WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 179
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At the name Ise had given it, Go Yubaek stared at the axe for a moment before bursting into hearty laughter.
“A companion, is it? That is far too grand a name for a mere weapon. Still, I am glad you like it.”
Despite his words, Go Yubaek looked quite pleased.
The two retainers, standing a step away and listening to their conversation, muttered among themselves.
“I feel like we're being treated differently.”
“I agree.”
Pretending not to hear them, Ise asked Go Yubaek, “Can you tell me what functions it has?”
“I do not know that myself. Forging a life-bound treasure artifact is wholly different from ordinary artifact crafting. But one thing is certain. That weapon will grow.”
“Grow...?”
A life-bound treasure artifact grew alongside its owner.
Ise had known that long before coming here.
“There are many ways for a life-bound treasure artifact to grow. Some devour other weapons to become stronger, while others gather medicinal pellets or spiritual energy. Some grow through heterodox arts, such as dual cultivation or yin harvesting. Most commonly, though, they follow their owner's growth.”
The old cultivator glanced at Yeowol and added, “This one grows by consuming the lifespan of enemies it kills, in other words, their life source.”
At the mention of lifespan, Ise flinched.
“It would be easy to mistake me for a demonic cultivator.”
“You have already learned demonic arts, so what does it matter?”
Ise could not refute the old cultivator's chuckling words.
It was not as if he found it particularly distasteful.
Yin and yang were two sides of the same coin.
Once one became a great cultivator and began handling primordial qi, spiritual energy and demonic qi no longer felt so important. Ise knew that well.
“You will understand its details as you use it. You will probably be able to sense them roughly through your mindscape.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work. How much have you set the price at?”
“Two million. It will be the most expensive thing I have ever sold.”
Without hesitation, Ise handed over two million high-grade Spiritual Stones. Go Yubaek's wrinkled lips twitched at his refreshingly direct response.
“Are you leaving immediately?”
“Yes. The fortunes of the Eastern Continent are ominous.”
“I hope you attain your Dao.”
“Yes. May Elder Patriarch enjoy a long life as well.”
As Ise turned away, he said, “Hwayeong. Gather the hall members. We are returning.”
“Yes, Master.”
After returning to the estate and packing their belongings, Ise waited for the scattered hall members to gather while examining Yeowol.
The moment he gripped its handle, three words flowed into his mindscape.
Division. Raging Current. Return.
They were words that appeared countless times in the formulas of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art.
It seemed his life-bound treasure artifact had been deeply influenced by his cultivation method.
Doksu happened to arrive first, and Ise curled a finger at him.
“Doksu. Attack me.”
“D-Don't tell me this is an instructional spar. Did I do something wrong?”
“If you did something wrong, why would we have an instructional spar?”
“...”
Doksu covered his mouth with one hand.
Ise let out a hollow laugh at the reaction.
He had only been mindful not to kill him, but perhaps he had worked Doksu far too hard.
Still, it was regrettable that he could not lessen the intensity.
“This is not an instructional spar. I just want to test something. Don't be afraid. Come at me.”
“How much should I hold back...?”
“Look at this arrogant brat. Hit me with everything you've got.”
“Yes! I'm sorry!”
Doksu slapped his own cheeks twice, gave a shout, and raised demonic qi.
Soon, Doksu swung the Gold Chain Staff at Ise with a Thousand-Pound Strike.
Following its trajectory, Ise swung Yeowol to meet it.
Clang!
The instant the two weapons collided, Doksu's demonic qi within the staff was drawn into Yeowol like a rushing current.
At the same time, the Gold Chain Staff, forged from cold iron, split cleanly in two.
As he watched the broken staff fly away in halves, Doksu cried out as though screaming in agony.
“No! My precious staff!”
His voice was so heartrending that Ise felt awkward.
“...I'll ask Seolryeong to repair it.”
After consoling Doksu, who had collapsed to the ground and embraced the Gold Chain Staff, Ise lowered his gaze.
The demonic qi remaining in Yeowol was blending with his primordial qi.
As though shaking off the lingering energy, he casually swung it toward an empty patch of ground.
