WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Dionysus

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◈ Xianxia Cultivation with a Dragon Heart ◈

Chapter 72: The Road to Growing Old Together

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Dok Junseong handled the matter superbly.

A sudden rumor caused a small stir throughout the martial world.

Do Muwon, the Martial World Mediator and a junior second-rank official, was discovered colluding with the Dark Shadow Demon Cult and infringing on the Imperial House's interests, then executed by beheading. At the same time, Do Muwon's family and relatives were stripped of all official posts and exiled to a remote region.

News had coincidentally spread that Han Yujin had nearly destroyed the Dark Shadow Demon Cult by himself, so people naturally accepted Do Muwon's downfall. They assumed Do Muwon had lost the political struggle because Do Muwon's backer was gone.

Only those who knew more of the circumstances admired the authority of the Golden Lotus Martial Venerable, a figure powerful enough to make even the Imperial House watch its step.

It was only fitting.

Few groups in all of history had been as powerful as the Dark Shadow Demon Cult. Yet Han Yujin had charged directly into that powerful group's headquarters and completely smashed it, as though raiding some den of common thugs.

As the rumors spread ever farther and more people confirmed they were true, a new epithet for Han Yujin was inevitable. And because it was an epithet for a person who might be the greatest martial artist of all time, it could only be grand.

There was the time he cultivated in Okhan City and made everyone tremble through sheer presence alone. Then there was the time he created the peerless art known as the Origin Power Heart Method, defying conventional wisdom before trading it to others.

Many candidates emerged, but eventually the epithet Supreme Martial Extremity Venerable became the prevailing choice.

Considering the meaning of the title Supreme One, it was unprecedented for it to be used so openly as an epithet. Likewise, if someone had called themselves Martial Extremity, they would have been cursed for their arrogance even if they were a Life and Death Realm master.

Some said this was only possible because the many factions that had formed ties and traded with Han Yujin, formerly known as the Golden Lotus Martial Venerable and now called the Supreme Martial Extremity Venerable, raised no objections.

But that interpretation missed the essence of the matter.

The greatest reason was that no faction dared anger him while believing it could remain unscathed. He had also earned honor by crushing the Dark Shadow Demon Cult, which had committed every manner of evil.

Once again, the martial world's saying that strength alone determined everything had been proven true.

Meanwhile, given Dok Junseong's background and the fact that he had used the Righteous Alliance's communication channels to apply political pressure to the Imperial House, the Heretical Alliance might have tried something.

But no one knew who had learned of it, how they had done so, or what their purpose was. Information about the headquarters of Evernight, an assassin organization, was revealed, and the Heretical Alliance immediately fell into internal chaos.

By their nature, assassin organizations were despised and hated even among other unorthodox factions. When accepting commissions, they did not distinguish between orthodox, heretical, and demonic paths.

Unorthodox factions were already prone to discord, pursuing only the interests of themselves and their own groups. Even so, assassin organizations crossed the line particularly often, so many people wanted to wipe them out whenever the opportunity arose.

Thus, Han Yujin got the result without lifting a finger.

Now that he was certain he could resolve the Heartless Tribulation, there was no need to go through the trouble of seeking them out to conduct various experiments. He only needed to prevent a second or third person like the Ruthless Killer King from coming after him.

After about a year passed, everyone had accepted the title Supreme Martial Extremity Venerable without raising any doubts.

Then about another year passed.

Rumors about what had happened at the Dark Shadow Demon Cult's headquarters, along with the traces left behind there, had already spread far and wide. They began giving rise to another new rumor.

It was said that the Supreme Martial Extremity Venerable was an absolute master who had reached a new realm above the Life and Death Realm, the so-called Nature Realm. How else could a person wield heavenly thunder, the power of the heavens, so freely?

Around that time.

Rumors that he would hold a wedding with Eun Miryeong, the Clear Stream White Phoenix of the Hyeonbaek Sect, once again stirred the martial world.

* * *

Han Yujin thought about it for a long time.

Now that he was no longer keeping an ambiguous distance from her, his feelings for Eun Miryeong had gradually deepened as they spent more time together.

