WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 48
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“Your full strength...?”
“I’d like your permission to use force qi as well.”
Yuk Gyeong-cheon lightly tapped his own chest.
“You may use your spiritual power too, Immortal.”
Wan Cheong-jo came over.
“I’d also like to ask for a lesson under the same conditions.”
Yi Hyeon looked from one to the other.
“I don’t mind... but what if you get hurt?”
Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s eyes widened for a moment before he burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha!”
His laughter rang through the training hall.
“You may not know this, Immortal, but we’re martial arts grandmasters who have reached the lofty realm known in the mortal world as the Profound realm. Instructor Wan and I have even faced a second-rank gu adept at the border with the Geonyang Kingdom. Together, we fought him for over a hundred exchanges and injured his left arm. We couldn’t take his head in the end, but we did force him back across the border.”
Yuk Gyeong-cheon planted his spear upright.
Thud.
The heavy butt of the shaft struck the stone slab.
“We’re not so weak that you need to worry about injuring us.”
Wan Cheong-jo added calmly, “If we feel we’re in danger, we’ll withdraw first.”
Yi Hyeon nodded.
“Then let’s do that.”
Both their faces brightened.
Yi Hyeon, however, looked down at the iron practice spear in his hand.
‘Still, they don’t know I’m a monster... I’d better hold back.’
Yuk Gyeong-cheon and Yi Hyeon put down their iron practice spears.
Two royal martial artists brought a pair of silver long spears from the weapon rack. Each spearhead and shaft had been forged as a single piece. Traces of repeatedly folding and hammering refined iron remained on their surfaces like silver grain.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon and Yi Hyeon each took a spear.
Yi Hyeon sent a very thin strand of primordial unity true qi into his new spear.
Hummm.
Translucent light seeped into the spearhead and shaft.
It was so faint that it was difficult to notice without looking closely.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Yuk Gyeong-cheon adjusted his grip.
“Then please allow me to learn from you again.”
He drew a deep breath.
His energy flowed down both arms and into the long spear. An inch of force qi blossomed at the tip and rapidly grew.
At last, a streak of spear force over one jang long completely covered the actual blade.
Whenever the spear force trembled, the air around it shimmered with heat, and hot winds as sharp as blades spread in every direction. The nearby Transformation realm martial artists held their breath.
So Bul-ui and Im Yak-ran also watched the training hall with more serious expressions than before.
Thud!
Yuk Gyeong-cheon kicked off the floor.
His figure became a streak of silver.
Claaang!
The two long spears collided head-on.
A circular wave of wind pressure exploded from the point of impact.
Whoooosh.
Dust and stone fragments were driven across the training hall floor in every direction.
Yi Hyeon slid back one step.
As though he had been waiting for that, Yuk Gyeong-cheon twisted at the waist.
His silver spear traced a great arc toward Yi Hyeon’s waist.
Shiiiing.
The force qi extending from its blade left a thin mark across the stone slabs.
Yi Hyeon raised his shaft upright and pushed diagonally upward against the base of the spear force.
Scrrrape!
The two shafts ground roughly against each other.
The moment Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s spear bounced upward, Yi Hyeon’s spear tip darted toward his chest.
The corners of Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s mouth rose.
“Excellent!”
Protective astral qi enveloped his upper body.
At the same time, his raised spear spun and struck down on Yi Hyeon’s shaft.
Clang!
Yi Hyeon’s spear tip was knocked aside just before it reached the protective astral qi.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon stepped forward.
The butt of his spear shot toward Yi Hyeon’s side like lightning.
Whoosh!
Yi Hyeon twisted.
The shaft narrowly brushed past the front of his waist.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon did not stop attacking.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Force qi swept through the entire training hall.
In their earlier spar, a tiny opening had appeared at Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s spear tip whenever he changed forms. But once he began using his force qi art, even that opening disappeared.
His breathing, body, and spear became one. The force that began at his toes passed through his waist and shoulders and flowed into the blade without the slightest break.
