Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Celestial Realm

After obtaining the Shadowless Sword Emperor as a comrade, I hesitated on my way to see Mang Ryang.

'Hmm... somehow, it feels embarrassing.'

The death in my previous life had occurred because I had rashly gone off to kill the Vermilion Bird, and because I hadn't properly heeded the ominous prophecy from the Three Sages Diviners. In other words, it was entirely my fault. Because of that, seeing Mang Ryang's face right away felt somehow shameful.

I pondered for a moment before thinking,

'Let me acquire something else first before going to see Mang Ryang.'

There was no guarantee that Mang Ryang would like it more, but somehow, it felt like it would serve as an excuse for me. And that course of action was, of course, connected to Yeo Dongbin's Fire Dragon Divine Sword.

Fire Dragon Divine Sword!

It was the treasured weapon that Sword Immortal Yeo Dongbin had used in life, his divine artifact. He had lost the Fire Dragon Divine Sword during his final mutual destruction with the great evil on Mount Yeo before ascending to immortality, so I needed to search Mount Yeo for his treasured weapon first.

Jiangxi City was south of the Yangtze River, a place reachable by heading south all the way from Anhui. I had rarely visited the Jiangxi area, so it was tricky to teleport there using markers I remembered. Thus, I began heading toward Jiangxi City by employing lightness skills to cross rivers and mountains.

On the way to Jiangxi City, I caught sight of Poyang Lake. It was a massive lake, so vast that the horizon stretched out long. I paused to enjoy the scenery of Poyang Lake, recalling the lakes I had seen in Mongolia before.

Then, near Poyang Lake, I met a fisherman who caught and ate fish for a living, and heard stories about the lake from him.

"Stories related to Poyang Lake?"

The fisherman blinked and said,

"That would be... the battle between Chen Youliang and the Hongwu Emperor~"

"Chen Youliang, the man said to have been the Hongwu Emperor's greatest rival in the past?"

"Yeah, well... Chen Youliang led 600,000 troops against the Hongwu Emperor, but despite being outnumbered, the Hongwu Emperor emerged victorious."

The fisherman continued while tearing into a dried fish pouch.

"Tsk tsk. I don't know much, but there must be a ton of sunken ships at the bottom of the river."

"That makes sense."

"They say there are quite a few bandits roaming around here, so be careful. If you go another twenty li into the mountain valley from here, even warriors are in danger."

It seemed like the fisherman's own advice. This place indeed appeared to be the entrance to Poyang Lake and a borderline, with signs of life from a fairly large village nearby. But further into the remote areas, bandits seemed to run rampant.

Of course, I had no reason to fear mere bandits, but for some reason, an unsettling feeling crept over me.

What is it... yin energy...?

A chilling aura brushed against my spine. I thought it might be my imagination, but it wasn't. I could distinctly feel a gloomy, goosebump-inducing energy. However, this was clearly different from the killing intent or pressure of a martial arts expert—it was closer to an ominous foreboding.

I pondered deeply why I felt this, then suddenly it hit me.

"Right!"

Wooong

I went to a place with no people and gathered spells within ten li, activating the Heavenly Scripture's sorcery. Then, the presence of spirits was detected, and soon the energy of spirits filling the surroundings became vividly clear. I couldn't help but be shocked shortly after.

'There are this many resentful spirits?'

The first things that caught my eye were resentful spirits. Souls harboring grudges wandered the riverbank in a dazed state. Some were under the river, others poked their heads just above the water's surface, and some floated aimlessly. But one thing was certain: their numbers seemed to be at least several thousand.

I had sensed the yin energy because there were so many grudge-bearing spirits. But I found it strange.

If there were this many resentful spirits, shouldn't ordinary people have felt something wrong with their bodies long ago?

Shouldn't an exorcist have come to warn them?

Yet the fisherman and the other villagers seemed to be living normally, and I alone felt the chill. Something was off, but when I approached the resentful spirits directly to touch them, I understood the reason.

'I see...'

What I was seeing now were not real existing spirits. Residual memories from the past lingered in this place, projected in such a way that they appeared as if spirits existed. Since they were merely past memories, there was no way ordinary people could sense them. I realized why this situation had arisen.

The Heavenly Scripture's sorcery could read residual memories too!

It seemed like an ability that the sorcerer could obtain unconsciously. But I had no idea where to use this minor ability. In other words, it was merely the power to briefly glimpse past memories and intuit things.

