WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 174
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At Hong Wonseo's words, the gathered crowd stirred uneasily.
It was a heartless argument, so cold that it was hard to believe it had come from a cultivator pursuing the righteous path.
Yet no one could readily refute it, because it was not entirely wrong. Hong Wonseo pressed that advantage.
“We came here to obtain the Hall Master's life-bound treasure artifact. So long as we achieve that goal, I don't think we need to take unnecessary risks.”
“Wait, Wonseo. A Daoist cannot ignore mortals in danger. If we lose our principles and only seek the easy path, we won't be able to escape a great heavenly tribulation.”
“Don't preach principles with honeyed words fit for entry disciples. Everyone knows a Dao heart isn't formed by pretending to be kind and acting like a hypocrite.”
“What? That was uncalled for!”
“It wasn't. It's not as though I told you not to act like a lovesick girl who can't say she likes someone but still wants them to understand. I'm merely saying we should consider what benefits us.”
“...You.”
Seolryeong trembled, rendered speechless. It was the reaction of someone whose sore spot had been struck.
“But the Hall Master's divination is one of great luck. There must be a way to save the mortals while also securing the benefits you speak of.”
“Wasn't Cultivator Seol the one who warned us not to rely on divinations?”
“That was...”
“Would you insist that we fight even if the approaching enemy is too strong for us to handle?”
As Seolryeong fumbled for words, Hong Wonseo fired off another question.
“Or do you think we should only show compassion when the situation is manageable?”
“The foundation of the Dao is to begin with what is within your power.”
“Why should we sacrifice ourselves to uphold principles that even the sects ruling this territory do not uphold?”
“That hasn't happened yet. Don't decide how to interpret the divination as you please. You can't even read heavenly omens.”
“...”
Perhaps deciding the atmosphere was growing too heated, Shin Hyeon finally intervened, massaging their aching forehead.
“Restrain yourselves. You stand before the Hall Master.”
Hong Wonseo immediately fell silent.
Seolryeong swallowed their emotions, face flushed bright red.
“I share Cultivator Hong's view, Hall Master. Considering the Hall's continued existence and our original purpose of obtaining the life-bound treasure artifact, it is only right to minimize the danger.”
“I believe Seolryeong makes a valid point. If we allow the island to fall, the Hanjang Sect may resent us and refuse to cooperate. We would also lose the foundation we have worked so hard to build.”
As Shin Hyeon supported Hong Wonseo's position and Pi Garam lent weight to Seolryeong's, the Hall members split into two camps.
Ise silently listened to their views before turning to Doksu.
“What do you think, Doksu?”
“Well... I'll simply follow whatever the Hall Master decides.”
Ise looked at Doksu with a meaningful expression, then shifted his gaze to Seolryeong.
“Seolryeong. What would you do if I abandoned the island and chose as Hong Wonseo suggested?”
“Then... I would follow you.”
“Why?”
“Because the Hall Master would not make the wrong choice. I'd believe you had a reason.”
Hong Wonseo, who had been listening, conspicuously shrugged.
It was impossible to know why the two fought like cats with their fur raised.
Thinking back, they had always clashed over every little thing.
They said children grew by fighting, but Ise had never expected them to still act like this when they were nearly sixty.
Ise asked Hong Wonseo as well.
“And you, Hong Wonseo. What if I chose to stay and face the danger?”
“I would not particularly oppose it. I'm only trying to stop you because the Hall Master would be the one fighting at the very front, in the greatest danger.”
“You heard them, Doksu. They aren't offering their views because they mean to defy my decision. They are giving honest counsel according to their own Dao hearts, so that I can make the right choice. From now on, speak your mind freely.”
“Yes, Hall Master.”
Doksu awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
“Lastly, Eunbo, what do you think?”
“Me? You'll hear my opinion too?”
“Of course. You're one of Azure Dragon Hall's family now.”
“Me? Since when?!”
“You risked your life breaking through the lava and coming back, and now you're betraying me? I don't entrust my back to anyone who isn't family.”
“...”
