WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 11: Episode 3: Great Exorcist Order Entrance Exam (4)
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Murmurs spread through the crowd like waves.
More startling than the fact that the Crane Bird could speak in a human voice, and more startling than Kang I-tae's movements, which had been too fast for the eye to follow, was Ise's reaction.
Amazingly, despite the entire commotion, he was circulating his qi.
The small amount of spiritual energy that had entered through the Crane Bird flowed through the boy's body, gradually growing more vigorous.
It was as if he had once taken some spiritual medicine. Once a catalyst entered him, the energies that had lain hidden without a place to settle revealed their presence.
'He's entering a trance at a time like this?'
Kang I-tae could only let out a hollow laugh.
Even if he was in the midst of attaining enlightenment, he should still be able to hear his voice.
He was being suspected of being a spy from a demonic sect, and the cold edge of a blade was poised to cut through his artery at any moment.
It might sound like he was praising himself too much, but a cultivator at the Qi Condensation Realm could be crushed like an insect by his mere presence.
The pressure he was releasing now should have been impossible to endure.
Even the examiners were struggling to withstand it, while the applicants staggered away one by one to put distance between themselves.
Yet that boy did not seem to care in the slightest. He was greedily grasping at his enlightenment as though trying to swallow it whole.
His nerve was so absurdly great that it felt as if his guts had spilled out of his belly and were flopping around.
One of the examiners urged Kang I-tae, “Hall Master, you must pass judgment. Great Exorcist Order's rule is to execute spies from demonic sects the moment they are discovered.”
“Wait.”
Kang I-tae withdrew his sword and pressure, then raised a hand.
The examiner was not wrong. But there was another principle as well.
“If a disciple of Great Exorcist Order is attaining enlightenment, protecting them even at the cost of one's life is also one of our highest principles.”
“But this person is...”
“He is not a disciple yet. That said, neither has he been confirmed as a spy. The demonic qi in his body is deeply suspicious, but no demonic sect would be foolish enough to send in a spy openly reeking of demonic qi.”
Kang I-tae's pressure gradually faded. He had sorted out the importance of the situation for himself.
“If he has a special physique, then the enlightenment of a future disciple takes priority. Clear everyone out and continue the examination elsewhere. I and the three of you examiners will stand guard for him. You, go summon every nearby Hall Master.”
At his decisive conclusion, the examiners immediately bowed. The examiner he had pointed to promptly shot away.
The examination was suspended for a time.
The applicants gathered off to one side, whispering among themselves. Around Ise, Kang I-tae and the examiners stood in a circle, watching him.
Inside Ise's body, a desperate battle was underway.
The moment the Crane Bird's beak pierced his heart, it was as if a drop of water had fallen onto a still surface.
A crown-shaped splash formed, and ripples spread like vibrations, awakening every corner of his body.
Then two reactions followed.
One was the ominous energy that had long occupied a corner of his body, unpleasantly lording over the place.
The other was an energy he had not even known existed. The instant that drop of spiritual energy entered him, it joined it like a snowball rolling down a slope and rapidly swelled in size.
The two energies would not mix, like water and oil. They repelled one another, then began radiating heat as though seized by convulsions.
His insides felt as if they were burning. Nausea rose in his throat and cold sweat streamed down him, but Ise instinctively knew one thing.
If he failed to endure this and collapsed, his body would be left half-crippled.
The two energies ran wild regardless of Ise's will.
Strangely, every time they rampaged through his body and battered some part of it, his bones and muscles seemed to break apart, knit back together, and grow stronger.
He thought he heard voices exchanging words about what should be done with him, but after a certain point, he could no longer hear anything around him.
How much time passed like that?
Something inside him cracked with a sharp crunch.
It was hot yet cold, deafening yet silent.
The two energies that had clashed as they flowed through him now drifted through his body at a slight distance from one another.
An uncomfortable coexistence.
Even with his eyes closed, it felt as if he could see through his own body.
The flow of blood along his acupoints. The flow of spiritual energy drifting calmly beside it. And a little farther away, the thick, viscous flow of demonic qi.
He could sense it all clearly.
When Ise opened his eyes, he understood what it meant to have his eyes opened.
A world entirely unlike the one he had lived in until now stretched before him.
His vision glittered with gold, and the spiritual energy and demonic qi that made up the world were all distinguished by color.
“You really are something. Even if your spirit sight has opened, are you saying you can't even see your seniors standing before you? Don't you know how to look where you're going?”
Only then did Ise look at the four people surrounding him.
Chief Examiner Kang I-tae.
A woman with fiery red hair.
A huge, muscular man dressed in tiger-patterned clothes.
And... a female dokkaebi who looked familiar.
Spiritual energy filled every part of the world, yet he could feel nothing around the space occupied by those four.
No, more precisely, he could not sense it.
It was as though an invisible barrier surrounded them, refusing to let anyone peer inside.
“My apologies.”
Ise straightened his posture and bowed his head.
Once he became aware of it, the pressure bearing down on him was immense. Was this what it felt like to sink into the deep sea? It was as though a mountain-sized boulder weighed upon him.
Judging from the pressure they gave off, they were clearly senior figures in Great Exorcist Order. He had become absorbed in his own business while such lofty elders stood before him, so he had undoubtedly been rude.
“Enough nonsense. Explain the demonic qi in your body. You will also need a way to prove that you are not a spy from a demonic sect.”
