WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 13: Foundation Establishment Breakthrough (7)
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It was hard to judge. If he had at least reached the late or perfected stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he might have had some sense of the next realm.
Ise had only just entered Foundation Establishment. He was a newly hatched chick. The shadow of death had taken a step closer.
“Still, unlike butchers such as you, I am a refined Daoist. Hand over half the Spiritual Stones you possess as a toll. Do so willingly, and I will spare your life.”
Ise barely held back a hollow laugh.
Wasn't the Core Formation Realm the level of the continent's greatest experts?
Yet someone with such tremendous power was doing nothing more than extorting money from juniors like a common bandit.
How very refined.
“...Does a great cultivator covet a junior's meager little pouch?”
“I could covet your life as well. I have overlooked your insolence twice. My patience has reached its limit.”
There was no room for negotiation.
Ise took out half his Spiritual Stones from his storage pouch and sent them to the old man with telekinesis.
The old man broke into a cackling laugh.
“I'll let you go. Tell that Hong bitch and Hae bastard that I have been collecting their disciples' debts without fail.”
“I'll be going, then.”
Ise withdrew slowly, maintaining every courtesy until the end.
Careful in case the old great cultivator changed his mind.
Once he reached a point where he could no longer feel the old man's divine sense, Ise raised the White Luan Boat higher and increased its speed.
Blood was still flowing from his right eye.
His excitement plummeted, and his blood began to boil.
At the same time, he felt relieved.
‘I was arrogant.’
After breaking through to Foundation Establishment, he had enjoyed the wind atop the White Luan Boat and let himself become complacent.
There were many strong people in the world. He had only just reached Foundation Establishment, and threats to his life could lurk anywhere.
The old man could have taken every Spiritual Stone at once. The old man could have taken Ise's life.
Instead, the old man had deliberately left some behind and let him go.
So the petty torment would reach the ears of the Great Exorcist Order's Hall Masters.
* * *
The moment Ise crossed the Zheng Empire’s border, a Message Talisman flew toward him.
It was a message from headquarters, asking where he was.
Ise immediately shared his location and headed for the Heungnyeong Mountain Range.
After passing through headquarters' defensive warding barrier, he found several unfamiliar people waiting at the entrance.
One of them was in the Core Formation Realm.
Ise immediately jumped down from the flight artifact and bowed.
“Riding a flight spirit artifact within headquarters violates the rules.”
“My apologies. I didn't know.”
Ise immediately put away the White Luan Boat and stored it in his storage pouch. The man studied him for a moment, then smiled faintly.
“Excuse me, but may I ask which Inner Hall's Hall Master you are?”
“The Chief Master.”
The Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator beside him answered.
Ise let out a quiet sound of realization.
Chief Master Sugyeom. The head of the Great Exorcist Order, the person who made the final decisions on all major and minor affairs.
“Greetings, Chief Master.”
“Congratulations on reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm. What year are you in since entering the order?”
“This is my eighth year.”
“A historic moment. What happened to your eye?”
Ise hesitated briefly before telling them about the Core Formation Realm cultivator he had encountered on the way back.
He had returned alive, after all, so it was unlikely to turn into a war because of him.
After hearing the portrait sketch description, Sugyeom clicked his tongue.
“That old monster is still doing this.”
“Do you know him?”
“He is Han Juok of the Han Clan. That old monster was already in the Core Formation Realm some three hundred years ago. Seventy years ago, Han Juok killed a Great Exorcist Order disciple and incurred Senior Haeil's and Hall Master Hong Mi-hee's wrath. The clan nearly faced extermination, but they offered half their assets as compensation. Since then, Han Juok has held a grudge and taken petty revenge. You are not the only victim.”
Han Juok of the Han Clan. Ise remembered the name.
“Because of the binding contract with Senior Haeil, that old monster cannot harm Great Exorcist Order disciples anyway. Yet Han Juok keeps troubling disciples in these ambiguous little ways and calls it revenge. It has been a headache. If Han Juok had simply crossed the line, we could have made the old monster pay the proper price.”
“I thought it was strange that Han Juok deliberately left behind the possibility of retaliation.”
“It is a demonstration, nothing more. Keep this matter to yourself. The timing is not good.”
“Yes.”
Ise answered obediently. He had no intention of running to the Hall Masters like a child and asking them to scold someone for him.
He would simply remember, endure, and repay it in time.
“Who touched him?”
At the sudden voice, Sugyeom rubbed his forehead as though he had a headache.
Ise saw Winged Dragon Hall Master Woo Yu-hui, who had appeared without him even noticing, and bowed.
“Greetings, Winged Dragon Hall Master.”
Woo Yu-hui raised a hand and healed Ise's eye before asking Sugyeom, “Han Juok, that old bastard is still alive? Why is that lifespan so long? How many Longevity Pellets has that bastard swallowed?”
“Calm down, Hall Master Woo.”
“Okay. I'll go kill Han Juok.”
“I said calm down. Senior is away.”
“Then I'll kill Han Juok without anyone knowing.”
“Do you think that will be easy? Han Juok is in the same realm as us.”
Sugyeom kept holding back Woo Yu-hui as she tried to rush off, then gestured to Ise.
“You should return for now. We will call for you again soon, according to procedure.”
“Procedure? What procedure do you mean?”
“Now that you have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, you must choose an affiliation.”
Woo Yu-hui froze at those words.
Then she hurried close to Ise.
“You'll come to Winged Dragon Hall, right?”
After leaving those words behind, Sugyeom grabbed her by the back of the neck and dragged her away.
Ise stood there blankly, too stunned to react.
* * *
Park Gangseo let out a deep sigh inside Dine and Go.
The shop's owner had not returned.
