WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 20
──────
After leaving the Martial Training Institute, the crown prince led Yi Hyeon toward the canal, a short distance from the Heaven-Serving Directorate.
Villas of various sizes lined the canal running through the inner city. They were guest residences for envoys from other countries and independent cultivators invited from elsewhere.
The residence the crown prince had arranged for Yi Hyeon was one of these: Cheongnyang Villa.
High white walls surrounded the villa. Above the main gate hung a blue signboard bearing the name “Cheongnyang Villa” in gold letters. Below it, two warriors in blue martial uniforms guarded the entrance.
When they reached the gate, the crown prince spoke.
“Retainer Jeong and I have business to attend to back at the Heaven-Serving Directorate. If you need anything, please speak to the villa’s steward.”
“Are you sure it’s all right for me to stay here? I haven’t even become a court retainer yet.”
Yi Hyeon looked at the villa beyond the gate. Even in modern Korea in his past life, he had never stayed anywhere so luxurious.
‘This looks incredibly expensive...’
The crown prince smiled.
“The Untaek Kingdom is neither so shameless nor so poor that we would force you to become a court retainer simply because you accepted our hospitality. Please don’t worry.”
Beside him, Jeong Won-baek cleared their throat.
“At least, not yet.”
“Retainer Jeong, you have a talent for making things sound strange whenever you add a comment.”
After exchanging a few more words, the two left.
Inside the gate, the villa’s staff stood in a line, waiting for Yi Hyeon.
At the front was a thin man in his fifties. A bunch of keys and a small ledger hung at his waist.
“Choe Dal, steward of Cheongnyang Villa, greets you, Honored Immortal.”
He bowed deeply.
A clerk, four maids, a cook and an assistant cook, two guards, a coach driver, and servants then greeted him in turn. Altogether, there were well over ten people.
The four maids in particular were all neat and beautiful. Two of them were even more striking than the beauties in the illustrations of the common folk novels Yi Hyeon had read.
‘Did they hire them based on their faces alone?’
The four maids stepped back at the same time to clear his path.
Not only their movements, but even the height of their raised hands matched exactly.
‘It looks like they’ve had considerable training in etiquette too.’
Choe Dal led Yi Hyeon farther inside.
Beyond the main gate lay a spacious garden.
A pond occupied its center, with a jade-green bridge spanning it. Carp with gold and red coloring swam slowly through the water.
Rows of low flowering shrubs and insect-repelling grass grew on either side of the stone path.
At the far end stood a large two-story building.
Its blue glazed roof tiles sparkled in the sunlight.
Yet water was constantly flowing over the roof.
“What’s that?”
Yi Hyeon stopped to ask, and Choe Dal explained as though he had been waiting for the question.
“A waterwheel behind the villa draws water up from the canal.”
When they went around the building, Yi Hyeon saw a large waterwheel turning slowly. It rose higher than the roof’s ridge.
Wooden buckets were fixed at an angle around its outer rim at regular intervals.
The buckets scooped up canal water at the bottom and carried it upward. At the top, each bucket tipped over and poured its water into a channel beside it. The water flowed along the channel into an elevated tank behind the building.
From the tank, several bamboo pipes carried the water to the roof’s ridge.
Countless small grooves had been cut into the surface of the blue-green glazed tiles.
The water spread through these grooves across the whole roof. At the eaves, thin streams hung down like a curtain.
Some of the water evaporated on the sunlit roof.
Whenever the wind blew, the cooled air flowed in beneath the eaves.
“Is it a device for cooling the roof?”
“As expected of an immortal. Your wisdom in understanding it at a glance is remarkable. It was designed to keep the rooms cool even in midsummer. After flowing over the roof, the water gathers in channels beneath the eaves and runs into the garden pond.”
“That really is fascinating.”
“It was all made by mortal craftsmen.”
Yi Hyeon gazed at the waterwheel and roof for a long while.
‘I have to give them credit. This is much more impressive than the water supply system in Underground Hideout No. 1...’
When they entered the building, a cool breeze really did greet them.
