The Chaotic Immortal Wood Sect: Immortal Cultivation War - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24. Disguising Spiritual Roots to Purchase a Manor

“It’s been a while.”

“What do you mean a while? It’s only been two months. Come on in.”

Kang Hyeon warmly welcomed In Deok, who was being playful.

The place where he greeted In Deok was a small manor in the Outer District Residential Area of Cheong Myeong Bang Si.

After entering Cheong Myeong Bang Si two months ago, Kang Hyeon had traded some cultivation resources and purchased a manor.

This Cheong Myeong Bang Si was divided into three total districts: the massive Outer District and the Inner District within it.

Outside the Outer District was an area not managed by the market town, and between the Outer District and Inner District was commonly called the Outer District area, where cultivators from the Spiritual Energy Technique stage to the Energy Accumulation stage mainly gathered.

Next, inside the Inner Wall was called the Inner District, where cultivators from Energy Accumulation stage and above, including Foundation Establishment and Core Formation stages, resided.

Cheong Myeong Bang Si was enormously large even when viewed from outside, with dozens of mountain peaks and four lakes in the Inner District alone.

To enter such a Cheong Myeong Bang Si, one had to obtain an Official Entry Pass from the Outer Gate, which required three Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, making it difficult for most to obtain an Official Entry Pass.

So many cultivators received entry passes with stay periods of three days, ten days, or one month. Kang Hyeon entered the Outer District with a three-day entry pass, then created an Official Entry Pass and purchased a manor before the three-day period ended.

Though it was the Outer District and not the Inner District, inside the city walls, Cheong Myeong Bang Si’s strict regulations applied, making it a place where one couldn’t arbitrarily use force to oppress others.

There was such a reason why the Entry Certificate serving as an Identity Token was expensive.

Regardless of one’s cultivation realm, those who obtained an Identity Token were promised safety within Cheong Myeong Bang Si.

“Your Identity Token?”

“Entry Certificate? Here.”

As Kang Hyeon led In Deok into the manor and asked, In Deok pulled out his Entry Certificate from his sleeve.

The Identity Token, combining green and gold colors, had subtle lightning energy flowing through it.

Seeing this, Kang Hyeon also took out his own Entry Certificate and showed it to In Deok.

“Mine is this.”

“Hmm, Wood, Metal, Water? As you mentioned before, you put Water attribute instead of Lightning attribute?”

“That’s why the Water attribute is somewhat weaker compared to the other two attributes.”

“Really? I can’t tell the difference.”

“In Deok, you’re not at a level where you can freely peek into the Spiritual Roots in my Mental Space. Just like how I can’t examine your Spiritual Roots.”

“That’s true, but there’s something called intuition. As my cultivation realm solidifies, I’ve gradually become able to assess others. Even at Spiritual Energy Technique Great Perfection, it’s not entirely impossible.”

In Deok said this while trying hard to examine Kang Hyeon’s Spiritual Roots, but made no progress and frowned.

“Do it later. You’ll have plenty of time for such cultivation anyway.”

“Seeing that you even purchased a manor, you’ve decided to stay here for a long time?”

“Right. I’ll live as a Triple Spiritual Root holder with Wood, Metal, and Water Spiritual Roots while cultivating. You should do the same.”

“But I’m a Triple Spiritual Root holder with Wood, Metal, and Lightning?”

“If a high-realm cultivator sees you, they might perceive you as a Dual Spiritual Root holder with a unique Spiritual Root where Metal and Lightning have become one, plus a Wood Spiritual Root. Keep that in mind too.”

“If there’s a cultivator who can assess to that degree, I should quickly acknowledge it and bow down. What good would come from stubbornly denying it?”

“Right. That’s why I’m telling you to know this. Since you only planted one Trent’s Branch in your Mental Space, a skilled cultivator could recognize that you have two Spiritual Roots.”

“Got it. Don’t worry. But where’s my dwelling?”

“Over there!”

Kang Hyeon led In Deok to the inner part of the manor, where two halls that looked similar like twins stood side by side.

Among them, what Kang Hyeon pointed out to In Deok was the hall on the right when viewed from the front.

