WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 21: Core Formation Preparations (2)
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After looking over his companions' realms, Ise let out a sigh.
Buchun was still at the fourth star of the Qi Condensation Realm, while Park Gangseo remained at the seventh.
They were stuck at the first and second minor realm boundaries, respectively.
Seolryeong had reached Great Completion in the Qi Condensation Realm and only needed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Pi Garam and Hong Wonseo had already succeeded in doing so.
Of them all, Buchun still seemed far from reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.
A lack of comprehension.
Other problems could be solved, but not that one.
Not even a fortuitous encounter could cross the wall in someone's place.
What surprised him was Seolryeong.
Her aptitude was fairly good, so he had not expected her to still be unable to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm.
“Hong Wonseo is one thing, but even Pi Garam, a three-spiritual-root bearer, has reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Why haven't you...?”
Seolryeong answered Ise's question in a small, hesitant voice.
“I just need to attempt the breakthrough now, okay? I was only hesitating because there's a heart demon I'm worried about...”
“You're tiny, but you've got quite the mouth. If you keep advancing this slowly, I won't be able to let you treat me as an equal.”
“...”
Seolryeong looked utterly defeated.
It was exactly the expression Bisang wore whenever someone stole a snack.
“If you won't allow it, I suppose there's nothing I can do...”
Hong Wonseo, who had been sipping tea, cut in.
“There is another way that doesn't require worrying about forms of address.”
“There's a way without all that seniority?”
“You could become Dao companions. Usually, only people with unusual tastes call their Dao companion senior.”
So that was what she meant.
Ise snorted and waved a hand.
“Friends shouldn't make such terrifying jokes. Oh, right. There's someone I want to introduce.”
Ise took Bisang from the Spirit Beast Carrier and introduced the bird to his companions.
“This is Bisang. Buchun and Park Gangseo, call Bisang Senior.”
Bisang's wings spread wide as Bisang strutted with great dignity.
Park Gangseo gave a hollow laugh at the sight.
“Bisang really does take after the master's personality...”
Park Gangseo asked what had happened in the Northern Continent, but Ise only said that a lot had happened.
There had been too many exhausting events to explain one by one.
A brief silence fell.
“More importantly, Senior Ise. You're back after a long time. Isn't there anything else you're curious about?”
“How's the current situation?”
“There haven't been any major changes.”
Park Gangseo carefully explained the international situation.
While the Great Exorcist Order and the Zheng Empire worked to stabilize the aftermath of the war, the New Martial Sect and Cheoryang Thunder Gate had settled in Tabaro.
Still, thanks to Ise's rampage through the area, demonic cultivators rarely appeared outside Gwisu Temple and continued to operate from the shadows.
Those damned New Martial Sect bastards had brought Zheng Empire sects into the country, to the point that no one could tell whether the place was Tabaro or the Zheng Empire.
“They're nothing but traitors to their country.”
“Nothing's really changed. You'd think something would happen after twenty-one years.”
“Ah! Something did happen. Cheoryang Thunder Gate made a move on Halla Gwitak once, but the Order Lord personally drove them back. I heard he regretted missing the perfect chance to capture Bi Hyeongrang, Ten Thousand Demons in Turmoil.”
Ise's expression darkened for an instant before he regained his composure.
Halla Gwitak. They must have been targeting Senior Gong Wol-a.
Fortunately, the Great Exorcist Order had not turned a blind eye to the danger its former allies faced this time.
Perhaps the relationship between humans and dokkaebi had improved somewhat because of that incident.
“They're now devoting all their strength to breaking Gwisu Temple's warding barrier. It looks like bringing down Cheoryang Thunder Gate is their highest priority.”
“Of course it should be.”
If demonic cultivators were holding blades to their throats and they simply watched, they would be no better than fools.
If not for the dokkaebi people's divine artifact, those bastards would have been wiped out long ago.
“What is Hae Unchan doing? That bastard has gone too far. How has he not shown his face even once? My Message Talismans won't even reach him. Is he in closed-door cultivation again?”
A heavy silence abruptly filled the room.
Caught off guard by the reaction, Ise furrowed his brow.
“Why? Did something happen?”
No one answered his next question either.
They only avoided each other's eyes.
“You won't be seeing him for a while.”
Pi Garam was the one who finally spoke.
It sounded as though Hae Unchan had set out on a long journey, yet Pi Garam's expression was dark as well.
Something had clearly happened.
Ise considered pressing for answers, but stopped himself.
There had to be a reason they were not telling him.
He did not want to ruin the mood by forcing a heavy conversation right now.
