[Chapter Ten ― Heaven Evading Celestial Formula (天遁仙訣)]
[The Heaven Evading Celestial Formula is the top-grade internal cultivation thod of the Heaven Evading Way, created by this one based on the enlightennt obtained in the Celestial Realm.
This cultivation thod serves as a great foundation for accumulating innate true ki necessary for ascension.
First, for the lower dantian, the accumulation and internal energy recovery rates are more than five tis faster than those of the basic Heaven Evading Breathing Technique, and for the middle dantian, innate true ki accumulates at almost the sa speed as in the Heaven Evading Breathing Technique.]
... More than five tis faster than the Heaven Evading Breathing Technique.
It was truly an incredible figure.
Even after that, the astonishing explanations continued.
[The Heaven Evading Celestial Formula, as it accumulates innate true ki in the middle dantian, drastically reduces the side effects of secret arts such as the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
Thanks to this, the duration of secret arts increases several-fold from their original length.
It is also excellent at purifying poisons and demonic ki, and those who have mastered this cultivation thod attain the body immune to all poisons, gaining immunity even to rare toxins.]
Each explanation sent shivers down one's spine.
Reading this, Jaseong beca all the more determined.
'If I master the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula, I'll be able to grow even stronger at a rapid pace. And I'll be able to freely wield the Wicked Fla Sword, which is called the curse of the Celestial Realm. Since I can recover my depleted energy with this thod... Then I must master it.'
With a resolute expression, Jaseong began his training in the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula.
〈Absorb the primordial energy that penetrates the universe. Draw down the pure energy of the Celestial Realm not into your body, but into your spiritual platform.〉
〈Gather the energy of heaven and earth, and condense it in the dantian.〉
〈Dismantle the dantian and refine an eternal, indestructible immortal pill in the void. Return the root of your internal power to the great void, so that all laws return to one.〉
〈Heaven's Mandate Cultivation, Star Cycle Steel, enter the Void and ditation, Everlasting Immortal Spirit, Dao Soul Return...〉
While sitting cross-legged, Jaseong recited the mnemonic formula for the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula and circulated his internal energy.
He repeatedly recalled the first insights of the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula that the sword immortal had passed on to him.
However, there was a problem.
Jaseong tried to control his breathing as instructed by the mnemonic and gather external ki, but his internal energy was not gathering well.
At first, he thought it was because the thod and mnemonic of the Heaven Evading Celestial Formula were too profound and difficult.
Just as the Night Cat Celestial Spirit had warned.
However, even when he tried using the slightly lower-level cultivation thod, the Heaven Evading Soul Transformation Formula, his internal energy still did not gather well.
It was as if he were pouring water into a bottomless jar—the gathered energy could not condense properly in his dantian and simply scattered.
'... It seems, just as Night Cat Celestial Spirit said, my energy depletion is severe.'
Jaseong even took Azure Spirit Pill as he tended his body, but the effect was minimal.
That much internal energy had been robbed from him by the Wicked Fla Sword.
'The Heaven Evading Celestial Formula is a top-rank cultivation thod, hard to master even in peak condition... With my body like this, it's even more difficult.'
Despite gritting his teeth and continuing his training, Jaseong's progress was slow.
Lee Rin also watched him from outside the main training yard, her face full of concern.
"Great hero. You really should focus on recuperating before training any further. Your complexion only gets worse, even when ditating..."
As Lee Rin said, Jaseong might have to suspend martial arts training and focus solely on recovering his strength for several months.
But Jaseong did not want to waste his precious ti.
So in the end, he recalled what he had been considering earlier.
It was the dallion of the Eternal Divine Physician that the Murim Alliance Leader had handed to him.
'If Immortal Physician Dongfang Hwabin, one of the previous executors of Heaven's Mandate, could manifest and heal my energy, that would be ideal... But as I've already been told, forr executors who've beco spirits cannot intervene directly in this world... This is my best option.'
Having made up his mind, Jaseong left the main training yard and went to see Lee Rin and Gu Janghu.
"I plan to et the Eternal Divine Physician."
At those words, Lee Rin recalled the event from the past.
"You're thinking of using the dallion the Alliance Leader gave you back then?"
"Yes. If the Eternal Divine Physician's Prestige is real, I can dramatically shorten my recuperation period."
"But... can you really trust the Alliance Leader? He gave off a rather sinister vibe..."
"I do feel uneasy about him, but even so, it's a fact this dallion is a genuine, valid one. And it's said the Eternal Divine Physician will unconditionally heal anyone bearing the dallion."
At Jaseong's words, Gu Janghu nodded silently and said,
"Looking at your complexion, branch leader, it surely would be best to visit the Eternal Divine Physician. But, branch leader."
"?"
"Do you know where the Eternal Divine Physician is? He's famous for being as elusive as a ghost."
That was indeed the issue.
His identity was a tightly kept secret, and no one knew his whereabouts, so no one knew where the Eternal Divine Physician might be.
