Chapter 6
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Entrance Stage Yuyeon (1)
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Yuyeon opened the door to the shrine and stepped inside.
She couldn't even bring herself to clean it with Object Manipulation, so she pulled out the cloth she'd stuffed into the inner pocket of her windbreaker and covered her mouth and nose with it.
"Breathing's a bit uncomfortable, but since I'm just going to sleep anyway, let's compromise."
No matter how forgotten the shrine was, she couldn't let her guard down even on a deserted mountain path. Out of caution, Yuyeon slipped behind the altar where the incense burner sat and settled in.
She spread her windbreaker beneath her as a mat, then rolled up another cloth to rest her head on her arm.
For a moment, she truly felt like a pampered young lady from a fine family, well-fed and comfortable.
"But somehow, this is rather delightful. Freedom, that hungry spirit, all that sort of thing."
Of course, it was just talk. The moment she lay down to sleep, hunger hit, and thoughts of food flooded in.
The tteokbokki she'd thought of earlier, mala tang, even the snacks she'd left uneaten from yesterday.
Yuyeon realized anew how much her tastes had changed.
Her body was exhausted, but her mental energy lingered, keeping sleep at bay.
In the end, with no other choice, Yuyeon resorted to a trick. If she stayed like this, she'd never sleep, so she adjusted her consciousness with Divine Sense and forced herself into slumber.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I had a strange dream after such a long time.
Walking along a road, I picked up a book, and roots sprouted from my chest.
The roots gleamed with a watery light as they absorbed me. Then I rose up from their tips.
Inside myself, I spun my arms wildly and jumped about frantically.
Soon after, I settled down primly and read the book.
The book I hadn't seen in ages was utterly boring.
Before, at least half of it had some amusing parts. But what was this?
For the first time, I skipped ahead without finishing it.
Not needed. Not needed.
Then, flipping to a certain passage by chance, it felt entirely different from before.
"漆冥 comes from the silence of 太元."
From that line, one passage among all the incomprehensible nonsense began to click, bit by bit.
Word by word. Word by word.
冥 means the realm of death.
But that's mere fragments.
冥 is the order that follows death. No, even that's not it.
I perceived a contradiction here. But I forgot just what made it contradictory.
I realized death had fallen behind. Yet I forgot why.
I realized the origin of death had been seized by 冥.
What could 元 be, to suffer such a fate?
What it is doesn't matter right now.
Today, I awakened to 冥元.
But it's still distant, so I resolved to content myself with what lies in my grasp.
I realized escaping death is but imperfection.
To fully shed death, 冥 must be cast aside.
By modeling after 冥 to forge one's own—that is Soul Cultivation.
Yet what is 冥, truly? And what of 冥?
Ah, a question without answer.
Today, I awakened to Soul Cultivation.
But it's still distant, so I resolved to content myself with what lies in my grasp.
Gathering this realization, I erect the 漆冥太元魂修眞經 upon Ghost Dao. This is the path I have laid.
But it's still distant, so I let it slip away.
I resolved to be content with the insights yet to come.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Yuyeon had a nightmare for the first time in ages. Eight years, to be exact.
The throbbing headache upon waking told her something was wrong.
She sharpened her mind and scanned her surroundings with Divine Sense. The pounding felt like she'd slept for days—she thought it was night—but daylight still lingered.
Yuyeon stormed out of the ominous shrine. She turned and stared it down.
More accurately, she probed it intently with Divine Sense.
Yet no vengeful spirits or stray energies lingered. The abandoned shrine was just that—abandoned.
It was worn to nothing. No Ghost Qi, incense burner shattered, no Incense Fire Merit—ghosts in a place like that? Nothing had ever been here.
Still, to shake off the lingering unease, she half-wanted to torch it and be done.
But it had granted her sleep, a small boon.
Rather than spite, she chose to leave in peace as thanks.
But as Yuyeon turned to go, her legs buckled, and she crumpled to the spot.
Luckily, her body was light and supple—no real harm done.
Still, the fall left her rattled.
Longer than eight years. Definitely absent those eight. Even as a baby, she'd never tumbled.
Yuyeon hadn't fallen once since gaining Divine Sense.
"Then... has something gone wrong with my Divine Sense?"
Suddenly, she noticed it had expanded vastly.
At least threefold. She checked the Concealing Form Formation—it held firm. Not a glitch from sleep.
Yuyeon grasped the reason.
In her dreams, she had advanced her Ghost Dao cultivation.
She had reached Entrance Stage, becoming a true cultivator.
Entrance Stage was sometimes dismissed by cultivators as hardly a realm at all.
True cultivators began at Qi Refining Stage. Not wholly unfounded.
Strictly speaking, Entrance Stage meant awakening one's Spiritual Root and charting one's cultivation path.
