Chapter 26
Translator: T_Fan
A few days later.
Hundreds of soldiers stood in formation before the main gate of Hui’an Fort.
“What is all this?”
Lee Hyun looked slightly taken aback as he was about to leave through the gate.
Zhuo Wucheng stood at the very front.
He was already in his late sixties, and a fair amount of white had crept into his once-black hair.
“You intend to step down as a Military Retainer after this final term of service, don’t you?”
“How did you know?”
“I’ve known you for more than a day or two. How could I not?”
“I see.”
Lee Hyun nodded.
“You’ve worked hard all these years. I intend to leave now.”
At Lee Hyun’s words, Zhuo Wucheng turned around.
“Everyone, bid my lord the Retainer farewell!”
Clang!
Hundreds of soldiers raised their weapons at once, and the spearheads and sword blades flashed in the sunlight.
The soldiers bowed deeply toward Lee Hyun in unison.
“There was no need to go this far….”
“If not for my lord, most of the people here would have died long ago.”
Several veteran soldiers nodded at Zhuo Wucheng’s words.
An old soldier standing in the rear called out loudly.
“No matter where the Immortal goes, the soldiers of Hui’an Fort will never forget your kindness!”
“Kindness, my foot…. I was paid for my work too.”
The soldiers who had once feared him when he first came to Hui’an Fort now looked reluctant to see him go.
Some of the boy soldiers who had only just enlisted back then had become bearded, middle-aged soldiers. Those who had been middle-aged were now old, and many of those who had already been old were no longer there at all.
Lee Hyun looked at them for a moment before cupping his hands.
“I owe you all a great deal for these past years. Stay safe, and live long lives.”
…
A few days later.
Fengtian Bureau, Yunjing.
Lee Hyun sat at a table in the Retainers Hall.
Across from him, Standing Retainer Lu Xiaoyan, who handled administrative affairs, checked his retainer badge and the ledger.
“You wish to exchange for the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe?”
“Yes.”
“Five hundred merit points will be deducted. If you transmit or sell the contents of the pill recipe to outsiders, it could cause serious trouble.”
“Of course. I understand.”
Lee Hyun nodded.
A short while later, Lu Xiaoyan returned from somewhere carrying a small wooden box.
When she opened the lid, a thin booklet with no title written on it was revealed.
“Check it.”
Lee Hyun opened to the first page.
「Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe for one furnace batch.
The ages listed below refer to medicine age.
1 root of Spirit-Storing Ginseng, 50–70 years.
3 Meridian-Piercing Flowers, 40–60 years.
1 cap of Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi, 30–50 years.
3 nodes of Origin-Returning Vine, 30–45 years.
9 Triple-Layer Leaves, 20–35 years.
3 fully ripe Essence-Condensing Fruits borne by Essence-Condensing Trees aged 40–60 years.
12 Clear Void Seeds harvested from Clear Void Grass aged 15–25 years.
3 drops of Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk.」
“…….”
Lee Hyun stared down at the pill recipe for a long while.
‘This is no joke.’
Written in tiny script were not only the types of medicinal ingredients, but also when to harvest them, how to store and prepare them, and every step from Refining and Harmonizing to Pill Condensation.
Lee Hyun continued turning the pages.
「The medicine ages recorded in this pill recipe are based on spirit plants grown normally under standard conditions in a Tier 1 spirit field. Since the accumulation of medicinal potency varies depending on the environment of the spirit field, actual age alone must not be used as the criterion. Judge by also examining the color, fragrance, flow of spiritual qi, and outward signs described below.」
Lee Hyun’s expression brightened.
‘Good. The information is detailed.’
Lee Hyun closed the pill recipe.
“I’ve checked it.”
…
Earth Fire Cavern, Level C, No. 7.
“You really brought it.”
Wen Shenghe took the pill recipe, flipped through a few pages, then handed it back to Lee Hyun.
“My lord Wen. Do pill recipes normally require this many ingredients and such strict conditions?”
“Even so, it is only a Tier 1 pill recipe.”
“Even though it’s Tier 1?”
“Didn’t I tell you before? That is precisely why properly verified pill recipes are so valuable.”
Lee Hyun looked down at the pill recipe again before asking,
“By the way, how many spirit stones would it cost to obtain all these ingredients?”
“If you bought every ingredient needed for one furnace batch, you should expect to spend around seventy to one hundred twenty low-grade spirit stones.”
