Rattle, rattle.

Inside the violently shaking carriage.

'Hmm... I don't know where to put my eyes.'

The surroundings were full of nuns in monk's robes.

It would be a different story if they had shaved their heads, but they all had hair longer than a bob cut and were outstanding in appearance.

'Does Emei pick people based on their faces?'

Such nuns were all blushing and glancing at Baek Yoonjun.

Baek Yoonjun closed his eyes under the psychological pressure.

'How did it come to this?'

Baek Yoonjun recalled the events up until just before he left.

Su Yeohyang had earnestly requested, and due to his homebody introvert nature, it was hard for him to voice his refusal, so he had come, almost dragged along.

It was a very short recollection.

'Sigh, damn it, how can I refuse when she asks so persistently?'

In the end, since he couldn't refuse firmly, he had been dragged along, so there was no one to complain to.

Rattle, rattle.

Moreover, the speed of the carriage felt incredibly slow to Baek Yoonjun, who could use an unconventional lightness skill.

'When will we arrive?'

The time in the carriage, which flowed like an eternity.

Baek Yoonjun was on the verge of death.

But it seemed the surrounding nuns were not.

-The person that Great Disciple Yeohyang brought is incredibly handsome, isn't he?

-He's a distinguished guest, so don't say such rude things.

They were whispering and chatting like high school girls on a field trip.

Of course, Baek Yoonjun's ears were as well-trained as his martial arts level, so no matter how much they whispered, it went straight into his ears.

'I've heard it quite a lot since coming to this world, but I can't get used to it.'

Baek Yoonjun's appearance was not much different from his past life, except that his facial features were a little more distinct and his hair was white and long.

'Come to think of it, I did hear it quite a lot in my past life before I was cooped up in my room.'

Baek Yoonjun's shoulders rose slightly and subtly for no reason.

'Am I quite handsome?'

But that state did not last even as long as it takes for tea to cool.

'No. What confidence do I have when my martial arts are just third-rate?'

The position of Baek Yoonjun's shoulders returned to normal.

Since it hadn't risen much anyway, there wasn't much of a difference.

'Instead of useless thoughts, other thoughts, other thoughts.'

Baek Yoonjun strenuously turned to other thoughts.

'Come to think of it, everyone from Emei looks young.'

The Emei nuns in the carriage were not completely young children, but had passed the age of learning, and seemed to have just barely passed the age of maturity or were below it.

Baek Yoonjun stealthily looked at Su Yeohyang.

At that, Su Yeohyang, who was looking at him, turned her head and blushed.

'What's with her again?'

For a moment, he thought, 'Did she fall for me?', but Baek Yoonjun's homebody introvert nature immediately kicked that thought away.

In any case, since he wasn't facing her, it became a little easier to speak.

"Everyone is young, is there a reason?"

Therefore, Baek Yoonjun immediately asked what he was curious about.

"Our disciples have almost no experience of the secular world. We took on this task to gain experience."

"I see."

It was a reason that was less significant than he had thought.

Baek Yoonjun felt a question about the adults of Emei.

'Even so, is it okay to let them wander around like this without a single adult?'

Although Baek Yoonjun also had a record of sending the young Baek Sowol down the mountain, he had accompanied her with the adult Zhuge Hyun.

In Tang Yuhwa's case, since there was something that would make her lose her mind, he couldn't get involved in her leaving the mountain, but since Tang Yuhwa was an adult who had passed the age of maturity, it was okay.

'In some ways, she's better than me.'

In contrast, the nuns in the carriage were all girls like high school students who had not passed the age of maturity.

'I feel a sense of responsibility.'

As an adult, Baek Yoonjun felt a strange sense of responsibility.

But since this atmosphere had not become comfortable, he closed his eyes again.

'Damn it, when on earth will we arrive?'

This situation repeated for a while, and when about three hours had passed.

"Great Hero Baek, it seems we will be staying in this village for today."

"Why? We're not going straight there?"

"The distance to Mount Emei is quite far, you know?"

Since Baek Yoonjun had rarely spent more than a day when he had a place to go, he couldn't help but be bewildered.

'Why on earth are we taking a carriage? Can't we just run with lightness skill? No matter how low our martial prowess is, isn't lightness skill faster?'

