Chapter 48
Translator: T_Fan
“By ‘full strength’…?”
“I would like you to permit us to use aura as well.”
Lu Jingtian lightly tapped his chest.
“You may use spiritual power as well, Immortal.”
Ruan Qingzhao stepped forward too.
“I would also like to request your guidance under the same conditions.”
Lee Hyun looked back and forth between them.
“I have no objection, but… what if you get hurt?”
Lu Jingtian’s eyes widened for a moment before he burst into hearty laughter.
“Hahaha!”
His laughter rang across the training ground.
“You may not know this, Immortal, but the two of us are grandmasters of the martial path who have reached the lofty realm commonly known in the mundane world as the Profound Realm. Instructor Ruan and I have even faced a Tier 2 gu warrior on the border with Qianyang Kingdom. The two of us joined forces and fought him for over a hundred exchanges, eventually injuring his left arm. Though we failed to take his head, we did force him back across the border.”
Lu Jingtian set his spear upright.
Thud.
The heavy end of the spear shaft rang against the stone paving.
“We are not so frail that you need to worry about injuring us, Immortal.”
Ruan Qingzhao calmly added,
“If it becomes dangerous, we will withdraw first.”
Lee Hyun nodded.
“Very well. Let’s do that.”
Their expressions brightened.
Lee Hyun, meanwhile, looked down at the iron practice spear in his hand.
‘They still don’t know I’m a monster, though… I’ll have to control my strength.’
Lu Jingtian and Lee Hyun set down their iron practice spears.
Two royal martial artists then brought over a pair of silver longspears from the weapon rack. The spearheads and shafts had each been forged as a single piece, and the marks left by repeatedly folding and hammering refined iron remained on their surfaces like silvery grain.
Lu Jingtian and Lee Hyun each took one.
Lee Hyun sent an extremely fine thread of Primordial True Qi through his new longspear.
Hummm–
A translucent glow seeped into the spearhead and shaft.
It was so faint that it would be difficult to notice without looking closely.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Lu Jingtian adjusted his grip on the longspear.
“Then I ask for your guidance once more.”
He drew a deep breath.
Lu Jingtian’s energy flowed down both arms and into his longspear. The aura that had bloomed from the tip of the spearhead at only one cun (about 3.3 cm) long rapidly expanded.
At last, spear aura stretching more than one zhang (about 3.3 m) completely enveloped the actual spearhead.
Every tremor of the spear aura made the surrounding air sizzle, while blade-like waves of hot wind spread in every direction. The nearby Transformation Realm martial artists held their breath.
Su Buyi and Lin Ruolan also watched the training ground with more serious expressions than before.
Thud!
Lu Jingtian kicked off the ground.
His figure became a streak of silver light.
CLAAANG!
The two longspears collided head-on.
A circular blast of air pressure erupted from the point of impact.
Whoooosh–
Dust and fragments of stone were swept away across the training ground.
Lee Hyun slid back one step.
As though he had been waiting for that exact moment, Lu Jingtian twisted his waist.
The silver longspear swept through a huge arc toward Lee Hyun’s waist.
Swooosh–
Aura extending from the spearhead carved a thin line across the stone paving.
Lee Hyun raised his spear shaft and pushed diagonally upward against the base of the spear aura.
Screeech!
The two spear shafts ground violently against each other.
The instant Lu Jingtian’s longspear was knocked upward, Lee Hyun’s spearpoint drove toward his chest.
The corners of Lu Jingtian’s mouth rose.
“Excellent!”
Protective Aura enveloped his upper body.
At the same time, the longspear that had been knocked upward spun around and slammed down onto Lee Hyun’s shaft.
Clang!
Lee Hyun’s spearpoint was knocked aside just before it touched the Protective Aura.
Lu Jingtian stepped forward.
The butt of his spear shot toward Lee Hyun’s flank like a lightning bolt.
Whoosh!
Lee Hyun twisted his body.
The spear shaft barely grazed past the front of his waist.
Lu Jingtian did not stop attacking.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Aura swept across the entire training ground.