The more he came to know her, the more he realized how exceptionally good she was at putting people at ease. At the same time, she always showed such sincere devotion that she quietly, continually moved him.

Yet contrary to his growing hopes.

There had been little progress in her pursuit of the path of immortality.

He had carefully refined spiritual pills from the spirit plants obtained from the Dark Shadow Demon Cult. He had even used every spirit plant over a thousand years old that the Imperial House had sent as gifts. Still, it made little difference.

Her talent was already lacking, and the thin concentration of spiritual energy made her cultivation nearly stagnant without spiritual pills. The spiritual pills themselves were also not especially potent, since their ingredients had grown in such an environment.

Han Yujin had already realized the truth.

Like the many cultivators in the cultivation world who lacked talent, she would never reach the Dharma Soul Stage before the end of her lifespan. Even if she forced the attempt, the result was sure to be poor.

At least she could be called an Entry Stage cultivator, and having taken so many spiritual pills had extended her lifespan. It would be no less than the lifespan increase she could expect from practicing origin power martial arts, and perhaps even greater.

About one hundred years remained.

Considering Eun Miryeong's current age, that was the time she had left.

In truth, that was a sufficiently long time. For Han Yujin, who did not originally belong to this world, it could be a burden depending on how he viewed it.

Even so, he could only feel regret.

The reason he could feel regret without feeling burdened at all was because he could sense his lifespan increasing greatly as he began the Dragon Heart's Qi Stage refinement in earnest.

Even by the most conservative estimate, it was reasonable to expect that he could live at least five hundred years without reaching the Core Formation Stage. That estimate did not even include the final Body Stage refinement.

Considering that an ordinary Dharma Soul Stage cultivator lived around two hundred years, it was truly astonishing.

Besides, he would need to spend roughly a hundred years anyway.

‘It looks like that is about how long it will take to completely finish the Body Stage refinement.’

It was a Void Refinement Stage-level Dragon Heart. It would be stranger if he could finish refining such an incredible object in just twenty or thirty years.

In any case.

Thinking of it differently, he still had around a hundred years left. Rather than worry and agonize over it already, he decided to think only of good things and act accordingly.

So he decided to marry her without hesitation.

Seogwang Gahu's opinion had also been a small point of reference. The idea was that a wedding could give the many great sects, still held back by their pride from coming to trade with him, a good excuse to do so.

After going through the formal procedures required before the wedding, such as the engagement and presentation of gifts.

A grand wedding was finally held at Gold Lotus Manor.

The scale itself was not especially large, but the attendees were remarkable.

First, the sect leader of the Hyeonbaek Sect, Eun Miryeong's sect, personally acted as the wedding host and warmly welcomed their union.

Nearly every major figure from the Righteous Alliance and the Heretical Alliance attended. Under the guise of congratulatory gifts and return gifts, they also completed their martial arts trades.

Even the Imperial House sent someone to offer a second compensation disguised as a gift. This time, the compensation definitely included permission to enter the Imperial Treasury Vault, allowing Han Yujin to ignore all the complicated political maneuvering among the various factions involved.

After the complex ceremony and lively banquet had gone on.

By the time it was all over, even Han Yujin felt a little tired. If not for a cultivator's enhanced intelligence, he might have made mistake after mistake today and provided the guests with a great deal of laughter, much as Eun Miryeong had done a few times.

Fortunately, he managed it well enough that he did not seem overly practiced, while also avoiding embarrassment.

Thus, he spent a happy first night as Eun Miryeong's husband.

They were each other's first spouse and were already deeply in love, so their union brought truly intoxicating happiness. In his own judgment, it was comparable in some measure to the happiness of the Heavenly Bliss Realm within the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Naturally, since they were both cultivators, it was only a small incident that their first night lasted longer than expected, continuing for several days.

* * *

Guuung...!

Gentle yet heavy waves of spiritual energy flowed from Han Yujin, who sat cultivating with the Dragon Heart, now the size of a fist, held in his hand. At the same time, they flowed from the Dragon Heart itself.

It was part of the shaping process that occurred intermittently during refinement. Unlike before, similar waves now flowed from Han Yujin himself as well.