Every attack carried enough weight to bring down a city wall.
Clang! Clang, clang, clang!
Force qi swept around Yi Hyeon without pause.
Yet once again, the blade failed to cut even the hem of his clothes.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s gaze sharpened.
‘Is he trying to return to the same spots again?’
He watched Immortal Yi Dong-sam’s feet.
But his opponent was no longer moving between only the four spots he had used before. Instead, he was slipping like flowing water through gaps in the shock waves created by the force qi.
‘Just as I thought! He must be struggling this time.’
Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s confidence gradually grew.
Immortal Yi Dong-sam’s spearwork was mysterious, but perhaps it was a display of skill that would not work in real combat.
‘There’s a level of power that skill alone can’t overcome!’
Yuk Gyeong-cheon drew a deep breath.
Force qi surged into his arms and spear like an explosion.
Hummmmm.
The force qi surrounding the blade began to spin.
One layer.
Two layers.
Three layers.
Round rings of force qi spread out one after another around the tip of the long spear.
Each ring spun in the opposite direction to its neighbor. The interlocking rings ground up all the air and dust around them.
Wan Cheong-jo’s expression stiffened.
‘Should he really be using that?’
It was the move Yuk Gyeong-cheon had used to wound the Geonyang Kingdom’s second-rank gu adept.
If the opponent blocked the spear tip, the three rings would grind through both their weapon and their Protective Spiritlight. If they dodged to the side, he could expand the rings around the blade to sweep through the surrounding area.
The Transformation realm martial artists instinctively retreated several steps.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon stepped forward.
Booom!
The three rings of force qi surged toward Yi Hyeon.
Dazzling light filled the training hall.
At that instant, Yi Hyeon’s spear tip slipped into a narrow gap between the three rings.
Ting.
A clear note cut through the training hall.
The three fiercely counter-rotating rings swallowed one another’s rotational force and twisted out of shape all at once.
Creeeak! Crunch!
Yuk Gyeong-cheon turned pale.
Unable to withstand its own power, the force qi he had released collapsed inward. Then it was drawn along Yi Hyeon’s spear shaft in a huge spiral.
‘Four taels deflect a thousand geun!?’
Yi Hyeon gently turned his shaft through half a circle. The three layers of force qi wrapped around it lost their course together and soared into the air.
Kabooom!
The storm of force qi burst uselessly above their heads.
The blast sent Yuk Gyeong-cheon pitching forward, unable to stop himself.
Before he could regain his balance, Yi Hyeon’s spear tip had come to a quiet stop just in front of the space between his eyebrows.
“...!”
Cold sweat ran down Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s forehead.
Yi Hyeon withdrew his spear and spoke calmly.
“The rotation that interlocked those three rings was excellent.”
“No... It was far from excellent...”
Yuk Gyeong-cheon lowered his long spear with trembling hands. An overwhelming thrill ran down his spine.
‘What kind of ghostly technique was that...? I still have so much further to climb!’
This time, Wan Cheong-jo stepped forward.
“I’d also like to ask for a lesson.”
A fierce desire to compete shone in Wan Cheong-jo’s eyes.
‘Brother Yuk’s spearwork and mine are different.’
Wan Cheong-jo adjusted his grip on the short spear.
A moment later, Yi Hyeon and Wan Cheong-jo stood in the center of the training hall.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Force qi rose from Wan Cheong-jo’s body.
It was neither as large nor as dazzling as Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s.
It clung to his arms, legs, and short spear like a thin film less than half an inch thick.
Wan Cheong-jo shortened his grip on the shaft.
His forward hand was less than two chi from the blade, while his rear hand rested at the middle of the shaft.
Wan Cheong-jo moved.
Tap.
His footstep was much quieter than Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s.
Yet with that single step, three streaks of spear force attacked Yi Hyeon from different directions.
Clang, clang, clang!
Wan Cheong-jo’s spear immediately changed course.
Pivoting around his forward hand, the blade traced a small circle and slashed at Yi Hyeon’s chest.
