Chapter 50
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 50
Great Martial Dao Main Mountain
Time flew by in a blur of cultivation for everyone at the training center. The fallen leaves rotted away on the ground, and a razor-sharp wind began to blow.
Contrary to Park Gang-seo’s claim that they would move before winter, the order to relocate to the Main Mountain came only after the season had already set in. It was the day after the first snowfall, which had arrived earlier than usual.
Before the morning mist could even clear, the initiate disciples began gathering in the open clearing near the main gate, each carrying their packed belongings. It was their final morning in Cheongsan.
By the time Ise arrived, a large number of initiates had already assembled. Eyes were drawn to him the moment he appeared, and among them, a familiar face he hadn't seen in a while offered a warm greeting.
“Ise! It's been a while.”
Hae Un-chan placed a hand on Ise’s shoulder, his delight genuine. Then, as if exchanging a silent greeting, they each assessed the other's cultivation.
Hae Un-chan was at 5-Star. He had just broken through to a new minor realm. It was said he possessed the Heavenly Root Body, and his cultivation speed was indeed astonishing. Of course, Ise himself had been stuck in a minor realm for far too long because of the Gu Poison.
“I lost again,” Hae Un-chan grumbled, frustrated at falling short once more. “I really thought I’d caught up this time. Still, it's only a one-stage difference. I'll pass you soon enough.”
Either way, having someone chasing so closely wasn’t a bad feeling. It motivated him to push himself harder. Ise took it in stride and glanced around at their other peers.
Seol Ryeong and Hong Won-seo had both reached 4-Star. Including a Two-Spirit Root Cultivator named Jo Jeong-jin, who was a regular customer at the Meal Exchange, that made a total of three at their level. Besides them, most were 2-Star, with an occasional 3-Star scattered among the crowd.
And Ise had just crossed the threshold into 7-Star this very morning, which was the reason he had almost been late on such an important day. To those at lower realms, he likely still appeared to be 6-Star, but he didn't bother correcting them.
A moment later, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator in charge of escorting them arrived, accompanied by the other Qi Refining Cultivators, including Park Gang-seo.
“I am Han Jae,” he said, briefly introducing himself before checking the headcount. “Out of fifty-nine total, five are dead and two were expelled. Fifty-two remaining. Everyone is accounted for.”
A brief silence fell over the group. Ise turned his head and asked softly, “Someone got expelled?”
“Yeah. I heard they got caught hunting a spirit beast.”
“Those fools must have lost their minds.”
What happened to them after being expelled was obvious without even asking. He could only pray for their souls.
“Indeed, as I heard, the survival rate is impressive,” Han Jae continued. “Last year, there was an uproar because so many died. This year, there will be an uproar because so many survived—and I mean that in a positive sense. Your overall cultivation is excellent as well. The future of the Great Martial Dao is bright.”
After sweeping his gaze over the disciples, he pulled a strange Dharma artifact that looked like a magnifying glass from his storage pouch. Then, one by one, he held it over the crown of each initiate's head.
Only Ise could guess the reason for this process.
“None. Begin.”
Fortunately, it seemed there were no other victims besides himself.
As soon as Han Jae spoke, the senior disciples rushed forward to confirm the names of the initiates and stamp the backs of their hands. The emblem of the Great Martial Dao and their names briefly flashed before fading to a faint mark.
With all preparations complete, the journey to the Main Mountain finally began.
The Main Mountain was located on the Hangsan Peninsula, just as many had guessed. However, it was not in the center of the continent where Ise had once visited, but much further west, in a region close to the wilderness known as the Heungryeong Mountains.
For a cultivator, traversing mountains was a matter of course, but the Heungryeong Mountains were on a different scale entirely. Peaks towered into the far distance, flanked by daunting fault cliffs and precipices. The valleys were deep, and the crags were jagged. They crossed terrain where a single wrong step could leave even a cultivator severely injured.
The place they finally reached was a peak known as Eumpyeong Pass. It bore the reputation of being so treacherous that even flying birds struggled to cross it. Just looking up at the summit was enough to strain one’s neck.
“Remember the location of this post well,” Han Jae said, pointing to a wooden signpost that read 'Eumpyeong Pass'. “This is the entrance to the Great Martial Dao.”
No Daoist temple was in sight.
As Ise looked around in confusion, Park Gang-seo smirked beside him and put on airs. “Don't be shocked.”
