WeTried Translations

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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 30: Bottleneck

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“What is Foundation Establishment? You have all reached Foundation Establishment, so you should know. It is the laying of a foundation. If the Qi Refining Stage proves one is qualified to cultivate, Foundation Establishment confirms that qualification and lays the groundwork for true cultivation.”

In that sense, cultivators at the Qi Refining Stage could not truly be called cultivators.

That was because the Spiritual Power used at the Qi Refining Stage was ultimately just the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. Though it underwent some refinement by the cultivator, the difference was no greater than that between an apple covered in dirt and one washed with water.

Foundation Establishment cultivators, on the other hand, used Dharma Power.

What was Dharma Power? It was the result of the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth being fundamentally transformed by a cultivator's Spiritual Essence and will.

Not only was Dharma Power far stronger than Spiritual Power, it also carried a cultivator's distinctive character. A cultivator's Heart State, the cultivation method they practiced, their Spiritual Root, and many other factors all combined to shape that character. It could be obvious, or so faint as to seem almost nonexistent.

“Let me put it this way. Reaching Foundation Establishment is like acquiring a blank sheet of drawing paper. Now that you have the paper, shouldn't each of you begin filling it with a painting of your own?”

That painting could be a single line, a landscape, or some chaotic thing that could not be told apart from a painting or scribble.

It could be nothing but pitch-black darkness, or so colorful it hurt the eyes.

“My advice is this. Do not mistake rashness for simplicity. Difficulty is normal. Even if you remain at the threshold for ten years, it will not be too late.”

When Uh Dobaek finished his lesson, Ye Janggyeong and Choe Jutang bowed respectfully.

“I will keep it in mind.”

“Thank you for your guidance.”

From far away, one could see the whole picture at once. Up close, one could see it in greater detail.

Uh Dobaek's cultivation could not compare to Yu Gyeyun's, but Ye Janggyeong and Choe Jutang felt they had gained more from his teaching than they had from Yu Gyeyun's instruction.

“Senior, I would also like to ask for your guidance.”

Jegyeong spoke for the first time.

Uh Dobaek, Ye Janggyeong, and Choe Jutang all reacted as though they had not expected it.

“I know nothing about Demon Beast cultivation. If it is something like last time, I can offer a simple explanation.”

By something like last time, he meant the Qi Concealment Technique.

He was saying that he could advise Jegyeong on minor techniques that could be used even by those outside the Human Race.

Yet that was not what Jegyeong wanted to know.

“Senior, as you know, I can raise my cultivation as a Demon Beast simply by repeatedly consuming Blood Meals and increasing my Qi and Blood. That is how I attained my current cultivation.”

“Mm. It is a truly enviable ability.”

“Recently, though, my cultivation has slowed considerably. Even when I eat more Demon Beasts than before, I don't feel my Qi and Blood increasing.”

In truth, he did feel it increasing.

Like a turtle crawling.

“Hmm. A bottleneck in Demon Beast cultivation. As I said, I know little of Demon Race and Demon Beast cultivation, so take what I say only as a reference. The method you described is the same as what I have heard. Most Demon Beast cultivation places importance on the body. It is similar to Body Cultivation among the Human Race, but much fiercer.”

Most Human Race cultivators refined Dharma Power using the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and were called Dharma Cultivators.

A small number refined their bodies through Qi and Blood instead. They were called Body Cultivators.

“To be able to absorb another's Qi and Blood through Blood Meals... I guarantee that is an ability Body Cultivators dream of even in their sleep. Demon Beasts possess such an ability by nature. In my view, no Demon Beast has any reason to complain that they lack innate talent.”

What was the greatest hardship Body Cultivators faced in cultivation? Pain during the process?

Those who walked the path of Body Cultivation had usually already prepared themselves to face pain. To them, pain was simply growing pains. What cultivator feared growth?

What they truly feared were bottlenecks.

Every cultivator feared bottlenecks, but the bottlenecks faced by Body Cultivators differed in nature from those faced by Dharma Cultivators. Dharma Cultivators' bottlenecks were mainly related to Mental Image and comprehension, while Body Cultivators' bottlenecks were tied to the limits of the Human Race.

Just as Demon Beasts could not match human wisdom and numbers, humans could not match the powerful bodies of Demon Beasts.

Of course, nothing in this world was absolute. Cultivation sought transcendence by nature, so such limits could be surpassed through cultivation.

But if limits could be crossed as easily as words made them sound, would they be called limits?

To advance their realms, Body Cultivators needed not only their own blood-soaked effort, but also enormous cultivation resources. Most of those resources replenished or increased Qi and Blood, and their rarity made them extremely valuable.