They had run out of immortal-cuisine ingredients long ago, so business had stopped. The Spiritual Stones they had saved for maintenance costs were also gone.
“What do we do now? Starting next month, they'll deduct the space fee from the deposit. At this rate, they'll take the shop back.”
No matter how much they thought about it, there was no good answer.
What could the employees do when the owner was absent?
“Seolryeong, lend us some.”
“Why should I? I'm not even an employee here!”
“Ise can pay you back when he returns.”
“And I'm only a Qi Condensation Realm spirit-artifact artisan. It's not as if I have money to spare...”
“The child of a noble family is making quite a pitiful sound.”
At Pi Garam's cold remark, Seolryeong exploded.
“Even if we're from the same Seol Clan, I'm treated differently. The purebloods take all the resources... They only give me scraps that are left over...”
“...”
“Life is so unfair...”
“I see. I did not know your circumstances. My apologies.”
Pi Garam apologized at once.
No wonder Seolryeong did not spend time with the other clan members and kept visiting Dine and Go despite having no business there. Pi Garam had not known there was such a reason.
“Should we submit a request to Mission Pavilion?” Buchun asked.
Park Gangseo waved both hands.
“Forget it. With what money? Senior is at the tenth star of Qi Condensation, so we would need to specify at least a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. They wouldn't even look at it for less than a hundred a day. Haven't you heard that Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators won't take a mission for under a hundred Spiritual Stones even if it involves shitting in front of their ancestors' shrine?”
Buchun looked close to tears.
Seolryeong, who had been sitting there with an indifferent expression, stared blankly out the window.
“Don't worry too much. Ise's fortune says great luck.”
“That is a relief, but...”
Ever since Ise entered the secret realm, Seolryeong had read his heavenly omens nearly every day.
There had been both good and bad fortunes along the way, but his divinations had generally been positive.
Recently in particular, it had been great luck followed by minor misfortune.
Even that misfortune was something he could avoid if he did not rush.
That was when a Message Talisman flew to Park Gangseo.
“...Everyone.”
Park Gangseo's face brightened after reading it.
“Senior Ise is back! They said he just left Mission Pavilion!”
Everyone rushed out of Dine and Go at once.
What they found were two enormous pythons floating through the air toward them.
“Gyaaah!”
The moment Park Gangseo opened the shop door and saw the two massive pythons, he fell backward onto the ground.
Using telekinesis to transport the two Shaman Tree Giant Pythons, Ise dropped them in front of Dine and Go and greeted his companions.
“It's been a while.”
“Senior!”
Their faces first showed delight, then shock.
“Y-your realm...”
The Foundation Establishment Realm. Ise had entered the secret realm and vanished, only to return after breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
“Ha, haha...”
The speed of his advancement was so absurd that it barely felt real.
“Congratulations, Senior.”
Buchun was the first to recover and offer congratulations. The others followed one by one.
“I thought my investment was gone.”
“You only think of yourself. You ended your seclusion and didn't send even one Message Talisman. I'm really hurt.”
Pi Garam expressed his relief in the usual way, while Seolryeong grumbled.
“Sorry. I had only just come out when I heard the secret realm had opened. I was in a rush because there was no time. How is the shop?”
“It is nearly bankrupt. We've been closed for a while, and this month they were about to deduct the space fee from the deposit.”
“Let's go inside. I'll get it back in order. The next dish is snake soup.”
The expressions of Ise's companions brightened at once.
The inside of Dine and Go looked exactly as it had when he left.
The shelves were nearly empty, and an empty Spiritual Stone box sat on the inner table where the account books lay open.
One look told him that everyone had operated the shop as frugally as they could.
Ise poured about a thousand Spiritual Stones into the box for the shop's operating funds.
His companions' eyes widened.
Then he laid out the ingredients he had brought in the kitchen.
Hwangju ginseng, angelica root, astragalus root. Most were ordinary medicinal ingredients rather than spiritual herbs.
Ise skillfully skinned the Shaman Tree Giant Python, sliced away the meat, and placed it in a pot.
He added handfuls of Hwangju ginseng, angelica root, and astragalus root, then crushed two dried spirit fruits and mixed them in.
At last, he scattered in a handful of glutinous spirit rice. White steam immediately rose from the pot.
“The Shaman Tree Giant Python is a first-grade demon beast, so the spirit-gathering effect should be decent with only glutinous spirit rice and dried candied fruit added. The rest are ordinary medicinal ingredients, so they are easy to obtain. I'll organize the recipe for you, so Pi Garam and Buchun, practice making it as much as you can.”
Ise checked the effects of the dish he had made as a demonstration.
“The taste passes too.”
Its effects were also similar to the Thunder Boar pork and candied fruit dish.
This was more than enough to sell.
“Wow, this is a complete health food. It tastes similar to ginseng chicken soup too, doesn't it?”
“That is why it is Ginseng Snake Soup. Let's price it a little lower. We need to bring back our regular customers.”
“Right! A lot of people have been asking when we would reopen.”
Ise snickered as he watched Park Gangseo joke around.
After serving each companion a bowl of Ginseng Snake Soup, Ise asked, “By the way, what about Hae Unchan? Did he get out safely?”
“Yeah. He returned much earlier than you. It seems he gained quite a lot. He entered seclusion as soon as he came back.”
“That is good news.”
After they finished the immortal cuisine and dispersed to handle their own tasks, Seolryeong remained alone that night, staring out the window as though lost in thought.
“Haven’t you been freeloading meals here for a little too long?”
“...”
“Why do you look so gloomy? Is something wrong?”
“It is not that...”
Seolryeong kept quiet for a long time before finally speaking in a small voice.
“...From now on, I should call you Senior, right?”
“Only now?”
Footnotes:
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