As Ise resolved to look into it separately, Buchun held out a document.
“Oh, Senior Ise. This is for you.”
“What is it?”
With Buchun's usual smile, Buchun lightened the mood and pointed to the writing.
“It is the ownership deed for the Dine and Go shop and this building. This building is in your name, Senior.”
“Mine? Why?”
“Because these results were achieved with the resources you left behind. We aren't cultivators shameless enough to only accept what we're given. I'll continue handling the actual work, but you're the owner, Senior. If you have the time, I'll report on our earnings, assets, and operations so far. And if you ever want to take any of the stored resources, you're welcome to do so.”
It seemed Buchun had given up on the great Dao of longevity and chosen the path of a merchant.
That was Buchun's choice.
Ise nodded.
Under the document Buchun offered was an account book.
A considerable flow of Spiritual Stones was recorded within.
The amounts coming in and out were substantial. Their monthly profit alone came to several thousand stones at minimum.
Still, seeing Buchun's proud expression, Ise thought there would probably be an uproar if Buchun learned that he possessed hundreds of thousands of Spiritual Stones and countless spirit artifacts.
Yet Ise had no intention of dampening the spirits of someone working so hard.
Even one more Spiritual Stone was good, and the desire to repay the debt was admirable.
After catching up for a while, Ise sent everyone away except Seolryeong.
Seolryeong looked at him in confusion as Ise emptied every spirit artifact in his storage pouch before her at once.
“W-Wait.”
Seolryeong stared in disbelief as spirit artifacts continued pouring out without end.
“What is all this?”
“Mission spoils. Appraise them for me.”
“All of them? Right now?”
“Yeah. Are you busy?”
“No, it's not that, but...”
“Please. I won't ask you to do it for free.”
It looked as though appraising everything would keep her awake all night.
Seolryeong let out a long breath, then agreed.
At first, she appraised the spirit artifacts with interest. Before long, her eyes began filling with shock.
There were Foundation Establishment sacred relics, and even Core Formation artifacts.
“This is a Qi Condensation treasure artifact used for throwing. It attacks the target, then automatically returns to its owner.”
Ise set it aside on the left.
Items to sell went on the left, while items to keep went on the right.
“This is a Foundation Establishment sacred relic that lets you speak with a dead person's soul for a short time... How do you have demonic cultivators' belongings?”
Ise placed that one on the right with an interested expression.
“And this... this is an incredibly precious item.”
Ise's eyes lit up at Seolryeong's words.
It had come from Ghost Lord Ancestor's storage pouch.
“It is a Core Formation treasure artifact called the Contract-Severing Sword.”
“A Core Formation treasure artifact...?”
“Core Formation treasure artifacts are extremely rare. This sword cuts contracts and soul-binding restraints between souls, making the contract disappear.”
Ise examined it from every angle, looking as though he might drool.
A sword that could cut soul-binding contracts.
This treasure artifact had limitless potential.
“Will you appraise cultivation manuals too?”
“No. I can look through those myself.”
Seolryeong set aside the cultivation manual that had come from Ghost Lord Ancestor's storage pouch.
It was the Ghost-Metal Art, the demonic art Ghost Lord Ancestor had used to gather the souls of the dead, temporarily form a Golden Core, and slowly restore a shattered Golden Core.
Ise had no desire to learn it, but he intended to keep it for now.
It was a demonic art that could not be allowed into the world.
Seolryeong muttered with a tired expression.
“You have more rare treasures than most spirit-artifact merchants...”
“That's good. The more goods Dine and Go has to sell, the better.”
“You should keep all the Core Formation spirit artifacts. The Foundation Establishment sacred relics too. What in the world happened to you in the Northern Continent?”
“A lot happened.”
“...You must have suffered.”
“Oh, this is yours.”
Once Seolryeong had spent the entire night sorting everything, Ise handed her the storage pouch that had belonged to Wang Gyu, the combat-puppet master.
“There is a combat-puppet cultivation manual and various materials inside. I thought they'd be useful, so I set them aside.”
“...”
After checking the contents of the storage pouch, Seolryeong was momentarily at a loss for words.
These were the possessions of a Foundation Establishment combat-puppet master.
For Seolryeong, it could become a great fortuitous encounter.
Seeing tears well in Seolryeong's eyes, Ise chuckled.
“Are you crying?”
“No!”
Seolryeong quickly changed her expression and added.
“I haven't neglected my cultivation. I was just delayed because I focused on training my crafting arts. I'm only in the Qi Condensation Realm, but I'm better than most mid-stage Foundation Establishment spirit-artifact artisans. Hall Master Hong Mi-hee personally tested me.”
