Chapter 6
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 6
Nervous anticipation hung heavy in the air, rippling across the young faces gathered throughout the lecture hall.
Behind a folding screen in the corner, two boys sat cross-legged, their expressions utterly ashen. They were the only ones who had failed to break through to the 1st layer of Qi Refining.
Moments later, the door creaked open, and Steward Wang Jin stepped inside.
An outer-sect disciple trailed closely behind him, carrying a heavy wooden chest packed to the brim with small gray pouches.
Wang Jin came to a halt at the front of the room, his gaze slowly sweeping over the assembled newcomers.
“Today marks your one-hundredth day,” Wang Jin began, his voice deep and measured. “Most of you have successfully achieved Guiding Qi into the Body. It is an acceptable result.”
His eyes shifted toward the folding screen.
“Ju-myeong.”
The boy behind the partition flinched, then scrambled to his feet. “Y-yes, Steward!”
“You will be sent down to the Labor Disciples Courtyard. Work diligently there. If you manage to achieve Guiding Qi into the Body within six months, I will permit you to enter the Outer Sect.”
Relief flooded Ju-myeong’s face, his eyes lighting up. “Thank you, Steward!”
“Save your gratitude. The work in the Labor Disciples Courtyard is far harsher than anything you have experienced here.”
“I will give it my all!”
Wang Jin turned his gaze away without another word. “Go Taek.”
A second young man rose from his seat behind the screen, trembling.
“You are to leave the mountain.”
Every ounce of color drained from Go Taek’s face. “Steward, please! Grant me just one more chance. I swear I will—”
“Enough!” Wang Jin’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “Ju-myeong cultivated with diligence. He merely lacks innate talent; he is not without hope. But you? You possess neither talent nor effort. Depart the mountain at once.”
Go Taek bit his trembling lip, unable to utter another syllable.
The outer-sect disciple who had accompanied Wang Jin stepped forward, quietly escorting the two disgraced boys out of the hall.
Once the doors shut, Wang Jin unrolled a scroll.
“Those whose names I call from this moment forth are officially appointed as Outer-Sect Disciples of Cheongha Valley.”
The atmosphere in the hall shifted in an instant. Backs straightened, and every child leaned forward, hanging on his next word.
“Outer-sect disciples receive one low-grade spirit stone, ten Fasting Pills, and a modest stipend of Contribution Points each month. By excelling in your assigned duties or completing separate sect missions, you may earn additional Contribution Points. These points can be used to borrow or purchase cultivation arts, spells, medicinal pills, magical artifacts, and more. This month’s allocation has already been placed inside the storage pouches, and your Contribution Points have been recorded onto your new identity tokens.”
Wang Jin began calling out names one by one.
Each disciple stepped forward, surrendered their coarse wooden trainee plaque, and received a polished identity token alongside a storage pouch.
Soon, Wang Jin’s voice rang out again.
“Lee Hyun.”
Lee Hyun stepped forward.
“Your assignment is to assist in managing spirit field No. 73 on Herb Field Peak.”
Lee Hyun’s eyes brightened. “Understood.”
“The overseer of spirit field No. 73 is Senior Martial Brother No Baek-san. He has tended to spirit plants in the outer sect for many years. You will have much to learn from him.”
“Thank you, Steward.”
Lee Hyun accepted his new token and the small pouch, returning quietly to his seat.
The token was crafted from smooth, dark bluish-black spirit wood. While similar in size to his old trainee plaque, the front now bore an intricate engraving of Cheongha Valley’s crest, and the reverse was inscribed with his name, Lee Hyun, beneath the words Outer Sect.
Beside it lay the pouch—though he hadn’t the faintest idea how to use it.
Before long, the final disciple returned to their seat, and Wang Jin set the empty wooden chest aside. He unclipped a worn pouch hanging from his own waist and held it up.
“Since most of you are likely laying eyes on a storage pouch for the very first time, I shall demonstrate its use.”
He pressed a finger to the pouch’s drawstring opening.
“Channel your spiritual power into the formation etched into the mouth, and let your consciousness follow the flow within. There is no need to force a torrent—a single wisp of qi is more than sufficient.”