The doors and windows stood wide open, but not a single insect was in sight.
“How curious. There aren’t any insects.”
As Yi Hyeon looked around, Choe Dal pointed to a fine silk mesh attached to a window frame.
“This mesh keeps flying insects out. We also use insect-repelling grass and insect-repelling incense throughout the villa. We’ve even stocked the pond with fish that eat mosquito larvae.”
“You’ve thought of everything.”
“A place where an immortal stays must lack nothing.”
The reception room on the ground floor held tables and chairs made of red wood.
Landscape paintings and calligraphy hung on the walls. A very faint grassy fragrance rose from an incense burner in the corner.
Farther inside were a bedroom, a study, and a separate bathing room.
The bed was wide enough for three people to lie side by side with room to spare. A soft mattress and a thin silk quilt lay neatly arranged on it.
Tea with ice floating in it and fruit cut into small pieces waited on a table.
After explaining the villa’s facilities and mealtimes, Choe Dal withdrew.
The maids also left after serving fresh tea and setting down a plate of fruit.
Once alone, Yi Hyeon first cast the Qi-Observing Spell and inspected the walls, ceiling, and floor in turn. He found no suspicious traces of spiritual power.
He then used the Sound-Listening Spell to listen for even the faintest sounds nearby.
He heard maids talking quietly in the distance and a knife striking a cutting board in the kitchen, but nothing suspicious.
Finally, he cast the Earth-Sensing Spell.
A complex network of drains and water pipes ran beneath the villa, but there seemed to be no hidden people or secret passages.
‘There really aren’t any traps...’
He carefully sat on the edge of the bed.
The soft mattress cushioned his body.
A little later, he lay back completely.
He could faintly hear water flowing over the roof, and a cool breeze drifted through the open window.
He picked up a piece of fruit a maid had peeled and put it in his mouth.
It was sweet and cool.
‘So this is a life of wealth and luxury...’
Even when he did nothing but lie there, a cool breeze blew over him.
‘I think I understand a little why people like power.’
After marveling for a moment, Yi Hyeon sat up again.
‘Shall I look around some more?’
...
Hundreds of books filled the study’s shelves.
Perhaps because the villa housed guests of the royal family and the Heaven-Serving Directorate, many concerned the Untaek Kingdom’s history, geography, and etiquette.
Yi Hyeon first took out 《Biographies of the Heaven-Serving Court Retainers》.
It recorded the deeds of court retainers who had made names for themselves since the directorate’s founding.
One cultivator had saved a village by killing a demonic beast. A specialist court retainer had spent three years studying aquatic plants to eliminate spirit insects breeding in a river. Another retainer had fought a Profound realm expert from the Geonyang Kingdom, only for both to fall into a river and disappear.
Next, Yi Hyeon opened 《A Record of Untaek’s Waterways》.
It described the Untaek Kingdom’s rivers, canals, ferry crossings, sluice gates, and waterwheel designs.
The book was surprisingly interesting.
It discussed floods, river water, wetlands, and embankments. It also mentioned enormous sluice gates beneath Ungyeong that changed the water’s course between the rainy and dry seasons.
Illustrations showed devices similar to the waterwheel that cooled Cheongnyang Villa’s roof.
As Yi Hyeon turned the pages, he found a drawing of a small waterwheel lifting water to supply several levels of fields.
‘Come to think of it, could I combine the hideout’s water tanks into one...?’
Yi Hyeon had also built elevated tanks to store spirit rainwater, but each spirit field had its own.
His underground spirit fields did not use running water, so he could not use a waterwheel. Still, he wondered whether he could connect several spirit fields to one large tank and manage them that way.
‘If I ever build Underground Hideout No. 2... it might be worth planning a proper water supply system from the start.’
After studying the illustration for a long while, Yi Hyeon took out another book.
《Eleven Days in Baeksu Fortress》
A clerk had recorded what happened inside Baeksu Fortress during the final eleven days before its fall. Yi Hyeon opened it and read briefly, but his expression tightened at the grim contents, and he put it back.
