WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Episode 8: Great Exorcist Order Headquarters (5)

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A pureblood cultivator charged in, swinging a real sword that held not a trace of spiritual energy.

Their spiritual energy might have been sealed, but the sharpness of the weapon itself was still threatening.

Every one of them was a spirit artifact made from quality metal. If someone had used a hand axe, Ise might have wanted it.

Still, no matter how fine the sword in their hand, if there was no strength behind the swing, it was nothing more than a sharp toy.

They had awakened spiritual energy early and trained while relying on it far too much.

Ise could tell at a glance.

He stood still and waited for them to rush in, then stepped forward. The Yellow Great Parasol knocked aside the foremost weapon.

Clang!

Ise’s fist shot out after the blade struck the shield and smashed into the cultivator’s philtrum.

That single blow rattled the cultivator’s brain and clouded their senses. The cultivators who rushed in after them fared no better.

Philtrum, jaw, solar plexus, temple.

He gave those brats, who had raised their realms by bleeding their families dry, the pain of real combat for the first time.

They flailed their weapons too late, but they could not catch Ise as his body slipped away with Dokkaebi Steps.

The Yellow Great Parasol slammed into an opponent’s side.

A dull impact. The crack of ribs breaking. Then the sound of someone crashing to the ground followed one after another.

“...!”

As their brothers fell one by one, the faces of the remaining pureblood cultivators turned pale.

A fight without spiritual energy revealed the primal difference between one body and another.

And more than a difference in realms, that primal violence was what truly inspired fear.

The shield shot straight out and struck a cultivator’s Adam’s apple.

The cultivator vomited blood, clutched their throat, and dropped to their knees.

“Ah, sorry. I almost killed you with that one.”

Ise muttered the words briefly. At the same time, he drove into the gap between the two closest cultivators.

The shield smashed one beneath the chin. He spun at once and kicked the other in the ribs.

One flew upward, the other sideways. In the exact same instant, both rolled to the edge of the dueling platform.

It did not take long before every pureblood cultivator lay sprawled across the platform.

Groans erupted from all around, followed by harsh coughing.

They had no idea why this senior was holding such a grudge over a simple argument, but they understood at least one thing. He was someone they could never hope to challenge.

He was also the sort of unreasonable person they should never provoke carelessly.

“Stop, stop, Senior. We won’t... We won’t bother the Training Compound disciples again...”

Ju Guyeon, who had only just regained consciousness, forced out the words in pain.

Ise did not stop.

He grabbed the fallen Ju Guyeon, pulled him upright, and struck him again. Then he pulled him up once more.

Whenever someone fainted, Ise set them aside and beat the other disciples. The moment anyone woke up, he pounced on them and turned them into pulp.

After several rounds, tears streamed from Ju Guyeon’s eyes.

“I was wrong, Senior... How long are you going to keep this up?”

“Who knows.”

Ise answered very slowly.

“Until you straighten out that rotten attitude. Until I no longer think I should kill you all to make sure none of you come after me later.”

Ju Guyeon’s pupils shook. He instinctively knew it was not a joke.

The person standing before him was not the kind of person who spoke of killing to silence others as a joke.

Of course, Ise had no intention of actually killing anyone.

The Great Exorcist Order’s rules said that disciples must not be killed or have their spiritual roots destroyed.

In other words, as long as he did not kill them or destroy their spiritual roots, a certain amount of violence was allowed.

Especially since challenging a senior warranted having one’s tongue torn out and limbs severed. The justification was on his side.

“...Never again. I will never provoke you again, Senior. I’ll keep quiet about this too. Please have mercy...”

“Good. I think you’ve learned your lesson a little.”

“Th-thank...”

“About ten percent of it.”

“...?”

Ise rolled his shoulders once, then called briefly toward the edge of the dueling platform.

“Buchun.”

Buchun, who had been guarding the Twin-Curtain Spirit-Domain Sealing Banner, cautiously poked his head out from the entrance.

Even Buchun had never seen Ise like this. He answered tensely.

“Yes, Senior!”

“How long can we rent the dueling platform for?”

“Usually, the minimum is three days.”

“Three days might not be enough.”

Ise put on a serious expression as he considered it. Ju Guyeon’s face turned deathly pale.

“No helping it. Should I pick up the pace?”

Ise pulled out the Twin-Curtain Spirit-Domain Sealing Banner and put it into his storage pouch.

The sealed spiritual energy burst free all at once from every direction. It was so dense that the air over the dueling platform itself seemed to sink under its weight.

“Again. Starting with that so-called eldest senior brother.”

“...?”

“Now that spiritual energy is back, it’ll hurt a little more.”

A blessed aura gathered around Ise’s hands.

With the blocked spiritual energy released, it overflowed from within him like a recoil.

“I’m warning you now, if you resist, it’ll be hard to hold back.”

A piercing scream rang out after Ise’s words.

Cultivators passing nearby frowned.

“Isn’t that the dueling platform the cultivators who became formal disciples this time are using? Why are they training so intensely?”

“Leave them alone. It’s good to see them working hard. Running around together like that only lasts for a while.”

“That’s true. They’re at a good age.”

* * *

The lesson ended more quickly than expected.

The junior disciples, corrected to a satisfactory degree, knelt neatly on the dueling platform.

Their clothes were torn in places, and there was not a single spot on their faces that looked unharmed.

Still, all their limbs were intact, and they remained fully conscious. That clarity was the most important part of Ise’s lesson.

Fainting was an escape. From repeated experience, Ise knew that the time when escape was not allowed was when rotten attitudes were corrected most quickly.

