WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
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◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 62
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The next day, in Danso Immortal City.
Yi Hyeon opened the wooden boxes of medicinal materials one by one.
They held the supporting ingredients for Spirit-Calming Pills.
After reviewing the formula and annotations he had read at Cheongha Valley, he found that everything except the main ingredient, Yin Soul Grass, was available here. None of the ingredients was especially expensive on its own, but enough for several practice batches cost a fair amount.
Even so, he paid without hesitation. He had already felt the benefits of strengthening his spiritual sense with Spirit-Nurturing Pills. If Spirit-Calming Pills had a similar effect, they were well worth making himself.
‘I’ll have to try them to see how much they help me.’
He put the medicinal materials into his storage pouch.
...
Back at Cheongu Gorge, Yi Hyeon opened a popular novel for the first time in a while.
Two shichen later.
He was turning the pages in a half-reclining position when his cave abode’s formation disk sounded. A sweep of his spiritual sense revealed two people outside the Cloud-Barrier Abode-Guarding Formation. One was Bang Je-un. The other was a cultivator he had never seen before.
...
The mist at the gorge entrance parted to either side. When Yi Hyeon appeared, Bang Je-un raised a hand.
“Sorry to disturb you.”
“Not at all. What brings you here?”
“Well...”
He gestured toward the cultivator beside him.
“Let me introduce Fellow Cultivator Seol Gyeong-haeng of the Dharma Protection Court.”
Seol Gyeong-haeng was a man who looked about thirty. He had long eyebrows and neat features, with a plain scabbard hanging at his waist. Even with his aura calmly contained, Yi Hyeon could sense his late Foundation Establishment cultivation.
“I’m Seol Gyeong-haeng.”
“Yi Dong-sam.”
They exchanged brief greetings.
The Dharma Protection Court was an organization within the Danso Sect that focused on combat. Yi Hyeon knew of it, but had never had any personal dealings with its cultivators.
Bang Je-un said, “Fellow Cultivator Seol wanted to meet you, so I brought him along.”
“What did you wish to...?”
Seol Gyeong-haeng came straight to the point.
“I heard you fought Seok Jin-hyeong at Cheongha Valley.”
“That’s right.”
“Is it true that you cut through the Wind-Thunder Umbrella’s attacks with your sword?”
“It is, but...”
“If you’re willing, would you have a bout with me as well?”
“You mean a spar?”
“Yes.”
Yi Hyeon looked at Bang Je-un, who gave a small shrug as though he had expected that reaction.
“Fellow Cultivator Seol is famous for his swordsmanship even among our sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators.”
Seol Gyeong-haeng continued.
“Since I’ve come unannounced to ask this favor, I’ll offer payment. I intend to register it as a martial exchange request and give you 60 contribution points. I’ll arrange a training hall as well.”
“You’ll pay 60 points for one spar? Regardless of who wins?”
“Yes.”
“I imagine the Dharma Protection Court has plenty of skilled swordsmen. Is there a reason you’re asking me in particular?”
“When people train together for a long time, they grow familiar with one another. From what I’ve heard, your swordsmanship seems unlike anything I’m used to.”
Yi Hyeon considered it.
He sensed no hostility, nor did Seol Gyeong-haeng seem intent on testing him just to make him look foolish. A formal spar in a rented training hall within their own sect should not be particularly dangerous. Above all, he was curious how a Foundation Establishment sword cultivator who specialized in combat would fight.
“All right.”
Seol Gyeong-haeng cupped his hands.
“Thank you.”
...
After Seol Gyeong-haeng left, Yi Hyeon invited Bang Je-un into Cheongu Gorge. He put the novel aside and brewed tea. Bang Je-un lifted his cup.
“Are you sure you’re all right with accepting?”
“You brought him here, Senior Brother. Surely that means he’s trustworthy.”
“Well, yes.”
Bang Je-un took a sip, then continued with a more serious expression.
“Just don’t approach this as you did your fight with Seok Jin-hyeong. Fellow Cultivator Seol is at Foundation Establishment layer eight, but he’s probably far stronger than Seok Jin-hyeong. To be frank, Seok Jin-hyeong belongs to the Cheongun Sect’s External Affairs Hall. Their cultivation may be high, but they’re not its best Foundation Establishment fighter. Seol Gyeong-haeng, on the other hand, is truly frightening.”
“He’s that good?”
“He’s the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in our sect with a single metal spiritual root. They say his understanding of the sword is exceptional too, so the elders have high hopes for him. I hear even the other Dharma Protection Court cultivators are on edge when they cross swords with him.”
