WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 103: Aura Seed
──────
The auction house and circular stone tower were the facilities Myeongha had put the most effort into.
The auction house was Sea Abyss Island's greatest source of income, so that went without saying. The circular stone tower was both Myeongha's residence and the central point from which he monitored all of Sea Abyss Island and controlled the Formation Arrays in the nearby waters. Naturally, he had taken special care in building it.
From what Jegyeong had heard from Myeongha himself, he had poured every last Spirit Stone he possessed into it.
Jegyeong believed only half of that.
Over the past two years, he had gathered enough information to become certain that the group or organization of Calamity Cultivators Gwak Jeongsin had mentioned through Yang Yohyeon two years ago was Myeongha.
Gwak Jeongsin had likely called it a group or organization because he did not know Myeongha's methods. Myeongha could erase a cultivator's divine soul and use them like a puppet. Even if that ability had certain restrictions, it was nothing short of absurd.
‘He probably has more wealth than I do.’
The fact that he had single-handedly drawn the attention of major Human Race powers on Yangseo Lake, including the Spirit Talisman Merchant Association, showed that his dealings could not have been small.
In the Cultivation World, great risks usually meant great rewards.
Myeongha had certainly spent no small number of Spirit Stones establishing himself on Sea Abyss Island, but the Spirit Stones he had left after all that had to be an enormous amount.
‘And even that isn't enough for him.’
Over the past two years, Myeongha had devoted himself to expanding Sea Abyss Island. Though Jegyeong acted indifferent, he had always kept an eye on Myeongha's movements. He could tell that Myeongha was serious about playing the businessman.
He reminded Jegyeong of the passionate startup founders who had been famous in his previous life.
‘Aura...’
Myeongha's clearly abnormal Aura had left a deep impression on Jegyeong.
That was putting it mildly. To be blunt, he had been thoroughly shocked.
Jegyeong immediately went to the Forget-Me Garden and sought instruction from others. After asking around for quite some time, he received an answer from a senior cultivator whose age and experience could be felt in every word.
According to that senior, Aura represented the scale of one's fate. The greater an Aura, the greater the fate behind it, and the reverse was also true.
When Jegyeong heard that, he was somewhat confused about how to take the word fate.
Because he possessed the knowledge and memories of his previous life, the word instinctively made him think of a massive prison. A prison so vast it could comfortably contain the beginning and end of a life, one that could never be escaped no matter how desperately someone tried.
His heart grew heavy at that thought, but fortunately, the senior's next explanation cleared up his misunderstanding.
“Why does a cultivator's Aura grow stronger as their realm and strength increase? Because powerful cultivators are often freer. Freedom means being able to do more, which makes it easier to leave a larger mark on the world.”
Even that senior did not sound entirely certain.
Still, Jegyeong gained his own insight from those words and built a theory of his own.
He understood Aura as possibility.
With that assumption, he could explain both why a cultivator's strength and Aura were somewhat proportional, and why they sometimes were not. The former could be understood through the old senior's theory, while the latter...
‘Like the son of a pauper and the son of an emperor.’
Suppose the son of a poor man and the son of an emperor were both three years old.
Which of them would be stronger? They would surely be similar. Neither had begun cultivating, and they could hardly even be called cultivators. What difference in strength could there be between such children?
Even if their strength was similar, though, their Auras would differ as greatly as heaven and earth.
Jegyeong had never confirmed it himself, but he was certain. The scale of the fate they were born with, the scale of their possibilities, would be different.
Seen that way, the world seemed terribly unfair. Yet perhaps it was not.
Aura, or possibility, was ultimately something vague.
As shown by how a cultivator's Aura grew stronger when their realm and strength increased, Aura was not fixed. It could grow or shrink for many reasons.
Those who knew something about Aura therefore did not care much about it. It was not something they could gain or cast away simply by caring about it, but more importantly, Aura had almost no practical use.
That changed if an Aura far surpassed the ordinary.
Child of Destiny.
The senior said that a very small number of cultivators seemed to have been chosen by Aura itself. They were called Children of Destiny.
According to the senior, such Children of Destiny had an extremely high chance of becoming great figures in one way or another.
Their existence was an open secret.
Only those in the know understood the relationship between Aura, fate, and possibility, but any cultivator could sense the strength of an Aura. Still, Children of Destiny were so rare that they were considered one of the countless legends of the Cultivation World. Most who did appear also met with misfortune early for one reason or another.
They might be future great figures, but until they gained enough strength to protect themselves, standing out so easily was an enormous weakness.
Thanks to the old senior's generous teaching, Jegyeong became certain that Myeongha was a Child of Destiny.
