WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 17: Abyssal Labyrinth (4)

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* * *

Without hesitation, Ise headed for the labyrinth.

Now that he had obtained a fortuitous encounter, he would not rest easy until he checked it out at once.

He composed his mind and body, resolved to overcome whatever trial awaited him, then set off.

“Fellow Daoist, please cooperate with the inspection for a moment.”

On his way out, he once again encountered cultivators from the Heavenly Ice Palace conducting their search.

At this point, Ise realized something.

The Heavenly Ice Palace was sealing off the Heavenly Capital Realm while carrying out the search.

He had removed the Spirit-Veiling Ring beforehand to avoid suspicion, and since he had not disguised himself, he passed through the encirclement without trouble.

Once the cultivators were far away, Ise took out the Dream-Saving Cloud and picked up speed in earnest.

* * *

After traveling northeast for around nineteen days according to the map, he saw the snow-covered mountain marked on the secret map.

Ise spread Fire-Release Art over a wide area, melting the snow blanketing the mountain to make a path.

Searching a snowy mountain with nothing but a secret map to rely on was grueling work, but Ise did not even notice the hardship as he searched for the entrance.

At last, he found a boulder as large as a first-grade Thunder Boar.

A rectangular hole had been carved into its center.

It was exactly large enough to fit the jade slip. When Ise pushed the secret map into it, the ground rumbled, and the base of the boulder split apart to reveal a staircase.

The jade slip itself had been the key to the labyrinth.

He lit the way with flame and stepped forward cautiously.

He had not taken many steps before the entrance rumbled shut behind him and vanished.

For a long time, he descended through pitch-black darkness, relying on a single flame.

The stairs stretched on without end.

It felt as if they led straight into the abyss. The thought made him dizzy, while a strange presence gradually wrapped around him.

Before long, a massive stone door appeared.

When Ise stood before it, the door opened on its own.

Beyond it lay a sealed chamber roughly ten meters across.

Ise stepped inside.

The door behind him closed.

‘This is where the real trial begins.’

What kind of trial would it be?

He did not know how many secret maps the owner of the Five-Element Life-Accelerating Art had left behind, but there could not have been many.

At the very least, the owner would not kill someone who had made it this far for no reason.

The trials could be dangerous, but they would be reasonable. That was what Ise expected.

After some time, Ise wiped away the sweat that had formed from tension.

Then he frowned.

He almost never sweated from nervousness.

‘The heat...’

The temperature inside the chamber was rising.

If a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was sweating, it was probably hot enough to boil water.

His guess proved correct.

Heat haze soon filled his vision, followed by flames rising within the chamber.

Setting fire to a sealed room.

That was nasty.

The temperature rose in an instant, high enough to burn everything to ash.

Ise immediately cast Jet Stream Art and began forcing back the flames with water.

Fire and water pushed against each other, filling the chamber with thick smoke.

After they clashed for some time, the flames gradually died down. Then water began flooding into the chamber instead.

He had no idea where the openings were that let in fire and poured out water.

Ise raised an Earth Wall in the shape of a cube and sealed himself inside.

Using divine sense, he confirmed that the water had filled the entire chamber, then deliberately made his breathing shallow.

He easily understood the intent behind the trial.

‘It is testing my mastery of Five Elements spells.’

It seemed the owner of this place had not wanted anyone to come here after having someone else break the seal on the secret map.

After burning and flooding came man-eating vines.

The vines multiplied as if they were using Clone Art. Ise ruthlessly cut them down with metal-element spells.

He melted away the metal closing in on him with fire, then used the wood-element art Vine-Root Bind to stop the surging earth and sand.

The first trial was over.

Having passed it with ease, Ise went through the open door to the second chamber.

There was nothing inside the second chamber.

Unlike the first, no trial began even after he waited for a long time.

Ise spread out his divine sense and carefully examined the interior.

Twisted letters and distorted images were carved into the ceiling, forming the five directions.

They were unusual intaglio engravings that could not be detected without divine sense.

‘They are underestimating me.’

He had expected the trials to be manageable, but was this not too easy?

The letters were curled and twisted, but judging from their patterns and strokes, they represented the eyes, tongue, mouth, nose, and ears.

In the immortal cultivation world, the eyes, tongue, mouth, nose, and ears corresponded to wood, fire, earth, metal, and water respectively.

It was almost introductory theory, something one did not even need to know. But would people seeking to defy heaven really not know even this much?

Ise simultaneously cast the spells corresponding to the elements represented by each letter and fired them at the ceiling.

The door opened, revealing the next chamber.

As Ise carefully stepped forward, he suddenly stopped.

A wounded black fox spirit beast was curled up inside.

The fox spotted Ise, let out a sharp hiss, and its fur stood on end.

Looking closer, he saw that it had six tails.

It was a Six-Tailed Black Fox.

Among fox spirit beasts, it was second only to the nine-tailed celestial fox in rarity. To independent cultivators of the Eastern Continent, it was considered a great fortuitous encounter.

Judging by the demon core's aura, it would have possessed strength equal to the Foundation Establishment Realm if it had been uninjured. Now, though, it was badly wounded.

‘Do I have to kill it?’

Any other cultivator would have rejoiced at such luck, but Ise only found it troubling.

Not hunting spirit beasts was the Great Exorcist Order's last remaining conviction.

At least that was something he wanted to uphold alongside the order.

‘...This is troublesome.’

