WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 75
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“This is my first time here, but I’m not a new member.”
Yi Hyeon stepped inside as he answered.
The eyes behind the eagle owl mask looked him up and down. The spiritual sense that briefly touched him before withdrawing carried no particular hostility.
The cultivator in a goose mask seated by the wall stood up.
“Have you brought a letter of introduction?”
Yi Hyeon handed over a small jade token.
Goose sent their spiritual sense into it and flinched. After looking back and forth between the token and Yi Hyeon, they returned it with both hands.
“So you’re Inspector Cicada. I was told you’d be coming.”
The cultivators in the stone chamber turned to look, and Eagle Owl sat a little straighter.
“Inspector Cicada?”
“That’s right.”
“Then the items we discussed before...”
“I’ve brought them.”
Eagle Owl rose to his feet.
“I failed to recognize my guest. Please come this way.”
He opened a stone door in one wall, and Yi Hyeon followed him inside.
As the door closed, the signs of activity outside grew faint.
The private room held a small table and chairs. Restrictions carved into the walls prevented spiritual sense from entering or leaving.
“Have a seat.”
Eagle Owl gestured toward a chair.
Yi Hyeon sat opposite him and studied him.
A Golden Core cultivator.
A cultivator of such a high realm, someone he once wouldn’t have dared share a table with, was personally offering him a seat.
Of course, Cicada wasn’t receiving this treatment simply because he was an inspector of the Two Heavens Society.
The other man wanted something from Inspector Cicada.
Yi Hyeon took a small jade bottle from his storage pouch.
He peeled off the Spirit-Sealing Talisman and removed the stopper. A faint medicinal fragrance drifted out.
Eagle Owl’s gaze went straight to the bottle.
“Please examine it.”
A round alchemical pill rolled out onto the table.
Eagle Owl picked it up between his fingertips.
He examined its color, smelled its fragrance, and slowly let a fine thread of spiritual sense seep into it. After a long silence, he nodded.
“It’s a Foundation Establishment Pill, all right. Its medicinal strength is sufficient, too.”
“It was refined fairly recently.”
“So it seems. It’s been stored well, too...”
Eagle Owl carefully set the alchemical pill down.
Yi Hyeon looked at the jade bottle.
Of the seventy-two Foundation Establishment Pills he had made when breaking through to whole-body Foundation Establishment, he had taken sixty and stored the remaining twelve.
Less than two years had passed since he refined them, and they had remained sealed with Spirit-Sealing Talismans the entire time. There was no reason for them to have lost much medicinal strength.
Eagle Owl spoke.
“I was worried you might not be able to obtain the full amount I requested. Foundation Establishment Pills aren’t expensive for a cultivator at my realm, but regardless of the price, they’re quite difficult to find.”
“Fortunately, our society leader arranged the supply.”
“Then I should show you what I promised.”
Eagle Owl flicked his sleeve.
Clack.
A long blue-green metal plate appeared on the table.
It was about the length of an adult’s forearm, with fine lines like leaf veins spreading across its surface.
Yi Hyeon looked at its edge.
Six thin plates were stacked together without a gap.
“This is the Six-Leaf Shield.”
Eagle Owl tapped a shield plate lightly with his finger, producing a clear metallic ring.
“I used it myself.”
He stroked the plate for a moment.
“I haven’t needed to take it out since obtaining a defensive magical treasure, but I once valued it as much as my own life.”
When Eagle Owl poured energy into it, the stacked shield plates slowly spread apart.
Shrrrk.
Six blue-green leaves floated above the table.
Each plate had a gently curved face. Between the lines that resembled leaf veins, tiny silver formation inscriptions repeatedly appeared and vanished.
Yi Hyeon examined the magical implement closely.
The curved surfaces, the beveled edges, and the slightly different arrangement of formation inscriptions on each plate.
It was an implement designed for all six plates to move together.
“It’s also listed in the Unju Implement Appraisal. I hear it ranks eighty-third in the latest edition.”
The Unju Implement Appraisal.
Yi Hyeon had heard the name while serving as leader of the Two Heavens Society.