Ordinary Dharma Cultivators often had no choice but to continue cultivating through talent and will alone because they could not obtain even a single decent cultivation resource. Compared to them, Body Cultivators were clearly well-fed.

Talent mattered, but one could not even begin Body Cultivation without money. For that reason, Body Cultivators were often promising disciples of sects or members of cultivation clans.

They needed a strong background capable of providing the resources necessary for cultivation before they could even stand at the starting line.

Considering this, Demon Beasts possessed an enormous advantage.

Demon Beasts that could absorb another's Qi and Blood through Blood Meals could theoretically all be called natural-born Body Cultivators. Their bodies were also generally so much stronger than those of the Human Race that Body Cultivators found it difficult to close that gap through cultivation.

Even from this alone, it was clear that the path of Body Cultivation was no easy one.

Calling it difficult was a refined way of putting it. In truth, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a path through thorns.

Some therefore argued that Body Cultivation was never suited to humans in the first place.

Others argued the opposite, claiming Body Cultivation was the ideal method for compensating for humanity's imperfections.

Both arguments had their own basis, so no clear conclusion had been reached even today.

Still, despite cultivation's many hardships, Body Cultivation was undeniably appealing. If they could, cultivators wanted to practice Body Cultivation methods.

Quite a few even went around boasting that they walked the path of Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Body.

Most of them were rabble not worth calling chaff, but the rare genuine ones were all recognized as powerful figures.

“Let us return to the point. It is certainly strange that you have steadily grown through Blood Meals until now, only to suddenly encounter a bottleneck. I have heard that Demon Beasts can continue raising their cultivation through Blood Meals alone until they reach the threshold of becoming a Great Demon Beast.”

Uh Dobaek explained that he had heard this from a sect cultivator he knew, in case Jegyeong doubted him.

Human Race Proper Path sects often captured and raised Demon Beasts as Sect-Guarding Spirit Beasts or Mountain-Guarding Spirit Beasts, so they possessed extensive knowledge about Demon Beasts.

“Then why am I...?”

“The most likely possibility is that your body has reached its limit. Even a Demon Beast cannot absorb Qi and Blood without end. Otherwise, would the Demon Race not have conquered the Azure Basket Realm long ago?”

What Uh Dobaek said was a possibility Jegyeong had considered before, and one he truly did not want to accept.

A limit? Of course, he would reach a limit someday.

But already? Before he had even become a Great Demon Beast? Was that not far too soon?

Had the hardship of the Immortal Path already come for him? Was it because he had not inherited a Demon Beast Bloodline, because he had been born an ordinary snake?

Just as Jegyeong's insides began to boil, Uh Dobaek continued.

“And another possibility is...”

Uh Dobaek hesitated slightly before asking, “How old are you?”

“What?”

The sudden question left Jegyeong so flustered that he could not speak for a moment.

Questions about one's personal history were an unspoken taboo in the Forget-Me Garden.

Uh Dobaek would not be unaware of that, so this question surely had some meaning...

‘Ah.’

A thought suddenly flashed through Jegyeong's mind.

“Do not misunderstand. I ask because I have heard that some Demon Beasts with slow physical growth enter a period of stagnation when the growth of their bodies cannot keep up with the growth of their Qi and Blood. If your Qi and Blood have increased too greatly before your body has grown enough...”

Jegyeong hesitated, then answered that he did not know.

He said he had spent no short amount of time as a beast and had been too busy surviving to notice the passage of time.

It was a poor excuse, but it worked surprisingly well.

‘That could happen.’

Uh Dobaek accepted it.

He was a Rogue Cultivator, and his background was ordinary. Yet that only seemed ordinary when compared with the majority of Human Race cultivators. Among Foundation Establishment cultivators like himself, his circumstances had been humble.

Since the Qi Refining Stage, he had endured countless open and hidden struggles to build his cultivation. He knew well how simple one's thoughts could become in extreme circumstances.

The passage of time? When one was desperately fighting not to die, who had the leisure to notice such things?

It was not uncommon in the Cultivation World for someone to enter a Secret Realm by mistake, barely survive its dangers, and emerge to find that decades had passed.

“This is all I know. I regret that it does not seem to have been much help.”

“Not at all.”

Jegyeong appeared downcast.

It was an expression he had deliberately put on. Inside, he was filled with joy and hope.

* * *

When Uh Dobaek had asked how old he was, Jegyeong had suddenly come to his senses.

‘Why hadn't I thought of that?’

It was not as though he had never considered it.

He had thought about his age several times before, mainly when he was startled by how large his body had become for his age or wondered when he would stop growing.

Yet he realized it again.

‘My body has not finished growing yet.’

His parents were the proof.

The first time he saw them at the entrance of the cave where he had been born, they had each seemed at least fifty meters long.

