Chapter 29
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 29
The figure who appeared carrying a flowerpot was an old man in the late Qi Refining Stage.
A clerk from the Spirit Material Hall immediately guided him to a table in the back.
“Please set it down here.”
Thud.
The old man unwrapped the cloth covering the pot.
Whoosh—
A thick medicinal aroma and a haze of poisonous pollen drifted out like a faint mist. Several cultivators standing nearby stiffened and stepped back, while the clerk swiftly deployed a small formation to trap the poisonous dust.
Beyond the formation bloomed several layers of ivory petals. It was the same species as the Bone-Corroding Flowers Lee Hyun cultivated, yet the potency of the toxic pollen wafting from its pistils was incomparable to any he had ever seen.
The steward in charge of appraisals examined the color and luster of the petals, the thickness of the stem, and the patterns on the roots, one by one. He took a pinch of pollen to singe over a flame and carefully inspected the spiritual qi seeping from the roots.
After quite some time, the steward finally spoke.
“Its medicinal age appears to be around two hundred and twenty years.”
“My family has tended to it for two hundred and forty-seven years,” the old man countered.
“Then there must have been a period when spiritual qi was lacking, slowing the accumulation of its medicinal properties.”
The old man frowned. “Are you saying my family’s ledger is wrong?”
“The actual age and medicinal age can differ. Even if it grew for two hundred and forty-seven years, if the accumulated medicinal properties are only equivalent to two hundred and twenty years, we must base our transaction on the latter.”
“That’s barely any difference, isn’t it?”
“Three of the rootlets are damaged as well. While there will be no issue replanting it as a rootstock, it will need time to recover.”
The steward flicked the beads of his abacus for a moment.
“I can offer one hundred and fifty-eight low-grade spirit stones.”
“I need at least one hundred and seventy.”
“That will be difficult.”
“A rootstock of this caliber doesn’t come by every day, does it?”
“I can offer up to one hundred and sixty. Any more than that is out of the question.”
The old man hesitated for a moment before finally nodding. As a clerk counted out the spirit stones and set them down, his expression brightened.
“If you bring us aged rootstocks next time, we will give you a fair price.”
“That will be difficult before I die.”
Tucking away the pouch of spirit stones, the old man left the Spirit Material Hall.
Lee Hyun quietly watched him leave before turning to a nearby clerk.
“The price for a Bone-Corroding Flower rootstock is quite substantial. If an ingredient for a Tier 1 spiritual medicine is that expensive, is there any profit left?”
“Haha, it isn’t an ingredient for a Tier 1 spiritual medicine,” the clerk replied.
“A Bone-Corroding Flower whose medicinal properties have accumulated for over two hundred years is an ingredient for Tier 2 Bone-Tempering Powder.”
“There’s a Tier 2 Bone-Tempering Powder? Is it an elixir for Foundation Establishment cultivators?”
“Indeed. Its medicinal potency is so high that it would be dangerous for a Qi Refining cultivator to ingest.”
The clerk pointed to the Bone-Corroding Flower inside the formation.
“Besides, that plant doesn’t have to be used as an ingredient right away. It can be cultivated further as a rootstock.”
“Is there someone capable of concocting Tier 2 Bone-Tempering Powder?”
“There is only one in our entire alliance: an Alliance Elder who is both a Tier 2 Alchemist and a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”
“I see. Then does a Tier 3 Bone-Tempering Powder exist as well?”
The clerk chuckled and shook his head.
“I have heard it exists. But for a Tier 3 Bone-Tempering Powder, the Bone-Corroding Flower used as an ingredient would need a medicinal age of at least five hundred years. An item of that caliber isn’t traded at public market rates, nor is it something our Azure Tide Merchant Alliance could handle.”
“I see.”
Lee Hyun looked back at the wooden plaque on the wall.
Medicinal age of 200 years: 120 low-grade spirit stones.
Inside his storage pouch rested nearly six hundred Bone-Corroding Flowers with a medicinal age exceeding one hundred and thirty-five years. Among them, the one hundred and sixteen harvested from spirit field No. 1-1 were nearing a medicinal age of almost one hundred and seventy years.