The nine neighboring cultivation kingdoms, including the Hyeon and Seo Kingdoms, were commonly known together as the Nine Kingdoms of Unju.
The name referred to the cultivation kingdoms across the region north of the Gon Kingdom. Their territory did not overlap with that of the Nammyeong Twelve-Sect Alliance.
The Unju Implement Appraisal gathered the assessments of various artifact refiners and appraisers to rank the two hundred finest magical implements circulating in those nine kingdoms.
What did it mean to be among the two hundred finest implements in the Nine Kingdoms of Unju?
There were tens of thousands of Foundation Establishment cultivators there alone. Together, they must have owned at least a hundred thousand magical implements.
Simply making it into the top two hundred made an implement valuable. Such items were difficult even to see in an ordinary cultivator market.
The Unju Implement Appraisal was similar in nature to the Nammyeong Catalogue of a Hundred Implements, differing only in the region it covered.
Cultivators seemed quite fond of comparing things and ranking them.
Mortals regarded cultivators as immortals, but from what Yi Hyeon had seen, at least the cultivators of the lower realm were far removed from the immortals mortals imagined.
If anything, they were even more worldly and greedy than ordinary people.
Yi Hyeon studied the floating Six-Leaf Shield.
If it ranked eighty-third in the Unju Implement Appraisal, it was certainly a supreme-grade magical implement. Depending on its use, it might even be better than the Moon-Sinking Sword, which ranked eighth in the Nammyeong Catalogue of a Hundred Implements.
Even supreme-grade implements served different purposes. Rankings were also influenced by public recognition and the reputation of their users, not just actual performance.
“The restrictions seem to connect to one another.”
“They do. Force applied to one plate can be distributed across the others.”
“Impressive.”
Eagle Owl moved his hand.
The six shield plates spun in a circle, then gathered in an instant to form one large shield with slightly overlapping edges.
A moment later, they scattered again and moved around his front, back, and sides.
“You can bring them together to block an attack or spread them out to guard every direction. Against a powerful attack, though, it’s better to stack them or interlock them at an angle.”
“Can they withstand attacks from magical treasures?”
Eagle Owl nodded.
“Yes. A collision with a low-grade magical treasure won’t damage them.”
He continued.
“That doesn’t mean you should fight someone wielding a magical treasure. Fighting a Golden Core cultivator is foolish, whatever the circumstances.”
“Of course.”
“And... there’s one problem. In terms of defensive strength alone, it wouldn’t be strange for this implement to rank higher. This is why it doesn’t.”
Eagle Owl withdrew his hand. The Six-Leaf Shield’s plates stacked themselves one after another and settled onto the table.
“What is it?”
“It consumes quite a lot of spiritual power. Moving just one or two plates is manageable. But if you take a powerful attack with all six plates’ restrictions connected, you can actually feel your spiritual power draining away. Even I couldn’t use it properly until I reached Great Perfection in Foundation Establishment.”
“May I try controlling it myself?”
“Of course. Send your spiritual power into it.”
Yi Hyeon placed his hand on the Six-Leaf Shield and poured in his spiritual power.
Before long, all six plates rose from the table.
He immediately tried changing their positions. Stacking two in front of him and moving the others to his sides and back presented no difficulty.
The plates constantly shifted through a variety of positions and angles.
Eagle Owl was startled.
‘He may be an inspector of the Two Heavens Society, but he’s only a middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator... How can he control it so easily on his first attempt?’
Along with his powerful spiritual sense and abundant spiritual power, Yi Hyeon possessed knowledge of Tier 2 implement refining and formations. Thanks to these, he quickly understood the implement’s structure.
Hummm.
Faint blue light linked the shield plates, and his spiritual power began draining noticeably faster.
‘As expected... An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would struggle to use this.’
But this level of consumption was no real burden to Yi Hyeon.
Eagle Owl waited for a while, but neither Cicada’s breathing nor the flow of his spiritual power changed.
‘Impressive. I suppose not just anyone can serve as an inspector directly under the society leader.’
Yi Hyeon spoke.
“Are you sure you want to sell such a fine item rather than pass it on to your disciples?”
Eagle Owl looked down at the Six-Leaf Shield.
