WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: DereKimchi
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◈ Carefree Tale of Cultivation ◈
Chapter 9: A New Cultivation Method, a Life of Leisure
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Jin Hyeon returned to the cozy cave dwelling, which had begun to feel like home.
The chair he reached after the arduous climb was more comfortable than ever.
As usual, Jin Hyeon brewed himself a cup of tea and examined the cultivation method he had received from Azure Cloud Tower.
The way he had obtained it was highly suspicious, but the old man had deemed it worth twenty spirit stones. At any rate, it had to be better than the Minor Five Phases Art.
The book containing the cultivation method was made of crisp new paper.
The contents of a bamboo slip could be copied into another book merely by placing it against it for a moment. The various techniques of the cultivation world were always fascinating.
“The Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art...”
The cultivation method's name, engraved on its leather cover, seemed rather excessive for something a Qi Refining cultivator would encounter.
Jin Hyeon turned the pages and examined his new cultivation method.
As its name suggested, the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art was a lightning-aspect cultivation method.
In truth, cultivation methods like the Minor Five Phases Art, which were not limited by any spirit root or aspect, were rare. Methods that focused primarily on a single aspect or element were the norm.
The Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art cultivated thunder qi, and naturally, it required one to draw in thunder qi.
Of course, just as cultivators learning water-aspect cultivation methods did not immerse themselves in water, those drawing in thunder qi did not deliberately get struck by lightning or electrocute themselves.
He simply had to draw in thunder qi, which belonged to wood among the five phases, through his wood spirit root and cultivate it.
However, the thunder qi accumulated this way was not circulated like spiritual qi.
“Thunder marks?”
The Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art stated that thunder qi had to be used to inscribe something called thunder marks in the Soul Sea.
One thunder mark was first inscribed at the first layer of Qi Refining, then another was added for every layer gained afterward. This was the central focus of cultivating the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art.
It looked far more difficult than the Minor Five Phases Art, which only required him to draw in and circulate spiritual qi. Yet there was a reason for that.
According to the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art, the twelve thunder marks accumulated this way would help break through the bottleneck when advancing to Foundation Establishment.
Jin Hyeon's eyes gleamed at that passage.
Anything that helped one advance to the Foundation Establishment stage was no small matter.
Anyone with a spirit root could enter the Qi Refining stage, and unless their aptitude was disastrously poor, anyone could reach the twelfth layer before exhausting their hundred-and-fifty-year lifespan.
But Foundation Establishment was different.
It was the stage at which one was recognized as a true cultivator, where fundamental transformation began, and a barrier that countless people failed to overcome.
Even a genius who reached the twelfth layer of Qi Refining at a young age had no guarantee of overcoming the wall of Foundation Establishment.
Even Jin Hyeon could not be certain that the stone fragment would help him overcome the Foundation Establishment bottleneck, even if it accelerated his cultivation.
Yet the cultivation method now in his hands could assist with Foundation Establishment. Compared to it, the Minor Five Phases Art could be called garbage.
Jin Hyeon could not understand why such an incredible cultivation method cost only twenty spirit stones.
After reading through all the formulas for the Qi Refining stage, Jin Hyeon soon discovered that there were no more pages to turn.
“What? Why does it only contain material up to early Foundation Establishment?”
At first, he wondered if part of it had been torn out. But even the formulas near the end were incomplete. It seemed that the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art had been incomplete from the time Blue Willow Sect acquired it.
He was dumbfounded that the cultivation method the old man had recommended after even casting a divination ended at early Foundation Establishment. Still, it would help him reach Foundation Establishment, so he decided that good was good enough.
After setting the cultivation method aside for a moment and drinking a cup of tea to settle his mind, Jin Hyeon immediately decided to test it.
At the very least, he wanted to gain a sense of what kind of cultivation method it was.
After confirming that the entrance to his cave dwelling was securely closed, Jin Hyeon brought over a cushion and laid it on the cave floor.
Then, crossing his legs in a posture that had become more familiar than sitting in a chair, he followed the formulas of the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art instead of the Minor Five Phases Art that had accompanied him until now. Using his wood spirit root as the focus, he drew in spiritual qi.
The spiritual qi, which had once felt merely cool, now came with a slight tingling sensation.
This continued for several hours.
“...I can't keep doing this.”
Feeling the numbness in his legs for the first time in a very long while, Jin Hyeon groaned and fell backward.
He sighed as he touched the hair standing on end from static electricity.
It seemed the reason this cultivation method cost only twenty spirit stones was not just its incompleteness, but also its difficulty.
He had cultivated for only a short time, yet there was the vastly greater difficulty of gathering spiritual qi compared to the Minor Five Phases Art, along with the slight rejection arising in a body unaccustomed to thunder qi.
It was truly difficult.
He had clearly wanted a cultivation method that absorbed spiritual power faster than the Minor Five Phases Art, yet somehow he had ended up learning one that was even harder.
Someone else might have given up and looked for another cultivation method, but Jin Hyeon thought this was not so bad either.
If he cultivated in the black space created by the stone fragment, his cultivation would improve rapidly anyway.
If so, it was better to learn a cultivation method with slower progress but a higher ceiling than the Minor Five Phases Art or another method that accumulated cultivation power even faster.
The fact that it helped with Foundation Establishment alone made this cultivation method worth learning.
“I'll have to leave it to myself a month from now.”
Ordinary cultivation was nearly meaningless anyway, so he would leave cultivating to his future self.
Jin Hyeon closed his eyes as he lay on the floor of his cave dwelling.
