WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: WeTried
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◈ I Made a Tier List the Transcendents Are Obsessed With ◈
Chapter 43: The Second Disciple
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Growing up an orphan naturally teaches you how to read people.
If you ran around thoughtlessly like the children of ordinary households, there would be no guardian to protect you or deal with the consequences.
That awareness, honed as a survival skill, came in handy in all sorts of situations.
For instance, it let me notice the worries of the blonde currently shoveling parfait into her mouth.
"Training hasn't been going well lately, has it?"
"Ghk! Cough!"
I used mana to stop the flying bits of parfait.
Still coughing from the shock, Wendy looked at me with tears half filling her eyes.
"...Was it that obvious?"
"Anyone could tell. You weren't even working this hard when I last saw you."
Her attachment to the Magic Tower was clearly excessive.
Thanks to it, the Winter Tree Mage Tower had flourished spectacularly, but that held no particular meaning.
Wendy herself knew she did not need to devote this much effort to the Tower.
So perhaps I needed to look at it differently.
Rather than truly wanting the Magic Tower to keep growing and flourishing, maybe she had turned her attention to it because she faced difficulties elsewhere.
"Just... well..."
My guess seemed to have been right. Looking embarrassed, Wendy worked her lips without saying much.
Honestly, it was only natural.
Bottlenecks between realms were nearly inevitable, and Wendy had not even awakened her constitution yet. Her current rate of growth was already incredibly fast.
The problem was that it would not be easy for her to see it that way herself.
"Judy's gone beyond merely becoming a mage, and her cultivation and martial arts are approaching similar levels. And every time I show up after a few years, I've shot straight up to the 8-Star realm."
"...You already know everything, so why ask?"
Naturally, the source of her anxiety was Judy and me.
But comparing herself to either of us was rather unfair.
I was using a shortcut unlike anything else in the world, while Judy had been absurd from birth.
Still, telling her that would not offer much comfort.
"I can help. Maybe. I'm not sure, though."
"How?"
Wendy's eyes widened.
She must have struggled considerably. Even that vague suggestion drew an intense reaction from her.
"I'll show you when the time comes. Just wait a little."
I needed to try it first, after all.
* * *
Naturally, I could not immediately use the legends and karma spread throughout the Great Heavenly World about me.
Even if there were a way to accept them, I would refuse.
If I took that enormous legend, built from nothing but lies, into this body, I would crumble into ashes on the spot.
Something like that had actually happened in the original story.
But what about Gallery Points?
The other Transcendents already converted their Points into karma and used it.
Of course, the amount was usually so insignificant that it probably felt like one of those step-counting cash apps from the modern world of my previous life...
But I was different.
I had possessed an enormous number of Points for a long time, and even karma that meant little to Transcendents could display overwhelming power in the Lower Realm.
Karma could defy the law of causality, and simply put, the law of causality was plausibility.
It was the power to forcibly make something that made no sense become plausible.
I intended to use it.
"...Breaking through really is easy."
In just ten days, I reached the 8-Star realm and then the First Stage of the Path of Magic.
My impression after reaching the path of magic was... nothing special.
It simply allowed me to use magic more complete than Concept Magic, but I had been able to use it even before breaking through thanks to One Life, One Birth, One Shedding, One True Art.
What mattered began now.
[ 8,733,195P ]
My Points were already nearing ten million.
The scale had risen so endlessly that it had become difficult to grasp, but the Marketplace sold items precious even to Transcendents for five million Points.
That meant it was an enormous sum even for those with middle-grade or lower divine status.
[ Would you like to withdraw 10 Points? ]
I pressed the withdrawal button as a test.
Transcendents could convert Points into karma through this simple procedure.
...But I could not.
Regardless of the amount, a being of the Lower Realm could not endure karma itself.
If I tried to use it recklessly, I would have to be prepared for immediate eternal annihilation.
So I needed to take one additional step.
[ Scales? ] - No Existence
I needed to create something that would bear the burden placed on my body in my stead.
...I could not do that alone, so I decided to ask for help.
The first material I needed happened to be in his possession.
[ Sure, I can pull some off lol ] - No Existence
[ But I'm in the middle of shedding, so I can't remove any near my head. Is that still okay? ] - No Existence
Me> [ I never asked for those in the first place... Aren't you not supposed to remove them? ]
[ If you're going to use them yourself, they need to be at least that good ] - No Existence
Me> [ The quality doesn't matter, so just pull off a few from your tail. ]
[ Yep, I'll send them over then ] - No Existence
For the record, he sent me no fewer than 558 scales through the Marketplace.