“Unfortunately, none of them are likely to be able to handle a supreme-grade implement anytime soon. Most are younger disciples who need Foundation Establishment Pills instead.”
Eagle Owl explained that he had originally served as an elder of a small sect in the Hyeon Kingdom.
Several years earlier, its sect master had been murdered and the sect had fallen. The survivors had scattered, but Eagle Owl had apparently established another small sect with some of the disciples who followed him.
“At your realm, Senior, other sects would welcome you.”
“I can’t let my sect’s lineage end with me.”
“Even after reaching such a realm, you still devote yourself to the cultivators below you. Your disciples are fortunate, Senior.”
“Hoho, there’s nothing unusual about it. Some are my own flesh and blood. Besides, I’m already old and only at early Golden Core. I have no hope of reaching Nascent Soul...”
Eagle Owl continued.
“Still, the Two Heavens Society is convenient. I don’t have to reveal my name or my disciples’ backgrounds every time I make a trade.”
He gestured lightly toward the jade bottle.
“Though I never expected you to obtain something like this.”
“I’m sure our society leader also hopes we can continue trading.”
“Just who is your society leader? A Golden Core cultivator? How long has the Two Heavens Society existed?”
“I don’t really know, either.”
Eagle Owl pushed the Six-Leaf Shield to the center of the table.
“In any case, I’ll make the trade. Nine Foundation Establishment Pills plus five hundred mid-grade spirit stones. Can we proceed on the terms I sent before? Nothing’s changed at this late stage, I hope?”
“Of course. The terms are unchanged.”
Eagle Owl checked the Foundation Establishment Pills one by one, while Yi Hyeon made sure the spiritual sense imprint remaining inside the Six-Leaf Shield was completely erased.
After receiving the spirit stones as well, Eagle Owl took out another small jade slip.
“This contains the Six-Leaf Shield’s implement-control formula, along with my observations from using it.”
“Thank you.”
Yi Hyeon put away the jade slip and the Six-Leaf Shield. He also resealed the remaining three Foundation Establishment Pills and returned them to his storage pouch.
...
After Eagle Owl left, Yi Hyeon called Goose aside.
“Show me the recent transaction records for the organization under your command.”
“Yes, Inspector.”
Goose took out several jade slips they had prepared.
Yi Hyeon read through them in order.
“Alchemical pill trading certainly accounts for the largest share.”
“That’s right. Cultivators never have enough alchemical pills. Fortunately, the Hyeon Kingdom has many independent alchemists who carry on the traditions of the former Danso Sect members who joined the Two Heavens Society in large numbers long ago. We have plenty of members selling alchemical pills.”
“Are Poison-Warding Pills, Bone-Tempering Powder, Spirit-Calming Pills, Origin-Opening Pills, and Profound-Passage Pills popular?”
“Bone-Tempering Powder? Jewel Light Temple in the Seo Kingdom regularly seeks it out. The same goes for Poison-Warding Pills.”
Goose paused briefly, then added,
“Spirit-Calming Pills sell well in even more kingdoms. They’d probably be popular anywhere in the Nine Kingdoms of Unju. Alchemical pills that develop spiritual sense are extremely rare. I haven’t dealt in Origin-Opening Pills or Profound-Passage Pills, so I can’t say for certain, but I’m sure they’d be popular.”
“I see. I plan to leave small quantities of those five medicines with you. Look into selling them.”
“You’ll be supplying them?”
“Yes. The Two Heavens Society has capable alchemists.”
“Haha, it’s an honor to receive work from you, Inspector, but I’m worried about whether I can represent the Two Heavens Society properly...”
“Don’t worry. I’m giving the same request to several branches, not just yours. There’s no need to feel too much pressure. Follow the rules for the brokerage fees.”
“That’s a relief.”
Goose’s voice brightened a little.
“There are also some things I’d like you to obtain.”
“Please tell me.”
“Buy small quantities of various alchemical pills suitable for cultivation by Foundation Establishment cultivators. The Two Heavens Society is researching the alchemical pill market. Alchemical pills made by our own members are fine, too.”
“Understood.”
Yi Hyeon set down the last jade slip.
