WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 24: Great Exorcist Order's Utter Scoundrel (6)
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As an island began to appear in the distance, Ise slowly descended.
This was the beginning of the Archipelago.
As if welcoming his arrival, a Qi Condensation Realm demon beast swam lazily through the coastal waters.
Hummm.
The metal blade Ise had made formed a harpoon-like point.
At a gesture from him, the blade struck the water in an instant, then rose back up with the demon beast impaled on it.
The enormous fish demon beast gasped for breath on the harpoon, large enough to call a real catch.
If he intended to do business diligently from now on, he needed to gather ingredients whenever he could.
After storing the corpse in the Demon-Sealing Talisman Book, he landed on the shore.
‘Let's see.’
He wanted to let out his subordinates, who might be restless after such a long flight, but there was no suitable place to set up the Secret-Realm Key.
The Living-Spirit Cave Abode was excellent in every way, but as a Nascent Soul Realm talisman treasure whose personal secret realm door only opened when attached to a door or wall, it was subtly inconvenient in an empty wilderness. One had to create a space first.
He rose into the air and headed toward the mountains beyond the beach. There, in what looked like the ruins of a temple, he found a broken outhouse.
Using an earth spell, he made a rectangular space, then attached a broken plank to one side as a makeshift door.
He placed the Secret-Realm Key on that plank and let out the companions he had brought in the Living-Spirit Cave Abode one by one.
The Azure Dragon Hall members emerged and stretched their stiff bodies.
“Wow. It's hot.”
The heat struck Buchun the instant they stepped out of the cave abode, and they fanned themself with one hand as they spoke.
It was hot enough for Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators to notice.
For low-realm cultivators, little different from ordinary people, it was practically a furnace.
Before long, Buchun was drenched in sweat, looking enviously at the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.
“How strange. The leaves look just like fans.”
Seolryeong repeatedly marveled at the vegetation spread all around the Archipelago.
An unfamiliar environment, unfamiliar plants, even unfamiliar birds.
The sight truly made them feel that they had crossed an ocean.
“Is this a deserted island?”
“Probably not. The island is bigger than I expected.”
Ise answered Shin Hyeon's question.
Then, seeing how unable his subordinates were to hide their excitement, he warned them.
“Don't let your guard down. It's good to broaden your horizons, but this is still the cultivation world. If you relax, trouble will follow.”
“Yes.”
The Hall members immediately reined in their excitement and spread their divine senses, examining the surroundings.
He did not want to admit it, but trouble and accidents seemed to follow him wherever he went.
The Great Exorcist Order had been engulfed in the ravages of war as soon as he entered it. When he crossed into the Northern Continent, a war had broken out that destroyed the sect which had ruled that land for centuries.
According to Seolryeong, he was fated to bring chaos wherever he went.
It was a curse that nearly made him say something harsh, but he could not exactly refute it.
For his own sake, he should abandon any expectation that he could quietly obtain his life-bound treasure artifact in the Archipelago and leave without incident.
‘...Then again, the cultivation world is never peaceful to begin with.’
With so many bizarre people gathered in one place, peace was frightening in its own way.
In any case, he could not allow them to relax and sag like deflated leather bags.
The group flew farther into the island.
They passed several small homes and mortals gazing up at them in wonder. Deeper in, they came upon a fairly large city.
“Split up and gather information. Finding Ilgwang Island is the top priority. Information about the Archipelago comes second. Buchun, you're weak, so stay with Bisang. If anything happens, send an empty Message Talisman.”
After sending his subordinates off, Ise headed toward a nearby street as well.
For an island on the edge of the Archipelago, it was rather densely populated.
Most were mortals, though cultivators occasionally appeared among them.
‘...Their clothes are certainly airy.’
Mortals and cultivators were easy to distinguish at a glance.
The mortals wore clothing so open they were nearly half naked.
Young and old, male and female alike, they exposed as much bare skin as possible to escape the heat.
No matter how hot it was, how could they dress so indecently?
As someone conservative, Ise could not understand it at all.
The cultivators at least wore loose Daoist robes, though even their clothing was extremely simple compared to the Eastern Continent.
As he walked slowly along, Ise entered a place surrounded by stone walls, much like the taverns in Halla.
Judging by the characters for liquor and food written outside, it was likely a tavern or inn.
Taverns were places where information flowed.
He intended to gather information while enjoying food from a foreign land for once.
“Welcome! You're a Daoist, aren't you? What would you like?”
“Bring me the best thing in the house. And a drink.”
“Yes!”
Before long, a dish of rice, fruit, and pork stir-fried together, along with clear grain liquor, was served atop a raised wooden platform.
The Turbid-Qi Cleansing Art unfolded from Ise's hand, brushing over the food and cleanly washing away the turbid qi within.
