WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 15: To the Northern Continent (3)

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Ise asked with a lost expression.

“How can you give me things this precious so readily? I’m grateful, but I truly don’t know if I should accept them.”

“The task I entrusted to you is worth that much. If I fail to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm, there will be more wars like this. Cultivators have an absurdly slow sense of time, so I don’t know whether that will take a hundred years or two hundred, but it will come. In the end, this war will only end when one side, theirs or ours, has disappeared.”

Ise finally grasped the weight of this mission.

Would it not be better for another Core Formation Realm great cultivator to take it?

Haeil seemed to read his thoughts and shook his head.

“Every Hall Master is a pillar supporting the Great Exorcist Order. They are the present, while you are the future. I’m supporting you for the Order’s future. So don’t get overwhelmed already. This isn’t over yet.”

Haeil grinned and held out a Black Ruler this time.

He added that it was a sacred relic needed to activate the ancient teleportation formation.

The last item he handed over was a medicinal pellet case made of diamond.

Ise wondered what sort of pellet required a diamond case, but Haeil’s next words were enough to leave him stunned.

“It’s a Supreme-Grade Qi-Condensing Pellet.”

Supreme-grade.

Across the Eastern Continent, it was said that only the Pill Altar Sect’s Sect Master could make one.

Its ingredients could only be found in secret realms, so no one had even known whether such a pellet truly existed.

“As far as I know, this is the only one on the entire continent. I’m giving it to you, so break off tiny pieces and consume it over a long time. If you get greedy, the spiritual pressure will make your body burst apart.”

“Thank you.”

That was all Ise could manage to say.

Haeil had not exaggerated when he said he was investing in the future.

He truly believed that Ise would complete the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art and intended to devote himself fully to his duties as Order Lord.

“Must I leave immediately? There are still a few things I need to do.”

“It will be a long journey, so prepare properly before you leave. How many Spiritual Stones do you have?”

“A few hundred at the moment, but I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll need travel expenses. Tell Kang I-tae to support you.”

“No. I’ll make up the difference by taking it.”

Haeil let out a hollow laugh at Ise’s bold declaration that he would take what he needed.

“Don’t tell me those things you need to do involve hunting Cheoryang Thunder Gate bastards.”

“Yes. I’m the sort who has to repay what’s been done to me. I plan to vent enough of my anger before I leave.”

Haeil laughed in disbelief, then gave his permission.

“Even your temperament resembles that bastard’s. Fine. Come find me once you are ready, and I’ll tell you the precise location of the teleportation formation.”

Haeil added one more thing.

“Lastly.”

There was still more?

Ise was beginning to feel overwhelmed.

“I’ll train you to survive when you encounter a Core Formation Realm great cultivator.”

Ise’s eyes shone at those words.

He would welcome a gift like that any time.

It was priceless instruction.

Still, it was another debt. One that he would repay someday.

“The primordial qi of the Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique is aggressive. It is a spear capable of piercing anything, but a soft shield that can block nothing.”

Ise straightened and listened closely.

“The former Order Lord also compensated for the lack of defense by piling spell upon spell on top of each other, but even that was not enough. For you, the best defense is a stronger attack. You must be able to cut apart your opponent’s primordial qi if you want to protect your own body.”

Haeil moved away from Ise and drew his sword.

“I’m going to cut off your legs now. Try to cut my primordial qi. Tell me when you’re ready.”

Ise formed primordial qi and infused it into the Black Phosphorus Axe.

After watching the process, Haeil tilted his head.

“Do you need to take a shit?”

“…No. I’m ready.”

Once Ise answered, Haeil slowly swung his sword.

It moved so slowly that it looked less like a swing and more like a limp, wavering motion.

The primordial qi flying toward him was just as slow.

Ise swung the Black Phosphorus Axe with all his strength, trying to cut apart the crescent-shaped primordial qi.

Yet Haeil’s primordial qi sliced straight through both of Ise’s legs.

