WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Cultivating Underground ◈
Chapter 93
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At Yi Hyeon’s question, Toad stared at the cicada mask in utter terror.
Who in the world was this person?
White Weasel was a cultivator at Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. Someone powerful enough to command respect even in most medium-sized sects had been left half crippled by a single sword fragment kicked at them by the figure in the cicada mask.
And that was not all.
In a sealed room with no way out, this person had taken a combined attack from two early Golden Core cultivators’ magical treasures head-on, then slaughtered them in a one-sided massacre.
‘This person is definitely not a Foundation Establishment cultivator!’
Toad swallowed hard at the sight of the false Badger’s and Crane’s blood spreading across the floor.
‘If the inspector is this powerful... just what realm has the former society leader above them reached?’
When Crane had sneered about dragging up some ghost of a former leader from ages past, Toad had silently agreed. Now they hated themselves for it so much they wanted to die.
This was no ghost, but a genuine old monster who had been watching silently from above the clouds!
Instead of answering, Toad knocked their forehead against the floor.
Thud.
“I-I’ll be loyal! To the Two Heavens Society, to you, Inspector... to the society leader... I’ve always been loyal! I only did what the elders ordered. I’ve never harmed any members!”
Their cracked voice echoed through the ruined hall.
The talisman in their hand was damp with sweat and half crumpled. They seemed to have long since abandoned any thought of activating it.
“Get up first.”
Toad rose awkwardly. Their knees shook so badly that they could barely stand.
Then, as though remembering something, they hurriedly searched their sleeve and presented the new jade token they had received from the Council of Elders with both hands.
“I-I’ve already surrendered a primordial spirit brand to the Council of Elders. Weasel has the jade tablet holding it. But if you wish, Inspector, I’ll do anything...”
“If you do your job well, I’ll release your brand later.”
“Pardon?”
Toad stared blankly at Yi Hyeon.
“But in return, you’ll have to put this mess right. Understood?”
“Of course!”
Yi Hyeon was not particularly fond of Toad either, but for now, he wanted to avoid losing all the Two Heavens Society’s transaction records. Too many innocent members were involved.
Besides, Toad was only at mid Foundation Establishment and was unlikely to have led this affair. If Toad began plotting something, he could deal with them then.
Yi Hyeon first sealed the energy remaining in the two Golden Core cultivators’ bodies, then thoroughly shattered their golden cores. He could no longer sense even their souls, but there was no telling whether they had learned some sinister art.
Bang. Bang.
Toad broke into a cold sweat at the sight.
Next, Yi Hyeon collected the Golden Core cultivators’ storage pouches, the false Badger’s mask, and all the magical treasures lying on the floor.
Just then, a low groan came from beside the wall.
It was White Weasel.
Blood was spreading around the sword fragment that had pierced the right side of their chest, but a cultivator at Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment was quite hard to kill.
Yi Hyeon took Weasel’s storage pouch and the items at their waist, then sent spiritual power into their body to seal several meridians. He pressed the acupoints around the wound, and the bleeding stopped.
White Weasel’s eyes slowly focused. Their shoulders flinched when the cicada mask came into view.
“...Are you sparing me?”
“I’m only keeping you alive for a while because I have questions.”
Yi Hyeon crouched in front of them.
“Who is the grand elder in the northern Jeong Kingdom?”
White Weasel’s lips moved soundlessly before they finally answered.
“They’re called Black Wolf (黑狼). They wear a black wolf mask, but I’ve never seen their face.”
“Then how did you receive orders?”
“Usually through jade tokens reserved for the Council of Elders and coded messages. The grand elder is extremely reluctant to meet anyone in person. I heard even Badger... no, that man rarely met them.”
White Weasel looked toward the body lying in front of the stone door.
With the mask removed, an ordinary middle-aged man’s face lay exposed above blood-soaked robes woven with gold thread.
“What’s their cultivation realm?”
“All I know is that they’re at Golden Core. There were rumors they were at the middle stage or above. Even Elder Crane didn’t dare disobey their messages lightly.”
“Which sect do they belong to?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many elders are there?”
“Apart from the grand elder, and excluding Elder Crane and that man, there are two more Golden Core elders. One in the northwestern Hyeong Kingdom and one in the northern Jeong Kingdom. The elders know one another’s faces, but... they weren’t on good terms.”