It was a new spell he had learned for precisely this moment.
Excited, he took a spoonful of food and tasted it.
Unfamiliar spices pricked at the tip of his tongue.
It was an exotic flavor unlike anything he had smelled on the continent.
And it was delicious.
Sweet, yet sour as well.
The spices in particular were strangely pungent and salty, making his appetite rise.
“Excellent.”
Ise praised it without reservation.
The server, who had been watching his reaction from the corner of their eye, grinned foolishly.
He was deeply enjoying the meal when suddenly, Rumble. The ground shook, then soon fell silent.
As if nothing had happened.
“An earthquake?”
It was not a spell. Then it had to be the phenomenon called an earthquake, something he had only read about in books.
Having experienced something difficult to encounter on the Eastern Continent, Ise looked at the server.
“Yes. What about the earthquake?”
“Does it happen often?”
“Of course...?”
Ise looked away from the server, who tilted their head as if they had heard a very strange question.
It seemed to be a common occurrence here.
He quickly finished one bowl, ordered several more, and ate them all. Then, wearing a satisfied expression, Ise called the server over.
“Come to think of it, I don't have any currency from around here.”
“Excuse me?”
The server's expression stiffened strangely.
They had thought he was merely a Daoist customer with a good appetite, but apparently he was a thief planning to dine without paying.
Still, they soon tucked away their gloomy expression, as if there was nothing to be done.
Their guest was a cultivator. If they offended him, they might lose their life.
“It's all right... I'm satisfied as long as you enjoyed the food...”
Before the misunderstanding could deepen, Ise added,
“I don't have local currency. Do you take silver?”
“Excuse me? Of course! Naturally!”
When Ise handed over a silver coin, the server weighed it and gave him change.
“I've never seen coins shaped like these before. Even people from other islands don't use them. And since you found an earthquake strange... Daoist, could you perhaps be...?”
“I came from another continent.”
“Really? I heard Daoists who cross over from other continents are incredibly frightening people...”
“That isn't wrong. By the way, where can I meet the island lord?”
“The island lord?”
“There must be someone who owns this island.”
“Hahaha! You're a funny one. This isn't a house. How could an island have an owner?”
At the server's burst of laughter, Ise tilted his head and asked again.
“Then what is the strongest sect or clan on this island?”
“Ah... You're looking for a Daoist sect! There isn't one here.”
“There isn't?”
“Yes. This island only has independent cultivators.”
It was unusual.
Heaven-and-earth spiritual energy was abundant enough that even a small sect ought to have settled here.
Ise simply assumed it was because this was a remote island on the frontier and did not think much more of it.
Just then, a Message Talisman arrived. It was from Buchun.
Yet it held no message.
An empty Message Talisman meant an emergency.
Ise sent a Message Talisman toward Buchun, then immediately rose into the air and followed its direction.
The server sat down hard amid the gust of wind, mouth hanging open.
* * *
In the alley where he arrived after following the Message Talisman, Buchun and Bisang were surrounded and under attack by a group of Qi Condensation Realm cultivators.
Flames spewing from Bisang's mouth burned through the middle of the market town, while Buchun desperately ran about.
The independent cultivators had split into two groups and surrounded his subordinates like hunters.
One group tried to draw Bisang's attention, while the other ran frantically after Buchun, trying to capture them.
All the independent cultivators were in the Qi Condensation Realm.
The strongest among them was around the eighth or ninth star.
Seeing the scene upon arrival, Ise frowned.
“Bisang. No matter how little combat experience you have, how can you fail to subdue mere Qi Condensation cultivators?”
“...I'm sorry, Father.”
Bisang immediately answered in a dejected voice.
They had tried their best to cast spells, but the humans simply would not get hit.
“Buchun, you're really pathetic. Try fighting properly. You're disgracing the Great Exorcist Order.”
“P-Please don't say that and help me, Hall Master!”
Watching Buchun cry out and tumble across the ground, Ise let out a sigh deep enough to sink the earth.
How had trouble broken out the very moment they arrived?
“Freeze.”
Even at Ise's command, the independent cultivators ignored him and continued hunting Buchun and Bisang.
He quietly released his spiritual essence and pressed it down upon them.
“I told you to stop.”
Chaos immediately followed.
“Argh!”
“What? Why is there a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator here?”
“There is no Dharma-Flower Dantian! He isn't Foundation Establishment, he's a great cultivator!”
“Damn it, why is a Core Formation Realm cultivator here?!”
“R-Run! Scatter!”
The panicked clamor battered his ears.
Pressed down by the spiritual pressure he had carefully restrained, the independent cultivators crouched and began scattering in every direction.
Their innocence in believing they could escape a Core Formation Realm great cultivator was almost adorable.