He looked for something lighter.
Popular novels circulating among the common people had been collected separately near the bottom of the shelves. Their spines were more worn than those of the other books, and their corners had been rubbed smooth, as though they had passed through many hands.
《Our Youngest Daughter Turned Out to Be the Strongest Under Heaven》
《After Ten Years in Seclusion, I Came Out to Find My Junior Sister Had Become the Sect Leader》
《I Took It Home Thinking It Was a Demonic Beast, but It Was a Prince of Geonyang》
...
As he browsed the books, evening arrived before he knew it.
Then a maid spoke cautiously from outside the door.
“Honored Immortal, your evening meal is ready.”
“Come in.”
Two maids carried in a low table.
On it were clear fish soup, roast duck, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaves, pickled vegetables, and fruit.
It was mortal food, but the ingredients and preparation were excellent.
Yi Hyeon read while enjoying his first properly prepared meal in a long time.
At first, the service made him a little uncomfortable. By the third day, however, he had grown somewhat used to the maids attending him.
He refused to let them take off his shoes, but he no longer stopped them from performing ordinary services such as bringing tea and food.
Freshly laundered clothes waited for him every morning, and bathwater at just the right temperature was prepared without him having to ask.
‘This is dangerous...!’
Yi Hyeon thought as he drank his plum tea.
‘After living in such luxury, how am I supposed to go back to that damp, gloomy hideout?’
...
On the morning of the fourth day, Jeong Won-baek visited Cheongnyang Villa.
“The court retainers who will conduct your assessment have arrived.”
“Have they?”
Yi Hyeon quietly closed the book he had been reading, 《I Became a Prisoner of Geonyang, but I’m Popular》.
He slipped it beneath another book so its title would not show.
“I’ll be right there.”
“Take your time getting ready.”
Jeong Won-baek’s gaze passed over the stack of books.
At the very top lay 《Biographies of the Heaven-Serving Court Retainers》.
“You seem to have been studying hard.”
“There seemed to be a lot I should learn before joining the Heaven-Serving Directorate.”
“Excellent.”
...
Within the Heaven-Serving Directorate’s jade-green walls stood a collection of enormous, tile-roofed buildings resembling government offices.
Above the main gate hung a black signboard bearing the directorate’s name in gold letters.
Stone statues holding a sword and a fan stood on either side of the entrance. One seemed to represent a martial artist, the other a cultivator.
Beyond the gate, a broad road split in several directions.
Straight ahead stood Court Retainer Hall, which handled the directorate’s administration. Combat Hall stood to the right.
To the left were the buildings where specialist court retainers worked, including Alchemy Hall, the Talisman Crafting Office, the Formation Office, and the Infirmary.
The entire directorate felt like a small city.
Many of the people passing along its roads were mortal officials and clerks.
Occasionally, Yi Hyeon also saw cultivators with storage pouches or retainer tokens at their waists.
Most looked older than him. There were hardly any young people.
‘Come to think of it, a young Qi Refining cultivator with a promising future would join a cultivation sect, not a mortal royal household.’
Jeong Won-baek led Yi Hyeon to a spacious room deep inside Court Retainer Hall.
Three tables stood in a row. A female cultivator with graying hair sat at the center table, while a middle-aged cultivator at the next table examined documents.
Both appeared to be in the middle or late phase of the Qi Refining stage.
Jeong Won-baek sat at the remaining table.
The female cultivator in the middle spoke.
“I’m Yuk So-yeon, an internal court retainer.”
The middle-aged cultivator beside her brought their hands together in greeting.
“Ma Jin-ho, also an internal court retainer.”
“I’m Yi Dong-il.”
Yuk So-yeon opened the document on her table.
“Though we call it an assessment, it’s nothing grand. Fellow cultivator, we simply check your identity, realm, and cultivation art for any problems, then explain the directorate’s rules.”
“Understood.”
“Where are you from?”
“I cultivated in the northern mountains.”
“Can you give us the precise location?”
“I’m afraid I can’t.”