The instant Park Gang-seo finished speaking, Han Jae's figure vanished into thin air.
“It's a barrier,” Pi Ga-ram muttered quietly from behind. “An Illusion Formation combined with a Defensive Formation… It's on an unfathomable scale.”
Following the senior disciples, the initiates stepped forward one by one. The moment Ise passed through the faint wall of spiritual energy, the emblem on the back of his hand glowed bright—
—and the world flipped.
What unfolded before his eyes was not a mountain. It was a vast plain, and in its center, a grand city at least the size of a major fortress. Unlike the hazy mountain mist outside the barrier, the weather inside was clear and bright.
Shrubs and ornamental flowers bloomed everywhere. Parks were visible between neatly maintained buildings. It wasn't just low-rise, tile-roofed structures; an imposing building made from stones stacked like massive fourteen-sided gaming dice towered high in the center. The sheer fact that such a tall building could even be constructed was astonishing.
The initiate disciples stood dazed, like stone statues.
“Another world…” someone whispered.
Ise agreed. It was completely different from anything he had imagined.
Master, how is this a Daoist temple?
This was more like a peach blossom spring—a mythical paradise—than a Daoist temple.
“Amazing, isn't it?” Park Gang-seo said with a proud look, though why he felt any pride was beyond Ise's understanding.
A few young children ran past them, giggling warmly. Scanning with his Spirit Eye, Ise sensed the presence of at least several thousand people within the Main Mountain.
However, the truly shocking thing was something else.
A bird flying leisurely through the sky—it was a spirit beast. Atop a towering giant tree, a leopard-like Foundation Establishment spirit beast lay coiled in rest. The sight of spirit beasts and cultivators coexisting seemed to symbolize the very identity of the Great Martial Dao.
ROAAAR!
Suddenly, the resting leopard let out a thunderous roar. At the deafening sound, which felt like it would split their eardrums, the initiate disciples recoiled in unison. Some instinctively grabbed their weapons.
“Hahaha, don't be alarmed!” Han Jae called out. “He's just teasing. He knows how to speak, but he always does that. Senior Heukpyo, these are the kids becoming formal disciples today.”
The leopard stretched out a long yawn and let out a growl. “Welcome, rookies.”
And with that, he lay back down on the tree.
“I feel like I'm dreaming…” Seol Ryeong said in a dreamy voice. The surrounding disciples nodded in agreement.
“My duty ends here,” Han Jae announced, standing before the initiates one last time. “Life in the Great Martial Dao is free. Whatever you wish to achieve, you can attain it if you work hard. Finally, remember just three things: go to the Registry to be issued an Identity Token, perform one official mission per year, and strictly obey the regulations of the Great Martial Dao.”
He paused briefly before adding, “May the Heavenly Dao guide your path ahead. Congratulations on becoming formal disciples.”
“Thank you, Senior!” the new disciples shouted.
“Escorts, do your utmost to help our new juniors adapt well.”
“Yes, sir!”
At the cultivators' unified shout, Han Jae vanished with a satisfied look. With their leader gone, the senior cultivators approached the dazed disciples and began their respective tasks.
Park Gang-seo gathered Ise and four others, leading them to a map of the area.
“Alright, shall we begin the tour of the Great Martial Dao Main Mountain? The Main Mountain is divided into five regions: East, West, South, North, and Center. First off, the most important part—remember the forbidden zones.”
He pointed to the map with his finger. “The Water Source Area to the east is where the Core Formation Great Cultivators reside, so never enter without permission.”
His finger shifted westward. “The Inner Hall District to the west is where the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Eleventh Inner Hall live. Likewise, stay out of there if you can help it.”
Next was the south. “The Spirit Beast Forest to the south is a protected sanctuary for spirit beasts and other spirit creatures. It's a place where they can rest in nature without human interference, so no one is allowed entry except for the official who manages it.”
That left only the north and the center.
“You can assume Qi Refining Cultivators live mostly in the northern and central districts.”
Setting aside the Inner Hall District, the thought that the vast Water Source Area was occupied by a mere eleven people was staggering. Since Hall Master Hae Il seemed to have a separate residence, it was practically ten. Just how much land did each individual occupy?
Indeed, the difference in treatment based on one's cultivation realm was as vast as heaven and earth.
“How many people live in the Main Mountain?” Ise asked.
“Who knows? At least ten thousand, I’d say.”
“...”
