WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

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◈ Carefree Tale of Cultivation ◈

Chapter 2: Trial

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Cloud mist blanketed the slopes of Mount Pyeongan, where Pine Sword Sect’s buildings rose amid a sea of blue-green pines. Above them stretched a cloudless blue sky.

Against that backdrop floated a gigantic ship.

It looked like a wooden vessel, but had no mast.

It was slightly smaller than the cruise ships Jin Hyeon had seen in his previous life, with blue patterns carved across its reddish-brown hull.

Moving far more smoothly and swiftly than its size suggested, the ship flew above Pine Sword Sect’s plaza and came to a stop in midair.

“Uncle, is that...?”

“Yes. It seems that ship is the immortals’ means of travel.”

Jin Hyeon could not close his mouth.

Every guess he had made about cultivators until now had just been shattered.

“Come on, let’s go quickly.”

Jin Hyeon squeezed out his remaining strength and ran after Baek Woo, who was nearly sprinting at full speed.

As they passed some rocks, Jin Hyeon spotted two martial artists who appeared to be gate guards.

Perhaps Baek Woo had already spoken to them, because they gave Jin Hyeon only a brief glance before staring fixedly at the ship in the sky.

By the time Jin Hyeon reached the plaza, a huge crowd had already gathered there.

Countless people in blue-green martial uniforms that appeared to belong to Pine Sword Sect murmured among themselves, from children who did not even look ten to middle-aged martial artists.

The older people retained some composure, but the younger martial artists could not close their mouths.

“We greet the Exalted Immortals!”

At the cry that rang out in every direction, everyone looked toward the same place.

An old man appeared on the top floor of a massive six-story building that appeared to be Pine Sword Sect’s Great Council Hall.

He was the very image that came to mind when one thought of a martial arts master, with white hair and a long beard.

Dressed in plain white robes, he stood in the wide space by the window and gave the ship a respectful clasped-hands salute.

“That is the Sect Leader.”

Baek Woo, who had come up beside Jin Hyeon without his notice, whispered.

“That is the Sect Leader? Is he at the Peak Realm too?”

“No. I hear that at eighty, the Sect Leader broke through to a realm beyond the Peak Realm. I have yet to be taught what sort of realm it is, but they say it is on a completely different level from other martial artists.”

“Is that realm also one reason you returned to Pine Sword Sect, Uncle?”

“Yes. Though the biggest reason was to make an excuse to bring out my nephew, who had been lazing around at home.”

Jin Hyeon dodged the hand the size of a pot lid that ruffled his hair. Just as he was about to ask another question, two figures rose from the ship.

One was a handsome, pale young man who looked under twenty. The other was a woman with a simple, honest-looking face, who appeared to be in her mid-thirties.

Contrary to Jin Hyeon’s expectations, the two cultivators were not dressed especially extravagantly.

The young man wore pure white clothes like those of a scholar, with a blue sword sheath at his waist. The woman wore purple martial robes with only a few cloth ornaments.

The only notable feature was the unique pattern embroidered on their sleeves.

After appearing on the ship, the two crossed the empty air and landed before the Sect Leader.

It was not even comparable to the legendary martial art of Air-Walking. It was true flight in the most literal sense, and shock filled the faces of everyone present, Jin Hyeon included.

The two cultivators accepted the greeting of the Sect Leader, who looked several decades older than they did, and entered the building.

After clearing his throat briefly, the Sect Leader shouted to those gathered in the plaza.

“Pine Sword Sect disciples are to remain in their quarters for the rest of the day! Any disciple found wandering outside will be severely punished according to sect rules! Elders, assemble at Thousand Pines Hall within two hours!”

Leaving behind only that command ringing across the summit of Mount Pyeongan, the Sect Leader vanished after the cultivators.

Many young disciples spoke with excited expressions.

“Did you see that? They really flew through the sky!”

“Idiot! Isn’t it even more amazing that a ship that big can fly?”

Even the older disciples leading them and several elders were swept up in the atmosphere, each offering their own excited impressions. Though the crowd was dispersing, the broad plaza remained noisy.

And amid that confusion, a strange light flickered in Jin Hyeon’s eyes as he stared at the place where the cultivators had disappeared.

‘Cultivators... boiling seas, splitting mountains... eternal youth and longevity...’

* * *

Several hours had passed since the huge ship arrived at Pine Sword Sect.

