WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 11: Semi-Transaction, Normal Business Operations (7)
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“Go on, then. Make your excuses, my beloved disciple.”
“I’m sorry, Master.”
Mongryeon raised her finger again. Ise reflexively wrapped spiritual energy around his forehead.
Tap.
This time, it was a painless forehead flick. It was filled with affection instead.
Ise rubbed his unhurt forehead for no reason.
“Take things slowly. What could be so urgent that you would race ahead without even returning to your hometown?”
“I wanted to reach at least the Foundation Establishment Realm and have something worthwhile to show before I came back.”
“Since when is the Foundation Establishment Realm something worthwhile?”
“...”
Then again, by his master’s standards, the Foundation Establishment Realm and Qi Condensation Realm were equally low.
He was at the eighth star of the Qi Condensation Realm. At headquarters, where most cultivators were in that realm, it was a level that gave him some room to boast.
Yet even he had been flung all the way to Gwisu Temple’s main gate by a single forehead flick.
As a child, his master’s strength had been nothing more than an abstract concept. Now that he was a cultivator capable of sensing energy, he could feel its true weight.
His master was an existence beyond anything he could imagine.
“Know that I’m letting you off with one hit because I know how hard you’ve worked, you little bastard.”
“...Yes, Master.”
Rubbing his forehead, Ise smiled like a boy again.
Even Mongryeon’s rough words made him happy. They were familiar.
“Chanmo!”
“Yes, Leader.”
“We should feed the child, shouldn’t we?”
“Of course.”
“Did you do it the way I taught you?”
Chanmo smiled and told her not to worry.
Mongryeon and Ise followed Chanmo toward the dining hall, while the other dokkaebi trailed after them like ducklings following their mother.
A lavish feast had been laid out inside.
Yet it was not ordinary mortal food. No spiritual energy dwelled within it, but it was immortal cuisine entirely free of turbid qi.
Even during the years when Ise had stopped sending word, Mongryeon and the dokkaebi had kept track of him and waited for his return.
Like parents waiting for a child who had left home to visit during a holiday.
“It wasn’t easy preparing a meal for this disciple of mine. Eat your fill.”
“Thank you... I will.”
“Eat slowly. Don’t choke.”
“I’ve never choked before.”
“You’re talking back now?”
“I’ll eat slowly.”
Ise carefully savored each dish, chewing thoroughly.
The dozens of eyes watching him nearly made him choke after all, but the food was beyond delicious.
“Tell us how you’ve been.”
Ise slowed his hands and gradually recounted the years that had passed.
Mongryeon and the dokkaebi sat quietly, listening with fascination to his stories of the human realm.
When he told them that he had finally mastered the Dokkaebi Shadow-Hunting Demonic Art, they burst out laughing.
“This brat has become a complete dokkaebi!”
“Let’s see it. Show us.”
“Here?”
“What does it matter? Use Earth Shadow Snare.”
Ise immediately used Earth Shadow Snare from the Dokkaebi Shadow-Hunting Demonic Art.
Shadows sprang up beneath the dokkaebi’s feet and seized their ankles.
Exclamations rose from every direction.
“Concise and powerful. You’re better than most dokkaebi.”
“It is thanks to the cultivation manual you permitted me to learn, Master.”
“You are talented, and it seems you have been doing well. Why do you look so troubled?”
“That is...”
Ise told her about his current concerns.
The imbalance between spiritual energy and demonic qi. The difficulty of obtaining medicinal pellets and spiritual herbs. The resulting stagnation in his cultivation.
“The pill refiners at headquarters have nearly monopolized the spiritual herbs. The farm’s shipments are too busy going to the Four Great Noble Clans for any to reach me. Getting Qi-Condensing Pellets or Spirit-Gathering Pellets is like plucking stars from the sky. The markets run by lay branches outside are much the same.”
Mongryeon smiled faintly at his complaints, which sounded like a child’s whining.
“Is that so?”