Haeil looked down at Ise, whose face twisted from the pain.

“I didn’t expect you to succeed in one try. Don’t worry. We’ll keep doing it until you can.”

* * *

The training continued without pause.

Haeil’s primordial qi flew at him again.

Once more, Ise’s legs were cut off.

He lost his balance, crashed to the ground, and rolled across it.

It was an ugly sight, but the moment Haeil healed him, Ise sprang back up and gripped the Black Phosphorus Axe again.

‘His willpower is something else.’

Even Haeil had to marvel at that tenacity.

The pain should not have become any easier to endure, yet after a while, Ise no longer even groaned.

Whether he knew of Haeil’s assessment or not, Ise only raised the Black Phosphorus Axe again.

But he had no internal qi left to form primordial qi. His Dharma-Flower Dantian was empty.

“Again.”

As Haeil raised his sword, Ise lightly bit his lip and answered.

“My apologies, Order Lord. I’ve run out of internal qi.”

Haeil looked him over, then sheathed his sword.

“Circulate your qi.”

Ise immediately sat cross-legged and drew in external qi through the principles of Spirit Drawing.

Once he had recovered some internal qi, Haeil crooked a finger.

“Get up.”

“Yes.”

Ise immediately readied himself.

Another condensed mass of primordial qi slowly flew toward him.

Slice.

His legs were cut off again.

His face twisted from the pain that would not become familiar, and he asked Haeil.

“Could you perhaps offer some advice?”

“Advice?”

Haeil seemed to consider it for a moment, then scratched his temple.

“Focus and cut.”

“……”

His careful question had earned an answer that was almost a rebuke.

“Yes. I’ll focus.”

As Ise raised his concentration without complaint, Haeil added another remark.

“Can’t you make more primordial qi? With a quantity that tiny, you couldn’t even cut a radish.”

Ise swallowed the urge to say that he had cut off Bi Hyeongrang’s arm with this much, then answered that this was the best he could do for now.

He felt through the depths of his dantian, formed primordial qi, and loaded it into the Black Phosphorus Axe.

‘Focus.’

It sounded vague at first, but Haeil would not have said it for no reason.

When he had cut off Bi Hyeongrang’s arm, Ise had certainly reached such an extreme level of concentration that time itself seemed to slow.

In the end, every cultivator’s power began with the strength of the inner image, born from consciousness and will.

Concentration was obsession.

Not a halfhearted resolve. He imagined that the primordial qi flying toward him belonged to Bi Hyeongrang.

A cleanly honed killing intent began to fill Ise’s eyes.

Noticing the change in him, Haeil slowly raised the corner of his mouth and lifted his sword.

“Here I go again.”

A sword slash swept down on the diagonal.

Holding the hatchet close, Ise swung with all his strength.

It was a strike filled with the resolve to take Bi Hyeongrang’s head in a single blow.

Hummm.

He did not feel himself cut through anything, but the primordial qi flying toward him split in half and scattered through the air.

Sweat poured off Ise like rain as he breathed heavily.

Haeil gave an approving whistle.

“Oh. Good. Let’s go again.”

But the next mass of primordial qi cut off Ise’s legs again.

They repeated the exercise several more times, but Ise only succeeded twice out of ten attempts.

Haeil looked at Ise, battered and sprawled across the ground, then returned his sword to its sheath.

“Tsk. Let’s stop here. Focus first on increasing the amount of primordial qi you can make. That will raise your success rate.”

“Yes.”

“If your success rate does not improve from this point... don’t use it at all. Trusting unmastered power will get you killed.”

Ise did not answer that final warning. His mind was filled only with the thought that he would make it work somehow.

Sitting atop a broad boulder, Haeil casually asked what other cultivation methods Ise had learned.

Ise answered that he had only learned the Demon Hunting and Spirit-Sending Art and the Dokkaebi Shadow-Hunting Demonic Art. He was searching for a lightning spiritual ground and wind spiritual ground so he could learn the Thunderclap Divine Art and the Wind-Shattering Qi Art.