During their previous spar, a minuscule opening had appeared at Lu Jingtian’s spearpoint whenever he transitioned between moves. But after he unleashed his aura art, even that opening vanished.
Lu Jingtian’s breathing, body, and longspear became one. The force that began at his toes passed through his waist and shoulders without the slightest interruption before flowing into the spearhead.
Every attack carried enough weight to bring down a fortress wall.
Clang! Clang-clang!
Aura swept relentlessly around Lee Hyun.
Yet once again, the spearhead failed to cut even the hem of his clothes.
Lu Jingtian’s gaze sharpened.
‘Is he going to return to the same places again?’
He watched Immortal Li Dongsan’s feet.
But his opponent was no longer moving only between the same four spots he had stepped on earlier. Instead, he slid like flowing water through the gaps between the shockwaves created by the aura.
‘As expected! This time he won’t have it so easy.’
Lu Jingtian’s confidence gradually solidified.
Immortal Li Dongsan’s spear art was unfathomable, but perhaps it was merely an intricate technique that did not hold up in real combat.
‘There are some powers that technique alone cannot overcome!’
Lu Jingtian drew a deep breath.
Aura surged explosively through both arms and into his longspear.
Huuummm–
The aura surrounding the spearhead began to rotate.
One layer.
Two layers.
Three layers.
Circular aura rings unfolded one after another around the tip of the longspear.
Each aura ring rotated in the opposite direction from the one beside it. The interlocking rings ground apart the surrounding air and dust alike.
Ruan Qingzhao’s expression stiffened.
‘Is it really all right to use that?’
It was the technique Lu Jingtian had used to injure the Tier 2 gu warrior from Qianyang Kingdom.
If the opponent blocked the spearpoint, the three aura rings would grind apart both their weapon and their body-protecting spirit light. If they dodged sideways, Lu Jingtian could expand the aura rings around the spearhead and sweep the surrounding area.
The Transformation Realm martial artists instinctively retreated several steps.
Lu Jingtian stepped forward.
Boom!
Three layers of aura rings surged toward Lee Hyun.
The entire training ground was engulfed in dazzling light.
At that moment, Lee Hyun’s spearpoint slipped into the narrow gaps between the three aura rings.
Ting–
A clear ring cut across the training ground.
The three aura rings, each fiercely counter-rotating against the others, swallowed one another’s rotational force and twisted all at once.
Screeeech! Crunch!
Lu Jingtian’s face turned deathly pale.
The aura he himself had released could no longer withstand its own power. It collapsed inward, then spiraled along Lee Hyun’s spear shaft and was drawn into a massive vortex.
‘Four Ounces Deflect a Thousand Jin!?’ [TL Note: 1 Jin is about 500 grams ]
Lee Hyun slowly rotated his spear shaft half a turn, and the triple aura rings wrapped around it were thrown completely off course and shot into the air.
BOOOOM!
The storm of aura rings burst harmlessly above their heads.
The resulting blast pressure sent Lu Jingtian pitching uncontrollably forward.
Before he could regain his balance, Lee Hyun’s spearpoint had already come to a quiet stop directly before the space between his brows.
“…!”
Cold sweat trickled down Lu Jingtian’s forehead.
Lee Hyun withdrew his spear and spoke calmly.
“The rotation you used to interlock those three aura rings was excellent.”
“No…. It was hardly… excellent….”
Lu Jingtian lowered his longspear with trembling hands. An overwhelming thrill ran down his spine.
‘What kind of supernatural technique was that…? I still have so far left to climb!’
This time, Ruan Qingzhao stepped forward.
“I would also like to request your guidance.”
A fierce competitive spirit burned in Ruan Qingzhao’s eyes.
‘Brother Lu’s spear and mine are different.’
Ruan Qingzhao adjusted his grip on the short spear in his hands.
A moment later, Lee Hyun and Ruan Qingzhao stood in the center of the training ground.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Aura rose from Ruan Qingzhao’s body.
It was neither as large nor as spectacular as Lu Jingtian’s.
Instead, it clung to his arms, legs, and the surface of his short spear like a thin membrane less than half a cun thick.