If I let just five hundred of those six hundred reach two hundred years and sell them, that alone would fetch sixty thousand low-grade spirit stones!
Sixty thousand low-grade spirit stones were equivalent to six hundred mid-grade spirit stones. This surpassed the wealth of any Qi Refining cultivator and even outstripped that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Furthermore, he possessed Yin Soul Grass, Purple Poison Orchids, and Earth Vein Flowers.
While he wasn’t sure if there was market demand for Earth Vein Flowers yet, Yin Soul Grass and Purple Poison Orchids would undoubtedly fetch handsome sums somewhere in the cultivation world.
More importantly, there’s no reason to sell them all just because they hit two hundred years. If I liquidate them bit by bit only when needed, the rest will continue to accumulate medicinal properties. There’s no reason to flood the market and tank the price, or to draw unwanted attention to myself.
The Bone-Corroding Flowers, Purple Poison Orchids, and Yin Soul Grass are my Cheongha Valley retirement fund. They’re a living principal that compounds its own medicinal age. Even after I cash out a portion, the rest keeps appreciating in value.
A smile tugged at the corners of Lee Hyun’s lips.
Still, a stellar retirement fund isn’t enough on its own. My golden years will last forever… I should invest in new spirit plants going forward. I don’t know what Yin Water Lotuses and Rock Honey Peaches are used for yet, but… if I spot useful seeds and seedlings, I’ll plant them little by little.
Lee Hyun stayed one more day in Namae Market, touring various medicinal herb shops.
Perhaps owing to the market’s vast scale, six of the eight ingredients required for Barrier-Breaking Pills—Vitality-Condensing Fruit, Clear Void Seeds, Meridian-Piercing Flower, Vitality-Restoring Vine, Three-Layered Leaf, and Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk—were being actively traded.
However, he couldn’t find a single merchant selling Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng or Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi, leaving him to pray that the two spirit plants would thrive in Tunnel No. 2.
Of course, there were bound to be other markets in Namryeo Kingdom besides Namae Market, so there was no need to worry prematurely.
Actually, Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi is a mushroom—a fungus—so it probably won’t have much trouble growing underground. Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng is a type of ginseng, so it should also fare well in shaded, sunless areas, but still…
For now, Lee Hyun committed the merchants and shops carrying those six ingredients to memory. He also checked the market prices of the herbs that met the requirements of the pill recipe.
Taking out a small wooden board, he jotted down the market rates he had investigated today. Written in the Korean script of his previous life, no one would be able to decipher it even if they peered right over his shoulder.
[At Age 573.
Namae Market, Barrier-Breaking Pill 1 Furnace Batch Market Rates.
Standard in low-grade spirit stones.
Meridian-Piercing Flower (3 blossoms): 15
Vitality-Condensing Fruit (3 fruits): 18
Vitality-Restoring Vine (3 segments): 8
Three-Layered Leaf (9 leaves): 6
Clear Void Seeds (12 seeds): 4
Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk (3 drops): 10]
The six ingredients add up to sixty-one low-grade spirit stones… Add Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng and Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi of the proper medicinal age to that…
Suddenly, Lord Mun Seong-hak’s words came to mind.
—If you were to buy all the ingredients for a single batch, you should expect to spend around seventy to one hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones.
Adding the other two ingredients would bring it right in line with the prices I heard back in Untaek Kingdom. Even if I buy what I lack here, I won’t be getting ripped off.
To secure fifty low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills, I need to refine at least twenty-five batches… If I were to buy all the ingredients, that would be roughly two thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones… Huh? That’s not even that much?
I’ll try cultivating the spirit plants in Tunnel No. 2 first, and if that doesn’t pan out, I can just buy the missing ingredients.
Until recently, two thousand five hundred low-grade spirit stones had seemed like an astronomical sum to Lee Hyun. But after confirming the true value of the spirit plants in his possession, it suddenly felt well within his means.
Finishing his tour of the market, Lee Hyun walked out to a quiet cliff overlooking the sea.
Time to construct Tunnel No. 2!
He unfurled a map of southern Namryeo Kingdom.
First, he crossed off candidate locations near renowned spirit veins and mines. He also excluded areas close to mortal highways or cities, militarily strategic ravines, and lowlands prone to river floods.