“Lightning and wind cultivation methods overlap in use. Learning both would be a waste of time, so learn only one.”

“Yes. Is there a lightning spiritual ground or wind spiritual ground nearby?”

“There is no lightning spiritual ground. There was one in the Three Peninsula Kingdoms, but Bi Hyeongrang took its source away. That is why, apart from Cheoryang Thunder Gate, it is difficult for others to learn lightning-attribute cultivation methods. Unless they seek out lightning and let it strike them.”

Ise decided that he had no choice but to learn a wind-attribute cultivation method.

Haeil seemed to think so too and added, “Wind spiritual grounds are fairly common, so it is not a bad choice. Wind spiritual roots are rare even among special constitutions, and the Wind-Shattering Qi Art is a decent cultivation method. I’ll tell you about a wind spiritual ground near the teleportation formation.”

“My gratitude is as vast as the sea.”

Ise bowed deeply.

Haeil watched him for a moment, then added, “I have made an unprecedented investment in you, so make sure you complete the mission and return.”

“Yes. I will.”

Ise nodded with a resolute expression.

* * *

Sword-Ink Market in Tabaro.

It had originally been a market city operated by a lay branch clan of the Great Exorcist Order, but its owners had vanished when that clan was wiped out in the recent war.

Right after the Great Exorcist Order lost Cheongsan City, two factions were the first to plant their flags here.

The New Martial Sect and Cheoryang Thunder Gate.

The New Martial Sect was the name of the sect founded by the traitors who had seized Cheongsan City.

Ise thought the name itself carried an unrestrained malice.

To survive between the Great Exorcist Order below and the Zheng Empire above, the two factions had chosen an uneasy coexistence.

They had made Sword-Ink Market neutral territory and divided the surrounding land between them.

Their actions made it seem as though they could join forces at any time.

The thought of them joining hands with demonic cultivators made nausea rise in Ise’s throat.

He could not act rashly alone for now, but if the order came down, they too would not escape the bloodshed.

Ise pulled his Daoist robes tightly around himself and slowly walked into the heart of the market.

His outward reason was to obtain an Origin-Defense Talisman, though that was practically impossible.

He had only found three in the past four years, and even those had all come from within the Great Exorcist Order.

The true purpose of his visit was demon hunting.

More specifically, hunting demonic cultivators.

Ise spread his divine sense wide.

His greatly expanded divine sense swept over every corner of the market, tracking demonic qi.

A thick mass of demonic qi was immediately caught within his divine sense.

A late Qi Condensation Realm demonic cultivator.

The demonic cultivator was swaggering through the market, giving off demonic qi without even trying to conceal it.

Ise leaped into the air and landed behind the demonic cultivator.

“What?”

Before the demonic cultivator could fully turn around, the blade of Ise’s hatchet flashed out and cut through the neck.

After cleanly removing the head, Ise muttered as if reciting a line.

“How dare a filthy demonic cultivator swagger through the streets?”

“Ahh!”

Passersby screamed and scattered in panic at the killing that had taken place in broad daylight.

Ignoring them, Ise used Earth Spear to impale the demonic cultivator’s head and display it high enough for everyone in the market to see.

He consumed the demonic qi, emptied the pouch of Spiritual Stones, and placed them inside the Cosmos Pouch before standing exactly where he was.

He kept only the single-use spirit artifacts that needed to be used immediately in a belt-type storage pouch. Everything else was stored in the Cosmos Pouch.

The disturbance in the middle of the market drew out nearby cultivators, who peeked over at him.

Once they checked Ise’s realm, they ducked their heads back inside and scattered like night insects exposed to light.

Within that crowd, Ise picked out the demonic qi of more demonic cultivators.

They hurriedly used Demon-Qi Concealment Talismans to hide their qi, but his divine sense had already snagged them.

Another head was displayed on a market street.

Ise began hunting down every fleeing demonic cultivator.

Footnotes:

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