Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: Back to the Starting Point (2)
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Toward the end of spring, Seoran arrived in the Miao Kingdom.
The Sentry Vessel flew like a sluggish caterpillar, leaving her no choice.
In fact, the fact that it was still moving at all lived up to its name.
Seoran landed in a familiar location.
The moment the Sentry Vessel reached its destination, it promptly collapsed.
Someone approached Seoran as she disembarked from the half-wrecked sailboat.
It was the receptionist who had sold her the flying magic tool.
“No, what on earth happened?!”
The full-option flying sailboat had turned into a ghost ship in the blink of an eye.
“A lot happened. Can it be repaired?”
“Of course not.”
“I figured as much...”
The new-model sailboat she had ridden once was immediately scrapped.
Seoran deposited all her cargo at her main trading bank (Miao Kingdom branch) and took only the Millennium Earth Spirit Wood before heading back to Taibon Valley.
She went straight to meet Straight Stem.
“Hello...”
Straight Stem was taken aback.
“No, Senior Ryu!”
The lately close Fiery Branch was there too.
“Oh, so this is the famous one?”
Seoran smiled awkwardly.
“Haha...”
After a moment of silence, Straight Stem clapped his hands.
“Now I get it. I misunderstood the meaning. I only thought of ‘far future’ from our species’ perspective. But yes, to humans, a few months is plenty of time.”
“Uh...”
“That’s right, isn’t it, Senior Ryu?”
Seoran just smiled.
“Yeah, sure, sure.”
“So, are you resuming the gardener business?”
“That’s the plan.”
Not selling the business out of laziness had been a stroke of genius.
And so, the famous gardener made her return.
Thanks to the lingering excitement from the Beautiful Tree Contest, plenty of Five Elements Treefolk came for pruning.
Seoran quickly amassed a bunch of century-old Five Elements Wood.
She had no intention of settling down in the Eastern Continent for good.
The seven-times-fallen, eight-times-rising, resilient monster, the tenacious guy Liu Seoran, wasn’t giving up even on the dragon obstacle.
Of course, she had given up on the fastest route: the sea path.
Rushing to leave five years early wouldn’t do if it meant leaving five hundred years early.
Seoran activated Plan B.
The operation name was ‘Great Forest Grand Expedition.’
She planned to find another Teleportation Array besides the broken one.
Logically speaking, it would be foolish to build just a single intercontinental Teleportation Array.
What would they do if one broke?
Even if the odds were slim, it was entirely possible that repair personnel or materials were on the broken side.
Then they’d have to endure years of long-distance voyages to transport people and supplies.
In Seoran’s view, there had to be a backup Teleportation Array prepared somewhere in the depths.
In the end, she had to return to where she’d first flown in from.
Exploring the Great Forest was dangerous, of course.
But no matter how perilous the depths seemed, they were safer than a dragon (lunatic) holding the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel.
Seoran had done the pruning for the expedition too.
Thanks to that, she had plenty of necessary materials.
Preparations were now complete.
The execution date was summer.
*****
The unique industry of exploration teams arose from the peculiarities of the Great Forest depths and the Eastern Continent’s loose cultivation world.
The characteristics of the Great Forest depths were largely as follows.
No flight possible except for Incarnation Cultivators.
A hazardous environment prowled by Four Evils.
Low-realm cultivators died instantly with a single step inside.
Additionally, large species like Five Elements Treefolk couldn’t enter, netherworld forces were at play, and there was a massive rift to the netherworld in the innermost depths—among other minor traits.
In any case, examining the depths’ features point by point raised one question.
Who on earth became exploration team members?
First off, Incarnation Cultivators who could fly in the depths were too busy preparing for ascension to explore the Great Forest.
Incarnation Cultivators who ventured to the innermost depths to investigate the massive rift were extreme oddballs.
Some had even nearly died after being dragged into the netherworld.
Nascent Soul Cultivators couldn’t fly but had enough power to protect themselves in the depths.
However, all Nascent Soul Cultivators belonged to massive sects.
So they couldn’t enter the Great Forest.
Among Golden Core Cultivators, some occasionally came from loose cultivation backgrounds.
But being human, they preferred comfortable, safe jobs over dangerous Great Forest expeditions.
Most became instructors at large academies or joined massive sects.
A Golden Core Cultivator eaten by a Hungry Ghost during an expedition, reduced to white bones, was an outlier among outliers.
Excluding all high-realm cultivators left Refinement Realm and Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
But low-realm cultivators had their souls ripped out and died the moment they entered the depths.
Some refused to go, and the rest couldn’t.
In the end, only one method remained.
Remote-controlled exploration puppets.
Thus, exploration teams were made of puppets, not people.
Puppeteers were usually Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Five or so would form a team, each controlling one puppet to delve into the depths.
That was the true nature of Great Forest exploration teams.
If they encountered yokai or Four Evils and the team was wiped out, it was a failure.
