WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Dionysus

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◈ Cultivating Underground ◈

Chapter 15

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Yi Hyeon approached carefully.

Old pines and green bamboo grew together along the mountainside. A faint trail wound between them, barely wide enough for one person.

At the end of the trail, white mist stood like a wall.

To ordinary eyes, it was only a narrow, foggy valley. But through Qi-Observing Spell, countless threads of spirit power formed a regular pattern inside the mist.

The mist held firm against the wind. Some kind of formation seemed to lie within it.

Yi Hyeon kept a safe distance and studied the interior for a while.

Tiled roofs and wooden pavilions were faintly visible beyond the formation. A small stream flowed along the valley, with shops and stalls lining both banks.

Wooden boxes of herbs were stacked at one stall. At another, talismans and old magical implements lay spread across a cloth. Cultivators strolled about at ease, drinking tea or bargaining over prices.

The cultivator who had entered with a load on their back had already disappeared among the stalls.

The place was not grand, but it had a tranquil charm, like a mountain market in the mortal world with a few mysterious cultivation shops added to it.

Somewhat reassured by the peaceful atmosphere, Yi Hyeon cautiously approached the entrance.

A small stone tablet stood near the entrance to the formation. Three early-stage Qi Refining cultivators who had come out of the formation were gathered in front of it.

A middle-aged person in a worn blue robe, a young woman with an herb basket on her back, and a fat man holding a bundle of animal hides were speaking in low voices. They seemed to know one another.

They looked so plain that Yi Hyeon might have mistaken them for ordinary mortals without the storage pouches at their waists.

Yi Hyeon hesitated.

For over a hundred years, the only people he had held proper conversations with were nut sellers and inn staff.

Cultivators could be dangerous.

But to use the cultivator market, Yi Hyeon would eventually have to ask someone about its entrance and rules.

By the standards of the cultivation world as a whole, these cultivators seemed relatively harmless.

'I can't keep avoiding everyone forever.'

Yi Hyeon checked once more that Qi-Concealing Spell was working properly, then walked along the trail.

Rustle.

All three cultivators turned toward the footsteps.

The middle-aged cultivator's hand moved toward the storage pouch at their waist. The young woman took a step back, and the fat man instinctively clutched his bundle to his chest.

Clear tension appeared on their faces.

The middle-aged cultivator narrowed their eyes, apparently trying to examine Yi Hyeon's aura. At that moment, all color drained from their face.

'Cultivators, just as I thought.'

Yi Hyeon had heard that independent cultivators were highly wary of others. It was hardly strange for them to be nervous after meeting an unfamiliar cultivator on a deserted mountain.

Putting on the friendliest expression possible, Yi Hyeon clasped both hands in greeting.

"Hello."

All three flinched. Ignoring their reaction, Yi Hyeon politely continued.

"I'm an independent cultivator who travels from place to place to train. Is this a market for cultivators?"

A brief silence followed.

The middle-aged cultivator, the oldest of the three, hurriedly bowed.

"Y-yes! That's right, Senior. This is Songun Market. It's a small market mainly used by independent cultivators from the northwestern Untaek Kingdom."

"Songun Market..."

It seemed Yi Hyeon had come to the right place.

Smiling, Yi Hyeon asked another question.

"There's no need to call me Senior. I'm a Qi Refining cultivator myself. I have little experience, so I'd appreciate your guidance. Are there any special procedures for entering the market, fellow cultivator?"

"F-fellow cultivator?"

The middle-aged cultivator's face turned white. The other two hurriedly bowed as well.

"Senior, how could you call lowly early-stage Qi Refining cultivators like us your fellow cultivators? We don't deserve such an honor."

"If we've offended you in any way, please tell us. Please don't test us like this!"

All three looked helpless, as if Yi Hyeon had set some kind of trap for them.

'Huh?'

Yi Hyeon was bewildered.

"Wait a moment. Why are you calling me Senior? Aren't I an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator too?"

Even deeper fear appeared on their faces.

Perhaps convinced that Yi Hyeon intended to test them to the bitter end, the middle-aged cultivator broke into a cold sweat. Yet they seemed afraid that refusing to answer would bring even greater trouble, and cautiously spoke.

