Chapter 49
Translator: T_Fan
Five days later.
The Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry left the royal capital of Anling Kingdom and headed first for Shuoning Circuit.
In each county and town, royal officials had already gathered children of eligible age who had yet to undergo a spiritual root test.
Whoooom–
Whenever the massive immortal ferry emerged beneath the clouds, people throughout the villages and cities stopped what they were doing and looked up at the sky.
“Immortals!”
“They’ve come from the immortal sect!”
The children’s parents knelt along both sides of the road.
The resident cultivators mounted their respective flight magic tools in the order Zhang Jingyi had taught them.
Lee Hyun also rode the Flowing Cloud Disc down from the deck of the Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry and paused ten zhang (about 33 m) above the ground.
After confirming that hundreds of eyes were fixed on him, he slowly descended.
Even the wind cooperated, making his Danxiao Sect Outer Gate robe flutter just enough.
At a little over three zhang above the ground, he paused once more.
Whish.
The Flowing Cloud Disc settled onto the clearing without stirring so much as a speck of dust.
At the sight, everyone pressed their foreheads to the ground in unison.
“We greet the Immortals!”
The children stared up at Lee Hyun with their mouths hanging open.
‘It certainly works.’
…
The spiritual root tests were conducted in spacious government compounds or open grounds throughout the towns.
The children came forward one by one and placed a hand on the transparent spiritual-root testing orb.
When a child without a spiritual root touched it, nothing happened.
Most of them touched the spiritual-root testing orb again and again before taking their parents’ hands and leaving.
Every so often, light bloomed inside the spiritual-root testing orb.
Hummmmm–
Red, yellow, white, and black light mingled together.
“Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. A quadruple spiritual root.”
A resident cultivator recorded the child’s name, place of origin, and parents’ status.
The parents wept with joy.
The child looked around, unable to understand what had happened to them.
Some children burst into tears in front of the spiritual-root testing orb when told they would have to part from their parents.
“Can’t I go with Mama?”
The child’s mother was crying too, but she forced herself to smile as she gently pushed the child forward by the shoulders.
“You must listen carefully to the Immortals.”
“No. I want to go home.”
Zhang Jingyi did not hurry the child.
He simply waited in silence until the parents had soothed their child and said their farewells.
…
Starting with Shuoning Circuit, they traveled through Baihe Circuit and Yunling Circuit in turn.
All three were mountainous, sparsely populated regions even by the standards of Anling Kingdom.
Although the royal officials had gathered the children beforehand, news reached some remote mountain villages so late that a few families did not arrive until the final day.
Near sunset, a man came running down a distant mountain road with a child on his back.
His straw sandals were worn through, and blood ran from both feet.
“Is… is the test still going?”
Lee Hyun took out the spiritual-root testing orb he had already put away.
“Set the child down.”
The little girl on the man’s back placed her hand on the spiritual-root testing orb.
No light appeared.
Deep disappointment crossed the man’s face.
Lee Hyun handed him some healing ointment and silver.
“Take the child home. The mountain roads will be dark, so it would be best to spend the night at the government office before leaving.”
“Thank you, Immortal. Thank you.”
The man bowed again and again.
The children selected in this manner boarded the Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry and headed for the royal capital.
…
Immortal Ascension Villa in the royal capital of Anling Kingdom.
Within its broad walls stood halls and courtyards of various sizes.
The nineteen children who would be taken to the Danxiao Sect lived here together.
The royal household provided them with clean clothes, warm food, and beds, as well as physicians and maidservants to attend to them.
At first, the children cried every night after being separated from their parents, but after a few days, they gradually began to adjust to their new lives.
Some were even delighted by the lavish foods they had never tasted before.
…
Two days before their departure for the main sect.
Zhang Jingyi handed Lee Hyun a ledger.
“Take a look.”
It was the Immortal Ascension Selection register, listing the names, spiritual roots, and origins of the children selected from each region.
Beside it lay a list of the tribute that the royal household would offer to the Danxiao Sect.
Lee Hyun checked the children’s names and numbers one by one.
“There are no problems.”
“I’ll take the children back to the main sect. I plan to settle the contribution points I’ve accumulated from my duties as a resident cultivator and stop by the sect’s cultivator market.”
“Very well.”
“Four of us, including me, will escort the children. Junior Brother Li, take charge of the Immortal Veneration Court while we’re gone.”
Like Zhang Jingyi, Lee Hyun was a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator, and his combat prowess was great enough to overwhelm Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao. As such, he was already regarded within the Immortal Veneration Court of Anling Kingdom as one of the resident cultivators representing the Danxiao Sect.
“Understood.”
“The round trip shouldn’t take even a month.”
…
The next day.
Dozens of carriages flying the banners of the Anling royal household stopped in front of Immortal Ascension Villa.
