WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
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◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 90
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Now that he had recovered his strength, Yi Hyeon first took out his stone tablet.
It was a flat stone with slightly worn corners.
He rubbed away the dust with his hand, revealing the words he had carved long ago.
【Age: 2,208】
【Realm: Foundation Establishment stage, Layer 7 (lower dantian), Foundation Establishment stage, Layer 4 (rest of the body)】
“...I really haven’t updated this in a while.”
These were the records from when he had raised his lower dantian to late Foundation Establishment at Jewel Light Temple.
It would have been convenient if they changed on their own.
Unfortunately, his handmade status window had no such function.
Yi Hyeon closed his eyes and slowly circulated the Primordial Unity Single-Qi Art.
After several cycles, a gentle warmth spread through his limbs and bones.
He examined his body, then began updating the tablet.
【Age: 2,840】
【Realm: Foundation Establishment stage, Layer 8 (whole body)】
【Spiritual Power: 7,460 → 18,100】
【Physique: Primordial Unity Body, Foundation Establishment, 8 stars】
【Cultivation Art: Primordial Unity Single-Qi Art (Foundation Establishment Section)】
‘That number’s become ridiculous...’
In terms of total spiritual power alone, he thought he might surpass most Golden Core cultivators.
The number on the tablet was an estimate of his current reserves, measured by the standard he had always used. There was still room to accumulate more within Layer 8, and the spiritual power required would only increase as he advanced to Layer 9 and Great Perfection.
Although he had spent the past hundred years without much motivation, he had made enormous progress while living with Wang Seo-rin. Her repeated breakthroughs must have spurred him on.
Rather than advancing his lower dantian, which had been ahead of the rest, he had focused on raising the cultivation of his entire body evenly.
Had he cultivated alone, moving between his hideout with its thin spiritual qi and the Two Heavens Society’s vein seats, it would have been difficult to come this far in the same amount of time.
While living with Wang Seo-rin, he had constantly obtained and taken alchemical pills for his own cultivation. Sharing the cultivation environment of a Tier 3 spirit vein with her and practicing a dual cultivation art had made this progress possible.
Next, Yi Hyeon examined his primordial spirit.
As he circulated the Scripture of Refining Intent into Vows, vow power rose within him, clearer and stronger than before.
The mind seal described in this art was the power to set and maintain an intention, ingrained in the primordial spirit through visualization and spirit refining. With a will strengthened in this way, one could cultivate vow power without being bound to a particular vow.
His primordial spirit and spiritual sense, which he had trained for so long, had also grown stronger.
‘I see. Is it because I experienced joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, then naturally found the will to go on living again...?’
Wang Seo-rin’s face suddenly came to mind. One side of his chest ached, but the vow power he had raised remained steady.
He no longer needed to push his grief away or force his mind to remain calm. Even as emotions rose and faded, he could maintain the intention he had set.
He could now control more vow power with greater precision and less effort.
...
Updating his handmade status window made him think he should review the spells he had learned as well.
Yi Hyeon took jade slips from his storage pouch and arranged them on the table.
Some were old, while others were things he had obtained during the later years of his stay at Jewel Light Temple. Some contained brief explanations left by Wang Seo-rin.
Spiritual qi and alchemical pills were not the only things he had gained during his centuries at Jewel Light Temple.
He had used his accumulated merit to study inheritances, and, as Wang Seo-rin’s direct disciple, he had received teachings from her personally. Two of those inheritances had particularly appealed to him.
《Mount Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal (須彌鎭嶽印)》 and 《Vajra Wisdom Sword Scripture (金剛慧劍經)》.
The former was a far more demanding seal art than the Demon-Subduing Seal.
It did not simply create a large palm seal and slam it down. Instead, the spiritual power forming the seal interlocked in layers, concentrating force at the point of contact and suppressing movement.
It required considerable vow power and precise control. Its spiritual power consumption was also unusually high, making it difficult for an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator to even attempt properly.
But Yi Hyeon was familiar with condensing Buddha-Light True Qi through the Demon-Subduing Seal. Through the Essence-Condensing Grasping Hand, he had also learned to control spiritual power in the shape of a hand with great precision. Since the Mount Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal layered power within a fixed palm-shaped seal, he could use the foundations he had built through both inheritances.
