Chapter 63
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 63
Ise calmly raised his small axe and took a cautious step forward.
Resignation and fear flickered across Elder Shin’s face in turn.
"There was a secluded spot in the mine where spiritual energy didn't flow," Ise said calmly. "At a glance, one might not notice it, but it certainly looked unnatural to my eyes. Almost like a barrier meant to hide someone."
Elder Shin’s lips trembled. "Just... from that...?"
Ise took another step closer.
Although a fight was unlikely given the vast difference in their cultivation realms, an old man who had pulled off an operation of this scale might still have a hidden trump card.
"The barrier on the spirit stone warehouse wasn't something a 4-Star Qi Refining cultivator could handle. It wasn't breached; someone opened it for you. An inside accomplice."
Elder Shin’s pupils quivered slightly.
"With an insider’s help, you could pinpoint the exact moment the mine's surveillance lagged to delay your escape. While the other cultivators were scouring the route toward the Jeong Empire, you unhurriedly strolled out in the complete opposite direction."
Ise shifted his gaze past Elder Shin.
"Because doing that would be far safer than trying to outrun pursuers in an aging body."
A figure stood leaning in the shade of an elm tree.
"Isn't that right?" Ise asked, addressing the figure. "Master Stonemason. No—"
The shadow stepped forward slowly, detaching itself from the tree.
"Senior Shin Hyeon."
Hearing the name he had never revealed to those on the mission, Shin Hyeon let out a faint sigh.
"You temporarily disabled the barrier. Furthermore, considering that the mine's top combatant—who should have guarded it to the very end—abandoned his post to follow us all the way out here, my suspicions were correct."
"Did you dig into my background?"
"There were too many suspicious points to simply ignore," Ise replied curtly. He recalled the contents of the messenger talisman he had requested and received from the Name Registry Pavilion of the Great Martial Dao just moments ago.
The Master Stonemason’s name was Shin Hyeon. The old man’s name was Shin Gang.
The two were undoubtedly related.
Shin Hyeon had likely provided every resource he could to support his meagerly talented father, yet Shin Gang had been unable to overcome even the barrier of a minor realm.
As his father neared the end of his lifespan, Shin Hyeon must have ultimately crossed a line that should never be crossed.
All to save his parent.
Having been abandoned by his parents at birth and later losing the ones who had raised him, Ise felt genuine sympathy. Yet, he was a member of the Great Martial Dao.
After an incident of this scale had turned the Silver Dragon Mine upside down, he could not simply turn a blind eye.
Through his Dokkaebi Sense, Ise caught the murderous intent radiating from Shin Hyeon.
Ise spoke up, his tone verging on a threat. "If you kill me, there will be no turning back. Cultivators from the Discipline Pavilion are already on their way."
Shin Hyeon's fingertips trembled subtly. The spiritual energy of a Foundation Establishment cultivator flared briefly before subsiding.
Killing a mere Qi Refining cultivator was nothing. Shin Hyeon knew this well.
However, murdering a formal disciple would draw pursuit from the main mountain—a crime with gravity on a completely different level than merely aiding in the theft of spirit stones.
Just as an expression of utter resignation washed over Shin Hyeon's face, as if he were giving up on everything, Shin Gang spoke up.
"It was because of my own shortcomings... that I brought you such trouble."
The old man's voice was remarkably calm. The greed he had displayed before noticing Ise was nowhere to be seen.
Before Ise could even react, the next word fell.
"Father."
Ise’s train of thought ground to a halt. While he stood stunned and speechless, Shin Gang continued.
"Your aging son was blinded by his own greed and attempted to deceive you, his father and Master Stonemason, to plunder the spirit stones. Since you have come all the way here to personally punish my crime, I shall offer no resistance. Please do what must be done."
Then, he turned back to Ise and added, "Cultivator Ise. This was entirely my sole crime. How could a man with such a bright future bind himself to personal sentiment and commit such a grave offense?"
Still reeling from the shock that the old man was in fact the son, Ise stood frozen, unable to find his words.
There was no expression on the Master Stonemason’s face. No, it was a face overwritten with so many conflicting emotions that no single one could be distinctly read.
One thing was certain: both father and son, Shin Hyeon and Shin Gang, wore the exact same expression.