“How old is Fellow Cultivator Seol?”
“I’m not certain, but I don’t think he’s over eighty. That makes him younger than us.”
Yi Hyeon looked at his reflection in the tea.
If Seol Gyeong-haeng was not yet eighty, he would have spent even fewer years learning the sword. An outstanding spiritual root could help someone advance quickly, but skill with a sword did not simply appear on its own.
How much mastery could he have gained in such a short time to earn that praise? Yi Hyeon had his doubts, but Bang Je-un did not look as though he was exaggerating.
“I’ll be careful.”
“Come back in one piece. Master gave you this time off to tend to yourself and your magical implements, remember?”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
...
Three days later, in a valley in the northeastern Danso Mountains.
A broad stretch of rocky shallows lay between towering cliffs. Shallow water flowed over white stones, and farther into the valley, a waterfall dozens of jang high plunged into a deep pool. Through the drifting mist above it, stone pillars stood along the cliff edges. A faint curtain of light stretched between them.
Seol Gyeong-haeng slotted a jade token into the formation disk, and the entrance closed. The mountains and clouds outside grew hazy, while the outline of the light curtain surrounding the valley became clearer.
“We have two shichen.”
Yi Hyeon looked up at the curtain extending overhead.
There was plenty of room inside. High on the cliffs were marks left by swords and spells. Some were deep hollows that looked as though a huge beast had bitten chunks out of the rock.
Seol Gyeong-haeng turned around.
“Shall we allow the free use of magical implements and spells?”
“Agreed.”
“But let’s exclude secret techniques that consume blood essence and single-use killing moves. If Protective Spiritlight is pierced over a vital point, such as the throat or chest, we stop at once.”
“That sounds fair.”
Yi Hyeon took out the Dark Palace-Gate Sword, and Seol Gyeong-haeng drew the sword at his waist. Its blade was a little over three chi long, white as though coated in frost. As spiritual power entered it, the edge seemed to grow even thinner. Just looking at its tip made the space between Yi Hyeon’s eyebrows tingle.
Mist drifting close to the blade turned to frost in its cold aura.
Yi Hyeon briefly studied the energy flowing along the blade, then landed on a rock some fifty jang away. Seol Gyeong-haeng held his sword upright in salute.
“Then let us begin.”
“Come at me.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Seol Gyeong-haeng’s sword rose from his hand.
The white blade shot through the mist almost without a sound. Before Yi Hyeon could raise his head to follow it, a long silver-white arc had appeared in the sky above the valley.
The thin trail of light left by the sword curved. Along that light, an entire section of the sky seemed to tilt and come pouring down toward Yi Hyeon.
He kicked off the rock and slashed upward with the Dark Palace-Gate Sword. The spirit force extending from its blade met the silver-white arc, and his vision flashed white.
Clang!
The rocky shallows below split along a long line. A curtain of water and powdered stone surged halfway up the cliffs.
A small white light flew through it.
Clang!
The flying sword skimmed across the flat of the Dark Palace-Gate Sword and slid aside with a hair-raising screech.
Seol Gyeong-haeng was already hovering above the waterfall. With a sweep of his arm, sword light slanted across Yi Hyeon’s escape route. The flying sword circled behind him, carving a long white line into the cliff before coming at him again.
The black line down the center of the Dark Palace-Gate Sword shone brightly.
Flash!
Thick spirit force tore through the mist, extending far enough to open a gap in the sword light barring his path. By the time the pursuing sword pierced that spot, Yi Hyeon had already risen to Seol Gyeong-haeng’s height.
Seol Gyeong-haeng was startled.
‘How is he breaking through my sword qi so easily?’
The white light he had spread across the sky curved around again and approached Yi Hyeon, who slashed straight ahead.
But one end of the severed sword qi bent like a snake, sweeping across his shoulder and striking his Protective Spiritlight sharply.
‘The inheritance he practices is far too advanced. Trading sword qi at a distance doesn’t seem to favor me...’
At that moment, Yi Hyeon vanished, leaving an afterimage.
He rushed forward, and the saber techniques of the Boundary-Dividing Saber unfolded through his sword.
Clear surprise flashed in Seol Gyeong-haeng’s eyes. The white sword returned to his hand, and the sword qi shining in the sky settled precisely onto its blade.
The two swords collided in front of the waterfall.
Boom!
Light burst between the blades, washing both men’s faces white. Seol Gyeong-haeng was hurled backward.
‘Where does such tremendous strength come from?’