He formed a hand seal with one hand, and a deep golden palm appeared.
Fine golden lines overlapped across its palm and fingers. The power condensed within the small palm seal was far denser than that of his old Demon-Subduing Seal, to the point that the surrounding air felt heavy.
Yi Hyeon looked around Underground Hideout No. 3, then released the hand seal.
‘Using it here would be a disaster.’
There was no need to destroy his hideout on the very first day he felt better.
This time, he tried the Spirit-Startling Needle Art.
As a strand of his spiritual sense gathered, vow power seeped into it.
The needle, thin and firmly condensed, rose above his head before circling behind his back. It then split into several strands and merged into one again.
It moved without a hitch. Even though he had put more vow power and spiritual sense into it than before, its condensed form remained stable.
Rather than launch it, Yi Hyeon unraveled it and drew it back into his primordial spirit.
‘Not bad.’
Next, Yi Hyeon slipped straight into the cavern wall and began moving through the mineral veins around the hideout. He slowed where different minerals were tangled together in complex patterns, but nothing blocked his way. After making a circuit, he returned to one of the hideout’s passages.
It was the Metal Escape Spell.
‘It’s not on the level of my Earth Escape Spell, but it’s reached Minor Mastery...’
...
The Vajra Wisdom Sword Scripture was a Buddhist sword-path inheritance that refined the intent carried by a sword, combining spiritual sense and vow power with sword qi.
Its basic teachings trained the practitioner to establish a clear image of a sword in the mind, then gather intent and spiritual sense within that image. The following Sword-Condensing Section explained how to place that refined power into actual sword qi and condense them into one.
Its greatest appeal was that he could use it alongside the sword qi and sword light he had learned from the Supreme Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Canon. The vow power and spiritual sense carried by the sword qi would work together to pressure an opponent, so it could do more than merely cut flesh: it could even disrupt the workings of the opponent’s primordial spirit.
Even after reaching Golden Core and learning the Supreme Unity Earthly Fiend Sword Canon, he would not need to discard this foundation. He could carry his intent within stronger sword qi as well.
For now, however, only the basic teachings had reached Minor Mastery. He had become familiar with forming the image of a sword in his mind, but in the Sword-Condensing Section, his vow power and sword qi kept failing to blend.
Of the other inheritances he had obtained at Jewel Light Temple, the Mount Sumeru Visualization Scripture remained the most profound.
When he formed Vaisravana’s image in his mind, even the tiny patterns on the jeweled parasol and treasured pagoda appeared clearly. Maintaining the visualization while casting other spells was not difficult either.
But to give real power to a manifestation projected outside his body, he needed magical power that had undergone the qualitative change of Golden Core. It helped him train his primordial spirit, but he still could not use a Dharma manifestation to attack enemies or defend himself.
...
The surface of the tablet continued to be updated.
【Spells (Minor Mastery): Vajra Wisdom Sword Scripture, Mount Sumeru Visualization Scripture (Vaisravana manifestation), Mount Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal, Metal Escape Spell...】
【Spells (Major Mastery): Scripture of Refining Intent into Vows...】
【Spells (Perfect Mastery): Supreme Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Art, Essentials of Spirit Refining, Spirit-Startling Needle Art...】
【Crafts (Tier 2): Spirit Plant Cultivation, Alchemy, Insect Control, Puppet, Formations, Artifact Refining】
His skill varied greatly between crafts, so grouping them all under Tier 2 was a stretch. Yet classifying them as first-tier or Tier 3 did not feel right either.
These specialized fields, also known as the hundred cultivation arts, covered an enormous variety of subjects and techniques even within the same tier.
For example, a Tier 3 alchemist could fail to refine an unfamiliar Tier 2 alchemical pill. Conversely, a first-tier artifact refiner whose overall knowledge was limited, but who had spent a lifetime working with the same materials and restrictions, could sometimes refine a top-grade magical implement for Foundation Establishment cultivators to an astonishing standard.
Of course, in the latter case, they needed something to make up for their shortcomings, such as a Tier 2 spirit beast that could control flames.
Yi Hyeon felt that spirit plant cultivation and alchemy were his only truly strong fields. He still had far too much to learn in the others.
Still, writing down all six fields like this had the advantage of making him feel good!
