Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Temporarily Holding Hands (2)
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Seoran had often felt something was off.
In fact, after reaching Foundation Establishment and attaining an immortal body, all sorts of strange things had happened.
First, a tailor had come to measure her body.
Then he’d delivered an enormous assortment of clothes, all tailored to those exact measurements.
Her wardrobe was so stuffed it looked ready to burst.
They wouldn’t fit for long—why make so many?
Wouldn’t it just waste fabric once she outgrew them?
Was this special treatment for becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Seoran brushed it off without much thought.
Once, she’d gone to the communal dining hall for dinner.
The moment she entered, someone came running from far away to offer her a dedicated chair.
The backrest of the unusually long-legged chair had “Ryu Seoran” written on it.
What on earth did this mean?
Sure, her usual seats had been a bit uncomfortable, but was this really necessary?
Special treatment for a Foundation Establishment cultivator again?
Seoran didn’t dwell on it this time either.
Beyond that, countless daily necessities had been custom-made to fit her exact build.
Every single one was a luxurious item, crafted with care from top-quality materials by skilled artisans.
Seoran’s second-floor pavilion had been swiftly furnished with an array of dainty, exquisite pieces.
She should have noticed sooner, but she’d been too busy with her secular travels, experiments, and tracking down that bandit gang to pay attention.
It was Yi Agum’s staggering disparity—flaunted during their reunion after so long—that had finally provided the key clue.
Now Seoran understood the source of her unease.
Not a single cultivator in the Black Bamboo Sect had ever considered the possibility of her body growing anymore.
Why make piles of clothes in the same size?
Because she wouldn’t grow anymore anyway.
Why craft a dedicated chair with such long legs?
Otherwise, she’d be uncomfortable forever.
Why fill her room with dainty luxury furniture?
Because the homeowner would remain a pint-sized figure eternally.
Cultivators of the Black Bamboo Sect head to the Scripture Pavilion whenever they have a question.
And so Seoran rushed there too.
Now that she looked, there was even a custom step-stool just for her.
It must have been left there for reaching books on the high shelves.
Seoran immediately grabbed the librarian and asked.
“Um, does physical growth stop once you reach Foundation Establishment?”
The librarian nodded.
“Of course it does.”
“I never heard anything like that...”
The librarian gave her a puzzled look.
“Wasn’t it written in the Pure Earth Consolidation Art? That can’t be right...”
She tilted her head, went to the stacks, pulled out a book, and opened it.
After scanning the contents briefly, she handed it to Seoran and pointed to a specific passage.
‘Upon reaching Foundation Establishment, one attains the additional accomplishments of an indestructible body and sword-proof flesh, akin to an immortal spirit.’
The librarian said.
“It clearly says ‘immortal spirit’ right there. Was the copy Senior Sister Ryu received damaged?”
Absolutely not.
The Pure Earth Consolidation Art that Seoran had received definitely mentioned something about an immortal spirit.
But Seoran felt truly wronged.
“It said we wouldn’t age, not that growth stops...”
In Seoran’s imagination, the immortal spirit meant growing until her twenties, fully maturing, and then living forever in eternal youth.
She’d never once imagined staying a child forever.
But the librarian delivered the despairing truth.
“‘Immortal spirit’ is just a metaphorical expression. To put it bluntly, it’s like firing clay into pottery. From the moment of Foundation Establishment, a cultivator’s body no longer changes.”
“So I have to live like this forever?”
“If you don’t have the skill to turn pottery back into clay... that’s probably how it’ll be. Or you could achieve the legendary shedding of bones and rebirth. But first you’d need to undergo the feathered ascension to become an Earth Immortal.”
Seoran collapsed limply and muttered.
“This... this can’t be...”
Of course, the librarian had no obligation to care.
“I’m busy, so I’ll be going...”
As the departing librarian walked away, she thought to herself.
Wasn’t that just common knowledge?
In fact, it was.
Among all the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Black Bamboo Sect, only one person had been unaware of this fact.
That was Ryu Seoran, writhing on the wooden floor of the Scripture Pavilion in the throes of harsh tribulation.
No one had ever told Seoran.
It wasn’t as if they’d deliberately ostracized her out of malice.
Even if they’d wanted to get close, there was no way to approach someone locked in an endless cycle of sleep-eat-cultivate.
In truth, Seoran had been the one isolating everyone else.
In such circumstances, she’d reached Foundation Establishment after just one year as an initiate.
There hadn’t been time for anyone to explain things to her.
And her genius talent—the radiant halo it cast—had blinded people to the possibility as well.
