Chapter 87
Translator: T_Fan
Lee Hyun sat on the edge of the bed with the Azure Steel Sword resting across his knees.
When he closed his eyes, Zheng Yubai’s final sword strike came to mind.
He recalled the momentum that had surged forward before the sword even moved, and the spiritual power and divine sense that had followed, converging into one.
And mingled with them had been something that resembled vow power.
‘Should I try it too?’
Lee Hyun slowly ran his finger along the blade.
He invoked the Great Unity Heavenly Dipper Sword Art, and the sword qi he had honed countless times took shape.
He awakened the mind seal within his primordial spirit, drew out a thread of the gently stirring vow power, and infused it into the sword qi.
Crackle.
The tip of the sword qi quivered.
Lee Hyun immediately added his divine sense. He held the two energies together as they threatened to scatter, channeling them along the circulation pattern of the sword art.
This time, the sword qi extended a little farther.
But that was all.
Its surface rippled violently before breaking apart into slender fragments of light.
Lee Hyun looked down at the sword.
‘So I can’t just throw things together and expect it to work?’
He tried several more times, but the results were much the same. Only the point at which the sword qi grew unstable or lost cohesion changed slightly with each attempt.
At the very least, adjusting the amounts of vow power and divine sense did not seem enough to solve the problem. Unlike Lee Hyun’s sword, Zheng Yubai’s blade had carried his intent with it as he executed that move.
‘Even with Buddha-Light True Qi, vow power only blended naturally into true qi when I followed the circulation pattern of the Buddha-Light Heart Art. I also referred to the cultivation formula and mnemonic formula when condensing the Spirit-Jolting Needle.’
All of those things had been possible only because of the research and experience accumulated by previous generations.
‘I’ve only just begun to grasp the broad principles of the Mind Sword. It would be stranger if I could use it right away.’
No matter how long he had practiced with a sword, the answer to a question he had never considered would not simply come to him on its own.
Zheng Yubai must have had his own wealth of experience to draw on.
He must have spent years honing something through faith in his sword and the intent he entrusted to it.
‘Could that be connected to sword intent?’
Lee Hyun once again formed sword qi at his fingertip.
‘The kind of sword I want…’
He had no intention of following a Way of the Sword in which a single retreat could shatter his conviction and even shake his Dao.
If his opponent was too strong, he would avoid them. He would block what he could, deflect what he could, and, when necessary, cut through whatever stood in his way.
‘Easy enough to say, but…’
If thinking up a convincing phrase were enough to develop sword intent, the sword cultivators of the world would have no reason to work so hard for it.
…
After roughly one shichen (about two hours), Lee Hyun put away the Azure Steel Sword.
‘Perhaps someday I’ll obtain an inheritance that teaches how to wield a sword and vow power together. For now, I’d be better off honing the methods I already know.’
He took two jade slips from his storage pouch. One held the cultivation records for the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree, while the other held the observation records for the mature tree.
Then he took out the flowerpot as well.
The young Heaven-Origin Divine Tree stood quietly in its small pot. Even when he examined its leaves up close, he could sense no trace of the strange force that repelled nearby objects.
‘A thousand years, huh.’
…
The next morning.
With the Yunzhou Dao Symposium’s main tournament set to resume, the matchups were announced.
Lee Hyun’s first opponent was a Foundation Establishment Great Perfection cultivator from the Taiyue Sect.
After confirming his name on the matchup list, he went straight to Martial Uncle Huijing.
“I would like to withdraw from the main tournament.”
Huijing looked up.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, nothing of the sort. However, my magic tools were damaged, and I have already obtained what I wanted. I would rather not push myself any further.”
Lee Hyun had decided to exercise restraint, knowing that he had already drawn considerable attention. Attracting Senior Sister Chen Xiaoying’s notice would be particularly troublesome.
He had disguised his face during his time as Li Dongsan, and his current appearance was different again. But he could not be certain that he had changed every habit in his swordplay or the way he performed techniques.
For a start, he was calling himself Li Dongsi. She might think nothing of the name, but after a few encounters at close quarters, might she not be reminded of Li Dongsan?
Lee Hyun had even imagined claiming that he was actually Li Dongsan’s successor if Chen Xiaoying came looking for him.
Fortunately, Chen Xiaoying had not sought him out.
There were plenty of people in the world and no shortage of similar names, so there was nothing strange about her not growing suspicious.
Withdrawing from the main tournament now would allow the attention Li Dongsi had been steadily attracting through the clashes with Nanming to die down again.