'Looks like I'll have to visit Hao Sect upper managent again. With their information, I may be able to find out where the Eternal Divine Physician is.'
He had to drop by there anyway.
Thanks to the successful joint operation with Hao Sect upper managent to seize control of the Tianxia Association, the Hao Sect Leader had summoned Jaseong once more.
* * *
After that, Jaseong sent a carrier pigeon to Hyang-I, instructing her to inform Hao Sect upper managent.
Before long, he received a reply.
[I hope this correspondence safely reaches you, branch leader.
Reported by Hyang-I, secretary of the Hao Sect Ansun branch.
First, a report on the current state of the Ansun branch.
After your takeover of the Tianxia Association, our branch has grown even stronger.
We recovered thirty thousand taels of gold and one hundred fifty thousand taels of silver, which the Tianxia Association had stored at the Ten Thousand Gold Hall, and used that to finance the Guangxi Province underworld forces.
Thanks to this, the Guangxi Province underworld has pledged absolute loyalty to you, branch leader.
We are also establishing secret branches throughout the Central Plains.
Currently, we have established intelligence posts in Hubei, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang, each staffed with about thirty elite underworld mbers.
Monthly profit generated by the pleasure district run by the Tianxia Association now reaches about eighty thousand taels in silver, and with this, we continue to expand our influence.
Secondly, upper managent of the Hao Sect reports that their guides will be coming for you at the hour of the dog, seven days from now.]
After reading Hyang-I's letter, Jaseong smiled faintly.
'Hyang-I's abilities improve day by day.'
To Jaseong, a single Hyang-I was more helpful than ten highly skilled subordinates.
Thanks to her, expanding his sphere of influence had beco much easier.
"Our force has grown astonishingly compared to when you first beca branch leader."
Gu Janghu comnted.
Then Lee Rin, nibbling on so candied fruit, said,
"If we et the Hao Sect Leader this ti, they might promote our Ansun branch to a hall. Then we could freely browse many of the Hao Sect's secret vaults."
Jaseong nodded silently and left the hall.
Before leaving the Tianxia Association, he planned to visit the pleasure district owned by the Association.
In the north of Sichuan Province, the pleasure district stretched endlessly.
Red lanterns colored the streets, and the laughter of courtesans filled the alleys.
But behind that glamour, the shadows of the powerless lay thick.
Between the ornate brothels, shabby shacks crowded together.
There, people who worked in or relied on the underworld of the pleasure district for survival eked out their days.
"Mom, I'm hungry..."
"... I'm sorry, dear. Today I'll definitely get paynt from the Pavilion Mistress."
"She's not going to beat you again, is she?"
"Shhh. Don't say such things. The Pavilion Mistress is a good person."
"If she's good, why does she hit you?"
The conversation of a poor mother and daughter faintly entered Jaseong's ears.
To him, it felt anything but soone else's story.
He, too, had lived a similar life in the Red Light District as a child.
Boiling leftovers that his eldest brother and he had salvaged from what others threw away, being beaten by drunkards, and more.
"How much food is stored in the vault of this hall?"
Jaseong abruptly asked the rank-and-file managers who were following behind him.
"W-well, we have not checked precisely, but it's enough for the Tianxia Association's underworld—at least a few years for a thousand n!"
"And valuables that can be converted to currency?"
"Plenty! Top-rank silk and dicinal ingredients, ceramics, and so on..."
In the next mont, Jaseong gave an order that made everyone around him freeze in shock.
"Open the vault and distribute everything equally. Until everyone has enough to live on."
"Huh...? Who are we to give it to, sir?"
"Those people."
"Excuse ...?"
"Not just them. Give it to everyone struggling to survive in the pleasure district—widows, orphans, and so on."
The rank-and-file managers were left utterly dumbfounded by Jaseong's words.
For the underworld leader to open the vault to benefit the lowly residents of the pleasure district... it was sothing that had never once happened in Central Plains history.
"R-respected Association Leader... Why are you suddenly ordering us to give away our valuables...?"
"Don't make repeat myself. Are you testing my patience?"
"......!"
"......!!"
At Jaseong's ice-cold voice, all the managers froze solid.
"O-our apologies! We will open the vault and begin distributing it at once!"
Afterward, the Tianxia Association's underworld mbers distributed rice, at, clothes, and more to the commoners shivering with hunger and cold in the pleasure district.
At first, unsurprisingly, the residents could not believe the underworld's words—even refusing to accept the goods out of fear sothing bad would happen to them if they did.
But once they realized the underworld mbers were giving it for real, the commoners wept with gratitude.
Thousands gathered in front of the Association's main hall, bowing over and over, calling out Jaseong's na in thanks.
'Indeed, Jaseong is a man of rare generosity.'
Lee Rin looked at Jaseong with shining eyes.
Compared to the so-called orthodox faction, full only of hypocrisy, Jaseong seed a much more righteous and honorable hero.
