Chapter 43
Chapter 43
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Shedding Realm (5)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
In the past, Yeomujin, the top Transcendence instructor, had said:
Transcendence is transcendence.
And transcendence is supplementation.
In other words, compensation for innate imperfections.
Though years had passed, his teachings remained unchanged.
Yeomujin said:
“What is needed to reach the Primal Soul Realm?
If you’re not sure, it might help to look back on the past.
Let’s think about it.
What did you gain while passing through the Refinement Realm and Foundation Realm?
The Refinement Realm is the stage of honing body and mind.
Through martial arts training, you strengthened your body, and through meditation, you came to know yourself and tempered your spirit.
Good. First, you shaped your body and mind.
Next, the Foundation Realm is the stage of accumulating spiritual power.
You converted spirit energy into spiritual power and constantly refined it.
Thus, you completed the vessel and filled the empty space.
Up to here, you’ve passed through the Refinement and Foundation Realms.
At last, preparations for transcendence are complete.
Now it’s time for our flesh and soul to shed their shells.
What did you gain upon reaching the Shedding Realm?”
Seoran answered.
“Resilient vitality.”
Yeomujin asked once more.
“That’s right, you’ve shed the limits of the flesh. So the body has already transcended. What remains?”
Harmony of body and mind, an element emphasized since the Refinement Realm.
“Is it time for the soul to transcend?”
Yeomujin nodded and said:
“You’re a joy to teach. Use the Spirit Eye Technique on me.”
Seoran immediately cast the spell.
The Spirit Eye Technique was an extremely important spell.
Because it revealed things invisible to the naked eye.
Spirit energy flowing through heaven and earth.
Monstrous powers roaming the world.
And something spiritual.
Through Spirit Eyes, Yeomujin’s presence was intense.
He had lived for about nine hundred years.
One of those closest to heaven on earth.
The overwhelming gap made her hairs stand on end instinctively.
The fear a rabbit would feel encountering a tiger.
“Oh, how about now? Is it a bit easier to look at?”
Realizing his mistake, Yeomujin hurriedly reined in his power.
The crushing pressure eased somewhat.
As Seoran’s expression relaxed, he said:
“What differences are there between you and me? In terms of Transcendence-related elements.”
The now-calmed Seoran observed Yeomujin with Spirit Eyes.
In the middle dantian—that is, the heart—shimmered a spirit root.
Vast spiritual power filling the entire body.
Finally, the golden core located in the lower abdomen.
Up to here, it wasn’t much different from Seoran’s.
But clear differences existed.
Something had taken root in Yeomujin’s mind.
A fist-sized translucent object.
It resembled a curled-up newborn infant.
It was Yeomujin’s primal soul.
“Is this the primal soul?”
“That’s right. The Primal Soul Realm is the transcendence of the soul. Forming the primal soul is the realm you’ll aim for from now on. Of course, you needn’t worry too much. You have overflowing talent, after all.”
With a clear destination set, the sense of futility vanished.
“The goal is transcendence of the soul. Understood! But what should I do first?”
To Seoran’s question, Yeomujin answered immediately.
“What’s most important in Transcendence is surely harmony of body and mind. First, you need to temper the soul to bring it up to the level of the body. There are various methods, but what you should cultivate first is this, I think.”
Yeomujin handed over a book.
The cover read ‘Soul Division Technique’.
Seoran exclaimed in surprise.
“Soul Division Technique! Don’t tell me it’s creating thousands of clones for thousands-fold efficiency in cultivation?!”
Yeomujin made a baffled expression.
“What nonsense is that? The clones don’t have independent consciousness, and you’re the one controlling them anyway—why would efficiency increase thousands-fold?”
Unfortunately, it wasn’t three-thousand-fold efficiency.
“I see...”
“I can’t fathom why you’re disappointed. In any case, what you need to do from now on is simple. It’s consciousness-splitting training using soul clones.”
A moment later, Seoran gathered a few more books and stood.
Then headed to the next classroom.
*****
The passionate one-on-one lecture from Geum Jungpae had ended.
The lecture topic was ‘Research on Earth Attribute Methods, from the Perspective of Utility Differences Between Spiritual Tools and Spells’.
It concluded with praise for spiritual tools.
Somehow, it felt laden with the lecturer’s personal bias.
“Do you understand, Investigator Ryu?”
Seoran nodded vigorously, not wanting to sit through the overly long lecture again.
“Of course, of course. Dynamic attributes like fire or water suit spells, while static ones like wood, metal, or earth are more efficient with spiritual tools, right? I understand perfectly.”
Geum Jungpae smiled in satisfaction.
“As expected of a once-in-a-millennium genius—you’re spot on. Fire and water for spells, wood, metal, and earth for spiritual tools. This is basic common sense. Likewise, it’s obvious that spiritual tools surpass spells. Therefore, the scholarly consensus is that earth and metal attributes are the most superior in the world.”
“Uh, then wood attribute methods...”
Geum Jungpae replied indifferently.
“Wood attribute, huh. Well, useful for growing spirit herbs, I suppose. Though cases of personally cultivating spirit herbs that take centuries to gain spirituality are rare, of course.”
In the end, it was praise for the Golden Forge Sect, specialists in earth-metal methods.
Seoran suddenly recalled a familiar face.
None other than the puppetry enthusiast Ho Hye-mun.