After confirming that every single one came from the less effective tail area, I was naturally left a little dumbfounded.
...Seriously, at this point, he might be more obedient than Judy.
Anyway.
I mixed several secret arts into the scales Nirvakh sent me and performed a simple transmutation.
Normally, the protagonist only used this method after transcending, but I was aiming for something far inferior, so I could manage it even now.
A collaboration of three techniques: secret arts of magic, the Daoist Great Method, and a martial arts cultivation art!
Booooom!
...The first attempt ended in failure.
Then came failure after failure.
Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Kraaaash!
"...Fuck."
By the time the number of attempts had passed double digits and was nearing triple digits, I was ready to give up.
If I had not sensed gradual progress, I might have stopped altogether.
I could understand how Wendy felt.
A fair amount of time passed as I continued failing.
Still, I kept repeating the attempt while recalling the words of some famous businessman: failure is the mother of success.
Then, on my 193rd attempt...
"Ohhh."
A vivid glow filled one of Nirvakh's scales.
The brightly shining scale rose into the air, radiating an indescribable strangeness.
It felt less like an object and more like a sentient being. Taking it in hand, I worked backward through every step I had taken earlier.
"Good thing I've gotten smarter."
I reviewed the complicated process, one I would not even have remembered in my previous life.
When I repeated it afterward, I could produce a result roughly once every three attempts.
In total, I made thirteen.
They had no particular form because they were meant for one-time use, but they were undoubtedly my duplicate bodies.
They possessed true essence and true qi nearly identical to mine.
My preparations were complete.
Even with a shortcut like this, what I could do was not especially impressive.
If I used Karma beyond a certain amount, my crude duplicate bodies would collapse immediately.
So I had to use it conservatively, and the most efficient method I could think of was this.
"Are you really, really sure this is okay?"
"Probably?"
"'Probably' isn't good enough! It can't just be probably!"
Wendy, one of the potential targets of this efficient method, objected. But I already knew how to quiet her concerns.
"...Have you arrived, my lord?"
"Yes. I came because I have something important to say today."
After all, the most suitable way to verify danger was through a clinical trial.
For the record, I was nearly 99.9 percent certain, so this was an extremely humane clinical trial.
"Is it true that you will accept me as your disciple?"
There was a volunteer eager to participate in the trial. It was Lee Hamyung, whom I had defeated not long ago.
For the record, I found this prematurely old man's excessive formality a little burdensome.
He was 109 years old this year.
For a martial artist who had reached the peak of the Profound Realm, he was undoubtedly still young. But in this room, he was also unquestionably the oldest.
Naturally, I did not mention that.
After recovering from our duel, Lee Hamyung seemed to have set aside the shame of defeat and begun treating me with reverence.
I had planned to use him from the start, so it worked out well. Still, even an ox needed fodder if you expected it to work.
I considered what reward to give him, and this idea happened to be perfectly suited for it.
"That is what I intend to do. From what I have observed, your talents are indeed extraordinary."
"...You knew?"
Therefore, this clinical trial was not solely meant to verify safety.
Of course, the reason I was trying it on him before Wendy was because I had some concerns about the slight risk involved...
"However, before that, we must conduct one test."
"I'm ready for anything!"
Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, Lee Hamyung looked at me with eyes gleaming sharply.
[ Would you like to withdraw 150 Points? ]
Meeting his gaze, I operated the Gallery interface.
Then I took one of the thirteen successful products from my pocket.
"I will now teach you a sword that can cleave heaven and earth in two."
Only an extremely small part of it, of course.
"...Heaven and earth."
Watching him nod blankly, I pressed the withdrawal button.
At the same time, my duplicate body received the Points converted into Karma in my stead.
Whoooooom!
"Ohhh...!!!"
As light flooded the room in white, I recalled a passage from the sword art I had learned in the Archive.
One Sword Annihilates Heaven
Though the sky stands high, it rises no higher than a sword's tip. Though the sea runs deep, it is no deeper than the sword's intent.
With one thought, it cleaves ten thousand li of rivers and mountains. With one sword, it cuts through the stars of countless eons.
All the enlightenment contained in that passage.
I placed within my intent what I had naturally comprehended, then fired it at Lee Hamyung.
Aaargh!
At Lee Hamyung's near-scream, the brightly shining duplicate body flickered several times before falling to the ground.
A moment later.
"Th-this is..."
Overwhelmed by all the knowledge flowing through his mind, Lee Hamyung looked at me with a stammer.
Success!
I was genuinely delighted, but I deliberately said nothing.
I needed to maintain some authority with this guy.
In crude terms, I had to keep up appearances...
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