For the first time in a long while, he propped up the tablet and admired it, savoring his sense of achievement.
...
The next thing Yi Hyeon tackled was the water tanks.
He had kept filling them, but he realized he had all but neglected Underground Hideout No. 3 for far too long.
When he drained a tank, tangled fine roots, fine soil, and dry leaves that had drifted in from somewhere appeared in the corners at the bottom.
“What a mess...”
Yi Hyeon lifted the debris from the bottom with spiritual power and removed the buildup on the walls with the Cleansing Spell. He replaced cracked bamboo pipes and adjusted the slopes wherever water collected.
Each time he emptied a tank, the Fuzzbees gathered to watch. Whenever he lifted out a pipe, they peered inside. If a small spirit insect emerged from a pile of soil, several of them rushed at it in an instant.
The creatures seemed delighted by the thorough cleaning of Underground Hideout No. 3. Pretending to help Yi Hyeon, they piloted the Bonefuzz puppets around with creaking steps.
Seeing this, Yi Hyeon inspected the Bonefuzz puppets after he finished cleaning.
He took apart the nearly fifty puppets one by one and replaced every part in poor condition. After replacing their spirit stones as well, he assembled them again.
...
Once the maintenance was done, Yi Hyeon took out wide, shallow stone bowls. He filled them with clear water using the Spirit Rain Spell and mixed in generous amounts of Hundred-Flower Honey.
As the sweet scent spread, the buzzing of wings suddenly grew louder.
“You’ve all worked hard. Let’s have a special treat.”
This snack only improved the Fuzzbees’ mood. It did not help them grow as spirit insects.
Yi Hyeon watched them swarm around the bowls for a while.
Some of the old Fuzzbees in the hideout had lived there since he first brought them here, while younger ones had been born afterward. However, their bodies renewed themselves with each molt, making it difficult to tell their ages by appearance alone.
Without these creatures, he might have ruined his spirit fields. They behaved as if they took pride in protecting the many plants growing there. Whenever the tanks ran dry, they had come to find Yi Hyeon and get him on his feet.
“Thank you.”
...
Organizing the spirit field records took longer than cleaning the tanks.
He had planted young spirit herbs wherever he had dug up older ones to sell or use in alchemy, leaving the contents of each field a jumble.
Yi Hyeon compared the old cultivation records with the actual herbs, one by one.
Perhaps because he had neglected them for a time, or perhaps because of the environment in Underground Hideout No. 3, the older spirit plants were gaining medicinal age more and more slowly.
Yi Hyeon examined the veins of their leaves and the colors of their stems, then explored the area around their roots with his spiritual sense. Eventually, he placed a finger on the stem of an old Bone-Rotting Flower.
‘About nine hundred years?’
At the growth rate recorded in his old ledger, its medicinal age should have exceeded nine hundred and twenty years. Its actual medicinal strength fell a little short of that.
If it could pass a thousand years and gain medicinal potency comparable to a Tier 4 spirit plant, its value would likely rise even further. However, he would have to investigate whether time alone could accomplish that.
‘The spiritual qi drawn up by the Earth Vein Flowers feels a little lacking. Maybe I should apply the principles of a first-tier Spirit-Gathering Formation to improve spiritual qi circulation throughout the hideout.’
Yi Hyeon recalled buildings he had seen in his past life. Engineers on Earth designed all kinds of circulation systems for large buildings: installations that circulated air and water, supplied electricity...
However, Yi Hyeon had no background knowledge in that field.
That was fine. He could start researching it now.
‘What if I distributed as much spiritual qi as each field needed, like a central air-conditioning system sending air throughout a building?’
He could not create spiritual qi from nothing, and running Spirit-Gathering Formations consumed spirit stones.
Still, if he reduced the energy gathering in one place or leaking away needlessly, he might be able to create a better environment with the same number of spirit stones.
However, drawing in large amounts of spiritual qi from outside could expose the traces hidden by the Spirit-Concealing Formation.
‘It would be difficult to apply this to Underground Hideout No. 3... I should consider it if I build Underground Hideout No. 4.’
...
The older Yinwater Lotuses and Stone-Honey Peach trees had medicinal ages of around eight hundred and seventy years.