Many had been injured fighting Nanming, and Lee Hyun had deliberately displayed his damaged Black Scale Inner Armor and Threefold Shield before everyone. There would be nothing strange about his withdrawal.
It was a pity to miss out on an exceptional supreme-grade magic tool like the Whirlwind Shoes, but winning one would mean several more sparring matches. He had no way of knowing how much of his strength he would have to reveal in the process. If he truly needed one, he could look for a similar magic tool to buy with spirit stones later.
Obtaining the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree was enough.
Martial Uncle Huijing nodded.
“Very well. I’ll let the organizers know. Knowing when to step forward is important, but so is knowing when to stop.”
“Thank you.”
When Lee Hyun left the room, Lu Hongyan happened to be approaching from the other end of the corridor.
After hearing his explanation, she nodded.
“Good choice. After fighting Nanming like that, the strange ones are the guys climbing back onto the sparring stage.”
“I wish you success as well, Senior Sister Lu.”
…
The sparring matches resumed.
More than a hundred cultivators who had qualified for the main tournament were still in Huiyun Immortal City, and people’s attention soon shifted to the new sparring matches.
Trade within the city continued unabated as the main tournament progressed.
In fact, as the Dao symposium drew to a close, more cultivators began trying to sell off their goods or obtain whatever they still needed.
The Baoguang Temple group planned to remain for a while longer.
Yuanshi was able to walk, but his complexion was still poor, and Liu Jingdao’s right arm still needed time to heal.
…
“This is the dual cultivation art you requested, Inspector.”
At the back of a small shop selling medicinal ingredients.
Several masked cultivators sat in an underground stone chamber there.
With trading at the gathering in full swing, a jade slip was placed before Lee Hyun, who wore a cicada mask.
“Of the cultivation arts our members found, this one has the most verified accounts of use in Yunzhou. It also includes an account from a cultivator who practiced it with a Dao companion.”
Lee Hyun picked up the jade slip.
It was something he had asked them to track down.
Dual cultivation arts themselves were not rare.
Some focused heavily on one partner taking the other’s vital essence, while others promised rapid progress but carried a high risk of conflicting with the practitioner’s original cultivation art.
What he wanted was a cultivation art that two people could practice together over the long term without putting undue strain on either of them.
Finding something that met those requirements and checking the experiences of people who had actually practiced it had taken time.
“We’ve separated the main text from the annotations. We’ve also marked the passages that agree across multiple editions, as well as the sections added separately by practitioners.”
“Good work.”
Lee Hyun handed over the agreed payment and put away the jade slip. Then he briefly glanced at the cultivator guarding the entrance to the stone chamber.
When Lee Hyun had arrived earlier, that cultivator had not stepped aside merely upon seeing the cicada mask. Only after checking the restriction on Lee Hyun’s jade token and comparing it against the letter of introduction sent in advance had he shown him inside.
Lee Hyun approved of that attitude.
Never trust someone based on a mask or title alone!
It was a rule he had emphasized many times.
The older an organization grew, the more easily familiarity led people to skip procedures. Then, if even one member was captured or impersonated, everyone connected to them could be exposed at once.
The Two Heavens Society limited how many contacts any one member could know.
Members could pass on commissions as needed, but they would not necessarily know who ultimately received them.
A higher-level gathering had to confirm the appointment of anyone entrusted to oversee meetings, as well as the approval of new channels of contact. This prevented local leaders from expanding their authority at will, without concentrating information on every member’s identity and movements in one place.
It made many things cumbersome, but it was also what had allowed the Two Heavens Society to survive for so long.
…
After returning to the detached residence, Lee Hyun took out the jade slip.
《Yin-Yang Origin-Harmonizing Method》
It was a dual cultivation art that had been passed down in Yunzhou for many years.
The members had also checked its main text against editions obtained from other cultivator markets. Most of the differences were in annotations adding precautions for its practice.
There were detailed explanations of the adjustments needed when Dao companions with different types of spiritual power practiced together. In Lee Hyun’s case, his Primordial True Qi had no particular attribute, making the practice relatively safe for both him and his partner.
Lee Hyun examined the jade slip’s contents.
「When yin and yang first unite, long-preserved primordial yang and primordial yin are released. The vital essence transferred to one’s partner at this time does not immediately disperse, but remains mingled with the partner’s own vital essence. If traces of primordial yang and primordial yin remain unrefined, the cultivation art may be especially effective when first practiced. An error at this stage can cause true qi to flow backward, so proceed calmly…」
…
The rest of the Yunzhou Dao Symposium proceeded without incident.