It needed to be an area of zero value to cultivators, where even mortals had no reason to visit. It also needed to possess underground soil and water to establish spirit fields, and solid bedrock to support the structures. A suitable aquifer would make it even better.
“Time to scout the site.”
Lee Hyun’s finger came to a halt over an unnamed mountain range stretching north from Namae Market.
* * *
165 years later.
A location five thousand li north of Namae Market.
There lay a modest mountain range, unnamed even on the maps of Namryeo Kingdom.
It boasted neither famous spirit veins nor mines. It was equally useless to mortals; the nearest village could only be found by traveling out to the riverbank beyond the mountains. Even herbalists ventured in only occasionally to pick wild greens, never penetrating its depths.
And among that small mountain range stood its lowest, most unimposing peak.
Rustle—
Something brushed past the thicket.
It was so fast that the surrounding blades of grass merely swayed as though stirred by a passing breeze. A couple of small bugs clinging to grass stems twitched their antennae, only to resume crawling as if nothing had happened.
Fifteen li underground.
Tap.
Lee Hyun’s feet touched down upon the polished stone floor of a chamber.
Carved into the facing wall were characters engraved by his own hand:
[Tunnel No. 2]
“Whew… Nothing like coming home to put the mind at ease.”
Tunnel No. 2 was built far more systematically than Tunnel No. 1 had been.
Along the central corridor, the layout was divided into a rest area, cultivation room, martial training ground, laboratory, and storage room, with thick stone doors installed between each chamber.
Traces of spell testing marred the walls of the martial training ground, while the shelves in the laboratory were densely lined with jars containing soil and medicinal herb specimens.
Beyond the living quarters lay spirit fields No. 1-1 through No. 1-7.
One hundred and sixty-five years ago, Lee Hyun had scrambled to build these seven spirit fields first, before the spirit plants stored in his pouches could spoil. From then on, he gradually expanded the passages and facilities outward so as not to disturb the existing fields, resulting in its current layout.
Drip.
The sound of falling water droplets echoed in the subterranean silence.
Drip. Drip.
In each spirit field, watering buckets were connected along an axle. One floor above the spirit field sector lay a shallow reservoir as vast as all the fields combined, from which bamboo pipes branched out, channeling dripping water down into each bucket.
One key difference between Tunnel No. 2 and Tunnel No. 1 was the use of bamboo pipes instead of bronze pipes.
Lee Hyun had realized that under his circumstances, there was no need to bother with bronze pipes. The automated watering system merely relied on gravity to channel water, making bamboo pipes more than adequate.
If bamboo was hollowed out and smoothed with spells, fire-cured, and coated with lacquer, it could serve as durable piping for decades.
By adjusting the height of the pipe inlets and the thickness of the perforations, he could even regulate the watering frequency for each separate spirit field. Compared to the automated apparatus of Tunnel No. 1, it was an improvement in every way.
Lee Hyun refilled the reservoir to the brim using the Spiritual Rain Spell, then headed toward spirit field No. 1-1.
Rumble.
As the stone door opened, a heavy medicinal fragrance and noxious vapor drifted out.
Ivory Bone-Corroding Flowers, violet Purple Poison Orchids, and dark-blue Yin Soul Grass blanketed the field. Between them, the slender stems of Earth Vein Flowers crept along the ground.
Buzz—
A few Fluffy Bees flew over, settling on Lee Hyun’s shoulder and sleeve.
He gently stroked the back of one Fluffy Bee with a fingertip before inspecting the Bone-Corroding Flowers.
Most of the spirit plants transplanted from Tunnel No. 1 had survived without issue. However, since Tunnel No. 2 also lacked any notable spirit vein, the accumulation of medicinal properties remained sluggish.
Although 165 years had elapsed in the outside world, an average of only about 55 years of medicinal age had been added.
The Bone-Corroding Flowers growing in the oldest plot, spirit field No. 1-1, had now reached a medicinal age of roughly 225 years.
Lee Hyun inspected the other spirit fields in turn. The Yin Water Lotuses had bloomed several times and produced seed pods, while the three Rock Honey Peach trees had taken firm root in their new home.
