WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 17: Abyssal Labyrinth (1)
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When Ise infused spiritual energy into the mirror, two dots appeared within its translucent glass.
Beside them, in lettering too small for an ordinary person to read, were the words Qi Condensation 1 and Qi Condensation 9.
As expected, it was a spirit artifact that searched for nearby sources of spiritual energy.
When Ise removed his Spirit-Veiling Ring, the mirror flickered, then displayed the word Foundation Establishment.
Ise paused.
‘It can even see through to the Foundation Establishment Realm? How does it work?’
He put the Spirit-Veiling Ring back on and cast a spell.
A dot appeared on the mirror, then vanished.
‘Even while concealed, using a spell lets it detect a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s spiritual energy, if only briefly.’
It could distinguish between the spiritual energy produced by spiritual meridians and that produced by a Dharma-Flower Dantian.
No matter how he looked at it, this was no ordinary spirit artifact.
It was at least a treasure artifact, perhaps even something considered a sacred relic.
It was fairly common for wandering cultivators who became marauder cultivators to possess spirit artifacts that searched for targets.
Hunters needed a way to find their prey.
Still, a spirit artifact with this level of performance must have been the fortuitous encounter of a lifetime for that wandering cultivator.
Ise could imagine how delighted the cultivator must have been.
In the end, though, the cultivator had obtained a fortuitous encounter beyond their means and lost their life through careless conduct.
“Ryu Seonghan.”
“Yes, Senior.”
“Run that way. I’ll send Bisang when it’s time for you to stop.”
“You’re checking the mirror’s detection range. Understood.”
Ryu Seonghan immediately picked up speed and began running.
By the time Ryu Seonghan disappeared from sight, Ise checked the position marked on the mirror. It was about halfway to its outer edge.
That meant it could detect someone at least twice as far away as he could see with his own eyes.
Even though Ise’s vision had expanded considerably after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, the range was impressive.
Satisfied, Ise sent Bisang to tell Ryu Seonghan to return.
“What do you think?”
“It’s useful. The range is pretty broad.”
Ryu Seonghan looked at it enviously from beside him, but Ise ignored them.
They should not have let a fortuitous encounter pass when they had been given one.
When Ise put the spirit artifact into the high-grade storage pouch he had obtained from the secret realm, its name appeared.
Spirit-Seeking Mirror. It was an obvious name, Ise thought as he placed it in his belt-type storage pouch.
“Just how many storage pouches do you carry, Senior...?”
There was the Cosmos Pouch, the belt-type pouch he normally wore, a larger backpack-type pouch, the high-grade pouch that displayed the names of spirit artifacts in his mind, the Spiritual Herb Pouch, and now the Spirit Beast Carrier he had acquired this time.
“Six.”
The envy in Ryu Seonghan’s eyes deepened.
“Why are you surprised? Isn’t this the bare minimum for a cultivator?”
“...”
After swaggering to his heart’s content, Ise put his storage pouches away.
Showing off his storage pouches always felt good. At moments like this, he felt as though he had returned to his childhood.
The wandering cultivator’s storage pouch contained Cold-Repelling Shoulder Guards, single-use talismans, medicinal pellets, and a dharma staff.
It was a dharma staff that held water-attribute spells.
The cultivator had apparently meant to cover an elemental weakness with it.
Once he finished sorting through the spoils, Ise dispelled the Earth Spear and turned over the soil to bury the corpse.
Ryu Seonghan, who had been watching, asked, “Senior, how can you cast spells so quickly? You don’t form hand seals or recite incantations.”
“I wonder.”
“Don’t tell me you perform Spiritual Energy Manifestation directly, without any preparation?”
“Yeah. It’s more convenient that way.”
“That’s impossible. You process something so complicated that quickly?”
Ise could not answer.
He did not know what process other cultivators went through to cast spells.
This was how he had learned from the beginning, and this was how he had always done it.
Perhaps it was a trait of the Great Exorcist Order’s cultivation methods, which emphasized practical combat.
They were not as fast as Ise, but most Great Exorcist Order Daoists cast spells the same way he did.
Except for cultivators such as Senior Irang, who favored spells with overwhelming firepower.
Along with Body Tempering, it was one of the things that gave him an edge against opponents in the same realm.
The two hurried onward.
At this rate, they would spend years on the road alone.
* * *
Bisang, Ise’s spirit beast, flew overhead.
It soared high above them, then descended to signal whenever it found a demon along the way.
Bisang was an exceptionally useful hunting hawk.
Its realm was around the fourth star of the Qi Condensation Realm.
With Buchun stalled at a minor realm boundary, Buchun would have to call Bisang Fellow Daoist when they met.