When Yi Hyeon leaned backward, the butt of the shaft shot up from below.
Tap!
Yi Hyeon’s shaft blocked it.
Wan Cheong-jo used the rebound from the clash to spin.
Spear force attacked Yi Hyeon’s back, waist, and knees in quick succession.
Clang, clang, clang!
This spear technique was completely different from Yuk Gyeong-cheon’s.
The next attack began before the previous one had ended.
There was no distinction between the blade and the butt of the shaft, nor any boundary between thrusts, slashes, and sweeping blows.
Wan Cheong-jo rushed inside Yi Hyeon’s reach.
The distance between them had already shrunk to less than one jang.
Yi Hyeon no longer had enough room to move his long spear.
Wan Cheong-jo’s eyes gleamed.
‘Got you.’
He twisted the shaft.
Force qi split into dozens of strands from the blade.
The thin streaks of spear force stabbed toward the acupoints across Yi Hyeon’s upper body all at once.
At that moment, Yi Hyeon let go of his spear.
Wan Cheong-jo’s eyes wavered.
‘He’s throwing away his spear?’
In the next instant, Yi Hyeon’s entire body seemed to waver like a mirage before Wan Cheong-jo’s eyes.
Swish, swish, swish!
Instead of retreating, Yi Hyeon boldly plunged straight into the dozens of oncoming streaks of spear force.
‘Is he mad!?’
Wan Cheong-jo reflexively twisted the shaft to pierce Yi Hyeon’s solar plexus.
Just then, Yi Hyeon’s hands unleashed a dazzling display of skill that broke down the boundaries between punches, palm strikes, finger flicks, and joint locks.
Ta-tang!
His index and middle fingers shot out like lightning, flicking the side of Wan Cheong-jo’s spearhead one after another.
It was only two finger flicks, yet the dozens of streaks of spear force scattered through the air like raindrops.
At the same time, Yi Hyeon’s left hand slid around and gripped Wan Cheong-jo’s elbow joint.
Wan Cheong-jo felt the strength vanish from his spear arm.
Just as the startled Wan Cheong-jo tried to strike Yi Hyeon’s jaw with his other fist...
Thwack, thwack, thwack!
Dozens of afterimages filled Wan Cheong-jo’s vision.
Yi Hyeon’s right hand swept across Wan Cheong-jo’s entire body in an endlessly changing series of moves.
The Shoulder Well acupoint at the shoulder, the Chest Center acupoint on the chest, the Sun and Moon acupoint at the side, the Crooked Pool acupoint on the arm...
His fist, palm, and fingertips struck acupoints all over Wan Cheong-jo’s body in a rapid series of glancing blows.
Finally, Yi Hyeon’s right fist tore through the air and stopped just one inch from Wan Cheong-jo’s face.
Bang!
The burst of wind pressure from his stopping fist violently tossed Wan Cheong-jo’s hair.
The entire exchange had happened without enough time to draw a single breath.
Clank.
Only then did the spear Yi Hyeon had released hit the training hall floor.
“That was excellent spearwork.”
“......”
Silence surrounded the training hall.
The Transformation realm martial artists had not properly understood what had just happened. To their eyes, Yi Hyeon had merely waved his hands a few times, and Wan Cheong-jo’s spear had helplessly stopped.
After a moment, Yuk Gyeong-cheon was the first to cup his hands and bow deeply to Yi Hyeon.
“I’ve received a valuable lesson.”
Still breathing hard, Wan Cheong-jo followed with a respectful bow.
“Thank you for your instruction.”
The Transformation realm martial artists around the training hall also cupped their hands in unison.
“Thank you for your instruction!”
Jang Gyeong-ik approached Yi Hyeon.
“I had no idea you were so accomplished in martial arts as well, Junior Brother Yi.”
“In truth, I’m told that one of my ancestors was a mortal who became a martial arts grandmaster. A few martial arts and spoken incantations were passed down to the descendants. I learned our family’s martial arts when I was young.”