Ruan Qingzhao shortened his grip on the shaft.
His front hand rested less than two chi (about 66 cm) from the spearhead, while his rear hand held the middle of the shaft.
Ruan Qingzhao moved.
Tap.
His footstep was far quieter than Lu Jingtian’s.
Yet with that single step, three streaks of spear aura attacked Lee Hyun from different directions.
Clang-clang-clang!
Ruan Qingzhao’s spear immediately changed course.
Pivoting around his front hand, the spearhead traced a small circle and slashed toward Lee Hyun’s chest.
When Lee Hyun bent backward, the butt of the spear surged upward from below.
Clack!
Lee Hyun’s spear shaft blocked it.
Ruan Qingzhao used the recoil of the collision to spin his body.
Spear aura targeted Lee Hyun’s back, waist, and knee in rapid succession.
Clang-clang-clang!
It was a spear art utterly different from Lu Jingtian’s.
The next attack began before the previous one had even ended.
There was no distinction between spearhead and butt, nor any boundary between thrusting, slashing, and striking.
Ruan Qingzhao slipped inside Lee Hyun’s reach.
Before anyone realized it, less than one zhang separated them.
Lee Hyun’s long spear no longer had enough room to move.
Ruan Qingzhao’s eyes gleamed.
‘Got you.’
He twisted the spear shaft.
The aura at the spearhead split into dozens of strands.
Thin streaks of spear aura stabbed simultaneously toward the acupoints across Lee Hyun’s upper body.
At that moment.
Lee Hyun let go of his spear.
Ruan Qingzhao’s pupils trembled.
‘He abandoned his spear?’
In the very next instant, Lee Hyun’s entire body wavered like a mirage before Ruan Qingzhao’s eyes.
Swish!
Instead of retreating, Lee Hyun charged straight into the very center of the dozens of converging strands of spear aura.
‘Is he insane?!’
Ruan Qingzhao reflexively twisted the spear shaft, attempting to pierce Lee Hyun through the solar plexus.
At that exact moment, Lee Hyun’s two hands unleashed a dazzling display of skill that erased the boundaries between fist technique and palm technique, finger flick and grappling.
Ting! Tang!
Lee Hyun’s index and middle fingers shot out like lightning, flicking the flat of Ruan Qingzhao’s spearhead twice in succession.
They were only two finger flicks, yet the trajectories of the dozens of spreading strands of spear aura scattered through the air like raindrops.
At the same time, Lee Hyun’s left hand slid around Ruan Qingzhao’s elbow joint and seized it.
Ruan Qingzhao felt the strength vanish from the arm holding his spear.
The instant the startled Ruan Qingzhao tried to smash his other fist into Lee Hyun’s jaw–
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
Ruan Qingzhao’s vision filled with dozens of afterimages.
Lee Hyun’s right hand swept across Ruan Qingzhao’s entire body with endlessly shifting techniques.
The Shoulder Well Acupoint on his shoulder, the Chest Center Acupoint on his chest, the Sun and Moon Acupoint on his flank, the Crooked Pool Acupoint on his arm….
Lee Hyun’s fist, palm, and fingertips struck in rapid succession, grazing the acupoints all over Ruan Qingzhao’s body.
Finally, Lee Hyun’s right fist tore through the air and stopped dead one cun before Ruan Qingzhao’s face.
Bang!
The blast of air pressure released when the fist stopped violently whipped Ruan Qingzhao’s hair.
The entire exchange had unfolded without even enough time to draw a single breath.
Clang.
Only then did the spear Lee Hyun had released fall onto the floor of the training ground.
“That was an excellent spear art.”
“…….”
Silence filled the area around the training ground.
The Transformation Realm martial artists had failed to properly understand what had just happened. To their eyes, Lee Hyun had merely moved his hands a few times, and Ruan Qingzhao’s spear had simply stopped dead.
After a moment, Lu Jingtian was the first to clasp his hands and bow deeply to Lee Hyun.
“I have received valuable guidance.”
Ruan Qingzhao followed suit, still breathing heavily.
“Thank you for your guidance.”