“It’s not unusual for independent cultivators to keep their teachers and the origins of their cultivation arts secret. The directorate won’t force you to answer. Is there anyone in the Untaek Kingdom who bears a grudge against you, fellow cultivator, or any group pursuing you?”
“No.”
“Have you practiced a demonic cultivation art, or used mortals’ blood essence and souls in your cultivation?”
“No.”
Yuk So-yeon nodded to the clerk beside her. The clerk recorded Yi Hyeon’s answers in the retainer register.
“Your age?”
“Twenty-nine.”
After considerable thought, Yi Hyeon had decided to claim he was twenty-nine.
If he said he was in his early twenties, it would be difficult to explain why he had chosen a mortal dynasty rather than a cultivation sect at that age. On the other hand, claiming to be too old would shorten the time he could remain without raising suspicion when his appearance failed to age.
‘No one should find it suspicious if my appearance stays the same for twenty years or so. I need to get the Barrier-Breaking Pill formula and learn pill refining within that time.’
Yuk So-yeon showed no particular suspicion.
“Next, we’ll check your realm and attributes.”
She took a black stone from beneath the table. Three overlapping circles were engraved on the surface of the round stone, which was about the size of an adult’s head.
“This is a Realm-Determining Stone. It gives a rough indication of your realm by examining the quality of your spiritual power. Send a little spiritual power into it.”
Yi Hyeon placed his hand on the stone.
He drew only a very fine thread of the primordial unity true qi within his body into his palm.
Hummm.
The innermost circle on the Realm-Determining Stone shone brightly.
“The peak of the early phase of Qi Refining...” Yuk So-yeon said.
“You’ve reached the end of the third layer, but a qualitative change has yet to occur.”
“That’s right.”
“Your control over your spiritual power is extremely stable. Enough to make me wonder whether you possess an exceptional cultivation legacy...”
Ma Jin-ho examined the stone and spoke.
“Your spiritual power seems pure because you’ve steadily practiced the same cultivation art without ever changing it.”
Next came a round tray set with pieces of jade in five colors.
When Yi Hyeon sent his spiritual power into it, the blue jade representing wood, the red jade representing fire, and the yellow jade representing earth lit up in turn.
“Triple spiritual roots?”
Yuk So-yeon made a note.
“Twenty-nine... You’re still relatively young, and your spiritual roots aren’t bad. Is there a reason you came to the Untaek Kingdom’s Heaven-Serving Directorate rather than a cultivation sect?”
“In a cultivation sect, I’d have to live as a low-ranking disciple. In a mortal kingdom, I can enjoy being treated as someone of high status.”
Yuk So-yeon fell silent briefly, then nodded.
“...Well, you’re not wrong. In fact, most Qi Refining cultivators spend their whole lives working like slaves in a sect before they die. Still, if I were in your position, fellow cultivator, I think I’d have aimed for Foundation Establishment.”
Finally, Ma Jin-ho took a small bronze lamp from beneath the table.
Its body was covered with carvings of beasts’ faces, their mouths open. A single silver wick stood in its center.
Though the lamp contained no oil, a white flame the size of a fingernail sprang up when Ma Jin-ho rubbed the wick with a finger.
“This is a Demon-Detecting Lamp, a magical implement that reveals whether you’ve practiced sinister cultivation arts. You only need to send a little spiritual power into it.”
Yi Hyeon placed his hand against the lamp’s body and sent a thread of primordial unity true qi inside. The white flame did not change. If anything, its light became clearer.
“No problems.”
Ma Jin-ho closed the lamp’s lid.
“Lastly, show us one spell you use often. It’s rare, but some people can’t use even a single spell properly.”
Yi Hyeon formed a simple set of hand seals with his fingers.
Hummm.
A translucent Spiritlight Shield appeared in front of his palm.
It was about the size of a small tray.
Yuk So-yeon flicked a small iron ball from the table.
Clang!
The iron ball struck the Spiritlight Shield and fell to the floor.
Not a single ripple appeared on the shield.
“Good.”
