WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
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◈ Carefree Tale of Cultivation ◈
Chapter 8: Jade Cloud Tower
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Inhale... exhale...
In his cave dwelling, Jin Hyeon focused, inhaling and exhaling as he circulated spiritual qi according to the formula of the Minor Five Phases Art.
A cool current traveled through his spirit channels, danjeon, heart, and brain before being guided by his spirit root into the Soul Sea, where his soul resided.
As spiritual qi accumulated within his very being once more, accompanied by a majestic surge of power, Jin Hyeon broke through... not.
He was still at the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
“I wasn't expecting much, but this is way too slow.”
The cultivation he achieved in the Pitch-Black Space was utterly incomparable to the cultivation he earned through effort outside.
Even with Azure Forge Pavilion's spiritual vein stimulating him, his rate of absorbing spiritual qi had barely improved. Ordinary cultivation outside felt meaningless to Jin Hyeon.
After uncrossing his legs, Jin Hyeon drank a cup of tea he had brewed earlier and reflected on his recent life in the sect.
It had already been several weeks since he began doing odd jobs at Azure Forge Pavilion, and he was gradually getting used to this life.
His work mainly involved preparing refining materials. He also ran errands for Martial Uncle Ha or occasionally assisted Myeong Seokho while he made magical artifacts.
He was not yet permitted into the cave dwelling where Martial Uncle Ha refined artifacts, but once he had accumulated a little more knowledge of refining, he felt he could assist him.
“I'll receive thirty spirit stones after working at Azure Forge Pavilion for a month... What should I buy?”
Besides, he would soon receive his first “salary.”
As Jin Hyeon considered what he might need, he suddenly flinched and sprang to his feet.
His connection to the Pitch-Black Space was rapidly strengthening.
Startled by the sudden sensation, Jin Hyeon dropped the teacup in his hand.
“I've entered again...”
Before the cup could even hit the ground, he was inside the Pitch-Black Space.
The darkness was exactly the same as last time, as were his soul and the stone fragment floating at its center.
“So there really is a four-week cooldown...”
Counting the days, Jin Hyeon confirmed that his guess had been right.
He had first entered this place during his spirit root test. Twenty-eight days later, he had been transported here in front of Hundred Treasures Pavilion.
Today was another twenty-eighth day from that point, so it seemed certain that he would come here every four weeks.
Moreover, considering that he had spent twenty-eight days inside last time, it appeared that the waiting period before he could enter again matched the time he spent in this space.
However, Jin Hyeon did not know whether that period could be adjusted.
In any case, he still did not fully understand this ability.
With calm steps, Jin Hyeon approached his faintly glowing soul.
He slowly reached for the stone fragment embedded at its center and quietly floating there, but ultimately withdrew his hand without touching it.
Now that he had felt his connection to this place and entered it again, he understood.
This space filled with spiritual qi, and the time that stopped while he was inside it.
It was all caused by that black stone fragment.
It was the source of the “cheat code” he possessed.
Countless questions filled Jin Hyeon's mind.
Where was this place? Was it the Soul Sea where his soul resided?
What was that stone? What kind of divine object could stop time itself?
And why was it embedded in his soul, fused with it as one?
But all of it was futile.
With the knowledge and ability of a weak cultivator only at the Qi Refining stage, he could not unravel such secrets. Besides, it benefited him, so he had no intention of complaining.
“Let's cultivate.”
Just as before, Jin Hyeon plopped down beneath his soul and crossed his legs.
Following the formula of the Minor Five Phases Art again, he began absorbing spiritual qi.
A brimming flow of spiritual qi coursed through his spirit channels once more.
* * *
Crash.
The small teacup struck the stone floor and shattered into pieces.
Ignoring it, Jin Hyeon examined his condition.
The deeper spiritual qi within him told him that he had reached the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
If the other disciples saw this, they would likely vomit blood from envy.
Normally, raising one's realm by a single layer in the middle stage of Qi Refining required at least several months, sometimes as long as a year, of grueling cultivation.
To ascend two layers in a single month was something they could not even imagine.
