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Translator/Editor: Dionysus

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◈ Xianxia Cultivation with a Dragon Heart ◈

Chapter 52: Karma for the Core Formation Stage

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Han Yujin opened his eyes in bed and quickly scanned his surroundings.

Then, seeing the Dragon Heart beside him, though he had no idea when it had appeared there, its concealment completely undone unlike in the Waiting Area and radiating an overwhelming presence, he reached for it like lightning and attempted to “connect” with it.

His practice in the Waiting Area had not been in vain. He succeeded at once and immediately concealed its presence.

Its dazzling radiance sharply faded, its size shrank, and the waves of spiritual energy it had emitted fell silent as though they had never existed.

Holding the now-quiet Dragon Heart, Han Yujin sank into deep reverie.

It was an incomparably beautiful treasure. He wondered if anything else in the world could inspire such awe while stirring such greed.

Dreamlike violet formed its foundation, over which flowed lights resembling a galactic nebula. Within it, clouds seemed to drift as though dreams had taken shape, while dharma patterns containing every color in the world appeared and vanished on their own like countless meteor showers.

Squeak! Crackle!

Muyong, startled awake by the Dragon Heart's monstrous presence, roused Han Yujin from his near trance. The creature pressed itself against his side and watched the Dragon Heart warily.

At the same time, it seemed to be feeling a faint urge to eat it.

Even though it surely knew it could never consume such a thing.

“Now, now.”

Warning it that it was absolutely not allowed, Han Yujin put the Dragon Heart into his Storage Pouch. Since it had already suppressed its own presence, the pouch would not burst apart.

“Hmm?”

Then Han Yujin sensed a commotion outside the lodging. A few seconds later, someone knocked on the door.

“Junior, are you alright?”

It was Park Seryong's voice. He happened to be staying at this base fortress.

“...Damn.”

Han Yujin had thought the Bewildering Illusion Array would cover things for a while, but the Dragon Heart's presence must have leaked out clearly just now.

Naturally, most formation array restrictions meant for defense included an effect that concealed what was happening inside. Still, restrictions at this level were clearly incapable of blocking the presence of a Void Refinement Stage-level Dragon Heart.

Han Yujin put away the Bewildering Illusion Array Device and opened the door to greet Park Seryong.

Park Seryong's expression made it obvious that he was forcing down his immense surprise. He seemed to have tried his best to hide it, but he could not fool Han Yujin, who possessed Divine Sense.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. It was a little noisy just now, wasn't it? I was testing something for a moment...”

“It was not exactly... noisy.”

Park Seryong replied with a slight stumble, then bowed deeply with a manner that somehow felt much more respectful than before.

“I'm sorry for disturbing your rest. Now that I've confirmed you're unharmed, I'll be going.”

It was not difficult to guess what misunderstanding Park Seryong had fallen into.

He likely believed that Han Yujin's hidden strength far surpassed even S-Rank. As if what had happened during their clash at the safehouse had merely been the tip of the iceberg.

‘There's no need to explain... In fact, this is better.’

If Park Seryong kept misunderstanding, it would help prevent any friction that might arise.

Several other Hunters witnessed Park Seryong retreating like that. Within a few days, rumors would probably spread one way or another.

A little later.

Having prepared to go out, Han Yujin left the lodging with Muyong in his arms, as he always did.

He had obtained the Dragon Heart, but his Karma was now at rock bottom. Before crossing into the primeval forest to cultivate, he needed to accumulate Karma so that he could bring the results of that cultivation into reality.

‘A few days should do it.’

Hunting was one thing, but he had strongly insisted on being paid in Mana Stones all this time. It was about time those efforts produced results. It would be even better if Park Seryong worked a little harder because of this unexpected incident.

‘If I reach the Core Formation Stage... it might not be impossible for me to go to China myself and comb Beijing from top to bottom.’

This would be especially true if he acquired an ability related to mental laws.

In the end, power was the surest key to solving every problem. With an increasingly clear sense of purpose, he left the base fortress.

* * *

Two days had passed since the aftermath of the Wave within the Great Rift had been dealt with.

After handling all the urgent matters, Park Seryong briefly left the Great Rift to take care of another urgent task.

The “Wonhui investigation” Han Yujin had entrusted to him.

Using his various connections, it was easy enough to find the addresses of people named Wonhui within a particular gender and age range. Obtaining photographs of the people living at those addresses was not difficult either.

Still, he needed to personally confirm elements that could not be learned from documents or photographs alone.

That was why Park Seryong arrived at a shantytown in Hwaseong City. According to the photograph, it was where the child who felt most similar to the Wonhui he knew lived.

No matter how comparatively little slum development Korea had, it could not be entirely absent. Park Seryong had understood that in theory, but he had never seen such a place in person. As he stepped out of the car, he felt strangely unfamiliar.

It was as though time had not passed in this neighborhood for twenty or thirty years.

Yet the vaguely unpleasant feeling he felt was not caused solely by the unfamiliar scenery.

Even he found it difficult to explain exactly.

