Chapter 354
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## Chapter 354: Call me Yeon Namcheon
Of course, the idea of dying is a typical exaggeration from Nokrim.
At Yeon Jeokha’s level, it’s difficult to die even when falling.
However, he yells because he’s frustrated with his own helplessness.
But magical seals don’t deactivate because someone insults or threatens them.
No, if they were going to deactivate because of someone’s protests, they wouldn’t have been placed in the first place.
Naturally, the fog remained motionless.
Now he had to choose between two options.
Go up with determination or go down carefully.
Yeon Jeokha was exasperated.
Of course, he already knew that someone had placed a magical seal on Namamgung.
But finding himself in the middle of a cliff left him completely baffled.
“At least I have my pride.”
Suddenly, he remembered Shimtong’s face.
If he found out that he had gone down scared of the fog, he would make fun of him non-stop.
“I’m going.”
He felt that he would only calm down if he found out who had placed that magical seal on the cliff.
Yeon Jeokha gritted his teeth and began to climb slowly, feeling each crack with his hands.
But what was this?
This time, a snake came out of a crack in the cliff.
Sssss-.
“What is this now?”
A snake approached his face and opened its mouth.
Its white fangs seemed about to pierce his face.
Yeon Jeokha, terrified, hit the snake with the hand that held the rock.
Whoosh-.
For a moment, his hand stirred the air.
The snake still had its mouth open, ready to bite.
“Ah! Is it an illusion?”
Surprisingly, the snake in front of him was an illusion.
“Damn it! I knew something was wrong. It’s not normal for a snake like that to suddenly appear.”
He knew it was an illusion, but it was still unsettling.
Finally, the snake wrapped around him.
He didn’t feel the characteristic touch of a snake, but his body was completely wrapped, which drove him crazy.
Yeon Jeokha, shaking his head, decided to close his eyes.
Closing his eyes tightly, his mind calmed.
At least he didn’t see any more snakes, which was a relief.
In that state, Yeon Jeokha continued to climb, feeling the cliff only with the palms of his hands.
Had he climbed like this for about 30 minutes?
He felt a flat surface under his hand.
Finally, he seemed to have reached the entrance of a cave.
Yeon Jeokha carefully opened his eyes.
He no longer saw snakes or fog, suggesting that he had escaped the magical seal.
“Ugh!”
With one last effort, Yeon Jeokha climbed to the entrance of the cave and collapsed in a star shape.
No matter how impressive his internal energy was, physical and mental exhaustion was still present.
He remained motionless for a while, breathing heavily.
When he regained some energy, he slowly got up.
Looking back, the sun had already set and everything was dark.
“Damn it! Looks like I won’t be having dinner tonight.”
To think that he would have to wait until the next morning to eat depressed him as much as falling into the magical seal.
Yeon Jeokha, who had been standing still, turned and limped into the cave.
“Is anyone here? Come out! A disciple of Five Dragons Palace has come!”
He shouted with all his might, but no one came out to greet him.
“Why are the people who practice the Tao so inconsiderate? Placing a magical seal in the middle of a cliff? Do they know how dangerous it is? I only survived because it’s me, anyone else would have died!”
As he muttered, Yeon Jeokha went further in and suddenly stopped.
On a bed of carved stone, someone, or rather a skeleton, lay.
After inspecting the three stone chambers inside the cave, Yeon Jeokha realized that the skeleton was the owner of the place.
In the center of the skeleton’s chamber, there was a huge brazier with a pill the size of an acorn.
Judging by the books of medicinal herbs in the chamber, it seemed that he had been an alchemist who prepared elixirs.
Yeon Jeokha looked at the skeleton with despair.
He had threatened and shouted, but his opponent turned out to be a skeleton.
Standing silently, he began to browse the books to discover the skeleton’s identity.
But nowhere was there a name.
“Why didn’t this person leave anything? At least he should have written what this elixir is in the brazier for future generations.”
As he muttered, Yeon Jeokha took the elixir out of the brazier.
Since its creator had become a skeleton, it must have been an elixir completed a long time ago.
He brought his nose closer and smelled it.
There was no smell.
It seemed that the shell had hardened like a rock.
Would there be any medicinal properties after so long?
“Ugh! This is exasperating. I need to know what this elixir is to use it. Is it even an elixir?”
As he grumbled, Yeon Jeokha wrapped it up and put it away.
He thought that maybe the leader of Five Dragons Palace, Taoist Cheonmyeong, or the leader of Jinmu Palace, the Sage of Heaven and Earth, might know.
His steps slowed as he left the cave.
“If I leave now, I’ll have to go hungry. Should I look for some fasting elixir?”
The life of a practitioner is a series of famines.
Strangely, he was very hungry.
Skipping dinner would mean suffering until the next morning.
A few days ago, he asked Taoist Youn what the alchemists of Namamgung ate.
Then he showed him something called “fasting elixir”, also known as “fasting pills”.
They were pills made from a mixture of various grain powder, honey, and herbs!
“Yes, I’ll look for the fasting elixir.”
Anyway, the owner was a skeleton, so the fasting elixir wouldn’t be useful to him.
Yeon Jeokha searched the three stone chambers.
Finally, he found a white jar half-filled with acorn-sized pills.
When he smelled them, they didn’t have any smell either.
If they had smelled bad, he wouldn’t even have considered them.
Out of curiosity, he put one in his mouth and bit it. It crumbled crisply, but surprisingly tasted good.
The more he chewed it, the sweeter and tastier it became, like toasted rice with honey.
“This is it! This is it!”
Shouting with joy, Yeon Jeokha took a handful of the pills from the jar.
And bending down, he began to chew them noisily.
After eating a handful, his stomach was full.
With a full stomach, his worries disappeared.
Yeon Jeokha took another handful and wrapped it tightly in a cloth.