His composure vanished.
As he was driven downward, he lashed the tip of his sword across the pool. The surface swelled as though exploding, and white spray rose to hide him.
Then the rising curtain of water, supported by the wind from his sword, stopped in midair.
Seol Gyeong-haeng forced spiritual power into his blade. The cold within the magical implement burst out alongside sharp metal energy filled with a fierce killing chill, freezing the curtain of water.
Clang!
Tens of thousands of frozen beads reflected silver-white light like mirrors. At that instant, the white sword appeared beyond the curtain like a ghost.
Each time the blade cut through the air, its silver-white afterimages split into three, then nine. They became a vast storm of light that covered the entire waterfall and surrounded Yi Hyeon.
‘An illusion?’
Sword qi rained down with ear-splitting shrieks, and Yi Hyeon’s immense spiritual power erupted.
Twenty Spiritlight Shields bloomed in the air.
They overlapped at angles, blocking the paths of the sword light.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Silver-white sword marks appeared one after another on the cliffs beside the waterfall and around the pool. Even the spray washing over them could not erase their glow.
The pouring sword light battered the Spiritlight Shields, but Seol Gyeong-haeng was the one taken aback.
‘Spiritlight Shields!? He’s blocking my sword qi with those things...?’
He crooked a finger, and three scattered streaks of sword light converged on a single point. They pierced two Spiritlight Shields in succession. Yi Hyeon hurriedly swung another shield into place, and the sword light tore a long gash across its surface before shooting past his shoulder.
Seol Gyeong-haeng’s sleeves fluttered as he rose higher. Two fingers traced a smooth, flowing arc.
Following that motion, the divided sword light gathered around the white sword as it left his hand once more. It formed a giant blade the size of a small building and fell straight toward Yi Hyeon’s head.
The air between the cliffs compressed, and the pool’s surface sank into a hollow. This was a true immortal’s Sword Control Spell.
If Yi Hyeon had continued fighting at a distance, his knowledge would not have been enough to handle the sharpness of a metal spiritual root and such varied sword control.
Assuming, of course, that they had the same amount of spiritual power.
Instead of retreating, Yi Hyeon twisted at the waist. His left hand swept powerfully toward the sky.
Air rushed violently through the valley, and a huge hand formed from blue spiritual light appeared overhead. It was the Essence-Condensing Grasping Hand.
The massive hand reached across the air and seized the falling sword around its middle.
Creeeeak! Boom!
Metal and spiritual power clashed, releasing sparks that burned white through the waterfall’s mist. The fingers of the Essence-Condensing Grasping Hand were cut off at once, but that brief resistance was enough to wrench the giant sword off course.
Boom!
The deflected blade buried itself in the opposite cliff, shaking the entire rock face. Amid the huge mass of falling stone, Yi Hyeon kicked off the air.
Thump!
With the recoil of the Spherical Qi Barrier added to the Wind-Riding Art, he shot straight upward through the mist.
Sword qi among the falling streams barred his way, but the Dark Palace-Gate Sword in his right hand traced a heavy arc.
His spirit force sliced horizontally through both the waterfall and the sword qi. Yi Hyeon shot like a ghost through the gap between the severed upper and lower streams.
Seol Gyeong-haeng’s eyes widened as he hovered above the waterfall.
Yi Hyeon was too close for him to recall the sword embedded in the cliff. He immediately drew a spare sword from his storage pouch. Fierce sword qi surged from the fingertips gripping its hilt.
But Yi Hyeon had already rushed within arm’s reach.
Claaang!
Their blades met head-on.
Seol Gyeong-haeng turned his wrist, trying to deflect Yi Hyeon’s blade and thrust at his chest.
But then.
Yi Hyeon’s wrist split into several afterimages. Six brilliant white streaks of sword light spread like a fan from the Dark Palace-Gate Sword’s tip.
Against the spray of the waterfall, a six-petaled sword blossom (劍花) filled Seol Gyeong-haeng’s vision.
“...!”
He retreated, swinging his sword fiercely. Silver-white arcs burst out, knocking away the first and second petals.
But the moment he struck aside the third and fourth sword paths,
Clang!
The Dark Palace-Gate Sword’s tip shot forward like lightning and struck just above his sword’s hilt with uncanny precision.
“Urgh!”
His fingers were forced apart, and his palm split open. His sword flew high into the air.
Just as Yi Hyeon was about to thrust toward his chest, Seol Gyeong-haeng formed hand seals with his empty hands.
‘Hm?’
Shriiiiek!