“And gather news about supreme-grade magical implements. Anything from defensive implements such as enchanted robes and inner armor to offensive implements. Anything worthwhile will do.”
Goose asked cautiously,
“Should I proceed with purchases as well?”
“No. Just information. Items coming up for auction are fine, as are things individuals want to sell. If there are artifact refiners who take custom orders, find out about them, too. I’ll decide after seeing the items.”
“Understood.”
* * *
Two months later.
Underground Hideout No. 3.
Six blue-green shield plates moved swiftly through the spacious cavern.
Shrrrk!
The plates that had gathered on the left scattered, then interlocked at an angle above Yi Hyeon’s head.
Next, they revolved around his waist before splitting into pairs and moving between his front, back, and sides.
When Yi Hyeon curled his fingers, all six plates stacked together at once.
Click.
Their movements were far smoother than when he first obtained them.
The time he had spent on ritual refinement and learning the implement-control formula had paid off.
‘Using it alongside the Moon-Sinking Sword shouldn’t be a problem. Still, I should keep practicing until I’m used to it.’
Yi Hyeon put away the Six-Leaf Shield and walked toward the spirit fields.
Several Bonefuzz puppets raised their heads in the distance.
“Squeak!”
A ball of golden fluff poked its face out from inside a skeleton.
When Yi Hyeon raised his hand, the Fuzzbee slipped back inside. The Bonefuzz puppets were always popular with the Fuzzbees, which treated their interiors like homes.
Familiar medicinal fragrances drifted between the spirit fields.
Yin Soul Grass, Purple Poison Orchids, and Bone-Rotting Flowers.
Among the older plants, he could see young spirit plants planted at different times.
Yi Hyeon walked slowly, examining those suitable for alchemy.
Whenever he harvested some plants of the right medicinal age from a field, he planted seedlings in the empty spaces.
Anything he planted now would take a long time to become usable, but having spirit plants of various medicinal ages growing wasn’t a bad thing.
The same applied to the principal ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills. He had planted young seedlings wherever he harvested them. In the long term, these seemed likely to provide a foundation for supplying the Two Heavens Society with Foundation Establishment Pills on a steady basis.
Since Yi Hyeon grew the plants and refined the pills alone, the quantities weren’t remarkable. But simply being able to supply a certain number of Foundation Establishment Pills from within when needed would make the Two Heavens Society seem like an organization with substantial resources.
As he inspected the fields, Yi Hyeon stopped in front of the Spirit-Storing Ginseng.
He gently lifted the leaves to examine the color of a root peeking above the soil, then checked the record planted in the field.
‘These are over three hundred and eighty years old, too.’
Yi Hyeon took a jade slip containing a pill formula from his storage pouch.
The Origin-Opening Pill.
It was used to advance from the third to the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment. According to the formula, the acceptable medicinal age for its Spirit-Storing Ginseng ingredient was between two hundred and three hundred and ninety years.
‘If I’m not careful, they’ll exceed the age limit.’
Here, three years had to pass for a spirit plant’s actual medicinal age to increase by about one year, so he still had nearly thirty years to spare.
But if he carelessly spent a hundred or two hundred years cultivating as he had before, the Spirit-Storing Ginseng before him would no longer be usable in Origin-Opening Pills.
Alchemical pills for breaking through minor-realm bottlenecks weren’t easy to obtain in large quantities. Refining his own to take was more convenient whenever possible.
Yi Hyeon checked another jade slip.
The Profound-Passage Pill.
This alchemical pill was used to advance from the sixth to the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment.
It also required Spirit-Storing Ginseng, but the acceptable medicinal age range was broader, from two hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty years.
The upper limit for another principal ingredient, Midnight-Noon Grass, was also four hundred and fifty years. Its current medicinal age was more than a hundred and fifty years lower than that of the Spirit-Storing Ginseng, leaving him even more time.
‘The ingredients for Profound-Passage Pills are still far from their upper age limits, so there’s no need to rush to the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment...’
Yi Hyeon counted on his fingers.