Beyond the original seven fields lay newly constructed plots: spirit fields No. 2-1 through No. 2-5.
In spirit fields No. 2-1 and No. 2-2, three hundred roots of Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng grew in each, totaling six hundred roots. Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng died once its root was harvested, so Lee Hyun had allocated twice as much field space to cultivate them compared to other plants.
In No. 2-3, six hundred Three-Layered Leaf plants were growing. The pill recipe called for the leaves, but medicinal age was determined by the age of the subterranean rhizome. As long as the root and young shoots remained untouched, new leaves would grow back, though several years of dormancy were required to restore the depleted medicinal potency.
In No. 2-4 lay two hundred cut logs Lee Hyun had procured. Each log was inoculated with the spawn of Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi, upon which mature caps had sprouted. The medicinal age of Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi was determined not by the cap, but by the years the mycelium had lived within the spirit wood. Harvesting only the mature fruiting body by slicing it from the base allowed the mycelium to survive and push up fresh caps a few years later.
In No. 2-5, three hundred Vitality-Restoring Vine rootstocks coiled around stone pillars and wooden trellises. If only up to two segments were harvested from a single rootstock and the cuts sealed with clean mud, new shoots would sprout from the remaining vine.
The Three-Layered Leaf, Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi, and Vitality-Restoring Vines planted initially had already exceeded the upper limit of medicinal age required by the pill recipe. Thus, Lee Hyun had staggered their propagation times, consistently maintaining batches within the recipe’s ideal age range. Aside from what was needed for Barrier-Breaking Pills, he intended to let the rest age for a long, long time.
Along the perimeter of each spirit field, Earth Vein Flowers were planted to draw in the faint spiritual qi from outside. Thanks to the Fluffy Bees, pest control for spirit insects was also well managed.
The results of 165 years of experimentation were clear: Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng, Three-Layered Leaf, Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi, and Vitality-Restoring Vine grew well underground.
On the other hand, Meridian-Piercing Flower, the Clear Void Grass needed for Clear Void Seeds, and the Vitality-Condensing Trees that bore Vitality-Condensing Fruit ultimately failed to adapt to the subterranean spirit fields. Including the mineral spirit liquid Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk, four ingredients had to be procured from markets.
For this reason, over the past few months, Lee Hyun had disguised his appearance and traveled between markets, selling ten Bone-Corroding Flower rootstocks with a medicinal age of over 220 years in separate batches. The low-grade spirit stones raised this way totaled 1,600.
Upon revisiting Namae Market this time, factoring in alchemy failures and the margin needed for a breakthrough, he bought 35 batches’ worth of Meridian-Piercing Flowers, Vitality-Condensing Fruits, Clear Void Seeds, and Spirit-Stabilizing Stone Milk. Even after 165 years, the market rates had barely changed, costing him 1,650 low-grade spirit stones.
His reserves of low-grade spirit stones dropped from 670 to 620.
“Now, time to harvest the other four ingredients from the recipe.”
Lee Hyun returned to spirit field No. 2-1.
After digging up 35 roots of Spirit-Accumulating Ginseng, he transplanted pre-grown young seedlings into the empty spots.
He also retrieved 315 Three-Layered Leaf leaves, 35 Meridian-Protecting Lingzhi caps, and 105 segments of Vitality-Restoring Vine stems that he had harvested and preserved in succession recently.
Dividing the four harvested types and the four bought from the market into single-furnace batches, he packed them into 35 medicine boxes and placed them into his storage pouch.
“Done.”
Emerging from the spirit fields, Lee Hyun cast the Earth Escape Technique and descended another ten li below Tunnel No. 2.
Twenty-five li underground.
Between layers of solid bedrock appeared a small, artificially carved cavern. Searing heat radiated from within.
It was the alchemy room of Tunnel No. 2.
In the center of the cavern sat a bronze pill cauldron, beneath which nine red formation stones were embedded. The Nine-Flame Fire-Accumulation Formation was linked to the earthfire vein flowing below the floor.
Lee Hyun retrieved the 35 medicine boxes from his storage pouch, opened them, and double-checked that the medicinal herbs within satisfied the criteria recorded in the pill recipe.