At present, he felt hot and cold at once. His body felt so full that it might burst, yet also firm enough to withstand any force.

As the refinement neared completion, he could also clearly feel the quality of the dharma power produced by his soul improving. This was partly because, due to the nature of this refinement stage, he was seriously practicing the Taiji Returning to the Origin Art alongside it.

‘There is still no sign of origin power forming, though...’

That was only natural, given that the properties of his already changing dharma power felt superior to any origin power.

Fortunately, he seemed to be gradually gaining a sense for the divine ability, Origin Power Great Hand, contained in the Taiji Returning to the Origin Art.

The divine ability he gained this way would probably not use origin power despite its original name, but there was no need to rename it.

After cultivating for more than half a day, he finally finished operating the Threefold Harmonization Formula and the Taiji Returning to the Origin Art, then opened his eyes.

About three or four months had passed since he married Eun Miryeong.

His cultivation hours had not changed since then, but there had been a clear change to his daily routine. He now made sure to eat dinner, which he had once almost never done.

After lightly straightening his clothes, he left the cultivation chamber and headed for the main residence on one side of the manor. He looked around to see whether Muyong was nearby, but she was nowhere in sight.

She played well on her own without disturbing Han Yujin or Eun Miryeong while they cultivated, but at times like this, she would scurry over to one of them. It seemed today was Eun Miryeong's turn.

When he entered the dining room after passing through the familiar corridors of the main residence, he found Eun Miryeong personally helping the female servants prepare the meal.

Muyong sat at one end of the table, waiting for food to fill the bowl in front of her.

‘So it was not Eun Miryeong's turn. It was food's turn.’

Suppressing a chuckle, he took Eun Miryeong's hand and began chatting with her. He casually asked about her cultivation results and what she had bought after saying she would go out that morning.

The sight was so warm that it could have served as a model marriage. The young female servants stole glances at them, seemingly nurturing ever greater fantasies about marriage.

A little later.

“Let's eat now.”

Once everything was ready, Han Yujin sat down first. Muyong was already arrogantly eating her portion, but she was cute, so he forgave her.

Then, suddenly.

Eun Miryeong's expression darkened slightly as she raised her spoon to take a bite, and she froze. Han Yujin did not think much of it, but his Dharma Soul Stage cultivator's senses caught the moment. Still without giving it much thought, he put food in his mouth and chewed before recalling something and quickly swallowing.

“You, perhaps...”

“Ah.”

Their eyes met almost at the same time.

Because they were husband and wife, he had not been examining her closely with Divine Sense much lately. Now, he carefully examined her with it.

Once he realized it was certainly not his imagination, his feelings grew complicated.

It was not as though he had never thought of children after marrying her.

This world had little concept of contraception, and it was taken for granted that married couples should have children. Those who did not would become the subject of gossip, making such thoughts even more unavoidable.

He had plans because he did not intend to remain tied to this world forever for the sake of children. Even so, when he learned that Eun Miryeong was pregnant, he could not entirely control his complicated feelings.

Of course, those were only his inner thoughts. Outwardly, he smiled brightly without showing a trace of it.

“Husband, I...”

Eun Miryeong instinctively placed one hand over her stomach, looking deeply moved. Seeing her like that, he could not help but react as he did.

“Congratulations.”

“Is it certain? Shouldn't we call a physician... and have me examined?”

“Hahaha... You have become a cultivator, yet you are still saying that.”

Of course, she had no Divine Sense at the Entry Stage, so it was understandable that she wanted such certainty.

“If you want, I can call one.”

“Um... no. If you say it is true, Husband, then it must be.”

She still spoke in a moved voice, yet she also seemed at a loss. She had learned such an important fact just as they were about to eat, so it was only natural.

“Come to think of it, we should call a physician.”

Han Yujin watched Eun Miryeong with a gentle smile for a moment before speaking.

“We should at least learn what foods are good for you and what foods are not.”

He immediately called loudly for one of the servants nearby. Then he summoned the manor steward whom Seogwang Gahu had appointed not long ago.

The person was objectively capable, so entrusting them with the task of calling a physician would cause no problem at all.

* * *

A little more than two months passed after that day.

Eun Miryeong miscarried.

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