“I see.”
Jang Gyeong-ik readily accepted the explanation.
Quite a few former independent cultivators had ties to martial arts families or royal households in the mortal world.
Besides, Yi Dong-sam was a cultivator at Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage.
Jang Gyeong-ik thought that if he had combined mortal martial arts with spiritual power, overpowering Profound realm martial arts grandmasters was not impossible.
So Bul-ui seemed to think much the same.
“As expected of someone at Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage,” they murmured in admiration.
“It seems even Profound realm experts can’t handle spiritual power wielded like force qi.”
Im Yak-ran spoke.
“Isn’t his skill with the spear impressive in itself?”
“Compared to mortal martial arts, I suppose it is.”
So Bul-ui’s admiration was sincere.
“I knew the Danso Sect focused on alchemy, but I never expected even an outer sect alchemist to be this skilled at physical combat. My sect’s senior brothers would find this quite interesting.”
Yi Hyeon showed no particular reaction.
So Bul-ui was not trying to insult him. They truly believed what they were saying.
The one who frowned was Yuk Gyeong-cheon.
‘They’ve seen such sublime martial arts right in front of them, yet they feel nothing. What complete fools!’
Wan Cheong-jo’s thoughts were no different.
‘Apart from being born with spiritual roots, these blind fools have no talent at all. They don’t have the slightest idea how remarkable this man is...’
In truth, Yuk Gyeong-cheon and Wan Cheong-jo did not think very highly of the resident cultivators.
They had their reasons.
Only one child in ten thousand was born with spiritual roots, so it was certainly a rare gift.
But only one person in several million became a Transformation realm martial artist.
Profound realm experts were rarer still. It usually took a population of around a hundred million to produce a single Profound realm expert in a generation.
Judging only by the rarity of their talents, Qi Refining cultivators with spiritual roots could not hold a candle to Yuk Gyeong-cheon and Wan Cheong-jo. Their talent simply happened to be the kind that suited this world.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon and Wan Cheong-jo vaguely realized that Immortal Yi Dong-sam’s explanation was not the truth. His martial skill was far beyond anything that could be explained by learning a few family martial arts.
But neither of them pressed him. They simply assumed that Yi Dong-sam had circumstances he did not wish to reveal.
...
From that day on, the martial artists of the Anneung Kingdom treated Yi Dong-sam differently.
They had always shown him courtesy as the Danso Sect’s resident cultivator, but now they respected him sincerely, as a senior who had traveled further along the martial path.
Yuk Gyeong-cheon and Wan Cheong-jo occasionally visited the Immortal-Serving Court to ask about spearwork and footwork techniques.
Yi Hyeon taught them a few things within the limits of his knowledge.
That did not mean his daily life changed.
He usually inspected the Immortal-Serving Court’s alchemical pills and medicinal ingredients. From time to time, he visited the royal family or nearby cultivation families to mediate disputes.
Every two or three months, he returned to Underground Hideout No. 3 to check on his spirit fields and Fuzzbees.
Occasionally, he also put on his Badger mask and held a meeting of the Two Heavens Society.
Fortunately, the Geonyang Kingdom did not cross the Anneung Kingdom’s border.
However, the number of gu adepts staying at the northern spirit vein did not decrease.
* * *
Five years later.
The Immortal-Serving Court, Anneung Kingdom.
Yi Hyeon lay comfortably on the floor of his residence.
A complex seal floated within his sea of consciousness.
Several layers of patterns surrounded a hollow circle, while two streams of light rotated in opposite directions outside them.
The Origin-Protecting Seal.
Fourteen years had already passed since he obtained the Spirit-Guarding and Origin-Protecting Art.
As expected of a secret technique related to the primordial spirit, the Origin-Protecting Seal was more difficult to understand than any spell Yi Hyeon had learned so far.
Even so, he had steadily studied it, and today he had finally made a major breakthrough!
Hummm.