The Transformation Realm martial artists around the training ground also clasped their hands in unison.
“Thank you for your guidance!”
Zhang Jingyi approached Lee Hyun.
“I had no idea Junior Brother Li was this accomplished in martial learning as well.”
“Apparently, one of my family’s ancestors was a mortal who reached the level of a grandmaster of the martial path. Several martial arts and mnemonic formulas were passed down to his descendants. I also learned our family martial arts when I was young.”
“So that was the reason.”
Zhang Jingyi readily accepted the explanation.
Among cultivators from rogue cultivator backgrounds, quite a few had ties to martial clans or royal families in the mundane world.
Moreover, Li Dongsan was a cultivator at Great Perfection of Qi Refining.
Zhang Jingyi thought it was entirely possible for him to overwhelm a Profound Realm grandmaster of the martial path if he incorporated spiritual power into mortal martial arts.
Su Buyi seemed to think the same.
“As expected of someone at Great Perfection of Qi Refining.”
He murmured in admiration.
“Since he handles spiritual power like aura, it seems even Profound Realm experts would have difficulty dealing with him.”
Lin Ruolan said,
“Isn’t his skill with the spear itself extraordinary as well?”
“Compared to mortal martial learning, I suppose it is.”
Su Buyi’s expression showed sincere admiration.
“I knew the Danxiao Sect was a sect devoted primarily to alchemy, but I never expected even one of its outer alchemists to be this capable in close combat. The Senior Brothers of my sect would find this quite interesting if they saw it.”
Lee Hyun showed no particular reaction.
Su Buyi was not trying to insult him. He genuinely believed what he was saying.
It was Lu Jingtian who frowned instead.
‘They can witness such profound martial learning with their own eyes and still feel nothing? What complete fools!’
Ruan Qingzhao’s thoughts were no different.
‘Aside from being born with spiritual roots, they’re hopelessly untalented fools. They have no idea how extraordinary this man truly is….’
In truth, Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao did not think particularly highly of the resident cultivators.
They had their reasons.
A child with a spiritual root was born roughly once in every ten thousand people, which was certainly a rare gift.
But only one martial artist in several million reached the Transformation Realm.
Profound Realm experts were rarer still. Ordinarily, a population of around one hundred million was needed to produce a single Profound Realm expert in a generation.
So in terms of sheer rarity of talent, Qi Refining cultivators with spiritual roots could not compare to Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao. Their particular kind of talent simply happened to be better suited to this world.
Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao had vaguely sensed that Immortal Li Dongsan’s explanation was not entirely true. His martial learning was far beyond anything that could be explained merely by having learned family martial arts.
Neither of them pressed him, however. They simply assumed Li Dongsan had circumstances he did not wish to reveal.
…
From that day onward, the martial artists of Anling Kingdom treated Li Dongsan differently.
They had already shown him proper respect as a resident cultivator of the Danxiao Sect, but now they sincerely revered him as a Senior who had walked farther along the martial path.
Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao occasionally visited the Immortal Veneration Court to ask him about spears and footwork.
Lee Hyun taught them a few things within the limits of what he knew.
That did not mean Lee Hyun’s daily life changed.
Most of the time, he inspected the pills and medicinal ingredients at the Immortal Veneration Court, and occasionally visited the royal family or nearby cultivation clans to mediate disputes.
Once every two or three months, he returned to Tunnel No. 3 to check the spirit fields and fuzzbees.
At times, he also donned the Badger mask and held meetings of the Two Heavens Society.
Fortunately, Qianyang Kingdom’s forces never crossed Anling Kingdom’s border.
However, the number of gu warriors stationed around the northern spirit vein did not decrease.
***
Five years later.
The Immortal Veneration Court, Anling Kingdom.
Lee Hyun lay comfortably on the floor of his quarters.
A complex seal floated within his sea of consciousness.
Several layers of patterns surrounded a hollow circle at its center, while two streams of light revolved in opposite directions around the outside.
The Essence-Protecting Seal.
It had already been fourteen years since he obtained the 《Spirit-Guarding Essence-Protecting Method》.
