WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 17: Abyssal Labyrinth (5)

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‘What is this?’

There were no other traces inside.

The only thing that bothered him was the enormous bust looking down at him with an arrogant expression.

After thinking for a long time, Ise finally concluded that the old eccentric who had created this labyrinth had a terribly peculiar temperament.

‘Is this telling me that if I want to learn the cultivation method, I should act like a disciple?’

He had nothing to lose.

Before the bust, Ise performed the rite of nine bows.

If someone passed down a cultivation method, they were a master. Even if he studied under them for only one day, he had to honor them as such.

The flowing spiritual energy vanished. The bust began to shine, and the lid of the case holding the items opened.

It seemed the objects that had been laid out before were fakes as well.

What an utterly eccentric old fool.

Ise grumbled toward his third master.

Of course, his hand was already reaching for the cultivation manual on reflex.

The first thing he saw upon opening the jade slip was the name of the cultivation method's creator.

It was covered with cloth, as though warning him not to uncover it carelessly. The creator must have considered the possibility of ascending to the Upper Realm.

Just in case, Ise did not check his master's name.

Below that was an explanation of the cultivation method, its formulae, and annotations, written in a somewhat difficult scrawl.

After reading through the general outline, he found that it was, in short, a cultivation method for rapidly growing spiritual herbs.

It did not simply speed up their growth. It was a superior cultivation method containing the principle of allowing spiritual herbs to accumulate the power of time.

A strange cultivation method that could grow a Full-Moon Ten-Year Herb into a Full-Moon Hundred-Year Herb or even a Full-Moon Thousand-Year Herb within a few years.

‘So that's why they created such strange trial grounds.’

In the end, the five trials had each been a question.

The first trial. Had he properly mastered the Five Elements spells? Was he truly a five-spiritual-root bearer?

The second trial. Had he truly reached the Foundation Establishment Realm?

The third trial. Did he possess a proper Dao heart that walked the righteous path?

The fourth trial. Did he have the aptitude to learn the cultivation method and grow spiritual herbs?

The fifth trial. Did he possess the heart and bearing of a disciple who showed proper respect to the person passing down the cultivation method?

The great cultivator who created this place must have been a righteous cultivator who walked the great path of orthodox immortal cultivation.

Still, Ise found it a little disappointing.

It was certainly a good cultivation method, but what he really needed was power.

A superior cultivation method that could protect him from great cultivators at the Core Formation Realm or Nascent Soul Realm, people who might threaten his life.

If he had gone through all those trials only to obtain a cultivation method for growing spiritual herbs, the result was a little underwhelming.

Was it worth twenty thousand Spiritual Stones? Honestly, he still could not tell. A skill was only a skill.

After deciding to examine the cultivation method more carefully later, Ise shifted his attention to the remaining reward, the door-handle-shaped spirit artifact.

There was a high chance that it was a Foundation Establishment sacred relic.

Judging by its shape, it did not seem intended for combat either. He poured spiritual energy into it.

Nothing happened.

Ise reopened the jade slip and looked through it for an explanation of the spirit artifact.

Fortunately, it was written at the very end.

「The accompanying item is a Nascent Soul Realm talisman treasure called the Secret-Realm Key, which contains the principle of a personal secret realm.」

「Fill it with non-elemental cultivation power and attach it to a door. Whenever that door is opened, you may enter the secret realm from anywhere.」

「The secret realm is ideal for use as a cave abode, spiritual garden, or storage space.」

“...A talisman treasure!”

Ise cried out before he could stop himself. He nearly fainted from shock.

A talisman treasure.

A talisman treasure was a spirit artifact in which great cultivators stored part of their own power so that cultivators of lower realms could wield it.

In other words, this talisman treasure contained the power of a Nascent Soul Realm great cultivator.

He had heard that they were rarely made because creating one reduced its maker's cultivation.

Usually, great cultivators only used such power when they were near death or for the sake of their family.

The heart of these trial grounds had not been the cultivation method. It had been this talisman treasure.

Goosebumps rose across Ise's back.

He silently clenched his fist and silently cheered.

It felt as though every hardship he had endured had been washed away in an instant.