No one from Baoguang Temple finished high enough in the rankings to receive an exceptional supreme-grade magic tool.
The temple was not particularly disappointed. It had sent fewer competitors than the other great sects in the first place, and had not chosen only its very best disciples.
***
The journey back to Baoguang Temple went smoothly.
With their business in Huiyun Immortal City concluded, the group boarded a flying boat and reached the Mountain Gate six days later.
Between the ten-day wait before the opening, the event itself lasting a little over a month, and the round trip by flying boat, nearly two months had passed since they had left the Mountain Gate.
As soon as Lee Hyun disembarked and finished saying goodbye to his fellow disciples, he flew straight to Wang Shulin’s residence, filled with anticipation.
…
Wang Shulin happened to be at home, and the moment she sensed Lee Hyun’s presence, she rushed outside, unable to hide her delight.
She came straight over, glanced around, then nestled into his arms and spoke.
“Ahh… I feel alive again!”
The two went inside. Several sheets of paper lay spread across the table, each covered with the names and quantities of medicinal ingredients.
When Lee Hyun noticed them, Wang Shulin began chattering away about everything that had happened while he was gone. Most of it was about her struggles to learn the correct blend of medicinal ingredients for the Golden Core Condensing Pill.
Once she finished, Lee Hyun took a jade slip from his storage pouch.
“I brought something back too.”
“What is it?”
She accepted the jade slip without giving it much thought and pressed it to her forehead. A moment later, she looked up with an embarrassed expression.
“Did you go to the Dao symposium just to get this?”
“I came across it by chance. I thought it might help with cultivation.”
…
They first practiced the Yin-Yang Origin-Harmonizing Method that night.
Then, near dawn.
The two sat facing each other, circulating their qi.
Since it was their first time practicing the cultivation art, Lee Hyun limited the exchange to small amounts of energy. Wang Shulin likewise followed the sequence in the jade slip, slowly completing one qi circulation cycle after another.
After several qi circulation cycles, Lee Hyun sensed something unfamiliar stirring within him.
It was a very fine thread of energy.
Normally concealed within his own vital essence, it slowly became distinguishable as it resonated with Wang Shulin’s energy.
It was calm and gentle.
There was more to it than the presence of yin qi.
It had the distinctive quality said to linger only after the first exchange of vital essence that had never before been released.
It matched what he had read in the jade slip’s annotations.
‘This is….’
Lee Hyun traced the energy with his divine sense. It was the lingering primordial yin that had passed from Wang Shulin into his body and had not yet been fully refined.
‘So I was Shulin’s first too. And to think she’d claimed she was the experienced one and acted like she knew everything…’
Lee Hyun opened his eyes to find Wang Shulin looking at him. Her expression suggested that she, too, had realized something.
When their eyes met, Wang Shulin’s gaze flicked to the side.
“What!”
“Nothing.”
“Stop grinning and concentrate.”
“Okay.”
He closed his eyes again.
A short while later, he felt a faint tremor through their joined hands.
This time, it was not from embarrassment.
“Junior Brother.”
Wang Shulin’s tone had changed slightly.
“Send a little less energy.”
Lee Hyun immediately withdrew the true qi he had been sending her.
Yet the changes within her body did not subside. Pure energy continued to be released with each of Wang Shulin’s qi circulation cycles.
It was not new energy entering from outside, but something that had already been mixed into her vital essence.
Lee Hyun realized that as well.
‘Could this be because of my primordial yang?’
The lingering primordial yin he had received had helped him considerably.
But the lingering primordial yang being released within Wang Shulin was far more substantial.
Wang Shulin immediately slowed her qi circulation.
Rather than trying to turn all the released energy into spiritual power at once, she assimilated it a little at a time, never exceeding what she could handle.
Lee Hyun matched his rhythm to her breathing.
The room fell silent.
As time passed, Wang Shulin’s energy gave one powerful surge, then gradually settled within her. Lee Hyun waited without speaking for her to finish circulating her qi.
It was a long while before Wang Shulin finally let out a slow breath.
A faint flush remained on her cheeks.
“Junior Brother Li, just how much vitality do you have? I just broke through!”
‘Huh?’
Lee Hyun examined her now-stable energy again.
Wang Shulin had been at Foundation Establishment Stage 7 just the day before, yet she was already at Stage 8!
The pure energy she had just refined, added to the true essence she had accumulated over the years since reaching Stage 7, had pushed her past the final barrier.