Royal kin and officials led twenty-three royal scions between the ages of six and twelve inside, all dressed in splendid clothing.
The King of Anling had come in person as well.
He was an old man nearing seventy, but for a mortal, he was remarkably robust. His back was straight, and there was no trace of illness on his face.
The King of Anling bowed deeply to Zhang Jingyi and the other resident cultivators.
“Greetings, Immortals of the Danxiao Sect.”
It happened at that moment.
Brrr.
The spirit-insect pouch hanging from Lee Hyun’s waist trembled ever so slightly, and the fuzzbees inside suddenly grew restless.
‘What is it?’
Without changing his expression, Lee Hyun placed a hand on the spirit-insect pouch.
The three that had mutated after eating the Meridian-Linking Jade Silkworm were especially agitated.
It was the same reaction they showed whenever they discovered a spirit insect they could prey upon.
‘There’s a spirit insect here?’
Everyone in the nearby royal party appeared to be an ordinary mortal.
A few rogue cultivators hired by the royal household had accompanied them, but they remained far away near the courtyard wall.
The King of Anling spoke.
“I have one request I would like to make of the Immortals.”
“Speak.”
“These are children of eligible age from the royal household whose spiritual roots have not yet been examined. Would you be willing to see whether any of them possess an immortal affinity as well?”
“That can be done.”
The royal scions came forward one by one to the spiritual-root testing orb.
Each time a child placed a hand on it, they stared nervously into the transparent sphere.
Yet nothing happened.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun watched the fuzzbees’ reactions rather than the children.
Whenever the children moved, the royal kin and officials shifted positions as well.
But the fuzzbees’ reactions remained unchanged.
All three faced the same direction.
Toward the King of Anling.
‘Hmm…’
The final child removed their hand from the spiritual-root testing orb.
Not a single thread of light had appeared within it.
Zhang Jingyi said,
“Regrettably, it seems none of the children in this generation possess a spiritual root.”
The King of Anling replied with disappointment.
“It appears the royal household has once again failed to encounter an immortal affinity.”
Behind the royal scions dressed in splendid silk stood the children who, until only a few days ago, had lived in mountain villages and farming settlements.
Among them was even a child who had entered Immortal Ascension Villa without proper shoes.
Yet they were the ones who would become disciples of the Danxiao Sect.
No matter how exalted the status into which the royal children had been born, that path remained closed to them.
The King of Anling gazed at the nineteen children for a long while.
Meanwhile, Lee Hyun quietly shifted two steps to the side.
Three royal officials now stood between Lee Hyun and the King of Anling.
The fuzzbees continued pressing themselves toward the king’s direction.
Then the King of Anling stepped forward to speak with Zhang Jingyi.
The distance between him and Lee Hyun narrowed.
Brrrrr.
The spirit-insect pouch vibrated once again.
This time, the reaction was obvious enough to make the hem of Lee Hyun’s robe tremble faintly.
Lee Hyun pressed down on the spirit-insect pouch with his fingers.
The King of Anling hesitated, then spoke again.
“Immortal. I understand this is an unreasonable request, but….”
He looked back at the royal scions behind him.
“Would it be possible for you to take even one of these children into the immortal sect? They could serve as a mortal attendant or perform menial work.”
The resident cultivators looked at one another.
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Jingyi replied.
“As a rule, the External Affairs Court separately selects the mortals who perform menial work at the main sect.”
The King of Anling’s expression darkened.
“However, it would not be particularly difficult for the Immortal Veneration Court to recommend one child as a candidate for mortal menial work.”
“Then….”
“We can take one.”
The King of Anling’s face brightened.
“That alone is more than enough.”
He bowed deeply to the resident cultivators once more.
“I sincerely thank you for granting such an unreasonable request.”
The King of Anling slowly swept his gaze across the royal scions.
One young royal scion standing at the very back stepped forward.
He appeared to be six or seven years old. His silk clothes bore fewer ornaments than those of the other children, and he was somewhat thin.
The child knelt before the King of Anling.
“This grandson will go.”
The King of Anling studied the child’s face for a moment before nodding.
“Very well. Then you shall go.”
“Yes.”
As the royal party began preparing to leave, the royal scions returned to their carriages one after another.
Only the young royal scion who had been chosen remained in the courtyard of Immortal Ascension Villa.
A commoner-born child playing in the courtyard looked at him.
Until recently, that child had worn old straw sandals, but now he was dressed in clean clothes provided by the royal household.
There was nothing in the commoner child’s eyes but simple curiosity. Yet the royal scion in silk lowered his head first.
…
The King of Anling left through the gates of Immortal Ascension Villa.
Lee Hyun scanned outside with his divine sense.
Once the king boarded his carriage, the horses began to move.
Clop. Clop.
The farther the king’s carriage traveled from Immortal Ascension Villa, the more the fuzzbees gradually settled down.
