WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 18: Lesser Defeat Sword Cheongun (4)

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“What are you doing? Let go!”

The cultivators coldly shook off the woman’s hands as she crawled forward and clutched at their trouser legs.

“Tch, are you drunk on spirit wine in broad daylight? What kind of nonsense are you spouting...?”

“Please, listen to me! Please!”

Even her desperate cries did nothing. The Heavenly Ice Palace disciples shook out their robes as if they had touched something filthy, then quickly walked away.

The woman remained on her knees for a long while, staring blankly ahead.

Ise slowly approached her.

“Could you tell me more about that?”

The woman slowly raised her head.

Her face, revealed amid the dirt and dust, was utterly bloodless. Her cheeks had sunken in, as though she had gone days without eating.

Her gaze quickly swept over Ise’s appearance. He wore a white robe of unknown affiliation, not the Daoist robe of the Heavenly Ice Palace.

Then her spirit sight saw Ise’s Dharma-Flower Dantian, and her expression changed in shock.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Normally, it would have been unthinkable for her to even speak to someone at that realm without permission.

“...Are you a cultivator of the Heavenly Ice Palace?”

Ise quietly shook his head.

The faint hope that had appeared on her face slowly faded.

“Then I’m sorry, but please leave. There’s nothing left to take from me. I won’t be deceived again.”

Her voice bristled with thorns.

She must have suffered greatly.

That was likely why she dared to speak this way despite the difference in their realms.

Someone with nothing left to lose had nothing left to fear.

Instead of trying to soothe the wary woman, Ise sent Ryu Seonghan a Message Talisman and summoned him.

At the message ordering him to come to the main gate immediately, Ryu Seonghan hurried over two hours later.

When a Heavenly Ice Palace cultivator appeared, the woman’s head snapped up.

“Gasp! Senior, what is this about?”

- I think this person is another survivor who suffered at the hands of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.

Sparks flashed in Ryu Seonghan’s eyes at Ise’s Voice-Transmission Art. Ise immediately added,

- Don’t mention what happened to you. We can’t be sure.

Ryu Seonghan nodded. Ise used a Soundproofing Talisman to block out the surrounding noise before speaking.

“This friend is a Heavenly Ice Palace cultivator. I heard something I couldn’t ignore, so I asked Ryu Seonghan to come. Explain.”

“Th-thank you...”

After repeatedly bowing her head in gratitude, the woman slowly began her explanation.

“This humble Daoist is Shin Yeoran of the Shin Clan in Hwaeum City.”

What followed was a story they knew all too well.

She was the Shin Clan patriarch’s only daughter. Like most provincial cities, Hwaeum City had known peaceful days.

Then, without any declaration of war, a nearby Foundation Establishment city attacked them.

As defeat became inevitable, the patriarch abandoned the battle and fled, determined to save at least his daughter.

With his final words, he told her, “This is a spirit artifact of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley. They must be involved.” Then he used the city’s sole Foundation Establishment talisman, an Escape Talisman, to send her flying beyond the city walls.

After enduring every hardship imaginable, she had somehow survived and barely reached this place.

She had come to report the truth behind her clan’s massacre to the Heavenly Ice Palace, the ruler of the Northern Continent.

After hearing everything, Ise asked her a question.

“Do you still have that spirit artifact?”

“...No. It was taken from me.”

Ise was not disappointed. A single spirit artifact would not serve as evidence anyway.

“Don’t keep doing this here. Go back. If word reaches the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley that you’re doing this, they’ll kill you.”

Shin Yeoran’s eyes widened as though they would burst. She had not expected anyone to believe her, even as she spoke.

Ise gave her the name of an inn near his residence and told her to stay there.

Shin Yeoran’s face quickly darkened.

“I’m sorry, but... I have nothing left. I was deceived by a cultivator who said they would introduce me to a Heavenly Ice Palace cultivator...”

Ise tilted his chin, and Ryu Seonghan sighed as he placed Spiritual Stones in her hand.

After Shin Yeoran bowed and left, Ryu Seonghan asked Ise, “It matches exactly what I went through. What do you think? Will it help?”