They had only practiced the cultivation art once.
‘Is this the power of two thousand years…’
Wang Shulin stared at him.
“Junior Brother, what on earth have you been eating during your cultivation?”
Lee Hyun hedged.
“I think my constitution might have something to do with it. I didn’t expect the effect to be this strong either.”
The look in Wang Shulin’s eyes changed. After experiencing such a boost to her cultivation firsthand, she could not afford to dwell on embarrassment. She was, after all, a cultivator pursuing the Great Dao!
“Let’s do it again!”
“……You need to stabilize your realm first.”
***
Fifteen days later.
The restrictions surrounding Wang Shulin’s residence rippled faintly.
The spiritual qi gathering inside the room briefly grew denser before settling within her.
Lee Hyun sat opposite her and waited quietly as her breathing gradually grew steady.
A little later, she opened her eyes.
She looked down at her hands, checked her dantian once more, and finally looked at Lee Hyun.
“…I’ve reached late Stage 8! Are you sure this isn’t a demonic cultivation art?”
Wang Shulin sounded more bewildered than delighted.
She circulated her qi again and realized she had refined almost all the primordial yang lingering within her vital essence. She was not yet fully accustomed to controlling her increased true qi, but there were no impurities in her energy, nor any signs of strain on her meridians.
A smile gradually spread across her face.
“Junior Brother, you’re a walking tonic! Let’s cultivate every day from now on!”
“You’ve already used up almost all the vital essence I gave you the first time. I’m not complaining, but…”
“You never know!”
Wang Shulin spent a while examining her strengthened energy, then suddenly looked at him.
“Why haven’t you broken through, Junior Brother?”
“It helped me too.”
He was not just saying that.
Refining Wang Shulin’s primordial yin had further stabilized the spiritual power in his lower dantian, which had only just reached Stage 7. It had also supplied a good deal of the energy he would otherwise have needed to build up through cultivation, and improved his balance of yin and yang.
Lee Hyun, however, had stored the energy he received evenly throughout his Primordial Body. Even his lower dantian had only recently reached Stage 7, so it would have been difficult to advance another full Stage on the energy he had gained this time alone.
Most importantly, they had transferred very different amounts of vital essence during their first exchange. Wang Shulin had received an especially large amount of his primordial yang.
…
Within a few days, the two realized that the Yin-Yang Origin-Harmonizing Method was no longer as effective as it had been at first. Once they had sufficiently refined the primordial yang and primordial yin lingering in their vital essence, only the cultivation art’s usual, gentle effects remained.
Even so, they grew closer. Senior Sister Wang still became embarrassed whenever they talked about the cultivation art, but when it was time to practice together, she enjoyed it even more than Lee Hyun did.
***
Three months later.
Lee Hyun left the Mountain Gate.
He had finished his duties at the Lotus Court and had some time to spare before his next Refining session.
He also brought the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree. He had been tending it at his residence, watering it with the Spirit Rain Art, but now he intended to plant it in the tunnel.
Along the way, he stopped at several cultivator markets to obtain materials for repairs to the tunnel and its formations.
Once he had gathered everything he needed, he disappeared beneath the ground in a secluded spot.
…
Several days later, at Tunnel No. 3.
He passed through the thick bedrock, and the familiar cavern came into view.
Before Lee Hyun had even landed on the floor, a golden ball of fur darted out of a nearby passage.
Squeak!
A second followed, then a third.
Wingbeats sounded from all directions as fuzzbees swarmed onto Lee Hyun, clinging to him as though delighted to see him.
“Have you all been well?”
Squeak, squeak!
The cavern became even noisier when he opened his spirit-insect pouch.
The little fellows quickly mingled, then scattered off to their usual spots.
Lee Hyun began by checking the cavern and spirit fields in turn, filling the water tanks with the Spirit Rain Art and inspecting the irrigation pipes.
In several spirit fields, he cleared away wilted leaves and thinned out patches of overcrowded seedlings.
A few fuzzbees followed him around, pouncing whenever a small spirit insect appeared in the soil he turned over.
‘No problems here.’
He no longer worried as much as he once had, but returning to the tunnel and finding everything in order still filled him with a quiet sense of contentment.
…
For the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree, he chose a spot a short distance from the spirit field he used as an orchard.
The new plot would be Spirit Field No. 3-9.
He would be able to expand the surrounding area as the tree grew.
Lee Hyun first examined the grain of the bedrock, then cleared away as much earth and stone as he needed.
