Chapter 37: Cultivator (1)

Chapter 37: Cultivator (1)

Woong woong-

In my mind, a volume's worth of mystical runes floated gently.

I examined these runes, gradually understanding their content.

The name of the method was Hidden Consciousness Technique (), a mystic art that allows one to conceal one's divine consciousness to appear at a lower realm. It could be executed solely through the manipulation of consciousness, without the need for spiritual power..

The basic principle of Hidden Consciousness Technique involved compressing one's consciousness and pushing it into the upper dantian. This temporarily reduces the size of the consciousness but increases its density and clarity for a period, potentially accelerating the practice of cultivation methods.

'Due to dealing with intent, it has some commonalities with Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts and Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts .'

I carefully read through all the mystical runes left by the hunched old man.

At the very end of these runes, I found a message left by him.

[As a martial artist who has reached the realm of Five Energies Converging to the Origin, your consciousness is larger than that of other cultivators. However, don't be arrogant just because you have mediocre Five Elements Spiritual Roots. Just conceal your superiority and focus on your practice. Showing off an ambiguous talent will only attract jealousy from those who lack even that.]

"Thank you for your valuable gift."

I quietly expressed my gratitude to the hunchback old man and placed Kim Young-hoon aside for a moment.

Then, I recalled a bandit group nearby.

'They were called the Tuho Gang.'

I had a particular memory involving them.

Before experiencing regression.

In my first life.

When famine struck the village I lived in, the Tuho Gang raided and looted everything from our impoverished village.

Bang, bang!

I kicked off the ground and rushed towards their base near Lianshan City. I was more familiar with the geography around Lianshan City than any other place in Yanguo.

Arriving at the cave where the Tuho Gang is based, I let out a wry laugh at the familiar stench.

The smell of alcohol, rotten vegetables, dried semen, rusty weapons, sweat and dirt.

Yes, the collective scent of poverty, ignorance, and violence.

I was all too familiar with these scents.

Memories of my first life came flooding back.

"Come out, everyone."

I spoke softly, yet clearly, into the depth of the cave where the Tuho Gang resided.

Hiccup, hiccup..

A drunken member of the Tuho Gang, his face flushed from daytime drinking, stumbled towards me with a flexible sword in hand.

"What the hell are you, fuck..."

"Hahaha..."

His stupid and pathetic appearance only made me laugh.

When I was in the early peak in the 4th cycle,

I annihilated the Chicken Waterway Fort within a moment, and even they were more organized and skilled than these fools.

Truly, lowly and pathetic robbers.

That was the Tuho Gang.

I had memories of bowing down at their feet, offering everything I had, begging for my life.

"You, you little shit, you dare come to our great Tuho Gang..."

"Life must have been hard, right?"

"What...?"

"In your next life, may you have better chances."

Thud!

No need for a sword, not even a hand technique.

I didn't even need to make a fist. I simply extended my finger and flicked the drunken Tuho gangster's forehead.

Using a simple technique to send a shockwave through his brain, he immediately fell over, foam bubbling from his mouth.

There would have been no pain.

Entering the foul-smelling cave, I reminisced about my first life.

The Tuho Gang was vicious.

But ironically, most of them were originally peasants.

Driven to desperation with land taken by landlords, they left their homes and became bandits.

Perhaps I would have been among them if I had been a bit weaker.

They were another possibility of my miserable first life.

Thud, thud!

I touched the heads of each person I encountered, shaking their brains and instantly killing them.

They were pitiable.

But they were definitely criminals.

Going deeper into the cave, I found kidnapped people and women lying around, half-naked.

I pressed their sleep acupoints and quietly killed the Tuho gangsters.

After walking through the cave for a while, I reached its deepest area.

There, a bearded giant was guzzling liquor.

He was the leader of the Tuho Gang.

"...For what reason caused you to operate such a bandit group?"

"Uh..."

The giant, blowing on a liquor bottle, looked at me with dull eyes.

He was someone I knew.

In my first life, he was the one who led the attack and burned down my village.

But now, seeing him, he was at best a second-rate martial artist.

"Is there usually a special reason? Life is painful, so I thought maybe stealing happiness from others would make it better."

"So, did life get any better for you?"

"Haha, can't you see? Do I look happy to you? Life is nothing but pain."

