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◈ Cultivating Underground ◈

Chapter 26

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A few days later.

Hundreds of soldiers stood in rows before the main gate of Hoean Fort.

"What's all this?"

Yi Hyeon looked a little startled as he was about to leave through the gate.

Tak Mu-seong stood at the front.

The deputy commander was already in their late sixties, and a fair amount of white now streaked their once-black hair.

"You're planning to stop serving as a battlefield court retainer after this assignment, aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"After knowing you all these years, how could I not?"

"I suppose so."

Yi Hyeon nodded.

"You've worked hard all this time. I'll be leaving now."

At his words, Tak Mu-seong turned around.

"Everyone, see our honored court retainer off!"

Clank!

Hundreds of soldiers raised their weapons together, their spearheads and sword blades flashing in the sunlight.

They all bowed deeply to Yi Hyeon.

"There's no need for all this..."

"If it weren't for you, most of the people here would've died long ago."

Several veteran soldiers nodded at Tak Mu-seong's words.

An old soldier at the back called out loudly.

"Wherever you go, Immortal, the soldiers of Hoean Fort will never forget your kindness!"

"Kindness? I was paid for my work."

The soldiers who had feared him when he first arrived at Hoean Fort now looked sorry to see him go.

Some of the young recruits from those days were now middle-aged soldiers with beards. Those who had been middle-aged had grown old, and many faces among those who had already been old were no longer there.

Yi Hyeon watched them for a moment, then cupped his hands.

"I'm grateful for everything you've done for me. May you all live long and stay safe."

...

A few days later.

The Heaven-Serving Directorate in Ungyeong.

Yi Hyeon sat at a table in the Court Retainer Hall.

Across from him, Yuk So-yeon, an internal-duty court retainer handling the paperwork, checked his court retainer token against a ledger.

"You wish to exchange your merit points for the Barrier-Breaking Pill formula?"

"That's right."

"Five hundred merit points will be deducted. Teaching or selling the contents of the formula to outsiders could cause serious trouble."

"Of course. I understand."

Yi Hyeon nodded.

A little later, Yuk So-yeon returned with a small wooden box.

Inside was a thin booklet with no title.

"Check it."

Yi Hyeon opened the first page.

「Barrier-Breaking Pill formula for one furnace batch.

All ages listed below refer to medicinal age.

Spirit-Storing Ginseng, 50 to 70 years: 1 root.

Meridian-Piercing Flower, 40 to 60 years: 3 blossoms.

Meridian-Guarding Mushroom, 30 to 50 years: 1 cap.

Origin-Returning Vine, 30 to 45 years: 3 stem sections.

Triple-Layer Leaf, 20 to 35 years: 9 leaves.

Fully ripe Essence-Condensing Fruit from an Essence-Condensing Tree aged 40 to 60 years: 3 fruits.

Clear-Void Seeds harvested from Clear-Void Grass aged 15 to 25 years: 12 seeds.

Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk: 3 drops.」

"..."

Yi Hyeon stared down at the formula for a while.

'This is no joke.'

Tiny writing covered everything from the ingredients, harvesting times, storage methods, and preparation to the refining, harmonizing, and pill-forming processes.

Yi Hyeon kept turning the pages.

「The medicinal ages listed in this formula are based on spirit plants grown normally under the standard conditions of a first-tier spirit field. As the accumulation of medicinal potency varies with the conditions of the spirit field, actual age alone must not be used as the standard. Make your judgment by also examining the color and luster, scent, flow of spiritual qi, and visible signs described below.」

Yi Hyeon's expression brightened.

'It's a relief the information is so detailed.'

He closed the formula booklet.

"I've checked it."

...

Earthfire Cave, Section C, Room Seven.

"You really did get it."

Mun Seong-hak took the formula, turned through a few pages, and handed it back.

"Master Mun, do pill formulas usually require this many ingredients and such strict conditions?"

"It's only a first-tier formula."

"Even at the first tier?"

"Didn't I tell you before? That's why properly tested formulas are so valuable."

Yi Hyeon looked down at the formula again, then asked another question.

"By the way, how many spirit stones would it cost to get all these ingredients?"

"If you bought everything needed for one batch, you should expect to pay between seventy and a hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones."