"Senior, we may be mere independent cultivators at the early stage of Qi Refining... but we have at least learned Qi-Observing Spell."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"How could someone whose entire body glows like yours possibly be a Qi Refining cultivator?"

The woman with the herb basket hurriedly added her own explanation.

"That's right. Your whole body glows evenly, Senior. Surely your cultivation is so high that even the excess spirit power lingering in your body shines as brightly as our dantians?"

The fat man nodded desperately.

"Exactly! We've never even heard of a cultivator whose whole body is uniformly filled with spirit power. How deep must your abilities be to display something so incredible? For us to dare call you a fellow cultivator would be an unforgivable act of disrespect!"

'Oh...'

Only then did Yi Hyeon realize the problem.

Qi-Concealing Spell, which he had obtained at Cheongha Valley, was a spell that covered the entire surface of the body like a curtain, weakening the fluctuations of spirit power coming from within.

It reduced the brightness visible through Qi-Observing Spell, but it did not change where that light appeared.

'So that was it!'

Yi Hyeon forced out a hearty laugh.

"I-I see! Ha ha. I didn't mean to put you in a difficult position."

None of the three dared to answer.

"I won't be entering the market. Don't worry about me. Go about your business."

Yi Hyeon used the Lightness Art and Ground-Shrinking Steps to hurry down the mountain path.

...

Only after Yi Hyeon had vanished completely did the three let out sighs of relief.

"Th-thank goodness. At first, I thought that person was..."

The middle-aged cultivator hurriedly raised a finger to their lips.

[Shh! Use voice transmission. The reach of a great cultivator's spiritual sense is beyond our imagination.]

Startled, the young woman shut her mouth.

[I'm sorry.]

The fat man cautiously spoke.

[Still, that person doesn't seem as frightening as we thought. They didn't get angry even after we saw through their cultivation.]

The middle-aged cultivator gave him a disapproving look.

[Don't be foolish. Do you still not understand how calculating that senior is?]

[What do you mean?]

[Didn't you see? Even after being exposed, that senior perfectly imitated an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator's clumsy Lightness Art and Ground-Shrinking Steps. Think of the terrifying patience it takes to hide one's identity to the very end. If I hadn't used Qi-Observing Spell, even I would have believed they were really at the early stage of Qi Refining.]

The young woman's face went pale again.

[Could it be... a bandit cultivator pretending to be weak, looking for someone to pick a fight with them so they can kill the offender and take their belongings?]

[That's very likely. They want to rob people without even damaging their own reputation.]

[How could anyone... Now even robbers want an excuse to justify themselves...]

The middle-aged cultivator nodded gravely.

[There are so many schemes in the cultivation world these days that you can no longer tell who's a bandit cultivator. I've heard that some great cultivators travel around with their cultivation hidden like that. If someone is even a little rude to them, they reveal their true cultivation, scold the offender, and seize their belongings.]

The middle-aged cultivator looked fearfully in the direction Yi Hyeon had gone.

[Fortunately, that senior was poor at hiding their cultivation, so we weren't fooled.]

...

Yi Hyeon, who had unexpectedly been mistaken for a bandit cultivator, did not return directly to Underground Hideout No. 1 even after leaving the mountain path.

Using Ground-Shrinking Steps, he traveled over a hundred li farther and changed direction no fewer than three times. He walked along flowing streams and used the Earth Escape Art to burrow through the foot of a mountain.

Considering the possibility that someone might be following, Yi Hyeon traveled a long way in the opposite direction from Underground Hideout No. 1 before circling back in a wide loop.

...

Several days later.

In the training room of Underground Hideout No. 1, Yi Hyeon examined his body with Qi-Observing Spell while keeping Qi-Concealing Spell active.

"This won't do."

The three cultivators had been right.

Qi-Concealing Spell did lower the apparent cultivation level, but the dimmed light remained spread evenly over the entire body, from head to toe.

Compared with an ordinary cultivator, it looked utterly bizarre. There was no way anyone would mistake Yi Hyeon for a normal Qi Refining cultivator.

