The Tale of Cultivation and Demon Extermination - Chapter 18

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 18: Episode 3: Great Exorcist Order Entrance Exam (11)

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It had been inevitable from the start.

From the moment they first saw each other, both of them had sensed that they would face a situation like this someday.

Hae Unchan steadied his breathing and looked at Ise. Ise returned his gaze, his expression somewhat dry but filled with clear competitive spirit.

“Next. Ise, Hae Unchan.”

Once their names were called, the training ground fell quiet.

Heavenly Root Physique. A heaven-given talent said to appear perhaps once in a generation.

The Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique. An unmeasurable potential born with the same constitution as the Great Exorcist Order Lord.

Their current realms might still be low, but they were exactly the sort of topic that would stir the Hall Masters’ curiosity after a long time.

The casual conversations between the Hall Masters gradually stopped, and their attention fixed on the two boys.

Ise gripped his shield firmly, then loosely spun his hatchet in his hand as though warming up his wrist.

Hae Unchan did not draw his sword. He held it together with its scabbard and lowered his body as if prepared to rush forward at any moment.

A swordsman’s attack always began with drawing the blade.

“Begin.”

At the signal, Hae Unchan moved first.

Spiritual energy gathered beneath his feet. The instant he kicked off the ground, his body shot forward like an explosion.

The Hall Masters watching his skilled control of spiritual energy let out impressed exclamations.

He closed the distance in an instant and drew his sword.

It was a clean, textbook attack without a wasted movement.

But Ise had already drifted backward, as though swimming through the air, and Hae Unchan’s first strike cut through empty space.

‘What was that leap? I’ve never seen him use that before.’

‘That fluttering movement is strange too. It’s like he’s a feather floating in the wind.’

Their thoughts crossed.

After that first charge, Hae Unchan’s movements returned to normal.

He was certainly agile, but he seemed unable to keep up with Ise’s movements after Ise had learned Dokkaebi Steps.

Still, there were times when Hae Unchan suddenly accelerated as though he had been fired from a bow, launching dangerous attacks.

When Ise focused his spirit sight, he saw Hae Unchan gathering spiritual energy beneath his feet and springing forward like a dragon’s whisker.

That required delicate control of spiritual energy.

It seemed Hae Unchan had grown another step stronger in only two days.

Mildly impressed, Ise knocked aside a sword strike aimed at his flank with his shield.

Bang!

The impact traveled up his wrist and shook his shoulder.

It was heavy. Almost as heavy as the blows he had taken from the Eye-Light Demon.

Ise immediately stepped back and lowered his center of gravity.

The two of them constantly changed positions, trading attacks and defenses without pause.

The sharp clang of metal rang through the training ground as they fought fiercely enough for sweat to bead across their foreheads.

Despite their speed, neither allowed the other a fatal opening.

It was not because they were going easy on each other.

They could only coat their bodies with spiritual energy, not their weapons. That made their weapons less dangerous.

When Hae Unchan’s thrust was blocked, his balance faltered slightly.

He had put too much strength into the strike out of impatience.

Ise’s hatchet came crashing down toward his thigh.

‘They can reattach a leg.’

Ise swung with enough force to sever it if necessary, but Hae Unchan’s raised spiritual energy blocked the hatchet and knocked it away.

Instead, the blade that slid up along Ise’s shield grazed his cheek.

A drop of bright red blood formed.

‘...He’s fast.’

The spiritual energy within Hae Unchan’s body reached the parts he wanted quickly and smoothly.

Though they were at the same realm, Ise was clearly inferior when it came to control.

Hae Unchan’s attacks continued without pause.

High, low, diagonal. The sword paths closing in on him seemed to belong to a carefully structured swordsmanship, growing more dangerous with every swing.

Wounds began to appear across Ise’s body.

He immediately reduced his attacks and shifted entirely to defense.

The flow of battle had passed to his opponent. He needed to steady his breathing and sharpen his focus.

If he concentrated on defense, Hae Unchan could not keep up with his movements.

Hae Unchan could not use the spiritual energy beneath his feet without limit, either. Spiritual energy was finite, and recovery took time.

Ise deflected Hae Unchan’s attacks with the smallest possible movements.

Just as he expected, impatience gradually showed on the young swordsman’s face. It was a lack of experience.

At that moment, Ise slowly gathered the spiritual energy he had been controlling into the soles of his feet and kicked off the ground. At the same time, he used Dokkaebi Steps to push his speed even higher.

Hae Unchan apparently had not expected Ise to imitate his technique so quickly. Startled, he swung his sword at the approaching hatchet.

It was a feint.

There was barely any strength behind the hatchet. It was only there to catch and hold his sword.

The real attack came from the shield flying in from the other side.

Both weapons rose into the air, and the heavy round shield smashed into Hae Unchan’s head.

A massive ringing sound echoed through the training ground.

The blow was strong enough to make the whites of his eyes show for an instant.

The hatchet had flown away, leaving Ise’s right hand empty. Ise filled it with spiritual energy and struck Hae Unchan in the face while he was still airborne.

Hae Unchan’s body slammed into the ground, bounced back up, then struck the ground again several times.

‘He’s not dead, right...?’

Ise still lacked the skill to regulate the amount of spiritual energy he used.

In other words, he had gathered every bit of spiritual energy he could in that instant and struck with full force.

Hae Unchan’s body trembled on the ground.

Worried that he had gone too far, Ise looked anxiously toward the examiner.

“Chief Examiner, if he loses consciousness...”

But Kang I-tae did not move.

“Not yet...”