'I'll find a use for it someday if I keep it.'

I didn't think much of it and left Poyang Lake. After departing Poyang Lake and properly entering Jiangxi Province, a large city appeared, and there I found an escort agency heading to Mount Yeo. I paid an escort warrior from the Enticing Escort Bureau and learned the way.

"Mount Yeo? It's a three-to-four-day ride on horseback from here... Head northeast along the official road, and you'll get there. Details are like this..."

The escort warrior pulled out a simple map he usually carried and explained. Escort warriors were indeed the most suitable people to ask such questions. I nodded vigorously and said,

"Thank you."

"You look like a young martial artist's son. It must be tough traveling alone."

"Not at all... By the way, what does the name Enticing Escort Bureau mean?"

The escort warrior glanced at the bureau's signboard and said,

"I don't know exactly, but the bureau chief always took pride in that name. He said it has deep meaning. Our bureau is a time-honored escort agency."

"I see! It's a cool name."

"Haha, don't forget Enticing."

I parted ways with the escort warrior and dashed straight to Mount Yeo. Upon entering the gateway to Mount Yeo, I decided to activate the Heavenly Scripture's sorcery to gather information.

Wooong—

'Powerful spirits nearby... two of them.'

I summoned the massive spirits. Their spirit forms became clearly visible: one was some kind of Taoist, and the other was the spirit of a beautiful girl plucking a geomungo.

Curious about their identities, I asked them one by one.

"Who are you?"

[ I am the Pine Wind Mountain Man. ]

"And you?"

[ I'm Hye-won. ]

"..."

Unlike the previous ones from the Wei or Han dynasties, these were unfamiliar figures. Of course, since they had been drawn by the Heavenly Scripture's sorcery, they must have been remarkable eccentrics and heroes who left their mark in history during their lives. I scratched my head and asked them,

"I've come here searching for Yeo Dongbin's treasured weapon, the Fire Dragon Divine Sword. Do you know anything about it?"

At my question, the Pine Wind Mountain Man raised an eyebrow and said,

[ If I knew, I would have taken it. But during the 89 years I cultivated the Dao on Mount Yeo, I never saw anything like that. ]

"89 years?"

I felt bewildered. It was because the Pine Wind Mountain Man had cultivated the Dao for an incredibly long time. When I then asked Hye-won, she plucked the geomungo strings and said,

[ Even when I built a temple with my believers, I never felt such a powerful spiritual energy like a treasured artifact. The Fire Dragon Divine Sword isn't on Mount Yeo. ]

"Built a temple? Were you a nun?"

[ Yes, I was. ]

They seemed to be eccentrics from Taoism and Buddhism. After hearing them out, I pondered deeply.

'Hmm. Neither the Taoist who cultivated for 89 years nor the Buddhist nun knows... It seems the Fire Dragon Divine Sword really isn't on Mount Yeo.'

It might be in a place they didn't know, but at least it wasn't in any noticeable location.

Well, it had already been nearly a thousand years since Yeo Dongbin had fought his final battle against the evil and ascended. A thousand years was enough time for ten dynasties to rise and fall, so even if it had originally been on Mount Yeo, there was no way to know where it had gone afterward.

I clicked my tongue and asked them.

"Then, is there any spirit medicine or treasure worth obtaining on Mount Yeo?"

[ None. ]

[ Nope. ]

"..."

Why had I really come to Mount Yeo?

As I let my shoulders slump in absurd emptiness, Hye-won suddenly spoke as if remembering something.

[ Oh, there is one mysterious place. ]

"Where?"

[ There are strangely shaped rocks on Incense Burner Peak. You might find something if you search there. ]

Following Nun Hye-won's words, I climbed Incense Burner Peak. It was one of Mount Yeo's famous scenic spots, but due to its extremely rugged terrain, it saw few visitors. I tried to head to the place she mentioned, but the deep mountain paths made it hard to find the way easily.

[ Let me borrow your body. ]

Eventually, impatient, Hye-won possessed me.

Tadadak

Hye-won, now in my body, ventured deep into the remote valleys for a while, then entered a waterfall. She pierced through a cave in the middle of the sheer cliffs and went downward, where colorful glowing mushrooms bloomed in abundance. And beneath the shaded area where the mushrooms grew was the strangely shaped rock Hye-won had mentioned.

Hye-won said,

[ I came here alone to play once. It looked dangerous, so I didn't search the rocks, but there might be something there. ]

'She came here alone to play? This isn't a place to play...'