Yi Hyeon picked the ripe Stone-Honey Peaches and carefully placed all but one into jade cases.
After putting the jade cases into his storage pouch, he took a bite of the remaining fruit.
Crunch.
Sweet juice and a refreshing coolness filled his mouth.
...
He paused briefly before the Ringless Divine Tree.
Checking an old ledger, he found that about fourteen hundred years seemed to have passed since it sprouted.
“Was it after two thousand years that dark blue lightning patterns appear, and after five thousand that it releases Dark Nether Frost Thunder?”
Yi Hyeon looked at the tree and let out a small laugh.
“You’re even slower than I am.”
Gathering spiritual qi with a Spirit-Gathering Formation was useless for this tree. A guide he had read long ago said that forcing its growth with powerful spiritual qi would only make it shrink back.
Time alone nurtured the Ringless Divine Tree. That made this barren hideout a suitable place to grow it.
Yi Hyeon checked the moisture beneath the tree and simply adjusted the drainage channels so the water gathered near its roots could drain away slowly.
He closed the records and moved to Spirit Field No. 3-9.
The Heaven-Origin Divine Tree was spreading its branches along the rock ceiling. Spirit Field No. 3-9 had become too small for it.
Yi Hyeon widened the cavern a little and thinned out only the small branches that were pressing against one another and hindering growth.
He also adjusted the existing first-tier Spirit-Gathering Formation to cover the expanded reach of its roots.
‘Keeping it at this strength should cost about twenty low-grade spirit stones a year. Still, that’s only twenty mid-grade spirit stones per century. It’s not much of a burden.’
More than six hundred years had passed since he planted it, but there were still no flower buds at the ends of its branches.
...
A few days later.
Yi Hyeon was sorting through his roughly ten thousand paintings.
When he placed two paintings of the same crack in a rock wall side by side, a passage from the Vajra Wisdom Sword Scripture suddenly came to mind.
「Let intent go before the sword tip, but do not let the sword tip stray from that intent.」
When he first read it, he had thought it was obvious.
Wasn’t it simply a matter of deciding where to cut, then cutting there?
Yet whenever he practiced the Sword-Condensing Section, his vow power had failed to spread evenly through his sword qi.
Without thinking, Yi Hyeon traced a line in the painting with his finger. The gesture resembled the one he had made while seeking insight after seeing Jeong U-baek’s mind sword.
‘Huh...?’
Yi Hyeon picked up the Moon-Sinking Sword.
He clearly formed a single thrust in his mind, then moved his spiritual power, spiritual sense, and vow power together according to that intent.
Sword qi gathered at the tip, and his vow power and spiritual sense condensed together along the slender blade.
He moved his wrist, sending the sword tip forward to make a narrow hole in a stone slab he had set up for practice.
Yi Hyeon immediately withdrew his sword qi and picked up the slab to examine it.
Even at the moment his sword qi touched the stone, his vow power had not scattered.
‘This is...’
He raised his sword again.
This time, the condensed power came apart. After briefly recalling the sensation, he repeated the same thrust. Only on the third attempt did power similar to his first success gather at the tip.
He lowered the sword and let out a long breath.
‘To think painting would help...’
Of course, the greatest help had come from the Vajra Wisdom Sword Scripture, along with the growth of his primordial spirit and mind seal.
Just as Jeong U-baek’s mind sword had been based on the martial arts inheritance passed down through their family, the Vajra Wisdom Sword Scripture could serve as Yi Hyeon’s foundation.
* * *
Half a month later, in the Sanghwa Kingdom.
Yi Hyeon walked along the foot of a mountain, keeping out of sight.
The stone steps leading to the burial grounds had changed.
The gravestones were well maintained, and an incense burner that seemed to have been replaced recently stood before Wang Seo-rin’s grave.
He also stopped briefly at the children’s graves.
His longing had not disappeared, but now the times they had laughed together came to mind before the sorrow.
After running his hands over the gravestones, he left without lingering.
...
A few days later, at a cultivator market in the eastern Seo Kingdom.
A small medicinal ingredient shop.
When Yi Hyeon entered wearing the Badger mask, the member inside struggled to hide their surprise.
“Are you looking for a particular ingredient?”
Instead of answering, Yi Hyeon held out a jade token. Only after checking its restrictions did the member bow deeply.