“That’s expensive. How many Barrier-Breaking Pills can one furnace batch produce?”
“Nine at most.”
“If it’s nine, then at least….”
“If the god of alchemy descends upon you, that is.”
“…….”
Wen Shenghe spoke as calmly as ever.
“If a Tier 1 alchemist like me, who has worked with this pill recipe for many years, uses medicinal ingredients in good condition, producing around three pills in a mix of low and mid grade would be a respectable result.”
“Then what about an alchemist who is just learning?”
“Once thoroughly familiar with the pill recipe, being able to consistently produce two low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills would already be considered good.”
Lee Hyun held out his fingers.
Even if he obtained the ingredients at their cheapest, they would still cost seventy low-grade spirit stones.
And from that, two Barrier-Breaking Pills.
“…That’s thirty-five low-grade spirit stones per pill.”
“That is only the cost of the medicinal ingredients. There is also the cost of using the pill furnace and earth fire… not to mention the alchemist’s time and effort… Do you understand now?”
Wen Shenghe laughed heartily.
“A Qi Refining rogue cultivator who carelessly dabbles in alchemy will bankrupt himself.”
“…….”
Lee Hyun suddenly recalled the contents of the Fengtian Merit Register.
“So there was a reason everyone tries to obtain finished Barrier-Breaking Pills instead of refining them themselves.”
“There is a reason people buy them ready-made. Why do you think specialized fields and professions exist?”
“That certainly makes sense.”
But Lee Hyun had plenty of time.
‘I can just grow the ingredients myself and then refine the pills.’
Lee Hyun examined the pill recipe again before asking,
“But it says here to use Spirit-Storing Ginseng with a medicine age of fifty to seventy years, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right.”
“If I use one that’s around a hundred years old, would it produce a better Barrier-Breaking Pill?”
“In theory, yes. But you would have to revise the pill recipe. If the medicine age changes, not only the medicinal strength but also the speed and nature at which its medicinal potency is released during Refining will change.”
“Then couldn’t I simply use half as much hundred-year-old Spirit-Storing Ginseng?”
“You could make the total medicinal strength roughly equal, but the rate at which it harmonizes with the other medicinal ingredients would no longer match. Change the Spirit-Storing Ginseng, and you would have to adjust everything in turn, from the quantities of Meridian-Piercing Flower and Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi to the timing for adding the other medicinal ingredients.”
“So following the recipe exactly is best.”
“That’s right.”
Afterward, Lee Hyun watched from beside Wen Shenghe as he actually refined Barrier-Breaking Pills and learned a great deal.
Whenever Wen Shenghe refined a medicinal ingredient, he carefully pointed out each moment when its color, fragrance, and medicinal potency changed. Lee Hyun watched closely, comparing the changes in the actual medicinal ingredients with what was written in the pill recipe.
…
A few days later.
Wen Shenghe brought over a bamboo basket.
Inside were immature Spirit-Storing Ginseng that had failed to grow properly, Meridian-Piercing Flowers, small Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi, and cut sections of Origin-Returning Vine stems, all mixed together.
“Practice with these.”
“Is it all right even though their medicine ages are insufficient?”
“I’m not telling you to complete a Barrier-Breaking Pill. You need to develop a feel for Refining and Harmonizing the ingredients. Proper ingredients are far too expensive to use for practice.”
Lee Hyun picked up a root of Spirit-Storing Ginseng. Several fine roots had been severed, but the green leaves at the top were still intact.
“Do these come from the royal spirit fields too?”
“That’s right. They were culled because they grew too slowly or their roots were damaged. Leaving them there would only waste space and spiritual qi.”
Lee Hyun examined the other medicinal ingredients in the basket as well. The Origin-Returning Vines still had living buds, the Meridian-Piercing Flowers still had their roots, and the young Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi still had mycelium attached to pieces of rotting spirit wood.
‘Some of these might survive if I plant them properly.’
Lee Hyun’s gaze slowly swept across the basket.
“May I take a few of whatever remains after practice?”
“What do you intend to do with them?”
“I think growing them myself would help me learn how the medicinal ingredients develop and how their medicinal potency changes.”
“Hmm… I don’t see why not. They were going to be thrown away anyway.”
“Thank you.”
Afterward, Lee Hyun repeatedly practiced the Refining and Harmonizing processes using discarded medicinal ingredients. By taking a few of the better specimens after each lesson, he eventually obtained planting stock for every spirit plant used in the Barrier-Breaking Pill.
Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk, however, was a mineral spirit liquid rather than a spirit plant, so he would probably have to purchase it separately at a cultivator market later.
…
A month later.
Lee Hyun had learned most of what Wen Shenghe could teach him about the Barrier-Breaking Pill.
Although he had not yet personally refined a Barrier-Breaking Pill with ingredients matching the medicine ages listed in the pill recipe, Wen Shenghe judged that Lee Hyun had reached a level where he could successfully form a low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pill as long as he had good ingredients.
“Thank you for everything. I think it’s about time I left Yunze Kingdom. This is just a small token of my appreciation.”
Lee Hyun took two large Stone Honey Peaches from his storage pouch. A sweet, refreshing fragrance spread through the room.
“Spirit fruit?”
“They’re called Stone Honey Peaches. They taste quite good.”
“Stone Honey Peaches…? I’ve never heard that name before.”
Wen Shenghe examined the fruit for a while before taking a bite.
Crunch.
“……Huh.”
His eyebrows rose.
“It’s as sweet as honey, yet the flesh is cold as ice. Perhaps it’s because I’ve spent the last several days sitting in front of the pill furnace, but it feels as though all the pent-up heat in my chest has been swept away. Where did you obtain a spirit fruit like this?”
“I happened to find it at a cultivator market a long time ago. I went back later, but the seller had already left.”
“What a shame….”
Wen Shenghe placed the remaining Stone Honey Peach into his storage pouch.
“I’ll have to save this one.”
…
Fengtian Bureau, Formation Court.
Lee Hyun looked at the nine red formation stones arranged on the floor and the bronze pill furnace resting above them.
They were the same pill furnace and earth-fire formation that the Fengtian Bureau provided in every alchemy chamber of the Earth Fire Cavern.
“The Nine-Fire Flame-Storing Formation and the pill furnace designed to be used with it. Strictly speaking, they are only a Tier 1 low-grade magic tool and formation… Are you really going to spend merit points to buy these? I certainly don’t mind, but if you work for the Fengtian Bureau, you can use the Earth Fire Cavern anyway. There is hardly any need to purchase your own….”
“I intend to use them for private alchemy practice. I’ll look for somewhere with earth fire later.”
“Hmm. Don’t come asking to return them later. Refer to this booklet for how to connect the formation to earth fire, maintain the pill furnace, and so on.”
Lee Hyun placed the pill furnace, formation, and booklet into his storage pouch, then checked his retainer badge.
The little over one hundred merit points he had left after obtaining the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe were now almost completely gone.
…
Before leaving Yunjing, Lee Hyun also stopped by Cuiyun Market.
While browsing the cultivator market, he found a stall selling seeds from Essence-Condensing Trees and Clear Void Grass.
Lee Hyun bought a small quantity of both kinds of seeds. He had already secured planting stock for everything, but he wanted spares in case some of them failed to take root properly.
He spent one low-grade spirit stone on them.
Lastly, at a shop dealing in spirit insects, he purchased a spirit-insect pouch capable of storing living spirit insects.
While he was there, a storage pouch displayed in one corner caught his eye.
Its internal space was several times larger than the one he currently used.
‘Now I have a pill furnace, and I’ll need to carry more spirit plants around in the future….’
After thinking it over for a moment, he bought that as well.
The two items together cost ten low-grade spirit stones.
After leaving the shop, Lee Hyun counted the spirit stones in his storage pouch.
He had exactly twelve low-grade spirit stones remaining.
‘Hmm… I’ll need to earn some spirit stones before long.’
…
Three days later.
Royal Palace of Yunze Kingdom.
Lee Hyun met Liu Zhenghui for the first time in a long while.
More than ten years ago, Liu Zhenghui had been a young Crown Prince wearing a golden crown, but now the crown of the King of Yunze Kingdom rested upon his head.
The previous King had passed away in the intervening years, and Liu Zhenghui had succeeded to the throne.
The youthful face that had once suited his dark purple robes so well now bore wrinkles around the eyes and a neatly trimmed short beard. He had never given a frivolous impression even in the past, but now he carried a far graver bearing befitting the King of a nation.
“I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve tried to persuade you to stay. You truly are leaving.”
“Yes.”
“You refused when I offered to double your stipend, refused when I offered to lend you part of the royal spirit fields, and even refused when I offered you an entire estate far better than Qingliang Villa.”
