WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 21: Core Formation Preparations (3)
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After saying goodbye to Haeil, Ise returned to his residence.
He set up the Living-Spirit Cave Abode in his cultivation chamber and released Bisang.
“You can wander around freely here. Just don't go west or leave the Great Exorcist Order's territory. There's a place called Spirit Beast Grove to the south, where the spirit beasts gather. You should take a look sometime.”
Bisang now had a new home where it could settle down.
If Ise simply released it into Spirit Beast Grove, it would probably be overwhelmed. He intended to let it adjust first, then allow it to decide for itself what it wanted to do.
He had no intention of forcing Bisang to follow him around, nor did he feel the need to separate from it.
This, too, was a fated bond. Ise meant to give it a choice.
After watching Bisang circle freely through the sky above headquarters with a satisfied smile, Ise closed his eyes and extended his divine sense.
He recalled the contents of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art once more.
This time, he focused on the section about breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.
The Core Formation breakthrough process was divided into three stages.
First, one performed a rite to seek Heaven's permission to form a Golden Core.
Once the rite began, the cultivator shattered the Dharma-Flower Dantian and demon core, combining all the internal qi in the body to create primordial qi.
Then, once the soul and primordial qi were gathered and the Golden Core began to form, the heavenly tribulation would finally begin.
All one had to do was endure the heavenly tribulation while forming the Golden Core.
The process itself was not complicated.
Any cultivator who had reached the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm already possessed sufficient comprehension. In the end, the key was surviving the heavenly tribulation.
‘An extreme heavenly tribulation...’
Order Lord Haeil had said that the Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique always faced heavenly tribulation at maximum intensity, regardless of the karma one had accumulated.
According to the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art, it came in seven stages.
First came the Lightning Tribulation. Then came the Five Elements Tribulations, five in all. The final stage was the Soul Tribulation, when the soul ran wild.
「It is recommended that you consume no more than three medicinal pellets. Taking more than that will cause pill toxin to interfere with the breakthrough process.」
「Prepare a Tribulation-Failure Preservation Pellet, a Golden Core Spirit-Sealing Pellet, and a Tribulation-Soothing Pellet.」
「If you intend to attempt the breakthrough with the resolve to succeed in a single try without a Tribulation-Failure Preservation Pellet, a Lightning-Tribulation-Reducing Pellet is recommended to lessen the Lightning Tribulation.」
「Prepare for the Five Elements Tribulations with spirit artifacts and talismans.」
A long list of recommended spirit artifacts and talismans followed.
The Tribulation-Failure Preservation Pellet was a medicinal pellet that protected the Dharma-Flower Dantian, body, and soul if the breakthrough failed.
The Golden Core Spirit-Sealing Pellet concealed the soul from the tribulation, even if only slightly, reducing the strength of the Soul Tribulation.
The Tribulation-Soothing Pellet weakened the heavenly tribulation as a whole.
All three were precious medicinal pellets, difficult both to make and acquire.
The same went for the spirit artifacts and talismans.
Some were Foundation Establishment sacred relics, while the talismans had to be among the finest Foundation Establishment-grade items.
He even had to pile Spiritual Stones on the altar during the rite. One Core Formation breakthrough ritual looked capable of draining his entire fortune.
His head began to throb, so he summoned Buchun with a Message Talisman.
A short while later, Buchun entered after offering a respectful bow.
“You called for me, Senior?”
“You said you joined a merchant association, right?”
“Yes. I've established connections with everyone doing business in the Great Exorcist Order's territory.”
“Then find out which things on this list can be acquired, which can't, and what can be substituted. Get price estimates too.”
Buchun looked over the list Ise handed over. Buchun was briefly startled, but after realizing it contained the items needed for a Core Formation breakthrough, nodded.
“Yes. Should I quickly sell the spirit artifacts you've given me and secure more Spiritual Stones?”
“No. Sell them for their proper value. We can use the Spiritual Stones we already have for now.”
Ise possessed nearly five hundred thousand Spiritual Stones.
Three hundred thousand from the Ghost Lord Ancestor, one hundred thousand from the Yun Clan, fifty thousand received as a deposit after entrusting the captured spirit artifacts to Dine and Go, and another fifty thousand granted by the Great Exorcist Order as mission rewards.
It was an enormous amount of resources, but every item needed for the Core Formation breakthrough was precious.
If he failed to sell even a Qi Condensation Realm spirit artifact for its proper value, he might find himself short on funds and forced to earn more.
“Understood, Senior. Dine and Go will support you with everything we have.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Buchun withdrew with a determined expression.
“I'll contact you again.”
Having reliable people at his side was comfortable and reassuring.
‘It's a shame Buchun has no talent. I'd like us to stay together for a long time if possible.’
If he could, Ise wanted to support Buchun at least until the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Of course, that was only what he wanted. There was no way to make it happen.