“Will the grand elder know immediately when an elder dies? Did they leave life tablets or soul lamps in the grand elder’s care?”
White Weasel gave a weak smile.
“There’s nothing like that. The elders didn’t trust one another.”
“Where did you keep the members’ primordial spirit brands?”
“...The brands of the members I manage in the northern Hyeon Kingdom and the Hyeong Kingdom are in my storage pouch. The grand elder personally holds the brands of the members in the Jeong Kingdom.”
White Weasel drew several ragged breaths.
“I’ve told you this much, so... please... I was about to attempt core formation. The Council of Elders even promised me a Gold-Condensing Pill... If you just let me live, I’ll serve as your hands and feet once I form my golden core.”
Yi Hyeon looked at Toad.
“Bring that chest over.”
Toad hurried to obey.
Yi Hyeon placed the chest Toad brought in front of Weasel. It was the same chest Weasel had displayed while threatening him earlier. Inside were old-style identity jade tokens with broken restrictions and traces of blood.
When asked about the tokens, White Weasel claimed to know nothing and said they had only followed the elders’ orders.
“You seemed quite proud of them earlier.”
“I-I...”
Weasel’s gaze wavered.
Yi Hyeon pushed the chest aside and opened Weasel’s storage pouch. A restriction left by a Foundation Establishment cultivator did not hold out for long.
Inside was a jade box fitted with seven thin jade tablets.
Each tablet held primordial spirit brands left by members. Sending spiritual power into the jade box would inflict pain on the primordial spirits linked to those brands.
Toad involuntarily shrank back when the jade box appeared.
Yi Hyeon asked, “Is yours in here too?”
“The third from the left.”
Yi Hyeon turned to Weasel.
“How do I release the brands on these tablets?”
He gave Weasel a choice: suffer while he read their memories with the Soul-Searching Art, or willingly explain how to release the brands.
Golden Core cultivators who had learned the Soul-Searching Art could forcibly read another person’s memories. If that happened, Weasel would likely be left mindless.
Of course, Yi Hyeon did not know how to use the Soul-Searching Art. But Weasel had no way of knowing that!
Having witnessed Inspector Cicada’s strength, Weasel spoke without hesitation. When the inspector continued asking questions rather than using the Soul-Searching Art, Weasel clung to a faint hope that they might be spared and given an important position. They even volunteered information he had not asked for.
Yi Hyeon checked Weasel’s words against the relevant jade slips from the storage pouch. He also examined the restrictions on the jade box and tablets himself.
After some testing, Yi Hyeon released most of the brands. Pale wisps of energy drifted out of each jade tablet and dispersed.
Finally, he kept only the tablet holding Toad’s brand.
“You saw me release the other members’ primordial spirit brands just now, didn’t you? Once the handover is complete, I’ll release yours too.”
Toad answered with hope in their eyes.
“I’ll serve you loyally!”
Weasel struggled to lift their head.
“I’ve told you everything I can...”
Yi Hyeon pressed a small jade slip from Weasel’s storage pouch against his forehead.
It contained records of members who had refused to surrender their brands, along with punishments inflicted through the jade box. The entries were quite detailed, listing dates, bases, and even mask types.
When Yi Hyeon questioned Toad through voice transmission, Toad knew about several of the cases. By comparing their account with the records, he confirmed that Weasel had taken part personally.
Yi Hyeon spoke.
“I understand that you value your life. The owners of those jade tokens must have felt the same.”
The moment Weasel’s mouth opened in shock, the light of the Seventh-Stem Metal Art flashed. A hole appeared between Weasel’s eyebrows. A short while later, their primordial spirit dispersed.
...
The stone door was still firmly shut.
Toad spoke cautiously.
“The formation disk is broken... I can’t complete the sequence of hand seals to release it. When the elders installed the formation, they brought in an outside formation master. According to that person, breaking the door by force would require a Golden Core cultivator’s full-strength attack...”
Yi Hyeon placed his palm against the wall beside the stone door. He spread his spiritual sense into a thin thread and followed the formation inscriptions. Beyond the iron plates, the flow of energy converged deep within the bedrock.
‘There it is.’
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
Before Toad could ask what he meant, Yi Hyeon sank into the floor.