“I did consider the last offer for a moment.”
Liu Zhenghui’s eyes brightened.
“Then would you reconsider?”
“I still intend to leave.”
“…….”
Liu Zhenghui sighed.
“Where do you intend to go?”
“I haven’t decided.”
“So you have no destination. I envy you.”
Liu Zhenghui took a sip of tea.
“If I wandered around without a destination for even a single day, the ministers would come looking for me.”
A moment later, Liu Zhenghui spoke again.
“Will I be able to see you again?”
“Who knows.”
Lee Hyun suddenly thought of Zhang Ping, whom he had met in a Yunjing market more than three hundred years ago. When he had visited not long ago, a descendant who resembled Zhang Ping was selling Water Root Grass in the same spot.
Lee Hyun had only shut himself away in his tunnel for a while, yet Zhang Ping had already vanished from the world.
‘I see.’
A fact he had always known suddenly struck him anew. This would continue to happen in the future.
He would meet someone, go somewhere else for a while, and by the time he returned, that person would have grown old or died.
It was an issue he had never needed to think much about while spending hundreds of years alone in his tunnel.
Lee Hyun set down his teacup.
‘Well….’
That was no reason to stop meeting people.
Just because they would disappear someday did not mean the years they had spent together would vanish as well.
Lee Hyun rose from his seat.
“I should be going now.”
“There’s no point trying to stop you until the very end, is there?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I won’t try to stop you anymore.”
Liu Zhenghui cupped his hands.
“Thank you for all the help you’ve given Yunze Kingdom over the years.”
***
A few days later.
Lee Hyun left through Yunjing’s northern gate.
He followed the highway north, then turned toward the mountainous wilderness to the northwest once the road grew deserted.
…
A small mountain peak north of Yunjing.
Three men were watching Lee Hyun’s receding figure.
All three wore the retainer badges used by External Retainers of the Fengtian Bureau.
The middle-aged man standing at the front was named Wei Wendao. His face appeared to be around forty, and his expression revealed nothing. The aura of Qi Refining Stage 6 emanated from his body.
One step behind him stood Peng Ziliang, a gaunt man with sharp eyes and his arms folded. Qi Refining Stage 5.
The last was Han Xiaobai, the youngest of the three. Qi Refining Stage 3.
Han Xiaobai watched Lee Hyun in the distance for a while before speaking.
“Senior Brother Wei. Are we really making our move today?”
“Yes.”
“The rumors circulating outside aren’t entirely exaggerated. There are even records of him capturing several Profound Realm experts alive.”
Peng Ziliang snorted.
“Xiaobai. Are you frightened just because he captured a few martial artists from the mundane world?”
“I’m not frightened. I’m saying we should be cautious.”
“Did those martial grandmasters of the mundane world have mid-grade magic tools? Did they even have a Tier 1 low-grade talisman? No matter how powerful their martial arts were, they were ultimately only mortal means.”
“Ziliang, enough.”
Wei Wendao cut him off in a low voice.
“Xiaobai’s concerns are not wrong. For a Qi Refining Stage 3 rogue cultivator, that man’s record is far too impressive. That is why I came personally.”
“You thought it serious enough to come yourself, Senior Brother?”
“If we have decided to kill him, then we kill him properly. It will be too late to regret afterward that we should have been more careful.”
Wei Wendao’s tone remained calm.
Han Xiaobai hesitated for a moment before bringing up something else.
“Even so, the mission Steward gave us was to find a child with a single spiritual root. Can taking the pill recipe really make up for that?”
“That again?”
Irritation appeared on Peng Ziliang’s face.
“We’ve already been stuck in Yunze Kingdom for a year. Do you have any guarantee that a single spiritual root will suddenly turn up even if we comb through this place for another five years? Do you even understand what a single spiritual root is? It’s a talent difficult to find even among a million mortals. Why do you think it’s called a heavenly spiritual root?”
“That’s why I said from the beginning that if we used the authority of External Retainers just a little and gathered children from the county seats….”
“Xiaobai.”
Wei Wendao called his name.
Han Xiaobai fell silent.
“Do not bring that up again. This is not the Azure Cloud Sect’s sphere of influence. If the Biluo Sect or Danxiao Sect learned that we entered the territory of Kun Kingdom and tried to poach their talent, it would cause a far greater problem than failing to find a single spiritual root.”
“…I know.”