He planned to eat it later when he was hungry.
“Wow, why is this fasting elixir so tasty and melts in your mouth?”
If it was like this, he could eat it for life without getting bored.
But he didn’t understand why Taoist Youn said that raw rice tasted better than the fasting elixir.
Would it be because the fasting elixir reminded him of secluded training?
As he scratched his head, Yeon Jeokha looked at the jar.
For a moment, he wanted to take more fasting elixir, but it didn’t seem necessary.
Today he had been caught in a magical seal and skipped dinner, but it didn’t seem like it was going to happen again. Yeon Jeokha turned without hesitation and went out.
When he climbed down the cliff, this time neither snakes nor fog appeared.
***
Deep night.
Dong-.
The sound of a bell announcing midnight echoed gently.
Yeon Jeokha, who had been sleeping briefly in his bed, opened his eyes when he heard the bell.
There were no practitioners reading texts late, as the question-and-answer session had just ended.
He silently got out of bed and left “Namchaehwa” without making a sound, like a cat.
Five Dragons Palace was, of course, empty.
Only a candle burned in front of the statues of the Jade Emperor and the celestial gods.
Yeon Jeokha sat in the lotus position where the “Seal of Silence” had been deployed.
15 minutes passed, but Cheongbulno didn’t appear.
“Was Cheongbulno playing with me?”
If one is greedy, one falls into a trap.
He had gotten out of bed following Cheongbulno’s words, hoping for an opportunity.
“Damn it. He tricked me.”
Yeon Jeokha hit his head with his fist.
Of course, how was he going to learn mystical arts without a question-and-answer session?
He had done something stupid out of greed.
“Still, would a Taoist from Five Dragons make fun of people?”
Just as Yeon Jeokha got up muttering, the Jade Emperor statue in front of Five Dragons Palace descended from its pedestal.
“Are you Yeon Dubi?”
“Ah!”
Yeon Jeokha, terrified, fell backwards.
“Are you really the Jade Emperor?”
“Yes, I am the Jade Emperor. Are you Yeon Dubi?”
“If you are the Jade Emperor, how come you don’t know who I am?”
Yeon Jeokha looked at the Jade Emperor with skepticism.
The crown on his head shone with jewels, and the ornaments on his clothes floated without wind.
It was definitely the Jade Emperor statue that had been on the pedestal.
“Hahaha! You’re a clever kid.”
The Jade Emperor, laughing, went back up to the pedestal and regained his original posture.
Then, Cheongbulno emerged from the Jade Emperor statue as if separating from it.
“Was it you, Taoist Cheongbulno?”
“Yes, who said I was tricking or making fun of you?”
“It’s just that I didn’t see you…”
Yeon Jeokha scratched his head, embarrassed.
“I arrived half an hour before you and I’ve been waiting.”
“Ah, yes. Was that mystical arts?”
“Yes. I was bored of waiting, so I placed an ‘Illusion Seal’ where the ‘Seal of Silence’ was.”
“Wow! I really thought the Jade Emperor had descended!”
“Fool. Does the Jade Emperor have nothing better to do than appear before someone like you?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“What’s wrong? Look at your appearance. Do you think I would give you a chance?”
“But I met the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens.”
“It must have been some mischievous mystic playing with you.”
“It wasn’t.”
“When did you meet her?”
“When I was six years old.”
“Then it must have been a dream or a magic trick. Why would the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens know you? You’re not a Taoist seeker, just a six-year-old child.”
“She taught me mental and sword techniques.”
“Really?”
Cheongbulno looked at Yeon Dubi with curiosity.
If it was a dream or a magic trick, mental and sword techniques would be impossible.
“Was it the Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens who taught you the Taoist techniques you master?”
“Yes.”
“Wow! I don’t know if I believe you.”
“It’s true…”
“Well, it doesn’t matter. Have you had other teachers?”
Cheongbulno, nervous, bit his lip unconsciously.
The Mysterious Woman of the Nine Heavens wasn’t human, so it didn’t matter.
But if he had had other teachers, things would get complicated.
“No, I haven’t had any other teachers.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Then Cheongbulno’s face lit up.
“You wanted to learn mystical techniques without an initiation ceremony, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then become my ‘named disciple’. That way you won’t need an initiation ceremony.”
“Named disciple? What’s that?”
Yeon Jeokha, unaware of the customs of noble families, didn’t know what a “named disciple” was.
“In short, it means you’ll be my successor.”
“Eh? Become a Taoist?”
“No, it just means you’ll inherit my sect techniques. Of course, if you want to become a Taoist, I won’t stop you. Even if you’re a layman, you can be a ‘named disciple’. What do you say? Will you be my ‘named disciple’?”
“Are there no other obligations?”
Yeon Jeokha wanted to make sure, as the saying goes: “Cross the bridge after hitting it.”
He had suffered under the Great Chaeju of Nokrim, the Heaven Destroyer Demon Lord.
“As a disciple of the Five Dragons Palace, don’t ignore injustice and destroy evil spirits. That’s all.”
“Then, I’ll do it.”
Yeon Jeokha didn’t think twice.
He was already prepared to be a lay disciple as long as he was in Five Dragons Palace.
“Do nine bows to me.”
Yeon Jeokha got up and immediately did nine bows.
Cheongbulno, with a satisfied expression, said:
“‘Cheongbulno’ is the Taoist name my master, Gongyaja, gave me. I’ll also give you a Taoist name, ‘Namcheon’ (South Heaven). But since you’re a layman, from now on, if someone asks your name, say you’re ‘Yeon Namcheon’.”
“Yeon Namcheon…”
Yeon Jeokha savored the name in silence.
The name ‘Yeon Jeokha’ was good, but he also liked ‘Yeon Namcheon’ very much.