WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
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◈ Carefree Tale of Cultivation ◈
Chapter 38: Meditation Portrait of a Woman
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Not every item entered into the auction was defective. The four magical artifacts displayed after the Cloud Sea Sword all possessed abilities worthy of high-grade magical artifacts.
There were even artifacts unlike the usual forms, including one shaped like a flute and another shaped like an arrow. Their effects were as unusual as their appearances.
The flute could forcibly control a low-grade spirit beast for a short time, while the arrow enhanced fire-aspected spell arts.
The special abilities built into the artifacts interested Jin Hyeon, but he did not bid on them.
Artifact refinement was currently the field he felt most confident in. In a few years, he might even challenge himself to create high-grade magical artifacts personally.
Besides, since he already possessed the Azure Serpent Thunder Sword, he had little need for another high-grade magical artifact.
After the first five artifacts, several more high-grade magical artifacts, as well as mid-grade ones containing powerful spell arts, went up for auction and were quickly sold amid heated bidding.
One strange incident occurred, however. A sudden, fierce competition erupted among the cultivators over a brick-shaped mid-grade magical artifact that appeared to have no special features and that even the auctioneer could not properly explain.
In the end, the brick artifact went to an old man for a price higher than that of the Cloud Sea Sword.
Unlike the surrounding cultivators, who looked bewildered, Jin Hyeon watched the process with a dark expression.
He did not even want to look at a magical artifact like that, one that might bring who knew what misfortune.
What was more, several other unimpressive artifacts sparked fierce bidding among a small number of cultivators in much the same way as the brick artifact. It seemed there was more than one suspicious auction item.
After several such twists and turns, the artifact auction ended, and medicinal pills were introduced next.
“This auction item consists of three bottles of Clear Bean Pills! These medicinal pills boast excellent healing effects and are especially useful in battle because of their rapid recovery speed. Elder Seop, a renowned pill-refining master in this city, has appraised them and confirmed that there are no issues. I once swallowed one while fighting a demon beast myself. They taste awful, but the effects are excellent.”
The auctioneer’s light joke drew laughter from the hall, easing the atmosphere.
The auctioneer opened a bottle. The pills were stored in a special white jade container so their medicinal effects would not dissipate.
When the auctioneer took out a pill and raised it into the air for everyone to see, a strong medicinal fragrance drifted throughout the hall.
Jin Hyeon leaned forward slightly, studying the white jade bottle and pills resting on the silk cushion with interest.
Naturally, not all medicinal pills existed to raise one’s cultivation realm.
Medicinal pills with a variety of uses were common, and recovery pills like the Clear Bean Pill were a representative example.
Jin Hyeon possessed only basic knowledge of pill refining, but he had his eye on these Clear Bean Pills.
They were too far away for his spiritual perception to detect clearly, yet even from the aura carried in their fragrance, he could tell that a Clear Bean Pill would be practically an extra life for a Qi Refining cultivator.
At the very least, they were worlds apart from the low-grade pills available through the Blue Willow Sect’s Hundred Treasures Pavilion, so Jin Hyeon decided to try buying some.
There were three bottles, though. To avoid overspending, he first watched how the bidding for the first one progressed.
“Then we will begin at once! Each bottle containing five Clear Bean Pills will be auctioned separately. The opening bid for the first bottle is fifty spirit stones!”
Fifty spirit stones. That worked out to ten spirit stones per Clear Bean Pill.
‘The pills the Hundred Treasures Pavilion used to sell to early Qi Refining disciples cost five spirit stones a bottle...’
Perhaps because they were pills that late Qi Refining cultivators would seek, the difference in price was enormous. And it did not stop there.
“Fifty!”
“Fifty-five!”
“Sixty!”
Amid the heated responses, the bid for the first bottle soon exceeded one hundred spirit stones.
