WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 19: Essence-Absorbing Demon Valley (5)
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As he walked through the Heavenly Capital Realm, Ise carefully studied the information Cheongun had given him on the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
The layout of the headquarters' outer and inner cities, the location of Library Pavilion C, and a list of major demonic cultivators whose movements were known.
The strictness of the inspections at the gate leading from the outer city to the inner city, and even the valley's organizational structure.
Grateful for the detail, Ise absorbed every piece of information without overlooking a thing.
It would be the key to blending naturally into the den of demonic cultivators.
Rather than heading straight for Demon Valley City, the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley's territory, Ise made another round of the spirit artifact shops in the Heavenly Capital Realm.
He still had around thirty thousand Spiritual Stones left.
He intended to supplement what he needed for infiltration and stockpile cultivation resources in case the mission dragged on.
The Living-Spirit Cave Abode would take care of spiritual energy.
As for demonic qi... demonic cultivators walked the streets everywhere there, and he had heard that independent cultivators could kill each other in some districts without anyone caring.
Ironically, a place crawling with demonic cultivators was perfect for his own cultivation.
But when he considered the mission itself, uncertainty weighed more heavily on him.
Though he had not let the other two see it, how was he supposed to steal a cultivation manual from a Nascent Soul Realm demonic sect?
He began by reinforcing his equipment at the spirit artifact shops.
He sold the Qi Condensation Realm Spirit-Veiling Ring Ryu Seonghan had obtained for him and replaced it with a Foundation Establishment Realm Spirit-Veiling artifact.
Unless someone deliberately used a spirit-detecting artifact on him or he openly drew the suspicion of a Core Formation Realm great cultivator, his concealed realm should not be exposed in a passing encounter.
Just in case, he bought a Foundation Establishment Escape Talisman, a Disguise Talisman, and a Soul-Controlling Talisman, a talisman that brainwashed a target and temporarily controlled them.
The spirit artifact dealer only warned him that using it improperly could make him a wanted criminal. There was no sign they suspected him in particular.
He also visited spirit artifact shops and Talisman Halls throughout the Heavenly Capital Realm, purchasing talismans that seemed likely to come in useful.
For stealth and covert travel, he referred to the spells mainly used in the Shadow Agent section of the Demon Hunting and Spirit-Sending Art.
He also made sure to prepare plenty of feed and treats for Bisang, who would be unable to leave the Spirit Beast Carrier and Living-Spirit Cave Abode for some time.
Only after spending four days testing various items from the spirit artifact shops and checking his equipment again and again did Ise finally step beyond the Heavenly Capital Realm.
* * *
The Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley lay at the northernmost edge.
The region containing Biryuseong and Pungnyu City, which he had visited after first arriving in the Northern Continent, had been under the valley's control all along.
He retraced the route he had taken years ago.
He had traveled far south, settled in the Heavenly Capital Realm, searched for the final volume of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art, and now returned north, where he had first arrived.
The more he thought about it, the stranger fate seemed.
A biting cold he had nearly forgotten returned, along with cutting winds, blizzards, and snowfields.
Ise took the Cold-Repelling Shoulder Guards from his storage pouch and put them on. Then he placed Bisang, startled by the Frozen Lands' cold for the first time, into the Spirit Beast Carrier.
“You won't be able to fly around much for a while. If you get bored, think of it as hibernation and get plenty of sleep.”
Demon Valley City, which he reached after flying without rest, felt unfamiliar from its outer walls alone.
Massive dark gray walls, more than twenty feet thick, surrounded it on every side.
Since arriving in the Northern Continent, Ise had never seen a proper city wall before.
This was not some crude Earth Wall built merely to mark a territory. Like the walls of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms, it was a solid stone fortification built as though for war, with a metal-aspect warding formation laid over it.
There was no gate.
Instead, a five-foot-wide wooden bridge stretched diagonally from the ground to the top of the wall, serving as a makeshift passage.
‘That's a demonic cultivator's idea of a welcome.’
Ise looked at the things hanging from every section of the wall.
The severed heads and bodies of demonic cultivators dangled from ropes below the walls.
Their crimes had been written in blood across their torsos.
Ise was about to guide the Dream-Saving Cloud over the wall when he suddenly stopped.
To his surprise, guards stood atop the wall.
Ise immediately changed his face with the Disguise Talisman.
Two demonic cultivators stood on the wooden bridge as though guarding the entrance, while pairs of others patrolled the walls.
One of the guards who noticed Ise's flying spirit artifact waved the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley's flag.
It apparently meant he was to dismount and enter on foot.
When Ise approached on foot, the two guards turned their eyes toward him.
Cultivators who practiced orthodox methods could not enter Demon Valley City at all, while demonic cultivators who had mastered demonic arts could enter and leave freely.
Still, though the city was not managed with complete rigor, every demonic cultivator who entered or left was recorded.
“State your affiliation.”
A disciple of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley addressed Ise in a manner that hovered ambiguously between courtesy and rudeness.
Ise gave the answer he had prepared.
“I'm a wandering cultivator. I came here to put an end to my long life of wandering.”
“Is that so? Welcome. Have you mastered a Heart Art?”
A Heart Art.
Once someone learned demonic arts or fell to corruption, heart demons came for them regularly.
Heart demons came in many forms, including the urge to kill, rape, assault, or drink blood.
Even a demonic cultivator who looked perfectly normal could suddenly fall to a heart demon and rip off someone's arm to drink their blood.
