WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 22
──────
Seo Jin-myeong watched Yi Hyeon slide away while lying comfortably on the floor.
He did not wave his arms or legs, yet his body crossed the floor as quickly as though he were on slippery ice.
Seo Jin-myeong’s competitive spirit flared.
He immediately used his footwork to chase Yi Hyeon. Each step sent him shooting two or three jang forward.
But just as he was about to close the distance, spiritual power burst beneath Yi Hyeon’s back and heels.
Paang!
His reclining body bounced like a water strider kicking off the surface. Each bounce made him faster.
Seo Jin-myeong’s eyes widened.
‘He’s accelerating?’
He gritted his teeth and changed direction. When Yi Hyeon slid right, he raced ahead to block his path. When Yi Hyeon moved left, he extended his sword to cut off his retreat.
But whenever the ground beneath them rippled, Yi Hyeon’s body slipped swiftly to the side. Sometimes he moved away feet first, then switched to moving headfirst in an instant, changing direction freely.
After crossing the center of the training hall several times, Seo Jin-myeong stopped.
When Seo Jin-myeong gave up the chase, Yi Hyeon reached the edge of the training hall and turned smoothly.
Shrrr.
His feet, which had been pointing toward Seo Jin-myeong, swung to the side. Still lying down, Yi Hyeon merely turned his head to look at him.
It was as if he were saying, ‘You can’t catch me even when I’m lying down?’
“...”
Without realizing it, Seo Jin-myeong tightened his grip on the wooden sword.
‘I want to give him a good whack.’
Gwak Cheon-ung also watched silently for a moment before asking,
“Court Retainer Yi.”
“Yes?”
“Was that another kind of spell?”
“It’s a spell I made.”
“Why did you think of moving while lying down?”
“Why should I have to stand up?”
“...”
“I can also move quietly while hiding in the grass.”
At first, Gwak Cheon-ung had only thought it bizarre. But after hearing the explanation, it made a certain amount of sense.
Losing one’s balance and falling in a real fight was dangerous. But if someone could move that quickly while lying down, it was a different matter. That position was no longer a weakness.
“I’ve been trapped by my own assumptions. Still, such absurd movements are impossible to imitate with a martial artist’s internal energy.”
Gwak Cheon-ung looked at Yi Hyeon, who was still lying comfortably on the training hall floor.
“For now, lying down is forbidden too. It’s so strange that Instructor Seo will have trouble teaching you. In any case, you need to learn how to fight on your feet.”
His sparring with Seo Jin-myeong began again.
...
After about half a shichen, Seo Jin-myeong’s wooden sword could hardly touch Yi Hyeon.
Yi Hyeon still responded clumsily at times, but whenever Seo Jin-myeong pointed something out, he quickly improved.
When the sparring ended, Seo Jin-myeong lowered his sword and steadied his ragged breathing.
“You adapt remarkably quickly.”
“That’s thanks to you pointing out my problems, Instructor Seo.”
“Usually, people repeat the same mistake a few times even after you point it out...”
Gwak Cheon-ung spoke.
“After a short rest, let’s have a look at your swordsmanship.”
“May I use a cultivator’s sword art?”
“Show us the swordsmanship alone, without spiritual power. Instructor Seo won’t use internal energy either.”
“Understood.”
Seo Jin-myeong brought over two new wooden swords.
Yi Hyeon completely suppressed his spiritual power and took the opening stance of the Azure Steel Sword Art.
Seo Jin-myeong also raised his wooden sword.
“The sword art I practice is called the Seventy-Two Swirling Current Swords.”
His wooden sword began to move in circles.
...
A quarter of an hour later.
Clack! Clack-clack-clack!
Their wooden swords struck each other in quick succession.
Seo Jin-myeong was bewildered.
Yi Hyeon’s swordsmanship contained almost no tricks or feints, but it was so precise and fast that it was difficult to face. Above all, Yi Hyeon was incredibly strong.
Yi Hyeon was holding back his strength as much as possible, but...
Bang!
At one point, Seo Jin-myeong’s arm flew upward.
“Ah.”
Yi Hyeon hurriedly withdrew his wooden sword.
“I’m sorry. Did I use too much strength?”
“...No.”
Seo Jin-myeong stepped back, hiding his tingling wrist.
Gwak Cheon-ung spoke.
“I’ll take a brief look this time.”
The director took the wooden sword from Seo Jin-myeong.
“My sword art is called the Sea-Calming Sword. It encompasses the opponent’s changes and suppresses even their next move.”
Without using any internal energy, Gwak Cheon-ung simply held the wooden sword upright in front of their chest. Yet Yi Hyeon could not work out what to do.