Lee Hyun laid the pouch on his palm, copying the disciples around him.
To the naked eye, it looked like an ordinary pouch sewn from coarse gray cloth, cinched with a black drawstring. Yet looking closely, a delicate, silver pattern was subtly embroidered across the fabric.
Gathering his focus, Lee Hyun drew a wisp of Primordial Unity True Qi from his dantian and guided it toward the silver embroidery.
At first, nothing happened.
Closing his eyes, he narrowed his mental focus onto the mouth of the pouch. The silver thread suddenly flared with a faint glimmer. In an instant, a spatial void opened within his mind’s eye.
It was a dim, hazy interior, roughly the size of a small chest. Floating quietly inside was a single translucent crystalline stone and a small wooden vial.
Fascinating…
Lee Hyun willed the stone to emerge.
A split second later, a cool, solid weight settled into his palm.
It was a clear, prismatic crystal, roughly the length of two finger joints. Swirling deep within its core was a misty, vibrant radiance that drifted lazily, almost like a living thing.
Murmurs of awe broke out across the hall as other disciples successfully retrieved theirs.
“Is this a spirit stone?” a boy in the front row asked breathlessly.
“Indeed. A low-grade spirit stone.”
Wang Jin produced an identical crystal from his own pouch and held it up between two fingers.
“Spirit stones are formed when Heaven-and-Earth spiritual qi condenses naturally over countless eons. They can be mined from natural ore veins or cultivated artificially near powerful spirit veins.”
One eager boy clutched his spirit stone tightly with both hands, straining to pull the raw spiritual qi straight into his meridians. As the misty light inside began to churn erratically, Wang Jin barked sharply.
“Stop! Do not absorb it recklessly!”
The boy jumped, immediately loosening his white-knuckled grip.
“You can indeed draw qi directly from a spirit stone,” Wang Jin scolded, glaring at the boy. “However, at your feeble realm, you lack the refined control to properly absorb it. You will end up scattering more than half of the spiritual qi harmlessly into thin air—a complete and utter waste.”
Wang Jin rolled the crystal casually across his knuckles.
“The most practical use for a spirit stone is powering formations. The same principle applies to your personal cultivation. If you obtain a portable Spirit-Gathering Formation and slot a spirit stone into its core array, you can concentrate the ambient spiritual qi into your personal dwelling. Cultivating inside such a boundary is several times more efficient than crudely draining the stone with your bare hands.”
Several disciples leaned forward, their eyes gleaming with greed.
“Steward, where can we obtain a portable Spirit-Gathering Formation?”
“You may purchase one at the Artifact Hall using Contribution Points or spirit stones. Even the crudest, lowest-tier array will run you at least fifty low-grade spirit stones.”
The vibrant excitement in the room collapsed into cold dejection in an instant.
Fifty stones was an impossible fortune for a newcomer.
Unfazed by their disappointment, Wang Jin continued, “If you ever find yourself locked in a life-or-death battle where your spiritual energy is utterly depleted, you may have no choice but to absorb it directly for a quick surge. Otherwise, guard them well. Spirit stones are the undisputed currency of the cultivation world. Do not squander them.”
Lee Hyun nodded to himself and willed the spirit stone back into the pouch.
Inside the small wooden vial were ten smooth, soybean-sized Fasting Pills. When he directed a thread of consciousness into his identity token, faint words flickered across his perception: Contribution Points: 10.
“One last warning,” Wang Jin added, scanning the room. “Do not attempt to shove living beasts or humans inside a standard storage pouch. Even if you try to force them in, the formation will refuse to activate.”
All around him, the newly minted outer disciples were frantically stowing and retrieving their belongings, like children with new toys.
Lee Hyun practiced a few times as well, storing and retrieving his token, the spirit stone, and the vial of pills. Within minutes, the action became second nature; he no longer even needed to touch the fabric, summoning items into his hand with nothing more than a passing thought.
* * *
With assignments distributed, the lecture hall soon emptied.