It was astonishing that there were two of this type in the world.
Seoran raised her hand and asked a question.
“What about puppetry, then?”
The puppetry master, Geum Jungpae, answered earnestly.
“Puppetry originated from the art of puppet creation in spiritual tool crafting. If I must analogize, it’s the bastard child of spiritual tool arts. It’s a pity it’s non-mainstream, but it’s fully qualified for honorary spiritual tool treatment. After all, it’s ultimately a type of tool.”
Exactly as Seoran had predicted.
“Extremely reasonable. I agree completely.”
Self-proclaimed puppeteer, Seoran thought.
My puppetry isn’t wrong.
Puppets hold infinite potential.
She believed in it after all.
Lately, Seoran had practically abandoned earth-attribute spells.
No matter how she thought about it, earth-attribute spells had no prospects.
At first, she thought it was because the Black Bamboo Sect specialized in fire-water methods.
But even the Golden Forge Sect, experts in earth-metal methods, was no different.
All earth attributes offered only ambiguous spells.
Hook spells for repelling great yokai.
Hooks rising from the earth to bind yokai.
If they’d aimed for attack spells from the start, she could’ve killed them already.
Earthquake spells.
Cultivators usually flew around on flight spiritual tools.
Just a power-hungry nuisance.
Spells to invigorate earth power and bring bountiful harvests.
They turned fallow farming into trash and were prime culprits in exploding the kingdom’s population.
But who uses fertilizer in combat?
Now, puppetry was truly her only option.
Seoran offered thanks.
“That was a truly moving lecture!”
Geum Jungpae smiled contentedly and replied.
“Then, shall we end class with a final chant? Everyone, loud and clear: If you’re human, use tools!”
A chant she could never shout in front of Ho Hye-mun.
“If you’re human, use tools!”
“Excellent! That’s class for today.”
After class ended, Seoran packed the items from Geum Jungpae and returned home.
The gift bundle was quite large.
It was filled with practice spiritual tools for training Utility Spells.
Even books recording hook spells, earthquake spells, and fertilizer spells.
Wasn’t the fertilizer spell some important secret technique?
If they handed these out like this, what would be left?
Would you?
The Golden Forge Sect must have their reasons.
Seoran had learned from Yeomujin how to ascend to higher realms.
And from Geum Jungpae, how to broaden her foundation.
Now, only cultivation remained.
Namely, soul division technique and utility spell training.
*****
A few years ago, the Black Bamboo Sect had been abuzz with a friendly tournament.
Everyone fought for their favorite idol.
Endless petty tricks flew back and forth to win arguments.
Then, a hero appeared to settle the Hungry Ghost squabbles.
‘Then let’s bet on whose side is right?’
The white-horsed superman, none other than Jang Ok-gi.
Bet spirit stones on the one you support.
Thus began the unofficial human horse race.
After preliminaries ended, the gamblers’ festival also concluded.
Gambling addicts missed the dopamine rush that melted their frontal lobes.
In the end, for these pitiful souls with ruined receptors, superman Jang Ok-gi showcased his talent once more.
‘Fear not. I shall quench your thirst.’
Jang Ok-gi dashed straight to the fields.
He caught a few rabbits and returned.
Horse racing didn’t require humans or horses.
Thus, rabbit racing was born.
Rabbit racing, the ultimate safe playground jackpot.
What place will your favorite rabbit take?
Bet your spirit stones now and find out.
The underground casino operator was Jang Ok-gi.
Unpaid, as always.
A gamblers’ paradise was born that way.
No fees whatsoever.
Sustained by the operator’s donated talent.
An unprecedented casino in human history.
Meticulous care for race rabbits.
Storytelling marketing leveraging rivalries and character traits.
Even casual event matches when bored.
Rabbit racing flourished spectacularly.
And only recently was it discovered.
Four years of operation meant a long tail.
The investigator handling the case grilled Jang Ok-gi.
“How much illicit profit did you pocket?”
There was zero illicit profit.
It was a casino without fees from the start.
Jang Ok-gi had worked unpaid for over four years.
Naturally, the investigator didn’t believe it.
“We’ll see it all in the ledgers!”
Jang Ok-gi had diligently kept ledgers.
No one knew why.
Perhaps he just enjoyed bookkeeping.
The case investigator audited dozens of ledgers with Scripture Pavilion accountants.
The audit results were shocking.
Jang Ok-gi had truly worked for free.
The investigator even felt a touch of fear.
“Hey, Jang Ok-gi. Why run a casino without pay? You must’ve had some motive.”
“I’m truly sorry...”
“No, why was it unpaid...”
For ‘acts harming public morals’ with illicit gain, Black Bamboo Sect law deemed it a grave crime.
Normally, years in an underground prison.
But this case was tricky.
‘Acts harming public morals’ were established.
But no ‘illicit gain’ was obtained.
Thus, Jang Ok-gi escaped severe punishment.
Jang Ok-gi, house arrest for thirty days.
And community service for six months.
Mitigating factors led to light punishment.
About the severity of public indecency.
House arrest hell finally ended.
Jang Ok-gi went outside for the first time in ages.
And was stunned.
“Wh-what in the world is this?”
Hundreds of identical girls filled the area.
Each holding something, bustling about.
Their identity: clones created by Ryu Seoran.
The whole world was Ryu Seoran.