it became a sack the size of a man’s arm-span.
“This is a Dharma treasure called the Maha Pouch (摩訶覃). It can hold as much as an entire cart. To put in or take out items, you must infuse it with your vital energy. That way, its contents remain invisible to others.”
“What if I put things in without using vital energy?”
“Then it functions like an ordinary bag. The Golden Jade Robe, however, must always be stored within the Maha Pouch and only taken out in secret. And do not fear having it stolen—the robe is bound with the Great Law of Returning to the Source.”
“What does that mean?”
“If you die, the robe will transcend time and space to return to me. That is why it still remains within the Taego Sect to this day.”