In comparison, he had only just passed thirty meters.

If becoming a Demon Beast had not affected his physical growth, he could still grow at least another twenty meters. If it had affected his physical growth, then it was impossible to estimate the limits of his future growth.

‘Do I just have to wait?’

Jegyeong found himself drawn to the second possibility Uh Dobaek had mentioned.

Part of him wanted to believe it, but it also seemed reasonable.

Looking back, he had been moving far too quickly until now.

Jegyeong was no longer an innocent beast who knew nothing of the Cultivation World. There were differences between species, but he still understood that his rate of growth was abnormal.

If he revealed his true age, no one, including Uh Dobaek, would believe him.

‘Let's think of it as taking a moment to catch my breath.’

Once he moved a little away from the frustration and fear that his Immortal Path might end here, room returned to his heart.

It felt as though fresh air had entered a room sealed shut for days. His Heart State cleared, and an insight rose within him.

‘Being fast is good, but getting too used to speed may not be.’

It was fine to be slow as long as he did not stop.

He had thought that before. At some point, he had simply forgotten it.

Only now did he feel that he truly understood its meaning.

Perhaps even this realization was not complete. Perhaps it was only a fleeting illusion. Jegyeong did not care even if that was the case.

After all, this small insight had allowed him to take another step forward.

Getting used to speed was no different from addiction.

No one could remain fast forever. It would inevitably breed impatience and lead to mistakes.

‘There is no reason or need for me to be impatient right now.’

Why had he not realized that?

Those who occupied territories, those wandering alone, even Cheongo and Muk-su.

There was not a single one among them who had lived less time than he had.

Yet he could not be satisfied. He looked at those standing at the peak and burned with frustration, wondering why he was so slow.

Cultivation was not something one did by looking at others, but for the same reason, there was no need to grit one's teeth because of others.

Whether this was comprehension, a shift in perspective, or simply a convincing form of self-consolation, Jegyeong recognized that his Heart State had taken a great step forward at that moment.

Perhaps it was only his imagination, but the invisible wall that had firmly blocked him for some time now seemed to have retreated slightly.

‘Heart State. Is this what a Heart State is?’

He had heard the senior cultivators of the Full-Wing Gathering emphasize the importance of one's Heart State several times. Until now, he had only known that the condition of one's Heart State was reflected in the Spirit Body. This was the first time he had felt its effect on cultivation.

Could the state of one's mind affect one's cultivation realm? He had not learned cultivation methods like the Human Race cultivators. He had only repeatedly consumed Blood Meals and increased his Qi and Blood. Could his Heart State affect even that?

‘Perhaps it is because I am not an ordinary Demon Beast.’

A human soul. A human heart. A human mind.

Yet all of it resided within the body of the Demon Race.

Though his outer shell belonged to the Demon Race, he was human at his core. He was clearly different from ordinary members of the Demon Race.

Was that why his path of cultivation was different as well?

Jegyeong suddenly thought of the senior members of the Demon Race in the Forget-Me Garden.

Their reputation within the Forget-Me Garden was not very good.

When he had asked why, he was told that their minds were unstable.

Now that he thought about it, that was no different from saying they were like the Demon Race.

Impulsive and capricious, unable to keep their Heart States calm.

‘Have they completely become members of the Demon Race?’

If that was the case, had it been their choice?

If it had been a choice, why had they chosen it?

Could they have faced the same difficulties in cultivation as he had? Had they chosen to embrace their Demon Race identity more deeply in order to advance faster?

Jegyeong became increasingly absorbed in his baseless speculation, then soon laughed at himself.

He had found his own path, after all.

Nor did he have any desire to deny himself now.

So what did it matter what those seniors were like? There was no need to concern himself with them.

‘I am me, and they are them.’

Jegyeong uncoiled and raised his body.

He had remained in the same position for a long time, yet he did not feel stiff in the slightest. Instead, he felt refreshed, as though he had just woken from a deep sleep.

‘Hm?’

Jegyeong left his nest and headed toward the surface of the water. A subtle, difficult-to-explain sense of wrongness made him sharpen his senses.

Then he felt a presence silently approaching from behind.

“Jegyeong!”

Jegyeong was about to lunge with killing intent when the familiar voice made him flinch.

“How is it? How is it?”

When he released the tension from his body and turned around, Cheongo stared at him with eyes seeking praise.

“The Qi Concealment Technique?”

“Yeah. How is it? Isn't it amazing?”

“It is.”

It had taken quite some time, but this much progress was impressive enough.

In truth, Jegyeong had recently begun wondering whether he should give up expecting Cheongo to learn the Qi Concealment Technique.

“So are we doing it now?”

“We should.”

The snake’s and crow’s eyes shone with anticipation.

Footnotes:

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