Immortal cultivation was a path one had to walk alone.
He could not give false hope to someone who had given up cultivation after failing to cross a minor realm boundary for twenty years.
The best arrangement Ise could make was to become a dependable backer, allowing Buchun to live the rest of his life in comfort and peace.
‘Focus on my own affairs.’
Ise read and reread the passages concerning deficiencies of the soul.
The explanation was long-winded, but it could be summarized simply.
Core Formation was the process of refining the three treasures, essence, qi, and spirit, then condensing them into a Golden Core.
Qi referred to primordial qi.
Spirit referred to divine sense.
Essence referred to the soul.
The soul was the purest and most refined origin that made up a person.
Yet every person had deficiencies within it and was therefore incomplete.
The process of filling the soul's deficiencies meant supplementing those imperfections and maintaining the soul in the purest state possible.
‘What does that even mean?’
A pure state could not mean the mindset of absolute goodness.
If it did, there would be no demonic cultivators in the Core Formation Realm.
Deficiencies, incompleteness, and supplementation.
He carefully studied the secret manual and added his own hypotheses and thoughts.
He considered them, built arguments, and organized them, but reached no brilliant conclusion.
Among his several theories, one seemed the most plausible.
Perhaps a deficiency of the soul was something he fundamentally lacked, such as feelings toward blood relatives or the experience of maternal and paternal love.
Feelings toward things he had lost could also serve as examples.
‘In any case, essence is the root of the vitality that makes me who I am. So the answer must be found within.’
That only made things feel more hopeless.
How could he fill something he had never possessed from birth?
‘I need help.’
It was time to seek the wisdom of those who had walked this path before him.
After much consideration, Ise decided to visit the great cultivators.
* * *
“I'm too busy with official matters to give private lessons. Go seek out the other Hall Masters.”
Chief Master Kang I-tae used his official duties as an excuse to refuse.
“Hong Mi-hee is the best with theory. Go see her.”
Order Lord Haeil had been seized by wanderlust and vanished somewhere, so he passed Ise off to Hall Master Hong Mi-hee.
After twenty years of using him as they pleased, neither great cultivator was willing to cooperate. The disrespectful thought, ‘What petty bastards,’ crossed Ise's mind, but he corrected himself and went to find Hall Master Hong Mi-hee.
Fortunately, she did not turn him away.
After Ise organized and explained his thoughts, then asked for her opinion, she nodded.
“A deficiency of the soul. Your thinking isn't entirely wrong. Put simply, it is a place that hurts when touched. A decisive vulnerability capable of seizing your Dao heart and shaking it.”
“The idea is simple. Why did they explain it in such a complicated way?”
“Because finding the deficiency is simple, but filling it isn't.”
“......”
“Let's say that lacking your birth family is your soul's deficiency, as you suggested. How would you fill it? What if they are dead? Would you perform a soul-summoning rite, call forth their souls, and place them in combat puppets?”
“Is that possible?”
“Do you think it is?”
“......”
Ise fell silent.
“Still, each person's soul recovers differently, and some deficiencies can be filled in new ways. If family is your vulnerability, try making a new family. Take a Dao companion and have children.”
“Is it really that easy to make a family...?”
“Oh my, have you never dated anyone?”
“No.”
“Oh dear.”
Hong Mi-hee gently waved her fan and laughed as though she pitied him.
“This is why cultivators are a problem. Cultivating the Dao makes their desires fade, so they take the five desires and seven emotions too lightly.”
A refreshing breeze flowed from her fan and brushed past Ise's long hair.
“Forcing yourself to make a family would only cause worse side effects. Forget my earlier suggestion. Your case isn't especially rare, but take this chance to ease up on cultivation and experience the mortal world. Deficiencies can also arise from ignorance.”
“Yes. I'll remember that.”
Ise lowered his head and withdrew.
The next person he visited was Hall Master Woo Yu-hui.
She tilted her head from side to side as though uncertain, then explained.
“My deficiency was emotion. I injured my head when I was young and couldn't feel emotions.”
“How did you overcome it?”
“They said the Soul Tribulation would be weaker if I lacked emotions, so it was actually a good thing.”
That was the end of Hall Master Woo's advice.
It was not particularly helpful.
He had sought wisdom from two people, but he still felt lost.
Of the remaining great cultivators, Hall Master Banho had once been a spirit beast, so there was little point in asking him.
That left only Ahsan, Hall Master of White Tiger Hall, and Haewol, Hall Master of Vine Serpent Hall.
He had never met either of them.
In any case, this was a major sect that held up one pillar of the continent, yet it had only seven great cultivators at the Core Formation Realm or above.
Its strength did not even compare to the Heavenly Ice Palace, the Tyrant Sword Sect, or the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
How was this sect even holding on?