The whole valley screamed at once.
The spare sword that had been knocked high into the air stopped and began to tremble. The white flying sword rose from the cliff, scattering stone dust. And that was not all. Dozens of silver-white strands of sword qi left around the cliffs, waterfall, and pool during their earlier exchanges all shot into the air.
‘A sword formation?’
Dozens of silver-white streaks of sword light intertwined overhead, closing around Yi Hyeon from every side like a huge birdcage.
At that moment,
Boooom!
Just before the sword net closed completely, a shock wave from Yi Hyeon’s Spherical Qi Barrier erupted in every direction, forcing the narrowing silver-white net outward. In that opening, he swung the Dark Palace-Gate Sword at impossible speed toward the streaks of sword light trying to connect.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a series of sharp reports, the silver-white sword light surrounding him shattered.
Meanwhile, Seol Gyeong-haeng, who had been hurled into the cliff by the Spherical Qi Barrier, finally caught sight of the broken light raining down.
‘What just hit me? Is this man really at Foundation Establishment layer three? Even a demonic beast wouldn’t be this absurd!’
He had sparred countless times with the most capable fellow disciples in the Dharma Protection Court, but never before had he been crushed by such unpredictable, overwhelming power.
He let out a hollow chuckle and lowered both hands.
“I’ve lost. The victory is entirely yours.”
...
The two sat on a rock beside the pool. Seol Gyeong-haeng applied Blood-Staunching Powder to his palm, wrapped it in cloth, then stared at his sword’s hilt for a moment.
“I can’t remember the last time someone knocked a sword out of my hand.”
Yi Hyeon looked at his hand.
“Is the wound deep?”
“It’ll heal in a few days.”
Seol Gyeong-haeng opened and closed his hand, then turned toward Yi Hyeon.
“Do you have a metal spiritual root?”
“No. I have triple spiritual roots of wood, fire, and earth.”
Seol Gyeong-haeng’s eyebrows shifted slightly. He looked from Yi Hyeon to the Dark Palace-Gate Sword, seeming to choose his words.
“Where did you learn your swordsmanship?”
Yi Hyeon laid his sword beside his knee.
“I’m told one of my ancestors was a martial arts grandmaster in the mortal world. They reached the Profound realm, and I studied the martial arts they left behind from childhood. I also obtained other inheritances during my time as an independent cultivator.”
It was the same story he had once told Jang Gyeong-ik. Seol Gyeong-haeng likewise nodded slowly after hearing it.
“Mortal martial arts... Even so, not everyone who obtained that inheritance could have used it as you do.”
He adjusted the cloth covering his palm.
“Once you closed in, your spells and forms changed one after another. It was difficult to respond. I can see why Seok Jin-hyeong lost.”
Yi Hyeon did not know how to answer that.
“Fellow Cultivator Seol.”
“Go ahead.”
“Could you recommend a worthwhile sword inheritance in our sect’s Scripture Repository?”
Seol Gyeong-haeng thought for a moment.
“For a sword cultivator who specializes in close combat, as you do... I suggest looking into the 《Supreme Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Canon》.”
“The Supreme Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Canon...”
As Yi Hyeon repeated the name, Seol Gyeong-haeng continued.
“It’s one of the finest sword inheritances in our sect’s Scripture Repository.”
“Thank you.”
Seol Gyeong-haeng stood.
“I’m the one who benefited. If another opportunity comes, I’d like to ask you for another bout.”
...
Once the martial exchange was settled, Yi Hyeon received 60 contribution points.
Back at Cheongu Gorge, he lay down in his residence and closed his eyes.
From the first silver-white arc drawn across the sky to the final sword formation, every sword path appeared clearly even with his eyes shut.
Seol Gyeong-haeng had been stronger than expected.
He kept thinking about the moment three streaks of sword light had pierced two Spiritlight Shields in succession. He could have achieved the same result by pouring in more spiritual power, but he was not confident he could control sword qi so precisely after it left his blade. He had also broken the final sword formation before it fully unfolded, so he could not claim to have truly experienced its power.
Suddenly, he remembered the valley in the Hwacheon Secret Realm.
Gwak Jin-myeong, the prodigy from Skull Island. The dark red bone nail launched from Gwak Jin-myeong’s hand had pierced three layers of Spiritlight Shields even after the long spear knocked it off course. His Protective Spiritlight had been torn apart too. In the end, the Dark-Scale Underarmor had saved him.
He had thought then that he was not invincible. But after returning, his response had ended with practicing how to draw the Dark Iron Buckler faster and repairing his damaged magical implements.