"That's expensive. How many Barrier-Breaking Pills does one batch produce?"

"Nine at most."

"Well, if it's nine..."

"If the god of alchemy descended to make them, that is."

"..."

Mun Seong-hak continued calmly.

"For a first-tier alchemist like me, who's worked with this formula for years, producing three pills of mixed low and middle grades from ingredients in good condition would be a respectable result."

"What about an alchemist learning it for the first time?"

"Once they're thoroughly familiar with the formula, consistently producing two low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills would be quite good."

Yi Hyeon counted on his fingers.

Even at their cheapest, the ingredients cost seventy low-grade spirit stones.

And that produced two Barrier-Breaking Pills.

"...That's thirty-five low-grade spirit stones per pill."

"For the ingredients alone. You also have to pay to use the pill furnace and earthfire... Then there's the alchemist's time and effort... Do you understand now?"

Mun Seong-hak laughed heartily.

"An independent cultivator at the Qi Refining stage who carelessly dabbles in alchemy will ruin their household."

"..."

Yi Hyeon suddenly recalled the contents of the Heaven-Serving Merit Register.

"So that's why everyone tries to obtain finished Barrier-Breaking Pills instead of making them."

"There's a reason people buy them to take. Do you think professions and specialized fields exist for no reason?"

"You certainly have a point."

But he had plenty of time.

'I can grow the ingredients myself, then refine them.'

As Yi Hyeon studied the formula again, he asked another question.

"It says here to use Spirit-Storing Ginseng with a medicinal age of fifty to seventy years, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"Would using one around a hundred years old produce a better Barrier-Breaking Pill?"

"In theory, yes. But you'd have to revise the formula. A different medicinal age changes not only the medicinal strength, but also the rate at which medicinal potency is released during refining and the nature of that potency."

"Then couldn't I use half as much hundred-year-old Spirit-Storing Ginseng?"

"You might match the total medicinal strength, but it wouldn't harmonize with the other ingredients at the same rate. Changing the Spirit-Storing Ginseng alone would mean adjusting everything from the amounts of Meridian-Piercing Flower and Meridian-Guarding Mushroom to the timing for adding the other ingredients."

"So it's best to follow the formula exactly."

"That's right."

After that, Yi Hyeon learned a great deal by watching Mun Seong-hak refine actual Barrier-Breaking Pills.

Whenever Mun Seong-hak refined an ingredient, the alchemist pointed out each moment when its color, scent, or medicinal potency changed. Yi Hyeon watched and compared those changes with the descriptions in the formula.

...

A few days later.

Mun Seong-hak brought over a bamboo basket.

It contained a mixture of poorly grown young Spirit-Storing Ginseng and Meridian-Piercing Flowers, small Meridian-Guarding Mushrooms, and cut sections of Origin-Returning Vine.

"Practice with these."

"Is that all right even though their medicinal ages are too low?"

"I'm not asking you to finish a Barrier-Breaking Pill. You're to develop a feel for refining and harmonizing the ingredients. Proper ingredients are too expensive to practice with."

Yi Hyeon picked up a root of Spirit-Storing Ginseng. A few fine roots had been cut off, but the green leaves at the top were still intact.

"Do these come from the royal spirit fields too?"

"Yes. They thin out the ones that grow slowly or have damaged roots. Leaving them there would only take up space and spiritual qi."

Yi Hyeon examined the other ingredients in the basket. The Origin-Returning Vine still had living buds, the Meridian-Piercing Flowers had roots, and the young Meridian-Guarding Mushrooms still had their fungal threads attached to rotten spirit wood.

'Some of these might survive if I plant them properly.'

His gaze slowly swept over the basket.

"Could I take a few of the leftovers after practicing?"

"What would you use them for?"

"I thought growing them myself might help me understand how the ingredients grow and how their medicinal potency changes."

"Hmm... Well, I don't mind. They were going to be thrown away anyway."

"Thank you."

After that, Yi Hyeon repeatedly practiced refining and harmonizing with the discarded ingredients. By taking a few of the healthier discarded specimens after each lesson, he eventually acquired planting stock for every spirit plant used in the Barrier-Breaking Pill.

Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk, however, was a mineral spirit liquid rather than a spirit plant. He would probably have to buy it separately at a cultivator market later.

...

One month later.

Yi Hyeon had learned most of what Mun Seong-hak could teach him about the Barrier-Breaking Pill.

He had not actually made one using ingredients of the medicinal ages specified in the formula. Still, Mun Seong-hak judged that he had now reached a level where he could produce low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills, provided the ingredients were in good condition.

"Thank you for everything. I'm planning to leave the Untaek Kingdom soon. This is a small token of my gratitude."

Yi Hyeon took two large Stone-Honey Peaches from his storage pouch. A sweet, refreshing scent spread through the room.

"Spirit fruit?"

"They're called Stone-Honey Peaches. They taste quite good."

"Stone-Honey Peaches...? I've never heard of them."

Mun Seong-hak examined the fruit for a while, then took a bite.

Crunch.

"...Oh."

The alchemist's eyebrows rose.

"It's as sweet as honey, but the inside is as cool as ice. Perhaps it's because I've spent days sitting before the pill furnace, but I feel as though all the heat built up in my chest has been swept away. Where did you find spirit fruit like this?"

"I happened to find them at a cultivator market long ago. I went back later, but the seller had already left."

"What a pity..."

Mun Seong-hak placed the remaining Stone-Honey Peach in a storage pouch.

"I'll have to save this one."

...

The Heaven-Serving Directorate's Formation Institute.

Yi Hyeon looked at nine red formation stones laid out on the floor and the bronze pill furnace above them.

They were the same kind of pill furnace and earthfire formation provided in every refining room in Earthfire Cave.

"The Nine-Fire Flame-Storing Formation and a pill furnace designed to work with it. Strictly speaking, they're only a first-tier low-grade formation and magical implement... Are you really going to buy these with merit points? I certainly don't mind, but while you work for the directorate, you'll be using Earthfire Cave anyway. There's no need to buy them..."

"I'd like to use them to practice pill refining on my own. I plan to find somewhere with earthfire later."

"Hmm. Don't ask to return them later. This booklet explains how to connect the formation to earthfire, maintain the pill furnace, and so on."

Yi Hyeon put the furnace, formation, and booklet into his storage pouch, then checked his court retainer token.

The hundred or so merit points left after obtaining the Barrier-Breaking Pill formula were almost gone.

...

Before leaving Ungyeong, Yi Hyeon also visited Chwiun Market.

While looking around, he found a place selling Essence-Condensing Tree and Clear-Void Grass seeds.

He bought a few of each kind. Although he already had all the planting stock he needed, he wanted spares in case some failed to take root.

He spent one low-grade spirit stone on them.

Finally, at a shop that dealt in spirit insects, he bought a spirit insect pouch that could hold living spirit insects.

Then a storage pouch displayed in a corner caught his eye.

Its internal space was several times larger than the one he was using.

'Now I have a pill furnace, and I'll need to carry more spirit plants in the future...'

After a little thought, he bought that too.

The two items cost ten low-grade spirit stones in total.

After leaving the shop, Yi Hyeon counted the spirit stones in his storage pouch.

He had exactly twelve low-grade spirit stones left.

'Hmm... I'll need to earn some spirit stones soon.'

...

Three days later.

The royal palace of the Untaek Kingdom.

Yi Hyeon met Yu Jeong-hwi for the first time in a long while.

Over a decade earlier, he had been a young crown prince wearing a gold coronet. Now he wore the crown of the Untaek Kingdom's king.

The previous king had passed away in the meantime, and Yu Jeong-hwi had inherited the throne.

Yu Jeong-hwi's youthful face, which had suited his dark purple robes so well, now had wrinkles around the eyes and a neatly trimmed beard. He had never seemed frivolous, but now he carried himself with a far greater gravity befitting the king of a nation.

"I've lost count of how many times I've tried to persuade you to stay. You're really leaving."

"Yes."

"You refused when I offered to double your stipend. You refused when I offered to lend you part of the royal spirit fields. You even refused when I offered you an entire estate far better than Cheongnyang Villa."

"I did give that last offer some thought."

Yu Jeong-hwi's eyes brightened.

"Then would you reconsider?"