“Greetings, Society Leader.”
“Is the person in charge here?”
“They’re inside.”
Yi Hyeon descended to an underground stone chamber.
A cultivator wearing the Goose mask rose from their seat.
“I’ve been in charge here for thirteen years.”
“And your predecessor?”
“Reached the end of their lifespan.”
Yi Hyeon nodded.
Jade slips had already been laid out on the table.
“Some of the new members ask whether our society leader really exists.”
Yi Hyeon answered while reading a jade slip.
“I heard something similar twenty years ago.”
“Some ask whether the name Badger is passed down...”
“What does it matter? The person behind the Goose mask has kept changing too. What’s the latest on the Nammyeong Twelve-Sect Alliance?”
After asking several other questions, Yi Hyeon sorted out the business he had left unattended for so long.
He checked the payments for items he had entrusted to them and explained which medicinal ingredients and alchemical pills he would be selling from now on. The voice behind the Goose mask brightened.
“Will Foundation Establishment Pills and Tier 2 Spirit-Calming Pills be coming in again too?”
“Not many.”
“There are people waiting for them.”
Yi Hyeon left several trading requests and checked the news from the outside world.
There were changes in kingdoms and sects, developments concerning spirit veins and cultivator markets, and reports on the activities of famous cultivators.
There were records concerning Jewel Light Temple as well. Fortunately, none of the news that had reached them showed any obvious immediate threat.
The Nammyeong Twelve-Sect Alliance had not expanded its territory for quite a long time. Whether it had abandoned expansion, found the Nine Kingdoms of Unju too strong, or had some other reason, he could not tell.
* * *
Twenty years later.
An uninhabited valley a short distance from the southern coast of the Seo Kingdom.
Yi Hyeon sat before a pill furnace, moving his fingers.
Fine fire threads passed in and out of the furnace. The refined medicinal liquids circled at different speeds, then gradually mixed through gaps opened by the flames.
Origin-Nurturing Pills (培元丹).
Among the alchemical pills passed down at Jewel Light Temple for late Foundation Establishment cultivation, these were some of the most potent. Their ingredients were harder to refine than those of Origin-Enriching Pills, Dew-Condensing Pills, or Jade Marrow Pills. Their medicinal strength was so fierce that even late-stage cultivators needed sufficient time to absorb it after taking one.
Yi Hyeon had been making these alchemical pills since his time at Jewel Light Temple. After resuming his cultivation, he had supplied himself with alchemical pills while researching how much he could improve their quality using the same formula.
Raising the cultivation of his whole body by a single layer required far too many alchemical pills. If he could increase the medicinal strength gained from each one, he could save both ingredients and time.
In the process, he had reread the jade slip recording Jin So-yeong’s demonstration countless times.
In the past, he had not understood why she chose particular moments to change the heat or divide the medicinal liquid. But the more he failed while refining pills himself, the more he began to understand her reasons.
In his last few attempts, spiritual qi had even begun gathering around alchemical pills completed at supreme grade.
That was why he had left the hideout this time.
If, by some chance, the thing he had witnessed long ago happened again, he did not want to face it underground beside his spirit fields.
...
The medicinal strength within the furnace separated into several masses.
The alchemical pills that took shape first sank to the bottom. Yi Hyeon left only the one with the most even flow at the top.
Rather than hurry through his hand seals, he observed how its medicinal strength responded. It looked even on the surface, but inside, one flow had yet to connect properly.
When a single fire thread touched that spot, the clumped energy loosened a little.
Yi Hyeon immediately shifted the flame aside, opening a path for the released medicinal strength.
The medicinal strength completed a circuit and found its proper place.
At that moment, the light leaking from the alchemical pill’s surface sank inward.
Yi Hyeon’s fingertips slowed until they almost stopped.
A breeze blew through the valley.
The surrounding spiritual qi was moving toward the furnace. No formation was drawing it in. As if responding to the flow within one small alchemical pill, the scattered energy gathered.
Yi Hyeon slowly raised his head.
A black dot had appeared in the clear air.
‘Huh? It’s actually happening?’
The dot spread as it drew in water qi, soon becoming a small cloud a little over one jang across.
Lightning flashed beneath it.
Crackle.
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