Ise's expression made it impossible to tell where sincerity ended and the joke began.
After hesitating for a long while, Eunbo answered.
“I... if my abilities permit it, I want to stop them.”
“Why?”
“I want to prove that the research I have spent so long on is real. But if the result of that proof is a report card marked with total annihilation... I cannot accept that.”
“Does that decision also contain compassion for the mortals and a Dao heart that wishes to protect your Fellow Daoists?”
“I cannot say it contains none... No. To be honest, that feeling is strong. Someone may laugh at me for it. The cultivation world may be little different from the wild, but I want to protect those I can protect.”
“Good.”
“...Pardon?”
“I like that. I have no desire to become a sucker, but I don't dislike suckers.”
Ise turned to Seolryeong.
“Seolryeong. Can you tell when the inauspicious omen will come to pass?”
“Usually, the baleful aura grows stronger, but... I cannot be certain.”
“If it seems to be drawing close, tell me every time.”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes as though weighing the matter carefully, arranging his thoughts.
Would this decision place the Hall members in danger?
Would fearing danger cause him to miss the fortuitous encounter before his eyes?
Meticulous calculations and their consequences spun through his mind.
Every person had two sides.
Ise was no exception.
The ideal version of himself that he wished to become was closer to Seolryeong's view.
But the reality of him was closer to Hong Wonseo's.
He sought to avoid danger and weighed practical gains.
He coveted resources like a miser, and had such narrow generosity that he could only feel satisfied after repaying even the smallest grudge like a petty man.
Even so, one fact was clear.
He wanted to grow stronger.
He wanted to win. He wanted unwavering, resolute strength that would not be bound by anything, no matter the situation.
At last, Ise reached a decision.
“We will not inform the sects. Rather than watch cultivators swagger about only in peaceful times, then tuck their tails and run, I would rather become a marauder cultivator.”
He meant that he would not give them time to weigh whether to fight or flee.
Once the war began, the sects would not be able to run either. Escape required preparation.
It would take days merely to empty their vaults, gather their scattered disciples, and launch their ships.
Without that time, they would have no choice but to fight in order to protect the clans they had built over hundreds or thousands of years.
“When the attack begins, evacuate the mortals as far toward the center of the island as possible. The rest of you will join the Hanjang Sect and fight.”
No matter where the battlefield was, the order of what they had to protect was clear. The life-bound treasure artifact, and the artisan who would forge it.
Once it became clear that Ise had decided to fight, Hong Wonseo added, “That isn't like you, Hall Master. I thought you disliked volunteering.”
“Who said I'd fight for free?”
“...Pardon?”
“When the attack starts, I'll make the people who need this place protected pay. A great deal.”
“...”
It was an answer thoroughly befitting him.
Hong Wonseo added nothing further.
“The most important thing is to determine the enemy's strength.”
Ise began listing the enemy force he expected.
“I estimate there will be at most ten Core Formation Realm demons.”
“May I ask how you arrived at that estimate?”
At Shin Hyeon's question, Ise explained.
“In general, packs of demon beasts that form groups have a triangular distribution of cultivation realms. It is a kind of natural law, like how Core Formation Realm cultivators make up around one to two percent of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.”
The Great Exorcist Order had five hundred Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and ten Core Formation Realm cultivators.
The Zheng Empire had fifteen thousand Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and three hundred Core Formation Realm cultivators.
Though both forces had been severely diminished by the war.
The Northern Continent and the Archipelago were similar.
Even Ilgwang Island had six hundred Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and five Core Formation Realm great cultivators.
“The numbers do not always match to the final digit, but the ratio exists. There were a little over three hundred eggs in the breeding grounds, and no space to increase that number.”
Even for a long-lived species, their population could not expand if they only added a little over three hundred individuals every hundred years.
If they intended to increase their numbers without end, they would have shortened their breeding cycle or enlarged their breeding grounds.
The fact that they had done neither meant that, for some reason, they needed to keep their population at a fixed number.
Ise searched the knowledge in his mind, compared other pack-based demon species with similar cases, and calculated.
Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators generally lived three hundred years. Long-lived species could survive for as long as four hundred.
Even using the maximum estimate, generational replacement would begin around the time the fourth group of young was born.
Their total numbers would likely be maintained between one and two thousand.
When that number was arranged into a triangle and the ratios calculated, a rough distribution of the pack's cultivation realms emerged.
“Of course, this is only a guess. If their strength is about what we expect, we will deal with them one by one. If it exceeds our expectations, we will capture their leader and force them to retreat.”
If there were more than ten Core Formation Realm demons, Ilgwang Island would become a hellscape.
At that point, they would need to abandon their greed and focus on escaping the island.
“If their numbers prove too great to handle, we will take only Grand Sect Master Go Yubaek aboard the Living-Spirit Cave Abode and retreat. I will secure him, so all you need to do is stay close.”
“Yes. We will remember.”
The problem was their own strength. Of Ilgwang Island's five great cultivators, two were retired elder cultivators.
They could stall for time in an emergency, but it would be a problem if Grand Sect Master Go Yubaek died in the process.
Their available strength was three. That meant Ise would need to hunt at least two and perhaps as many as seven.
By the numbers alone, it was a reckless allocation.
Yet a faint satisfaction instead appeared at the corners of Ise's mouth.
Crisis and fortuitous encounter were two sides of the same coin.
Opportunities to devour Core Formation Realm demons to his heart's content were rare.
‘If I win, I can reach the middle stage of the Core Formation Realm in one stroke.’
Ilgwang Island was vast.
Considering their history of leaving no survivors, the creatures would likely spread out and attack as though encircling the island.
If so, it would be hard to find a better chance to hunt.
It would be experience he needed before facing the coming war with the Zheng Empire and Bi Hyeongrang, his irreconcilable enemy.
Ise took four Abyssal Mole-Mouse larval corpses from the Demon-Sealing Talisman Book and placed them on the table.
“Artificers, study the corpses and prepare formations, spirit artifacts, pills, and talismans to fight the Abyssal Mole-Mouse.”
Ise then gave an order to Buchun, who had been listening quietly from one side as a noncombatant.
“Buchun, keep doing what you have been doing. Sell everything currently prepared and earn as many Spiritual Stones as possible. Build a communications network throughout the island as well. Dine and Go's trading network will be the key to evacuating the mortals.”
“Thank you for entrusting me with such an important task. I will do my utmost.”
Buchun answered with a resolute expression.
“I'll leave training to your discretion. One of you seems particularly urgent, though. Eunbo.”
“Yes?”
“Whenever you aren't preparing talismans, you will have instructional sparring with me. Come to the manor every day at sunset.”
“Instructional sparring? Senior, do you mean you will personally teach me?”
“Yes. The Azure Dragon Hall way.”
“I do not know whether someone like me deserves such a kindness...”
Eunbo looked at Ise, face full of emotion.
But when Eunbo saw the Azure Dragon Hall members looking on with pity while suppressing their laughter, he wore a bewildered expression.
After the meeting ended, Ise returned with a living Abyssal Mole-Mouse juvenile he had purchased from the Demon-Beast Market.
“I bear no ill will toward you. But you ate mortals too, didn't you? Consider this karma, receiving what you gave.”
He had no hesitation about killing demons. It was what he had done all his life.
But using a living demon as a test subject left an unpleasant aftertaste.
Even so, he did not hesitate.
The fact that they were one species, and that he had secured one of their young, was clearly good news.
If he could find even one fatal weakness, it would work against all of them.
Ise closed his eyes and opened the library in his mind.
The pages fluttered past. His memory had already been excellent, but as his realm rose and the quality of his divine sense improved, he had become little different from a walking Library Pavilion.
He could take out and learn the cultivation methods he had memorized whenever he wished. The only problem was his limited time.
All the affinities and cultivation methods he possessed, along with the countless spells and cultivation manuals in his mind.
Ise began combining them all, honing a blade to bring down the Abyssal Mole-Mouse.
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