While Ise asked Park Gang-seo various questions, the other cultivators listened quietly. Apparently, they found it difficult to butt into a conversation between high-realm senior cultivators.
“Initiate disciples are fifty at most in a year, so how can the population be so high?”
“Because it was large to begin with. The Great Martial Dao was formed by merging all the major cultivation sects across the Three Peninsular Kingdoms. Plus, they occasionally recruit talent from outside. And most decisively, cultivators have children, too.”
“...Ah.”
“A Foundation Establishment Cultivator known as the Dasan Constellation has over fifty children. He's quite a celebrity.”
Since a cultivator's reproductive age wasn't fixed like a mortal's, it seemed there were far more children born here than one might expect.
“Do all children of cultivators become cultivators?”
“Not necessarily. But the probability of them possessing a good Spirit Root is far higher than among mortals.”
Just then, a mortal man walked past them.
“Then as mortals multiply, managing Turbid Qi must get difficult,” Ise mused.
Park Gang-seo grinned. “Did you forget? The Great Martial Dao has the Divine Beast Haljo.”
“Ah.”
“Cultivators are practically mass-produced here! The only problem is that most of the acquired Spirit Roots are Five Spirit Roots.”
Still, even a Five-Spirit Root Cultivator could become viable combat power if they received enough resources or worked several times harder at Ghost Exorcism Work to reach the Foundation Establishment Stage. In the end, this place was essentially a cradle for mass-producing ghost exorcists.
“Even so, mortals born here who fail to form a Spirit Root have two choices: vow never to leave the Great Martial Dao and work as servants for the Great Cultivators, or have all their memories erased and be adopted into secular noble families managed by the sect, like the Hae Clan or the Hong Clan.”
Park Gang-seo added that these secular noble families received immense rewards whenever they produced a Great Martial Dao disciple.
“Those born here with innate Spirit Roots call themselves ‘pure-bloods,’ and along with the mortals born here, they take a separate initiation exam inside the Main Mountain.”
“What happens to cultivators who fail that exam?”
“Fail? For those born in the Main Mountain, the initiation exam is just a natural milestone, like rolling over or taking their first steps. It’s simply used to rank their talents. You can't even imagine how pushy the mother cultivators are here.”
He explained that the support from these mothers, whether through medicinal pills or Dharma artifacts, was immense. In fact, the competition was so overheated that the leadership was quite concerned. He also mentioned that for someone thoroughly educated from childhood to become a cultivator to fail the exam four times was an unprecedented disgrace across the entire Great Martial Dao.
“So the training center in Cheongsan is just an auxiliary facility—hardly essential.”
Only then did Ise realize why the treatment of initiate disciples hadn't been particularly kind. The world he had known was merely the tip of the iceberg.
“Not necessarily,” Park Gang-seo countered. “No matter how good the environment is here, the population base is small. How could it compare to the sheer number of talented cultivators born across the entire Eastern Continent?”
That made sense, too.
“While the overall level of Main Mountain cultivators is higher, the true monsters always come from the training center. Hall Master Woo Yu-hee, the youngest to ever reach the Core Formation Stage, came from the training center. So did Hae Un-chan, the Heavenly Root Body who appeared after a century—and you, too. However…”
Park Gang-seo paused before adding, “Doesn't the word ‘pure-blood’ leave a bad taste in your mouth?”
“It really does! What are we, mutts?” a 2-Star Qi Refining Cultivator who had been listening quietly blurted out.
Park Gang-seo shot him a glare that clearly asked what right a junior had to interrupt his seniors. The disciple immediately shrank back.
“It really is an eyesore, seeing those born in high places strut around as if they own the world,” Park Gang-seo continued. “You'll understand what I mean soon enough. Among the annual events of the Great Martial Dao, there's an Exchange Meeting held around this time.”
“An Exchange Meeting?”
“Supposedly, it’s a place for the new formal disciples from the training center and the Main Mountain cultivators to gauge their skills and build friendships. In reality, it's mostly an event where the pure-blood cultivators ruthlessly beat down those from the training center.”
Park Gang-seo shuddered, as if recalling a terrible memory. Then, he smirked devilishly. It was a smile so insidious it made Ise wonder if he was a Demonic Cultivator. Surely he didn't have a Gu Poison lodged in his head, did he?
“Though this year… will be quite different.”
He clapped his hands twice, adding that he was thoroughly looking forward to it.
“Alright, let's get a move on. The Main Mountain is vast.”