“If that is the case, I don’t understand why they made rules banning the gathering of spiritual herbs. It makes me think their principles are full of holes.”
“You are right.”
“...”
“They are someone’s dogshit principles, full of holes.”
Mongryeon looked as though she were remembering someone, her expression tinged with longing.
Then she explained in a calm voice.
“The Great Exorcist Order Lord made those rules.”
“...Ah.”
“Do you know what happens when people dig up every buried Spiritual Stone, capture every spirit beast and stuff them into their bellies, and uproot every spiritual herb?”
“I do not.”
“Heaven-and-earth spiritual energy dries up.”
It was a problem Ise had never considered.
“The balance of yin and yang in the world collapses. Resources are exhausted, cultivators choose plunder over cooperation, lawless lands spread, demonic qi overflows, and demons flourish.”
Mongryeon added that such a thing had truly happened in a lower realm of another dimension. The immortals called it the Dharma-Ending Age.
“That was what the Great Exorcist Order Lord feared and wished to prevent. It is also why he ascended to the upper realm. A Spirit Transformation Realm immortal is a burden on the world simply by existing.”
“I see.”
“Of course, I do not know how effective this method will be. Still, the Great Exorcist Order is clearly carrying on his will. At least as much as it can.”
“My thoughts were shallow.”
“And since we are speaking of the Great Exorcist Order Lord, let me be clear. You are not my child. I am unmarried, and I am not cold-hearted enough to abandon my own child.”
“...Yes.”
“Nor could you possibly be the Great Exorcist Order Lord’s child. That bastard... No, that man had no sexual desire.”
Ise was briefly taken aback by the sudden clarification, but then he remembered his conversation with Hall Master Haeil and smiled to himself.
“And as for spiritual herbs, we will solve that problem for you.”
“What?”
Ise stared at her in surprise. They would solve it for him?
“The Ulta Mountain Range is vast and forbids outsiders from entering. Spiritual herbs are everywhere, enough to trip over.”
“But Master, the Great Exorcist Order’s rules...”
“Ah ha ha. Are you planning to lecture dokkaebi about human rules?”
Mongryeon laughed as though she had heard something wonderfully amusing.
When Ise fell silent, she tipped back her cup and added casually.
“A considerable portion of the spiritual herbs entering the Great Exorcist Order have passed through our hands anyway. When we manage the mountain range and find herbs, we gather them and hand them over. In return, we receive the Demon-Qi Concealment Talismans you brought.”
“I see. I had no idea.”
“Dokkaebi have sharp eyes and keen noses. They are exceptionally good at finding what they seek. Gonga.”
“Yes, Leader!”
At Mongryeon’s call, Gonga poked her head out.
“You said you wanted to try your hand at business, did you not? Take sole responsibility for gathering the spiritual herbs that go to Ise. Keep the Spiritual Stones you receive as payment. This is your chance to establish the dokkaebi merchant caravan you have always dreamed of.”
“R-Really?! Does that mean you are allowing me to leave Gwisu Temple?”
“Yes. I am tired of seeing you pace around every day like a puppy with a frustrated look on your face. But you must gain the strength to protect yourself as well. Do not neglect your training.”
“Yes! ...Hehe. Ise, tell me what herbs you need!”
The three headed for the dokkaebi people’s warehouse.
There, Ise selected the herbs needed for Qi-Condensing Pellets and Spirit-Gathering Pellets.
Gonga inspected them one by one and sniffed them carefully before nodding.
“I remembered them properly! Should I charge a fair price?”
“Of course. What kind of Daoist would cheat a friend? That would make them a swindler.”
Ise set down one hundred Spiritual Stones as an advance payment. Gonga’s eyes widened.
After patting Gonga’s head as she bounced with joy, Mongryeon gestured with her chin.
“Since you are here, take whatever else you need. You may take as much as you want.”
“Really? Will it be all right with the Great Exorcist Order deliveries?”