In short, not yet a full-fledged cultivator.
But Yuyeon had surpassed mere Entrance Stage.
Entrance Stage built the three foundations for Immortal Cultivation.
First: Spiritual Veins.
Like veins, these channels had to thread the body for that first step. Cultivators drew in Spiritual Qi via Spiritual Root to forge a single stream, then stored Qi stably within.
Next: Spiritual Body.
The flesh had to be reforged into a Spiritual Body tough enough for cultivation arts—typically via Qi from the Spiritual Veins.
Last: Dao Heart.
Simply put, the resolve for Immortal Cultivation.
To forge it, even a trivial motive sufficed: a clear reason to tread the path.
Long life. Raw power. Becoming like another.
Anything endured the grueling road without faltering.
Three-line summary:
Absorb Spiritual Qi with Spiritual Root to form Spiritual Veins.
Evolve flesh to Spiritual Body via Spiritual Veins.
Condense Dao Heart in the spirit.
Spiritual Root alone? Early Entrance—mere Qi-hoarding grub.
One foundation? Mid Entrance—fit for menial labor under cultivators.
Two? Late Entrance—beyond drudgery, 'labor disciple' material in a sect.
All three? Entrance Great Completion. Congratulations—the gates of Immortal Cultivation stand before you.
Applied to Yuyeon:
Her Spiritual Root was fully grown.
Typically budding at five, complete by eight.
She had finished hers last night. Coincidentally Early Entrance yesterday.
Born with Dao Body—beyond Spiritual Body already—so Mid Entrance cultivator.
Long mastered Concealing Form Formation as her own; pure inner energy fully cycled, supplanted by Spiritual Qi. Late Entrance.
Finally, dream-born insight granted her Ghost Dao's Dao Heart. Entrance Great Completion cultivator.
Yuyeon became aware of this truth.
No wonder her whole body felt limp.
Precisely: her nurtured energy and spirit had realigned, forming Spiritual Veins, Spiritual Body, and Dao Heart.
Shed slept to ease fatigue—unknowingly cultivating all the while.
Such a realm leap all at once? Overload was inevitable.
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Ever lain on bare dirt?
Even if not, don't.
But hike and slip once—you'll grasp that mountain soil bites cold, rough as sandpaper, without the fall.
Yuyeon feigned indifference to her looks. But she doted on her skin like her hair; a smudge on her face irked her plenty.
Plus, her skin picked up the ground's chill. Her mood turned utterly odd.
Yuyeon bore a peculiar constitution: yin energy always coursed within.
She seldom felt true cold from anything. Heat or warmth, perhaps.
Yin and yang were relative, after all.
A man's boasted extreme yang was yin against the sun.
A ghost steeped in dire yin Ghost Qi? Pure yang next to the netherworld.
Yet yesterday, her Spiritual Root had transmuted yin qi to Spiritual Qi.
Mountain soil's faint yin natural True Qi outdid it in chill—so Yuyeon felt the bite.
Face-down forever wasn't wise. Strength returning to her limbs, she pushed up.
Habitually brushed the dirtied spots—and sensed something off.
The oddity? Dust. Falling should've caked her in it.
Yet as she rose, the soil stayed put, as if she'd never touched it.
Yuyeon stared blankly, then insight struck.
Already the purest yin-clean body, now flooded top to toe with vast Spiritual Qi in no time—flawlessly pure.
✨ DIVINE ABILITY UNLOCKED ✨
Pure White Body
A minor divine ability rarely attained by some cultivators. Automatically repels all filth and dust.
Yuyeon realized this out of nowhere.
She pondered briefly, then headed back to the shrine. Exhaustion peaked; more sleep called. Leaving now was folly.
Stepping inside again, the airborne dust and floor grit parted before her.
This instant, she envied no mages. Auto-pre-clean divine ability—no Clean spell needed.
She eyed the shifted dust, advanced a step. It yielded further.
Playfulness bubbled; she flopped to the floor. Rolled about gleefully.
Dust didn't choke the air but slid smoothly aside, piling neatly in a corner before long.
Yuyeon realized she'd lost all decorum in the wonder—a touch embarrassing. Still, today promised comfy rest.
"Absolutely not shameful. Just... cleaning."
With Object Manipulation, she swept the corner's pile outside. The shrine—exterior already sound—now looked downright presentable.
Save the shattered burner and bare altar.
Ownerless long before her arrival.
The nightmare? Unrelated, she knew.
Ignoring it, she readied for sleep anew.
Her stellar Divine Sense already eased daily life; now she intuited it could sense even in slumber.
No need hiding behind the altar like yesterday.
Yet her yin nature craved enclosure over openness for peace.
So, windbreaker as mat once more. She lay and drifted off.
No nightmares this time.
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