The disciples dispersed to their former dormitories to pack. Moving forward, they would either reside in specialized quarters near their assigned posts or relocate to the general outer-sect residential zones scattered across each peak.
Lee Hyun returned to his room and began gathering his sect-issued robes, simple bedding, and introductory manuals.
When he directed his consciousness toward the storage pouch, the bulky quilt and wooden bowls vanished into the pocket dimension in the blink of an eye. The clutter that had occupied his corner of the room was gone in a single breath.
Over by the other bed, Wang So was crouched on the floor, grinning from ear to ear as he repeatedly made things disappear and reappear.
“Elder Brother, look at this!”
Wang So held out an empty palm. A wooden teacup materialized out of thin air. He flicked his wrist, and it vanished again.
Lee Hyun chuckled. “I think I’ve watched you do that fifty times already.”
“Can you blame me? It’s incredible! If I save up and buy a dozen of these, I could carry an entire pavilion on my back!”
“Can you put a storage pouch inside another storage pouch?”
Wang So shook his head, looking slightly disappointed. “I tried that with a friend earlier. It doesn’t work at all. The opening just clamps shut, like they’re repelling each other with raw force.”
“Where were you assigned?” Lee Hyun asked, tying his pouch securely to his belt.
“The Spirit Beast Courtyard,” Wang So muttered, his enthusiastic tone dipping slightly.
Assuming his roommate was disappointed, Lee Hyun offered a word of comfort. “Few people get their ideal post on day one. If you work diligently in the Spirit Beast Courtyard, you’ll earn enough merits to study swordsmanship down the line.”
Wang So blinked, then shook his head vigorously. “No, you misunderstand! I asked a senior disciple earlier. It turns out almost all aspiring sword cultivators get thrown into the Spirit Beast Courtyard when they first enter the Outer Sect!”
“Why is that?”
“Well, disciples who have only just stepped into the 1st layer of Qi Refining are practically useless in real combat, aren’t they? If they dragged us along on Guardian Hall missions, we’d just be corpse weight. So they make us haul feed and muck out beast pens to build physical endurance. More importantly, it trains us not to freeze up in fear when facing massive spirit beasts!”
The boy puffed out his chest, his earlier swagger returning in full force. “Besides, I’ve been assigned to care for Green-Horned Deer. They’re Tier 1 spirit beasts, but completely docile. It’s not dangerous at all!”
Wang So looked as triumphant as if he had already stumbled across an ancient sword immortal’s legacy.
“That’s good to hear,” Lee Hyun said with a smile. “Still, stay vigilant. Don’t let your guard down.”
“They’re practically overgrown sheep, Elder Brother! Honestly, I’m far more worried about you. You’re going to be hunched over pulling weeds under the scorching sun all day.”
“It’s the assignment I wanted. I don’t mind the quiet.”
Wang So fastened his pouch tightly to his sash.
The two of them had shared a room for one hundred days. In the long span of cultivation, it was nothing more than the blink of an eye, but Wang So’s relentless chatter had kept the crushing loneliness of this new world at bay.
“Let’s meet again in the Inner Sect, Elder Brother.”
“I’ve told you already, I have no grand ambitions for the Inner Sect.”
“Pah! Who knows what fate holds? You might breed some divine, heaven-defying spirit herb and catch an Elder’s personal attention!”
“If that’s the case, you go ahead and claim your spot in the Inner Sect first. Clear a path for me.”
“You can count on it!”
Wang So grinned and held out a clenched fist. Lee Hyun met it with his own.
“Take care of yourself out there.”
“You too, Elder Brother.”
* * *
Leaving the dormitory behind, Lee Hyun set off toward Herb Field Peak.
The mountain rose before him like an enormous staircase carved from emerald stone.
From the mountain’s wide base all the way to its mist-shrouded mid-slopes, countless terraced spirit fields cascaded downward in perfect, geometric tiers. Low stone walls and crystal-clear irrigation ditches divided the plots, each field radiating distinct pulses of ambient spiritual qi.
In one plot, broad blue-green leaves bore shimmering patterns of natural silver thread. In another, thick, blood-red roots shaped eerily like human fingers thrust themselves out of the rich black soil.