If he slashed high, he felt he would be blocked. If he aimed low, the sword tip seemed likely to reach his throat first.
Even if he tried to circle around, Gwak Cheon-ung seemed certain to turn a step ahead of him.
‘So this is someone who’s reached the peak of the martial path...’
...
A quarter of an hour later.
Gwak Cheon-ung withdrew the sword in surprise.
“You’ve certainly practiced the sword for a long time.”
“Does it look that way?”
“You have almost no unnecessary movements. But your sword is far too honest.”
“Honest?”
“Between one move and the next, you make no attempt to draw a reaction from your opponent. It looks as though you have almost no experience crossing swords with another person...”
“That’s right.”
“If there’s one thing I should point out, it’s that you mustn’t forget your opponent is a living enemy who also reads your moves and changes the path of their sword to suit the situation.”
“A living enemy...”
“No matter how great a sword art may be, moving only in a fixed pattern makes it a dead martial art. If you spar regularly with Instructor Seo and learn to read your opponent’s reactions, you’ll improve a great deal.”
“That sounds good.”
“The sword art you practice seems to have been created with a cultivator’s body and spiritual power in mind. It lacks the subtle deception and variations of a martial artist’s swordsmanship, but with spiritual power behind it, its sheer force should overwhelm most variations.”
“When I learned it, I thought of it as another kind of spell.”
“In fact, the swordsmanship itself isn’t low-level either. Even if I were to create a sword art for cultivators, I’m not confident I could make anything better than yours.”
...
After the sparring ended, the three moved to a pavilion at one side of the training hall.
Yi Hyeon took a sip of tea, then suddenly asked,
“May I ask you both one more thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Are there martial arts that can change your appearance?”
Gwak Cheon-ung raised an eyebrow slightly.
“You want to change your appearance?”
“There are times when I’d like to change my face to avoid getting dragged into pointless trouble.”
“Then you must be looking for disguise arts.”
Beside them, Seo Jin-myeong pointed at his own face.
“There are martial arts that actually move your bones and joints. But they’re difficult to learn, and using them incorrectly can damage your meridians or bones.”
“I don’t need to go that far.”
“The most common disguise techniques combine makeup with muscle control.”
Seo Jin-myeong tucked his chin in slightly.
His breathing changed, and the muscles in his face and neck moved ever so slightly.
The scar running from his temple to his jaw remained unchanged.
Yet as his eyelids lowered a little and the corners of his mouth drooped, the strong-looking man seemed to become a gloomy, tired middle-aged man in an instant.
His shoulders curved inward, and his voice grew slightly hoarse.
“Like this.”
“Oh? You hardly did anything, but you look like a completely different person.”
“People are surprisingly bad at telling faces apart. You don’t need to make major changes. With a little skill and a prop such as a beard, you can fool even people close to you to some extent.”
“Can I learn that technique?”
“There’s a method called the Seven-Aspects Disguise Art, which we teach military scouts and spies. It isn’t some great secret art, so there should be no problem showing it to you. What I just demonstrated was only the basics. Even reaching Major Mastery in the Seven-Aspects Disguise Art should be enough to fool most people.”
Yi Hyeon’s eyes brightened.
“Could I also study martial arts manuals and internal energy cultivation methods?”
This time, Gwak Cheon-ung answered.
“A person’s secret martial arts are as precious as their life. Showing you part of the sword movements from my Sea-Calming Sword or Instructor Seo’s Seventy-Two Swirling Current Swords is completely different from passing on the internal cultivation methods as well.”
“Ah, of course I’m not trying to get your personal martial arts. Ones that anyone can read would be fine.”
“As a court retainer, you can read the standard martial arts used by the military and the Martial Training Institute. There’s an internal cultivation method called the Cloudwater Return-to-Origin Art. It’s the internal energy cultivation method most widely practiced by the Untaek Kingdom’s military officers and elite soldiers.”
Seo Jin-myeong spoke.
“There’s also a standard martial art called the Eighteen Formation-Breaking Forms. It organizes basic footwork and ways to apply strength so that soldiers armed with swords, spears, or sabers can all use it.”
“I’d like to see that too.”
“We’ll gather martial arts manuals that the Heaven-Serving Directorate’s military-service court retainers generally regard highly and send them to your residence. We’ll include books on disguise as well.”
“Thank you.”
Gwak Cheon-ung set down the teacup.
“But they won’t be of much help. A martial artist’s internal energy is completely different from a cultivator’s spiritual power... Besides, the biggest problem is time.”
“Time?”
“Although ordinary mortals have short lives, the martial path is by no means shallow. It brings together the insights and research of countless geniuses over many generations. In some ways, certain martial arts are even harder than the spells of immortals. They have to produce remarkable results with little power.”