It was all a thought based on his own standards.

An unbelievable sound pierced Baek Yoonjun's ears as he was lost in such thoughts.

"We will probably stay in this village for about five days."

"What?"

Baek Yoonjun was shocked.

'I have to spend 5 days in this bustling village?'

Even though Baek Yoonjun hadn't closed his eyes, he tasted the miracle of his vision going dark.

"Why?"

"Well, since it's a long-distance move, there are quite a few things to prepare..."

Perhaps because of Baek Yoonjun's reaction, Su Yeohyang mumbled, glancing at him.

Whether that was the case or not, for Baek Yoonjun, it was important to overcome the desperate crisis he was facing right now.

"Can I come on the morning of the fifth day?"

"Yes, that's right, but where are you going?"

"See you then."

"What?"

Su Yeohyang was flustered by Baek Yoonjun's sudden words and looked at the place where he had been, but he had long since disappeared.

Baek Yoonjun, who had left his seat, performed his lightness skill.

Since he thought it was not polite to perform his lightness skill to its fullest in the village, he performed it with less force, and as soon as he left the village, he performed it to its fullest.

And so, Baek Yoonjun, who had arrived at a place where he could confirm the location of the village and where there were few people, spread his senses and checked his surroundings.

'Good. There's no one.'

Having confirmed that there were no people around, Baek Yoonjun was relieved.

And at the same time, he pondered how he would spend the five days.

'I can eat or not eat, and I can sleep on the bare ground, but that's anxious, so should I build a hut like last time?'

As Baek Yoonjun was making such a plan, the entrance of a cave was captured in his sight.

'A cave in such a secluded place? Does an animal live here or something?'

Animals were very easy creatures for Baek Yoonjun.

First of all, they didn't talk.

'I was so surprised when I first met a tiger, but it was no big deal.'

It was because he had a record of beating up or stabbing most predators.

'Come to think of it, I wonder if my Hosun is doing well.'

Hosun was a white tiger that Baek Yoonjun had run into when he had just set up his residence.

'That brat was the size of a mountain, so I was so surprised at first.'

Although 'the size of a mountain' was a bit of an exaggeration, it was a white tiger much larger than the house Baek Yoonjun had built.

Baek Yoonjun had beaten up that house-sized white tiger, and the white tiger, feeling its life was in danger, had immediately shown its belly to Baek Yoonjun, so it was currently living around his residence.

'When Sowol or Yuhwa were here, I didn't meet it because I was afraid the kids would get scared, but now that I'm alone again, should I go check on its condition when I get home?'

Baek Yoonjun approached the cave, recalling Hosun, whom he was half-neglecting as a stray cat.

Entering the cave, Baek Yoonjun immediately created a Samadhi True Fire at his fingertips, lit a fire, and then spread his senses to check the inside.

'Tsk, I guess no animals live here.'

Unfortunately, it was not a cave where animals lived.

Instead, it was a rather deep cave.

'Is it a naturally formed cave?'

Although the cave was quite deep and eerie, for Baek Yoonjun, a place like this was much more comfortable than a crowded village.

Baek Yoonjun performed his lightness skill to its fullest and went to the end of the cave in an instant.

'There's nothing special. Is it just a deep cave?'

From what Baek Yoonjun had confirmed himself, it was just an ordinary, naturally formed cave, as he had thought before.

'For now, I can just stay here until we leave.'

Baek Yoonjun was satisfied with having found a temporary residence.

Although he didn't have to sleep and there was no particular danger in sleeping outside, having a roof gave him a great sense of psychological stability.

'Then shall I decorate it a little now?'

Since he had nothing to do anyway, a conversation with a friend from his past life came to Baek Yoonjun's mind as he was about to decorate his temporary residence into a place where he could live comfortably.

-A secret cave? To put it simply, it's like a dungeon in a fantasy.

-What? You said there are almost no monsters in martial arts novels, right?

-That's right. So it's like a dungeon made by a person.

The conversation he had had in the past came to Baek Yoonjun's mind, and he scanned the cave once more.

Perhaps because of the thought that had come to his mind, it looked like a perfect place to decorate as a secret cave.

'I'm going because of a secret cave anyway, so should I try making one as practice?'