No great gains, but returning safely was a relief.
Discovering expensive treasure by luck meant great success.
When Seoran first heard this, she thought it sounded like a high-risk, high-return investment product.
Expensive, high-quality puppets could go deeper.
Underexplored areas meant more treasure—high return.
But the return rate was accordingly low—high risk.
Failure meant immediate losses for the team and investors.
Bankruptcy could even halt cultivation progress.
Economic death meant the end of their future too.
Of course, not all loose cultivators were gambling addicts jumping into high-risk, high-reward ventures.
Cultivators had endless money sinks: cultivation resources, lecture fees, core formation ritual costs, and more.
Without striking it rich via exploration or investment, this lifetime was hopeless anyway.
In the end, to seize what they wanted, they had to take some risks.
Seoran, who wanted to go home, was no different.
*****
Of course, Seoran didn’t charge in blindly.
Taking risks and being reckless were different.
Minimal precautions were essential.
Seoran began crafting exploration puppets.
The material was the century-old Earth Spirit Wood from pruning.
Their basic role was scouting for danger detection.
But in emergencies, they could serve as shields.
Tall for high visibility.
Five of them, to protect Seoran from all sides.
Disposable items, so moderate craftsmanship.
Thus, the Stone Joint Puppet Sisters were complete.
Slender builds and voluptuous figures.
Subtly resembling each other, yet with diverse charms.
True nation-toppling beauty sisters.
Gazing at her work infused with her tastes, Seoran said with satisfaction.
“Hmm... not bad. Really not bad.”
Somehow, it made her want to shed her mortal shell.
*****
They entered the Great Forest depths, the erosion zone.
Netherworld pull was immediately felt.
Seoran and the nation-toppling beauty sisters started running.
Amid the dense trees stood a massive structure, abandoned not long ago.
This ruin had been a Five Elements Treefolk residence until a few hundred years prior.
Their habitats continued to shrink even now due to the slowly expanding erosion zone.
After half a month of running, a clearing appeared.
The spot where Seoran had slain the Hungry Ghost a few years back.
Time had filled it with young trees and grass.
A bit further in lay the graveyard.
From there, following the remaining traces would lead the way.
That would take them easily to the palace hiding the Teleportation Array.
Seoran, expressionless puppet, lively puppet, gloomy puppet, serene puppet, and cute puppet ran diligently.
Five days later, they reached the massive stone palace built on a slope.
It was also the first place she’d arrived at via Teleportation Array.
Seoran headed to a corner of the palace, retracing her memory.
“Was it here?”
While pressing around, one wall spun with a click.
A pitch-black secret passage appeared, without a speck of light.
Following it straight led to the broken Teleportation Array.
“No. 1, shine some light.”
A bright beam shot from the expressionless puppet’s eyes.
The secret passage interior was thick with dust.
Rubbing her hands, Seoran said.
“Alright, let’s head out?”
She hadn’t had time to inspect properly before.
But Seoran was no longer alone.
The nation-toppling beauty quintet, crafted with the essence of Eastern Continent puppetry, staunchly guarded their master.
Seoran thoroughly checked the floor, walls, and ceiling.
There might be hidden passages.
Her explorer’s blood boiled.
Then, right around the passage midpoint, it cooled.
“Ah, there’s seriously nothing...”
Seoran grew increasingly annoyed.
The secret passage looked the same no matter where she looked.
So she went straight to the room with the Teleportation Array.
The first thing in view was the shattered Teleportation Array.
“Sisters, shine light everywhere.”
At Seoran’s command, the puppet sisters lit up their eyes and swiveled their heads around.
Standing near the Teleportation Array, Seoran spotted a rod on the wall.
It looked just like a lever.
“Hmm...”
Seoran pushed the down-positioned lever up.
The raised lever clicked back down automatically moments later.
It felt extremely familiar.
Pondering deeply, Seoran soon realized.
“What do they call this? Circuit breaker? Or toad house? I definitely knew it...”
If her guess was right, fulfilling certain conditions would keep the lever up without dropping.
Wracking her brain and pacing the room, Seoran accidentally kicked a stone shard.
A fragment from the broken Teleportation Array.
Seoran picked it up and examined it closely.
One side was smooth, the other rough.
The difference between the face engraved with teleportation runes and the one without.
Losing interest, Seoran tossed the shard away.
Then spun in circles again.
After much groaning, she realized something.
The runes were engraved not on the floor, but on stone slabs.
Seoran hurriedly cleared the Teleportation Array fragments.
A neatly square floor recess appeared.
As if meant to slot in a flat stone slab.
“Could it be?”
Seoran thought.
Engraving the teleportation runes on stone slabs meant...
In case of breakdown, just replace the slab?
Like swapping a grill at a barbecue joint?
If this guess was correct, she didn’t need to hunt for a new Teleportation Array that might send her who-knows-where.
Just find one slab, and she could go home.