When practitioners steal lifespan, it usually happens in two ways.
One way is like Jeokho’s “tax,” where only a portion of the lifespan is taken.
In this case, the amount of lifespan obtained from a lower-level cultivator is somewhat less than that taken, because there’s a difference in the rank of their life.
Just as an ascetic’s enlightenment differs from that of a Record Phase practitioner.
The depth of their lives also varied immensely.
In simpler terms, if you were to siphon 500 years off a Yuan Spirit practitioner, you’d get a miserable 5-60 years in return.
Due to this pathetic efficiency, the Archlords who collect taxes often opted for other methods.
“…Shut up! Pure lifespan, you say?!”
“Have you never harvested pure lifespan?”
“You crazy girl…”
Collecting lifespan along with the practitioner’s spirit, or ‘soul.’
A practitioner’s soul is a collection of life itself, allowing for a dramatic increase in lifespan efficiency, just by swallowing their soul.
“According to Jeokho’s records, when absorbed alongside the spirit, the efficiency of lifespan absorption increases by about 2-3 times. Shouldn’t that be expected for such a price?”
“….”
“But I don’t need that. Just pure lifespan will do.”
“Do you know how much loss you’d have to endure to gather even that much pure lifespan? It would be tough even if we gathered a ton of Master Avatars—”
“Why use Master Avatars?”
There’s no difference in rank.
There’s someone right here who can give you complete lifespan without having to swallow souls.
As I pointed my finger at Cheongjinryeong, his eyes widened.
[You, yes you]
[LOL]
[Give me your stuff]
[Thinking about someone else’s stuff amidst all this, LOL]
[Pure Lily, LOL]
[Not accepting Royder, haha]
[Big Lily]
[Hand it over quietly]
“…Nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense.”
“That’s right, this is totally nonsense coming from someone who thinks Lily is nonsense.”
“Right? Hmm?”
“Never mind.”
Yena nodded and glared at Cheongjinryeong.
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Something seems off, but anyway, it wasn’t nonsense.
Neither Yena now nor then had any intention of accepting a lifespan made by grinding someone’s soul.
In a final flare of desperation, Cheongjinryeong released his energy.
KA-ANG!
My head pounded again.
■
Hours later, the concave-headed Cheongjinryeong awoke and managed to secure an appropriate lifespan through “conversation.”
The lifespan I acquired from Cheongjinryeong was about 41,000.
The remaining 35,900 years were unattainable because Cheongjinryeong had very little left for his cultivation improvement.
‘You’re not lying, right?’
‘…You know that there are different levels even within a display case. I had to use some of my lifespan since the absorbed lifespan wasn’t enough. I must leave some for my magic technique.’
‘Hmm…’
‘…It’s true.’
‘Hmm, hmm…’
‘……’
‘Hmmm…’
‘If you don’t believe me, you can kill me to check—’
‘I’ll believe you.’
Thus, Cheongjinryeong’s lifespan was quite a unique form.
He had absorbed more lifespan from other practitioners than his own.
If the lifespan I demanded wasn’t pure lifespan, I could have handed it back in an instant, but that wasn’t the case.
In the end, we reached an agreement, so I could understand this much.
“Now I need to fill up the rest from others.”
“Will they all willingly give it up?”
“Probably?”
If Cheongjinryeong was to be believed, other Archlords likely shared similar traits and powers.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to obtain what I needed.
The worry of facing four display cases didn’t seem too daunting considering Cheongjinryeong’s level.
After all, with a ‘meeting’ in place, acting rashly wouldn’t be wise.
I looked back at Yena.
Yena was staring intently at the blue jade that Cheongjinryeong had given me as compensation.
This was because Cheongjinryeong had flung Yena far away before pulling me into the space.
It seemed like quite a ridiculous situation where everything collided, although thankfully, no one got hurt.
“There’s a ton of cosmic spirit, huh.”
“No soul, though? I think they’ve gathered everything.”
“Hmm… that’s right.”
The jade contained numerous souls and lifespans, but now only the Cosmic Spirit remained.
It was useful but not exactly a spectacular treasure.
[Oh]
[Well, at least I got one, haha]
[Can I just leave Cheongjinryeong alone?]
[It’s a shame about the lifespan.]
[If you’re gonna give, why not give it all?]
[Yena should get one too, haha]
[Can I just let Cheongjinryeong go?]
“Cheongjinryeong? Well, I’ve received what I needed, so I should send him off. There’s no point in keeping him here.”