"If I enter a market like this, everyone will think there's something strange about me. Being mistaken for a high-level cultivator isn't necessarily bad, but..."

If others mistook Yi Hyeon for a powerful cultivator, they would be less likely to start trouble. But it would also increase the chances of attracting the attention of truly powerful people.

If even one cultivator at Foundation Establishment or above came to investigate what sort of expert had appeared, Yi Hyeon would have no way to handle it.

"Wait. What about Spirit-Hiding Spell instead of Qi-Concealing Spell? I think its principles were supposed to be different..."

Putting off the visit to the market, Yi Hyeon took a wooden tablet from the shelf. The instructions for Spirit-Hiding Spell were written on it.

...

One year later.

Yi Hyeon had learned the basics of a new spell!

【Spells (Beginner): Spirit-Hiding Spell, ...】

After casting Spirit-Hiding Spell, Yi Hyeon examined his body with Qi-Observing Spell.

'Still not enough... Hm?'

Light still shone from the entire body, but Yi Hyeon noticed a difference between Spirit-Hiding Spell and Qi-Concealing Spell: the surface of his body looked patchy.

His palms and forearms were noticeably darker, while his thighs were a little brighter. The hands and arms were precisely the parts he had spent the most time practicing on over the past year.

'Could this mean...?'

After studying it for a while, Yi Hyeon discovered a new possibility in the difference between the two spells.

Qi-Concealing Spell was an active form of camouflage that hid the fluctuations of spirit power produced within the body. Spirit-Hiding Spell was more like a passive form of camouflage that controlled the body so it did not produce those fluctuations in the first place.

In other words, Qi-Concealing Spell was like covering a lamp with cloth, while Spirit-Hiding Spell was like turning down its wicks one by one.

Spirit-Hiding Spell had two advantages. It consumed even less spirit power than Qi-Concealing Spell, and it could selectively hide specific parts of the body.

Its drawback was the long training time. For that reason, most cultivators mainly learned Qi-Concealing Spell, which was quicker to pick up. Almost no one bothered to spend precious time learning Spirit-Hiding Spell.

'I see! Once I achieve major mastery of Spirit-Hiding Spell, I can hide every part of my body except an area the size of a dantian.'

* * *

Fifty years passed.

Yi Hyeon had achieved major mastery of Spirit-Hiding Spell!

And that was not all. He had learned the basics of Farsight, Sound-Listening Spell, and Scent Tracking from the Six Sensory Arts. He had also brought seven existing spells from the beginner stage to minor mastery.

【Spirit Power: 83 → 101】

【Spells (Beginner): Farsight, Sound-Listening Spell, Scent Tracking, ...】

【Spells (Minor Mastery): Qi-Concealing Spell, Lightness Art, Ground-Shrinking Steps, Azure Steel Sword Art, Spiritlight Shield, Fireball, Qi-Observing Spell, ...】

【Spells (Major Mastery): Spirit-Hiding Spell】

Having focused on Spirit-Hiding Spell for fifty years, Yi Hyeon had been unable to devote much time to cultivating spirit power.

Still, with clear progress in eleven spells, his actual fighting ability had increased considerably.

Keeping Spirit-Hiding Spell active, Yi Hyeon looked down at his body through Qi-Observing Spell. Not a trace of spiritual light escaped from it. Through Qi-Observing Spell alone, he looked less like a cultivator than a young mortal brimming with vitality.

Yi Hyeon focused, and light bloomed in a fist-sized space below the navel. It gathered into a round shape, just like the dantian of an ordinary early-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

A smile spread across Yi Hyeon's face.

"It worked! Now I can look like a mortal if I want, or disguise myself as an ordinary early-stage Qi Refining cultivator."

At will, he could adjust the brightness anywhere from that of someone who had just entered the first level of Qi Refining to someone at the second level.

...

Even while training in Spirit-Hiding Spell, Yi Hyeon made the rounds of all five spirit fields once every ten days.

Spirit Field No. 1-1 currently held 119 Bone-Rotting Flowers, 298 clumps of Yin-Soul Grass, 79 Purple Poison Orchids, and 58 Earth-Vein Flowers, all with medicinal potency equivalent to more than fifty-three years of growth.