Frankly, it was absurd to think a sixteen-year-old prodigy who’d succeeded at Foundation Establishment wouldn’t know such basic common sense.
Ryu Seoran, possessor of that absurd talent, finished scrubbing the floor and stood up.
It was the resilient recovery befitting the youngest Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Pain that failed to kill became the driving force for growth.
Muttering about her shattered dreams, Seoran left the Scripture Pavilion.
“I wanted to be someone cool like Elder Ho...”
Truth be told, Ho Hye-mun was Seoran’s role model.
Her mysterious beauty that accentuated her serene aura, her flawlessly trained golden-ratio tall figure, her profound knowledge and shining intellect that she couldn’t possibly hide.
If you ignored how she turned into a beaming spotlight in front of children, she was a nation-toppling beauty straight out of a painting.
That was why she had fervent fans across genders.
Deep down, Seoran wanted a fan club like that too.
Turning back into a boy was off the table, so she figured living as an object of worship would be the next best thing.
That’s why she did stretching every single night without fail.
With her looks and intellect already perfect, if only she could shoot up in height, she’d achieve her goal effortlessly.
But now everything was ruined.
Shedding bones and rebirth was a realm that existed half in legend, and Seoran had no way to revert pottery to clay.
She was fated to spend eternity looking up at others.
Returning home, Seoran left a single note.
‘My disappointment is too great, so I’m leaving on a trip for a while. Please don’t look for me.’
Then she rode the Stone Lotus out beyond the great barrier.
She planned to soothe her empty heart with gourmet tourism.
First up was the famous roast duck that even royalty sought out.
Someone was watching such a Seoran.
*****
Dragons are born in two ways.
The first is to simply be born as a dragon.
The second is to become one on your own.
A certain wealthy man living in the western part of Yu Kingdom built a lavish villa in the mountains.
Such a building naturally required a garden and a pond.
So while they were at it, he stocked the pond with a few carp.
The tycoon used the villa a few times and quickly grew bored.
It was terribly inconvenient, nestled deep in the mountains.
In the end, it was left abandoned with only minimal upkeep.
On a day when rain poured as if the heavens had a hole ripped open.
A nearby stream flooded and swept through the villa.
The deluge smashed the walls and turned the garden into a muddy mess, becoming the minor trigger.
One carp left the pond where it had spent its whole life and entered the wider world.
The torrent carrying the carp flowed down the mountainside before plunging into a vertical cave.
Directly beneath the vertical cave lay a lake.
The carp that plummeted there miraculously survived.
In the lake brimming with spiritual energy, a century passed as it devoured tiny insects.
The mere beast had become a spirit creature.
It had produced spiritual power on its own.
And another three centuries elapsed.
The spirit creature carp was finally reborn as a dragon.
The dragon that shed its husk lifted its head first.
Beyond the long vertical cave, far away, it could see the sky.
The blue sky, clouds drifting lazily, the bright sun.
The newborn dragon was captivated by the beauty of the heavens.
An instinctive longing for ascension.
A desire every dragon inevitably harbored.
Even this young one was no different.
Unable to fly yet, it climbed the vertical passage with its own power.
The narrow sky instantly widened, filling its entire field of view.
That was why mortals called the human realm “all under heaven.”
The dragon said without thinking.
“I need to make a Dragon Orb.”
To ascend to the heavens.
It took nearly six hundred years to nearly complete the Dragon Orb.
On a day of raging winds, thunder, and lightning, it placed the orb atop a high rocky peak.
The fruit of a thousand years of effort since falling into the cave lake was finally within reach.
But the next day, when it emerged from its nest, some impudent human had brazenly stolen the Dragon Orb.
The dragon sensed its own Dragon Orb heading east.
A dragon without its orb could no longer fly through the skies.
And so it pursued the thief on foot all the way from western Yu Kingdom to Yang Kingdom.
Silently following the aura of its own Dragon Orb, the dragon halted outside the Black Bamboo Sect’s great barrier.
Regrettably, having lost most of its power, it couldn’t confront the sect head-on.
It had no choice but to bide its time until the thief emerged.
At last, the thief—reeking of the Dragon Orb’s aura—exited the great barrier.
The dragon immediately unleashed a spell.
A tremendous gust swept in, smashing the cultivator on the flying vessel into a secluded ravine.
The dragon lunged at the Dragon Orb thief and shouted.
“Hand over my Dragon Orb right now!”
Seoran, grabbed by the collar by what looked like a young child, stared in stunned bewilderment.