WeTried Translations

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◈ Xianxia Cultivation with a Dragon Heart ◈

Chapter 6: Choosing the Spoils

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The pouch’s mouth was drawn tightly shut, and it would not open no matter how hard he tried. Strangely, the longsword had no edge at all. It did not seem to have worn away with age. It seemed to have been made that way from the start.

When Han Yujin picked up the final gourd flask, something sloshed inside, greatly catching his interest.

‘There’s still something in it?’

It was not hard to understand if the undamaged flask had remained perfectly sealed. Carefully removing the stopper, Han Yujin took a light sniff and immediately frowned.

It was not overpowering, but it clearly smelled rotten. There was no way it was still drinkable.

‘I thought it might quench my thirst...’

If he drank it, he would probably get an upset stomach and lose even more water.

Disappointed, he roughly guessed the purposes of the other two items.

One was obviously a pouch meant for storing things. It might even be the famous Storage Pouch, something like a spatial bag from fantasy stories.

The other had a dull blade, but it was surely a weapon made for battle. It would probably only work properly through dharma power, the strength wielded by cultivators.

Without much hesitation, he took all three items. They were not useful right now, but he hoped he could select them as spoils once this exploration ended.

‘Once I enter cultivation, I might be able to use all of them.’

He did not know how renowned or powerful the Five Elements Sect had been, but if these were items that an Inner Sect member had kept beside them until the very end, they could not be worthless.

Han Yujin stuffed the spoils into his pockets however he could, held the rest in both hands, and resumed his exploration. If he found anything else, he planned to take off his shirt and make a bundle out of it.

Unfortunately, though, he had to leave the gorge without finding anything more.

* * *

The Inner Sect grounds were by no means small compared with the Outer Sect grounds he had explored first.

Yet he finished exploring them surprisingly quickly, not because he was capable or lucky, but simply because the paths were blocked.

He could not forget that the Five Elements Sect had been an organization of cultivators. The Inner Sect grounds, in particular, must have housed only the most skilled members of the Five Elements Sect.

Perhaps for that reason, they had put very little effort into connecting the paths. Even the paths that had once connected were all broken now, worn down and collapsed under the power of time.

The buildings erected atop steep cliff faces were a prime example.

When the environment had been brimming with life, their arrangement and structure must have added to the charm of an immortal realm. Now, though, they only looked treacherous, and Han Yujin could not even consider climbing up there.

Another area seemed to lead into a massive cave, but its entrance was blocked by an enormous boulder. Without heavy equipment, there seemed to be no possible way through.

In any case, that was why his exploration of the Inner Sect grounds came to an early end.

‘I’ll have to come back when I’m stronger.’

Since this was a world where life had gone extinct, he did not need to worry about anyone stealing its treasures.

Returning to the Outer Sect grounds, he continued his exploration while enduring worsening thirst and hunger. As the day finally began to fade, he also found shelter that could shield him from the cold of night.

It was a truly miserable, long night.

He had spent the entire day moving without a single mouthful of water. His thirst had now clearly reached the point of pain. The night in this desolate world was also far colder and darker than he had expected.

He feared that some unknown danger might strike, like on Earth After the Apocalypse. Even though he thought nothing like that would happen, even though he knew that dying would only make him wake up in reality, it was difficult to stay calm.

‘Fuck...’

He did not even have the strength to voice the curse rising in his mind.

How long had he endured in a state where he felt half-conscious, where he almost wished he would simply pass out?

When daylight finally began to break, Han Yujin staggered to his feet and continued exploring. He felt like death, but having accepted that he would die whether he moved or stopped, he was able to keep moving.

Fortunately, the results were substantial.

It turned out the Outer Sect grounds were enormous, with more than one Scripture Pavilion and Alchemy Hall. In the second Scripture Pavilion he found, he obtained quite a few new and useful books.

They mainly covered arts rather than cultivation methods. Like the copy of Returning to the Origin Art, they had been produced in large quantities and made sturdily, so they were in relatively good condition. He also got his hands on three or four books containing common knowledge about the cultivation world and information about the Five Elements Sect.

‘This is where I’ll be buried.’

Han Yujin made that decision.

It would be nice if he could continue moving and find something even more important, but despite only around a day having passed, he felt as weak as someone who had suffered from a serious illness for decades.

Perhaps it was simply because he had never gone through anything like this before. But there was also a chance that the Dharma Ending calamity of this place was affecting him.

Naturally, he began by reading the arts.

None of them were advanced. They all seemed to be basic arts that every cultivator had to know. They were indeed the kind of books likely to be kept in large numbers in an Outer Sect Scripture Pavilion, and precisely for that reason, they were the most useful things for Han Yujin right now.

There was no point studying advanced arts when he had not even entered cultivation yet. It would be like pearls before swine.

In any case, there were seven arts in total.

Flame Projectile Art, which could attack enemies, burn them, and cause explosions.

Jade Skin Art, which could defend against external physical and spiritual impacts.

Wind-Cloud Art, which allowed rapid movement and short flights.

Healing Art, which could treat injuries, illnesses, poison, and more.

Object Manipulation Art, which could move objects from afar.

Spirit Vision Art, which enhanced sight and allowed one to see spiritual things.

Concealment Art, which hid spiritual presence from others.

‘Attack, defense, evasion, healing, utility... Everything needed for survival is here.’