An expression much like... the one carved into the faces of his adoptive parents as they looked at him hiding in the closet on the day they were attacked by the Wadu Scholar.
Suddenly recalling the reality that cultivators from the Discipline Pavilion of the Great Martial Dao had already set out for this location, Ise spoke up.
"...Senior, please order the execution of this traitor who attempted to plunder the resources of the Great Martial Dao."
It was an act of consideration.
The greatest consideration a young cultivator—who had lived over a century less than the man before him—could wring from himself.
I will stay silent about the fact that you abetted the crime to save your child. I will ensure you are not dragged down as a co-conspirator.
However, Shin Gang must die here according to the rules. Only then will there be room for leniency toward you.
It was the utmost arrangement he could offer.
It took no time at all for the meaning to sink in.
The response came from Shin Gang.
"...Thank you. Even if I were captured alive, I would only live out my remaining days as a laborer before dying soon anyway... Do not hesitate."
The old man bowed his head deeply, grateful for the fact that he could protect his father.
Ise raised his small axe.
"Please turn around, Senior."
Shin Hyeon did not answer. He merely closed his eyes tightly.
Clenching his fists, his shoulders trembled once, faintly.
"Any last words?"
"Please forget this deeply unfilial son and attain immortal cultivation. Since your humble child tormented his parent to the very end, I shall repent in the Bottomless Abyss."
Ise waited until Shin Gang finished bowing to Shin Hyeon.
In the next instant, the axe blade flashed. Shin Gang’s head rolled neatly away.
It was a clean strike, executed so swiftly he likely felt no pain.
"I have executed the sentence upon the Master Stonemason’s command," Ise said to Shin Hyeon. "Now, please return to the mine. You cannot leave your post vacant for long. I will take care of the body and his personal effects."
Shin Hyeon turned back without a word. To the very end, Ise could not properly read his expression.
*
And so, the commotion over the spirit stone theft at the Silver Dragon Mine came to an end.
The perpetrator was summarily executed, and the spirit stones were recovered without a single loss.
Master Stonemason Shin Hyeon was escorted to the Discipline Pavilion for investigation on suspicion of complicity in the crime.
Instead of undergoing an investigation himself, Ise wrote a brief incident report and submitted it.
[Qi Refining cultivator Shin Gang took advantage of the Master Stonemason’s absence to break into the spirit stone warehouse, steal spirit stones, and flee toward Horyeong Market. Upon capturing the culprit, all 50,000 spirit stones were recovered, and the culprit was summarily executed on the Master Stonemason’s order.]
Not a single line was untrue. However, there was quite a lot left unwritten.
He had worried he might be interrogated as well, but perhaps due to his merit in personally capturing the perpetrator, no further action was taken against him.
The Discipline Pavilion’s investigation proceeded over several days.
Shin Hyeon’s sentence was light:
Five years of confinement in the Repentance Cave, and a Soul Binding Contract mandating that he could never leave the areas designated by the Great Martial Dao for the rest of his life.
The charge was negligence in managing a family member, which had invited the crime.
The charge of complicity in the offense was omitted.
Perhaps the main mountain knew the truth.
No, they surely knew. If a Core Formation cultivator stepped in and used Mind-Reading Art, a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator like Shin Hyeon could never conceal the truth.
However, the spirit stones had been recovered, the crime stemmed from a desperate heart for his child, and they likely didn't want to lose a Foundation Establishment stonemason possessed of such rare skills.
Given the Great Martial Dao's nature as a meritocracy, it was a hypothesis that bordered on certainty.
As Ise organized Elder Shin’s belongings and the Master Stonemason’s personal effects, he sank deep into thought.
It was said that Elder Shin was a child born to the Master Stonemason and a mortal woman when Shin Hyeon was around thirty years old.
However, the child lacked talent and could not reach the path of longevity.
Having sent his mortal companion away long ago, what thoughts must the Master Stonemason have had as he watched his own child grow old before him and face impending death?
What had immortal cultivation meant to him?
Cultivators gained longevity. As their realm ascended, they evaded the lifespan ordained by Heaven.
By the time one reached the Nascent Soul Stage or Soul Transformation Stage and lived a life spanning nearly a thousand years, most of the bonds formed today would have already faded away.