Befitting a secret art related to the primordial spirit, the Essence-Protecting Seal was more abstruse than any technique Lee Hyun had learned thus far.
Even so, he had steadily studied the Essence-Protecting Seal, and today, he had finally achieved a major breakthrough!
Huuummm–
The Essence-Protecting Seal, which used to disperse unless he consciously held it together, settled into place within his sea of consciousness on its own. Now, even without Lee Hyun consciously maintaining it, the Essence-Protecting Seal could preserve a stable form while gradually consuming Primordial True Qi.
If external divine sense or a bewitching force approached his sea of consciousness, it would consume more Primordial True Qi than usual and automatically protect his primordial spirit.
‘This should be enough to call Minor Attainment!’
Lee Hyun took out the wooden board he used as a handmade status window from his storage pouch.
【Technique: Spirit-Guarding Essence-Protecting Method (Minor Attainment)…】
Just as he put the wooden board back into his storage pouch,
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door to his quarters.
“Junior Brother Li. Are you inside?”
It was Zhang Jingyi’s voice.
Lee Hyun got up and opened the door.
“What is it?”
“It is time to prepare for the Immortal Ascension Selection.”
“The Immortal Ascension Selection?”
“We select children with spiritual roots and send them to the main sect. This is your first time since becoming a resident cultivator, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Zhang Jingyi gestured.
“Come to the Conference Hall. We need to decide our assigned regions and schedule.”
…
The Conference Hall of the Immortal Veneration Court.
Resident cultivators from the Danxiao Sect and Biluo Sect sat on opposite sides of a long table.
A map of the entire Anling Kingdom was spread across the table.
Every six years, Anling Kingdom gathered children between the ages of six and thirteen who had not yet undergone a spiritual root test and examined their aptitude.
The Danxiao Sect and Biluo Sect divided the recruitment regions according to a prior agreement.
Zhang Jingyi pointed toward the western side of the map.
“This time, our sect is responsible for Shuoning Circuit, Baihe Circuit, and Yunling Circuit. All three are sparsely populated western frontier regions of Anling Kingdom.”
Lee Hyun’s gaze settled on Pingling County in Shuoning Circuit.
It was close to Tunnel No. 3.
Zhang Jingyi continued.
“First, the royal court gathers all children of eligible age in each county, grouping them by locality. We travel along a predetermined route, test their spiritual roots, and take any children with aptitude back to the royal capital.”
“We don’t send them directly to the main sect?”
“The Danxiao Sect is simply too far away. We cannot keep them aboard the flying boat while we finish the selection in every region.”
Zhang Jingyi spoke with an extremely serious expression.
“Children are different from us. They need meals and proper sleeping arrangements at the right times, and they easily fall ill from the cold at high altitudes.”
“Even with a Wind-Warding Formation?”
“Blocking the wind does not make the cold disappear completely. Disciples handling the Immortal Ascension Selection for the first time have underestimated that before and ended up making the children sick.”
Zhang Jingyi folded down his fingers one by one.
“They also need a balanced diet of the grains, meat, and vegetables mortals eat. You cannot carelessly feed them difficult-to-digest spirit food or pills just because they are good for the body. A mortal child can easily die after going without food for only a few days. Remember this well. Mortals are extremely fragile, so they must be handled as carefully as tender sprouts.”
“Ah… I suppose that’s true.”
‘I’ve been a cultivator for too long. I’ve lost touch with how fragile mortals are.’
Zhang Jingyi said,
“That is why we first bring the selected children to the Immortal Ascension Villa in the royal capital and have them stay there. Once the selections in every region are complete, we put them aboard the Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry all at once and take them to the main sect.”
“Understood.”
…
After the meeting ended, Zhang Jingyi led the Danxiao Sect disciples to a broad stone platform behind the Immortal Veneration Court.
A large warehouse stood there.
Zhang Jingyi placed his identity token on the formation plate.
Huuummm–
The warehouse doors opened to either side.
Inside rested a flying boat more than twenty zhang long.
Its hull was made from white spirit wood, with golden alchemical flames and clouds painted along both sides. The deck and cabins were densely covered with the Wind-Warding Formation and defensive formation inscriptions.