“I see.”
“That’s where the problem lies. Cultivators may live long lives, but court retainers at the Qi Refining stage don’t live all that long. In fact, their lifespans aren’t much different from mine, and I’ve reached the Profound realm. From their perspective, do they really have the time to learn mortal martial arts? Learning spells and raising their cultivation is far more practical.”
“True. Cultivators are the very people who never have enough time. Besides, aren’t masters of the martial path incredibly talented people who simply lack spiritual roots?”
“Exactly! How many people have talent for both the path to immortality and the martial path? Learning martial arts takes time, and they don’t suit a cultivator’s spiritual power as well as spells do. In the end, cultivators lose interest.”
Seo Jin-myeong also spoke.
“It’s best not to spend too much time on them. Just use them as a light reference, focusing on the forms of the moves, footwork, breathing, and the principles of transferring force. Enough to deal with martial artists from the Geonyang Kingdom.”
“Understood.”
...
That evening.
A wooden box arrived at Cheongnyang Residence.
Inside were martial arts manuals used by the military, including 《Cloudwater Return-to-Origin Art》, 《Eighteen Formation-Breaking Forms》, 《Twelve Autumn Water Swords》, 《River-Quelling Sword Art》, 《Twelve Linked-Shadow Forms》, and 《Long Dike Spear》.
There were also several books on footwork, such as 《Floating Duckweed Water-Crossing Step》, 《Coiled Root Step》, and 《Inch-Shadow Step》.
Besides these, there was the disguise manual 《Seven-Aspects Disguise Art》, 《Eight Methods of Disguise》, which covered the use of makeup tools and dyes, and a draft of 《Bone-Shifting Sinew-Contracting Art》, which moved the bones and joints.
Yi Hyeon opened the Seven-Aspects Disguise Art first.
The first page listed the seven elements that shaped the impression a person gave.
「Eyes, mouth, voice, gait, posture, breathing, habits.」
“This will take a lot of practice.”
After briefly looking through the Seven-Aspects Disguise Art, Yi Hyeon opened the Cloudwater Return-to-Origin Art and read for about a quarter of an hour.
“The approach is completely different...”
...
After that, Yi Hyeon visited the Martial Training Institute every few days and read martial arts manuals whenever he returned to Cheongnyang Residence.
He thought becoming a court retainer of the Heaven-Serving Directorate had not been a bad choice.
He could use the Martial Training Institute’s facilities for free and receive guidance from martial masters. Cheongnyang Residence even provided his meals and lodging.
In the process, he also discovered that he was quite strong.
Before Gwak Cheon-ung and Seo Jin-myeong, he restrained his spiritual power as much as possible. Even when demonstrating the Seventh-Stem Metal Art, Fireball Spell, and Azure Steel Sword Art, he tried to match what he imagined was the level of an ordinary third-layer Qi Refining cultivator.
Even so, the two forbade him from using his offensive spells in sparring because they were too dangerous.
‘I must have underestimated myself too much. At the very least, there’s no need to avoid assignments out of fear of ordinary martial artists from the Geonyang Kingdom.’
As Yi Hyeon continued visiting the Martial Training Institute, he gained a sense of how strong masters of the Transformation and Profound realms were.
He thought that if he fought seriously, simply expanding his Spherical Qi Barrier forcefully in every direction would send a martial artist of Seo Jin-myeong’s level flying and break bones throughout his body.
Even if several Profound realm masters surrounded him, he did not think he would lose immediately, as long as he had an opening to properly cast the Spiritlight Shield and Spherical Qi Barrier.
Once he entered the ground with the Earth Escape Spell, his opponents would likely struggle to find him. His Seventh-Stem Metal Art, which had reached Major Mastery, also seemed capable of inflicting fatal wounds even on masters who protected their bodies with protective astral qi.
Thinking about it, that was only natural.
Yi Hyeon could keep casting spells alone that would otherwise require dozens of Qi Refining cultivators taking turns. That alone made him something close to an incredible monster by the standards of the Untaek and Geonyang Kingdoms.
‘After a little more training at the Martial Training Institute, I should be ready to take on military-service assignments.’
...
Before he knew it, he had been staying in Ungyeong for a little over twenty days.
Yi Hyeon left Cheongnyang Residence to check on Underground Hideout No. 1.
After telling Choe Dal that he would be away for a few days, he left Ungyeong and alternated between the Earth Escape Spell and Ground-Shrinking Step.
Since he had built a watering system, in theory, the spirit plants should have been fine even if he stayed away for almost a year. But he had never left the hideout unattended for long, so he decided to return out of concern.