Under a sky that was gradually darkening, Jin Hyeon followed Baek Woo down a narrow path.

They were not alone on this dim path through dense pines.

Other Pine Sword Sect elders like Baek Woo walked ahead of and behind them, each with a child at their side. At the end of the procession followed some one hundred and fifty Pine Sword Sect disciples.

At a glance, Jin Hyeon saw that most were children around ten years old. There were only a few close to his own age.

“Do not be too nervous, Hyeon. I met them myself, and the immortals are not so frightening.”

Thinking that Jin Hyeon’s glances around him came from nervousness, Baek Woo took his nephew by the shoulder and reassured him.

Jin Hyeon was filled with anticipation rather than nerves, but he nodded anyway.

He recalled the explanation his uncle had given him on the way here.

Those from Pine Sword Sect who wished to go to the place where immortals lived, the place Pine Sword Sect’s martial artists called the Immortal Realm, had to pass a test.

Even his uncle had not heard what the test would be.

He only knew that ordinary disciples could not go at all if they failed, while relatives of elders could go to the Immortal Realm even without passing, though they would receive different treatment.

Jin Hyeon had been disheartened to hear there would be a test, then regained his color when he learned he could still go to the Immortal Realm even if he failed.

He had also heard that once he entered the Immortal Realm, he would be unable to leave for a long time, but that was not a major problem for him.

In this world, even martial artists often did not return to their hometowns until more than ten years after entering a sect.

Besides, Baek Woo was the only family member to whom he was attached. Whether he left for ten years or even longer, his heart was lighter than that of others leaving their families behind.

“Hmm. Come to think of it, I heard that the lady in purple is one of Pine Sword Sect’s great seniors.”

Pleased by Jin Hyeon’s composed manner, Baek Woo brought up an interesting topic, perhaps to lighten the mood.

“A great senior? What generation is she from?”

Jin Hyeon asked with a tilt of his head. A great senior would be several generations above his uncle. How old was that woman truly?

“When all the elders gathered at Thousand Pines Hall to greet the immortals, that lady called the Sect Leader her martial nephew. She must be over a hundred years old, at the very least.”

Over a hundred?

Jin Hyeon was startled.

It was hard to associate such an age with the appearance of a young woman in her thirties.

The words eternal youth and longevity passed through Jin Hyeon’s mind again.

‘Eternal youth and longevity...’

Those sweet words lingered on his tongue.

Jin Hyeon clenched his fist.

A desire that even he had not known he possessed raised its head from deep within his heart.

It had been boiling since the moment he saw the ship flying through the sky, swelling when he saw humans fly.

Then it exploded when he encountered true eternal youth and longevity.

Perhaps it was a desire for compensation born from his short previous life. Perhaps, like everyone else in the world, he had simply been captivated by longevity.

But in this moment, Jin Hyeon wanted more than anything to become one of those immortals.

The boy who had experienced the miracle of reincarnation wanted another miracle.

He did not know whether he could truly attain longevity like those immortals, but he knew one thing for certain.

He would no longer be satisfied with a peaceful “lifetime.”

While Jin Hyeon’s determination burned within him, the group arrived at its destination.

It was a broad clearing.

There was no sign that trees or grass had been cut down. Instead, it was a clean space, as though every plant had voluntarily avoided growing there.

At the center of the clearing stood the two cultivators who had disembarked from the ship, with Pine Sword Sect’s Sect Leader beside them.

Behind where they stood was a small stele. It was small and crudely shaped, as though it was meant more for symbolism than appearance.

Yet an indescribably strange aura wrapped around the stele, rising like a faint haze.

Jin Hyeon was startled by the sight, but when no one around him reacted, he realized that he alone could see the stele’s aura.

At that moment, the young cultivator dressed as a scholar slightly opened his closed eyes and glanced at Jin Hyeon.

Wondering whether he had made some mistake, Jin Hyeon quickly lowered his head. The young man gave him only that brief look before closing his eyes again.

‘What was that? Could he know that I saw the stele’s aura? Is this part of the test?’

Jin Hyeon’s lips twitched at the thought that he might have passed the test already, but he calmed himself when the young man showed no further reaction.

“Now, it seems everyone is here!”

The woman in purple beside the Sect Leader spoke.

With a warm smile, she took in the disciples before her and gave a light clap.

“I am pleased to see Pine Sword Sect has so many fine prospects. Even if you do not gain immortal affinity this time, I hope you will bring honor to Pine Sword Sect’s name.”