Crack.
The earth split open in a long line.
The strike carried all the power Yeowol had just consumed.
So this was how it felt.
Division, accepting the enemy's power.
Raging Current, adding his own energy.
Return, sending it back as an attack.
It was a weapon based on the Borrowing Force Stratagem, using an opponent's strength against them.
Furthermore, when it killed an enemy, it consumed their remaining life source and grew, expanding the vessel for internal qi it could hold.
That was roughly how Ise understood it.
This would perfectly compensate for his lacking defense while adding more force to his attacks.
There was no need to mention the weapon's own durability.
Its sharpness had already proven itself by splitting a cold-iron Gold Chain Staff in two.
Though he had not yet fully grasped every one of Yeowol's abilities, Ise was immensely satisfied.
It felt as though all his efforts until now had been rewarded.
A short while later, every hall member had gathered.
As Ise opened the Living-Spirit Cave Abode to take the Great Exorcist Order disciples aboard, Shin Hyeon asked, “Hall Master, what will you do about Eunbo?”
They were referring to Eunbo, who was lingering awkwardly without either joining them or saying goodbye.
Ise jerked his chin as though it were obvious.
“What are you doing? Aren't you coming?”
“Am I really going too...?”
“I won't drag you along by force. But honestly, I'd like you to join us. I covet your talent.”
“...As a talisman artisan, you mean.”
“That too, of course. But I covet your talent in geography as well. I'd like you to stay at my side and make a world map of the Human Realm.”
Eunbo's eyes widened at words they had never expected.
“A world map?”
“Yes. It was a friend's dream... I had been hoping someone would carry it on. I think you would be the right person.”
The fellow disciples realized whom Ise meant by the word friend, and their expressions immediately turned solemn.
They believed Ise had personally killed Hae Unchan and performed a spirit-sending rite for him.
Hae Unchan would likely find it difficult to fulfill that dream.
With the label of demonic cultivator attached to him, there would clearly be limits to his movements.
Ise did not know whether Hae Unchan would like a world map made by someone else, but he hoped that dream, at least, would be completed.
“Wouldn't you also like to study geography further on new continents? If the chance comes, I'll take you to the Frozen Lands of the Northern Continent and the desert empires of the Western Regions as well.”
“...”
“Do you need time to think? Or would you like to pay your respects to your sect first?”
“No. I'll go.”
Eunbo raised their head. Their expression was resolute, as though they had already made their decision.
“You have acknowledged not only my talent for talismans, but also my talent for geography. It is the first recognition I have ever received, so I should repay it.”
“You wanted to go from the beginning, yet you're making excuses.”
“...Please stop reading my mindscape as you please!”
“Then stop making it so obvious.”
Ise chuckled and clapped his hands.
“Welcome to the Great Exorcist Order as an externally recruited disciple. From now on, call me Hall Master, not Senior Brother.”
“Yes, Hall Master. I will serve you with all my heart.”
Then Ise turned to the hall members and added, “All right. Take in the newest member. You need to teach Eunbo the Great Exorcist Order's etiquette.”
At the word “newest,” Doksu's face brightened. Eunbo shivered at an inexplicable chill and asked in alarm, “Could I take that back?”
“No. A cultivator's word carries the weight of a thousand gold. A cultivator's promise naturally becomes binding.”
Remember that.
Ise added that with a smile.
* * *
The journey back was simpler than the journey there.
There was no need to trace the islands in reverse. They only had to head east.
If they kept going east, they would eventually reach the enormous continent that stretched endlessly before them.
They could find the exact location of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms after reaching the continent.
After flying for about a month, they reached the continent.
Once they confirmed their exact location at a nearby village, they flew another nine days and arrived at the Great Exorcist Order.
Only then did Ise let the disciples out of the Living-Spirit Cave Abode.
After entrusting Eunbo's admission procedures to the hall members, Ise immediately went to see Order Lord Haeil.
For once, the Order Lord was cultivating in the Order Lord's chamber rather than his residence.
Feeling the nearby spiritual energy surge and churn, Ise waited outside the door as though standing breakthrough guard.
