Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Leap or Soar
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It was a string of good news.
The cosmic structure Golden Bamboo Flower had been safely completed.
And Geum Yeongyeong's daily average training time had begun to plummet sharply.
Even the heart demon specialist had given a full recovery diagnosis.
Everything had fallen back into place.
Seoran could finally relax and return to her routine.
Which meant resuming her sleepless workaholic schedule.
Seoran's day began at the crack of dawn.
To be precise, it wasn't so much "starting the day" as "beginning the day's schedule."
She didn't sleep in the first place.
Seoran's daily routine kicked off with morning meditation.
It used to be time spent tempering her soul in a steam room.
But with the incense burner pedestal currently outsourced for research, she had no choice but to substitute with regular meditation.
Once meditation wrapped up, she washed her body and had breakfast.
It was a nutrient-packed breakfast, prepared with precision by the morning-shift maids who arrived early.
Typically, the morning meal consisted of rice and soup as basics, plus fish, meat, and seasonal vegetables.
For the record, carp never made it to the table.
That was because of Damcheong, the dragon who had once been a carp living with her.
Still, she didn't mind other fish, whether grilled, steamed, boiled, or fried.
By the time breakfast ended, the pills arrived.
They were top-grade elixirs meticulously refined by the Medicine Hall.
The delivery wasn't made by a person, but by a porcelain doll.
Seoran silently swallowed the day's dose of pills.
No complaining, even if the taste was a bit off.
That was the mark of a true adult.
Next came morning cultivation.
To fully absorb the wondrous effects of the pills, it was best to start cultivating right away.
Even after absorbing all the medicinal power, the session only ended once it was time to prepare for work.
"Work," of course, meant her duties as the Earth Mother God.
With the maids' help, Seoran donned her ceremonial robes.
She exchanged greetings with Geum Yeongyeong, who had just risen and was savoring brunch, then left the estate.
Seoran sat solemnly, receiving the merfolk pilgrims.
She accepted their offerings and bestowed blessings in return.
The believers' satisfaction levels were sky-high.
The Earth Mother God's religious activities continued until noon.
Afterward, she clocked out and returned to the estate.
It was time for the exciting lunch she'd been awaiting all morning.
Today's dining spot was the pavilion over the central courtyard pond.
They occasionally ate outdoors in the summer.
The maids bustled about, ferrying in the dishes.
Seated around the round table were three people.
Seoran, Damcheong, and Geum Yeongyeong.
Pointing out that she'd just had brunch but was already at lunch was pointless.
The trio happily enjoyed the summer special menu.
Finishing the meal didn't mean breaking up.
They lingered over tea and desserts, fostering camaraderie.
Once the warm and fuzzy tea party ended, the three dispersed to handle their own schedules.
Damcheong headed off to receive the afternoon pilgrims.
Geum Yeongyeong planned to catch up on her backlog of reading.
Seoran, as always, went straight to the training grounds.
It was her delightful afternoon cultivation time.
Her top priority was, naturally, merit law cultivation.
She wanted to harmonize her Quad Spirit Roots as soon as possible.
It felt like she was just a little bit away.
That said, she didn't drill into merit law cultivation nonstop.
Researching the Primal Spirit Energy merit law itself was just as important as getting used to its effects.
In the case of the Embracing Flames Body Protection Art, that meant the Lotus Fire Barrier.
Seoran casually shed her regular clothes.
She donned the fire rat fur garment hanging on the rack.
Finally, she wrapped hemp twine around her entire body.
Seated on the floor, Seoran activated the Lotus Fire Barrier.
Fierce flames engulfed her.
As long as it was supplied with enough purification spiritual power, it was the ultimate barrier, protecting the user near-perfectly.
Seoran closely examined her body.
The hemp twine remained intact, unburnt in any spot.
Proof that she had the Lotus Fire Barrier fully under control.
The first time she'd tried the Lotus Fire Barrier, Seoran had incinerated the clothes she was wearing.
That was when she realized why the Black Bamboo Sect had bothered making her clothes from fire rat fur.
The garment, with its incredible fire resistance, was training attire for the Lotus Fire Barrier.
It would have been great if she'd known its purpose before accidentally going full ignite nudist.
But now, Seoran was different.
Even amid the barrier's raging flames, the twine wrapped around her body didn't turn to ash.
No more worries about a fiery striptease exposing her.
With a satisfied expression, Seoran left the training grounds.
And so came dinnertime.
After a harmonious dinner, she did her evening meditation.
Once meditation ended, it was bedtime.