Of course, so would say he was being far too generous in his decision.
But even with such expenditure, the Tianxia Association's financial resources would soon replenish themselves.
Massive sums poured in from black markets and pleasure houses all across the Central Plains every month.
'... Money isn't my goal anyway. All I need is the power to carry out my revenge and fulfill the Heaven's Mandate. So... any surplus, I can spend entirely on helping the poor.'
Jaseong rembered the childhood poverty that had tornted both him and his eldest brother so bitterly.
Now, as he pressed a blade to the throat of that enemy called poverty, he murmured inwardly:
* * *
About four days later.
A group of coachn ca looking for Jaseong.
"Branch chief of Ansun branch. We have co to escort you to Hao Sect upper managent."
Among the coachn, an elderly man with white hair stepped forward.
Though they looked like re coachn, a considerable aura could be sensed from them.
Jaseong got into the carriage with Lee Rin and Gu Janghu.
'I traveled to Hao Sect upper managent like this before. The only difference is—unlike last ti, they're not blindfolding ... It ans they completely acknowledge as one of their own now.'
The carriage ran ceaselessly day and night for twelve cycles.
During that ti, Jaseong would use the Heaven Evading Soul Transformation Formula whenever possible to heal his internal injuries.
Creak—
At last, when the carriage carrying Jaseong and company stopped, they found themselves deep in the mountains.
There was an imnse hall, entwined in tree vines, before them.
Thick fog lay heavily all around, and the silence was eerie.
"The heart of Hao Sect... It always has such a strange atmosphere."
As Lee Rin murmured so, the doors of the hall opened.
Next, a familiar face ca out to greet them.
"I've been waiting, Ansun branch leader."
It was Gal Seo-ryeong, the short-haired, beautiful woman—Hao Sect's guardian general, and in fact, the acknowledged number two of the sect.
Today, she wore not her black martial robes but a white robe.
"Co. The Sect Leader is waiting for you."
Following Gal Seo-ryeong's guidance, Jaseong and his party entered the massive hall.
Step, step, step—
After passing through a long corridor, they entered a grand inner chamber with a ceiling so high it seed endless.
As before, the twelve hall lords of Hao Sect were waiting there.
Hummmm—
The twelve hall lords of Hao Sect, radiating the aura of true experts.
As in their previous eting, half eyed Jaseong with wary gazes.
The only difference now was, so now looked on Jaseong with good will.
Those were the hall lords of Celestial King Hall, moonstar Hall, and Five Dragon Hall, who had supported the Tianxia Association takeover from behind.
There was also Do Unjang, forr Kunlun Sect taoist and current Lord of Black Blood Hall, who had first brought Jaseong into Hao Sect, now looking at him in astonishnt.
[It's been a while, Ansun branch leader. Your aura has grown at an astonishing rate.]
[It's been a while, Lord of Black Blood Hall.]
[What on earth have you been through to beco this strong?]
Do Unjang could not conceal his amazent.
A few years ago when he first t Jaseong, the latter had just begun learning martial arts—a greenhorn at best.
Yet now, he radiated an aura on par with Do Unjang himself, who ranked in the upper echelons among the twelve hall lords.
Of course, should Jaseong use secret arts such as the Celestial Gate Opening Art, even Do Unjang could not match him.
If Do Unjang ever learned that, he would surely faint.
"Sect Leader, I've brought the Ansun branch branch leader."
Guardian general Gal Seo-ryeong saluted with a cupped fist salute toward the black curtain beyond.
Then, from behind the curtain, a rough voice—like iron scraping—rang out.
"Co in, Ansun branch leader."
Jaseong returned the cupped fist salute and replied,
"I greet you, Sect Leader."
"I have heard much of your achievents. I hear you routed the Four Great Clans and Seven Sects' great clans and seized the Tianxia Association."
"I was just fortunate, Sect Leader."
"Fortunate, is it...? But I've heard you single-handedly struck down a thousand Blood Cult elites. You're being needlessly modest."
From beyond the black curtain, overwhelming pressure radiated out.
Because of this, Lee Rin and Gu Janghu behind Jaseong shivered involuntarily.
'Just what kind of background does the Sect Leader have to radiate such a trendous aura? At this level, there are few in the world who could match him...'
Having t many past executors who once ruled the world, Jaseong could instantly gauge just how extraordinary Hao Sect's Sect Leader was.
If he were to activate the Samadhi Eyes here, he would see a hundred ters around the Sect Leader glowing blood-red.
"I summoned you for a reason: to grant you a reward for your recent achievent."
"......?"
"Speak. What reward do you desire?"
At the Sect Leader's words from beyond the curtain, Jaseong realized the mont he had been waiting for had arrived.
'Once I ntion my desired reward, the twelve hall lords' reactions will be a sight to see.'
As Jaseong murmured inwardly, he stated the answer he had prepared.
And just as he expected, the pupils of all twelve hall lords simultaneously shook in shock.
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