“Yeah. It’s not like I can keep you here.”
Although things ended up this way, Cheongjinryeong is a different Archlord.
The commotion with Cheongjinryeong was due to the Space he opened, and it fell apart when he lost consciousness completely.
My relationship with him has returned to that of a Grim Reaper and an Archlord.
While the penalties have eased somewhat as we’ve entered the Record Phase, facing Junseon is still overwhelming.
‘I shouldn’t jump in recklessly.’
“Above all, there’s also Mokmujin. Since there’s still a lot we don’t understand, I’d say it’s alright to proceed slowly.”
“Uwoomnyang…”
“Miss Yena.”
“Nyang?”
“Are you disappointed?”
Yena gazed at me intently while holding a blue jade.
The blue jade contained enough ‘resources’ for Yena to level up to the Record Phase right now.
Leveling up to Record Phase doesn’t consume lifespan, but when you think about it broadly, lifespan is pretty much the same as Celestial Aura.
With Yena’s talent and insight, she could have easily reached the Record Phase with that amount of resources.
However, those resources were effectively reclaimed by Cheongjinryeong at my will.
“Though the achievement of grinding one’s soul is a faster path, it might not be the best. Regardless of right or wrong, the Magical Path has its own downsides.”
“Nyang? I never wished for something like that.”
“Really?”
“Hmph. If I really wanted that, I would’ve done something similar in Teshiniria. I have no intention of becoming stronger through someone else’s sacrifice.”
In Teshiniria, Yena had witnessed the human sacrifices performed by the Priests of Darkness.
They suggested that Yena join their side, but she refused.
Instead, she defeated them all, and the fleeing Dark Priest joined hands with the Grim Reaper to propose once more, but that too was refused.
Even without direct contact, she could change direction through episode quests.
Even though Yena despises the Magical Path like this, it wasn’t always the case in the past.
When I had just returned, Yena and I went to a dungeon, and at that time, she had committed slaughter to obtain a precious mythical item.
Of course, back then, she had no awareness that this was another world.
Most users played with the mindset of “It’s just a game!” so it wasn’t particularly strange or wrong to think that way.
‘It’s not like you die forever.’
The turning point came largely from the teachings of Myeosin and the influence of her change in race as a Myojok.
Since then, Yena began to treat the residents of this world the same as people in reality.
[Yena is kind]
[LOL]
[Miss Yena, are you okay?]
[Miss Yena has become really nice.]
[Thinking of the old Yena is legendary, haha.]
[Lol.]
[I just remembered going to the dungeon with Lily.]
Yena scratched her chin.
“Just… I feel a bit strange.”
“A strange feeling?”
“Cheongjinryeong mentioned it, didn’t he? The reason why the Archlords are trying to meddle with other territories.”
Once you’re an Archlord, you can’t exert influence outside your territory.
That’s because Jangmugye’s Junseon imposed strict regulations, and more than anything, there was no reason to unnecessarily keep other Archlords in check.
‘It’s enough not to do anything.’
A single territory (향) is bigger than a few continents combined.
There are just a few empty spaces here and there; it could easily be called a planet.
If it’s not an area like Unryusan that’s adjacent, there’s really no need to provoke the emotions of the rival Archlords to covet anything.
Still, there was just one reason why the Archlords were gritting their teeth and trying to get stronger.
“Lily must have heard too. Recently ‘strange things’ have started to appear.”
“……”
Strange things.
Cheongjinryeong said that in the past 300 years (300 years feels recent, but in the context of spiritual martial arts, it’s a short time), strange things had been roaming Jangmugye.
That ‘something’ possessed a high-level bizarre power, and its influence within the territory had significantly increased.
Jeokmu-hyang operates in the shadows, whereas Cheongmu-hyang seems to be exposed more externally.
With the emergence of various strong beings, it was only natural that the Archlords were craving for more power.
And that ‘something’…
“It must be related to Mokmujin.”
“Seems like it, doesn’t it?”
Mokmujin, an existence beyond Junseon.
Cheongjinryeong didn’t specifically mention the eyes, but the characteristics he described were quite similar.
Since they decided to visit Cheongmu-hyang after the meeting, it would be good to investigate matters regarding Mokmujin then.
“By the way, I had something planned for when Miss Yena came, so this is perfect.”
“? What is it?”
Something that ascetics must inevitably experience when they receive promotion proposals.
“I’ll block Infinite Completion for you.”
It’s time to recharge the Infinite Completion used.
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