"I'm still planning to leave."

"..."

Yu Jeong-hwi sighed.

"Where do you intend to go?"

"I haven't decided."

"No destination, then. I envy you."

Yu Jeong-hwi took a sip of tea.

"If I wandered around without a purpose for even a day, the ministers would come looking for me."

A little later, he spoke again.

"Will I see you again?"

"I'm not sure."

Yi Hyeon suddenly thought of Jang Pyeong, whom he had met in an Ungyeong market more than three hundred years earlier. When he had looked not long ago, a descendant who resembled him had been selling Water-Root Grass in the same spot.

Yi Hyeon had merely shut himself away in his underground hideout for a while, but by the time he came out, Jang Pyeong was already gone from the world.

'I see.'

A fact he had always known struck home anew. Such things would keep happening.

He would meet someone, spend a little time elsewhere, and return to find that person old or dead.

It had not been something he needed to think much about while spending hundreds of years alone underground.

Yi Hyeon set down his teacup.

'Well...'

That was no reason to avoid meeting people.

The fact that they would one day disappear did not mean the years they had spent together would disappear too.

Yi Hyeon rose from his seat.

"I'll be going now."

"There's no point in trying to keep you here until the very end, is there?"

"No."

"Then I won't try any longer."

Yu Jeong-hwi cupped his hands.

"Thank you for all you've done for the Untaek Kingdom."

* * *

A few days later.

Yi Hyeon left through Ungyeong's north gate.

He followed the main road north, then turned toward the mountains and fields to the northwest once there were fewer people around.

...

A small peak north of Ungyeong.

Three people watched Yi Hyeon's retreating figure.

All three wore the court retainer tokens used by the Heaven-Serving Directorate's external-duty court retainers.

The middle-aged man standing at the front was named Wi Mun-do. His face, which looked to be around forty, showed little expression. The aura of the sixth layer of the Qi Refining stage flowed from his body.

One step behind him stood Paeng Ja-ryang, arms folded. He was thin, with sharp eyes, and at the fifth layer of the Qi Refining stage.

The last and youngest of the three was Han So-baek, who was at the third layer.

Watching Yi Hyeon grow more distant, Han So-baek spoke.

"Senior Brother Wi, are we really attacking today?"

"Yes."

"The rumors aren't all exaggerated. There are records of him capturing several Profound realm experts alive."

Paeng Ja-ryang snorted.

"So-baek, are you frightened because he caught a few mortal martial artists?"

"I'm not frightened. I'm saying we should be careful."

"Did those mortal martial arts grandmasters have mid-grade magical implements? Did they have even first-tier entry-grade talismans? However powerful their martial arts, they're still only mortal methods."

"Ja-ryang, enough."

Wi Mun-do cut him off in a low voice.

"So-baek's concern isn't unfounded. That man's record is far too impressive for an independent cultivator at the third layer of the Qi Refining stage. That's why I came myself."

"You thought you needed to get involved personally, Senior Brother?"

"If we've decided to kill him, we should make certain of it. Regretting that we weren't careful enough after the fight is over would be too late."

Wi Mun-do's tone was calm.

After a moment's hesitation, Han So-baek brought up another matter.

"But the steward's mission was to find a child with a single spiritual root. Can bringing back a pill formula really make up for that?"

"This again?"

Irritation crossed Paeng Ja-ryang's face.

"We've already been stuck in the Untaek Kingdom for a year. Is there any guarantee a single spiritual root will turn up even if we search for another five? Do you even understand what a single spiritual root is? It's a talent you might not find among a million mortals. Do you think they're called heavenly spiritual roots for nothing?"

"That's why I suggested it from the start. If we used just a little of our authority as external-duty court retainers to gather children in each county town..."

"So-baek."

Wi Mun-do called Han So-baek's name.

Han So-baek fell silent.

"Don't suggest that again. This isn't the Cheongun Sect's territory. If the Byeokra Sect or Danso Sect learned that we'd entered the Gon Kingdom's domain to steal away talented recruits, we'd have a much bigger problem than finding one child with a single spiritual root."

"...I know."

"We joined the Heaven-Serving Directorate as external-duty court retainers so we could travel throughout the Untaek Kingdom without attracting attention, not to gather children under the authority of our positions."