“Let’s begin.”
Hum—
Primordial Unity True Qi flowed into the Nine-Flame Fire-Accumulation Formation.
Whoosh!
Earthfire erupted from the nine fire vents.
Two full days later.
Having completed the thirty-fifth refinement, the earthfire in the cauldron slowly died out.
“Phew…”
Before him sat three types of jade bottles.
1 high-grade Barrier-Breaking Pill.
10 mid-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills.
77 low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills.
In total, 88 pills.
During the thirty-five refining sessions, he had yielded only two pills per furnace batch at first. But through trial and error, his pill refining success rate rose, and past the midpoint, he occasionally obtained three or more pills per batch.
If my estimate of possessing roughly fifty times the spiritual power of others is correct, eighty-eight pills should be more than enough for a breakthrough. Besides, I’m already at the very precipice of the 3rd layer of Qi Refining, so all I need is a slight push.
Cleaning up the pill cauldron and the cavern, Lee Hyun ascended back to the cultivation room in Tunnel No. 2.
Shutting the stone door, he lay down to rest until the mental focus drained by alchemy was restored.
Once his breathing steadied and the Primordial Unity True Qi throughout his body settled, he opened his eyes.
Lee Hyun began ingesting the Barrier-Breaking Pills one by one, refining their medicinal potency. Since he would be taking dozens of them in a row, he started with the high-grade and mid-grade pills, which contained less pill poison.
Several days later, even after absorbing the full potency of one high-grade, ten mid-grade, and thirty-nine low-grade pills, the barrier between realms remained unbroken.
Lee Hyun produced another low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pill.
Gulp.
The moment the pill dissolved, its medicinal energy mingling with the Primordial Unity True Qi coursing through his body—
Crack.
He felt an invisible wall inside him fracture, and the spiritual power throughout his body surged violently.
A moment later.
Boom!
A wave of spiritual power radiated from his body, rippling outward in all directions.
Whoosh—
Lee Hyun’s eyes snapped open.
“Done!”
A note of unconcealed joy crept into his voice.
Lee Hyun retrieved the wooden board from the corner of the cultivation room. After a moment of introspection, contemplating the state of his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, he updated the numbers on his handmade status window.
【Age: 738】
【Cultivation Realm: Qi Refining, 4th layer】
【Spiritual Power: 206 → 233】
【Physique: Primordial Unity Body, Stage 4】
The increase in spiritual power might have seemed modest, but that was only because his starting value of 206 wasn’t an average for the 3rd layer of Qi Refining—it was a figure already at the absolute limit.
His current spiritual power of 233 was now distinctly more than fifty times that of a cultivator who had just entered the 4th layer of Qi Refining.
Furthermore, the spiritual power stat on his status window was a numerical conversion based on how many times he could cast the same spell. With the breakthrough, the very quality of his spiritual power had transformed, meaning the true increase in his combat strength couldn’t be expressed by numbers alone.
Come to think of it, I haven’t updated my spell masteries in a long time, either.
【Spells (Minor Accomplishment): Telekinesis Technique, …】
【Spells (Major Accomplishment): Sword Control Technique, Poison Analysis Technique, Wood-Binding Technique, Earth Spike Technique, …】
【Spells (Perfection): Qi-Concealment Technique, Fireball Technique, Lightness Technique, Earth-Shrinking Step, Spiritual Rain Spell, Soil-Turning Spell, Yang Metal Formula, Sprouting Spell, Earth Escape Technique, Spherical Qi Barrier, Spirit Light Shield, Qi-Observation Technique, Night Vision Technique, Earth-Sensing Technique, Enhanced Hearing Technique, Cleansing Spell, Clear Qi Formula, Breath-Holding Formula, Detoxification Formula, Glimmer Spell, …】
He had mastered most of his basic spells to a point where further improvement was nearly impossible.
Listing every single spell I’ve learned makes the wooden board feel too cramped. From now on, I won’t bother writing down the basic spells.
Still, I never expected to have thirty-seven low-grade Barrier-Breaking Pills left over. Selling them would bring in a tidy sum…
At any rate… now, as long as I have time, I can climb all the way to the 6th layer of Qi Refining!