He had not looked deeply into how his defenses had been pierced, or whether he could make them stronger with the same amount of spiritual power.
Yi Hyeon sat up.
The Square-Inch Step, Single-Pole Six Swords, and Boundary-Dividing Saber were still excellent martial arts. Profound realm masters from the Geonyang Kingdom had devoted their lives to creating those supreme arts, and he too had spent long years learning and refining them. He had even combined them with Earth-Origin Force and various spells.
But he had considered that enough. Once he defeated an opponent, he took it as proof that his methods were right. Any gaps exposed during a fight were filled with abundant spiritual power and other magical implements. Since becoming able to perform his familiar martial arts with a cultivator’s body, he had spent fewer days seriously studying combat techniques than before.
Seol Gyeong-haeng had not even lived eighty years. Yi Hyeon had lived for more than fourteen hundred years since coming to this world. He had not risked his life training with a sword every day, but the time he had accumulated was far from short. It was hard to accept that he had fallen behind in the variations of swordsmanship.
‘No... The years contained in Seol Gyeong-haeng’s sword aren’t merely eighty.’
How long had the sword cultivators who created his sword art wielded their blades? How many enemies had those who followed them fought, abandoning mistaken paths and discovering better ones?
Some of them must have possessed talent equal to the Geonyang Kingdom’s martial arts grandmasters. They had lived longer than mortal martial artists, flown through the sky, and fought enemies who wielded spiritual power.
Without realizing it, Yi Hyeon had begun to take cultivators’ battles too lightly. It was a world where higher cultivation meant stronger spiritual power, and better magical implements meant greater might.
He had overcome those differences with his immense spiritual power and the mortal world’s supreme arts. Because of that, he had given too little thought to the people who had studied martial arts beyond those limits.
‘I’ve grown complacent. I’m not pushing myself hard enough.’
Making a spell larger was not the same as making it sharper. Just as a Profound realm martial artist had broken a cultivator’s defenses through the principle of Single-Point Piercing, his own defenses could be pierced by an opponent with far less spiritual power.
...
The next day.
The Scripture Repository’s Inner Pavilion.
Yi Hyeon spent a while examining the catalog of sword inheritances. Even after finding the name Seol Gyeong-haeng had mentioned, he did not decide immediately. He read the summaries and cultivation requirements of the neighboring sword arts before returning to the first entry.
《Supreme Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Canon (太乙天罡劍典)》
The reading fee was a full 370 contribution points.
Yi Hyeon checked the price once more, then held out his identity token.
“I’d like to read the Supreme Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Canon.”
The attendant checked his token.
“Fellow Cultivator Yi Dong-sam of Yeonha Peak. Go to the fifth inheritance chamber inside.”
...
By the time he left the inheritance chamber, noon had long since passed.
As he walked down the corridor, Yi Hyeon reviewed what he had just read.
It began with methods for condensing and refining sword qi, followed by explanations of various sword forms. Later sections covered dividing sword light and sword formations. It required no particular spiritual root or physique, but demanded strict control of spiritual power and a deep mastery of spiritual sense.
Even the opening method for condensing and refining sword qi shared similarities with how he coated his blade in spirit force, but its details were far more thorough.
After leaving the Scripture Repository, Yi Hyeon headed to the Inner Alchemy Court instead of returning straight to Cheongu Gorge.
...
The Inner Alchemy Court’s Pill Formula Pavilion.
Yi Hyeon examined the pills Foundation Establishment cultivators used to overcome bottlenecks.
The Origin-Opening Pill (開元丹) was taken when advancing from Foundation Establishment layer three to four, while the Profound-Passage Pill (通玄丹) was used to advance from layer six to seven. Both were second-tier pills, but the latter was harder to refine.
The formulas cost 100 and 140 contribution points to read, respectively. They were cheaper than the Foundation Establishment Pill’s formula, but after spending so many points on the sword canon, the prices still gave him pause.
Yi Hyeon checked his remaining contribution points. With his savings, the reward from the Cheongha Valley mission, and the points from this exchange, he could afford to read both formulas.
“I’d like to read the formulas for the Origin-Opening Pill and Profound-Passage Pill.”
He did not intend to refine either one right away. When attempting a breakthrough in his lower dantian, he could start by obtaining one or two finished pills.
But there was no guarantee he would be able to obtain fifty Origin-Opening Pills or fifty Profound-Passage Pills when his entire body reached those same bottlenecks. He wanted to learn the required ingredients and refining methods in advance to prepare for that day.
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