Whether the Six-Tailed Black Fox understood his thoughts or not, it only continued growling fiercely.

After agonizing over it for a long time, Ise finally let his hand fall.

When he had first entered the immortal cultivation world, he believed that doing good was simply the right thing to do.

After experiencing countless things, though, his view of the Dao heart had changed.

The direction one walked was not what mattered. What mattered was how straight one walked.

A cultivator had to clearly choose the path they wished to follow and never stray from it.

That was the Dao heart a cultivator had to protect.

Ise had made upholding his teachers' teachings and the principles of the sect he belonged to his Dao heart.

His resolve had wavered once... no, twice, but even if it wavered, he would not lose his direction.

‘I don't know. Maybe I'll be given one more chance. If not... it would be a shame after coming this far, but I'll have to accept that this fortuitous encounter was not meant for me.’

Anyone who heard that decision would have called him insane.

Even as he offered the fox spirit beast a Regeneration Pellet, he could not stop wondering whether he was doing the right thing.

“I won't hurt you. Take this and recover.”

The fox spirit beast seemed to understand Ise's words and gradually lowered its hostility.

At last, Ise reached out, and the Regeneration Pellet flew into the fox spirit beast's mouth.

The fox swallowed it in one gulp and began glowing.

Then it swished its tails, spun around, and vanished.

The chamber door opened right afterward.

‘...?’

For a moment, Ise could not understand what had happened. Then his expression changed as if he had been struck on the head with a hammer.

The Five-Element Life-Accelerating Art.

Was the point that someone seeking to learn an art that accelerated life should choose to protect the life before them rather than harm it?

Only then did he understand the labyrinth owner's intention, and he let out a hollow laugh at the owner's mischief.

No matter who entered this place, every last one of them would have chosen to claim the spirit beast.

‘I think I get what you are trying to teach.’

Relieved, Ise headed toward the next trial ground.

Two flower beds stood there, holding spiritual herbs that had withered to the point of death.

Thinking back on the previous trial, this one must also mean for him to save the spiritual herbs.

Unlike the spirit beast, which only needed a Regeneration Pellet, reviving spiritual herbs was impossible without the relevant knowledge.

‘This is Midday Sunlight Herb.’

It was one of the ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pellet, a fairly valuable spiritual herb on the Eastern Continent.

Fortunately, while studying immortal cuisine, Ise had also learned about spiritual herbs. At a glance, he knew exactly what they needed.

‘The soil is contaminated, the rotten parts need to be cut away, the temperature is wrong, and there is not enough moisture. The herbs themselves have also lost much of their vitality.’

The order of treatment mattered, though.

The first page of the introductory manual on cultivating spiritual herbs stated that every step had to be followed in order, even when transplanting, if one wanted to care for them in the best possible condition.

First, he needed to make the spirit soil that would serve as the foundation.

The problem was the ingredients. Where was he supposed to find spirit beast dung right now...

As Ise considered the materials needed to make spirit soil, he snapped his fingers.

The most important ingredient was spirit beast dung.

Could he not simply make some on the spot?

Ise immediately took Bisang out of the Spirit Beast Carrier.

“Krrrk?”

“Do not eat that. The moment you do, I will turn you into a stir-fry.”

“Krrrk!”

Bisang flapped their wings after the chilling warning, smacking their beak hungrily.

Ise got straight to the point.

“You need to do your business here.”

“Krrrk?”

“A big one.”

“...Krrrk?”

“As much as possible.”

Bisang looked at Ise as if they would curse him if they knew how, but Ise only tilted his chin as though urging Bisang to hurry.

What could Bisang do? If the master said to shit, Bisang had to shit.

Besides, Ise did not know any curses either.

* * *

Ise mixed Bisang's dung, finely crushed Spiritual Stones, and Redwood Herb, which would nourish the soil, then kneaded it all with his hands.

Kneading spirit beast dung was not pleasant, but he had no choice. The manual said one had to put sincere effort into making spirit soil.

It was something Buchun did every day.

Newly understanding his fellow disciple's hardships, Ise completed the spirit soil for the flower bed.

Next, he used a metal-element spell to cut away the rotten parts of the spiritual herbs.

Even if the herbs were transplanted, any rotten portion left behind would contaminate the spiritual energy in the soil. They had to be removed before planting.

He then washed the herbs clean and transplanted them. Right away, he lightly cast Jet Stream Art to supply moisture, then used Fire-Release Art to raise the internal temperature to a suitable level.

Finally, he poured vitality into the herbs with Vital Wood Art, and they soon began to regain their fresh green color.

Once the spiritual herbs emitted spiritual essence and filled the chamber with spiritual energy, the door opened.

‘Then are the spiritual herbs mine?’

Ise glanced at them greedily, but they unfortunately disappeared where they stood.

‘Isn't it about time you showed yourself?’

Had he not passed quite a few trials already?

At this level of difficulty, ninety-nine out of a hundred people would have failed.

With that thought, he entered the next chamber.

A bust of an elderly figure stood before him. On the altar in front of it lay a cultivation manual and a door-handle-shaped spirit artifact.

It seemed all the trials had finally ended.

With a smile on his face, Ise stepped forward and stood before the bust.

Just as he reached for the cultivation manual, he pulled his hand back.

It felt as if the bust were watching him.

What was more, the pure spiritual energy flowing through the entire chamber in a fixed direction put him on edge.

His instincts screamed at him.

The trial was not over yet.

Footnotes:

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