Chapter 121 - Act 18. Cheong Un, the Sword of Small Defeats (1)

The Five Elements Life-Promoting Art was a Foundation Establishment cultivation method. It was designed for a single major realm, with practice beginning in the early stage and concluding in the late stage.

Its focus was on growing spiritual herbs and advancing one’s realm through the spiritual energy returned in the process, making it somewhat different from ordinary cultivation methods. Apart from the step of absorbing spiritual energy directly from herbs, its broad principles were no different from those of the Demon-Exorcizing Spirit Foundation Establishment Art.

Five spells were included in all.

The Heating Art created a long-lasting fireball to maintain a constant temperature in a space.

The Watering Art sprayed water evenly over spirit soil, keeping it moist for a time.

The Fertile Soil Art imbued even ordinary earth with the rich spirituality of spirit soil.

The Pruning Art cut away deadly diseases such as blight, contamination, and rot without injuring the spiritual herb.

And finally, the core of the cultivation manual: the Life-Promoting Art, which rapidly accelerated the growth of spiritual herbs.

Most had no use in combat, but they were essential for growing spiritual herbs. Yise cultivated the method to the third star, the minimum attainment required to use the spells, then brought the spells themselves to the third star as well. The method’s underlying principles were so complex that this took quite some time.

With the Soul-Returning Body-Entering Art, he had felt as though he was denied permission to understand its very concepts. With this method, he understood both the concepts and the procedures, yet still found them difficult to follow. That was despite its extraordinarily helpful annotations and practice instructions, which stood in stark contrast to the Soul-Returning Body-Entering Art.

‘That’s enough for now.’

He had intended to advance as far as he could, but the explanation stated that from the fourth star onward, practice would become more efficient once he reached middle-stage Foundation Establishment. He decided to put it off.

‘Shall I give it a try?’

Yise cast the core spell, the Life-Promoting Art, on the ten-year herb he had planted.

‘Only once a day, for no more than half a watch.’

Overusing the Life-Promoting Art would instead cause the spiritual herb to rot and die.

Spiritual energy turned into glittering powder and scattered over the ten-year herb. For the moment, he could detect no change.

He took a large hourglass out of his storage pouch. Since he lost all track of time when cultivating, he had acquired a ritual implement that would sound an alert after a day had passed. He turned it over, and the sand inside began to trickle down.

While the Life-Promoting Art helped the herb grow, Yise continued practicing energy circulation whenever he had the chance. By now, only about a third of the supreme-grade Qi-Condensing Pill Hae Il had given him remained, and his spiritual energy reserves felt close to reaching middle-stage Foundation Establishment.

When the soft rustle of falling sand ceased and the alert sounded, Yise cast the spells on the ten-year herb in sequence, then turned the hourglass over again.

Three times. Four times.

After he had turned it over another thirty-six times or so, a new leaf sprouted from the ten-year herb’s stalk. This meant the herb had gained another year of age.

‘About ten times faster, then.’

It had completed a year’s growth in forty days. At that rate, producing a hundred-year herb would take roughly ten years.

Its efficiency was unimpressive for now, but considering that he had only reached the third star of the method, it would become much faster later. Calculating the difference in power between the third and tenth stars of other methods, he concluded that the growth rate could reach as much as a hundred times normal.

Once he fully mastered it, he could mass-produce hundred-year herbs at a rate of one plant per year.

‘That’s absurd.’

He felt so hollow that he could not even laugh. All the years he had spent scrabbling to earn spirit stones flashed before his eyes.

Yise revised every judgment he had made about the cultivation method and the talisman treasure.

His doubt that the method was worth staking his entire life of Cultivation on. His mistaken belief that the talisman treasure, rather than the method, was the secret map’s true value.

He had been wrong about everything. This was a truly staggering great fortuitous encounter, one so outrageous that the mere revelation of its existence would turn the continent upside down.

It did have the drawback of requiring constant tending of the herb patch, but since he would be cultivating here anyway, that was hardly a problem. Besides, the higher his attainment, the longer he could go between tending sessions.

‘Then Demonic Energy is the problem now.’

Unlike spiritual energy, Demonic Energy could not be absorbed through energy circulation. Whether by killing and devouring Demons, seizing souls, or draining essence, he had to go out and obtain it himself.