The dark iron plates rippled like water and swallowed him.
By the time Yi Hyeon rose through the floor again, the stone door was already halfway open. The blue formation inscriptions on the walls were going dark one by one.
Toad stood frozen, mouth hanging open.
Yi Hyeon stepped through the stone doorway and spread his spiritual sense. The guard cultivator who had checked jade tokens at the estate’s entrance was gone.
‘Ran away.’
When loud crashes and tremors had come from the hall containing two Golden Core elders, the guard had apparently chosen to flee rather than investigate.
Yi Hyeon turned to Toad.
“Let’s put things in order first.”
...
The storehouse stood beyond the pond.
Toad released the restriction, and the door opened.
Rows of shelves filled the interior. Jade cases, pill bottles, and bundles of medicinal ingredients were piled up, while jade slips containing ledgers stood in numbered order along one wall.
Toad pulled out one of the ledgers.
“About half the goods here are items entrusted to us. We took them under the pretext of guaranteeing transactions, then refused to release them until the transit fees were paid. The rest was set aside as the Council of Elders’ share.”
...
They began settling the storehouse’s accounts.
The entrusted goods were listed for return to their owners. The spirit stones the Council of Elders had extorted as transit fees were listed for distribution back to the affected bases. Some of the fees had already found their way into the elders’ storage pouches, but as long as records remained in the ledgers, the money could be returned.
Yi Hyeon decided to make up the amount owed with his own mid-grade spirit stones for now. The spiritual sense restrictions on the Golden Core cultivators’ storage pouches were too powerful for him to open immediately.
As they finished sorting out the storehouse, Yi Hyeon looked again at the chest of damaged jade tokens. They had belonged to people killed for refusing to surrender their primordial spirits.
He could hardly say they had died for a society leader they had never met. Most had probably resisted because they did not want to entrust their primordial spirits to someone else. Having one’s primordial spirit held as collateral was much like having one’s path to immortality cut off.
Even so, as the society leader, he could not help feeling sorry for them.
Yi Hyeon also investigated the identities of the tokens’ owners.
“Do any have surviving families or other connections?”
“The ledgers list connections for seven of them. We’ll have to look into the rest.”
Yi Hyeon handed Toad a pouch of mid-grade spirit stones.
“Find them and deliver compensation to each. Only investigate as far as the existing contacts allow. Also, from now on, Golden Core members may no longer guarantee or broker transactions. They may only participate as parties to a transaction. The position of elder is abolished as well.”
Toad wrote down Yi Hyeon’s instructions, astonished.
Such generous compensation for the surviving families of dead Foundation Establishment members! Who would have thought an inspector who had seemed so ruthless possessed such deep benevolence and righteousness?
“What should we do if the grand elder in the northern Jeong Kingdom contacts us or sends someone?”
“There’s no need to hide anything. Quietly let word reach the bases that sided with the Council of Elders. Tell them an inspector acting on the former society leader’s orders visited Cheongseok Ridge, and the false society leader and elder who broke the society’s rules were wiped out together.”
“...!”
...
Yi Hyeon copied all the records at the site. He could not trust Toad completely.
After checking the ledgers once the handover was complete, he released Toad’s primordial spirit brand as promised.
As the last wisp of energy dispersed from the jade tablet, Toad touched their head in a daze.
“Thank you, Inspector!”
Yi Hyeon instructed them to continue settling the remaining accounts at another base. He also ordered several changes to the contact routes and the way transactions were handled. He told Toad to change their mask and meeting places too. If the grand elder sent anyone, Toad would be the first person they seized.
After putting the Cheongseok Ridge base in order, Yi Hyeon parted ways with Toad.
Instead of immediately going after Black Wolf or the other Golden Core members, he decided to return somewhere safe first.
Yi Hyeon knew neither Black Wolf’s face nor their exact cultivation realm, nor even where they stayed.
His opponent had already controlled the contact network and transaction guarantees for decades. There was probably another estate like this one somewhere in the northern Jeong Kingdom, complete with formations and traps.
Meanwhile, he had almost no usable magical implements left.
The Cheonggang Sword had shattered, the Moon-Sinking Sword had developed hairline cracks, and the Six-Leaf Shield was half ruined.