Yet Jin Hyeon himself was not satisfied with this result.
Of course, he knew how tremendous it was to rise two layers at once.
He simply did not believe this was the best result possible.
Jin Hyeon furrowed his brow as he recalled what he had felt while cultivating.
The spiritual qi in the environment created by the stone fragment was more than abundant.
Yet he had not absorbed all of that plentiful spiritual qi.
Partly because its sheer quantity was simply too great, but also because his current cultivation art, the Minor Five Phases Art, was far too slow.
The Pitch-Black Space was not some immortal paradise where merely entering would raise his realm by magic.
External time stopped and cultivation accelerated, but he still had to personally operate his cultivation art and absorb the spiritual qi.
Since the Minor Five Phases Art was a cultivation art the sect provided to build a basic foundation of spiritual qi, it was gentle but low in quality. This outcome was only natural.
Jin Hyeon decided not to waste the advantages this ability gave him.
“At least I've decided where to spend my first ‘salary.’”
* * *
In the north of Blue Willow Sect lay the highest peaks and deepest valleys of the magnificent Cheongyu Mountain Range.
At the summit of a high peak swept by fierce winds stood a towering pagoda.
Above the entrance of the pagoda, adorned with beautiful yet restrained decorations, hung a plaque bearing the words Jade Cloud Tower.
Looking up at the name, Jin Hyeon wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He had not expected the sect's repository of cultivation arts to be in such a remote place.
If he had not sworn not to spend his spirit stones carelessly before choosing a suitable cultivation art here, he would have bought a flying magical artifact to ride over.
Even with his body strengthened by spiritual qi, Jin Hyeon slapped his trembling legs and walked toward the tower entrance.
After emerging from the Pitch-Black Space last time, he had spent several days working at Azure Forge Pavilion while listening to Senior Brother Myeong praise his “talent.” Only then had Jin Hyeon received his first month's compensation.
The moment he received it, he came here to Jade Cloud Tower to acquire a new cultivation art.
Hummm.
The instant Jin Hyeon approached Jade Cloud Tower and tried to pass through the wall that appeared to mark its outer boundary, a pale yellow curtain of light rose before him.
“Is this a protective formation?”
A formation, also called a formation array or simply an array, was a kind of defensive barrier.
It was one of the four great arts of cultivation, operated by arranging flags or certain objects in a special manner and infusing them with spiritual qi.
It was such a complex field that people said those without talent could not even begin to learn it.
Encountering a formation for the first time, Jin Hyeon observed it with interest.
The barrier before him blocked only the space he needed to pass through, while the sides appeared completely open.
Yet when he stepped to the right, the barrier appeared there again. The same happened when he went left.
Apparently, the formation covered the entire tower, but displayed only the part directly in front of disciples as a warning that a formation was present.
It was interesting, but he decided to stop admiring it there.
Jin Hyeon took out his identity token from his storage pouch and lightly tapped it against the yellow barrier's surface.
Ripples spread across the barrier from where the token touched it, and soon an opening just large enough for him to pass through appeared.
Jin Hyeon immediately passed through the barrier, which vanished from his sight at once.
As he drew close to the first floor of Jade Cloud Tower, he found a rather small door.
Creeeak.
Perhaps it had not been oiled, for the hinges made an unpleasant sound.
Entering, Jin Hyeon looked around at the interior, which was even more spacious than the outside suggested.
Bookshelves lining the walls from the tower's first floor onward, along with countless books and bamboo slips, greeted him with the scent of old wood.
Through the opening in the ceiling, where a spiral staircase ran, he could see the similarly arranged second and third floors.
The upper floors could not be observed this way from the fourth floor onward.
“What have you come looking for?”
Startled by the voice that suddenly came from beside him, Jin Hyeon whipped his head around.
There stood an elder in shabby clothes, seated behind a worn table and calmly stroking their beard.
Jin Hyeon had sensed neither presence nor spiritual power until just now. Where had this elder come from?
Jin Hyeon cupped his fist in salute and sensed the other's spiritual power.
‘Third layer of Qi Refining?’