At Kang I-tae's words, Ise asked the woman who appeared to be a dokkaebi.
Since a dokkaebi held such a high position in Great Exorcist Order, there should be no problem with telling the truth. Still, he wanted to remain cautious to the end.
“May I speak openly about the dokkaebi people?”
The dokkaebi woman tilted her head at the question.
“Why ask me that? The dokkaebi people and Great Exorcist Order are firm allies, so you don't need to explain that at all.”
He had heard as much, but seeing a dokkaebi who belonged to Great Exorcist Order with his own eyes meant there was no longer any reason to be so cautious.
Then he told them everything that had happened to him, without leaving anything out.
“Ah! You're the boy Mongryeon recently took in...! Right, I heard about you. Your name was... Ishipse, wasn't it?”
“My name is Ise.”
“Right! Right! It was something like that. Nice to meet you. I'm Gong Wol-a. I'm practically Mongryeon's own little sister. But why doesn't I-tae know? You wrote it on your application... didn't you?”
Gong Wol-a. Her name was similar to Gonga's. What relationship did they have?
Ise only thought to himself that the dokkaebi people all had such similar names that they must get confused.
Kang I-tae shrugged and showed Ise his application.
The affiliation section was blank.
“If you are the disciple of Mongryeon, leader of Gwisu Temple, your identity was already certain. Why did you not state it?”
“I was not sure whether I could reveal matters concerning the dokkaebi people. I was worried that I might bring dishonor or harm to my people. As for the demonic qi in my body, I do not know myself... I believe it may be because I lived in the dokkaebi people's territory for a long time.”
The red-haired woman, who had been listening to Ise, burst into laughter.
“Ahaha! Look at that. A human calling the dokkaebi people ‘my people’?”
“Well, it is presumptuous, but not incomprehensible. Personally, I rather like that sort of character.”
The man in tiger-patterned clothes, who had been quietly listening, nodded in agreement.
Kang I-tae sank into thought as if considering the matter, then exchanged glances with the Hall Masters.
“Then... since three or more Hall Masters have confirmed it, we will set aside the matter of his identity for now. Hall Master Hong Mi-hee, can you determine the nature of his demonic qi?”
“Wait a moment. I'll take a closer look. Stay still, little one.”
Hong Mi-hee, the red-haired woman, placed a hand on Ise's chest. Spiritual energy carrying a warm heat swept once through his body.
“I can't be certain, but... hmm. It seems to be the Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique.”
At Hong Mi-hee's words, interest flashed across the faces of the three Hall Masters.
Ise was itching to ask what she meant, but he did not interrupt the conversation of such senior figures. He only listened closely.
Noticing this, Hong Mi-hee smiled and continued her explanation.
“Simply put, it is a physique that can freely wield both spiritual energy and demonic qi. There is no heavenly tribulation, the price for wielding demonic qi, and no need to fear accumulating karma.”
“Could it be... the Great Exorcist Order Lord's...?”
“Yes. It is exactly the same physique as the Great Exorcist Order Lord's. This is the first time in three hundred years.”
At that moment, Ise sensed something in the eyes of all four people.
It was too pure to be greed, and too impure to be curiosity.
Ise thought it was likely their desire for talent.
“Considering that he opened his spirit sight on the spot and immediately reached the Meridian Opening stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, his talent is no ordinary matter either...”
“If you join Gujin Hall, I'll support you with everything I've got.”
“Hall Master Banho, enticing a Qi Condensation Realm cultivator with benefits is against the rules. He has not even passed the examination yet.”
Banho frowned at Kang I-tae's words.
“Enticing him with benefits? I am simply persuading him. It seems you desire him quite a bit as well.”
“Not to that extent.”
“Really? Your eyes are gleaming with greed.”
“...Hall Master.”
“Then let us do this. We keep it secret from the other Hall Masters.”
“That would violate the principles. Even if we try to hide it, it is unlikely to remain hidden.”
“You stubborn, rule-bound fool...”
“Excuse me, but may I speak?”
Ise, who had silently listened to the Hall Masters' conversation until then, quietly raised his hand.
Given his circumstances, he had intended to stay quiet if possible. But their conversation showed no sign of ending.
Seeing no one else nearby, the examination seemed to have already ended, and he had routines and rules that he absolutely had to follow.
Fortunately, the Hall Masters seemed to think favorably of him, so he felt he could make his request a little more boldly.
“What is it?”
“I think I have awakened spiritual energy, but is it normal that it does not move according to my will?”
“Yes. That is the next realm you must reach.”
“Ah. I understand. Spiritual energy and demonic qi are flowing through different places now... but whenever they get close, they growl at each other. Is it all right to leave them like that?”
At that question, all four Hall Masters fell silent.
Hong Mi-hee was apparently the most learned on the subject, because everyone's gaze turned to her.
“We don't know either.”
“Pardon?”
“Other than the Great Exorcist Order Lord, no one has ever had that disposition. And Great Exorcist Order itself... no, the entire cultivation world only established its current system around three hundred years ago. There is almost no information about such a special physique.”
“Then if I join Great Exorcist Order, may I meet the Great Exorcist Order Lord?”
The Hall Masters exchanged looks at Ise's question, then burst out laughing.
“How do you intend to meet someone who ascended to the heavenly realm three hundred years ago? Are you going to perform a spirit-possession ritual or something?”
It was an incomprehensible answer.
Footnotes:
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