There was no need to invade enemy territory without making the best preparations he could.
In the worst case, a major sect from Unju or Nammyeong might be backing the remaining Golden Core elders.
If they were merely independent Golden Core cultivators, the strength Inspector Cicada had displayed would surely make them lie low and watch their behavior within the Two Heavens Society.
On the other hand, if they were not concerned even after Inspector Cicada killed two Golden Core members, they must have something they could rely on. In that case, avoiding a clash for the time being would be safer.
...
Brief messages were delivered to the contact bases.
Those who had impersonated the society leader and bound members’ primordial spirits at Cheongseok Ridge had been executed.
There was no longer any need to pay the additional fees they had imposed. Anyone with goods that had not yet been returned was to submit their transaction records.
The contact routes that had passed through Cheongseok Ridge were also changed.
Responsibility for holding goods and handling payments was assigned to different people. A way was also established to request verification from another location if a problem arose with a broker.
Yi Hyeon did not know whether these measures would solve every problem. For now, he would have to give it time and watch how things developed.
* * *
Several days later, deep underground in the eastern Seo Kingdom.
In a hollow between layers of natural bedrock, Yi Hyeon struggled to undo the spiritual sense restrictions on the Golden Core cultivators’ storage pouches.
Rather than going straight to Underground Hideout No. 3, he had come here, far from the hideout, in case the pouches contained hidden tracking restrictions.
And at last, he succeeded in removing the restrictions from both pouches!
He began taking out the contents of the false Badger’s, Crane’s, and White Weasel’s storage pouches in turn.
High-grade and mid-grade spirit stones poured out!
At a rough count, there were over 14,000 mid-grade spirit stones alone. Several jade cases also contained a hundred brilliantly colored high-grade spirit stones.
One high-grade spirit stone was worth a hundred mid-grade spirit stones. The spirit stones alone amounted to a fortune of more than 24,000 mid-grade spirit stones!
“...!”
A smile spread across his face without him realizing it.
Even after accounting for the spirit stones he had paid out on their behalf and the compensation, this was an enormous profit!
He had been deeply disappointed when the Cheonggang Sword broke and the Six-Leaf Shield and Moon-Sinking Sword were damaged.
Now, though, it seemed there had been no need to feel quite so bad about it.
...
While looking through the other spoils, Yi Hyeon found a heavy box deep inside the false Badger’s storage pouch.
He removed the seal and opened it. Sharp metal qi rose from within, revealing a fist-sized lump of metal.
It was a rare spirit material, its surface densely covered with golden patterns like fine threads.
‘Goldthread Cold Iron (金絲寒鐵)! And it’s a Tier 3 spirit material?’
It was a precious mineral used as a main material when refining or repairing magical treasures.
The false Badger seemed to have treasured it for a long time, intending to repair his Golden Light Pagoda or make a new magical treasure.
Yi Hyeon sealed the spirit material back in its box and placed it in his storage pouch.
...
He gathered the jade slips among the spoils to one side.
They contained a mixture of cultivation methods, spells, instructions for operating various items, and transaction records.
From what he had skimmed, nothing looked particularly valuable.
Yi Hyeon set aside only the records concerning the Golden Light Pagoda and the Mother-and-Child Rings, then sorted and put away the rest.
Then he examined the Badger mask woven with gold thread once more.
The bridge of the nose and the curves of the snout were finely shaped. The inside was even lined with soft leather so it would fit comfortably against the face.
‘This is nice... I should use this one from now on.’
...
Finally, he examined the magical treasures.
The false Badger’s Golden Light Pagoda had shrunk enough to rest on his palm. It was hard to believe this was the same object that had grown almost to the ceiling at Cheongseok Ridge and poured out beams of light.
A mark remained on its outer surface where the Moon-Sinking Sword’s sword qi had grazed it.
Yi Hyeon rubbed it with a fingertip.
It was very shallow.
‘Tough.’
He carefully sent his spiritual sense inside and felt a complex tangle of restrictions. Above all, the energy left by its former owner’s long years of nurturing had soaked deep into it.
The real problem, however, was how to wield a magical treasure.
Its restrictions had been designed for a Golden Core cultivator’s magical power. He would have to investigate further to see whether simply pouring in large amounts of Foundation Establishment spiritual power would allow him to use it fully.