“You even put up a signboard with my name?”

Seeing the hall, In Deok rubbed his arms as if getting goosebumps and made a disgusted expression.

That was because the hall’s signboard had [In Deok Hall] written in bold, neat handwriting.

“My hall has a signboard too.”

“Then why isn’t yours called Kang Hyeon Hall?”

“The hall originally had the manor’s name attached, so I just left it as is.”

The signboard of the hall where Kang Hyeon stayed had the original manor name, Yang Won, written with the weight of years.

“You’re still the same, teasing people with strange things.”

In Deok grumbled while looking at his name written on the hall signboard with an awkward expression, but that was all.

Since the signboard hanging on the hall wasn’t particularly important, he decided to just let it go.

“We are dao friends who met in the early Spiritual Energy Technique stage in that distant southwestern frontier and cultivated together. While doing so, we decided to come to Cheong Myeong Bang Si together to cultivate, but due to circumstances on the way, I arrived two months earlier. And today, In Deok, you arrived a bit late and joined up.”

“Right. That’s right. And we each met while in the Spiritual Energy Technique stage with low-grade cultivation methods inherited from our predecessors, and that was during the process of discovering and excavating some cultivator’s belongings.”

In Deok continued the predetermined story following Kang Hyeon’s words.

“We were excavating without knowing of each other’s existence, and one day we encountered each other. While searching for a way to open that bundle’s barrier technique.”

“We were competing over the same belongings, so we were wary of each other, but on the other hand, we were thinking it would be difficult with our individual strength, so after some interaction, we hit it off and decided to excavate those belongings together.”

“We succeeded. And there we discovered various Basic Cultivation Methods and intermediate methods that we needed, eventually reaching Spiritual Energy Technique Great Perfection.”

“But we realized we needed more diverse and abundant cultivation resources for our cultivation, so we came to find Cheong Myeong Bang Si like this.”

“Our ultimate purpose is to advance our cultivation realm, along with.”

“Securing a Great Unity Token.”

“Right. The Great Unity Token, that’s the most important thing.”

Kang Hyeon expressed agreement with In Deok’s words and pulled out a token from his sleeve.

It was the Trial Token he received while participating in the Great Unity System.

In Deok also pulled out a token of the same design and held it alongside Kang Hyeon’s token.

“This is still an incomplete Great Unity Token, so it can’t be used. But there must be a way to complete this here too.”

“That would be right. If not, we’ll have to find a way to secure another complete Great Unity Token.”

“I heard that occasionally ownerless Great Unity Tokens appear at the big auctions in Great Market City, so we could aim for those.”

“After we reach Energy Accumulation stage and build our reputation by carrying out requests from various major sects, the day will come when we receive requests offering Great Unity Tokens as rewards.”

“Right. That would be so.”

Kang Hyeon and In Deok confirmed their ultimate purpose for deciding to settle in Cheong Myeong Bang Si for a while by discussing it back and forth.

And when all confirmations were finished, the two entered their respective halls and began cultivation.

They planned to start full-scale external activities after reaching Energy Accumulation stage, so it was agreed that they would first cultivate to reach Energy Accumulation stage.

***

Rumble rumble rumble! Rumble rumble!

“Hmm. It seems someone is advancing to Energy Accumulation stage.”

“Two cultivators advancing simultaneously at once is quite uncommon.”

“Two people are advancing simultaneously from one manor in the Outer District’s residential area.”

“Two people simultaneously in the same manor, that’s somewhat interesting?”

“Hmm, there’s been no external activity, so almost nothing is known about what kind of children they are.”

“Let’s see, an estate jointly owned by two Triple Spiritual Root cultivators who are friends. They share Wood and Metal Spiritual Roots in common, but one has Water Spiritual Root while the other has Lightning Spiritual Root.”

“Among the same Triple Spiritual Roots, having two matching attributes would naturally make them close friends. They could help each other in cultivation.”

“That would be the case. But they’re merely Triple Spiritual Root cultivators.”

“That’s true. Hmm, still, the fact that they’re unaffiliated wandering cultivators is somewhat interesting?”