[ That's what happens when you're too bored. ]

"..."

I shut my mouth in bewilderment. Was plunging into remote valleys and sheer cliffs, breaking through a massive waterfall into a central cave, and reaching a mushroom zone something to do out of boredom? Hye-won was undoubtedly an extraordinary eccentric, even if not widely known. I sent the two spirits back and descended to the strangely shaped rock.

Kurrr

The ground shook, and wind sounds came from within. I focused my qi into my eyes to peer into the darkness, and sure enough, there was a hole in the middle of the large boulder. After some thought, I slithered into the hole.

And soon, an eerie feeling came over me.

"...?"

It was an extremely vast and deep darkness, like the body of a gigantic living creature. No, I even felt as if I were grasping the skeleton of something. An ominous premonition flashed through my mind, but I pushed it aside and went deeper.

"It's blocked."

I muttered in the pitch-black darkness. I'd come down quite a ways, but now it was blocked. I wondered what this place could be, but it didn't seem ordinary. I considered forcing my way through, but if the cliff collapsed, it would be disastrous, so I exited for now.

I emerged into the clear sunlight and asked Yeo Dongbin.

[ Yeo Dongbin. Something like this just happened. ]

I told him about the bizarre strangely shaped rocks inside the Mount Yeo waterfall I'd seen, and Yeo Dongbin listened silently before speaking.

[ Incense Burner Peak, you say? ]

[ Yes. ]

[ My sword must be right there. ]

[ No... they said it wasn't. ]

No matter how I thought about it, the terrain didn't seem like a place for a treasured sword. As I denied it, Yeo Dongbin said firmly.

[ My disciple. Go to the opposite side of Incense Burner Peak and view that waterfall from afar. ]

Tadak

I did as Yeo Dongbin instructed. Then, the majestic sight of the sheer cliff waterfall came into view at once. Yeo Dongbin intruded into my vision as if sharing it and said,

[ Have you noticed? ]

[ Noticed what? ]

[ Look closely. At the size and length of that waterfall. ]

[ It's very long and large. But what does that... ]

[ Doesn't it resemble a dragon? ]

[...... ]

I stared stupidly at the sheer cliffs of Incense Burner Peak.

Kurrrr

The grandeur of nature itself lay before my eyes. A waterfall dozens of feet wide cascaded down. Normally, I would have admired it as a spectacle, but now it was different. I began to see the massive cliff from which the waterfall fell as a single living being, and imagining the size of that creature made me dizzy.

Giant Dragon!

The form of a mountain-sized dragon appeared in my eyes. With a trembling voice, I said,

"No way, the strangely shaped rock I just entered was..."

[ The great evil I defeated last was a demonic dragon sealed away in ancient times. I destroyed it and sealed it in Mount Yeo with a sword through its heart. ]

Yeo Dongbin stated firmly.

[ The demonic dragon seems to have assimilated with nature to protect itself, becoming the mountain. ]

"You mean... that cliff itself is the demonic dragon?"

[ Yes. And I believe the cave you just entered is something like the demonic dragon's throat or esophagus. ]

"Cough..."

I let out a groan at the absurd scale.

Who would have thought the cliff of Incense Burner Peak was an evil colossal demonic dragon! I scratched my head and sighed.

"At least that's fortunate. If I dig a bit deeper into that cave from earlier, the Fire Dragon Divine Sword should come out."

[ My disciple. I'm not sure about that. ]

"Yes?"

[ You'll know when you try... ]

Soon, I began forcefully pushing through the cave at the base of the strangely shaped rock using my qi.

Kwa-gwang!!

The cliff collapsed, and my body shot out beyond it. I hurriedly used Annihilation Step to somersault several times in midair, avoiding the fall, and saw massive boulders tumbling beyond the waterfall. Having nearly died, I barely caught my breath. Yeo Dongbin said,

[ Hmm... To obtain the Fire Dragon Divine Sword, even destroying the entire cliff might not be enough, my disciple. ]

"Destroying the cliff isn't that hard."

[ No, it would be pointless. ]

"Yes?"

[ I can sense when I'm close to my treasured weapon. But I feel it's not anywhere nearby. ]

Yeo Dongbin continued.

[ It seems someone discovered the Fire Dragon Divine Sword during the thousand years and took it away. ]

"Who took it?"

[ Who knows... I don't know either. ]

At that moment, I realized.

I had come up empty-handed.

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