WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 42: Episode 6: Heaven-Demon Dual-Meridian Physique (5)
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Ise considered Haeil’s final task carefully, then blurted out another dumbfounded response.
“Ah, um... pardon?”
Seeing his reaction, Haeil calculated how old the boy before him was and realized his mistake. He smiled awkwardly.
“I was too hasty. That must be a rather startling thing to say to someone so young.”
Haeil’s smile vanished as he added seriously,
“Just remember it for now. No matter how much others pressure you, you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. Still, you have a rare physique. You should continue the line. Have you ever thought about ascension?”
“I haven’t.”
“I thought not. Even if you ascend someday, leaving descendants behind would let Great Exorcist Order thrive safely. If you come to feel a sense of belonging and affection for this place, consider the people you would leave behind.”
Ascension to the heavenly realm. Very little was known about it.
All Ise knew was that the universe above the human realm contained the world of immortals, and that one had to ascend in order to reach greater heights.
He did not feel any need for it yet.
He had heard that even Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators lived unimaginably long lives. Besides, he had not even crossed the first minor realm boundary, let alone reached the Foundation Establishment Realm. Ascension felt like a story from another world.
Ise simply nodded in answer. Haeil looked at him with understanding.
After gazing at the sky for a moment, Haeil rose.
“This should be what you wanted to know, right? As I said, I know no more than what I have told you. Investigate the rest yourself. Once you complete the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art, we can dig into it together.”
His tone made it clear that their business was over.
Before Haeil could leave, Ise hurriedly spoke one last time. He knew he had already received more kindness than he deserved.
He had only been promised a day of instruction, but Ise was not rash enough to point that out.
Stopping a departing great cultivator was already disrespectful and presumptuous.
Still, Ise did not want to let this precious opportunity slip away.
“If you have the time, could you offer one last piece of valuable advice to this junior? My cultivation has... stalled at the first minor realm boundary.”
Haeil stopped and turned back.
His gaze swept over Ise’s spiritual meridians once more.
“Let’s see. Judging by the spiritual energy you hold, you passed the level of five stars long ago.”
Ise silently met his gaze in agreement. Accumulating spiritual energy and gaining enlightenment. Of the two, he had already accumulated more spiritual energy than he could use.
“How long did it take you to reach four stars?”
“About one month.”
“From three stars to four? That’s absurdly fast.”
“...No, one month since I entered the world of immortal cultivation.”
“...”
Haeil fell silent as if wondering what sort of bizarre creature he had encountered, then let out a hollow laugh.
‘Woo Yu-hui wouldn’t even be in the running. He might be faster than the Order Lord.’
He kept the thought to himself.
That rate of advancement could not be achieved through physique alone. It meant Ise had exceptional comprehension, and that he cultivated with relentless desperation.
Compared to the Order Lord, who had spent more time beating up other cultivators than cultivating, Ise was a great blessing for Great Exorcist Order.
“Considering the average pace of those with a single spiritual root, along with your comprehension, you should have advanced already. I can guarantee that the gu parasite in your head was blocking you. It is remarkable that you raised your realm this far with the path to your Hundred Convergences Acupoint blocked. Try again now, and you will quickly get the feel of it.”
Haeil stepped closer to Ise, who was still kneeling, and added,
“Until now, you have been shooting a bow with one eye closed.”
In other words, his failure to cross the wall of the minor realm boundary had not come from a lack of talent. The gu parasite had interfered.
For three months, he had pressed his head against that wall without finding even the faintest clue to break through it. Yet it had been a barrier someone else had placed in his way.
Relief outweighed his frustration. If he had not met Hall Master Haeil... Even imagining it was terrifying.
Ise straightened his back and waited for Haeil’s next words.
“Close your eyes and recall the strongest memory you have of an attribute you have experienced.”
Ise immediately shut his eyes.
“For example, remember when your body burned while fighting that independent cultivator. As you recall it, imagine your spiritual energy burning. Keep doing that.”
The memory of Kim Siwon’s fire-aspect spell burning his body.
It was among the most painful memories of Ise’s life. Even now, he vividly remembered the scorching agony of his flesh and bones melting throughout his body.
“Wrap your whole body in spiritual energy.”
Ise calmly followed his instruction.
“Do not simply recall it. Believe that your spiritual energy is truly burning your body.”
Ise felt as though his entire body was truly ablaze. He could not tell whether it was because the parasite in his head had vanished or because a great cultivator’s words carried such power.
His body had become as still as if his breathing had stopped, but the spiritual energy within him burned brilliantly like flame.
“Do you think you’re getting the feel of it?”
Haeil asked as he watched the motionless Ise.
He had not given the advice because he expected immediate results.
He had only passed down the method he had once used.
“Well, look at this brat.”
Yet this young chick had immediately entered a state of selflessness before a great senior.
It was hard to tell whether Haeil should be impressed or punish him for his audacity.
He was clearly only a chick in the early Qi Condensation Realm, yet his comprehension and concentration were terrifyingly outstanding.
A short while later, heat haze rose from Ise’s entire body, followed by flames.
The spiritual energy around his shoulders and arms swayed and burned like fire.
“By the way, how long are you planning to keep this up?”
It was good for a Great Exorcist Order disciple to gain enlightenment, but even so, Haeil was not someone who ought to stand guard over a chick in the Qi Condensation Realm.
“Damn it. I’ll give you exactly two hours.”
Haeil went into his residence with an unhappy look and brought back several sweet potatoes grown in spirit soil.
When he held them near the flames Ise emitted, their skins sizzled and a savory scent spread through the air.