He used the excavated stone to reinforce the inside of the passage and piled the soil separately. Across the floor of the new space, he spread the spirit soil he had brought, mixing it little by little with the existing earth.
When he cast the Soil-Turning Art, the clods crumbled into fine, loose soil.
A Bonefuzz puppet standing at one side of the cavern turned its head.
Lee Hyun pointed toward the remaining pile of stones.
“Move those over there.”
Two Bonefuzz puppets began carrying the stones.
Fuzzbees circled around them, seemingly checking for anything edible whenever the soil was turned over.
But most of the newly excavated area had been solid bedrock.
Before long, the little fellows lost interest and flew off to other spirit fields.
Lee Hyun ran a bamboo irrigation pipe from the existing water tank and dug a shallow channel to drain off excess water.
Once he had finished preparing the ground, he took out the flowerpot.
The sapling stood less than two chi (about 66 cm) tall.
Looking down at it, he found it a little funny that he had even fought a life-and-death duel just to obtain something so small.
‘Anyone else seeing this probably wouldn’t understand, but…’
He tapped the rim of the flowerpot with his finger.
Tap.
A thin crack appeared in the clay pot.
As he removed the pot a piece at a time, the roots and soil within were exposed. Lee Hyun supported the root ball with spiritual power to keep the root tips from breaking, then lowered it intact into the hole he had dug.
After filling in the surrounding soil and lightly packing it down, he cast the Spirit Rain Art.
Patter, patter.
Clear droplets fell onto the leaves and soil, and the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree’s thick leaves stirred slightly.
Lee Hyun crouched before the tree and cast the Aura-Reading Art. He could see energy flowing from its roots through its trunk and into its leaves.
The tree slowly drew spiritual qi from the soil.
Life force gathered within it before spreading back out through the branches.
Yet he could not tell where Heaven-Origin Qi was being produced. To observe the changes described in the records firsthand, it seemed he would still have to wait for the tree to bear fruit.
Just then.
One of the leaves moved ever so slightly.
Lee Hyun’s gaze shifted toward it.
A golden fuzzbee was clinging to the underside of the leaf. The little fellow had been feeling along its veins with its slender forelegs, but when its eyes met Lee Hyun’s, it raised its head.
Squeak?
“Keep this little fellow safe from spirit insects too. You’re all heavy, so try not to hang off it if you can help it.”
The fuzzbee checked the edge of the leaf once more, then took flight.
Apparently, it had found nothing.
Lee Hyun tidied the soil around the tree again, then carved the spirit field number, the tree’s name, and the planting date into a small stone plaque and set it in the ground beside the tree.
Next, he prepared to install a formation around the new spirit field.
He took out the formation devices and formation plate for a Tier 1 Qi-Gathering Formation he had made for practice when he first began studying formations.
He wanted to give the Heaven-Origin Divine Tree a slightly better growing environment.
The Tier 1 Qi-Gathering Formation consumed low-grade spirit stones, but it only needed to cover a small space containing a single sapling, so the cost was manageable.
After calculating the formation plate’s consumption rate, Lee Hyun estimated that ten low-grade spirit stones could keep it running for roughly a year at its current strength.
At that rate, even a hundred years of operation would cost only the equivalent of ten mid-grade spirit stones, which was no burden at all for Lee Hyun.
‘Should I switch to a better Qi-Gathering Formation once the tree grows?’
He began to consider studying the Tier 2 Qi-Gathering Formation as well.
When he had first begun learning Tier 2 formations, Lee Hyun had devoted most of his efforts to the Spirit-Concealing Formation, which could be adapted to the terrain to conceal Tunnel No. 3.
The designs for the Spirit-Concealing Formation’s formation plate and formation devices had been included in the jade slip he obtained from the Danxiao Sect.
He could now call himself a Tier 2 formation master, but the Spirit-Concealing Formation was essentially the only Tier 2 formation he had completed by crafting its formation devices and formation plate himself. With other formations, his knowledge extended only to basic theory and recognizing formation inscriptions, so he would have to study the Qi-Gathering Formation separately before he could build one.
Fortunately, there were plenty of people he could ask at the Lotus Court. Senior Brother Mingyun would be delighted to answer questions about formations.
Once Lee Hyun finished setting up the Tier 1 Qi-Gathering Formation and activated it, the formation devices and the formation inscriptions carved into the floor glowed faintly, and the surrounding spiritual qi slowly began to gather.
He watched for a while, then left the tree and headed out of the cavern.
‘It’s been a while. I should check on the Spirit-Concealing Formation too.’
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