This remained true even though royal kin, officials, and martial artist guards were still in the courtyard and outside the gates.
‘There’s no doubt about it.’
Lee Hyun removed his hand from the spirit-insect pouch.
A martial artist had to have reached at least the Transformation Realm to receive an implanted Life-Bound Gu.
Lee Hyun had heard that the King of Anling had practiced martial arts in his youth, but he did not know what realm the king had reached.
Until now, he had sensed neither Gu Origin True Qi nor the presence of a spirit insect from the king’s body.
Even when examining him with divine sense, the king had appeared to be nothing more than a vigorous old man.
But the fuzzbees’ reaction was unmistakable.
‘The King of Anling carries a Life-Bound Gu.’
The question was where he had obtained it.
Anling Kingdom had no Gu-Rearing Institute, nor was there any known inheritance for creating or implanting Life-Bound Gu.
There was one obvious place to suspect first.
‘Qianyang Kingdom?’
Lee Hyun decided not to tell Zhang Jingyi yet.
It was premature to conclude that the king was a gu warrior based solely on the fuzzbees’ reaction, and he had no idea what kind of Life-Bound Gu the king carried or for what purpose.
Explaining that he could detect gu warriors would also be troublesome, and he had no desire to expose his fuzzbees.
Nothing had happened so far, either.
Even if someone had planned to take advantage of the weakened forces at the Immortal Veneration Court while some of the Danxiao Sect and Biluo Sect resident cultivators escorted the children with spiritual roots back to their main sects, it did not matter.
An enemy weak enough to consider the absence of a handful of Qi Refining cultivators an opportunity could pose little threat to Lee Hyun.
‘There’s no reason for them to rise against the Danxiao Sect and Biluo Sect in the first place. Compared to the forces at the main sect, the resident cultivators are nothing. Anling Kingdom must know that as well…’
‘Still, I should find out what’s behind this.’
…
The next day.
The Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry descended into the broad courtyard of Immortal Ascension Villa.
The tribute offered by the Anling royal household, including precious metals, local medicinal ingredients, fragrant woods, and minerals, was packed into large crates and loaded into the lower hold of the immortal ferry.
The tribute was bulky relative to its value, and none of it could be considered particularly precious to a cultivator.
There was no need to use storage pouches. They could simply be carried in the hold of the flight magic tool.
The nineteen disciple candidates and one candidate for mortal menial work boarded the immortal ferry in turn.
Four Danxiao Sect resident cultivators, including Zhang Jingyi, would escort the children.
Doom–
A drum sounded to announce their departure.
The hull of the Crimson Firmament Immortal Ferry slowly rose into the air.
Lee Hyun watched the sky for a while before returning to the Immortal Veneration Court.
***
Several days later.
The training ground south of the royal palace.
Lee Hyun sat in a pavilion overlooking the training ground, watching two men spar.
Clang!
Two silver spears collided in midair.
Lu Jingtian and Ruan Qingzhao retreated at the same time.
“Let’s stop here.”
“Commander Lu won again today.”
Lu Jingtian returned his spear to the weapon rack before approaching the pavilion.
“Immortal Li, sorry to have kept you waiting.”
Ruan Qingzhao followed behind him.
“What flaws did you see in us today?”
When Lee Hyun pointed out several minor openings the two had shown in their recent spar, they immediately returned to the training ground.
Lu Jingtian picked up his spear again, while Ruan Qingzhao repeatedly practiced the movements Lee Hyun had shown him.
Only after the time it takes to eat a meal had passed did the two sit down in the pavilion with satisfied expressions.
An attendant brought tea and fruit.
Lee Hyun took a sip of tea before asking,
“Commander Lu, have you served the royal household for a long time?”
“It has been forty-six years.”
“Then you must have served close to His Highness even when he was young.”
Lu Jingtian nodded.
“His Highness was already on the throne when I joined the Royal Guard.”
“Does His Highness have attainments in martial arts as well?”
“He does. His Highness reached the Transformation Realm in his youth. If not for the affairs of the royal household, he might have aspired to an even higher realm.”
‘So he reached the Transformation Realm.’
He met the minimum requirement for receiving an implanted Life-Bound Gu.
…
That night.
Lee Hyun visited three locations along the outskirts of the royal palace and checked the fuzzbees’ reactions.
Each time he changed position, the direction they faced also changed, but all three directions converged underground beneath the royal Inner Medicine Court.
…
The following night.
Underground beneath the royal Inner Medicine Court.
Ssssh.
The surrounding soil and rock parted like water.
A passage that had been artificially compacted appeared between the layers of earth beneath the Inner Medicine Court.
Lee Hyun moved forward while monitoring the reactions of the fuzzbees inside his spirit-insect pouch.
They reacted most violently before the stone chamber at the end of the passage.