It was a reasonable question for Ise to have.
After thinking it over, he decided to visit Hall Master Ahsan first.
Hall Master Haewol was said to be Haeil's younger sister, and Ise had the uneasy feeling that Haewol might possess Haeil's personality with only longer hair.
Once granted an audience, Ise bowed in greeting.
“So you're the much-talked-about rising Daoist star. Nice to meet you. I am Ahsan, Hall Master of White Tiger Hall.”
Ise's first impression of Ahsan was that she was a very ordinary female cultivator.
Her dark brown hair was neatly tied up, and her bearing was calm and elegant.
She seemed more suited to being a noble family's young lady than a cultivator.
It was hard to believe she was the giant who had held back the border region with White Tiger Hall alone during the previous war against the Zheng Empire.
Yet she had faced the enemy's waves head-on and defeated countless Core Formation Realm great cultivators.
As befitted someone with such worthy accomplishments, her presence was unmistakable despite her gentle appearance.
“Thank you for granting me an audience.”
“You refused my offer to recruit you, yet now you have the nerve to come asking for help. That surprised me enough to allow it.”
“......”
“I'm joking.”
Ahsan delivered the joke with a completely expressionless face, making Ise feel cold sweat run down his back.
“Hong Mi-hee's opinion has merit. A lack of familial love is one of the greatest problems that can leave a hole in the soul. But there is no guarantee that marrying and having children will solve it. If you are incapable of feeling paternal love, the problem will become even more complicated.”
“Is that so?”
“Why not try finding your birth parents?”
Ise considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
“There are no clues at all.”
Neither of the families that had raised him had any survivors, and the only clue he possessed was an enemy who could not live beneath the same sky as him.
Finding them would be harder than finding a needle in a grain of sand.
“What do you think of simply enduring it?”
“The Soul Tribulation is on an entirely different level from something like a heart demon tribulation.”
A heart demon tribulation dug into one memory and tormented the cultivator.
A Soul Tribulation tore apart fragments formed throughout a cultivator's entire life.
“If things go badly, your soul will burst, leaving only an empty shell behind. Of course, it differs from person to person. There are many people for whom the Soul Tribulation never comes at all.”
“I see.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, no one can give a clear definition of how to prepare for the Soul Tribulation. You begin the breakthrough ritual once you judge that you are ready. If that judgment is wrong, you die.”
That, Ahsan added, was why one absolutely needed a Tribulation-Failure Preservation Pellet.
“Most Core Formation breakthrough failures fall into one of three cases. You may have accumulated more karma than you can bear and die to the Lightning Tribulation, be insufficiently prepared, or mistake the Soul Tribulation for something as mild as a heart demon tribulation and charge in recklessly.”
“Ah...”
“So do not carelessly push through because of some pathetic pride that says one chance is enough. Make sure to prepare a Tribulation-Failure Preservation Pellet. Once you fail, you will learn what deficiency lies in your soul.”
Ahsan explained that if one lacked certainty, it was not a bad idea to bash one's head against the problem once.
Surprised by the unexpected advice, Ise asked.
“Did the Hall Masters also fail several times?”
“Other than Woo Yu-hui, none succeeded in a single attempt. That child was a peculiar case. She was struck by the Soul Tribulation, felt emotion, and recovered some of a human heart. There is little point in taking her as a reference. While being struck by the Lightning Tribulation, she opened a cultivation manual, saying it was a chance to learn a thunder art.”
“......”
“The world called her a genius, but the Hall Masters called her a lunatic. Ah, but not anymore. She is rather lovable now.”
“Is that possible?”
“You should be asking whether someone can survive after doing that. Another lunatic has appeared.”
Ahsan sighed as she looked at her junior, whose eyes shone like those of a madman.
“Strictly speaking, it was possible. She wet herself a little, though. Don't say you heard that from me. She'll kill you and silence you.”
“...Yes.”
“There is a thunder Dao cultivation method in Library Pavilion 8 that lets you learn several spells even without a lightning spiritual root, provided the environment supports it. If you ever decide you've had enough of living, refer to it.”
That was the end of Ahsan's advice.
Her way of speaking, which did not circle around the matter but struck directly at the heart of it, left an impression on Ise.
He bowed deeply with genuine gratitude.
“This has helped me greatly.”
“Good. One thousand.”
The moment Ise realized Ahsan was his kind of person, he immediately held out one thousand Spiritual Stones.
“You're easy to talk to. Let's get along well from now on.”
“Yes, Hall Master. Please guide me well.”
Ise offered another respectful bow and left White Tiger Hall.
A path through the fog that had seemed so hopeless now felt faintly visible.
‘...It won't be easy.’
Still, if someone asked whether anything had truly changed compared to before he met the Hall Masters, the honest answer was no.
Footnotes:
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