“Missing a few types will not matter. We can simply use the Spiritual Stones from selling them to you to buy any Demon-Qi Concealment Talismans we lack.”
Ise did not refuse. He immediately filled a woven sack with as many spirit pellet ingredients as he could find.
It was enough to make at least dozens of spirit pellets.
“You have become quite the miser while I was not looking.”
Ise flinched slightly at Mongryeon’s laughing remark, but his busy hands did not stop.
He put down all the Spiritual Stones he had and received that much in herbs.
He could not help thinking that he should have come sooner.
Still, one thought was even stronger.
I have backing. I have a people who stand behind me.
You greedy, petty noble-clan monopoly merchants.
* * *
Ise returned to headquarters carrying a bundle of spiritual herbs.
Worried someone might rob him, he headed straight to the Yeomhwa Hong Clan’s pill-refining room and showed the woven sack to Hong Wonseo.
“What is all this?”
“Spiritual herbs. Make Qi-Condensing Pellets and Spirit-Gathering Pellets for me.”
“Did you raid the Pill Altar Sect? Or did you loot Spirit Beast Grove?”
“As if I would. Just know that I found a supplier whose identity would be difficult to reveal. I should be able to obtain a steady supply too.”
“Hmm. How mysterious. People who are meant to succeed really do succeed.”
Hong Wonseo carefully rummaged through the sack, then said to him,
“Thanks to you, I will be able to practice pill refining to my heart’s content as well. But could you wait a little?”
“I’m in a hurry. Why are you busy?”
“No, it is because I think I will soon break through the fifth-star minor realm boundary. Once I succeed in Spiritual Energy Manifestation, my clan will grant me the Hong Clan Fire-Refining Art. It is a secret cultivation method, and learning it will greatly improve my pill-refining ability. I might even be able to make mid-grade medicinal pellets.”
“Really? How long will that take?”
“Half a year to break through the fifth star, half a year to master the cultivation method, and perhaps three months for the pill refining.”
“That is too long.”
Ise fell into thought.
One year and three months. It was a short time by cultivator standards, but Ise faced a time limit.
Because of the imbalance between his spiritual energy and demonic qi, he could not even attempt the ninth star.
His demonic qi was halfway between the ninth star and Great Completion, while his spiritual energy remained at the early eighth star.
When his body was reforged at the ninth star and Great Completion, an imbalance of yin and yang would leave him unable to practice one side’s cultivation methods afterward.
If he had been a demonic cultivator, he would have tried for the tenth star long ago.
‘Rather than waste time searching for unguaranteed medicinal pellets, I should invest in Hong Wonseo.’
Her talent as a pill refiner was dazzling. The pellets she refined were more effective than any medicinal pellet made by a pill refiner of the same realm.
It was enough to make people say that she truly was a descendant of Hall Master Hong Mi-hee.
‘Should I gather enough spiritual energy and demonic qi for Great Completion, then cross two steps at once?’
That was Hall Master Woo Yu-hui’s method. He had heard that she had challenged the ninth and tenth stars in succession and overcome both.
Surely he could do the same.
First, he would replenish his demonic qi while waiting for Hong Wonseo to prepare. Then, he would gather the resources needed to reach the tenth star and enter seclusion.
‘It is possible in theory.’
It was actually less risky than entrusting the work to another pill refiner.
He would not stop cultivating after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. Creating a sustainable cultivation environment for the long term was more important than anything.
“Let’s do that.”
“Thank you, Senior. I will try to finish sooner.”
“Mm. Sorry for rushing you, but my goal is to beat Hall Master Woo Yu-hui’s record. Please hurry a little.”
After hearing his goal, Hong Wonseo stared into space and counted the years. Then she tilted her head once to each side.
“Why go that far?”
“It is homework.”
“Are you more concerned with fame than you look?”
“I said it is homework.”
Of course, the homework Hall Master Haeil had given him did not end there. Still, Ise decided to resolve what was directly before him first.
Footnotes:
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