The Wind Blades Ise raised pursued the fleeing independent cultivators and severed both legs at once.
Around fifteen independent cultivators were dragged back after losing both legs.
Unable to even consider resisting, let alone fleeing, they were no different from small fish caught in a net.
“Who led this?”
The independent cultivators merely watched one another.
Ise approached the ninth-star cultivator among them, who had the highest realm, and crouched down.
“It was you.”
The cultivator, shaking as their eyes met his, lowered their head.
“P-Please spare me, Old Ancestor...”
“If you have eyes, you could see this one is a Foundation Establishment Realm spirit beast. Why did you attack?”
“I-I thought a Qi Condensation cultivator controlling a spirit beast would certainly have a spirit artifact for spirit beast taming... I believed that if we held them off and subdued that one, we could steal the artifact and take the spirit beast...”
The cultivator went pale and begged.
“P-Please spare me! I thought it was a great fortuitous encounter of a lifetime, and greed blinded me...”
He could understand to some degree. He had come to fully understand how harsh the lives of independent cultivators were in the Northern Continent.
But when one stole another's property, one had to be prepared to stake one's own life.
Still, killing all these green youths left an unpleasant aftertaste.
Since this was his first island, Ise decided to show mercy.
“The settlement is one hundred Spiritual Stones per person, and the treatment fee is fifty Spiritual Stones per person. Those who can pay, place your possessions before me.”
Ise restored the legs of those who paid one hundred and fifty Spiritual Stones, then released them. Those who paid only fifty had their spiritual roots destroyed, their legs reattached, and were sent away.
Those with fewer than fifty Spiritual Stones had to borrow from the others if necessary and gather the amount.
“Go.”
At Ise's permission, the independent cultivators scattered as though fleeing for their lives.
“Was it all right to let them go?”
“Why, should I have killed them all? You have a cruel streak beneath that appearance.”
“It isn't that, but... I was worried rumors might spread.”
“It's fine.”
“What do you mean, it's fine...?”
“It's fine if they spread rumors. Better, even.”
There were only three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators in the Southern Sea Archipelago.
He had heard that Haeil had already put each of them in their place once. In that case, they would not go out of their way to make enemies of the Great Exorcist Order's disciples.
In the Northern Continent, he had needed to infiltrate, and he had only been a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Now was different.
How many people in these seas could face him and win?
If someone sought a fight, he would not avoid it.
He would crush everything that stood in his way.
The stronger they were, the better. Having abundant resources would be even better.
Of course, he would not commit the misstep of endangering his subordinates or tarnishing the sect's name through actions that violated his Dao heart.
But at the very least, he would not skulk about like a rat. He would travel openly and with dignity.
That was the resolve with which he had crossed over.
“Hall Master...”
“What?”
“Were you perhaps oppressed in the Northern Continent? Your face is full of resentment.”
“You notice pointless things too quickly. It makes you less endearing.”
“Haha... Endearing? I will be sixty soon.”
“Do you think you're the only one getting older? Anyway, let's go to the next place.”
“...Excuse me? What do you mean?”
“Take Bisang and go around the island getting attacked. Spiritual Stones practically multiply themselves.”
“Hall Master, you mustn't say such a thing. Isn't that what marauder cultivators do?”
“Marauder cultivators? That's harsh. I'm clearly just collecting settlements. If they don't want to lose anything, they should not attack us. Did someone hold a blade to their throat and tell them to become marauder cultivators?”
“Even so, for a Daoist to encourage robbery...”
“This is why flowers raised in a greenhouse are soft. In the cultivation world, when you take what belongs to another, you should be prepared to surrender what is yours. Don't you know the saying that immortal cultivation is plunder?”
“No, what kind of absurd saying is that?”
“You're talking back now?”
Buchun shut their mouth.
Ise dismissed Buchun's protest with a single remark, then withdrew all his internal qi and divine sense, perfectly disguising himself as a mortal.
“Hall Master, even so, the dignity of a Core Formation Realm great cultivator...”
“I don't have any of that, you stuffy old Daoist. Let's go before more rumors spread and the customers stop coming.”
Better than dignity were Spiritual Stones, and better than Spiritual Stones were even more Spiritual Stones.
“From now on, I'm your servant. Come on, Master. Let's earn Spiritual Stones.”
“I was wrong, Hall Master... Please do not speak so formally to me...”
“The road is long, Master. We need to gather a million Spiritual Stones.”
“Hall Masterrr... If I get caught, I'll die...”
Buchun looked ready to cry, but Ise did not so much as pretend to listen.
Ise's strange conduct did not stop until a rumor spread throughout the island that some utter scoundrel of a great cultivator was roaming about disguised as a mortal and extorting settlement money.
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