WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 32: Episode 5: Cheoryang Thunder Gate (2)
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Ujeol stared at Ise for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“Remarkable.”
There was admiration in his voice. The hall, which had been buzzing with whispers, fell silent again.
“I'll tell you why I did not even mention the fifth star. Those who have reached the third star, raise your hands.”
Despite Ujeol’s words, the room remained as still as a calm lake. Then, slowly, one hand rose.
It was Hae Unchan.
“Even the exalted Heavenly Root Physique remains at the third star. Then those who have reached the second star, raise your hands.”
There were not even ten of them.
That meant most were still at the first star of the Qi Condensation Realm.
“That is only natural. Barely a month has passed. Your rate of advancement is abnormally fast. Do you understand?”
“...Yes.”
“There is no need to be ashamed of it, but do not become arrogant. Jealousy is like a venomous snake, and walls come for everyone.”
“I will keep your teaching in mind.”
Ujeol looked directly into Ise’s eyes. There was no falsehood or affectation in them.
That was truly fortunate.
He had seen all too often what happened when those commonly called geniuses lacked proper character.
Whether that character would last was another matter.
Still, Ise needed to recognize reality.
For his own rate of achievement, and for the other disciples who might compare themselves to him, blame themselves, and fall into despair because of it.
“At the Great Exorcist Order, the minimum time expected to break through from the Qi Condensation Realm to the Foundation Establishment Realm is twenty years. The fastest record is nine years, held by Hall Master Woo Yu-hui of Winged Dragon Hall. Hall Master Woo was also the youngest person to reach the Core Formation Realm and the youngest person appointed Hall Master. A peerless genius of extraordinary comprehension, they have broken every record and are considered the only one who might catch up to Hall Master Haeil’s realm.”
Hall Master Woo Yu-hui of Winged Dragon Hall.
Ise had heard of them before, since they were so famous.
They had worn a mask during the entrance examination’s final battle, so he could not remember their face.
“Even that Hall Master of Winged Dragon Hall took a full year to reach the fifth star of the Qi Condensation Realm. Perhaps you may surpass even that.”
“You overestimate me.”
Ujeol briefly concluded that the digression was over, then moved to the main subject.
“The insight of the fifth star is Spiritual Energy Manifestation. It is the process of converting heaven-and-earth spiritual energy within the body into cultivation power. It is an extremely important stage, where one manifests the Five Elements or other attributes of heaven and earth to maximize the power of spiritual energy.”
Ise’s eyes shone as he waited for Ujeol to continue.
As though he would not miss even a single word.
“The fifth star of the Qi Condensation Realm is the first minor realm boundary cultivators encounter... It is called the Wall of Lamentation, the most difficult wall to cross at the lower realms.”
Ujeol visibly hesitated for a moment. Ise did not interrupt the silence.
“Explaining the process of cultivation is like explaining how to move your arms and legs. You learn it naturally, but putting it into words is very difficult. Spiritual Energy Manifestation is even more so. It feels like moving a tail that does not even exist.”
A tail that did not exist.
Ise thought the description was perfectly accurate. Even for him, who had climbed most steps as though taking them two at a time, this wall gave him no sense of how to approach it.
“One meaningful training method I can suggest is to obtain an attribute-based secret manual suited to your spiritual root and diligently practice spell arts. I can recommend a few manuals. Your spiritual root is...”
Ujeol stopped as he tried to recall it.
The young cultivator before him was someone Hall Master Kang I-tae had asked them to watch closely.
Someone with a special constitution whose type of spiritual root could not be determined.
In that case, Ise would have to cross the wall of the minor realm boundary through his own comprehension alone.
Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate depended entirely on the boy.
“This is not a situation where I can tell you what to do. Do your best.”
“...Yes. Thank you.”
“We will end here for today. You may disperse.”
* * *
The moment the lecture ended, three cultivators rushed toward Ise.
Hae Unchan, Pi Garam, and Seolryeong.
“It's been a while.”
Except for Seolryeong, with whom he had gone on a mission, it had been some time since he had seen them.
“You had only just reached the third star when we went on that mission together... How can this be so unfair?!”
“That’s how it happened.”
“What do you mean, that’s how it happened?!”
Seolryeong fumed.
Hae Unchan, on the other hand, let out a sincere sigh of admiration.
“You really are amazing, Ise. I know your speed makes no sense, but... I admire you.”
“I just got lucky.”
“That much modesty is excessive. To advance even faster than the Hall Master of Winged Dragon Hall...”
Ise found it difficult to respond, so he only nodded.
It really had simply happened.
He knew he had focused harder than most, but in truth, he had probably just been born with the luck of having a certain physique.
Perhaps Hae Unchan read the expression on his face, because he patted Ise on the shoulder and added,
“In the world of immortal cultivation, talent is skill and ability too. They say heaven grants talent to those worthy of it.”