“I won’t get involved, so if any fellow daoists are interested, handle it yourselves.”

“I’m not interested either. They’re just common Triple Spiritual Root cultivators.”

“Ah, I’d like to take a look. I should have the children informed.”

“If they reach Foundation Establishment, even Triple Spiritual Roots aren’t completely useless.”

“They’ll succeed. Their energy is so stable.”

“Both will succeed. But I’m also not interested.”

A space where no cultivators could be seen, only voices floating back and forth.

This was a place where the representative forces operating Cheong Myeong Bang Si regularly coordinated opinions, a space where only their voices drifted about.

The owners of those voices were scattered throughout Cheong Myeong Bang Si in various forms, and when necessary, they would converse in this space to discuss important matters.

When signs of Foundation Establishment advancement appeared in the outer district, they each threw in a comment, but considering their actual cultivation levels, it wasn’t a conversation of great significance.

Even if the advancement succeeded, they would only be Foundation Establishment cultivators – what interest could there be?

However, among them, a few thought these cultivators might be helpful to their sects or organizations, so they showed interest in the prospective Foundation Establishment cultivators to secure them first. Unusually, four people showed interest, perhaps because two Foundation Establishment cultivators were emerging simultaneously.

But no conflicts arose from this.

Now those who showed interest would assign the task to their subordinates, and those underlings would handle it accordingly.

Probably the results of that task wouldn’t be reported to the participants here unless something special happened.

There would be no need to report mere Foundation Establishment matters to Core Formation Grand Masters.

***

‘This time, without fail!’

Kang Hyeon had been preparing and re-preparing for Foundation Establishment advancement.

The reason was to obtain Heaven and Earth Law True Body Techniques.

So far, Kang Hyeon had achieved notable results twice by encountering the true essence of Heaven and Earth Laws during advancement.

Once was the Absorption he gained when entering Spiritual Energy Technique.

This was applied to Trent, allowing Trent to absorb spiritual energy of all attributes.

Thanks to this, Kang Hyeon and In Deok’s cultivation could be said to have accelerated several times over.

Since they could receive the necessary spirit fruits every time, what cultivator could receive such cultivation support?

And what he later obtained from Heaven and Earth Laws was the True Fertile Earth Secret Method.

This was a very useful spiritual plant secret technique, but it was useless unless one settled in one place for a long time to cultivate fields, so he couldn’t benefit greatly from it.

However, while staying in the Mystic Realm, he had cultivated fields in his cave dwelling to test its effects and had high expectations.

This True Fertile Earth Secret Method was also being properly utilized after Kang Hyeon acquired an estate here in Cheong Myeong Bang Si.

‘Both Absorption and the True Fertile Earth Secret Method are incredibly precious, but obtaining only two True Body Techniques from ten advancements was truly regrettable.’

If any other cultivator had known Kang Hyeon’s inner thoughts, they would have been astounded.

Most people never obtain Heaven and Earth Law True Body Techniques in their entire cultivation life, yet here he was, having obtained two True Body Techniques while still in Spiritual Energy Technique stage and calling it insufficient.

But Kang Hyeon had no interest in how other cultivators fared.

He simply harbored regret, so he was determined to steal at least one more fragment of Heaven and Earth Laws during this Foundation Establishment advancement.

‘Unlike advancement that merely raises levels within Spiritual Energy Technique, this is a major realm advancement from Spiritual Energy Technique to Foundation Establishment, so naturally the Spirit Communication Passage with Heaven and Earth Laws will open much wider. Then naturally there will be more opportunities to obtain True Body Techniques.’

An advancement already prepared.

Therefore, Kang Hyeon’s Foundation Establishment advancement proceeded step by step without any obstacles.

Kang Hyeon had prepared every aspect of essence, energy, and spirit without deficiency.

Not only was the spiritual energy accumulated in his spiritual roots sufficient, but his enlightenment befitting the Foundation Establishment realm was already adequate.

Moreover, his physical strength had also been refined to be sufficient for Foundation Establishment advancement.

Whoooooong! Roooooooar!

In his Mental Space, the Trent-shaped spiritual root generously released the Wood Spiritual Energy it had prepared.