The seal, which had previously fallen apart unless he held it together with his consciousness, settled into place on its own within his sea of consciousness. Now, even without his conscious attention, it could maintain a stable form by consuming small amounts of primordial unity true qi.
If an outside spiritual sense or an enthralling power approached his sea of consciousness, it would consume more primordial unity true qi than usual to protect his primordial spirit automatically.
‘This should be enough to call it Minor Mastery!’
Yi Hyeon took the wooden board he used as a homemade status panel out of his storage pouch.
【Spells: Spirit-Guarding and Origin-Protecting Art (Minor Mastery), ...】
Just as he put the board back into his storage pouch, he heard a knock at his door.
Knock, knock.
“Junior Brother Yi. Are you in?”
It was Jang Gyeong-ik’s voice.
Yi Hyeon got up and opened the door.
“What is it?”
“It’s time to prepare for the Immortal Ascension Selection.”
“The Immortal Ascension Selection?”
“We select children with spiritual roots and send them to the sect headquarters. This will be your first time since becoming a resident cultivator, won’t it?”
“That’s right.”
Jang Gyeong-ik beckoned.
“Let’s go to the meeting hall. We need to decide our assigned regions and schedule.”
...
The meeting hall of the Immortal-Serving Court.
The resident cultivators of the Danso Sect and Byeokra Sect sat across a long table from one another.
A map of the entire Anneung Kingdom lay spread across it.
Every six years, the Anneung Kingdom gathered children between six and thirteen who had not yet been tested for spiritual roots and checked their aptitude.
The Danso Sect and Byeokra Sect divided the recruitment regions according to a prior agreement.
Jang Gyeong-ik pointed to the western part of the map.
“This time, our sect will handle Saknyeong Province, Baekha Province, and Ulleung Province. They’re all in the sparsely populated western borderlands of the Anneung Kingdom.”
Yi Hyeon’s gaze lingered on Pyeongneung County in Saknyeong Province.
It was close to Underground Hideout No. 3.
Jang Gyeong-ik continued.
“First, the royal family will gather the children of the right age from each county in their local towns. We’ll travel along a set route, check their spiritual roots, and bring those with the right aptitude to the capital.”
“We don’t send them straight to the sect headquarters?”
“The Danso Sect is too far away, isn’t it? And we can’t keep taking them around on the flying boat until we finish selecting children in every region.”
Jang Gyeong-ik spoke with a very serious expression.
“Children aren’t like us. They need regular meals and bedtimes, and the cold at high altitudes can easily make them ill.”
“Even with a wind-blocking formation?”
“Blocking the wind doesn’t remove the cold entirely. Some disciples handling the Immortal Ascension Selection for the first time took that lightly and made the children sick.”
Jang Gyeong-ik folded his fingers down one by one.
“They need a balanced diet of the grains, meat, and vegetables mortals eat. You mustn’t carelessly feed them spirit plants or alchemical pills that are difficult to digest just because you think they’re good for them. Mortal children can easily die if they go without meals for just a few days. Remember, mortals are terribly fragile. You must treat them as carefully as tender seedlings.”
“Ah... That certainly makes sense.”
‘I’ve lived as a cultivator for so long that I’ve lost touch with mortal needs.’
Jang Gyeong-ik continued.
“That’s why we first bring the selected children to stay at the Immortal Ascension Lodge in the capital. Once the selection is finished in every region, we take them all to the sect headquarters aboard the Danso Immortal Ferry.”
“Understood.”
...
After the meeting, Jang Gyeong-ik led the Danso Sect disciples to a wide stone platform behind the Immortal-Serving Court.
A large warehouse stood there.
Jang Gyeong-ik placed his identity token on a formation disk.
Hummmmm.
The warehouse doors slid open to either side.
Inside rested a flying boat over twenty jang long.
Its hull was made of white spirit wood, with golden floral patterns and clouds painted along both sides. Wind-blocking formations and defensive formation inscriptions densely covered the deck and cabins.
“That’s a fine flying boat.”
“It’s the Danso Immortal Ferry.”
