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Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 22: Hae Unchan (1)
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“That’s impossible. With his talent, there’s no way he could have failed to reach Foundation Establishment.”
Naturally, many cultivators failed to reach Foundation Establishment.
But that only applied to ordinary people.
The idea that someone as gifted as Hae Unchan, one of the Great Exorcist Order’s most promising talents, had failed was absurd, even as a joke.
“That’s what everyone thought. We worried about his gentle, soft-hearted nature, but we thought his talent would more than make up for it.”
Pi Garam let out a deep sigh.
“To be exact, it wasn’t a failure. He just couldn’t overcome the heart demon tribulation and fell into corruption... becoming a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator.”
Ise frowned deeply.
Pi Garam explained that it had happened not long after Ise crossed over to the Northern Continent.
Hae Unchan had made thorough preparations before attempting his breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
But during the process, he failed to overcome his heart demon, fell into corruption, and became tainted by demonic qi.
He had been left with two choices.
He could report the situation to the Great Exorcist Order, accept the Root-Severing, Meridian-Cutting Art, and live the rest of his life as a mortal.
Or he could flee beyond the headquarters formation before demonic qi completely consumed his body.
Hae Unchan chose the latter.
Even someone as upright as him had been unable to make the right choice while falling prey to a heart demon.
The Great Exorcist Order immediately sent a pursuit team to prevent its secret cultivation methods from leaking out.
Their orders were to persuade him, if possible, and bring him back.
But the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Great Exorcist Order who went after him were killed instead, their bodies returned to the order.
No longer merely expressionless, Ise now looked visibly angry as he asked, “Where is he now?”
Pi Garam had calmly explained everything so far, but even he could not help hesitating at this point.
Ise’s impatient gaze fell on him.
“Cheoryang Thunder Gate.”
“...”
“Order Lord Haeil was furious. He personally issued a special wanted notice, and Hae Unchan’s portrait sketch has been spread throughout the Three Peninsula Kingdoms.”
At a generous stretch, Ise could understand Hae Unchan failing to reach Foundation Establishment.
After all, Hae Unchan had been under constant pressure to advance his realm, and people around him had continuously cast concerned looks his way because of his inferiority complex toward Ise.
Still, succumbing to a heart demon should not have corrupted his fundamental character.
It was impossible to believe that he had killed the Great Exorcist Order’s pursuit team and joined Cheoryang Thunder Gate, the order’s sworn enemy.
Anger could wait.
First, he needed to confirm the truth.
Ise had to meet Hae Unchan himself.
* * *
Setting aside his tangled thoughts, Ise headed for Library Pavilion 8.
He intended to buy a copy of the thunder Dao cultivation method White Tiger Hall Master Ahsan had told him about, the Rootless Thunder Art.
It contained spells that generated lightning across the body or a weapon, along with spells that called down lightning on distant locations.
If possible, he intended to train with a heavenly tribulation as his lightning spiritual ground, though he had no intention of forcing the issue.
‘Is learning thunder arts worth wetting myself once...?’
Ise shook his head. His dignity was not that cheap.
After returning from his travels, he began cultivating the Dokkaebi Shadow-Hunting Demonic Art and several spells that had yet to reach the tenth star, working toward a balance of yin and yang.
He already possessed enough internal qi for a Core Formation breakthrough. For the time being, he focused on filling the gaps in his soul and keeping his mind calm.
A few days later, Buchun sent him seeds for several spiritual herbs, including Hau Herb.
‘Buchun knows exactly what I need. What a clever one.’
It was Buchun’s way of telling him to cultivate other useful spiritual herbs while he was growing Hau Herb.
All of them became more valuable and effective with age.
Ise happily planted them in one corner of the Living-Spirit Cave Abode and used the Life-Accelerating Art.
The Great Exorcist Order was searching for a way to deal with the Wood Tribulation, the only tribulation for which he had no answer.
Fortunately, before long, a message from Seolryeong arrived. Hong Mi-hee had found a solution, and if Ise acquired the materials, she would forge a spirit artifact for him.
In return, he had agreed to hand over one root of Full-Moon Thousand-Year Herb.