His lips twitched at the unbelievable result.
The elder responsible for Jade Cloud Tower, which stored the sect's cultivation arts and was even protected by a formation, could not possibly be at the third layer of Qi Refining.
Of course, they might truly be a failed cultivator at the third layer of Qi Refining. But Jin Hyeon always preferred to prepare for the worst.
It would put his mind more at ease to assume the other was an expert concealing his realm.
“Disciple Jin Hyeon has come to find a cultivation art to learn in place of the Minor Five Phases Art.”
“The Minor Five Phases Art?”
The elder tilted their head at Jin Hyeon's words, then beckoned him closer.
After studying Jin Hyeon's face intently, they smiled with interest.
“If you are still practicing the Minor Five Phases Art, you must not have entered the sect long ago, and your talent must have been insufficient for you to find a master... Yet you are already at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.”
Jin Hyeon lowered his head without a word.
“Judging by your age and the condition of your spirit channels, you have not even cultivated for several months. If you reached this realm with the Minor Five Phases Art alone, your talent is certainly outstanding. Are young people these days all blind?”
Realizing that the “young people” he referred to were Foundation Establishment cultivators, Jin Hyeon lowered his head even further.
“Ho ho, but you are quite admirable. One day, you will easily hold the post of elder in our Blue Willow Sect.”
“Thank you for your praise, sir.”
Since the elder was concealing their realm, Jin Hyeon chose to call them “sir” rather than use a title based on seniority or generation.
Apparently pleased by this, the elder slapped the table.
“Good. I shall remember your name. Now, I will explain how to use Jade Cloud Tower. At your Qi Refining stage, you may consult up to the third floor. Every bamboo slip and book contains only an introduction and a portion of its contents. Look carefully, then come to me once you have chosen something you wish to copy.”
Jin Hyeon nodded as he listened to the elder's explanation.
The elder did not mention a time limit, but lingering too long would probably not earn Jin Hyeon favorable looks.
Jin Hyeon immediately headed for the bookshelves to search for a cultivation art, then hesitated.
After some consideration, he asked the elder, “Could you perhaps recommend a cultivation art suitable for me, sir?”
The elder seemed to have a favorable opinion of his “talent,” so they might grant such a request.
Of course, having made the request, Jin Hyeon would have to accept whichever cultivation art the elder selected. But if an expert of presumed high realm chose it, it would likely be better than one Jin Hyeon chose himself.
“You want a recommendation? Certainly! I happen to be quite skilled at divination, so I shall choose a cultivation art that suits your path to immortality.”
Before Jin Hyeon could even be startled by the more enthusiastic response than expected, the elder's rough hand pulled him into a chair across from the table.
The elder took out five gray sticks from who knew where and waved them about.
“Now, infuse these with your spiritual qi.”
That was all? Did he not need information such as his spirit root or birth date?
Though skeptical, Jin Hyeon infused the sticks with spiritual qi as instructed.
The elder muttered under their breath for a while before pouring the sticks onto the table.
Clatter.
To Jin Hyeon's surprise, instead of scattering randomly, the sticks formed the shape of an arrow.
While Jin Hyeon wondered what this result meant, the elder took out a bamboo slip lying in the direction the arrow pointed.
“...”
They held the bamboo slip against a book they pulled out from beneath the table, then handed the book to Jin Hyeon.
“Here you are. Just pay twenty spirit stones.”
Feeling as though he had been swindled somehow, Jin Hyeon reluctantly paid the price with his precious spirit stones, bid the elder farewell, and left Jade Cloud Tower.
Even after Jin Hyeon left, the elder stared at the table.
Stroking their beard, they narrowed their eyes.
“Should this be interpreted as having died once and come back to life?”
The elder examined the sticks gathered into an arrow shape, then swept them away with a wave of their hand.
“Bah... Tch! I have no idea! Divination really is impossible for me. Should I go learn from that old-timer Hwangsa again? If even divining the fortune of a Qi Refining disciple is this difficult...”
Clicking their tongue, they returned behind the table and waited for another disciple to arrive.
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