By Baek Yoonjun's standards, a dungeon was a place with traps, monsters, and treasure.

And by Baek Yoonjun's standards, a secret cave was a place where only the monsters were missing from a dungeon.

'I have nothing to do for a week anyway, and it looks fun, so should I try it?'

The opinion in Baek Yoonjun's mind leaned towards making a secret cave, and he immediately began to make the secret cave.

First, the entrance.

'It's too conspicuous now, so let's decorate it a little more secludedly.'

Baek Yoonjun used his ability to manipulate objects from a distance to change the surrounding terrain and hide the entrance.

'Hmm, not bad.'

Looking at the cave entrance, which had become invisible unless from a specific angle, Baek Yoonjun nodded his head with great satisfaction.

After that, Baek Yoonjun, who had entered the cave, fell into thought.

'At this rate, it just looks like a cave, so should I write a phrase at the entrance? What should I write?'

As he was pondering, Baek Yoonjun suddenly thought of the realm right above his current blocked one.

'The border of life and death. Although it's not perfect yet, since I have some enlightenment, should I try quoting that?'

Feeling that that thought was quite plausible, Baek Yoonjun immediately put it into action.

He immediately drew Black Iron Bright Night and swung his sword near the entrance, engraving a phrase.

[He who reaches the end of this place shall set foot on the border of life and death.]

Although Baek Yoonjun felt embarrassed, thinking, 'It's just a hint about second-rate, so did I engrave it too grandly?', since he quite liked the phrase, he didn't particularly revise it.

'By the way, this stone is fine for carving or sculpting, but cutting it is still difficult.'

Although Baek Yoonjun had the ability to slice the surroundings, including the current cave, like slicing a radish, he still couldn't realize it due to his fixed idea.

'Then what I should make now is...'

Baek Yoonjun's eyes shone, and he went deeper into the cave.

Since the cave was quite large, it seemed it would be fine to make anything.

'The most common thing is to make something with formations or mechanisms.'

Therefore, his worries deepened.

After pondering for a moment, Baek Yoonjun came to a conclusion.

'There aren't enough materials to make something with mechanisms, so I can just make it centered on formations and place some plausible sculptures around.'

Having finished his thought, Baek Yoonjun immediately began to act.

'As for a suitable formation, the Illusionary Maze Formation should be fine.'

The Illusionary Maze Formation was a formation that Baek Yoonjun had independently created based on the formation knowledge of the Celestial Records.

'Loss of direction is basic, and it makes the path look like a maze, and as a substitute for monsters, the phenomenon that the person fears the most continuously appears.'

For reference, when Baek Yoonjun had developed and experienced this formation, what had appeared was a second-rate martial artist.

'He was shooting beams from his eyes, and thousands of swords were falling from the sky, so I thought I was going to die of fear.'

Since it was a formation he had made himself, he also knew the method to break it, so he didn't suffer much, but the second-rate martial artist he had seen at that time was established as a great worry in Baek Yoonjun's heart.

'Sigh, my spine is tingling. I shouldn't even set foot in it this time.'

Baek Yoonjun shivered as if he had a chill and then hurriedly began to set up the formation.

Since the form changes depending on how you set up the same formation and it can be duplicated, Baek Yoonjun continuously laid down formations centered on the Illusionary Maze Formation, and in the middle, he made and placed a few plausible sculptures like a thousand-armed Guanyin.

And so, after decorating and making the secret cave for two days without rest.

'Phew, I guess I've been engrossed for a long time.'

Baek Yoonjun, who had densely laid down formations and sculptures in the cave, felt a sense of pride and checked what he had made.

And then he suddenly realized that the inside of the cave was too dark.

'Even if you're just third-rate, you don't have to worry about things like darkness, but since kids with low realms might come, should I brighten it up a little?'

Baek Yoonjun gathered stones of a suitable size, proceeded with the work of carving them into a round shape, and recalled a conversation with a friend from his past life.

-A night-luminescent pearl? It's a shining stone.

-Is it like a magic stone?

-No, it's just a shining round stone.

-Is that so? Any other characteristics?

-It's expensive.

-Anything else?

-It's damn expensive.

Recalling the conversation with his friend, Baek Yoonjun began to produce a pseudo night-luminescent pearl.

(End of Chapter)