Earth-Vein Flowers produced several stems from a single root, so Yi Hyeon counted each cluster joined by the same roots as one plant.

The other four spirit fields held 478 Bone-Rotting Flowers, 1,195 clumps of Yin-Soul Grass, 319 Purple Poison Orchids, and 238 Earth-Vein Flowers. Their medicinal potency had just passed the twenty-year mark.

Not every plant had survived. Occasionally, roots rotted, or a shift in the groundwater made one side of a spirit field too damp and caused problems.

Even so, the overall survival rate was very high.

The spirit plants' medicinal potency kept increasing, but Yi Hyeon had no idea what they were worth.

"Just how expensive would a fifty-three-year-old Bone-Rotting Flower be? Hehe..."

Watching the spirit herbs in all five fields grow more valuable each year was deeply satisfying.

"I've achieved major mastery of Spirit-Hiding Spell, and I can hide my cultivation now. It's really time to get some fresh air. I'll find seeds for a wider variety of spirit plants and try growing them too."

Yi Hyeon decided to look for a market other than Songun Market. The three Qi Refining cultivators from fifty years ago might be startled if they saw the same face again.

"I'll go to Ungyeong, my original destination. A market near the capital should have more goods than Songun Market, and there should be a faction keeping order. Of course, I could still run into those three from fifty years ago at another market in the Untaek Kingdom... I'd better put on a simple disguise."

Yi Hyeon prepared to go out. This time, he carefully worked on his disguise before leaving.

He rubbed dirt onto his face to make the skin look rougher and styled his eyebrows and beard differently from fifty years ago. He also changed his hairstyle slightly and dusted it with a little gray powder to give it a touch of gray.

"I should look for spells or techniques that can change my appearance. Traveling around with the same face for so many years could cause trouble someday..."

Finally, Yi Hyeon used Spirit-Hiding Spell to hide the fluctuations of spirit power throughout his body, leaving only a glow below the navel matching the second level of Qi Refining.

After checking several times with Qi-Observing Spell, Yi Hyeon nodded.

"Now I really do look ordinary."

* * *

Five days later.

Ungyeong (雲京), the capital of the Untaek Kingdom.

Yi Hyeon stood on a hill and looked down.

A vast city spread out before him.

Three rings of walls of different heights surrounded it. The outermost wall stretched endlessly to either side, its distant ends vanishing into the heat haze on the horizon. Even from the hill, Yi Hyeon could not take in the whole of Ungyeong at once.

Countless villages, estates, and markets spread beyond the walls. The outskirts alone looked as large as dozens of ordinary county towns combined.

The great Unsu River flowed in from the northwest and split into several branches before the capital. Dozens of waterways passed beneath the walls and continued into the city. Hundreds of bridges, large and small, spanned the river and canals.

Grain transport ships loaded to the brim, splendid tower ships, and flat ferryboats crowded the water.

Most roofs in the outer city were gray or black. In the inner city, where the royal palace stood, red walls and golden roof tiles shone brilliantly in the sun.

At the center of the city stood a nine-story pavilion several times taller than the surrounding buildings. An enormous flag bearing a cloud design fluttered at its peak.

"It's huge..."

Even the sight of Ungyeong's outskirts filled Yi Hyeon's chest with awe at its immense scale.

'I think even the capitals of China's past dynasties were smaller than this... And this is only the capital of a kingdom, not an empire? I shouldn't look down on a country just because it's a nation of mortals.'

Perhaps it was because the world itself was so vast, but although the level of technology was lower, the sheer size of the city was astonishing.

The main road leading to the city gate was packed with carts and people. Officials and scholars arriving from the provinces, merchant caravans carrying goods, and farmers leading cattle and horses moved in dusty lines.

Scholars in silk robes, nobles, and lively merchants constantly passed along the broad streets. Music poured without pause from teahouses and wine houses.

Finding cultivators did not seem likely to be difficult either.

Yi Hyeon used Qi-Observing Spell from the hill, but the light of vitality given off by countless living beings blended into a vast haze. Some glows seemed to belong to cultivators, yet at this distance they blurred together. It was almost impossible to tell which person each one came from.