Paeng Ja-ryang clicked his tongue.

"Besides, I can't even cultivate properly in this wretched place. There isn't anywhere worth calling a spirit vein. I can't stand staying here any longer."

"You've been saying that since your first month here, Senior Brother Paeng."

"...So-baek, you've become quite talkative lately. Have you lost your fear because you don't get beaten like you used to?"

"I'm sorry."

The corner of Wi Mun-do's mouth shifted ever so slightly before his face became expressionless again.

"A new pill formula should be enough of an achievement to make up for the mission to bring back a disciple with a single spiritual root by whatever means necessary."

Han So-baek asked another question.

"Doesn't our sect already have the Meridian-Opening Pill?"

"Demand for Meridian-Opening Pills is high, so the prices of the spirit plants used to make them keep rising. That formula has a different name, which means it must use different spirit plants. The purpose of recruiting a disciple with a single spiritual root is ultimately to strengthen the sect by bringing in promising juniors. If the formula helps large numbers of disciples in the early Qi Refining stage break through, the steward should acknowledge its value."

"But are we certain he really obtained the Barrier-Breaking Pill formula?"

"After spending so many years accumulating merit points, what else would he exchange them for at the Court Retainer Hall? Besides, after leaving the hall, he spent over a month going back and forth to Earthfire Cave. After that, I hear he even bought a pill furnace and formation from the Formation Institute."

Paeng Ja-ryang chuckled.

"What a fool. Why would a mere independent cultivator at the Qi Refining stage learn pill refining and obtain a formula...? Does he intend to establish a cultivation clan himself?"

"Don't mock him. Hasn't every sect master gone through difficult times like that at the beginning? We may be looking at someone who could one day become a great figure leading a powerful faction. Unfortunately, he's going to die at our hands."

"I spoke carelessly."

"You don't understand because you belong to a great sect. The hardships independent cultivators face are beyond imagining. Whatever they do, cultivators from great sects like us, who grew up in good conditions, shouldn't casually look down on them."

Paeng Ja-ryang picked his nose.

'Senior Brother Wi really is amusing. He was born into a good family and has lived comfortably without hardship, yet he talks as though he understands what independent cultivators go through... When will this lecture end?'

Wi Mun-do looked at Paeng Ja-ryang.

"More importantly, Ja-ryang. You said you never managed to find his residence?"

"Yes. I followed him three times. All three times, I lost him at the northwestern edge of the Untaek Kingdom."

"How did he disappear?"

"I wasn't certain the first two times, but I saw it clearly the third time. As he was passing along a mountainside, his aura suddenly sank underground. It was definitely the Earth Escape Spell."

"He must have a cave abode."

"That's what I think too."

Paeng Ja-ryang took a folded map from inside his robe.

"Here."

His finger pointed to part of a mountain range northwest of Ungyeong.

"There's an area of solid bedrock along the route he always takes. If we surround him there, he won't be able to escape."

Wi Mun-do reached inside his robe and took out a yellow talisman.

"I also have this."

"A talisman?"

"Yes. A first-tier mid-grade Spirit-Tracking Talisman. Even if we lose him, we should be able to track him with this. Once activated, it can track the owner of the spiritual power it detects for two shichen. If he's within a hundred li on the surface, we'll know which direction he fled. Even if he goes underground, it won't lose him as long as he's no more than one li deep. How far down can he go with the Earth Escape Spell using the spiritual power of the third layer of the Qi Refining stage? He'll have to come back up eventually."

"That's certainly true. But wouldn't using a first-tier mid-grade talisman be a waste? I'll kill him, so couldn't you give that talisman to me instead?"

"Stop talking nonsense and get aboard."

Wi Mun-do tapped his storage pouch, and light flashed.

Whoooosh.

A small blue flying boat appeared in the air.

It was a little over two jang long.

Several formation inscriptions covered the surface of the pointed boat.

The three boarded one after another.

Wi Mun-do spoke.

"Ja-ryang, you steer first. So-baek, conserve your spiritual power."

"Understood."

Hummm.

The formation inscriptions on the bottom of the boat lit up one by one. A moment later, it flew northwest, leaving a blue afterglow behind.

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