Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Love Thy Neighbor (4)
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Immortals—eternal beings who ride clouds through the skies.
Even ordinary mortals living in the secular world knew what immortals were.
But hardly anyone believed in them seriously.
They were dismissed as just one of countless legends passed down from ancient times.
This was thanks to the collaboration between the cultivation sects and the secular ruling class.
They wanted the mortals to remain ignorant of the immortal world.
Of course, there were no malicious intentions.
It was simply consideration, sparing them worry over irrelevant matters.
Mortals had no need for knowledge of the immortal world.
If one had a spirit root, they could learn after becoming a cultivator.
Conversely, without a spirit root, such knowledge was useless.
Forbidden knowledge that shattered traditional worldviews and sowed social chaos was best left unknown from the start.
This policy of secrecy had begun in the primordial era.
Naturally, the Yan Kingdom adhered to it as well.
It meant cultivators couldn't just swarm in and build canals with a snap of their fingers.
Imagine a canal suddenly appearing in the grasslands near a village—mortals would panic in terror.
In the end, there was only one solution from the outset.
As soon as the farming off-season arrived, the secular kingdoms began mass recruiting construction laborers.
Fresh from the harvest, men lounging at home twisting cords were stunned.
The daily wages listed were extraordinarily high.
"No way—get paid this much for one day's work?!"
"But why build a canal all of a sudden?"
"Hey, who cares right now! Hurry and sign up before the spots fill!"
"You're right!"
Word spread, and applicants swarmed like clouds.
The laborers arrived at the site, each clutching a wooden hoe.
It was truly an empty field, nothing more.
At the chief supervisor's signal, the foremen shouted.
A young man from a nearby village swung his hoe diligently as directed by his foreman.
He planned to work hard for a few months to save up for a wedding.
The young man dug until noon, then ate his midday meal.
He labored again on command.
As the sun began to set, foremen roamed about, yelling.
"Work stop! Work stop!"
"Today's construction is done! Return tools first, then collect your pay!"
Drenched in sweat, the young man collected his wage and returned to his lodging.
Too exhausted for a proper dinner, he lay down.
He closed his eyes once, opened them, and it was morning.
The young man rushed to the site.
"Safe work! Safe work!"
"Safe work! Good, good!"
Arriving on time, the young man shouted the slogan vigorously.
Then he returned to yesterday's hole.
That's when he noticed something odd.
'Did I dig this deep yesterday?'
At the end of yesterday's work, it had been about waist-high.
But today, peering in, he couldn't see outside from the bottom.
Curious, he asked the overseeing foreman.
"Hey, doesn't this hole seem deeper than what we dug?"
The foreman snapped back gruffly.
"What, you think our ancestors came and dug it for us? Quit yapping and dig. Keep slacking, and I'll halve your pay."
Cowed by the foreman's authority, the young man meekly hoed away.
The faint doubt flitting through his mind soon vanished.
Exhaustion left no energy for pondering.
The answer to the young man's question was simple.
After the decoy construction ended late at night,
A group of cultivators sneaked in like thieves and began large-scale excavation using earth-affinity spells.
They vanished by dawn.
Only holes far deeper than yesterday remained.
Officially, thanks to the laborers' efforts.
In reality, due to the earth-affinity cultivators' overtime.
The massive canal project, started post-harvest, wrapped up just before spring planting the next year.
The season turned to spring.
*****
Yi Agum heard astonishing news.
"You're getting married?!"
Her friend nodded with an embarrassed smile.
"Yeah."
"Who's the partner? Do I know them?"
"Probably not. Someone from the Golden Reed Sect."
"Oh? How'd you meet?"
"A few years back, all that fuss about talent exchanges. He was a visiting student, and we got close at a spell gathering. I had a bit of a crush, and luckily, a matchmaker stepped in."
"That guy you were crushing on?"
Her friend replied shyly.
"Yeah, total coincidence, right?"
"Totally!"
The friend delivering the news left with a happy face.
Yi Agum headed to her destination.
At the Medicine Hall entrance, another friend spotted her and rushed over.
"Agum! Heard the news?"
"What news?"
"Elder Wu is getting married this spring!"
Yi Agum was impressed.
"Wow, she always said she'd never marry."
"Met a guy while visiting as a student, apparently."
Yi Agum replied nonchalantly.
"Oh?"
She wasn't close to Elder Wu, so no interest.
Parting from her friend, Yi Agum walked the Medicine Hall corridors.
She met yet another friend.
Who brought up a very familiar topic.
"Agum, heard the news?"