“That’s quite a flying boat.”
“It is the Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry.”
Zhang Jingyi lightly tapped the hull.
“It is a high-grade flight magic tool entrusted to the Immortal Veneration Court by the main sect. We rarely have occasion to use it, but whenever we recruit disciples, we must use this flying boat.”
“Because we need to carry so many children?”
“That too, but….”
Zhang Jingyi paused for a moment.
“We also need to display the majesty of the sect to mortals.”
“Majesty?”
“Sending a child with a spiritual root to an immortal sect can change the fate of an entire family. It will be a moment the mortals remember for the rest of their lives. We can hardly arrive in some shabby wagon, can we?”
One of the Danxiao Sect disciples beside him nodded solemnly.
“If their first sight of a cultivator is unimpressive, the children’s parents may begin to doubt our sect.”
“I see.”
Zhang Jingyi asked Lee Hyun,
“Do you own a flight magic tool?”
“I do.”
Lee Hyun took the palm-sized Flowing Cloud Disc from his storage pouch.
“A Flowing Cloud Disc. Its size and color are unobtrusive enough. It should do nicely.”
“If we already have the Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry, why do we need personal flight magic tools?”
“If we land this enormous flying boat in the middle of a village and a crowd of cultivators comes pouring out, it looks rather undignified.”
“…….”
“First, we leave the Immortal Ferry hovering overhead. Then the resident cultivators descend one by one on their personal flight magic tools. That better conveys the majesty of the immortal sect to the mortals watching below.”
Zhang Jingyi took a small flying sword from his storage pouch.
Huuummm–
The finger-length flying sword expanded to more than one zhang long.
He stepped onto the sword.
“Watch carefully. First, you need to stop about ten zhang above the ground.”
The flying sword rose into the air.
Zhang Jingyi did not descend immediately upon reaching a height of ten zhang.
He waited there until the disciples standing on the stone platform were all looking up at him.
“First, make sure the mortals are looking your way.”
His voice drifted down from above.
“We can survey our surroundings at once with divine sense, but mortals cannot. Even turning their heads and moving their eyes takes them time. If we descend too quickly, they may miss us entirely.”
Zhang Jingyi gently stirred the hem of his long robe with the Wind-Riding Art.
Rustle–
His broad sleeves and robe hems caught the wind and billowed just enough.
Only then did the flying sword slowly descend.
“Come down neither too quickly nor too slowly.”
When he reached a height of around three zhang above the ground, Zhang Jingyi stopped in midair again.
“Pause once more here. The mortals need enough time to see your face.”
A moment later, the flying sword landed on the stone platform.
Zhang Jingyi neither bent his knees nor swayed.
Not even a speck of dust rose.
Rustle.
The hem of his long robe settled a moment later.
“Like this.”
He stepped down from the flying sword.
“Use the Wind-Riding Art to stir your robe slightly as well. But pay attention to the direction of the wind. It does not look good if your clothes flap over your face.”
Zhang Jingyi was perfectly serious.
“And be careful not to bend your knees when landing. It ruins the effect.”
“Understood.”
“Give it a try.”
Lee Hyun infused spiritual power into the Flowing Cloud Disc.
Huuummm–
The round disc of white jade expanded to nearly three zhang in length.
Lee Hyun stepped onto the Flowing Cloud Disc and followed the exact sequence Zhang Jingyi had demonstrated. At a height of ten zhang, he waited until everyone was watching him, then descended while using the Wind-Riding Art to make his long robe billow appropriately. At three zhang, he paused long enough for everyone to get a clear look at his face, then landed on the stone platform without stirring so much as a speck of dust.
Zhang Jingyi nodded.
“Well done.”
“It isn’t difficult.”
“In practice, there will be hundreds of people below looking up at you. Just do exactly what you did now.”
Zhang Jingyi studied Lee Hyun’s face for a moment.
“Though you should wear a slightly more imposing expression. Not so frightening that they are terrified, but solemn enough that no one would dare approach you casually. Avoid unnecessary words, and when you do need to speak, make every word suitably impressive.”
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