After roughly two hours, a voice came from within the chamber.
“I have kept you waiting. Come in.”
“Have you been well? I returned today.”
“Did you gain anything?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
Haeil's gaze settled on Yeowol at Ise's waist.
“It is an excellent weapon. That old one's skills have not rusted.”
“Go Yubaek bowed deeply in your direction. I conveyed that he was glad to be able to repay your kindness.”
“Good. His feelings have reached me.”
After passing on Go Yubaek's regards, Ise asked Haeil, “Has anything happened at the main order?”
“Nothing much. The New Martial Sect is still acting like a puppy that needs to take a dump, and Cheoryang Thunder Gate is being quiet as though dead. Ah, let me show you something interesting.”
Haeil tossed over a bundle of letters. Kunlun's seal was stamped on the outer page.
Ise's eyes scanned the opening.
- Kunlun has no intention of being hostile to the Great Exorcist Order and will not interfere in your Order's affairs.
The letter was written in a rather courteous style.
It did not use the word submission, but it was effectively no different from lowering their heads and yielding.
“Those horse-nosed bastards must have been worried sick after hearing about your physique. The previous Order Lord might have been an observer, but that did not mean their temperament was forgiving.”
“Ha ha...”
“Once this becomes known, the Pill Altar Sect will be greatly flustered. They must have believed that, no matter how passive Kunlun was, it would join an invasion war. That belief has now been shattered.”
That did not mean the Pill Altar Sect could easily retaliate against Kunlun.
The moment they did, the Great Exorcist Order's counterattack would begin.
It was the same reason the Great Exorcist Order could not easily launch a preemptive attack against the Cheoryang Thunder Gate and New Martial Sect alliance.
If Kunlun formed a tentative alliance with the Great Exorcist Order, an inconvenient presence would be at their backs.
There was more than one letter.
When Ise flipped through the bundle, there were nearly ten.
“I didn't send a reply, and now they are practically obsessed.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“They sent these letters with you in mind, so I left the decision to you. What will you do?”
Ise considered it briefly. The decision was not difficult.
“If they are not direct enemies, I have no intention of unleashing a killing tribulation.”
“I respect that. Then I will propose a nonaggression pact. Let it last about one hundred years. What happens after that will be up to you.”
“Yes.”
Haeil spoke as though he would soon leave, but Ise did not mention it.
Then Haeil gave a short laugh.
“It seems they heard that you returned.”
Only then did Ise's divine sense detect a familiar presence approaching. It was Hall Master Woo Yu-hui.
“She has been waiting for you. She needs someone to test the spell art she recently acquired on, but all the Hall Masters recoiled and ran away.”
“Order Lord, why don't you spar with her?”
“No. I hate pain.”
“...”
At the irreverent thought that Haeil's dignity seemed to appear and disappear repeatedly, Ise shook his head.
He needed to show proper respect toward the Sect Master.
“Before long, I will prepare an arena where you can prove how much stronger you have become. Cultivate in comfort until then.”
“Yes. I will take my leave.”
When Ise stepped out of the Order Lord's chamber, Woo Yu-hui stood before the door.
“It has been a long time, Hall Master. Did your cultivation yield results?”
“Yes.”
Facing the white mask, Ise thought it was fortunate that she wore one.
Because Hwayeong had done something strange, he could not help feeling self-conscious.
The face beyond the mask was certainly beautiful.
Still, no matter how he thought about it, he could not shake the belief that his master was more beautiful.
Ise cast aside the improper thought.
“Have you brought your cultivation to completion?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Congratulations.”
The atmosphere was somehow awkward. Just as Ise scratched his earlobe and prepared to suggest a spar first, Woo Yu-hui spoke.
“Want to?”
“You mean a spar?”
“Yes.”
Her competitive desire to pit their strength against each other in the mindscape was plainly conveyed.
He could understand her purpose before they had even exchanged questions and answers.
As it happened, he had wanted to properly test Yeowol's power as well.
Ise readily agreed.
“Gladly. Let us loosen up a little.”
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