WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
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◈ Carefree Tale of Cultivation ◈
Chapter 6: Azure Forge Pavilion (1)
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“Brother Jin, that must be the Mission Hall. Wow, it’s already packed with people.”
“Looks like it. Good thing we came early, just as Senior Brother Maeng advised.”
Jin Hyeon nodded and looked toward the spacious hall before them.
Behind the pillars bearing a wooden plaque that read “Mission Hall” lay a broad stone plaza.
Despite the early hour, the crowd seemed to number well over a hundred.
Most were new disciples like them, dressed in sky-blue robes. In groups, they surrounded wooden notice boards and stone steles scattered throughout the plaza.
“Let’s go find ourselves some suitable odd jobs too.”
The youth who had been chatting beside Jin Hyeon and leading the conversation took the lead.
His name was Won Hyu, the fourth prince of the Sang Kingdom, a neighboring country to the Wol Kingdom where Jin Hyeon had lived.
Jin Hyeon had been surprised when he first learned Won Hyu was a prince, but mortal status no longer meant anything to them.
Won Hyu had not had much contact with Jin Hyeon while they traveled aboard the flying vessel or cultivated in their respective cave dwellings.
Their first conversation had occurred when Won Hyu, while expanding his connections as the day for disciples to take on odd jobs approached, discovered that Jin Hyeon had reached the fifth layer of Qi Refining and abruptly began calling him brother with the easy brazenness of a snake climbing over a wall.
Seeing how Won Hyu used his gift for words to make connections everywhere, Jin Hyeon thought it would not be bad to grow closer to this young prince.
Five days after they had casually begun addressing each other as brothers, the two were now heading out to accept odd jobs together.
Several fellow disciples followed Won Hyu and Jin Hyeon toward the Mission Hall.
“What kinds of odd jobs do you think there’ll be? Senior Brother Maeng said that if we came late, only the ones close to grueling manual labor would remain.”
“Even if there are lots of odd jobs, do you think we can just pick whichever ones we want?”
“Right. Senior Brother Maeng said the jobs that earn a lot of spirit stones are beyond our cultivation levels.”
Though they had already entered the cultivation world a month ago, the disciples still had not lost their childishness as they chattered away.
The Senior Brother Maeng they mentioned was the one who had managed them under Martial Uncle Gwang’s orders and had also given them some simple advice before they came to accept odd jobs.
Listening to their conversation, Jin Hyeon wondered what sort of task he would take on.
“Haha, unless your talent is as outstanding as Senior Brother Jin’s, what can you take on at your cultivation level besides things like repairing buildings?”
Then he heard their conversation turn to him.
They were clearly fellow disciples, yet because he had advanced by one layer within the same major realm, they had begun calling him senior brother.
As expected, in this world, forms of address and rank were influenced far more by strength than by other factors.
“I wish my cultivation could rise as quickly as Senior Brother Jin’s...”
“Exactly. I have a triple spirit root too, but even after buying and taking two bottles of Qi Refining Pills from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, I’m still at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Even among people with triple spirit roots, the gap in talent is huge...”
“What? How did you buy two bottles again?”
“I borrowed from another senior brother, of course. If only I could reach the fifth layer of Qi Refining like Senior Brother Jin, I wouldn’t even need to worry about debt.”
Jin Hyeon felt strangely conflicted by their conversation.
He could not be called particularly talented.
Not when he had been in the martial world, nor after entering the immortal path.
The only reason his cultivation had risen so quickly was his special ability.
‘Come to think of it, when will this activate again?’
Jin Hyeon kept his expression unchanged as he thought to himself.
After cultivating in the Pitch-Black Space last time, he had gained a connection to it. Through that connection, he knew this ability would be triggered again before too long.
He did not know exactly when, but he had a guess.
‘Based on my previous experience, probably two...’
“Brother Jin, let’s start with the place where the most disciples have gathered.”
Jin Hyeon emerged from his thoughts.
They had reached the plaza without him noticing, and Won Hyu was pointing toward a stone pillar at one side of it.
Jin Hyeon nodded lightly and headed over.
More than several dozen people surrounded the pillar, but it was not difficult to see the odd jobs listed on it.
