Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Ascension (4)
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The Celestial Realm looked nothing like Seoran had imagined.
It wasn't the Eastern fantasy trope of nine-tailed foxes and cranes carrying immortals gliding over clouds.
It was closer to fusion cyberpunk.
The sales clerk explained in a bright voice.
"You three have excellent taste. Scroll-type terminals are all the rage these days. They combine a universally appealing form factor with top performance and portability. That's why everyone—from young to old—buys them."
Damcheong unrolled the scroll-type terminal and asked.
"With just this, you can talk face-to-face with someone far away? The Celestial Realm has so many wondrous things."
"Ah, you must have ascended recently?"
"We arrived today."
The clerk nodded and said.
"Then you definitely need a scroll-type terminal. Video calls are just a tiny fraction of its countless functions. It also has messenger delivery, coordinate anchoring, photo and video recording, and—of course—the all-important Heavenly Net access."
Seoran asked skeptically.
"Heavenly Net?"
"Yes, exactly. The Heavenly Net is the pan-Celestial Realm spiritual power communication network, developed, maintained, and repaired directly by Peach Garden Haven. It's a sea of information anyone with an authenticated terminal can access. Just tap the net icon on the screen—give it a try."
"Ah, okay..."
She pressed down firmly on the net icon as instructed.
A boxy shape very familiar to a 21st-century Earthling greeted her.
It was a search bar.
The clerk pointed at the search bar and said.
"Tap this long box and ask whatever you're curious about. Text or voice—it doesn't matter."
She jabbed the search bar with her fingertip.
Handwriting recognition activated.
Seoran wrote out characters with her finger.
'Cat'
The screen instantly filled with cat-related information.
'How to make a pet cat yokai', 'Cat yokai weaknesses', 'Cat treats that humans eat without knowing', and all sorts of other entries flooded in.
There were pictures of cats with two tails, too.
The clerk began demonstrating her sales acumen.
"Wow, you're a quick study. As expected of someone who ascended from the lower world—there's something different about you. Oh, by the way, did you get your ascension certificate from the bureau? We're running a special discount for ascenders right now."
Seoran was a bit dumbfounded.
An ascender discount—not even a student discount.
She felt like shouting that this couldn't be the Celestial Realm.
At that moment, Deung Baekwol spoke up.
"We'll browse a bit more."
"Oh, of course."
"Yes, then..."
Deung Baekwol replied with a smile and gathered up Damcheong.
Damcheong was staring intently at a five-hour video of a carp swimming.
Anyone would think he'd been hypnotized.
Seoran, having left the store, said.
"This is the Celestial Realm...?"
Deung Baekwol asked.
"What did you expect?"
"Well... foxes and crane yokai roaming the mountains and rivers in harmony...?"
"You really had a classical imagination. The Celestial Realm is vast, so if you search diligently, you'll find regions where the tide of civilization passed by. But most places are like what you've seen. Technology advances inevitably, after all."
Seoran looked around.
The street was lined with terminal shops.
Impressive billboards, each claiming to be the original.
Seoran muttered.
"All of them claiming to be the originals...?"
"Most of the shops here really are originals."
"They are?"
Deung Baekwol answered.
"Yes. They were all originally one company. They dominated the entire Celestial Realm terminal market through price competition, then got hit with anti-monopoly laws and split into thousands of companies."
"A company that huge?"
"What can you do? It was a ruling from Peach Garden Haven's Supreme Judge herself. They had to split. I mentioned it before, right? There's one dragonkin in Jinsun-gyeong whose influence even affects the tides. She's the Supreme Judge. An Earth Immortal, naturally."
Seoran glanced briefly at Damcheong and said.
"A dragonkin as judge means no one dares commit perjury."
Dragon eyes have the power to discern truth from lies.
Damcheong had told her that before their ascension to the Celestial Realm.
It was around the time she'd asked visitors to address her by name.
Deung Baekwol nodded.
"Exactly. Best not to commit crimes from the start. I don't remember exactly when, but there was once a capital clan that organized mass production of counterfeit currency. What do you think happened to them?"
"All executed?"
"They didn't even get a clean death. They're probably still paying for it in the underworld even now. The underworld administrator is also an Earth Immortal affiliated with Peach Garden Haven."
Seoran, Damcheong, and Deung Baekwol bought scroll-type terminals and headed back to the bureau.
*****
The group took the elevator to the 52nd floor, Land Department.
They were there to declare occupation of unclaimed land.
It was bustling with petitioners, too.
Seoran asked.
"But it's a bit unusual. Even for unclaimed land, it's a declaration system instead of permits."