‘The problem is that these materials won’t be easy to get either.’
The two main materials for the Regeneration Iron Fan were both difficult to find on the market.
Still, Order Lord Haeil’s thoughtless message, “If you look for them, you’ll find them,” somehow put him at ease.
Another season passed. An unexpected downpour fell, followed by blazing sunlight, and then a summons arrived from Hall Master Woo Yu-hui.
- Winged Dragon Hall.
As usual, it was a short message that did not explain its purpose.
When Ise arrived, Woo Yu-hui held out a wooden tablet.
It contained a map of the Southern Sea islands and information on a high-level demon named Gwisusan.
“Is this a mission?”
“More precisely, it’s my mission.”
A Core Formation Realm demon had appeared among the Archipelago near the Southern Sea of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms and was steadily drawing closer.
“Ah... then why did you call for me?”
“To guide me. I can’t read maps.”
“I see. Then I’ll prepare.”
Ise accepted without complaint.
For a Core Formation Realm great cultivator, using a Foundation Establishment cultivator as a guide was not particularly strange.
But Woo Yu-hui’s next words immediately made him rethink that.
“Anbimok Wood, what you’re looking for, grows on Gwisusan’s back.”
Anbimok Wood. It was one of the two main materials needed to make the Regeneration Iron Fan.
The famous divine artifact of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms, Manpasikjeok, had also been made from Anbimok Wood.
Even if she called it her mission, the Hall Master was ultimately setting out for the sake of his Core Formation breakthrough.
“Are you personally going because of me?”
“Getting yours is incidental. I’m going hunting for myself too.”
Ise had heard that she was also pushing herself to break through into the Nascent Soul Realm, so it was not a lie.
Even so, choosing Gwisusan as her target had surely been a decision made for him.
“I see. Thank you for looking out for me.”
Ise lowered his head in thanks.
After quickly preparing and memorizing the precise location, Ise climbed onto Dream-Saving Cloud.
Woo Yu-hui lightly leaped into the air and followed behind him with a flight art.
The two headed south together.
Woo Yu-hui was not very talkative.
She rarely spoke first, and even when someone spoke to her, she usually answered in short replies.
It was not uncomfortable.
Ise also did not speak unless she asked him something first, so they flew quietly in silence.
They were passing along the coast when Ise spotted a place where heaven-and-earth spiritual energy churned chaotically.
Great Exorcist Order cultivators had set up camp nearby and were guarding it.
Ise turned slightly toward Woo Yu-hui and asked, “What is that?”
“A secret realm rift. A secret realm will open soon. Within thirty years.”
“I see.”
There was the Dark Heaven Secret Realm, the trial secret realm he had heard about while he was in the Northern Continent, and now this one.
This would already be the third secret realm to open.
‘They open more often than I thought.’
With that in mind, Ise asked another question.
“What kind of secret realm is this one?”
“Minor planet type. No realm restrictions.”
No restrictions.
That meant all cultivators, from the Qi Condensation Realm to the Spirit Transformation Realm, could enter.
“It won’t be easy to enter, then.”
He had heard that secret realms without realm restrictions could open rifts across a wider range, allowing even Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators from other Three Thousand Worlds to enter.
There were no Spirit Transformation Realm immortals in the Benevolence Realm where they lived.
He had heard there was one Nascent Soul Realm cultivator nearing a breakthrough on each continent, but that was all.
“Senior Haeil must be desperate to enter.”
Someone who was using every possible means to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm would surely be itching to go in.
But Haeil would not be allowed to enter. Everyone would stop him.
If the leader and pillar of the Great Exorcist Order entered a secret realm and died a miserable death, it would be a catastrophe.
No matter how impatient he was, he would not do something that reckless.
“May I ask one more thing?”
“Sure.”
Since the silence had already been broken, Ise asked something he had long wondered about.
“Why do you wear that half-mask?”
There were no wounds or scars on her face, and she did not seem particularly flustered if it came off.
Besides, it could not simply be for decoration. She was not the sort of person who even wore a common hairpin.
“It’s nothing.”
Woo Yu-hui explained without much emotion.
“When I was an entry disciple, one of my peers died during a group mission.”