That was because the words were not carved into the pillar. They floated in the air.
Like holograms from his previous life, golden words floated around the pillar. Jin Hyeon examined them one by one.
At the top of the pillar, only the words “Pill Refining” were carved into a stone plaque. Beneath them, glowing odd jobs were listed in rows.
Each listing contained a brief description and requirements. It seemed that the detailed information could be checked separately inside the Mission Hall.
[Azure Mist Grass Cultivation: Assist Pill Refining Hall in cultivating Azure Mist Grass. Qi Refining, Level 2 and mastery of the Spirit Rain Technique required.]
[Moon Spirit Grass Care: Tend Martial Uncle Hong Yuso’s Moon Spirit Grass field. Late Qi Refining required.]
[Spirit Herb Seed Care: Pill Refining Hall...]
[Yellowwood Tree...]
Since pill refining was counted among the Four Great Arts of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, there appeared to be far more registered odd jobs here than elsewhere.
Many had been posted by Pill Refining Hall, the sect office responsible for pill refining, while many others had been posted personally by cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage.
However, most involved managing or cultivating spirit herbs for pill-making, so most disciples did not possess the basic abilities necessary to take on those tasks.
After looking through the pill-refining jobs, Jin Hyeon began to examine the jobs listed elsewhere.
The types were extremely varied, as were their requirements and rewards.
There were jobs to mine a designated amount from spirit stone mines managed by the sect, assist Foundation Establishment martial uncles with outside work, or eliminate low-grade demon beasts whose numbers had recently surged in nearby areas.
There was even a job to become an experimental subject for a spell being researched by a Foundation Establishment martial uncle.
Jin Hyeon was more shocked by the fact that five people had already applied than by the blatant human experimentation.
‘Well, with that many spirit stones as a reward, perhaps plenty of disciples would be willing to take the risk?’
Just now, one of his fellow disciples had said that they had gone into debt to buy medicinal pills, only to gain no results.
There were surely more than one or two low-level disciples like that in the sect.
As such situations piled up, there would naturally be people willing to take risks to earn spirit stones, whether to repay debts or purchase better pills.
Jin Hyeon had originally intended to select an odd job that earned as many spirit stones as possible, since his cultivation had progressed slowly. But now, he had no reason to do so.
With his ability ensuring that cultivation would not be a problem, Jin Hyeon decided to simply choose something that interested him.
After wandering around the plaza for a while, Jin Hyeon found a wooden board marked “Artifact Refining.”
Like pill refining, artifact refining was called one of the Four Great Arts. Simply put, it involved crafting the various items and weapons cultivators used, such as magical artifacts and flying vessels.
Jin Hyeon had long been interested in the magical artifacts used by cultivators. As he looked through the odd jobs here, he found a suitable one.
[Artifact Refining Work Assistant: Assist Martial Uncle Ha with general duties at Azure Forge Pavilion. Mid Qi Refining required.]
The reward was not small, and since the work covered such a broad range of duties, Jin Hyeon hoped he might learn a little artifact refining just by watching. With that thought, he headed into the inner hall of the Mission Hall.
“I would like to take the job assisting Martial Uncle Ha at Azure Forge Pavilion.”
An elderly clerk sorting bamboo slips behind a registration desk piled high with them pulled out a relatively new-looking slip from the stack in hand.
“The job registered by Martial Uncle Ha will be carried out at the third branch of Azure Forge Pavilion. Read it carefully. If you still wish to take the job, place your identity token against the bamboo slip and send spiritual qi into it.”
The elderly clerk set the bamboo slip on the desk before Jin Hyeon, explained quickly, and returned to sorting the slips.
Jin Hyeon lightly cupped his hands in salute, then opened the slip.
It contained a more detailed description of the task recorded in the plaza, and a small pattern was carved into the final section.
After reading it, Jin Hyeon took a metal token from his storage pouch.
His name was carved on one side, while the other bore Blue Willow Sect’s emblem: three mountains and a stele.
This was the identity token made when he joined Blue Willow Sect, and it could be used in many ways within the sect.
Jin Hyeon pressed the token against the pattern on the bamboo slip and gently sent spiritual qi into it.
The slip flashed briefly, and the Azure Forge Pavilion job that had been glowing in the plaza outside vanished.