"Why is life painful?"

"That is... um. Its painful because its painful. Is any more explanation needed?"

Life is indeed painful.

Somehow, I felt I could relate to those words.

Clearly, this person and I were in different positions, under different circumstances.

Yet, somehow, I could see my past self in him.

The weak and insignificant me who was burdened with pain from life, unable to even find the reason for my suffering.

Through the eyes of another vulnerable person, I was able to reflect on my past years.

I left the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts in the manor and told him to read it when he reaches Five Energies Converging to the Origin, then left the manor.

In this life, I might not have a significant connection with him.

I left Kim Young-hoon and headed for Seokyung City.

Having infiltrated Seokyung City, I quickly invaded the Imperial Palace using Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts and Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts..

Then.

Swoosh!

Using the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts, I cut through the consciousness and silently beheaded the Emperor Makli Jung.

At this time, it seems that the Shadow Guards had not been established yet, as the only people guarding Makli Jung were the Palace Guards.

Holding Makli Jung's head, I cut through invisible spells and barriers with my eyes, and safely escaped the Imperial Palace.

Having escaped, I walked for days and nights until I entered a familiar terrain.

The territory of the Jin Clan.

Woo-woong-

I had not noticed before, but now I could clearly see the energy of the barrier spread across the Jin Clan's territory.

It seems like a benefit of awakening my consciousness and being able to see the energy of heaven and earth.

The Jin Clan's barrier glowed faintly under the moonlight.

'This shouldn't be difficult.'

I easily cut through a gap in the Jin Clan's barrier and secretly entered their territory.

Although it was the Jin Clan's territory, it was mostly occupied by Qi Refining cultivators.

Most of these cultivators had no access to formation methods.

That's probably why the barrier wasn't particularly strong.

I erased my presence using the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts and headed to the familiar training ground.

Next to the training ground, in the group lodging.

Many breaths and intents were flowing out from there.

Thud, thud.

I slowly entered the lodging.

The smell of sweat was strong.

Suddenly.

I felt something welling up in my chest as I saw this scene.

My disciples.

No, the children who were my disciples in a past timeline.

But I knew.

These children no longer remembered me.

The children I remembered were trained by me, developed martial arts with me, and grew up with me.

Yes, even though these children are the same beings as the ones I know,

They were not the same individuals.

The disciples that only I know, I would never see again.

"...Are you suffering even in your sleep?"

I looked at the sleeping children's intents and smiled bitterly.

It seems they were having nightmares of their relatives being killed by Makli Clan cultivators.

Most of their intents were emitting dark light.

For these children, life was nothing but pain.

'These children are certainly not my disciples.'

But still...

'I can't just ignore you.'

Having lived, I knew that pain was not the end.

Gently...

I placed Makli Jungs head in the middle of the training ground.

Then, looking back at the sleeping children, I murmured softly.

"Live."

Even if life is painful, it's not all there is to it.

Discovering something beyond suffering makes life truly valuable and worth living.

"Please... live."

After giving a final smile to my disciples, I went to the back of the Jin Clan's territory, to a warehouse.

The warehouse was enveloped in a sinister aura.

I opened the door of the warehouse.

Inside, there were hundreds of crystal beads, each containing a resentful spirit.

Sheek-

I drew my sword from its sheath.

"May you, the deceased, shed your resentment and rest in peace."

Flash!

The Sword Gang shining from my sword scattered in all directions, embedding into the crystal beads.

Hundreds of crystal beads shattered at once, and the spirits began to escape.

Pop, pop-

The spirits that escaped from the beads soon forgot their resentment and turned into bright lights, ascending to the sky.

The sight of countless spirits rising to the sky and then disappearing was both poignant and beautiful.

Watching the scene for a moment, I stepped out of the warehouse and kicked into the air.

It seemed I had touched some inner spells, as the surrounding spells were activated, but I cut through the energy knots and quickly escaped the encirclement of the formation.

I hurriedly left the Jin Clan's territory and said goodbye to my disciples in my heart.

'Farewell.'

May you live a slightly better life in this lifetime.

I headed towards the border of Yanguo.

Beyond the border, in Byeokra Country.

I planned to find the Cheongmun Clan that resides there.

Go to the Cheongmun Clan. To learn the path of cultivation.

***

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