It would have been even better if there were an art with crowd-control effects that could interfere with an enemy’s actions, but apparently such arts did not count as basic techniques.

Han Yujin became completely absorbed in the books on the arts. Even as his condition deteriorated rapidly, he maintained a level of concentration that surprised even him.

If this had been real life, he could never have done this. But because it was not, the feeling that time was running out only let him focus even more.

Much later, after reading every book on the arts once, he picked up the books containing common knowledge about the cultivation world and miscellaneous information about the Five Elements Sect. Information like this could sometimes be more important to him than any other art.

As expected, that thought was not wrong. Han Yujin soon found useful information.

He learned the identities of the items he had obtained in the Inner Sect grounds.

The pouch really was the famous Storage Pouch. Its interior capacity did not seem particularly large, but as something akin to a spatial bag, it was inevitably extremely valuable.

The sword was a mid-to-high-grade magical artifact called the Five Elements Sword. In game terms, it was a magic item. By infusing it with dharma power, one could freely draw out the attributes of the five elements: fire, thunder, wind, water, and earth. It could be used for both attack and defense.

One point deserved attention here. The five elements in this cultivation world were not the fire, water, wood, metal, and earth commonly known on Earth.

The five elements here, fire, thunder, wind, water, and earth, represented the five states of matter. Even where they did not directly represent those states, they were natural phenomena deeply connected to them.

Earth, the representation of solids.

Water, the representation of liquids.

Wind, the representation of gases.

Thunder, the representation of plasma.

Finally, fire, the representation of the energy accompanying the destruction of matter.

‘This does feel more intuitive.’

And more logical, too. It might seem a little unfamiliar to people fond of the Eastern five elements known on Earth.

In any case.

The final gourd flask was a mid-grade magical artifact called the Spirit-Liquid Flask. Just one mouthful of what it produced could replace a day’s worth of food.

It was not especially popular because it was less beneficial than consuming proper food for cultivators, such as spirit rice. Still, it could help cultivation by removing impurities accumulated in the body, and in emergencies, it allowed one to endure for a long time without trouble.

It could not have been more useful to Han Yujin. Of course, that assumed he could use it properly.

Having read all the books he had found at least once, Han Yujin suddenly felt tremendously exhausted and miserable, then collapsed onto the floor.

He wanted to read them over and over, memorizing as much as he could, but his body would not cooperate. Considering how much he had suffered in last night’s cold, it was a miracle he had lasted this long.

‘Let’s rest for a moment.’

With that thought, Han Yujin closed his eyes.

And shortly afterward.

- You have died.

The familiar silver letters floated mysteriously in the darkness.

- Select your spoils.

* * *

It was fortunate, in a manner of speaking.

It seemed that night had come while he slept as if unconscious, and the biting cold had swept over his already weakened body. He had died without even getting the chance to wake up.

‘Am I... lucky?’

If he had woken up there, he would have only suffered more before dying. In the end, it seemed to have worked out in his favor.

Putting aside those thoughts, he examined the abundant harvest floating before him.

As Han Yujin checked the amount of karma required for each item, his expression gradually brightened. The amount of karma needed to select books was far lower than he had expected.

‘Is it because the knowledge written in books can be replaced through repeated experience?’

That was probably it.

Considering that the cost of activating this ability had not been much to begin with, it made sense that karma was only used to spare him that amount of effort.

Thanks to that, he could select every book without hesitation. More precisely, just before reaching out to select them, he realized a function he had not known about and his eyes widened.

By spending additional karma, he could restore a harvested item to its original condition!

‘This is it...! This is how it should be...!’

Overcome with joy, he thrashed about passionately for a moment before selecting every book, restoring each to perfect condition as he did so. Since the initial karma cost had been low, the extra karma needed for restoration was bearable too.

Ancient Eastern-style books, now pristine as though they had just been made, moved to his side and stacked themselves neatly. Han Yujin instinctively knew they would appear in reality as well.

Then he looked over the remaining three items he had not yet selected.

His deliberation did not last long.

They were extremely useful items that an Inner Sect member of the Five Elements Sect had kept until the end. Now that he could restore them to their original condition, they were worth acquiring as an investment in the future.

‘Yeah, this is... this is an investment. I can’t just leave all my money sitting in a bank account.’

He was only beginning to grow. Was it not common sense that the earlier one invested, the better the returns?

So he boldly spent more than half of the karma he had.

He acquired the Storage Pouch, the Five Elements Sword, and the Spirit-Liquid Flask, magical artifacts essential for survival. Once he finally relaxed, relieved by his decision,

“...”

he opened his eyes in his bed in reality.

When he sat up, he saw the spoils laid out neatly around his bed. They looked exactly as they had in that dark space.

‘What exactly is this awakened ability of mine...?’

The surreal sight brought back a question he had put aside until now.

He had never seen a hunter with an ability like this. There might be someone out there, but it was certainly not common.

He could explore other worlds in accordance with his wishes, suffer no ill effects no matter how he died, and even bring the spoils from those worlds back to reality.

Han Yujin remained silent for quite some time, then quickly shook his head and cast the thoughts aside.

He knew too little to reach any conclusion right now, and above all, he had just finished that arduous exploration. He was mentally exhausted.

Suddenly wanting a drink of water, he climbed out of bed.

It was time to shake off the lingering feeling of suffering from thirst and hunger.

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