“Hearing that from someone with a Heavenly Root Physique is not very convincing.”
Pi Garam made the joke, and Hae Unchan burst into loud laughter.
“Anyway, I’m thinking of going on missions soon. It feels like there are limits to cultivation alone.”
“That’s a good decision.”
“I’m very aware of you. You are both my rival and my proud friend. I’ll strive to catch up to you, but I won’t become impatient.”
Ise looked at Hae Unchan for a moment, then nodded.
He had nothing to say. Spouting such cringe-worthy lines without a hint of embarrassment was simply part of Hae Unchan’s nature.
Seolryeong grumbled beside them.
“You monsters are both so annoying. Do you know how miserable it feels for someone who can’t raise their realm?”
“I reached the second star.”
Pi Garam quietly cut in.
“You’re the most annoying one of all, seriously.”
The three laughed at Seolryeong’s cute complaint.
Even her grumbling was not unpleasant because it held no jealousy or envy.
Immortal cultivation was a lonely struggle.
In the end, it was not a relative evaluation, but an absolute one. The only things to overcome were one’s own physique, talent, and comprehension.
“Oh, I heard Hall Master Hong Mi-hee will be giving us spirit artifacts soon.”
Ise spoke as though he had only just remembered.
The other three brightened at once.
They looked like younger siblings waiting for New Year’s gift money, and Ise could not hold back a smile.
* * *
Three months later.
Inside a private cultivation room at the Training Compound.
“Heavens...”
Ise muttered as he stared at the wall patterns in the private cultivation room, which had become all too familiar.
“Why am I...”
Three months had passed.
“Still...”
For three entire months, he had thrown himself against the minor realm boundary. Yet he had not only failed to cross it, he had not gained even the slightest clue.
Truly, he had not found even the slightest clue.
It meant he had only spent his time in the cultivation room banging his head against a wall.
He had tried everything he could.
Some might scoff at calling three months a long time, but he slept less than four hours a day on average.
He had even given up good food and endured on fasting pills while devoting himself to cultivation.
Yet the wall of the minor realm boundary had not shown him even a fragment of itself, as though it were mocking him.
‘I'll go on a mission.’
In the end, real combat had been what broke through his stalled cultivation before.
The Great Exorcist Order’s cultivation methods were also founded on tempering the body and raising one’s realm through real combat at the brink of life and death.
Enough wasting time. He would go on a mission.
If cultivation alone would not work, it was better to move his body.
Having made that decision, Ise rose.
When he had spoken with Park Gangseo, he had heard that Hae Unchan was still the only disciple to break through the third star.
Most entry disciples were stuck at the second star and had begun taking missions one by one.
Seeing that made him think this might be the normal pace, yet he could not stop the impatience rising somewhere in his heart.
Ujeol had said it was something one naturally learned, too difficult to explain with words.
A tail that did not even exist.
He had turned those words over in his mind for three months, but he still did not understand.
Just as Ise sighed and was about to take a step, a strange vibration spread through all of Cheongsan. An overwhelmingly destructive, yet auspicious aura surged forth.
Startled, Ise instinctively looked around.
The spiritual energy covering Cheongsan was flowing toward one place, as though something enormous had appeared and pushed away the spiritual energy around it.
‘The source is...’
Right in front of the private cultivation rooms.
Right before Ise’s eyes.
He instinctively drew up spiritual energy to protect his body.
Then, in that instant, the entire private cultivation building rose into the air, leaving only its floor behind.
“...?”
Before that unreal and bewildering sight, Ise could only blink like a fool.
“...?”
It was a place meant for cultivators to train. A building that would not even crack under most impacts... had been lifted into the air?
What in the world?
“There you are. Hello, little ones.”
Ise, along with the entry disciples struck by this natural disaster, found the source of the calamity.
A Core Formation Realm cultivator in a splendidly embroidered red Daoist robe, holding a fan in one hand. Hong Mi-hee, Hall Master of the Vermilion Bird Hall.
She looked down below as casually as though she had found something she had misplaced.
Hong Mi-hee spotted Ise and smiled sweetly.
Then she casually lowered the building back into place.
A heavy thud shook the ground beneath Ise’s feet. Panicked screams erupted from inside the building.
Hong Mi-hee did not so much as blink at the sound and opened the door to the private cultivation rooms.
By unspoken rule, private cultivation rooms were spaces no one could enter without permission.
Apparently, that unspoken rule only applied among those of lower standing. To a cultivator capable of lifting an entire building, it seemed to be a useless restriction.
“Little one.”
“Yes, Hall Master.”
Hong Mi-hee drew a splendid box from her storage pouch and smiled softly.
For a moment, Ise thought it was a truly terrifying smile.
“I brought you a treasure I made just for you.”
Ise immediately showed the utmost respect.
What did a taboo matter?
Before a sacred relic, even that smile looked like the beauty that could topple a kingdom.
Footnotes:
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