Although Yuk So-yeon said no more, Ma Jin-ho examined the Spiritlight Shield a little more closely.
“Could this possibly be... a Spiritlight Shield?”
“It is. Is there a problem?”
“No, it’s... not a problem, but... it’s incredibly stable. It looks like you’ve been casting Spiritlight Shield every day for decades.”
“I didn’t know many spells. I suppose I naturally became proficient by repeating the ones I’d learned.”
“Excellent,” Jeong Won-baek said.
“It’s better to master even one spell properly than to keep craving new ones. Since that spell happens to be Spiritlight Shield, you have a talent well suited to a combat court retainer.”
...
The assessment ended without any particular problems.
Yuk So-yeon opened the retainer register.
“The directorate’s court retainers are currently divided into four categories: internal, external-duty, combat, and specialist. Do you know the differences?”
“Yes.”
“Which would you prefer?”
“Can I change categories later?”
“Whenever you like.”
“Then I’ll start as an external-duty court retainer.”
In truth, Yi Hyeon would have liked to become a specialist court retainer and practice pill refining, but he knew nothing about it.
If an alchemist offered to become a specialist court retainer, the Untaek Kingdom would bow in gratitude. Someone who merely wanted to learn alchemy, however, was just another passerby.
To learn pill refining, Yi Hyeon would instead have to earn merit points first, then ask a specialist court retainer for help.
Another option was to choose spirit plants as his specialty and discreetly pick up alchemy while spending time with the other retainers. But spirit plants did not yield results quickly. It was not a suitable way to earn the merit points he needed to learn pill refining and obtain the formula within twenty years.
There was also another problem with becoming a specialist court retainer through spirit-plant work. All of Yi Hyeon’s spirit-plant cultivation techniques had come from Cheongha Valley.
If anyone discovered that he was using Cheongha Valley’s techniques for a mortal dynasty, both he and the Untaek Kingdom could find themselves in terrible danger.
Even setting aside its Golden Core Ancestor, Cheongha Valley had dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators serving as elders. If just one came and began slaughtering people, the Untaek royal family would be devastated.
Of course, he did not know whether Cheongha Valley still possessed the same strength as before. Unless it had declined considerably in the meantime, however, it was not an opponent the Untaek Kingdom could handle.
‘Even if nothing happens while I’m here, disaster could strike the Untaek Kingdom after I leave. I shouldn’t take on spirit-plant work...’
...
Yuk So-yeon explained the merit system and the rules court retainers had to follow, one after another.
Most were common sense, such as not killing mortals without reason or taking their property.
“If you have no particular objections, I’ll register you as an external-duty court retainer.”
“I have no objections.”
The clerk recorded the final details and stamped the retainer register with the Heaven-Serving Directorate’s seal.
The moment the red seal paste soaked into the paper, small formation patterns engraved along the register’s edges lit up in turn.
The clerk placed a blue jade token on the register, then engraved Yi Hyeon’s name with a silver needle.
Yuk So-yeon handed him the token.
A crane soaring above the clouds was carved on its front. On the back were the words “External-Duty Court Retainer Yi Dong-il.”
“This is your retainer token, fellow cultivator.”
It felt strange to have suddenly become a court retainer of a mortal kingdom.
“Your registration is complete. You may continue using Cheongnyang Villa as your residence. Do you have any further questions?”
Yi Hyeon stopped just as he was about to put the jade token into his storage pouch.
“How many merit points would I need to learn pill refining and obtain the Barrier-Breaking Pill formula?”
“See for yourself.”
Yuk So-yeon gestured to the clerk.
The clerk brought 《The Heaven-Serving Merit Register》 from a bookshelf on one side of the room.
It was a ledger listing missions, rewards, and the requirements for using various facilities. Dozens of index tabs lined the edges of its pages.
Yi Hyeon immediately opened the section on alchemical pills and pill refining.