“That Fellow Daoist has bid one hundred and ten spirit stones! In truth, even this price is quite cheap compared to the Clear Bean Pill’s real value. Fellow Daoist, you are truly fortu...”
“One hundred and thirty spirit stones!”
With the auctioneer egging them on and the fevered bids of the crowd, the final price was declared at nearly two hundred spirit stones.
Jin Hyeon quietly nodded at that price.
He could afford that much.
Still, just in case, he asked Jo Yeongdo, seated beside him, whether the price was reasonable. Having spent a long time in the cultivation world, Jo Yeongdo readily gave an affirmative answer.
“I have heard of Clear Bean Pills often as well. I would not call them common, but they are rather well known among healing pills used by late Qi Refining cultivators. I once heard from another Martial Uncle that they have some effect even on Foundation Establishment cultivators, so two hundred spirit stones is not a bad price.”
Jo Yeongdo did not seem particularly interested in the Clear Bean Pills. Looking toward the door at the back of the auction platform, he added expectantly, “In truth, two hundred cannot even be called much. There will surely be cultivation pills that late Qi Refining cultivators need later in the auction, and those will easily exceed two hundred spirit stones. Hmm... if Junior Brother wishes to acquire such pills, do not waste spirit stones here. Save them.”
Jin Hyeon was slightly touched by Jo Yeongdo’s hesitant but sincere advice.
They might end up competing over medicinal pills, yet Jo Yeongdo was still advising him as a junior from the same sect, even though Jin Hyeon’s realm was higher.
He had not known Jo Yeongdo long, but Jin Hyeon felt that he was a good person.
However, Jin Hyeon had no intention of following that advice.
When the auction for the next bottle began, he immediately bid one hundred and fifty spirit stones to deter the other competitors.
The cultivators who had been actively bidding faltered at the sudden jump in price. Though it was lower than the previous winning bid, they considered whether they should continue.
But one bottle remained, and no one was willing to compete with Jin Hyeon after he had immediately called out one hundred and fifty spirit stones. Jin Hyeon secured the medicinal pills without further trouble.
One hundred and fifty spirit stones.
When he had first entered the Blue Willow Sect, such a huge sum would have made him tremble. But after accumulating wealth through various means, he could easily bear the expense.
Jo Yeongdo seemed about to say something about his purchase, then apparently decided it was none of his business and quietly returned his attention to the auction.
Jin Hyeon had no intention of buying cultivation pills in the first place.
The stone fragment already helped his cultivation automatically, so why would he spend spirit stones on medicinal pills?
But there was no harm in possessing useful consumables like these. While others, like Jo Yeongdo, saved their spirit stones for cultivation pills, Jin Hyeon decided to acquire them at a suitable price.
The third bottle ultimately went to a middle-aged cultivator for a price even higher than the first one after an even fiercer bidding war.
After the auction for the Clear Bean Pills ended, more medicinal pills were brought out one after another, but Jin Hyeon found none of them especially interesting.
While that happened, two cultivators belonging to the auction house approached from behind his seat and handed him a bottle resting on a silk cushion.
“Senior. Your Clear Bean Pills. Please inspect them yourself.”
‘They hand over the item as soon as it is won?’
Though surprised by the prompt delivery, Jin Hyeon accepted the jade bottle.
He briefly opened the sealed lid to check inside. Five blue pills lay within, and a thick grassy scent seeped out.
Once he confirmed there was no issue, Jin Hyeon lightly greeted the cultivators who had brought the Clear Bean Pills and placed the bottle in his storage pouch.
As he turned his attention from the ongoing pill auction and observed the others, Jin Hyeon noticed that the cultivator who had bought the Cloud Sea Sword and the old man who had obtained the brick artifact were both gone.
‘Ah, so that is why they deliver the items immediately...’
Several other people who had won auction items were missing as well, and Jin Hyeon understood the reason.
It was consideration for the successful bidders, allowing them to leave early and shake off any robbers who might follow them after the auction ended.