The flames of a chick in the Qi Condensation Realm were perfect for roasting sweet potatoes. Haeil was bad at controlling his strength and always ended up burning them.
“Nice.”
Haeil smiled in satisfaction.
* * *
Ise’s state of selflessness did not end after two hours.
The flames grew stronger and stronger. At first, they had been enough to roast sweet potatoes, but now the heat was powerful enough to scorch the hem of Haeil’s Daoist robe.
“No, but this little brat is really making a great senior stand guard for him on purpose?”
Once he had gained enough enlightenment, he should have quickly risen, bowed deeply, and gone home. Children these days, honestly...
It was absurd. Haeil was already so busy that even two bodies would not be enough.
The Chief Master kept pestering him to help with Great Exorcist Order’s internal affairs, and the business in the Archipelago was not yet finished.
Yet he could not easily leave a chick whose state of selflessness might not end for who knew how long.
His cave abode was safe, but in the world of immortal cultivation, nothing was too strange to happen.
There were plenty of people waiting for a chance to take his head the moment his guard slipped. He needed to make some sort of arrangement.
If it had been Kang I-tae, he would have stayed at Ise’s side while lecturing about how protecting a Great Exorcist Order disciple who was gaining enlightenment, even at the risk of one’s life, was one of the order’s great principles.
‘Consider this an honor, brat.’
After some thought, Haeil finally spread a warding barrier around Ise.
It was a warding barrier personally established by a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. Nothing could pass through it.
Not from outside, of course, but not from within either.
“I’ll return soon and release it, so cultivate diligently.”
Haeil brushed the sweet potato skins from his hands and stood.
* * *
At Great Exorcist Order Headquarters, space tore open in one corner of the office belonging to Sugyeom, the Chief Master of the sect and Hall Master of Yellow Dragon Hall.
“Senior Haeil.”
Chief Master Sugyeom named the visitor without even checking who it was. Haeil appeared a moment later.
“Please use the door.”
Sugyeom set down a brush on the neatly arranged writing desk. Sugyeom did not even look surprised, as if used to this.
Haeil placed a sealed glass bottle before the Chief Master.
“This was planted in an entry disciple. Analyze it and find out why this gu parasite was implanted.”
The Chief Master picked up the bottle. Seeing the pitch-black insect writhing inside, Sugyeom’s brows drew together.
“Was there an infiltrator?”
“It did not seem like the person knew anything at all. Has anyone recently advanced from the middle stage of the Core Formation Realm to the late stage?”
“I’m not sure. There have been no unusual developments in the Zheng Empire’s political situation, but advancement by high-level cultivators is information every group handles in utmost secrecy.”
Haeil briefly relayed what he had heard from Ise.
The Chief Master listened with interest until the end, then answered plainly.
“I will keep it in mind.”
“Anyway, I’m going back to the Archipelago. Tell them I will handle the overdue matters later. Or you can handle them.”
They were not merely overdue matters. Haeil had put off most of his work. The Chief Master did not bother pointing that out.
The great cultivator before Sugyeom occupied a position high enough to act outrageously, shamelessly, and without a care in the world.
“You are leaving already? You have not even been back for fifteen days.”
“There is unfinished business. I will return quickly this time.”
After answering that Sugyeom understood, the Chief Master suddenly looked at Haeil’s face. A trace of a smile remained there.
“It seems you have taken quite a liking to that boy. Your face is bright.”
“Nothing like that. He just reminded me of the past.”
Haeil did not say anything more. The Chief Master did not ask further questions, either. Instead, Sugyeom returned to work.
“I would like to meet him as well, if he truly has the same physique as that person... But we should not give a young child needless vanity. I have already warned the other Hall Masters in advance.”
“Well, you will handle it. Take care of yourself.”
Haeil tore open space again. Before stepping through, he hesitated briefly.
Leaving Ise trapped inside the warding barrier bothered him a little, but he would return soon.
Soon would be fine.
With that thought, Haeil disappeared.
“I said to use the door.”
Only the Chief Master’s quiet voice echoed through the room.
* * *
Ise opened his eyes. When he came to his senses, darkness had fallen all around him.
Only the lamps illuminating the residence of the Azure Dragon Hall Master shone faintly in the pitch-black night.
Only then did he realize that he had once again become so absorbed in cultivation that he had lost track of time. He immediately looked for Haeil, but he was alone in the space.
‘He has left.’
Perhaps that was for the best. Reflecting on the fact that he had dared keep the Azure Dragon Hall Master waiting, Ise was about to rise when he noticed the translucent warding barrier surrounding him.
‘Hall Master Haeil made a warding barrier for me.’
Haeil must have been concerned that Ise would fall into danger while he was in a state of selflessness.
Grateful for the senior great cultivator’s vast kindness, Ise bowed deeply in the direction of the residence, then slowly walked north.
Then he was stopped by the wall of the warding barrier.
“...?”
He tried pouring spiritual energy into it, just in case, but it did not budge.
It was a warding barrier made by a Nascent Soul Realm great cultivator. Naturally, he could not even leave a scratch on it.
It was, quite literally, a warding barrier.
The space had been divided so that no living creature could pass through.
“Hall Master Haeil?”
Ise called quietly toward the senior who might be resting in the residence, but no answer came.
After a long silence, Ise finally realized that he had been trapped.
‘...He will not forget about me, right?’
According to common rumor, when Hall Master Haeil went traveling, he was usually gone for years, even decades.
What if Haeil forgot about him and left headquarters...
In a space containing nothing but scattered sweet potato skins, Ise could only stand there with a panicked expression.
Footnotes:
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