And that spiritual energy filled not only the Mental Space but also Kang Hyeon’s body, then condensed like mist becoming water and began converging to a single point.

That point was the center of the Trent spiritual root.

He began accumulating Foundation Establishment realm spiritual energy in his spiritual root, qualitatively different from Spiritual Energy Technique.

If Spiritual Energy Technique’s spiritual energy was like mist, Foundation Establishment’s spiritual energy could be compared to water.

That great difference began transforming Kang Hyeon’s spiritual root and body.

Spiritual Energy Technique and Foundation Establishment.

Though their appearances might be nearly identical, their essence held incomparable differences.

This was like a change in the species of a life form.

Now the species called Spiritual Energy Technique Kang Hyeon began transforming into the species called Foundation Establishment Kang Hyeon, raising its level by one stage.

Rummmmmmmble.

During this process, tremendous Heaven and Earth spiritual energy rushed into the training room where Kang Hyeon was located and ultimately filled his spiritual root and Mental Space.

‘Spiritual Energy Technique can be called the basic stage that adapts a cultivator’s body to spiritual energy as the beginning of cultivation. Cultivators must refine their bodies to handle spiritual energy well, and this period is called Spiritual Energy Technique.’

This was the basic concept of Spiritual Energy Technique.

Thus, as the cultivator’s body gradually adapts to spiritual energy, it’s divided into twelve stages or ten stages according to the progression.

According to what he learned in the Great Unity System’s preparatory education, there were the twelve-star standard that divided Spiritual Energy Technique into twelve stages and the ten-layer standard that divided it into ten stages, with most recent cultivation methods adopting the ten-layer approach.

However, occasionally there were cultivation methods that divided realm advancement into twelve stages, which were remnants of the past that hadn’t been updated yet.

Of course, those that adopted the twelve-star concept of growth stages were mostly very ancient, so they might be precious and worth examining carefully.

‘It doesn’t matter anyway. In realms above Spiritual Energy Technique, they’re simply divided into early stage, middle stage, and late stage, and when all stages are completed, it’s called Great Perfection. Whether twelve stars or ten layers, it’s only a concern for lower-level cultivators in Spiritual Energy Technique.’

Kang Hyeon, finding himself thinking about Spiritual Energy Technique realm divisions with major realm advancement before him, deliberately gathered his mind to shake off distracting thoughts.

And just then, feeling the divine light piercing down through the center of his Mental Space, he began moving toward Heaven and Earth Laws, following that light upward.

The auspicious light shining in the Mental Space during advancement was the Spirit Communication Passage leading to Heaven and Earth Laws.

Kang Hyeon knew this from experience, so without hesitation, he rather welcomed it and hurriedly leaped into the Spirit Communication Passage.

‘Now that I’m at Foundation Establishment realm, shouldn’t I be able to glimpse the appearance of Heaven and Earth Laws a little?’

In time that could have been an instant or an eon, advancing through the Spirit Communication Passage toward Heaven and Earth Laws, Kang Hyeon steeled his resolve once more to obtain True Body Techniques.

And at some moment, Kang Hyeon realized he was facing something immense beyond his comprehension.

However.

‘Ah! Even having reached Foundation Establishment, I still cannot perceive Heaven and Earth Laws.’

Kang Hyeon guessed that the immense something before him was Heaven and Earth Laws, but that was the end of it.

Soon it began to be perceived by Kang Hyeon as an ambiguous mist, just like what he had seen before.

And no matter how hard he tried, Kang Hyeon could not pierce through that mist to look into the true form of Heaven and Earth Laws.

The same experience he had during every Spiritual Energy Technique advancement was repeating.

‘Should I give up like this? Even if it’s the same mist, the current mist is different from what I saw in Spiritual Energy Technique. What are you hiding inside!’

However, unlike during his Spiritual Energy Technique Realm Advancement, Kang Hyeon wasn’t trying to obtain something from the mist itself.

This time, he set his target on something within the mist and began desperately struggling to extract it.

‘It’s there!’

And Kang Hyeon’s attempt was eventually rewarded.

He felt something catch on his consciousness within the mist.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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