Jin Hyeon could not decide whether that consideration was good or bad.
It strongly felt as though the auction house meant to guarantee safety only within the auction, leaving everyone to handle whatever happened outside on their own.
The auction continued without pause.
When a bottle of powerful cultivation pills suitable for late Qi Refining cultivators appeared, the cultivators called out bids with wild enthusiasm. In the end, medicinal pills suitable for a Qi Refining, Level 12 cultivator sold for the enormous sum of six hundred spirit stones per bottle.
At a price surpassing even a high-grade magical artifact, Jin Hyeon could feel just how immense cultivators’ desire to advance their realms was.
When a cultivation pill called the Red Smoke Pill, which an early Foundation Establishment cultivator could consume, appeared, the Foundation Establishment cultivators scattered around the auction house and those behind the formation barriers on the upper levels all joined in at once. Its price eventually climbed to an astonishing three thousand spirit stones.
‘Can medicinal pills really earn that many spirit stones?’
Seeing that, Jin Hyeon thought he should learn some pill refining.
After all, compared with external possessions such as magical artifacts or spirit artifacts, medicinal pills that could raise one’s own cultivation realm were bound to be valued more highly.
Of course, that might differ at higher realms.
While Jin Hyeon was lost in miscellaneous thoughts, female cultivators continued to carry out a variety of auction items, and each was displayed and sold in turn.
Among them was the Meteor Stone that Slow Leaf Master had put forward at the exchange gathering, as well as an ape-like spirit beast with the unusual ability to detect hidden enemies.
Books and bamboo slips containing various spell arts and secret arts, the sort Jin Hyeon had never encountered even while coming and going from the Jade Cloud Tower, also appeared on the auction platform. So did cultivation methods specialized for different attributes, all of which went into cultivators’ hands.
One of them was the Azure Lotus Grass Cultivation Art, a wood-aspected cultivation method suitable for cultivators with wood spirit roots. It contained cultivation methods reaching all the way to late Core Formation, and countless independent cultivators fiercely competed for it.
“One hundred!”
“Do not even dream of it. I will take this. One hundred and fifty spirit stones!”
“You lot who will never even reach Core Formation sure are greedy! Two hundred!”
Other than being a rare wood-aspected cultivation method, it possessed no special abilities.
Moreover, as one cultivator had pointed out, obtaining the cultivation method did not guarantee that someone would reach Core Formation, or even Foundation Establishment.
Yet as Jin Hyeon watched independent cultivators freely spend their wealth for a cultivation method compatible with their own spirit roots that could lead to Core Formation, he realized anew what a great benefit it was to read cultivation methods in his sect for a low price.
Nearly an entire day passed as the auction proceeded with vibrant energy.
At the center of the hall, overflowing with excitement, the auctioneer clapped loudly.
“Now, it is time for the featured items you have all been waiting for!”
Everyone’s attention focused on the center.
Featured items.
Jin Hyeon recalled the information he had learned about auctions.
At the end of an auction, highly valuable and rare featured items would appear. Their types were not limited.
They were simply the most valuable items in that particular auction, designated as featured items to keep cultivators present until the end.
Jin Hyeon had not managed to learn what this auction’s featured items would be, nor was he sure whether he could buy any of them. Still, he watched the central platform with anticipation.
If an item even better than the previous ones appeared, perhaps there would be a powerful spirit artifact, or even a Foundation Establishment Pill.
As everyone watched with eager gazes, the auctioneer smiled faintly and spoke.
“It seems everyone has great expectations for the featured items. I myself desire this auction’s final items so greatly that I envy all of you who can compete to obtain them. Then let us immediately introduce the first featured item!”
This time, a female cultivator carried out a cylinder.
The cylinder itself did not seem particularly special, so it appeared to be a container for the featured item.
‘What could be stored in a cylinder?’
The auctioneer took the cylinder from her, gave it a light twist, and pulled out a rolled scroll.