Yi Agum asked, just in case.
"Why, someone getting married?"
"Huh, you already heard Senior Brother Song is marrying?"
"Matchmaker?"
"Yeah."
"Who with?"
"A Golden Reed Sect visiting student. Supposedly a beauty."
Similar to the previous news.
After a brief chat, the friend left.
Alone again, Yi Agum thought.
Lots of marriages lately.
At the supply room, the pill refiner asked Yi Agum.
"Investigator Yi, heard the news?"
Her sharp intuition pierced her spine.
"Someone getting matchmade to a visiting student?"
"You heard already? Investigator Im is getting married."
First time hearing about Im Susa, but the pattern was familiar.
Golden Reed Sect, visiting students, matchmaker marriages.
Something highly suspicious.
Yi Agum immediately gathered intel.
Her vast network made it easy.
Soon, a list of upcoming marriages was complete.
Of course, cultivators married plenty.
But not like this.
Yi Agum faced a schedule packed with friends' weddings— she needed cloning spells just to attend.
Staring at the list, Yi Agum muttered.
"What the heck?"
Pondering, she stood.
Time to ask someone who might know.
Seoran's friend, Geum Yeongyeong.
Dragged back for half-assing homework, Geum Yeongyeong flew to the Black Bamboo Sect the moment her grounding lifted.
Staying at Seoran's estate again.
At this point, calling her a Golden Reed Sect cultivator was embarrassing.
Yi Agum climbed up and down the long stairs to reach Seoran's estate.
Then she spotted thick black smoke billowing up.
A scream escaped her.
"Fire!"
Yi Agum dashed to the estate.
Bursting through the gate, smoke leaked from a nearby building.
Opening the door, she froze on the spot.
Smoke-filled room.
Seoran, Damcheong, and Geum Yeongyeong huddled around an incense burner.
As if roasting something to eat.
*****
Ryu Seoran, Damcheong, Geum Yeongyeong.
The trio not living up to their ages weren't cooking.
They were genuinely in the midst of cultivation.
The incense burner relic from the previous Dragon God's collection had soul-tempering effects.
Damcheong and Seoran, needing mental discipline, joined Geum Yeongyeong, eager to study the immortal-forged treasure.
The three sat around the burner in the center.
Geum Yeongyeong asked.
"How do you activate this?"
Damcheong replied.
"Infuse spiritual power, and it lights itself."
Seoran beside them demonstrated.
Grasping the handle, she channeled Pure Earth Spiritual Power.
A yellow flame bloomed inside the empty burner.
The fire floating in midair soon belched white smoke.
Geum Yeongyeong felt her mind sharpen dramatically.
"Fascinating. What’s it made of? How does it work? Does the flame keep burning without continuous spiritual power?"
Damcheong and Seoran shook their heads.
"No."
"It burns for a set time without replenishment, then goes out on its own."
Geum Yeongyeong asked.
"Have you tried other fuels besides spiritual power?"
Seoran and Damcheong shook their heads.
Seeing this, Geum Yeongyeong smacked her forehead.
"Come on, you should've tested that much."
Hostess Seoran jumped up.
"Alright, I'll fetch something flammable."
Returning quickly from the kitchen, Seoran tossed a small box into the burner.
A very familiar scent wafted from the smoke.
Damcheong, suspicious, asked.
"What did you bring?"
"Tea leaves from the kitchen?"
Damcheong asked again.
"Tea leaves? Why?"
"I meant to grab firewood, but couldn't find any. So I took the next best thing. Smells nice too."
Now Geum Yeongyeong stood.
She returned with some firewood.
Seoran asked curiously.
"Where was the firewood?"
Geum Yeongyeong added it to the burner.
"In the kitchen?"
Seoran muttered.
"Why couldn't I find it?"
Devouring the firewood, the burner began spewing thick black smoke.
The room grew acrid in moments, but no frail creatures here would die from toxic fumes.
Just the smell wasn't great.
Damcheong spoke for them.
"Not exactly pleasant."
She grabbed an incense stick from the shelf and tossed the whole thing in.
Smoke laced with premium tea leaves, dry firewood, and rose incense gave a passable aroma.
Didn't matter how it worked.
Seoran spoke for them.
"With fuel, will it burn longer?"
Damcheong replied.
"Not sure yet. Let's keep watching."
Geum Yeongyeong added.
"But does this black smoke also purify the soul?"
Valid point.
Did black smoke have the same effect as white?
The trio pondered in the smoke-filled room.
Until Yi Agum opened the door.