‘I’ll have to harvest the principal ingredients for Origin-Opening Pills within thirty years at the latest. I could refine them ahead of time and keep them sealed... But if possible, it’d be better to refine and take them as soon as I harvest the ingredients...’
The problem was that he needed to bring his entire body up to the third layer of Foundation Establishment to make proper use of the Origin-Opening Pills. At present, it was only at the first layer.
That was why Yi Hyeon had ordered members of the Two Heavens Society to collect various alchemical pills for Foundation Establishment cultivation.
If any proved effective, he planned to buy them in bulk with spirit stones and speed up his cultivation.
‘First, let’s hurry up and reach the upper end of the third layer. I’m rich, after all.’
...
Back in the cultivation chamber, Yi Hyeon took out several small jade bottles.
They contained Tier 2 alchemical pills for cultivating spiritual power, recently obtained by several branches.
Each bottle bore the alchemical pill’s name, price, and a brief description of its medicinal potency.
When he opened one bottle, a clean medicinal fragrance spread through the room.
Yi Hyeon took out an alchemical pill, examined it briefly, and put it in his mouth.
Gulp.
He then began testing the alchemical pills’ effects, taking different ones on different days.
Medicinal strength mattered when choosing an alchemical pill, but so did the time required to refine it, the strain it left on his body, and above all, how much cultivation progress he actually gained for each spirit stone spent.
After spending nearly half a year testing alchemical pills and preparing his supply of alchemical pills for sale, Yi Hyeon began cultivating in earnest.
* * *
Eleven years later.
The cultivation chamber in Underground Hideout No. 3.
Dense spiritual light rippled over Yi Hyeon’s reclining body.
The light began at his chest and spread to his limbs, finally sinking evenly into him from head to toe.
Hummmmm.
Liquid spiritual power flowed slowly beneath his skin.
Every part of his body outside the lower dantian produced spiritual power denser than before. Without rushing, Yi Hyeon guided it through several circuits of his entire body.
A long while later, he slowly opened his eyes.
“Finally, the third layer.”
Whole-body Foundation Establishment, third layer.
It had taken five years to reach the second layer, followed by another six years of cultivation to get here.
Yi Hyeon sat up and opened and closed his hand.
A thin layer of blue spiritual light covered his skin, then vanished. Even with the same hand seals, the power he could draw from his entire body was distinctly different.
He removed the stone tablet attached to the wall, erased the old writing with the Soil Softening Art, and carved new words with the Seventh-Stem Metal Art.
【Age: 2,154】
【Realm: Foundation Establishment stage, Layer 6 (lower dantian), Foundation Establishment stage, Layer 3 (rest of body)】
【Spiritual Power: 3,672 → 5,828】
【Physique: Primordial Unity Body, Foundation Establishment, 3 stars】
【Cultivation Art: Primordial Unity Single-Qi Art (Foundation Establishment Section)】
Yi Hyeon floated the tablet in front of him and admired it for a while.
He was in an excellent mood, right up until he looked at the ledger beside it.
...
Over the past eleven years, he had taken a total of 3,600 alchemical pills for cultivation.
That did not include the ones he had taken during his initial tests, or those used for detoxification and recovery.
He had mainly taken three kinds.
Origin-Enriching Pills, Dew-Condensing Pills, and Jade Marrow Pills.
All were Tier 2 alchemical pills used by Foundation Establishment cultivators to accumulate spiritual power, but their medicinal potency and prices differed.
Origin-Enriching Pills released their medicinal strength evenly and were easy to refine. Including brokerage fees, the average purchase price was three mid-grade spirit stones each. He had taken these most often.
Dew-Condensing Pills were slightly weaker but gentler, costing about two mid-grade spirit stones each. He mainly took them when Origin-Enriching Pills became less effective or his meridians needed a rest.
Jade Marrow Pills had the greatest medicinal strength of the three. Even after he absorbed their medicinal strength, heat lingered in his meridians. But when he took them in good physical condition, his cultivation advanced noticeably. Each cost about four mid-grade spirit stones.
In total, he had spent 10,200 spirit stones.
All of them mid-grade!
‘I swallowed enough money to buy five Moon-Sinking Swords and still have some left over...’
Yi Hyeon touched his somewhat lighter storage pouch.