'I don't know if it's because my proficiency is too low... but it's hard to distinguish distant auras with Qi-Observing Spell.'

This time, Yi Hyeon used Farsight to look around and enjoy the view. As its name suggested, Farsight was a spell for seeing distant things.

'Hm? That's...!'

Inside the outer city, Yi Hyeon spotted someone passing by in fine clothes with a storage pouch at their waist. After that, he lost track of time while admiring the capital for about two hours and spotted two more people wearing storage pouches.

'As expected, there are quite a few cultivators here.'

...

Outside the west gate lay a vast market formed by peddlers and farmers who had been unable to enter the city.

Shops piled with medicinal herbs, hides, and timber stood among stalls selling grain and vegetables. Fish caught in the Unsu River kept leaping inside brimming wooden tubs.

Dressed like an ordinary scholar in a plain jade-colored robe, Yi Hyeon strolled leisurely along the street. He had bought the robe nearby to mark his visit to Ungyeong.

'Hm?'

At the edge of the market, Yi Hyeon spotted an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator!

He was a thin man who looked about fifty. Fine wrinkles ran deep across his sunburned face, and his gray clothes were faded.

Muddy roots and dark green water plants lay on a bamboo mat in front of him. To outward appearances, he was no more than an ordinary herb gatherer selling plants dug up along the river.

Through Qi-Observing Spell, however, Yi Hyeon could clearly see faint light flowing from below his navel. It gathered into a round shape within his dantian, almost exactly like the appearance Yi Hyeon had imitated.

The man seemed to be at about the third level of Qi Refining.

After briefly checking the surroundings, Yi Hyeon approached his stall.

"What kinds of medicinal herbs are these?"

"Water-Root Grass and Cheongbi Leaf. They grow underwater. Water-Root Grass is used to bring down fevers. Crush Cheongbi Leaf and apply it to a wound, and it'll keep the wound from festering."

"Are they spirit herbs that cultivators use too?"

The man's gaze sharpened at once.

Without answering, he narrowed his eyes as though examining the area below Yi Hyeon's navel. A moment later, some of the wariness faded from his face.

"Water-Root Grass that contains spiritual energy can be classified as a spirit herb, but everything here is an ordinary herb. Still, fellow cultivator, you don't seem to have come to buy herbs."

'At last, someone called me a fellow cultivator!'

Yi Hyeon was deeply moved. The fifty years spent training in Spirit-Hiding Spell had not been wasted!

"My name is... Yi Dong-il (李洞一). I'm an independent cultivator. I trained in another region, and this is my first visit to Ungyeong. I was looking for a nearby market for cultivators, but I don't know anyone here, so I hope you'll excuse me for approaching you."

Thinking of Underground Hideout No. 1, Yi Hyeon had given the false name Yi Dong-il.

"I'm Jang Pyeong, an independent cultivator living around the Unsu River. You said you're looking for a market? Your best bet would be... Chwiun Market to the south. It's over five hundred li from here, though, so walking there would be a bit of a nuisance."

"Is it always open?"

"Yes. It isn't large, but it has a fair selection of goods because it's near the capital. It's managed by a small organization of independent cultivators called the Chwiun Society (翠雲會)."

"What kind of organization is the Chwiun Society?"

"Nothing special. Some independent cultivators at the middle stage of Qi Refining or above, who've lived in the Untaek Kingdom for a long time, formed it to keep the market safe and help one another."

"Is there an entrance fee for Chwiun Market?"

"You're free to come and go if you're buying. But if you sell something there, you have to pay the Chwiun Society one-tenth of the price. It's not a small amount, but if a dispute breaks out inside the market, the society steps in to settle it."

As Yi Hyeon nodded, Jang Pyeong asked a question.

"Leaving the market aside... Since you've come all the way to the capital of the Untaek Kingdom, are you thinking of joining the Heaven-Serving Directorate too?"

"What's the Heaven-Serving Directorate?"

Footnotes:

Yi Dong-il's alias recalls Underground Hideout No. 1: the characters used for Dong-il mean “cave” and “one.”

A li is a traditional unit of distance, roughly half a kilometer.

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