「One Barrier-Breaking Pill: 100 merit points. An additional 10 low-grade spirit stones required.」
「Basic pill-refining lectures: 20 merit points.」
「Advanced pill-refining lectures: 50 merit points. Completion of basic lectures required.」
「Pill furnace and earthfire facility rental: 10 merit points per month. Medicinal ingredients and supplementary materials must be supplied separately.」
「Barrier-Breaking Pill formula: 500 merit points. Teaching or selling it to outsiders is prohibited.」
‘Hmm... Even if I only learn basic and advanced pill refining, get the Barrier-Breaking Pill formula, and rent a furnace for one month... that’s 580 merit points? But to actually practice alchemy, I’ll need medicinal ingredients and a longer rental period.’
In practice, he would need well over 600 merit points.
‘How much work will I have to do to earn 600 points?’
Yi Hyeon turned to the back of the merit register.
This section listed missions available to external-duty court retainers.
Most missions, however, rewarded only one to five merit points.
‘Why are they so stingy...?’
“Can I apply for this mission now?”
“Four people have already applied. Priority goes to those who have served as external-duty court retainers longer and those who haven’t received a mission recently.”
“What about dealing with the spirit insects in the Cheongsu River?”
“The same applies.”
“Then this investigation mission...”
“It’s already been assigned.”
“There are fewer missions than I expected.”
“There’s nothing we can do. We have many external-duty court retainers, and few tasks worth awarding merit points for. Apart from fighting the Geonyang Kingdom...”
‘At this rate, there’s no way I can learn pill refining and get the formula within twenty years as an external-duty court retainer...’
Yi Hyeon examined the merit register again. Other retainers, especially combat court retainers, had plenty of missions. Their missions also offered the most merit points.
‘I’d be better off becoming a combat court retainer. First, I should find out whether I’m strong enough to carry out their missions.’
Closing the merit register, Yi Hyeon asked a question.
“Do I need merit points to receive sparring instruction from the Martial Training Institute’s experts?”
“No.”
Jeong Won-baek smiled as they answered.
“The institute’s martial artists love sparring with cultivators, so don’t worry. I’ll contact Head Gwak for you.”
...
The next day, Yi Hyeon visited the Martial Training Institute’s Great Drill Ground.
Unlike before, when soldiers preparing to march to war had filled it, the drill ground was quiet. In the distance, soldiers practiced shield techniques. On several small sparring platforms, pairs of martial artists crossed weapons.
Yi Hyeon was led to a separate training hall enclosed by walls.
Wooden swords, wooden spears, and blunted iron weapons were neatly arranged along one side.
Two people waited in the center of the training hall.
One was Gwak Cheon-ung, the head of the Martial Training Institute and a Profound realm expert. The other was a martial artist who appeared to be in his mid-forties. He wore a dark navy martial uniform and had an old scar running from his temple to his jaw.
Gwak Cheon-ung introduced him.
“This is Seo Jin-myeong, an instructor at the Martial Training Institute. Not only is he a Transformation realm expert, but he’s also a better teacher than I am.”
“It’s an honor to meet you, Honored Immortal. I’m Seo Jin-myeong.”
“A pleasure. I’m Yi Dong-il.”
A little later, Yi Hyeon and Seo Jin-myeong each held a wooden sword with rounded edges.
“First, we need to see where you stand. Since this is your first time, don’t overthink it. Just fight however you like. There’s no need to be too afraid. I’ll be right beside you, so neither of you will suffer any serious injuries.”
“Understood.”
Yi Hyeon and Seo Jin-myeong faced each other from about ten jang apart.
Gwak Cheon-ung turned to Seo Jin-myeong.
“Jin-myeong, this honored immortal is a young, newly appointed court retainer. Show him a little of what real combat is like. Don’t push him too hard right from the start.”
“Yes.”
Seo Jin-myeong answered, but his voice cracked slightly. His right hand, which held the wooden sword, was trembling too.
He tightened his fingers to suppress the trembling. But when his attention returned to Yi Hyeon standing before him, the sword shook again.
Cold sweat ran down his back. The hairs on his neck stood on end, and his breathing grew shallow without him realizing it.
‘What’s going on?’
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