He did not know what kind of towering figure the great cultivator who left behind this cultivation method had been, but anyone capable of making such a spirit artifact must have possessed genius-level talent and comprehension.

Creating cultivation methods, mechanism formations, growing spiritual herbs, and even artifact crafting.

There was nothing this person could not do. Calling them a grandmaster would not have been an exaggeration.

With respect in his heart, Ise bowed once more toward his nameless master before entering the secret realm.

His heart pounding, he attached the Secret-Realm Key to the door that seemed to lead outside and pulled it open.

A space glowing with a faint green light spread before him.

“Ah...”

A gasp of admiration escaped him, and his mouth fell slightly open.

It was a mysterious space.

Fine soil that rustled covered the floor, while the walls were made of stone thick with green moss.

There was clearly no light source, yet it was softly illuminated. Though it was an enclosed space, a refreshing scent tickled his nose.

It was about the same size as his residence at the Great Exorcist Order.

It did not feel especially spacious, but neither did it feel cramped.

It was the perfect size for cultivation.

Ise looked around the secret realm once, then turned his gaze toward the center.

At its heart sat a spirit artifact that looked like a miniature volcanic crater, with a cultivation platform beside it.

‘There isn't any spiritual energy here, though?’

The end of the secret manual had clearly said this was a good place for cultivation.

Recalling the explanation, Ise approached the small crater.

There was a hollow inside it, as though it was meant to hold something.

It was not hard to guess what belonged there.

Most spirit artifacts used Spiritual Stones as a power source.

Ise placed one mid-grade Spiritual Stone inside.

The Spiritual Stone in the crater began to glow, filling the space with external qi where spiritual energy and demonic qi mingled.

It was an astonishing amount of qi to come from a single mid-grade Spiritual Stone.

This was a mechanism that expanded the spiritual essence within Spiritual Stones and converted it into heaven-and-earth spiritual energy, creating a kind of blessed grotto.

Its primary purpose seemed to be creating an environment where spiritual herbs could safely grow.

As a byproduct, it also allowed him to cultivate anywhere and at any time using the spiritual energy it produced.

It was, quite literally, a mobile cave abode and a spiritual-herb garden.

The byproduct felt more valuable than the main purpose, but good was good.

Like someone who had stumbled upon a wild ginseng plant, Ise threw both arms into the air and cheered.

Of all the fortuitous encounters he had experienced, this was what he liked most. It was exactly what he needed.

If Jang Yeonggeol had found clues not only about the cultivation method while obtaining the secret map, but also about the talisman treasure that came with it... then this had truly been worth staking his entire life as a cultivator on.

While he was at it, Ise planned to transplant the spiritual herbs he had been keeping with their roots intact in the Spiritual Herb Pouch.

The Full-Moon Ten-Year Herb would benefit most from the secret realm's effects.

It was commonly called the Ten-Year Herb, an extremely common spiritual herb.

Once it absorbed spiritual energy for around ten years and bore fruit, it began to display its effects as a spiritual herb.

For the Full-Moon Ten-Year Herb, how many years it had accumulated mattered greatly, much like wild ginseng in the mortal world. Once it became a hundred-year herb, its value increased dozens of times, while a thousand-year herb was worth whatever price one named.

Ise immediately took Bisang out.

“Krrrk!”

Bisang looked around the unfamiliar place for a moment. Then, apparently taking a liking to the secret realm, Bisang flapped its wings and flew low through it.

Ise beckoned Bisang over.

Looking around the secret realm could wait. There was something more important to do.

A hunting hawk had to do a hunting hawk's job.

Ise stroked Bisang's feathers.

At the same time, he took a Snowfish from the Beacon Fire Album and handed it over.

Bisang began pecking at the Snowfish with its beak, as though it had been handed an unexpected feast.

Until now, Ise had mostly fed Bisang the parts he did not eat. To Bisang, this must have felt like a windfall.

“There's something you need to do. Something very important.”

After swallowing the entire fish, Bisang let out a loud burp of flame.

Ise spoke as Bisang bobbed its beak, clearly pleased.

“You're full, right?”

“Krrrk!”

“Then let's work. Poop. As much as you can.”