Was it discomfort at the possibility that the terrifying being called Wonhui truly existed? Was it discomfort at the fact that the horrific scene he had witnessed might be ten years in the future? Or was it discomfort toward Han Yujin, a being who could foresee the future and possessed tremendous power as well?

‘...Perhaps it is something more fundamental. The discomfort of the world I knew breaking apart and expanding.’

A famous line from the novel Demian suddenly came to mind. The egg was the world, and whoever wanted to be born had to destroy a world.

Still caught between discomfort and an indescribable feeling, he walked deeper into the shantytown. It was shortly after lunch, around the time lower-grade elementary school students would finish class and return home.

The home of the nine-year-old child named Wonhui was certainly far too old. There was one person inside, and according to his investigation, it should be Wonhui's grandmother.

‘The father is dead, and the mother is supposedly a gambling addict who is nearly ruined.’

It was far from a normal household. Even if it had been more or less normal, an environment like this would make it difficult for a child to grow up bright and lively.

As he waited with that thought in mind, a small child soon came into view, trudging along from the end of the road. The moment Park Seryong saw the child, goosebumps rose on his skin. He could not help recalling the Wonhui of the future.

A moment later.

The child, walking with the air of someone who had already lived out an entire lifetime, suddenly noticed Park Seryong in his suit, wholly out of place in this shantytown, and tilted their head.

At the same time, Park Seryong carefully observed the child while suppressing his negative reaction as much as possible.

“Hey.”

Park Seryong spoke to the child, who had sensed something strange and come to a complete stop.

“You've already awakened a superpower at your age.”

“...”

“Have you heard of Hunter vocational schools? Lots of children who have awakened superpowers, like you, attend them.”

Silence followed for a moment.

“Mister.”

Their name was Lee Wonhui, and they were nine years old.

The small child spoke in an attitude and tone no different from any other child, though their voice seemed somehow lower.

“Mister, can you see this?”

At the same time, the shadow stretching beneath the child's feet, followed by every shadow cast around them, rippled once and released sounds like countless whispers.

* * *

At last, he had received his share.

Han Yujin opened the door to the small warehouse he had been directed to, where his share was supposedly stored, and found a considerable quantity of Mana Stones.

Most were level six or below, in other words, low-grade Spirit Stones. However, there were also quite a few level seven or higher, middle-grade Spirit Stones. It was an extremely satisfying sight.

“Thank you. You may leave now.”

“Yes, sir.”

After sending away the Hunter who had guided him there, Han Yujin closed the door and began converting every Mana Stone in the warehouse into Karma without hesitation.

Crumble...!

The Mana Stones all shattered and vanished into a quantity of dust smaller than a handful. Han Yujin could not suppress a smile as he felt his depleted Karma replenishing accordingly.

The Karma provided by a low-grade Spirit Stone was roughly half of what he would gain by killing an ordinary monster here. A middle-grade Spirit Stone seemed to provide slightly less than a hundred times that amount.

Considering that, in the cultivation world, one middle-grade Spirit Stone was commonly exchanged for one hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, the ratio was surprisingly accurate.

‘Well, the exchange rate could not have been decided arbitrarily in a cultivation world with such a long history.’

There must have been reasons for it, and those reasons had now been proven once more through Han Yujin's own method.

After converting just under a thousand Mana Stones into Karma while idle thoughts ran through his mind, he found that the amount was roughly equivalent to what he could expect from killing four thousand monsters. It was only slightly less than what he had gained by exposing the Church of the Goddess of Eternity's drug crimes.

Including what he had accumulated in advance, it did not seem terribly insufficient for bringing his cultivation results into reality.

‘Surely selecting the results of Core Formation Stage cultivation will not cost more than four or five times what the Dharma Soul Stage did?’

Although the Core Formation Stage was at least ten times more capable than the Dharma Soul Stage in many respects, Karma is not calculated that way.

Drawing on all his experience and intuition thus far, he began estimating the cost. With the enhanced intelligence of a Dharma Soul Stage cultivator, it was not particularly difficult.

“Hmm.”

He worried that it might be slightly insufficient.

‘Well... I don't necessarily have to bring back Core Formation Stage cultivation results all at once.’

He could cultivate until just before forming his core, safely bring those results back, accumulate plenty of Karma for around fifteen days, then use his awakening ability to attempt the Core Formation Stage again. That would not be bad either.

Casually humming a song whose lyrics he did not know, he returned to his lodging.

It was still early to sleep, but there was nothing urgent to handle. It would be perfectly fine to take a nap.

As he continued humming aimlessly while preparing for bed, including setting up the Bewildering Illusion Array magical artifact, he suddenly noticed Muyong, still in his arms, bobbing its head to the rhythm.

“What are you doing?”

Squeak!

“You like your big brother's singing that much? You've got great taste!”

It was so unbearably adorable that he gave the creature a thorough petting.

Then, acting on a whim, he generously gave it spirit liquid wine and Jade Dew Wine before lying on the bed with it on his chest. Other than being cuter the more he looked at it, the creature was entirely useless. It stretched out languidly, slightly drunk.

“This time, let's go together. To your homeland.”

Stroking its head, he closed his eyes and activated his awakening ability.

At last, the cultivation for forming his core had begun.

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