A Heart Art was a type of demonic art used to control heart demons, and it was one reason demonic sects could exist at all.
The most common kinds removed heart demons by offering other people as sacrifices.
Of course, Ise had not learned one.
His constitution prevented him from falling to corruption even if he learned demonic arts.
“No.”
At Ise's answer, the guard gave a sinister grin and added mockingly, “You're a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator, but you haven't learned a Heart Art? Heh. I can tell you've been living however your dick pleased.”
The two snickered and began chatting among themselves.
If they had not been the lackeys of the demonic sect he needed to infiltrate, he would have cut off their hands and feet for that disrespect.
Just as expected of demonic cultivators, their mouths were foul and their way of speaking utterly cheap.
Ise watched without emotion as the two filled every sentence with filthy curses, crude slang, and comparisons to genitalia.
He had never encountered such low behavior in orthodox cultivation sects, where people put on a respectable front even while doing foul things behind the scenes.
From now on, he decided to mentally filter out the worst of it.
“How long do you plan to keep me standing here?”
“Ah, sorry about that. It's been a while since we've seen such a scholarly senior wandering cultivator.”
“If I cut off the hands and feet of an Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley guard, how serious a crime would that be?”
When their attitude remained unchanged, Ise made a threat that was not quite a threat.
Only then did the two demonic cultivators realize they had offended a senior and begin cautiously watching his expression.
An ordinary wandering cultivator could not touch a disciple of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley, but the senior before them might eventually enter the main sect.
“...If you found us disrespectful, we apologize. Everyone here has lived rough lives, so you can expect the atmosphere inside to be much the same. What is your name?”
“Honse.”
The guard wrote down his alias and appearance on a wooden slip, then jerked their chin toward the demonic cultivator beside them.
“Hey, give him an access token.”
Ise received a copper-colored token engraved with the words “Districts Four and Five Access Token.”
“Flying arts and flying spirit artifacts are prohibited inside Demon Valley City. It's fucking annoying, but put up with it.”
Ise nodded and glanced through the city.
Its end was nowhere in sight.
He had heard it was about half the size of the Heavenly Capital Realm.
Rather than a city of demonic cultivators, it looked more like a well-organized military camp.
The power required to enclose such an enormous area in city walls was certainly impressive. More surprising still, there were another four walls inside.
Demon Valley City was divided by five layers of walls, with entry restrictions for each type of demonic cultivator.
District One was for inner disciples of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley only.
District Two was for outer disciples, mortals, and independent cultivators who worked with the valley.
District Three was for independent cultivators and wandering cultivators who had mastered Heart Arts, as well as ordinary mortals.
District Four was for all other demonic cultivators.
District Five was an extralegal district where demonic cultivators driven out of District Four gathered.
The moment Ise entered District Five, his divine sense caught countless demonic cultivators.
There were almost no mortals on the streets. It was full of demonic cultivators.
The only mortals were those kept almost like prisoners inside buildings.
The reason was simple.
All unowned mortals lived within District Three.
In other words, Districts Four and Five were inhabited only by independent cultivators and their slaves.
Mortals lived in District Three, while independent cultivators lived in Districts Four and Five.
This was probably the only place where cultivators were treated worse than mortals.
As Ise slowly walked down from the wooden bridge, demonic cultivators immediately crept toward him like hungry wild beasts.
The instant they sensed his demon core, though, they tucked their tails and backed away.
His demon core had the same form as a cultivator's Dharma-Flower Dantian.
No matter how deeply they had fallen to corruption or how many heart demons assailed them, demonic cultivators naturally restrained their anger before a senior a major realm above them.
Afraid they might get caught in the fallout, they fled in haste. Before long, no one remained near him.
‘It feels like I entered some secret realm.’
That was Ise's first impression of Demon Valley City.
He decided to find somewhere to stay first, then figure out how to infiltrate without drawing attention, and began walking.
Yet a problem arose before even a day had passed.
There were no inns.
District Five was the outermost circle, so it covered an enormous area.
Still, no matter how thoroughly he searched, he could not find a single decent inn.
Ise spread his divine sense to its fullest range.
He discovered one demonic cultivator hunting another as though slaughtering them, then quickly approached before the killer could flee.
Noticing the approach of a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator, the other demonic cultivator abandoned their mangled prey and immediately started running.
Ise spoke, filling his voice with demonic qi.
“Don't run. Come here.”
The demonic cultivator stopped at once, turned, and ran back.
Their eyes rolled wildly as they sweated profusely and stammered.
“D-Did you call for me, Senior...?”
“I need a place to stay. Where should I go?”
“A place to stay? In District Five? Why don't you go farther inside...?”
“Just answer the question.”
“Y-You can just enter any place, kill whoever's inside, and claim it. Shut up! This person is a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator! Do you want to die? Learn when you should and shouldn't butt in, you bastard!”
“...”
Seeing the demonic cultivator continue a profanity-filled conversation with themself as though their mind had split apart, Ise rubbed his forehead.
His head throbbed.
How had someone like this survived until now?
They seemed to be in the middle stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, but they were in such a precarious state that it would not be strange for them to meet a sudden violent death at any moment.
“So there are no inns?”
“Y-Yes!”
Then they began punching their own face.
Ise experienced firsthand the power of a major realm that could suppress even a heart demon, then waved the demonic cultivator away.
At least one thing was clear. District Five was not a place fit for people to live.
Ise decided to move into District Four instead.
Footnotes:
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