At the same time, Jin Hyeon’s identity token gave a small vibration.
Seeing this, the elderly clerk returned and took back the bamboo slip.
“You can find the third branch if you go behind that peak.”
The elderly clerk pointed into the distance with a dry finger. Without saying anything further, they disappeared into the inner part of the hall again.
Seeing how busy the elderly clerk was, Jin Hyeon could not bring himself to ask more questions and returned to the plaza.
He bid farewell to Won Hyu and the other disciples, who were still searching for jobs, then left the Mission Hall.
Walking in the direction the old man had indicated, he passed several small peaks.
Then Jin Hyeon felt the surroundings change.
“It’s hot... And the spiritual qi is dense. Is this where a spiritual vein runs?”
A spiritual vein was a place where spiritual qi flowed densely deep beneath the ground.
Most sects and cultivation forces established themselves around such veins, creating environments richer in spiritual qi than elsewhere.
That was one of the distinctions between the places where mortals lived and those where cultivators lived.
Blue Willow Sect itself had been established atop a massive spiritual vein, with smaller branches of the vein extending throughout the sect.
Jin Hyeon followed the faint heat ahead and soon reached his destination.
Since it was called a pavilion, he had expected a larger building. Instead, what Jin Hyeon found was an ordinary tiled house, the sort commonly seen in the mortal world.
And aside from that tiled house, there was nothing else.
There were no disciples moving in perfect order, no massive furnaces, no enormous flying vessels in the midst of construction!
Faced with a scene utterly unlike what he had expected, so empty it was almost surprising, Jin Hyeon wondered if he had come to the wrong place.
However, the old sign planted conspicuously in front of the house, written in sloppy handwriting, denied it.
“Third Branch of Azure Forge Pavilion.”
“Disciple Jin Hyeon has come to take on the odd job assigned by Martial Uncle Ha.”
Jin Hyeon straightened his posture and called out before the main gate.
Yet even after a long while, no reply came.
“Is anyone here?”
Still, no one answered or came out.
Jin Hyeon had waited long enough and was about to grab the gate and try opening it when...
“Come in.”
At the sound of a voice from somewhere, the gate opened by itself.
Jin Hyeon flinched, but followed the voice’s instructions and went inside.
The spacious courtyard and the several buildings lined up within were just as deserted.
Jin Hyeon stood blankly in the center of the courtyard, wondering what he should do next. Then voices came from the rear courtyard.
“How many times have I...!”
“I...”
The voice that had instructed him at the gate was among them, but it sounded strangely heated.
Jin Hyeon cautiously headed around the back of the house.
“How many times have I told you not to handle spirit artifacts carelessly... Tsk, tsk.”
Then he saw a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar burying someone in the ground with only their head left exposed.
‘Should I run?’
Jin Hyeon instinctively prepared to flee.
“Forgive me, Master!”
Fortunately, the head stuck in the ground shouted, letting Jin Hyeon realize that this was not a murder scene. He only flinched where he stood.
“Hehe. People say beans grow where beans are planted, and red beans where red beans are planted, but that saying is not always right. Look at this. I planted a worthless disciple in the ground, and now he has become a good disciple, hasn’t he?”
The middle-aged man happily stroked his short beard a few times, then brought down the stick in his right hand.
“Ah! Ah!”
Only after striking the buried head a few times did the middle-aged man toss the stick into a corner of the courtyard.
“Consider yourself lucky, you brat. A new odd-job disciple has arrived, so take him and explain things.”
“Yes!”
The middle-aged man turned toward the still-frozen Jin Hyeon.
“You. What is your name?”
“This disciple is Jin Hyeon!”
“Good. Learn what you need to do from that useless fellow. If I need anything, I’ll call for you separately. Until then, help that fellow with his work.”
With that, he vanished like the wind.
Jin Hyeon, who had been about to finish his greeting, raised his awkwardly bowed head.
“You said your name was Jin Hyeon, right? Glad to have you! My name is Myeong Seokho. Call me Senior Brother Myeong!”
As the young man, still buried in the ground, greeted him, Jin Hyeon had an intuition.
His life working at Azure Forge Pavilion would not be smooth.
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