The circumstances were ordinary enough. The ending was not.
“I didn’t know what expression to make, so I stayed still. Later, someone asked why I had been smiling back then.”
“...”
“Everyone was scared of me, so I got used to covering my face.”
Ise did not know what to say to comfort her, so he chose silence instead.
How long had they been flying?
Soon, demonic qi so powerful that it made his body tingle began pressing against him from all directions.
‘Late Core Formation Realm, perhaps at its peak. This will be a fierce fight.’
Woo Yu-hui put her half-mask into her storage pouch and tightened her robes in preparation for battle.
“Don’t interfere.”
“Yes.”
She was the youngest among the Hall Masters by age, but in terms of strength, she was effectively second only to one person.
She possessed a single metal spiritual root and the Heavenly Root Physique, just like Hae Unchan.
This was Ise’s first chance to witness the strength of Hall Master Woo Yu-hui, whose power was renowned throughout the Great Exorcist Order.
Two enormous waves of divine sense collided.
Perhaps both sides agreed that they wanted a fight, because an island began approaching from afar.
Gwisusan.
The demon whose name meant Turtle-Head Mountain was, in truth, simply a turtle.
It was just so enormous that it looked like an island floating on the sea.
Spiritual herbs and spirit trees that had grown by feeding on its demonic qi covered the mountain-like shell on its back.
Chrrrr.
As Gwisusan raised its body, the island lifted into the air.
Its four legs resembled enormous sea stacks.
Countless demons poured out from the mountain so vast Ise wondered whether anyone could even kill it.
Woo Yu-hui carried no weapon as she advanced to face it.
Without so much as a gesture, she simply walked forward, and metal-aspect spells filled with primordial qi swept away the surrounding demons in an instant.
Countless golden blades formed in the air. Whenever Woo Yu-hui took a step through the sky, they rained down.
With every step, groups of demons were cut down like autumn leaves.
She did not look as though she was straining herself at all.
She simply walked on without concern, as if she were taking a stroll.
At each step, demon corpses sank beneath the sea.
Her strength was dizzying.
Ghost Lord Ancestor, who had been in the early Core Formation Realm, now seemed no more than a child at play.
They were both in the Core Formation Realm, yet the gap between them was this vast. A chill ran down Ise’s spine.
Whenever the turtle demon moved, the mountain on its shell swayed. When it stepped forward, seawater surged into the air.
Woo Yu-hui raised a hand for the first time.
A long golden blade, easily ten li in length, formed in the sky.
The Golden Blade flew straight at Gwisusan’s head, but the turtle demon opened its mouth, bit down, and shattered it.
Then the turtle’s maw opened again.
A black radiance gathered amid the countless spikes deep within its cavernous mouth.
Hummmmm!
Threatening primordial qi compressed together as though it would fire at any moment.
Before it could erupt, Woo Yu-hui relentlessly slashed at Gwisusan’s neck, intent on severing its head somehow, but the torn flesh rapidly regenerated.
‘Danger...’
Ise immediately rose into the air. Otherwise, he might be caught in the battle as well.
Kwang!
A black beam, as dazzling as sunlight, burst from Gwisusan’s open jaws.
The seawater along its path completely evaporated, exposing the seabed for an instant as white steam soared into the sky.
Ise’s eyes hurriedly searched for Hall Master Woo Yu-hui.
Nothing remained where the beam had passed.
‘Her aura is intact.’
She had clearly escaped in that instant.
Ise’s divine sense found Woo Yu-hui behind Gwisusan.
The lower half of her body had been completely blown away. She had not managed to avoid the attack in time.
Ise flinched, but Woo Yu-hui calmly restored her lower body.
As she removed the robe that had been half destroyed along with her lower body and changed into a new one, Ise hurriedly withdrew his divine sense and turned his head away.
- Sorry, but I don’t think I can deal with all the small fry.
- Yes. Leave them to me.
Ise waved his hand and cast Wind Blade.
The blades scattered through the air toward the demons swarming around Woo Yu-hui.
As his spell spread to cover her, Foundation Establishment-level demons immediately rushed toward him.
At the same time, another clash shook the sea.
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