The path of immortal cultivation was a path of avoiding farewells, yet simultaneously a path of constantly saying goodbye.
What meaning was there in a longevity spent surviving alone?
For Ise, whose goal in immortal cultivation lay more in gaining power than achieving longevity, this was a difficult question to answer.
He did not fear death.
Even in the most hopeless situations, he had never felt terror toward it.
It was only natural. Around the age of ten, when he lost his family, Ise had attempted to end his own life.
The driving force that kept him living was little more than avenging his family and repaying the grace of the master who had taken him in.
However, since coming to the Great Martial Dao, he was gradually learning the joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure of life.
Realizing the joy of being with peers his own age.
Feeling rage toward the one who murdered his fellow disciple.
Learning affection for his companions.
Relishing the pleasures of eating, growing, and experiencing.
He realized anew that, at least right now... he was truly living life.
Once he acknowledged that truth, remarkably, death became frightening.
Ise folded the pine branch and tucked it away in his storage pouch along with the personal effects.
They were items he would have to hand over to Shin Hyeon someday.
A quiet peace returned to the Silver Dragon Mine once more.
Having fended off misfortune through this major incident, he thought he could now spend his remaining five months peacefully focusing on his cultivation.
At least, that was what Ise believed.
And yet...
"Cultivator Ise."
Just before leaving, the Discipline Pavilion cultivator dispatched from the main mountain called out to him.
"Due to a shortage of personnel at the main mountain, it's difficult to dispatch replacement staff immediately. As soon as a stonemason is secured, we will send one over. Until then, you shall take on the role of the Master Stonemason."
"Me?" Ise asked. "I don't know the first thing about stonemasonry."
"We aren't asking you to process spirit stones. You just need to keep managing the mine as you are now. We're currently short on Foundation Establishment cultivators because of an ongoing war with a Demonic Path Sect that crossed the northern border in Tabaro."
"A war? I haven't heard anything about that."
"It's practically an annual event. They seem to think the Great Martial Dao is an easy target, so whenever they fail to establish a foothold in the Jeong Empire, they tend to spill over here. It's not something big enough to disturb the main mountain. It's just..."
It seemed no formidable force had crossed over. Feeling a bit relieved, Ise listened intently.
"It's just that every extra hand is needed right now, so we can't spare anyone to manage production sites like this one by one. It will only be for a few days."
"That is far too heavy a responsibility..."
Ise tried to decline. He had already experienced the crushing weight of responsibility through the incident involving the Shin father and son.
This place yielded 100,000 spirit stones annually—a precious site. It was not a place a 7-Star Qi Refining cultivator should be taking charge of.
"Ah, right."
As if suddenly remembering, the Discipline Pavilion cultivator presented a wooden box.
"This is a reward bestowed upon you from the main mountain."
"From the main mountain?"
Ise accepted the wooden box. Aside from spirit stones and Contribution Points, the only time he had received anything from the main mountain was when he had first become an initiate disciple.
When he opened the box, an iridescent glow spilled out, accompanied by the acrid scent of mugwort and a pure aura of spiritual energy.
"This is..."
This scent, this color. Even Ise recognized it. A medicinal pill. Specifically, an elixir that expanded one's internal qi.
Judging by its hue alone, its quality was on a level incomparable to any pill Ise had consumed before.
"It is a Mid-Grade Qi Condensation Pill. Specifically of the 4th Grade, making it the highest tier among mid-grade pills. It's a pill mainly sought after by late Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators."
"A Qi Condensation Pill...!"
"It will advance your cultivation by at least several years. Hall Master Hong Mi-hui personally concocted this pill, so its efficacy is the absolute finest among pills of the same tier, and pill toxin barely accumulates from it. It's an exceedingly rare treasure."
"I see...!"
"This is your reward for resolving the crisis by capturing Shin Gang, combined with taking on this heavy duty. By the way, what were you going to say earlier?"
Ise nodded obediently.
"I was going to say, 'Though it is a heavy responsibility, since you have entrusted it to me, I will lay down my life to fulfill my duty.'"
"A straightforward talent rare in times like these. I'm counting on you. I will push them to send a successor as quickly as possible."
"Yes. Have a safe journey back."
It's only for a few days anyway. What could possibly go wrong?