In terms of usefulness, Bisang was even more capable than Buchun.
“Where is it?”
Kururuk. Bisang bobbed its beak and indicated a direction.
At the place Ise headed toward, a ninth-grade demon beast waited for its coming misfortune.
After hunting the demon beast and placing it into the Beacon Fire Album, Ise spoke regretfully.
“When will it learn to speak? It would be more convenient if we could communicate. Another Qi Condensation spiritual material I met before could speak.”
“That depends on the environment, but spirit beasts are generally said to gain the ability to speak once they reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.”
I see. It was a shame, but there was nothing to be done.
Ise smacked his lips.
“What’s that?”
Ryu Seonghan pointed to the Demon-Sealing Talisman Book and asked.
“It’s called the Demon-Sealing Talisman Book, a single-use storage pouch exclusively for corpses.”
“Wow. That’s an amazing item.”
Normally, he had to report each sheet he used. Since this mission required a long absence, though, he had been granted permission to use it freely for this mission alone.
Thanks to that, he could hunt as many demon beasts as possible, store them in the Beacon Fire Album, then take them out only when needed to prepare immortal cuisine.
It made a decent substitute for the Meat Preservation Vault.
The two continued onward.
* * *
“Senior, they’re cultivators from the Heavenly Ice Palace.”
At Ryu Seonghan’s words, Ise silently turned his gaze toward them. They had nearly reached the outskirts of the Heavenly Capital Realm.
“It’s better not to use a flight spirit artifact within the Heavenly Ice Palace’s territory. It draws too much attention.”
“Fine.”
After answering, Ise stepped down from the Dream-Saving Cloud.
The two people wearing Heavenly Ice Palace robes approached in a straight line and cupped their fists toward Ise.
Their divine senses met.
One was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the other was a Qi Condensation cultivator.
“Fellow Daoist, excuse us. Would you cooperate with an inspection for a moment?”
“What is this about?”
“We are looking for a wanted fugitive.”
When Ryu Seonghan looked at Ise, Ise gave a slight nod.
“Please present your identity tokens.”
Ryu Seonghan handed over their Ryu Clan identity token.
Then, after glancing at Ise, Ryu Seonghan added, “My senior is a wandering cultivator.”
“Could Fellow Daoist tell us why you are using the Spirit-Veiling Art?”
“I’m only using a spirit artifact I own. Is there a problem?”
“There is not. Excuse me. This is a spirit artifact that checks whether someone has changed their appearance, so please do not be alarmed.”
The Foundation Establishment cultivator lightly passed a rod-shaped spirit artifact in front of Ise’s face.
Nothing changed.
The two exchanged looks, then showed them a wanted poster.
This time, the Qi Condensation cultivator asked Ryu Seonghan.
Through divine sense, Ise detected the Foundation Establishment cultivator behind them reciting an incantation and using the Mind-Reading Art.
“Did you see this person on your way here?”
“No. It’s my first time seeing them.”
“Thank you for your cooperation. You may proceed.”
The two cultivators hurried away.
A warm breeze drifted through the air.
More precisely, the climate was about as cold as winter on the Eastern Continent, so calling it warm was not quite right. Still, compared to the northern reaches of the Northern Continent, it was mild.
What surprised Ise was how villages appeared every so often, scattered far apart.
“People live outside the Heavenly Ice Palace’s territory too?”
“Huh? No. We’ve already entered its territory. This is the Heavenly Capital Realm, the capital of the Northern Continent and the Heavenly Ice Palace’s domain.”
“There are no city walls?”
“Right? You can think of every place reached by the Heavenly Fire Cauldron’s power as the Heavenly Capital Realm. Do you know what rain is? Further inside the Heavenly Capital Realm, water called rain falls from the sky instead of snow. It feels incredibly nice when it falls on you.”
Ise understood that their cultures differed and smiled in amusement.
The Heavenly Capital Realm felt like it could simply be called a nation.
“Then managing outsiders must be difficult. There must be wandering cultivators everywhere.”
“There’s no reason to manage them. To the Heavenly Ice Palace, the continent’s ruler, wandering cultivators are walking resources. Unless they are wanted fugitives, there’s no reason to exclude them.”
“I see.”
As they traveled farther in, enough buildings appeared for the place to be called a city, and the crowds steadily grew thicker.
The Heavenly Capital Realm was enormous.
When Ise asked Ryu Seonghan, he learned that it was even larger than the Dark Heaven Secret Realm.
It was probably comparable in size to one of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms.
There were mountains, and rivers flowed through it.
Since the Heavenly Capital Realm alone formed a country, Ise could understand why they had no interest in far-flung cities.
Of course, all of this was due to the power of a divine artifact.