...
In a rugged mountain valley roughly halfway between Ungyeong and Underground Hideout No. 1.
Sh-sh-shhk.
Yi Hyeon’s body slid across a mountainside.
Skimming over the ground with the Reclining Escape Art as though he were flying, he kicked hard at the base of a tree blocking his path.
Bang!
His reclining body shot into the air.
He turned halfway around in midair and planted his feet against a rock opposite him.
Thump.
His body shot across the ravine.
Yi Hyeon was growing increasingly familiar with the terrain between Ungyeong and Underground Hideout No. 1.
He had learned where to cross the mountains for gentler slopes, which rivers to follow to avoid villages and official roads, and how much spiritual power to use for the greatest efficiency in places with few people.
Thanks to his spiritual power, which had reached 206 according to his homemade status panel, he could travel all day without resting.
His current average speed was close to eighty kilometers per hour by the standards of his past life. That meant he could travel nearly five thousand li in a day.
The distance from Ungyeong, the Untaek Kingdom’s capital, to Underground Hideout No. 1 was about eight thousand li. Now, however, a one-way journey took less than two days.
...
Two days later.
Yi Hyeon dropped from the ceiling of the cultivation room in Underground Hideout No. 1.
Tap.
The automatic watering devices were the first things he checked. All of them were working normally.
“Good.”
Starting with Spirit Field No. 1-1, Yi Hyeon recorded the condition of each field in turn and found no problems.
Finally, he entered Spirit Field No. 1-7, where the Stone-Honey Peaches grew.
A sweet, refreshing fragrance filled the cave.
A dozen or so fruits, sweet as honey, hung from the branches of the three old Stone-Honey Peach trees.
Most were ripe.
Yi Hyeon reached for the nearest fruit, then stopped.
There was a small hole near its stem, with something like brown powder stuck around it.
“Hm?”
Yi Hyeon brought the fruit close to his nose and examined it.
He sensed faint spiritual qi inside the hole.
When he cast the Qi-Observing Spell, a thin strand of light wriggled within the fruit.
His expression stiffened.
“Don’t tell me...”
He carefully split the fruit with the Seventh-Stem Metal Art.
Narrow tunnels wound through the flesh.
A white caterpillar about the length of a finger joint wriggled among the browned flesh.
Its head was black and hard, and short hairs grew from each segment of its abdomen.
“Aaagh!”
Silver light flashed at Yi Hyeon’s fingertip.
Shhk!
The Seventh-Stem Metal Art pierced the caterpillar.
It wriggled a few times inside the fruit, then went limp.
“How dare you eat my spirit fruit...”
It was the first time he had found a bug like this in a Stone-Honey Peach.
Yi Hyeon examined the remaining fruit one by one.
Two had similar holes, while another had white eggs smaller than sesame seeds stuck to its surface.
When he checked the undersides of the leaves, he found a little gray powder.
‘If there are caterpillars, there must be an adult that laid the eggs.’
Searching the surroundings thoroughly with the Qi-Observing Spell, Yi Hyeon found a small light where a tree trunk met the rock wall.
A gray moth the size of a fingernail clung there with its wings folded.
It looked like an ordinary moth, but an extremely faint trace of spiritual qi flowed within its body.
Yi Hyeon killed it with the Seventh-Stem Metal Art.
“Where did it get in?”
Underground Hideout No. 1 was ten li below the surface.
But various kinds of spirit insects had always lived in the soil and rock around the spirit fields.
After he built the reservoir and waterways, small bugs he had never seen before had also appeared.
The moth might have entered through a ventilation shaft or waterway. It might even have been hiding in the soil around the Stone-Honey Peach roots as a larva or pupa from the beginning.
There had probably been no trouble before because Yi Hyeon picked the fruit as soon as it ripened, either eating it or putting it in his storage pouch.
“From now on, when I go away, I should make bags out of thin paper and cover the fruit. Don’t tie them too tightly around the stems, and leave a small hole at the bottom...”
He was not tending hundreds of fruit trees, so covering each fruit with paper did not seem difficult.
...
The incident with the Stone-Honey Peaches prompted Yi Hyeon to inspect the remaining spirit fields more carefully than usual.
Near the roots of the Earth Vein Flowers, he found the translucent eggs he had occasionally seen for a long time.
A small, six-legged spirit insect clung beneath a Yinwater Lotus leaf.
In the experimental spirit field, a black beetle crawled around, surviving the faint poisonous miasma.
“Ugh...”
Yi Hyeon put the spirit insects into jars as he found them.
He had collected spirit insects before, but his dislike of bugs had kept him from studying them properly.