Jang Gyeong-ik lightly tapped the hull.
“A high-grade flying magical implement entrusted to the Immortal-Serving Court by the sect headquarters. We rarely need it in ordinary times, but we always use it when recruiting disciples.”
“Because we need to carry so many children?”
“That’s part of it, but...”
Jang Gyeong-ik paused.
“We also need to show mortals the sect’s majesty.”
“Its majesty?”
“Sending a child with spiritual roots to an immortal sect changes a family’s destiny. It’s a moment those mortals will remember for the rest of their lives. We can hardly turn up in a shabby cart, can we?”
A Danso Sect disciple beside them nodded seriously.
“If the first cultivator they see looks shabby, the children’s parents might begin to doubt our sect.”
“I see.”
Jang Gyeong-ik asked Yi Hyeon a question.
“Do you have a flying magical implement of your own?”
“I do.”
Yi Hyeon took the palm-sized Flowing Cloud Disk from his storage pouch.
“A Flowing Cloud Disk. Its size and color are both suitable, so that will do.”
“Do we need our own flying magical implements when we have the Danso Immortal Ferry?”
“It looks rather unimpressive if we set this huge boat down in the middle of a village and all the cultivators pour out.”
“......”
“First, we leave the ferry hovering overhead. Then the resident cultivators descend on their own flying magical implements. That makes the immortal sect look all the more majestic to the mortals.”
Jang Gyeong-ik took a small flying sword from his storage pouch.
Hummm.
The finger-length sword grew to over one jang long.
He stepped onto it.
“Watch closely. First, you must stop about ten jang above the ground.”
The flying sword rose into the air.
Jang Gyeong-ik did not descend straight away from that height.
He waited there until the disciples standing on the stone platform were looking up at him.
“First, make sure the mortals are looking your way.”
His voice came from above.
“We can survey our surroundings all at once with spiritual sense, but mortals can’t. They’re slow even to turn their heads or move their eyes. If we descend too quickly, no one may see us.”
Jang Gyeong-ik used the Wind-Riding Art to lightly stir his long robes.
Rustle.
His wide sleeves and robe hems caught the breeze and fluttered just enough.
Only then did the flying sword slowly descend.
“Come down neither too quickly nor too slowly.”
When he reached a height of about three jang, Jang Gyeong-ik stopped in midair again.
“Pause once more here. The mortals need time to see your face too.”
A moment later, the flying sword settled onto the stone platform.
Jang Gyeong-ik neither bent his knees nor swayed.
Not a speck of dust rose.
Rustle.
The hems of his robes settled a moment later.
“Like that.”
He stepped off the flying sword.
“Give your robes a slight flutter with the Wind-Riding Art as well. But pay close attention to the wind’s direction. It won’t look good if your robes cover your face.”
Jang Gyeong-ik was utterly serious.
“Bending your knees when you land doesn’t look impressive either, so be careful.”
“Understood.”
“Give it a try.”
Yi Hyeon fed spiritual power into the Flowing Cloud Disk.
Hummmmm.
The round white jade plate grew to almost three jang long.
Yi Hyeon stepped onto it and followed the sequence Jang Gyeong-ik had demonstrated. At ten jang, he waited for everyone’s attention to gather on him, then descended while making his robes flutter just enough with the Wind-Riding Art. He paused at three jang to give everyone a good look at his face, then landed on the stone platform without raising a speck of dust.
Jang Gyeong-ik nodded.
“Well done.”
“It isn’t difficult.”
“When you do it for real, hundreds of people will be looking up at you. Just do what you did now.”
Jang Gyeong-ik studied Yi Hyeon’s face for a moment.
“Though you should look a little more dignified. Not too frightening, but solemn enough that people won’t dare approach you casually. Avoid unnecessary chatter, and make the words you do need to say sound impressive.”
Footnotes:
“Four taels deflect a thousand geun” (四兩撥千斤) is a martial arts saying about using a small amount of force to redirect a much greater force. Taels and geun are traditional units of weight.
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