And so, time passed at Blue Willow Sect.
Every day, Jin Hyeon stopped by Azure Forge Pavilion to clean Martial Uncle Ha's residence and prepare artifact-refinement materials with Myeong Seokho.
Stopping Myeong Seokho from causing trouble and receiving praise from Martial Uncle Ha had now become part of his daily life.
Once his schedule at Azure Forge Pavilion ended, he wandered around the sect.
Other disciples worked each day to raise their realms, cultivating as soon as they finished their odd jobs or had time to rest. But Jin Hyeon had no need to do that.
He sought out peaks in the Cheongyu Mountain Range said to have beautiful views and lay there for hours admiring the scenery.
He admired the statue of Immortal Cheongyu, Blue Willow Sect's founding ancestor, which stood before the main hall at the center of the sect.
Sometimes, he simply lay in the grass and gazed at a night sky brighter and more full of stars than anything from his previous life until dawn arrived.
He also enjoyed fishing in a broad pond, something he had not often done in his short previous life. He did not catch any large fish, but fish roasted on the Scorching Sun Sword were excellent even without special seasoning.
With his remaining spirit stones, he bought his first flying magical artifact and fully enjoyed the joy of flying for himself for the first time.
The sight of everything below converging into tiny dots from high in the sky was especially moving.
It was only a low-grade magical artifact, so it was not particularly fast. But flying was still flying. Moreover, its increased mobility let him visit a wider variety of places.
He visited Azure Dragon Pavilion, where spirit beasts were raised on the sect's outskirts, and observed those unusual creatures from afar.
At other times, he simply soared high into the sky and wandered through the low-hanging clouds.
He even thought that this sort of life might be what cultivators ought to pursue.
He occasionally met other disciples within the sect as well.
He spoke with Nam Hyeok and Jin Seol-ha, dual cultivation partners assigned odd jobs at Azure Dragon Pavilion, and heard about the cultivation clans outside the sect.
He also shared drinking gatherings with the cultivators Won Hyu had gathered. For a prince, Won Hyu was remarkably sociable.
Jin Hyeon could only marvel at Won Hyu's ability to bring together everyone from low-realm cultivators to Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters at late Qi Refining and create a space for fellowship.
As he repeated his work at Azure Forge Pavilion, his leisurely life, and his exchanges with other cultivators, twenty-three days passed in the blink of an eye...
Within the cave dwelling, now more richly furnished than before with furniture, decorations, a brazier, and more, Jin Hyeon was brewing tea again.
It was a gift from a Senior Sister he had gotten to know through Won Hyu. It had a deeper fragrance than the tea he drank before and was more effective at calming both body and mind.
Jin Hyeon sipped the strongly brewed tea, then sensed the signal that had become familiar to him and set down his cup.
He sat calmly and closed his eyes. The next moment, he stood in the black space.
“I've rested well, so now I should do what my past self asked me to do.”
Jin Hyeon sat cross-legged in the same spot.
Behind him, his soul gave off a faint light.
Taking a deep breath, he immediately followed the formulas of the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art and gathered thunder qi from the spiritual qi.
The tingling sensation was still dominant, but the speed and ease were incomparable to cultivating outside. A smile played on Jin Hyeon's lips.
Three days later, Jin Hyeon compressed the thunder qi and successfully inscribed his first thunder mark.
Contrary to its name, the thunder mark had the shape of a droplet.
Yet bright blue currents of electricity flickered and flashed over its surface, proving that despite its shape, it was made of lightning.
After inscribing the first thunder mark, Jin Hyeon examined his soul.
Thunder marks were inscribed in the Soul Sea. If this space truly was the Soul Sea, a change should appear here as well.
Unfortunately, neither his soul nor the stone fragment showed any change, nor did any phenomenon resembling a thunder mark appear anywhere in the black space.
With a little disappointment at being unable to satisfy his curiosity, Jin Hyeon continued cultivating.
He had accumulated only one thunder mark so far. He would need to inscribe eight thunder marks to advance to the eighth layer of Qi Refining, so he still had a long way to go.
* * *
Thump.
As Jin Hyeon emerged from the black space, he reflexively braced himself against the table before him.
“Haah... I've gotten used to going in, but I just can't get used to coming out.”
It was like flinching for an instant as one woke from a shallow sleep.
Even knowing that time outside was stopped, his body moved instinctively.
Slurp.
Jin Hyeon took a sip of tea that was still hot.
‘Later, I might warm up a cup of wine and say, “I'll raise my realm before this wine goes cold.”’
Jin Hyeon snickered, then checked his condition.
His realm was still at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.
For the first time, his realm had not increased after entering and leaving the black space.
There were several reasons for that.
First, the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art was simply difficult.
Also, even with accelerated cultivation, there was not enough time in a single visit to inscribe all eight thunder marks needed to reach the eighth layer of Qi Refining.
Jin Hyeon felt the presence of four thunder marks within his Soul Sea and let his anticipation build.
Even if progress was slow, reaching Foundation Establishment would not be difficult once he accumulated all twelve thunder marks.
‘Though it would be hard to call this slow progress.’
Recalling how his fellow disciples complained about the difficulty of cultivation, Jin Hyeon reflected once more on how fortunate he was.
He soon cleared away his stray thoughts and took out the Azure Thunder Soul-Carving Art from his storage pouch.
Having inscribed the thunder marks required as the cultivation method's foundation, he now intended to test several spell arts he could learn by using them.
Just as Jin Hyeon was about to begin reading, a familiar voice sounded outside his cave dwelling.
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