“Is that so? That's impressive.”
He knew. For artisans, the realm of their craft mattered more than their own cultivation realm.
Of course, a Qi Condensation spirit-artifact artisan who could not wield divine sense had clear limits.
“Just wait. I'll make the spirit artifact you'll use when you overcome your heavenly tribulation.”
Ise answered that bold ambition with a smile.
“You'll give it to me for free, right? That combat-puppet manual and those materials weren't easy to obtain.”
“Of course. I'll make something worth more than what I received.”
After offering Seolryeong some words of encouragement and telling her to be careful when breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, Ise put away his things and left.
* * *
Ise sent a Message Talisman to Halla Gwitak to let them know he had returned, then spent several days resting properly in his residence for the first time in a long while.
He could not remember how long it had been since he had rested comfortably without worry or vigilance.
After enjoying sweet, deep sleep, he received a summons from Order Lord Haeil and headed to Black Tortoise Plateau.
In the meantime, he heard that Seolryeong had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
It seemed her claim that she only needed to make the attempt had not been a lie.
The Order Lord was lounging in his usual posture, letting time flow by.
“I greet the Order Lord.”
“Ah, you're here. Come in.”
“Will you continue staying here? Isn't there an Order Lord's residence at headquarters?”
“If I stay there, that bastard I-tae will keep trying to put me to work. It's bothersome.”
Haeil answered calmly.
For a while, it had seemed as though he was diligently fulfilling the role of Order Lord, but apparently his wanderlust had returned.
Offering a silent prayer for the Chief Master, Ise took the three volumes of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art from his Cosmos Pouch.
Haeil sat upright and said, “You open them.”
“Order Lord, you should open them first. What if they are the kind that automatically imprint themselves onto divine sense?”
“That's why I'm telling you to open them. They might be useless to me.”
At Haeil's insistence, Ise made a show of yielding and opened the cultivation manual.
The contents flooded into his divine sense like a torrent.
Thankfully, even after he absorbed it, the manual's contents remained intact.
When Ise handed it over, Haeil sent divine sense into it and slowly read through the contents.
As Ise organized the manual's contents in his mind, Haeil crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
Up through the Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment Realms, it was not greatly different from the Demon Extermination and Spirit Subjugation Method. Still, it explained in detail the harmony of yin and yang Haeil had taught him.
Then came the Core Formation Realm and Nascent Soul Realm, all the way through the Spirit Transformation Realm and ascension.
It recorded detailed information that would serve as a guidepost for Ise's future path.
As Ise carefully read through it, one line in the middle made him freeze.
- The heavenly tribulation of the Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique consists of seven stages.
Cultivators were everywhere, whining over how hard it was to overcome even one heavenly tribulation, and he had to face seven stages.
What kind of unfair nonsense was this...?
A sense of injustice surged through him.
After calming himself and looking back through the contents, Ise watched Haeil for a moment.
From the Core Formation Realm onward, the manual's contents were practically exclusive to the Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique.
It might offer some help, but he did not know whether it contained what Haeil wanted.
A short while later, Haeil opened his eyes.
“You've done well.”
His expression was unreadable, but he seemed disappointed.
“If you need a breakthrough guardian when you break through to the Core Formation Realm, you may ask me.”
A breakthrough guardian during a heavenly tribulation was originally needed to stop high-ranking cultivators who tried to kick away the ladders of those climbing up from below.
If Haeil helped him, there could be nothing better.
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ise needed to find medicinal pellets that could somewhat ease a heavenly tribulation, remedy the deficiencies of his soul, and prepare spirit artifacts and spells for it.
Those were the things he needed to prepare from now on.
‘A deficiency of the soul...’
Even after broadly reviewing the contents of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art manual, he could not easily grasp what it meant.
He would need to return to his residence and study that part carefully.
“When you reach the Core Formation Realm, I will make plans to recover Tabaro's territory.”
“Might you be overestimating me?”
“It is an estimate of your combat strength based on my memories of the previous Great Exorcist Order Lord. Still, it does not matter if you fall short of my expectations. In that case, I intend to wait until Woo Yu-hui reaches the Nascent Soul Realm. She's working hard too.”
“...Is that so?”
Ise slowly nodded.
He had not realized it because a great cultivator's realm was impossible to measure, but it appeared Hall Master Woo Yu-hui was already looking toward the Nascent Soul Realm.
He had heard that she was not even one hundred and fifty years old. She truly was an extraordinary person.
Footnotes:
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