Nor would it be easy to rework the spirit materials himself and turn it into something better suited to him.
Properly melting down and refining Tier 3 spirit materials such as Goldthread Cold Iron, or an existing magical treasure, required a Golden Core cultivator’s alchemical flame or the power of a flame classified as Tier 3.
This, too, depended on the quality of one’s magical power. No matter how much Foundation Establishment spiritual power he had, it would not be easy.
Rather than pushing himself, Yi Hyeon withdrew his spiritual sense for now.
He also took out and examined the Azure Lightning Mother-and-Child Rings.
Eight small rings overlapped around one large ring. Although his sword qi had knocked them away, they showed almost no visible damage.
The defensive magical treasure shaped like a stone stele, however, had a crack near its base.
He seemed to have pressed down too hard with the Mount Sumeru Mountain-Suppressing Seal.
‘That’s a bit of a shame.’
He had not had the luxury of adjusting his strength with his spoils in mind, so it could not be helped.
Yi Hyeon sealed the Golden Light Pagoda and the Azure Lightning Mother-and-Child Rings separately and put them in his storage pouch. He packed the damaged items away separately as well.
Even the fragments of the shattered red mirror and the cracked stone stele would still have value as spirit materials.
...
After putting away the spirit stones and smaller spoils, Yi Hyeon recalled the cultivation plan he had recently made, including the refining of Origin-Nurturing Pills.
According to that plan, his annual shortfall was a little under four hundred mid-grade spirit stones.
Even after subtracting the spirit stones returned to members and given to the bereaved families at Cheongseok Ridge, the stones he had obtained today alone could cover that shortfall for decades.
Of course, repairing his sword and shield and obtaining other equipment would also cost money.
Still, he would not need to dig up and sell old spirit herbs for a while.
‘And their medicinal age will keep increasing in the meantime.’
...
Ten days later, at Underground Hideout No. 3.
Yi Hyeon was examining the Moon-Sinking Sword.
The hairline cracks in its blade were not deep, but part of the tip had chipped away.
He first used his spiritual sense to examine where the cracks met the restrictions within the blade.
Fortunately, the central restrictions were undamaged.
When he bought the Moon-Sinking Sword, he had been told that the Tier 2 Thick Earth Refined Gold in it made scratches and fine cracks easy to repair. Perhaps he could fix it.
However, if his clumsy efforts ruined the properties of a sword listed in the Nammyeong Catalogue of a Hundred Implements, the damage would be irreversible.
The Six-Leaf Shield, in particular, was so badly damaged that he doubted he could repair it himself.
With his still limited knowledge of implement refining, he was reluctant to work on either one. Yi Hyeon decided to visit cultivator markets and look for a skilled artifact refiner.
* * *
At the same time.
In a cultivator market in the northern Jeong Kingdom.
A cultivator wearing a black wolf mask put down a jade slip.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator in a crow mask stood opposite.
“Crane and Badger are both dead?”
“That’s what the reports say.”
“Give me the confirmed facts.”
Crow held out another jade slip.
“The hall at Cheongseok Ridge has collapsed. The storehouse was empty, and the people in charge of communications have relocated.”
“Who took the goods?”
“They appear to have been distributed to the parties involved in the transactions.”
Black Wolf’s hand stopped.
“They returned them?”
“Yes. It doesn’t seem to have been looting. They apparently checked who owned the goods and how much was owed, then used the existing contact network to settle the accounts. We’ve only confirmed some of the cases, but...”
“Who do they say did it?”
“Inspector Cicada.”
Black Wolf was silent for a while.
They had heard of Inspector Cicada. This person reported directly to the former society leader, traveling between regions to trade and occasionally inspect the bases.
“Cicada did it alone?”
“No other name appears in the messages.”
Black Wolf tapped a finger against the table.
‘Impossible... Crane and the false Badger were Golden Core cultivators... Inspector Cicada is that strong? Could the old society leader, Badger, still be alive? If it’s the same person who survived all those years... they’d have to be at least a Nascent Soul cultivator!’
Of course, the position of society leader might have been passed down through generations. But Black Wolf had never personally confirmed the former society leader’s death either.
Suddenly, the Two Heavens Society seemed frightening.
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