WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 40: Episode 6: Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique (3)
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* * *
Cheongsan City was still a city full of the smell of people.
In other words, it was full of turbid qi.
The longer Ise continued cultivating, the more unpleasant he found the turbid qi given off by mortals.
It was proof that he was growing farther from an ordinary human.
Ise headed for Daoist Street.
Whenever he left the Training Compound for a mission, he made a habit of looking through the market streets.
His first stop was the spiritual-herb shop.
He had just completed a mission and acquired fresh meat from a new demon beast, the Cat-Headed Lion, in his Demon-Sealing Talisman Book. He had come to replenish the ingredients he lacked and see whether there were any new ones.
“You again?”
“Yes. What a strange greeting.”
The owner of the spiritual-herb shop was a cultivator at the same level as Ise, the Qi Condensation Realm. The moment the shopkeeper saw him, they sighed.
It was an exceptionally rude attitude toward a customer, but Ise knew the reason, so he simply looked over the goods.
“Did anything new come in?”
“There is something. A spiritual herb called Black Jade Herb, which only grows during this season.”
The herb merchant opened a wooden box radiating gentle warmth. Ise’s eyes went to the bundle of spiritual herbs stored inside.
It was a spiritual herb that briefly bloomed and faded in midsummer along sun-soaked coasts.
It was not rare, but since it was seasonal, it was worth taking some.
“How much per root?”
“Sixteen.”
“That’s too expensive. I can’t have it ground into powder for one Spiritual Stone’s worth, can I?”
“If you weren’t a Great Exorcist Order disciple, I’d pad the price.”
Ise regretfully held out a Spiritual Stone.
“Please give me one Spiritual Stone’s worth each of Ten-Year Herb, Fragrant Cat Herb, and Willow Pine in powdered form.”
“Again? If that’s what you want, why not buy more from the beginning?”
“The potency drops if I store it too long.”
“What good is taking such tiny amounts? If you keep taking little bits like this, I won’t even make back the labor cost of grinding them.”
“But I only buy from you. I don’t go anywhere else.”
“Of course you don’t! This is the only spiritual-herb shop around!”
The spiritual-herb shop owner looked ready to burst with frustration, but a customer was still a customer.
Resources were scarce for both of them as they worked to advance their realms, so it was not as though the shopkeeper could not understand the cultivator standing before them.
‘Right... If he keeps buying spiritual herbs, he must be an alchemist. He might become an important customer someday.’
The merchant stopped grumbling, neatly wrapped the Black Jade Herb and powdered herbs, then handed them to Ise.
Ise tucked them deep inside his robes, gave a small bow, and left.
The reason he bought only small amounts of spiritual herbs was simple.
He only needed small amounts.
Recipes combining spirit beast meat and spiritual materials were organized in the basic manual on immortal cuisine, and plenty of known recipes circulated throughout the world.
There was no precedent, though, for combining demon beast meat with spiritual materials.
Ise had to test everything himself, confirm the effects, and record them. Once he discovered the best combination, he only needed to buy as much of those ingredients as necessary.
As the records accumulated, a formula would eventually take shape and a system would be built. Until then, he had to repeat this tedious process.
Ise felt new respect for the great masters who created cultivation methods and spells.
His next stop was a secret-manual bookshop.
The bookshop owner openly frowned upon seeing Ise as well.
For some reason, it felt as though the merchants of Cheongsan City did not have a very favorable impression of him.
“...You didn’t come just to browse again, did you?”
Of course, Ise usually read only the sections available for public viewing and left empty-handed, so he could not say he was blameless.
“I want to buy something, but nothing really catches my interest.”
“What could someone possibly expect to find in a small bookshop like this?”
Instead of answering, Ise ran his hand over the names of the secret manuals written on the outside of the bamboo slips.
When opened, only the first page introducing the manual was available. The rest was locked with a spell.
Secret manuals in the world of immortal cultivation were broadly divided into two kinds. Cultivation manuals, which contained methods for raising one’s realm, and spell manuals, which taught various spells.
Most spell manuals only became useful after the middle stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, when one could wield cultivation power, meaning after crossing a minor realm boundary. A cultivation method could include spells, but most spells had to be trained separately.