A scarecrow woven from spirit-straw turned its head with a soft rustle, its hollow gaze swiveling on its own to deter a flock of passing birds.
Higher up, small, localized rain clouds drifted languidly over individual plots. A cultivator clad in gray robes formed a fluid hand seal, causing a gentle, nutrient-rich drizzle to mist down from the miniature cloud, saturating the parched soil below.
In a neighboring plot, a dozen slender silver needles darted through the foliage like lightning, precisely skewering microscopic pests hidden beneath the leaves without damaging a single vein of the plant.
I definitely made the right choice, Lee Hyun thought, his heart settling into a comfortable rhythm.
As he climbed the winding stone steps, the scent of fresh soil was overtaken by an intoxicating, chaotic blend of fragrances. One field gave off the sweet, cloying aroma of ripe honey; another drifted with a pungent, bitter musk that made his nostrils sting.
Protective formation patterns were carved directly into every stone embankment, causing the new identity token at his waist to hum with a gentle resonance whenever he drew near.
The senior disciples tending the fields barely spared him a glance, utterly absorbed in their daily chores.
Following the wooden signposts along the terrace path, Lee Hyun finally reached the outer perimeter of the peak.
Spirit field No. 73.
The plot was vast—easily the size of several standard farming fields from Baekmok Village, where he had first awakened after crossing into this world.
Neat, thriving rows of verdant herbs filled the space behind low stone walls. At the center of the field lay a clear, tranquil pond, nestled right beside a single-story earthen cottage capped with slate roof tiles.
It was humble and rustic, but clearly built to serve both as an equipment workshop and personal living quarters.
In the front yard, woven bamboo mats were laid out beneath the sun, covered in drying spiritual herbs. Alongside them stood rows of earthenware jars packed with specialized soil and refined fertilizer. Near the water’s edge, dozens of unfamiliar potted herbs were aligned in meticulous order.
Out in the middle of the field, a lone figure was bent double, methodically pulling weeds from the soil.
The man’s hair was streaked with coarse gray, and deep, sun-baked wrinkles lined his weathered face.
Lee Hyun approached the perimeter, clasping his hands in a respectful greeting.
“Senior Martial Brother No?”
The old cultivator paused, slowly straightening his posture.
His sharp, rheumy eyes flicked over Lee Hyun’s face before dropping to the newly issued identity token swinging at his sash.
“The new recruit?”
“Yes. My name is Lee Hyun. I have been assigned to assist you with spirit field No. 73.”
No Baek-san stretched his aching lower back with a faint grunt. “Follow me.”
The old man turned and trudged toward the central cottage. As Lee Hyun drew closer, he noticed bundles of dried herbs hanging from the eaves, while mud-caked boots and bamboo harvesting baskets of all shapes and sizes lined the exterior walls.
No Baek-san pushed the door open. “Come inside.”
The interior was surprisingly spacious. One entire wall was neatly racked with heavy farming implements—hoes, sickles, pruning shears, and copper watering cans. The opposite wall was covered in hanging scrolls depicting intricate, hand-painted illustrations detailing the growth cycles and properties of various spiritual herbs.
A broad wooden table dominated the center of the room, bearing a few small pots of tender saplings, a well-thumbed manual, and a simple clay teapot. Down the hall, the building opened into a modest kitchen and two separate bedchambers.
No Baek-san held up his soil-stained hands and brushed them together. A faint flicker of spiritual light flared across his skin, and the stubborn dirt vanished instantly, leaving his hands immaculate.
He pulled out a bench, sat down, and poured himself a cup of lukewarm tea.
“Take a seat.”
Lee Hyun sat down on the bench across from him.
No Baek-san took a slow sip, eyeing him over the rim of the cup. “What cultivation art did you pick?”
“The Primordial Unity One-Qi Art.”
No Baek-san stared at Lee Hyun in silence for several seconds before clicking his tongue in irritation.
“Tsk. Steward Wang recommended that blasted art again, didn’t he?”
Lee Hyun blinked. “Is there a problem with it?”