Hae Unchan was getting back up.

His eyes were so unfocused that he could barely see, yet his fists were clenched tight.

Ise wondered if he really needed to go that far, but there was no way to end things otherwise.

He threw aside his shield and gathered spiritual energy in both fists.

From here on, it was a fight between cultivators.

Hae Unchan lowered his body and drove into Ise’s lower half.

Thud!

His shoulder slammed into Ise’s thigh.

Ise filled his elbow with spiritual energy and drove it down, but the spiritual energy covering Hae Unchan’s back canceled the strike.

Ise’s center collapsed. He fell backward, and Hae Unchan climbed on top of him.

Even after countless sparring matches, Ise had never experienced a situation like this.

A fist came down.

Thud! Thud!

Blows filled with spiritual energy crashed against Ise’s arms as he shielded his head. If even the smallest path to his head opened, he would take a fatal strike.

His arms throbbed with numbness.

For a moment, Ise considered striking Hae Unchan in the groin, then changed his mind.

He did not want to cross that line in a spar between men.

What followed was a drawn-out battle of attrition.

One tried to batter open the defensive barrier with spiritual energy. The other tried desperately to protect his head.

Hae Unchan tired first.

Perhaps the aftereffects of that heavy blow still remained, because his rain of punches gradually lost strength.

Ise instantly filled his index and middle fingers with spiritual energy and jabbed for Hae Unchan’s eyes.

Startled, Hae Unchan released the pressure pinning him down and leaned back. Ise immediately threw him aside and rose.

Then came another brawl.

As they wrung out every remaining trace of spiritual energy from their bodies, their muscles hardened further and their movements became another step faster.

Their breaths grew ragged, and their bruised ribs ached with every hit.

They exchanged a similar number of blows, but Ise was gradually deflecting Hae Unchan’s attacks, even if only by a little.

It was thanks to the sharpened five senses of Dokkaebi Senses.

The tide of battle that had turned against him slowly began to reverse. The greatest disadvantage had been the amount of spiritual energy they possessed.

As someone nearing the Third Star of the Qi Condensation Realm, Hae Unchan had a far greater reserve of spiritual energy.

If one had less, then make the other spend twice as much.

Ise’s strategy slowly began to work. He blocked, deflected, and took hits, but he held his ground.

Then, at some point, both of them realized it.

Their spiritual energy was running dry.

Their stamina was already exhausted. With no spiritual energy left to trade, this would now be a fight of pure body and will.

The one who endured would win.

Ise and Hae Unchan threw their fists at each other.

Hae Unchan’s fist was stopped by an unknown power, while Ise’s fist shattered Hae Unchan’s jaw.

Their spiritual energy had run dry?

That was true.

Of course, Ise had used up all his spiritual energy.

Spiritual energy.

But another power remained in his body, demonic qi.

And spirit sight could not see the demonic qi inside a body.

Only Hae Unchan, the person who had been struck, and the Hall Masters whose realms stood far above theirs noticed Ise’s deception.

Hae Unchan’s body flew backward and rolled across the ground.

The whites of his eyes showed, and foam ran from his mouth.

“Winner, Ise.”

At Kang I-tae’s gesture, Healers from the Medicine Hall appeared. They gave Hae Unchan a healing medicinal pellet and began emergency treatment.

A short while later, Hae Unchan coughed up blood and regained consciousness.

Ise approached and helped him to his feet.

Kang I-tae looked back and forth at the two boys’ robes, now reduced to rags, then sighed.

“You Daoist hopefuls fight with such refinement.”

Neither of them could raise their heads.

* * *

On the night when every schedule at the Great Exorcist Order Training Compound had ended, a final banquet was prepared to close the great event.

It was a kindness, telling them to fill their stomachs while they could. Once they truly began life as cultivators, they would need to avoid worldly food whenever possible.

The problem was that some people filled their stomachs a little too thoroughly.

After the banquet, Kang I-tae summoned Ise.

“You called for me?”

“You used demonic qi during the examination today.”

“It’s my power too. Didn’t you say every means and method was allowed?”

“From now on, avoid using it unnecessarily whenever possible. Cultivators of low realms might not notice, but those at higher realms will sense the wicked aura.”

“Yes.”

“I called you here to give you three pieces of advice, including what I just said.”

Ise quietly listened.

“Until you reach the Foundation Establishment Realm, do not accept the recruitment offers of the Hall Masters or Mountain-Guarding Disciples of the Eleven Inner Halls. It goes against the principles of Great Exorcist Order.”

“I’ll try, but... I think it may be difficult if something like that really happens.”

“Deflect them with words that are neither acceptance nor refusal. Do not give a definite answer or promise until you understand the relationships between the Inner Halls and can decide for yourself which one best suits your purpose. A cultivator’s promise carries binding force in itself.”

“I’ll remember that.”

Ise stored that new fact away in his mind.

He had never been the type to speak carelessly, but it seemed he would have to watch his words even more from now on.

‘So there are conflicts and rivalries between the Inner Halls within Great Exorcist Order.’

It was a truth he had not particularly wanted to know, but knowing it would not hurt.

Ise understood the implication hidden between Kang I-tae’s words and remembered that as well.

“Lastly, watch your conduct. Even if Gwisu Temple has vouched for your identity, I will be watching you.”

“...So you haven’t dismissed your suspicions.”

“I am only carrying out my duty according to principle. I must account for the final possibility that you deceived Mongryeon.”

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

“Good. Congratulations on entering as the top scorer.”

Kang I-tae patted Ise’s shoulder several times.