He also scraped up the eggs he found near the Earth Vein Flowers, soil and all, and put them in a jar.
In the end, jars lined the storeroom, divided according to no clear system.
“What if they break out...?”
Yi Hyeon moved the ordinary jars to the training hall, which was enclosed in crystalline rock.
He softened some granite near the training hall with the Soil Softening Art and broke it off, then shaped it into thick, crude rearing boxes.
After transferring everything from the jars into the boxes, he covered them with granite lids. He used the Seventh-Stem Metal Art to pierce several tiny holes so they would not be completely airtight.
It was not a good environment for the spirit insects, but Yi Hyeon did not care if they died. He was not yet interested enough in them to raise them with care.
...
The next day, Yi Hyeon obtained thin mulberry paper and fine hemp cord at Cheongnyu County Seat, then bought several sheets of tightly woven silk mesh from a fabric shop. He also acquired small rings made from thin strips of bamboo, along with some clips.
After returning to Underground Hideout No. 1, he harvested all the ripe Stone-Honey Peaches and covered each young fruit with a paper bag.
He secured the top of each bag with a bamboo ring without tightening it completely, and left a gap at the bottom for air to pass through.
He installed silk mesh over the entrances and ventilation shafts of Spirit Fields No. 1-6 and No. 1-7.
...
Two days later.
Yi Hyeon returned to Ungyeong and headed to the Heaven-Serving Directorate’s Alchemy Hall.
He intended to find out the value of the spirit plants he grew and exchange them for spirit stones if the directorate would buy them.
For this purpose, he had brought several kinds of young spirit plants from his experimental field, along with wilted plants whose medicinal potency had become unstable.
...
Around the Alchemy Hall stood warehouses and a broad yard where medicinal ingredients were dried.
Young apothecary assistants carried baskets, and the sound of pounding herbs continued without pause inside the buildings.
Yi Hyeon asked a clerk at the Alchemy Hall whether anyone knew about several spirit plants, including Bone-Rotting Flowers and Yin Soul Grass.
The clerk wrote down the names of the plants, then tilted their head.
“I don’t recognize any of these medicinal herbs.”
“Could you ask an alchemist court retainer?”
“Please wait a moment.”
The clerk went inside.
After a long wait, an elderly person appeared in a long robe steeped in the scent of medicinal herbs.
Their hair and beard were white as snow, but their back was straight. Their hands, visible beyond their sleeves, were rough, as though they had been burned many times.
The clerk introduced them respectfully.
“This is Master Mun Seong-hak, the Alchemy Hall’s chief alchemist.”
Mun Seong-hak cupped both hands in greeting to Yi Hyeon.
“People sometimes call me the Medicine King. An undeserved title.”
“I’m Yi Dong-il, an external-duty court retainer.”
“Let’s talk inside.”
...
Yi Hyeon showed Mun Seong-hak the samples he had brought and gave their names.
A little later.
“To be honest, it would be difficult for the Heaven-Serving Directorate to appraise or purchase these spirit plants.”
“Are they all useless?”
“That’s not it.”
Mun Seong-hak shook their head.
“To price a spirit herb, we need to know which pill formulas use it and in what quantities, what can replace it, how difficult it is to remove its toxins and store it, and so on.”
“I see.”
“The Heaven-Serving Directorate doesn’t have a single pill formula that uses these plants. To be precise, the directorate only has a few pill formulas at all.”
“It’s impressive that you practice alchemy under such conditions.”
“The Barrier-Breaking Pill is my greatest masterpiece. I’m ashamed to say I have nothing else worth boasting about.”
...
Yi Hyeon left the Alchemy Hall.
‘I won’t be able to sell my spirit plants through the Heaven-Serving Directorate. They should be quite valuable now that their medicinal potency has built up... If I come across a large cultivator market or an auction attended by cultivators later, I should consider offering just a small amount.’
* * *
Three months later.
Yi Hyeon occasionally traveled to and from Underground Hideout No. 1, but spent most of his time studying martial arts or sparring at the Martial Training Institute.
Gwak Cheon-ung and Seo Jin-myeong judged that he had learned enough of the basics for handling real combat.
There was still much to learn and study in martial arts, but he decided it was time to start earning merit points. Only then could he learn pill refining and obtain the formula for the Barrier-Breaking Pill.
...
The Heaven-Serving Directorate’s Military Affairs Hall.
A map of the southern Untaek Kingdom hung on one wall.
Red flags densely covered the regions bordering the Geonyang Kingdom. Around Nosu Pass in particular, there were so many that the map beneath them was barely visible.
“You want to serve as a military-service court retainer?”
“Yes.”
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