The entrance to the chamber was blocked by a thick iron door that would have been difficult to breach quietly by ordinary means.
But Lee Hyun had no need to pass through the door.
He seeped into the stone wall as though melting into it.
The interior was smaller than he had expected.
It measured roughly five zhang long and three zhang wide.
Black wooden boxes and medicine bottles were neatly arranged along one wall, while a small desk and a chest of drawers stood along the opposite side.
Ten jade tubes stood side by side in the center.
Each was two chi (about 66 cm) long and as thick as an adult man’s forearm.
As he approached a jade tube, he could faintly see inside.
Within the transparent liquid, a spirit insect larva lay curled into a ball, asleep.
The other jade tubes were the same.
However, he could not determine the grades of the spirit insects.
A spirit insect’s potential was difficult to assess accurately while it was still in the larval stage, and Lee Hyun’s knowledge was not deep enough to distinguish varieties of Life-Bound Gu by appearance alone.
‘Ten Life-Bound Gu…’
Even a single one was difficult to obtain in Anling Kingdom. Even Qianyang Kingdom, which controlled several Gu-Rearing Institutes, would not hand over such a quantity without receiving something in return.
‘If the only purpose were to extend his own lifespan, he wouldn’t need this many Life-Bound Gu…’
‘Does the King of Anling dream of making his kingdom into a great power like Qianyang Kingdom? Or has he become Qianyang Kingdom’s pawn?’
Brrrrr.
Even though Lee Hyun had not opened the entrance, the fuzzbees inside his spirit-insect pouch thrashed violently.
Through the Spirit-Nurturing Seal, he commanded them to calm down, then examined the jade tubes.
There was a small emblem on the stopper at the top of each tube. It was the emblem of the Black Sun Office, the same as the one on the iron token carried by Black Sable.
‘So these definitely came from Qianyang Kingdom.’
Lee Hyun examined the wooden boxes and chest of drawers in turn. The boxes contained only medicinal ingredients for spirit insects and preservation fluid, while the drawers held no records revealing their origin or purpose.
‘What should I do with these…?’
One option was to report the matter to the Danxiao Sect.
As soon as Zhang Jingyi returned, Lee Hyun could tell him everything and have the royal household investigated.
The jade tubes and the Black Sun Office emblem were more than sufficient evidence. In any case, there was no one who could demand a fair investigation from a cultivation sect. If the Danxiao Sect declared something to be true, then that was the law.
The King of Anling would find it difficult to escape questioning by the Danxiao Sect and Biluo Sect, while Lee Hyun would receive contribution points for discovering the matter.
However, keeping the royal household in check was part of the Immortal Veneration Court’s duties to begin with. The jade tubes would become the sect’s spoils, while the contribution points awarded to him would likely be nothing remarkable.
More importantly, this was not something that had actually brought any benefit to the sect.
Resolving a problem after it erupted, or bringing tangible benefits to the sect, could be considered a major achievement. Stopping something before it happened, on the other hand, would amount to little more than a minor matter.
But what if he simply took these ten jade tubes for himself without reporting them to the sect?
Lee Hyun had little interest in the Life-Bound Gu themselves, but the fuzzbees desperately wanted them.
If he fed all ten Life-Bound Gu to the fuzzbees, there was a chance that several of them could achieve a breakthrough and become Tier 2 spirit insects.
A few contribution points, or an opportunity for the fuzzbees to break through to Tier 2. There was no need to compare which was more valuable.
Doing so would also sabotage whatever plans Qianyang Kingdom and Anling Kingdom had, so in terms of benefiting the Danxiao Sect, it was not all that different in spirit from reporting the matter.
‘Hmm… An opportunity to give the fuzzbees prey this good doesn’t come along often… As their master, I can’t simply pass it up. I’ve already engraved the Spirit-Nurturing Seal on them, so even if a few break through to Tier 2, it shouldn’t cause too much trouble. Feeding them here would be a bit much, though. I should take them first.’
Lee Hyun checked each jade tube once more for any formation inscriptions used for tracking. He found no unusual formation inscriptions or devices.
Ssssh.
The ten jade tubes disappeared into his storage pouch one after another.
Only the empty stands remained in the middle of the stone chamber.
…
A short while later.
Lee Hyun returned to his quarters at the Immortal Veneration Court without anyone noticing.
His body was exceptionally robust, so there was nothing physically wrong with him, yet for some reason his heart seemed to be pounding.
Even though he had no need to sleep, Lee Hyun lay down on the bed, pulled the blanket up to his chest, and stared at the ceiling with bright, wide-awake eyes.
He had acquired wealth through a rather unique method, one he had never tried even in his past life. The thought of how the King of Anling and the rest of the royal household would react when they discovered the empty stone chamber after daybreak left him strangely giddy.
‘Why does this feel so exciting…!’
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