The secret manuals he could afford were worthless things of doubtful practical use, while anything interesting cost hundreds of Spiritual Stones.
He did not have that many Spiritual Stones, but even if he had, nothing looked tempting enough to buy in advance.
It seemed better to return after crossing the minor realm boundary and get what he needed then.
“Do you have any technical books related to making immortal cuisine?”
“Immortal cuisine... Hardly anyone looks for those, so I do not stock many. How about a cultivation guide for spirit rice?”
The bookshop owner took out one book from a trunk piled with volumes marked, “Twenty each. Thirty for two books.”
Spirit rice. Rice imbued with spiritual energy.
Even when cooked and eaten by itself, it was excellent at suppressing turbid qi, and it was a versatile ingredient that paired well with any demon beast meat.
Ise immediately turned to the first page.
The Library Pavilion of Great Exorcist Order had books about immortal cuisine, but they were basic texts offering only a broad overview. This one contained specialized, concentrated knowledge about growing spirit rice.
Growing conditions, when to infuse it with spiritual energy, and even how to store it after harvest.
Ise checked the table of contents on the first page, then closed the book.
“I’ll take this.”
He paid twenty Spiritual Stones. It felt wasteful to spend Spiritual Stones on a technical book rather than a cultivation manual or spell manual, but he could not keep looking at free samples forever.
It was something he would need for the future anyway.
“If any new secret manuals related to immortal cuisine come in, I would appreciate it if you could set them aside for me.”
“I will. Next time, buy some spell manuals too. There are plenty of useful ones if you look carefully.”
Ise smiled, said he understood, and left the bookshop.
‘There are so many things to buy, and nowhere near enough Spiritual Stones.’
He also needed to replace his destroyed shield, but the most urgent matter was his cooking equipment.
He was fortunate to have a good tool in the immortal-cuisine knife, but a knife alone was not enough.
A cutting board, pots, even tableware. He felt the need to replace every tool that touched food with spirit artifacts.
They needed to be made from spiritual materials or rare metals that would not diminish the effects of immortal cuisine.
He had confirmed that whenever immortal cuisine touched objects used by mortals, its effects weakened little by little.
‘Don’t be stingy.’
Once he had laid the foundation, he could earn Spiritual Stones again.
Had he not already confirmed that the demand was there?
Ise spent every last Spiritual Stone he had left to buy the smallest amount of mystic iron he could afford.
It would have been nice if he could obtain cold iron, spirit bones from spirit beasts, or at least black iron, but that was beyond his reach. Still, it would be far better than hundred-refined steel or ordinary iron.
At that moment, a Message Talisman flew over and fluttered before Ise.
When he stretched out his arm, the talisman landed on his palm.
- To the administration office.
It seemed to be a Message Talisman sent by Ujeol.
‘How did he know I was here?’
Ise examined the Message Talisman from every angle, but he found no sign of a tracking spell.
There was nothing else written on it. After confirming the message, he infused it with spiritual energy, turning it to dust and scattering it in the wind.
When he returned to the Training Compound, Ujeol was waiting before the administration office.
“You called for me?”
“You returned early. Were you nearby?”
“Yes. Here is the mission report.”
While Ujeol copied the report, Ise checked the mission board.
It was empty.
Missions had been scarce lately.
“Why have so few missions been coming in lately?”
“Perhaps diligent entry disciples have driven the lesser demons nearly extinct. Reflect on yourself.”
Ise readily accepted that. The senior cultivator before him had an exceptional talent for leaving people with nothing to say.
After saying that, Ujeol unexpectedly added, “I hear there is an impure fellow who neglects cultivation, becomes a cook, and earns Spiritual Stones instead. I am considering whether to report this to the Kirin Hall Master.”
“This junior has been foolish. I will make sure to set aside your share from now on, Senior.”
“Those talented in the arts are rare by nature. Do not worry, and cultivate diligently.”
What a cultivator full of human warmth.
Ise barely held back a laugh before getting to the point.
“May I ask why you called for me?”
Ujeol took a sealed letter from inside his robes.
“This is a letter from Hall Master Haeil of the Azure Dragon Hall.”