After traveling for several more days, the two arrived near the Heavenly Ice Palace’s main mountain.
A wall had been built around the mountain, likely because entry was restricted.
After observing the Heavenly Ice Palace’s main mountain from afar, the first thing they did was find a place to stay.
Though the rent was expensive, they found a residence protected by a warding barrier for security.
Their next priority was finding a cave abode suitable for cultivation.
There was a problem, though.
Cave abodes within the Heavenly Capital Realm were more expensive than expected.
After reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, cultivating in an ordinary place rather than a cave abode barely did anything for him.
Ise possessed roughly six thousand Spiritual Stones. Even if he sold everything obtained from the wandering cultivator, he would not have nine thousand.
There was no immediate problem, but if they intended to stay for a long time, they needed a way to earn Spiritual Stones.
“A secret realm will open soon.”
Ryu Seonghan, who had gone out to gather information, said this upon returning.
When Ise showed interest, Ryu Seonghan continued.
“It’s a Qi Condensation Realm secret realm. The type is a trial.”
“What kind of secret realm is a trial?”
“They are secret realms spread around by beings of the Upper Realm for entertainment. They deliberately create trials, then leave rewards at the end. They are known for being difficult, but their rewards are good.”
“That sounds fun. Want to enter? At the ninth star, you should be much better off than before.”
“No. Everyone agrees that unless you are forcibly selected, you should not enter a trial secret realm. I can’t go in and die a pointless death after already encountering such a great fortuitous encounter.”
Was it really that dangerous?
Ise was interested, but a Qi Condensation Realm secret realm did not concern him.
If he had the chance later, he wanted to experience a trial secret realm himself.
“We should find a way to earn Spiritual Stones first. Rather than joining the Heavenly Ice Palace right away, why not reach Great Completion first? You can adapt in the meantime, and the Heavenly Ice Palace will likely see you as a reserve force.”
“Yes.”
Still, how was Ise supposed to earn Spiritual Stones?
His worries deepened.
“I noticed you just throw away things like Snowfish scales instead of selling them.”
“Those can be sold?”
At Ise’s question, Ryu Seonghan nodded.
When Ise had been in the Great Exorcist Order, he had sold demon beast parts in bundles for almost nothing. There had been little demand.
When he asked about market prices, Ryu Seonghan answered that snow ape fur sold for about one Spiritual Stone per catty.
Trade was more active than on the Eastern Continent, but even gathering such materials would not earn much.
“The fastest way would be plundering, I suppose.”
“You really do think like a demonic cultivator.”
“What a hurtful thing to say. Haven’t you heard that immortal cultivation is plunder?”
“Who says that? Has the martial world’s code of honor collapsed in the Northern Continent?”
Ryu Seonghan chuckled at Ise’s words.
Opening an immortal-cuisine restaurant would be an excellent way to earn Spiritual Stones, but Ise would have no time to cultivate if he ran one alone.
Buchun and Park Gangseo were not here.
He could not do everything himself.
He would need advertising, and operating a shop involved far more miscellaneous work than expected.
“You could become a private instructor, but you can’t guarantee your identity...”
The greatest problem was his identity. Ryu Seonghan planned to use their existing identity token, claiming they had become a wandering cultivator after losing a war between cities.
If Ryu Seonghan joined the Heavenly Ice Palace before word reached the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley, the danger would disappear.
Not that the background of a Qi Condensation Realm wandering cultivator would reach them in the first place.
Unlike Ryu Seonghan, whose identity was clear even though the Ryu Clan had fallen, Ise had extremely limited options for earning Spiritual Stones.
Since wandering cultivators could not guarantee their identities, there were few jobs they could take.
“How do other independent cultivators earn Spiritual Stones?”
“They do odd jobs for sects, or more often wander through empty land and snowfields looking for spiritual materials.”
That income was no better.
Ise rubbed his brow and muttered, “What about conquering a Foundation Establishment city ruled by a demonic sect?”
“...You are joking, right?”
He was joking, but if there were no risk of future trouble, he would have tried it at least once.
“Why not hunt bounties instead? Sometimes independent cultivators and demon beasts have bounties on them.”
“Will there be no future trouble if I hunt those?”
“They are wanted fugitives, after all. The bounty rewards are decent, and you can take the spoils too. You hunt them, and I report it to the Heavenly Ice Palace. I heard that bounty-hunting achievements give bonus points when joining the sect.”
“I see. So you are telling me to butcher demonic cultivators in your place?”
“Ah... that is not what I meant.”
“I love it. Let’s do it right away.”
The Great Exorcist Order was a group of demon butchers by nature.
Ise was very well suited to that work.
Footnotes:
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