Until now, his cultivation had progressed slowly because he always had an excess of Demonic Energy and too little spiritual energy. Now the situation had reversed.

‘I’ll just have to get more serious about hunting demonic practitioners.’

Demons were plentiful. Born of evil karma and lingering resentment, they sprang up like weeds no matter how many he killed. Demonic practitioners in particular were so common that one could scarcely avoid stumbling over them, no matter the continent.

There would be no more bottlenecks holding back his cultivation. Or so Yise thought.

‘Should I head out soon?’

Quite some time seemed to have passed. He considered going out to take care of his errands, but soon put them off again. His thirst for cultivation was still unsated.

* * *

How much time had passed? Yise sensed Ryu Seonghan entering his lodgings through his divine sense.

After moving quietly about inside, Seonghan took hold of the door handle, opened the door, and stepped through. Yise had deliberately waited for him to enter, wanting to see whether others could come inside the Living Spirit Abode.

“Senior?”

Yise slowly opened his eyes. Seonghan was wearing the robes of the Heavenly Ice Palace. Judging by his considerably more relaxed state of mind, sect life seemed to suit him well enough.

“I thought you might be here because I could faintly sense spiritual energy. But what... is this place?”

“I got it from the Abyssal Labyrinth.”

“Don’t tell me you actually caught that wanted Foundation Establishment Cultivator?”

Yise answered with silence.

“Wait, wow... It’s like a portable grotto-heaven. That’s insane. No wonder that fugitive lost his head over it.”

Seonghan’s eyes roamed around the Living Spirit Abode.

Yise did not bother explaining the cultivation method. It was not that he distrusted Seonghan. Their private soul-binding contract was still in force, and Seonghan needed him. He simply saw no reason to needlessly stir up jealousy or greed.

“Can you store things in here, too?”

“Yes. It doubles as a large storage space.”

“I’m seriously jealous...”

With a hint of a smile, Yise made one of his characteristic jokes.

“You don’t even have a portable secluded abode of your own? Can you really call yourself a Cultivator?”

“Who has a portable secluded abode of their own?!”

Seonghan kept repeating how envious he was, then suddenly clutched his head. Yise’s eyes narrowed.

“... Ahaha. I briefly had a disrespectful thought about whether I might inherit it if you passed away...”

“I really can’t keep you around without a binding contract, can I?”

“I can’t trust myself either, so I can hardly ask you to release me from it...”

Seonghan took three large sacks from his storage pouch and set them down.

“It’s spirit-beast feed. I thought it might be difficult to keep preparing food for Emer while you cultivate.”

At the mention of feed, the curled-up Emer’s head shot up.

“Emer doesn’t eat all that much, so it hasn’t been a problem. But thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and I’ve joined the Heavenly Ice Palace.”

“Yes, I can see that. Well done.”

Yise offered brief praise for his achievement. Now they would be able to move another step closer to their goal.

“I think I can arrange an identity for you, as an independent Cultivator affiliated with Tiandogyeong.”

“Oh?”

“You just need to carry this. It’s not an identity token, but a guarantor’s token. It means that I, as a member of the Heavenly Ice Palace, vouch for your identity. We can also exchange message talismans through it.”

“Excellent.”

Yise accepted the silver token he held out. It bore the Heavenly Ice Palace’s insignia, along with Ryu Seonghan’s name and affiliation.

“You’ve been doing nothing but cultivating all this time, haven’t you? Let’s go out for a change. You need some fresh air. Sit around cultivating all day and you’ll get bedsores.”

“Don’t worry. I do physical training between sessions.”

“Wouldn’t physical training be meaningless for a body that’s reached Foundation Establishment?”

“It’s just a habit.”

“You really are relentless...”

Yise chuckled and rose. He had been meaning to take care of the errands he had put off anyway.

After retrieving the Living Spirit Abode and putting it in his Heaven-and-Earth Pouch, the two headed for the market town. As they walked side by side, Yise asked,

“How long has it been?”

“It’s been a year since I entered the palace, so... about a year and a half since we arrived at the Heavenly Ice Palace.”

Had that much time passed already?