The moment he unfolded the scroll so that the seats in the auction hall could see it, Jin Hyeon could not help admiring it.
It was a beautiful painting.
A pavilion stood atop a high mountain, and inside it sat a woman meditating while holding something in both hands.
With its vivid colors and indescribably intense aura, the painting made a powerful impression on everyone who saw it.
Moreover, the painting rippled faintly like a reflection on water, making it even more mysterious.
Since it had appeared as one of the auction’s featured items, it could not be an ordinary painting.
Apparently satisfied by everyone’s fixed stares, the auctioneer introduced it in a loud voice.
“This is a special magical artifact in a form rarely seen even at our Pyeongeum City auction. Since the seller who submitted it did not reveal the painting’s name, we have provisionally called it the Meditation Portrait of a Woman.”
“First, let us see this magical artifact’s ability.”
The auctioneer nodded toward a female cultivator from the auction house, who had brought a large boulder and placed it beside him, then turned back.
He raised the painting before the boulder and poured spiritual power into it.
The next moment,
Thump!
A brief sound like a leather drum being struck rang out, and the boulder vanished without a trace.
The eyes of Jin Hyeon and the other cultivators widened.
Even so, several Foundation Establishment cultivators nodded as if they understood.
When the auctioneer raised the painting again for the cultivators to see and turned in a circle, Jin Hyeon saw that a boulder, which had not been there before, now stood beside the pavilion in the painting.
“Does it store objects... no, is it sealing them?”
Jin Hyeon narrowed his eyes and strengthened his vision by infusing them with spiritual qi, scrutinizing the painting as he guessed at its ability.
His guess was nearly correct.
“As you have seen, the Meditation Portrait of a Woman possesses the ability to forcibly seize objects, draw them into the painting, and seal them inside! However, its defining feature is that this ability is not limited to objects. It can also be used on living beings!”
The hall stirred briefly at those words.
It could capture living beings. Would that not make victory easy if one sealed away an opposing cultivator during battle?
“Three hundred spirit stones!”
Before the auctioneer had even finished explaining, a cultivator called out a bid.
The auctioneer smiled happily, but stopped the further bids that erupted afterward.
“Now! I am delighted by your enthusiastic response already. However, this magical artifact cannot capture an opponent stronger than its user. Even if it captures someone of a similar level, spiritual power must be continuously expended to keep them sealed. Please bear this in mind!”
The bids rising from all around faltered at those words.
Seeing that many of the bidders were Foundation Establishment cultivators, Jin Hyeon understood why the auctioneer had deliberately explained the painting’s flaw.
The auction house probably did not want to give a wealthy, and likely powerful, Foundation Establishment cultivator who could outbid countless others any grounds for complaint.
Even if the auction house occasionally fleeced people with a few questionable items, it could not afford to lose the trust of high-level cultivators who could truly make their voices heard.
‘If they had been Qi Refining cultivators, they would not have cared. Perhaps there were already several items like that which I failed to notice.’
Though they had hesitated, the cultivators’ greed for the painting did not end.
Most Foundation Establishment cultivators withdrew from the competition, but late Qi Refining cultivators continued to raise the price, apparently deciding it was still useful.
Then, when the price neared one thousand spirit stones, Jin Hyeon heard a familiar voice.
“One thousand five hundred spirit stones!”
The person who declared that shocking price, more than half again as high as the previous bid, was someone Jin Hyeon knew well: Seomun Hyeok.
“Even if it has a good ability, is that magical artifact really worth that much?”
Shocked by a bid that exceeded all of his current wealth, Jin Hyeon thought Seomun Hyeok was extremely interested in the Meditation Portrait of a Woman.
Yet for some reason, Seomun Hyeok’s face in the direction Jin Hyeon was looking had gone red, its veins bulging.
‘Hmm?’
* * *
At the same time, in a waiting room above the auction hall.
“Ho. Is that it?”
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