“We became External Retainers of the Fengtian Bureau so that we could travel throughout Yunze Kingdom without drawing attention, not so that we could use the Retainer name to gather children.”
Peng Ziliang clicked his tongue.
“Besides, you can barely cultivate properly in this wretched place. There isn’t even anywhere worthy of being called a spirit vein. I can’t stand staying here any longer.”
“Senior Brother Peng, you’ve been saying that since your very first month here.”
“…Xiaobai, you’ve gotten much more talkative lately. Have you lost your fear because I no longer beat you like before?”
“My apologies.”
The corner of Wei Wendao’s mouth moved ever so slightly before his face returned to its usual expressionlessness.
“If it is a new pill recipe, it should be enough of an achievement to make up for the mission of securing a disciple with a single spiritual root.”
Han Xiaobai asked,
“Doesn’t our sect already have the Meridian-Opening Pill?”
“Demand for Meridian-Opening Pills is high, and the prices of the spirit plants used as ingredients keep rising. Since this pill recipe has a different name, it must use different spirit plants. The purpose of securing a disciple with a single spiritual root was ultimately to gain promising juniors and strengthen the sect. If this pill recipe can help countless early Qi Refining disciples achieve their breakthroughs, Steward should recognize its value.”
“But are we certain that man really obtained the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe?”
“After accumulating merit points for so many years, what else would he exchange for at the Retainers Hall besides the Barrier-Breaking Pill recipe? On top of that, after leaving the Retainers Hall, he visited the Earth Fire Cavern for over a month, and afterward I heard he even bought a pill furnace and formation for alchemy from the Formation Court.”
Peng Ziliang gave a faint laugh.
“What a ridiculous guy. What is a Qi Refining rogue cultivator doing learning pill recipes and alchemy…? Is that guy planning to found a cultivation clan himself?”
“Do not mock him. What sect master has never endured hard times like these in the beginning? You two have spent your lives in a great sect, so you do not understand. The difficulties faced by rogue cultivators are beyond imagination. Whatever they do, cultivators of great sects like us, who grew up in good environments, should not dismiss them lightly.”
Peng Ziliang picked his nose.
‘Senior Brother Wei really is ridiculous. Wasn’t he the one born into a good family and raised in comfort without hardship? Yet he talks as though he understands the suffering of rogue cultivators… How much longer is this sermon going to last?’
Wei Wendao looked at Peng Ziliang.
“More importantly, Ziliang. You said you never managed to find that man’s residence?”
“Yes. I followed him three times. Every time, I lost him near the far northwestern edge of Yunze Kingdom.”
“How did he disappear?”
“I wasn’t certain the first two times, but the third time I saw it clearly. While he was crossing a mountainside, his aura suddenly sank underground. It was definitely the Earth Escape Art.”
“He must have a cave abode.”
“That’s what I think too.”
Peng Ziliang took a folded map from inside his robes.
“Here.”
His finger pointed to a section of mountain range northwest of Yunjing.
“There is an area of solid bedrock along the route he always takes. If we surround him there, he won’t be able to escape.”
Wei Wendao slipped a hand into his robes and pulled out a yellow talisman.
“We also have this.”
“A talisman?”
“Yes. A Tier 1 mid-grade Spirit-Tracking Talisman. Even if we lose him, we can use this to track him. Once activated, it can follow the owner of a detected spiritual-power signature for two shichen (about four hours). If he remains within one hundred li (about 39 km) on the surface, it can tell us the direction he fled, and even if he goes underground, it won’t lose him as long as he stays within a depth of one li. With the spiritual power of Qi Refining Stage 3, how deep could he possibly descend using the Earth Escape Art? Eventually, he’ll have to come back up.”
“That certainly makes sense. But isn’t a Tier 1 mid-grade talisman too valuable to waste? I’ll kill him, so why not give me that talisman?”
“Stop talking nonsense and get on.”
Wei Wendao tapped his storage pouch, and light flashed.
Whoosh―
A small blue flying boat appeared in midair.
It was a little over two zhang (about 6.6 m) long.
Several formation inscriptions were carved across the surface of the pointed vessel.
The three men climbed aboard one after another.
Wei Wendao said,
“Ziliang, you steer first. Xiaobai, conserve your spiritual power.”
“Understood.”
Hummm―
The formation inscriptions beneath the flying boat lit up one after another, and in the next instant, it shot northwest, leaving a blue afterglow behind.
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