“Don’t you get bored, doing nothing but cultivating every day?”

“Not at all. I’d like to hole up for a hundred years and do nothing else.”

“I hear there’s such a thing as an inner demon of cultivation... Aren’t you showing signs of addiction at that point?”

“Maybe.”

“Still, come out now and then. Emer needs walks, too.”

Yise stroked Emer’s feathers as the bird perched on his shoulder with folded wings. Emer made a purring sound, apparently pleased to be out for the first time in so long.

Fortunately, Meat Preservation Chests were available on the Northern Continent as well. Yise chose the one with the greatest capacity, then replenished his various depleted consumables.

Next, he stopped at a spiritual-herb shop to check which herbs were commonly traded and purchased seeds, focusing on varieties that grew more valuable with age. He also stocked up on ingredients for the immortal cuisine he would make from Feathered Man’s meat. Now that Seonghan had entered the Heavenly Ice Palace, it was time to start making Foundation Establishment immortal cuisine for him.

Finally, he visited a nearby bookshop to ask whether anyone knew the whereabouts of the Twin Principles Reversion Art and to check for any useful demonic cultivation manuals.

He had been willing to learn a demonic cultivation method if he found one that was less repugnant, but none of the manuals contained anything fit to learn. Studying such things felt like an invitation to an inner-demon tribulation.

Concluding once again that demonic practitioners were not worth associating with, he returned to his lodgings.

Yise took Feathered Man’s corpse out of the Demon-Sealing Album and began preparing immortal cuisine. Today’s dish was Tabaro-style royal braised chicken. He intended to have only a taste himself, then put all the rest in the Meat Preservation Chest for Seonghan.

Delighted to be eating immortal cuisine for the first time in so long, Yise set his chopsticks to work.

“Wow, this is really... unbelievable...”

Seonghan kept exclaiming over the spirit-gathering effect of the Foundation Establishment immortal cuisine. Off to one side, Emer was chewing meat from a bone belonging to a demonic beast that might have been the bird’s own mother.

Yise felt a momentary pang of guilt, but turned his eyes away as though refusing to acknowledge it.

“When do you think you’ll be able to access the library?”

“I can already check about a third of it. To see the rest, I think I’ll need to reach Foundation Establishment and earn some contribution points. The cultivation manual you’re looking for wasn’t among the books I checked.”

“They might not have the actual manual. Do they have anything like a catalog of the continent’s cultivation manuals?”

“Yes. There was an index in the library’s access office. For items they didn’t own, it listed the sect that held them.”

Impressed by the Heavenly Ice Palace’s thoroughness, Yise praised it as a proper sect.

“I’ve heard there are separate secret manuals that only elders and those above them can consult. But you said the one you’re after was a sealed fragment, so... it probably wouldn’t be there.”

“Then reaching Foundation Establishment comes first. Let’s put some effort into it.”

“Yes. I’ll devote myself to it.”

Yise suppressed his desire for another helping. He was short on Demonic Energy right now anyway, so he had no need of the spirit-gathering effect. Besides, the more he ate, the less would be left for Seonghan.

“You can have the rest. Eat some whenever the spirit-gathering effect wears off.”

“Wow, really?”

Seonghan cheered. As though afraid Yise might take it back, he gathered up the immortal cuisine and packed it into the Meat Preservation Chest.

“You really are unusual, Senior. Watching you, I’d swear you were a miser, but sometimes you’re so generous.”

“This isn’t generosity. It’s an investment. Nothing in this world is free, and everything has a price.”

“You mean I should work hard, right? Understood.”

“And take this and exchange it for contribution points.”

Yise took the corpse of the wanted demonic practitioner he had hunted out of the Demon-Sealing Album.

Seonghan flinched at the corpse appearing out of thin air, then said to Yise,

“‘This’...? You really do talk like a Demonic Path Cultivator.”

He spoke as though returning Yise’s earlier teasing about how he resembled a demonic practitioner.

But there was one difference between them: their realms.

The Black Phosphor Axe came down on Seonghan’s head.

As Seonghan rolled on the floor clutching his head, Yise personally imparted a lesson in etiquette.

“How dare you say such vile things to a senior as exalted as the heavens? Mind your manners.”