"The Celestial Realm is just too vast. Better for anyone to claim and manage empty land than let it sit idle. At least they'll keep the yokai at bay."
"True enough."
After an ordeal of waiting, the group successfully completed their unclaimed land occupation declaration.
For reference, the official name of the merged Black Bamboo Sect-Gold Sparrow Sect was decided as 'Golden Bamboo Sect'.
The Black Bamboo Sect didn't mind if the sect name just included bamboo, whether black or white.
The Gold Sparrow Sect was fine as long as it had gold in the name, whether sparrow or snake.
The Golden Bamboo members left the Land Department and headed to another floor.
Their destination was the 77th floor, Ascension Support Office.
Fortunately, it was fairly quiet there.
At that moment, Damcheong started to whine.
"When the hell is this going to end...?"
It wasn't particularly strange.
They'd flown for months without sleep during ascension, and since arriving in the Celestial Realm, they'd been bouncing between bureau offices.
Even a dragon would be getting tired by now.
Seoran smiled and said.
"Damcheong-nim, if you're sleepy, let me carry you on my back."
"Thanks..."
"No problem."
While Damcheong slept soundly, their turn came around.
Seoran approached the counter and applied for ascension support funds on behalf of herself and Damcheong.
There were generous benefits like settlement subsidies and repair encouragement grants.
This was exactly why they'd gotten the ascension certificates and activated their terminals.
While moving to another floor, Seoran asked.
"But we have you, Deung Susa, but other capital sects—freshly ascended and already swamped—where do they even learn about this? Most probably don't know."
"You're right. That's why the application rate is extremely low."
"Classic case of 'if you don't know, you don't get it' money."
As they talked, they arrived at the Immortal Bone Examination Office.
The examiner extracted spiritual power samples from Seoran, Deung Baekwol, and the soundly sleeping Damcheong.
They said the results would be notified within the year.
Seoran asked.
"That's really everything now, right?"
"No, there's still one more."
"Ah, figures..."
The group boarded the elevator once again.
*****
Her shoulder was soaked with drool.
Damcheong slept like a rock even while being carried.
He wouldn't have noticed if someone else had picked him up.
While waiting for Deung Baekwol, Seoran read the posters on the wall.
A large poster was advertising tourist destinations.
The sites were the Five Elements Secret Realms scattered across the Celestial Realm.
Just reading the descriptions made it hard to tell if these were secret realms or national parks.
Deung Baekwol returned after completing her secret realm ritual application.
"All done. What are you looking at? Ah, the Five Elements Secret Realms tourism poster. What a coincidence—my ritual will be held right there, too."
"When?"
"They said my turn should come around the second quarter of next year."
Apply and wait half a year for a secret realm ritual— it really drove home that this was the Celestial Realm.
In a world where Peach Garden Haven managed the secret realms and Immortal Bone cultivators handled public petitions, it was truly another realm.
Seoran asked.
"You're incredibly efficient at this. Your seal wasn't broken for a short time..."
"The Celestial Realm rarely sees big changes. Considering the influence of Peach Garden Haven and its five Earth Immortals, it's inevitable. The other two have zero interest in worldly affairs, too."
"Hmm..."
Seoran looked at Deung Baekwol.
She was sharper than she appeared.
Not what you'd expect from a cultivator who'd once reached the near-Earth Immortal realm.
She even gave off the vibe of someone more accustomed to being ordered around than giving orders.
All in all, she was hard to pin down.
The group returned to the archipelago where their sect members were waiting.
For reference, the archipelago's official name was the Aurora Isles.
They called it that because auroras were frequent.
A few days later, the Immortal Bone examination results arrived.
*****
Damcheong flapped his own terminal open and asked.
"They say I have an Immortal Bone, too! But what's this Void Vessel? The explanation's too long—I don't get it."
Deung Baekwol said.
"The Void Vessel's defining trait is hypersensitive qi perception. Makes sense now, though—you said you were once a carp? How a short-lived creature like that became a spirit beast and then a dragon... so this was the reason."
"Is it good?"
"It's one of the Immortal Bones with fast realm progression speed."
Feeling pleased, Damcheong asked.
"Deung Baekwol, what about you?"
"Hmm... Mine's the Supreme Soul Vessel. It says my soul grade is innately superior. It emits an inexplicable aura of intimidation, so it pairs extremely well with yokai surgery."
"Ooh, I see. Seoran, what's yours?"
Seoran, who had been staring blankly at her results, said.
"I... apparently have no innate Immortal Bone?"
Golden Bamboo Sect ascension year 0, end of the year.