But Seoran was already a Primal Spirit Energy cultivator—a true superhuman who had no need for sleep.
From here on, it was all free time.
Seoran decided to play a bit first.
A reward for her diligent cultivation all day.
So, in the dead of night, she slipped alone into the puppet workshop.
"The happiest thing in the world is researching puppetry..."
Seoran dove passionately into puppetry research until around the ugly hour (from 1 to 3 a.m.), then returned to her room.
A time when people grew more sentimental.
The perfect moment for writing novels.
Seoran took up her brush with a calm mind.
She wrote each character with utmost care.
Her creative session stretched until dawn.
After that, the exact same day awaited her, starting from morning meditation.
Day after day, an unchanging routine.
The anomaly struck in early winter.
At the usual noon, while eating in the dining hall, the Shiksandaepeng clone popped in unannounced.
Glancing around the interior, Shiksandaepeng raised a wing to point somewhere.
It was in the direction where Geum Yeongyeong sat.
The singled-out Geum Yeongyeong said with a bright smile.
"Daepung, did you come because you missed your big sis? Or are you hungry? Wanna eat with sis?"
From creator Seoran's perspective, Shiksandaepeng had no concept of gender or hunger.
She hadn't programmed those functions from the start.
So nothing out of Geum Yeongyeong's mouth was remotely accurate.
Of course, Geum Yeongyeong couldn't care less.
"Come on, copy your sis. Rice, please. Rice."
Seoran smacked her forehead and said.
"You think that'll work?"
But then the miraculous happened.
Shiksandaepeng's beak twitched, and it began emitting sounds like a broken tape recorder.
"Ri, ri, rrr, ri, riri..."
The trio leaped up from their seats.
"What did you saaaay!"
"I-Incredible!"
"Daepung!"
In order: Seoran, Damcheong, Geum Yeongyeong.
The trio stared in shock at Shiksandaepeng's beak, all their attention fixed there.
Geum Yeongyeong's focus was especially impressive.
Among those present, she was the one who'd played with Shiksandaepeng the most.
Shiksandaepeng's speech gradually took shape.
"Ri, riri, rice, ri, rice, rice..."
Geum Yeongyeong said in a trembling voice.
"Come on, copy sis. Rice, please."
"Rrr, rice, riri, rice, rice..."
"Yeah, that's it! Rice!"
At last, refined speech emerged from Shiksandaepeng's beak.
"Idiot."
"Daepung, not idiot—rice."
"Idiot, idiot, idiot."
Shiksandaepeng pointed a wing at Geum Yeongyeong while repeating "idiot."
It didn't seem like a mistake.
The pronunciation itself was getting clearer.
Geum Yeongyeong promptly fainted.
*****
It begged one question.
How did Shiksandaepeng learn the word "idiot"?
It must have heard it from someone's mouth and mimicked it.
Even the master detective duo of Seoran and Damcheong struggled to identify suspects.
Not only the estate's owner, but residents Damcheong and Geum Yeongyeong also refrained from vulgarities.
Even the maids were the same.
In the end, Seoran resorted to the final method.
"Daepung, who did you learn that from?"
"Idiot, idiot."
"Yeah, who taught you that?"
Shiksandaepeng extended a wing, pointing somewhere.
All eyes turned that way.
There stood Jang Seonhwa, an outsider who had rushed over upon hearing news of the entertaining spectacle.
The accused Jang Seonhwa protested her innocence.
"I-It wasn't me!"
"Hmm..."
"Teacher, what are you thinking? D-Do you really think I'd use crude language like that? I'm not a kid! Believe me, right?"
What cleared Jang Seonhwa's name was the living lie detector, Damcheong.
"Seonhwa's words ring true."
"How do you know, Damcheong?"
"Through brilliant intuition and logic-based deduction!"
Seoran didn't drop her suspicion.
"Hmm..."
"Above all, Daepung isn't pointing at Seonhwa."
"Then who?"
As all eyes gathered, Damcheong spoke.
"It's Seonhwa's human-faced bird."
Heads whipped around in unison.
Everyone stared at the human-faced bird perched on Jang Seonhwa's shoulder.
As attention zeroed in, the bird's poker face—which it had been desperately maintaining—crumbled.
Seoran swiftly went with the flow.
"I knew it! Our sweet Seonhwa would never use such naughty words!"
"Teacher, you believed in me!"
"W-Well... yeah, I believed you..."
Jang Seonhwa's pet human-faced bird made a wise decision.
"The day has finally come. Yes, it was me. I taught Daepung the rude word."
The master detective duo solved the case once again.