At the news he had been waiting for, Ise’s heart began beating rapidly.
When Ujeol infused the sealed letter with spiritual energy, the chain-like illusion wrapped around it vanished.
Ise accepted it and carefully checked the contents.
A simple location and map were drawn on a thin sheet of paper.
“It is a map...”
“It seems to be where Hall Master Haeil resides. Go there.”
“I am to go myself?”
“Would you prefer Hall Master Haeil to come see you? He is a very busy person.”
The place marked on the map was Black Tortoise Plateau on the Hangsang Peninsula. It lay in the middle of a large peninsula that jutted out toward the southwest of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms.
“Could this be the Great Exorcist Order headquarters?”
“I do not know. Only the recipient can check the contents of a letter sent by a Nascent Soul Realm great cultivator. Still, there has never been a time when the location of headquarters was shared with an entry disciple.”
Ise had thought he might at least get to see headquarters, but its security seemed tighter than expected.
“Leave at once.”
“Yes. I will go.”
Ise took the Spiritual Stones and demon beast corpse Ujeol held out, bowed in silence, and withdrew.
* * *
It took Ise five full days to reach his destination.
Even though he hurried his steps out of impatience, it was quite a distance.
After arriving at Black Tortoise Plateau, Ise realized that Great Exorcist Order headquarters might be somewhere nearby.
He had no basis for it, but his intuition told him so.
If one were to choose the location of Great Exorcist Order headquarters, this would be the perfect place.
At the southwestern edge of the Three Peninsula Kingdoms, the central region of the Hangsang Peninsula was a massive mountain range.
Cities of mortals were built along the coastline, while farther inland lay terrain so treacherous it could be called a natural fortress.
It was a harsh highland, so rugged and tall that even flying birds would grow tired and have to rest while crossing it.
Black Tortoise Plateau, among them, stood so high that it looked down upon the clouds.
‘How strange.’
Even more astonishing was its shape.
The terrain was as straight and even as a carrot sliced cleanly with a kitchen knife.
Could this really be an artificial place? Remembering Hall Master Hong Mi-hee lifting an entire training room, it did not seem completely impossible.
A plateau above the clouds. In the middle of that empty expanse stood a single residence.
Black roof tiles, red pillars. A stone statue of an Azure Dragon sat on the roof, its open mouth facing south.
There was no sign of anyone nearby. The mansion’s doors were closed as well.
‘Should I wait here?’
He considered knocking, but touching the residence of a great cultivator without permission seemed rude, so he stopped himself.
Instead, he decided to sit cross-legged and cultivate while waiting.
Before long, the empty air tore apart as if it had sensed Ise’s arrival.
It was not a figure of speech. The intact air literally split apart like paper, and a man dressed in blue Daoist robes emerged from the gap.
A bird-feather crown split into two branches swayed above his hero’s headpiece.
The man had a youthful, handsome appearance that was subtly similar to Hae Unchan’s.
Ise could not properly look at Haeil’s face, though.
The instant Haeil’s feet touched the ground, an immense spiritual pressure poured down upon Ise’s entire body.
At first, he could not breathe. Then his vision narrowed. His legs gave out, and his mind went dim.
It was on a completely different level from the pressure he had felt when first meeting Kang I-tae. That had been a waterfall. This was a vast tidal wave.
Haeil.
The spiritual pressure seemed to embody his name.
His consciousness flickered.
* * *
“I’m sorry about that.”
That was the first thing Ise heard when he opened his eyes.
He was still lying on the ground. Haeil sat cross-legged in midair, awkwardly scratching his head.
“It’s been a long time since I saw a chick like you, so I didn’t think it through.”
Ise looked up at Haeil from the ground.
He instinctively tried to rise, but the muscles throughout his body were as slack as if he had just suffered convulsions. All he could do was prop himself up on an elbow.
“I apologize for daring to greet you in such an improper posture as an entry disciple... I am Ise.”
“It is fine. Normally, you should not even be able to speak. You are doing well enough. I am Haeil.”
The only Nascent Soul Realm great cultivator on the Eastern Continent.
This was Ise’s first meeting with Haeil.
Footnotes:
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