They needed to be frightened enough to piss themselves at the sound of his name or the moment their eyes met.

His belief was that if one lacked that level of resolve, one should not even begin.

“Hey.”

“Yes!”

The thirteen cultivators answered in booming unison when Ise spoke into the air.

“Remember this. When someone fails to respect a realm another person struggled to attain, it naturally makes them want to kill. If you act like ignorant little brats like you did, you might die somewhere outside without anyone ever knowing.”

“Yes!”

“What will you do when you see disciples from the Training Compound?”

“We will respectfully serve our seniors, treat Fellow Daoists warmly, and kindly look after our juniors!”

“What should you say when you provoke a senior’s temper?”

“Please spare us, Senior!!”

Their tightly drilled chorus shook the dueling platform.

Ise looked over the junior disciples with satisfaction and lifted one corner of his mouth.

This should have changed them enough that they would not swagger around outside and meet a miserable death.

He had spent a precious day on such pathetic fellows, but he decided to think of it as work toward building a healthy sect.

“Then I’ll see you at the exchange match. If anyone does something foolish again before then, you’ll get to remember today all over again. Getting beaten until your head bursts in front of everyone won’t be very enjoyable, will it?”

“...Yes!”

“Return the Spiritual Stones you took from Buchun. With interest.”

“Understood!”

The purebloods trembled in fear and answered together.

“And stop going on about purebloods from now on. What, are we mongrels?”

“No!”

There was no hesitation in their answer. Ise turned away as if that settled it.

Behind him came the dull sound of the junior disciples collapsing all at once.

* * *

The Year-End Merit Convocation.

A small festival that closed out the Great Exorcist Order’s year, honored those who had brought glory to the sect, and pledged renewed effort in the year ahead.

For cultivators, a year passed in the blink of an eye.

For a festival, it did not have much of a bustling or excited atmosphere.

It was an annual event people might happen upon and think, Ah, that thing? It is that time of year.

There were only three groups that enjoyed the festival.

The first was mortals.

The second was cultivators with families. Cultivators’ children in particular supposedly counted the days to this event from the moment autumn began.

Parents who normally devoted themselves to closed-door cultivation and rarely saw their children would hold their hands and wander the headquarters plaza on this day.

The last group was Qi Condensation Realm cultivators who had reached Great Completion and stood on the verge of Foundation Establishment.

The main event of the Year-End Merit Convocation, which only Qi Condensation Realm cultivators could enter, was the Spell Duel Tournament. Its prize was the Foundation Reservoir Pellet.

Bang! Bang!

A spell duel opened the festival.

Two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, forcibly assigned to the task, came onstage looking like they could not be less interested and performed flashy spells that were all show.

It looked impressive enough. A blue beam extended from a sword and struck the flames scattered by talismans, and every clash created an effect like stars spilling across the stage.

The children below the platform cheered and clapped, while the adults watched them with warm smiles.

At first, the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had waved their hands about carelessly. Yet perhaps the children’s excitement rubbed off on them, because they gradually put more effort into their splendid spells and raised the festival’s mood.

The Spell Duel Tournament for Qi Condensation Realm cultivators began afterward.

It seemed the tournament had already been held through the main bracket, leaving only the semifinals and finals for the day. Only four people were introduced.

Unlike the opening stage, which had been closer to a performance, the Qi Condensation Realm tournament had a distinctly serious atmosphere.

It almost looked desperate.

Their spells were not as flashy as those of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, but their desperate desire for victory reached even the spectators. The audience answered with thunderous cheers.

Ise’s attention was elsewhere.

‘Can they call the Pill Altar Sect pill peddlers and still offer a medicinal pellet as the prize...?’

The Foundation Reservoir Pellet was a medicinal pellet that helped smooth the Foundation Establishment process. It had been made by modifying Foundation Establishment Pellets looted from the Pill Altar Sect to suit the cultivation arts of Great Exorcist Order disciples.

Since looting was a prerequisite, they could apparently produce only one or two a year at most.

Two cultivators at the tenth star clashed on the platform.

Ice and water, fire and metal collided violently, each collision producing a booming blast.

These two were certainly serious. Having crossed both minor realm boundaries, they fought with everything they had for a single medicinal pellet that would help them cross the major realm boundary.

‘So that’s what a fight at the tenth star looks like.’

Ise watched the platform calmly. He had the feeling that it was more manageable than he had expected.

Even setting aside the power of the Twin-Curtain Spirit-Domain Sealing Banner, there did not seem to be a huge difference in their spell control or physical abilities.

He was watching the match while repeatedly imagining how he would fight if he were up there when a familiar voice pushed through the crowd.

“Ise! There you are?”

It was Seolryeong.

“They’re starting the exchange match as soon as this ends. You need to get ready too.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. We have to prepare beforehand. Come on.”

Seolryeong grabbed Ise by the sleeve and pulled him away.

The exchange match was a three-on-three team battle.

The Training Compound representatives were three people. First-ranked Ise, second-ranked Hae Unchan, and third-ranked Hong Wonseo.

The three were chatting in one corner of the waiting room when the pureblood cultivators walked toward them with heavy steps.

Their air was so solemn that Hae Unchan tensed and Hong Wonseo went on guard. Then all three of them bent sharply at the waist.

“Greetings, Seniors!!”

The sight of their bodies bent at a perfect right angle left Hae Unchan and Hong Wonseo stunned. Their expressions twisted strangely when they saw Ise casually raise his hand to accept the greeting.

Footnotes:

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