“...”

Bisang soon cried out in protest, but there was no other way.

What could it do? If it had eaten, it had to earn its keep.

Leaving the spirit beast struggling to produce fertilizer in one corner, Ise first transplanted a Ten-Year Herb into the spirit soil he had already made.

A spiritual-herb field was less space-efficient than expected.

If spiritual herbs were planted too close together, they would adversely affect one another.

He had to leave at least approximately twelve to fifteen meters of space in every direction between each spiritual herb.

The problem was that a bird spirit beast was not suitable for producing fertilizer.

There was a reason people compared things to mouse droppings and bird droppings. They were tiny.

It seemed he would have to procure spirit soil himself.

One of the spells included in the cultivation method, the earth-element Fertile-Soil Art, could replace spirit soil, but he had not even begun cultivating the method yet.

For now, Ise decided he would only grow one Ten-Year Herb as a trial until he had secured more spirit soil.

The moment it was transplanted, he sensed through his divine sense that the Ten-Year Herb had taken root beneath the spirit soil.

It was a mystical sight, as expected of a spiritual material.

After a brief period of adjustment, it began absorbing the nearby demonic qi.

Spiritual herbs were truly remarkable living things.

They absorbed demonic qi from nature, purified it into spiritual energy, stored some within themselves, and released some back into the world.

That was why spiritual herbs grew easily in places rich with external qi, and why a virtuous cycle occurred when a greater number of spiritual herbs made heaven-and-earth spiritual energy more abundant.

‘I'll grow spiritual herbs with Spiritual Stones, then earn Spiritual Stones again from the herbs I grow. And if I absorb the spiritual energy produced along the way...’

He could create an ecosystem that would let him cultivate without worry.

If he had the means, he could even grow ingredients for medicinal pellets or immortal cuisine.

This space itself did not seem to accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs.

It appeared to provide only the garden.

His gaze fell on the Five-Element Life-Accelerating Art.

The secret to growing spiritual herbs lay within it.

Ise stood up.

He had gained more than enough from this fortuitous encounter, and he had laid the foundation for cultivating in a foreign land.

All that remained was to wait for the seeds he had planted to sprout, then build the strength to harvest them when they did.

He wanted to begin cultivating right away, but if he did, another few years might slip by in an instant.

Ise named the secret realm the Living-Spirit Cave Abode, then left the Bottomless Labyrinth.

* * *

When he returned to his residence, he found a note left by Ryu Seonghan.

-The Heavenly Ice Palace's entrance examination will be held soon. I plan to apply through the special admissions selection for externally recruited disciples.

Ryu Seonghan was steadily working toward that goal.

It seemed Ryu Seonghan had also diligently eaten the immortal cuisine Ise had prepared, since the storage box was completely empty.

Before seriously entering cultivation, Ise organized the things he needed to prepare first.

He needed to buy a Meat Preservation Vault or cold stones that could store immortal cuisine for a long time.

He also needed to stock up on as much immortal cuisine as possible.

He needed to acquire enough spirit soil.

He needed to learn which kinds of spiritual herbs were commonly traded on the Northern Continent and obtain their seeds.

If possible, he also thought it would be good to make some acquaintances.

Once Ryu Seonghan entered the Heavenly Ice Palace, they would see each other less often. It would be useful to have someone who could provide news about the situation on the Northern Continent.

The problem was that Ise was not particularly sociable. He was actually somewhat shy around strangers.

He could barely remember a time when he had approached someone first instead of simply accepting people who came to him.

‘I heard the Heavenly Capital Realm has lots of immortal cultivation exchange gatherings. Maybe I should try attending one.’

For now, he only added it to the list of possibilities in his mind.

‘There's a lot to prepare... but should I cultivate for just a little while first? Even if it's only for a few days?’

At the moment, he craved cultivation more.

Ise opened the Living-Spirit Cave Abode, went inside, filled the crater with mid-grade Spiritual Stones, and began cultivating in earnest.

First, he planned to settle his muddled mind through meditation, then master the Five-Element Life-Accelerating Art to at least a basic level.

His mind sank into a deep abyss.

Footnotes:

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