“Who knows? Your testimony as a Heavenly Ice Palace cultivator would carry more weight if there’s another witness, but would that be enough to damage a force that serves as the Heavenly Ice Palace’s left hand? I doubt it.”

“I see...”

“Still, there’s no harm in keeping her safe. Protect her for now.”

“Yes.”

It did not feel like a good sign that he kept getting tangled up with the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.

It felt as though something kept guiding him in a certain direction.

Ise sank into thought before changing the subject.

“By the way, when is the Spell Duel Tournament?”

“Fifteen days from now. The Heavenly Capital Realm will probably be so lively you’ll hear it even while cultivating. They’re setting up the dueling platform in the open field behind that market town.”

“I should go watch.”

“I’ll come get you that day.”

“Thanks. But it’s called a Spell Duel Tournament. Can a sword cultivator who doesn’t even use spells participate?”

“Well, it’s a duel between cultivators, so that’s why it has that name... I’ve never thought about it before.”

Ise shrugged as though it did not matter much.

“Anyway, see you then. Take care of Shin Yeoran.”

“Yes.”

* * *

For fifteen days, Ise diligently farmed while practicing the Five-Element Life-Accelerating Art.

The garden in the Living-Spirit Cave Abode held Ten-Year Herbs, spirit rice, Ice Jade Herbs, and Snow Ginseng.

Ten-Year Herbs and Ice Jade Herbs were said to be the most basic spiritual herbs used in Northern Continent pill refining.

Snow Ginseng took as long as ten thousand years to grow. Its value varied wildly, from Ten-Year Snow Ginseng to Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.

‘How much would this be worth if I raised it into Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng?’

Ten thousand years was a number that felt painfully unreal.

Still, if he reached Great Completion and invested only a hundred years, he could turn it into Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.

‘Why not give it a try?’

Even if he sold everything else, Ise vowed to keep this one for the future.

He downed a bowl of spirit wine as a laborer’s drink, then looked over the densely planted spiritual herbs with a satisfied expression.

There was nothing quite as rewarding as working hard and sweating.

Of course, that was figurative.

He hardly ever shed a drop of sweat.

‘If I hadn’t entered the world of immortal cultivation, I might have lived like this, farming.’

If he had survived without becoming entangled with the Snail-Headed Scholar or Bi Hyeongrang, and had been raised by another village farmer, this might have been his daily life.

That would not have been so bad.

“Senior. It’s Ryu Seonghan. Let’s go.”

Ryu Seonghan’s voice came from outside the Living-Spirit Cave Abode.

Following his lead, Ise headed to the Spell Duel Tournament grounds.

The open field at the edge of the Heavenly Capital Realm was already packed so tightly that there was barely room to stand.

A warding barrier that absorbed stray attacks surrounded the dueling platform, while tournament-officiating cultivators in Heavenly Ice Palace robes took their positions around it.

“It’s been a while since I’ve experienced an atmosphere like this.”

“It’s packed to bursting.”

They managed to find a place, but there were so many people that the crowd obstructed their view.

If the dueling platform had not been higher than the spectator stands, most people would have struggled to see anything.

Of course, Ise could simply use divine sense, so it did not inconvenience him.

“How many participants are there?”

“Eight.”

“That’s not many.”

“There’s an age limit. The only requirement is that they must be under fifty, but if they can’t reach the Foundation Establishment Realm by then, they aren’t qualified to be called rising Daoist stars.”

Considering that even Ise, with his special constitution, had struggled to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm in his mid-twenties, it was far from an easy standard.

‘Eight people like that.’

The Northern Continent certainly had no shortage of talent.

The duels proceeded one after another in a knockout format.

The first match. The second. The third.

Ise watched with interest.

Their level seemed similar to that of the Great Exorcist Order’s Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. In other words, they were clearly stronger than ordinary Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Still, the cultivation methods they practiced differed greatly, and the spells displayed within the same Foundation Establishment Realm were far more varied.

Two participants stood out in particular.

One was Neungbyeok of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.