He had witnessed a legend of the Cultivation World with his own eyes, but he was not particularly moved.
He only considered how he could make use of this rare being who was spoken of as a legend.
After thinking for a while, he reached a simple conclusion.
He would hitch a ride.
To put it plainly, a Child of Destiny was someone fortune gathered around. Whether that fortune was good or bad, it would make the Child of Destiny grow quickly.
Sometimes, unbearable misfortune might come rushing in, but hadn't someone once said that true wealth and honor lay hidden in danger? Seen that way, could even misfortune not be called good fortune?
Jegyeong hoped to claim a share of Myeongha's fortune.
Of course, beneath that thought was the calculation that even if unbearable misfortune came, he would not be the one struck by it head-on.
‘They're coming.’
Coiled atop the circular stone tower, Jegyeong slowly drank from his cup as he sensed powerful Auras approaching one by one.
They belonged to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Some were in the early stage, and quite a few were in the middle stage.
Even as he counted them and estimated their realms, Jegyeong did not fully lower his guard.
Had this not proven that Aura could not be an absolute measure of strength? Its accuracy might have only dropped from one hundred percent to ninety-nine percent, but Jegyeong did not ignore even a one percent possibility.
* * *
“So this is Ghost Spider's Soul-Wiped Person?”
A Foundation Establishment cultivator who had stepped off the ship frowned at the young man standing rigidly before them.
The cultivator had heard of Ghost Spider's feared reputation and methods, but hearing about them and seeing them firsthand were entirely different.
The young man's heart was beating, and he was breathing. That only made the sight more chilling.
This was not an experience unique to one or two Foundation Establishment cultivators. Some had come to Sea Abyss Island for the first time, while others had visited before, but every one of them grew serious the moment they set foot on the dock.
The guides assigned to them by Sea Abyss Island showed that Ghost Spider was treating them with special consideration, yet they did not welcome such hospitality.
They might not admit it themselves, but from the moment they stepped onto Sea Abyss Island's docks, they had begun to shrink back.
“They're said to have lived harsh lives outside, aren't they? They're rather cowardly for that.”
“They are only despicable, greedy, and cruel. Calamity Cultivators are not strong-willed.”
Myeongha spoke with a smile.
“They make a habit of oppressing the weak and fleeing from the strong. Yet they still pride themselves on following their True Hearts and not tainting their Dao Hearts.”
“Perhaps you're right. Isn't it only natural for cowards to be afraid?”
“Hm?”
Myeongha's eyes widened at Jegyeong's words. Then his face twisted, and he burst into loud laughter.
“That's quite right. Indeed. A coward has a coward's Dao.”
Myeongha continued laughing happily for a long time afterward.
Jegyeong considered whether his words had truly been that funny, but no matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand. He soon gave up and focused on tasting the unfamiliar Spirit Wine in his cup.
“The auction will last three days. I don't expect any trouble, and even if something does happen, I believe I can suppress it unless it is particularly serious. Still, one can never be too sure. I would appreciate it if Fellow Daoist kept an eye on things as well.”
“I will.”
Jegyeong meant it.
Myeongha was Sea Abyss Island's nominal owner, but a considerable portion of its income went to Jegyeong. The same was true for this auction, so he intended to watch over it with a sense of ownership.
“It would have been good if Fellow Daoist's friends could have honored us with their presence as well.”
“Are you still saying that?”
“I only regret it.”
Myeongha knew that Jegyeong had several Great Demon Beast friends and periodically invited them to small auctions. He wanted to invite those Great Demons to this Sea Abyss Island auction and raise its prestige, but Jegyeong had not allowed it.
“I've told you many times. I can kill them, but I can't control them.”
Even if the people gathered on Sea Abyss Island this time had strayed far from the usual values of the Human Race Cultivation World, they were still Human Race cultivators.
It was not difficult to imagine how Great Demons, who instinctively smacked their lips at the sight of Other Races, would react upon seeing them.
“But Fellow Daoist has the ability to gather them together.”
“That is because my small gatherings benefit them as well. What moves them is their own desire, not my command. I can bring them before the Human Race, but I can't stop them from running wild.”
Half of that was true, and half was a lie.
Now that Jegyeong had reached the middle stage of the Great Demon Realm, he was confident he could forcibly control his friends if he wished.
But why should he?
He did not want to introduce his friends to Myeongha.
He knew Myeongha had his eyes on them. If not for the innate weakness of being Half-Human, Half-Demon, Myeongha would have approached them behind Jegyeong's back long ago.
‘That can never happen.’
Jegyeong only wished to share in Myeongha's fortune. He had no intention whatsoever of sharing his own.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