She then gestured to the young man.

The young man opened his palm and turned it over once. An object the size of a tray appeared atop his hand.

Everyone stirred at the sight of him seemingly taking an object out of thin air.

Ignoring their reaction, the young man carried it and walked a little forward.

As Jin Hyeon stood near the front of the gathered crowd, he could clearly see what the object looked like.

It was a round disk made from something similar to wood.

It was glossy black, as though lacquered, and covered with bewildering patterns he could not understand.

A transparent orb about the size of a fist was embedded in the middle of the disk, drawing the eye.

“Now, step forward one at a time to receive the test. There is no difficult process. Still, this test will determine whether you have the aptitude to become cultivators, and it is an important moment that will decide your future.”

In a gentle voice like that of a kind grandmother, the woman announced an immense truth.

Only then did Jin Hyeon understand what it meant that their treatment would differ.

Simply being taken to the Immortal Realm did not mean the cultivators would accept everyone as disciples.

Those without aptitude might receive some benefits in the Immortal Realm, but they would likely never become true immortals.

Cold sweat ran down the back of Jin Hyeon’s neck. His gaze naturally fell.

As much as desire and expectation had built within him on the way here, anxiety now came rushing in.

The young disciples seemed to roughly understand the situation too, and the sound of people swallowing broke the evening silence.

Only the other elders and the children they had brought appeared relatively calm, as though they had known about this to some extent. Even Baek Woo’s eyes had widened in shock.

As everyone stood frozen, a calm voice rang out.

“You will go first.”

Jin Hyeon looked up and saw that the young man holding the disk was pointing at him.

“M-Me?”

“You do not have to if you do not want to.”

Jin Hyeon did not dare say more and stepped forward.

Behind him, Baek Woo watched with his teeth clenched.

No, everyone’s eyes were fixed on him.

Jin Hyeon quickly approached the young man.

“Place your hand on it.”

Jin Hyeon examined the disk at the young man’s words.

There seemed to be nowhere on the disk itself to place his hand, so he assumed he was meant to place it on the orb.

The moment Jin Hyeon placed his hand on the orb, the young man gripped his shoulder with one hand.

Before Jin Hyeon had a chance to say anything, intense qi poured into his body through that hand.

Then Jin Hyeon lost consciousness.

* * *

“Ugh...”

Jin Hyeon groaned as a headache washed over him.

It felt as though his head would split apart.

Pressing his temples with both hands, Jin Hyeon raised his head.

He had clearly been receiving a test from the cultivators. What was this?

Enduring the pain, Jin Hyeon looked around and was startled.

He was surrounded by a completely black space.

The clearing and the people who had been there moments ago were nowhere to be seen. There was only pitch darkness.

More precisely, there was only pitch darkness and fog.

Jin Hyeon swept his hand through the gray fog that rose to his waist from an invisible floor beneath his feet.

“Where is this? Ngh, what is this fog... Ghh, my head!”

As the headache suddenly intensified, Jin Hyeon clutched his head and collapsed.

Never before had he experienced such pain. Reduced to a worm, all Jin Hyeon could do was writhe across the ground.

Yet even amid the pain, he desperately moved his body.

He could feel it instinctively. Perhaps it was the intuition of a reincarnator warning him.

If he did not stop this headache, he would die.

His eyes, reddened by burst blood vessels, flew open. With trembling hands, he groped around in every direction.

‘I know it! It must be somewhere around here!’

Beyond understanding, driven by pure instinct, Jin Hyeon searched for something that would stop the pain.

Then something touched his fingertips.

Tap.

Jin Hyeon immediately seized it. For that moment, even the headache seemed to fade slightly.

“Arghhh!”

But the pain did not stop.

Still clutching that mysterious object, Jin Hyeon rolled across the ground in the fog.

As his consciousness faded, he thought:

‘It is unfair. Is my second life ending like this? I wanted to live a long life this time...’

Drip.

‘I only wanted to live peacefully, following my heart...’

Drip.

“I met cultivators! The chance for eternal youth and longevity was right before me!”

Drip.

With that blood-spitting cry, Jin Hyeon’s vision gradually darkened.

To die even in the second life granted by reincarnation. It was unfair.

In his final moments, Jin Hyeon suddenly felt his hand grow lighter.

‘Huh?’

Something small rolled before his eyes.

Flash!

Then light erupted.

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