He wore a blue-gray Daoist robe and carried a heavy black saber. His spells hunted down opponents as though devouring them, ruthlessly draining away their vitality.

It was an art that lived up to the name Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.

Ryu Seonghan pressed his lips together as he watched.

A cultivator from the same sect as those who had destroyed his clan. Swallowing that anger could not have been easy.

The other was a man in a bluish robe, carrying only a light longsword.

Cheongun of the Tyrant Sword Sect.

The corner of Ise’s mouth slowly rose.

It was a face he had not seen in a long time.

The field narrowed quickly.

Six of the eight participants were eliminated in turn, and as everyone expected, Neungbyeok and Cheongun reached the final.

The two faced each other on the dueling platform.

Neungbyeok raised his black saber at an angle and twisted his lips into a smile.

“Lesser Defeated Sword Cheongun. I think I may accidentally kill you today.”

“How bloodthirsty.”

Cheongun answered indifferently, resting a hand on his scabbard.

At first, they seemed to be doing nothing more than facing one another.

Then blood suddenly sprayed from Neungbyeok’s body. In the next instant, Cheongun’s sword was already drawn.

Even Ise doubted his own eyes for a moment.

‘When did he cut him?’

It was an impossibly fast sword strike, one that even his divine sense had missed.

Neungbyeok had apparently prepared for the Tyrant Sword Sect’s swordsmanship, because he did not simply stand there and take it.

Every time his black saber swept through the air, blue-black demonic qi stretched toward Cheongun like thick smoke.

It was a type of demonic arts that drained the vitality from everything it touched.

Most of the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators before him had been unable to respond, helplessly falling victim to those strange demonic arts.

But Cheongun’s swordsmanship was even more profound.

Sword strikes invisible even to divine sense crushed his opponent.

Much like when Ise had first seen primordial qi, the energy contained within the sword was difficult to sense.

Cheongun looked as though he were standing almost completely still as he swung his sword, yet every one of Neungbyeok’s attacks scattered against a faint veil of light at the sword tip just before striking him.

It was as though Cheongun already knew his opponent’s next move.

Only someone who could predict actions an instant ahead and place sword radiance there in advance could display such swordsmanship.

‘This is another realm entirely.’

Ise was genuinely impressed. This was power of a different kind from anything he had faced until now.

The match did not last long.

Neungbyeok gripped his black saber with both hands and thrust out his final strike.

Blue-black demonic qi exploded along the saber blade.

At the instant that blow was about to strike Cheongun’s chest, Cheongun’s sword drew a short arc that was almost invisible.

In the next moment, Neungbyeok’s black saber split cleanly in two at its center.

“Lesser Defeated Sword Cheongun really is something. I knew sword cultivators were strong, but he feels impossibly far beyond us.”

“Yeah. He’s strong.”

“Are you going to go see him?”

“Yeah. I just want to say hello.”

“You do know him, right? It would be embarrassing if you went all that way and he acted like he didn’t know you.”

“Then there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“To be honest, I still can’t believe you beat him.”

When Ise raised his hatchet, Ryu Seonghan hurriedly covered his head.

After leaving the dueling platform, Cheongun headed toward the area where the Tyrant Sword Sect’s sword cultivators were staying.

Seven or eight Tyrant Sword Sect sword cultivators surrounded him like guards.

Cultivators from other sects kept gathering, hoping to become acquainted with Cheongun or at least exchange a brief greeting.

The guarding sword cultivators’ expressions clearly conveyed one sentiment: “Annoying flies.”

As Ise parted the crowd and headed toward them, two sword cultivators immediately blocked his path.

“I’m sorry, Senior. Eldest Senior Brother is tired at the moment.”

“I came from far away just to see his face. Don’t be so stingy.”

Before Ise had even finished speaking, Cheongun, who had been sitting farther inside, turned to look in his direction.

His divine sense had apparently discovered Ise.

Cheongun’s expression changed in an instant, revealing clear delight.

“Oh, you?”

“It’s been a while.”

“Everyone, step aside.”

It seemed Ise was not the only one who remembered the other distinctly.

Footnotes:

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