‘Spending spirit stones certainly does make things faster.’
Without the alchemical pills, he had no idea how much longer it would have taken to reach the same realm.
Yi Hyeon had also considered his effect on the market when buying alchemical pills.
If one branch kept buying the same kind, the available supply dwindled and prices rose. When that happened, he sourced pills from another region or increased the proportion of other alchemical pills he used.
It would have been far more troublesome if the Two Heavens Society hadn’t extended across several cultivation kingdoms.
He had mainly funded his cultivation through alchemy.
Over the past eleven years, he had sold about a thousand packets of Tier 2 Bone-Tempering Powder through the Two Heavens Society, along with nine hundred Poison-Warding Pills and six hundred Spirit-Calming Pills.
Before brokerage fees, the usual selling prices were two mid-grade spirit stones per packet of Bone-Tempering Powder, three per Poison-Warding Pill, and nine per Spirit-Calming Pill.
He had also released two hundred and forty Origin-Opening Pills and sixty Profound-Passage Pills for sale in several batches.
Origin-Opening Pills sold for around ten mid-grade spirit stones each, and Profound-Passage Pills for about twenty.
Altogether, the sales brought in roughly 13,700 mid-grade spirit stones.
However, around three thousand had gone toward supporting ingredients, replenishing alchemy supplies, and paying the Two Heavens Society’s brokerage fees.
He made alchemical pills and sold them, bought alchemical pills with the spirit stones, took those alchemical pills, then made more.
When he needed a large sum, he also sold spirit plants of high medicinal age separately. Over those eleven years, he had additionally sold two Tier 3 Yin Soul Grass plants and two Tier 3 Purple Poison Orchid roots.
Yi Hyeon opened his spirit plant ledger.
The principal ingredients used to refine Bone-Tempering Powder, Poison-Warding Pills, and Spirit-Calming Pills for sale amounted to a hundred and twenty Bone-Rotting Flowers, a hundred and seventy Purple Poison Orchid roots, and a hundred and eighty Yin Soul Grass plants, respectively.
He had selected them all from later generations of spirit plants planted at different times, choosing those whose medicinal ages suited the Tier 2 formulas.
Once he became practiced, a successful furnace batch generally yielded ten packets of Bone-Tempering Powder, six Poison-Warding Pills, or four Spirit-Calming Pills.
The principal ingredient consumption recorded in the ledger included failed batches and portions he had discarded.
...
Of course, taking so many alchemical pills hadn’t been entirely without problems.
Even mild alchemical pills for cultivation left pill toxins in the body when taken by the thousand.
Whenever that happened, Yi Hyeon stopped taking them and sat beside the pond in the spirit fields. He shelled and ate Yinwater Lotus seeds, breathing slowly to expel turbid qi from his body.
In the process, he also made an unexpected discovery.
It concerned the Stone-Honey Peaches.
One day, after taking Jade Marrow Pills in succession, Yi Hyeon noticed that his mouth was still dry and heat lingered in his meridians, even after he had expelled some of the pill toxins.
Out of habit, he picked a Stone-Honey Peach and bit into it.
A little later, the cool energy spreading from his stomach felt unusually clear. His parched meridians gradually grew more comfortable.
‘Hm?’
After eating more peaches on several occasions when similar symptoms appeared, he found that the heat and thirst faded faster on the days he ate them. His spiritual power also flowed much more smoothly when he began his next cultivation cycle.
This was especially true of fruit from the three oldest trees.
They seemed to help his body recover from the stiffness caused by repeatedly absorbing powerful medicinal strength.
...
Yi Hyeon closed the ledger and stood up.
‘I should stop taking alchemical pills for a while. Once my body recovers, I’ll finish cultivating to the peak of the third layer.’
...
Some time later.
A Two Heavens Society contact base in the western Hyeon Kingdom.
The cultivator in the goose mask placed two jade slips before Yi Hyeon.
One contained the settlement details for their previous transactions, but the other was unfamiliar.
“What’s this?”
“We’ve finally received news of a supreme-grade magical implement. It ranks no less than fifty-sixth in the Unju Implement Appraisal.”
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