The Mending Studio - Chapter 8

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

Chapter 8
Won Geom Jin-in nodded repeatedly, a look of satisfaction crossing his face.

“Good. Very good. Come now, all of you, up with you.”

Even after he’d helped the children to their feet, his hands lingered as though reluctant to let go.

“Rest well today. Starting tomorrow, you’ll begin your formal training as disciples of Yeong Geom Peak.”

The children nodded vigorously in response.
Won Geom Jin-in smiled, pleased by even this small gesture of enthusiasm.
Yuk Mu-ssang had been about to say more about what she’d witnessed at the Jang Cheong Miscellaneous Shop, but she caught herself as her gaze swept across Jang Hyeon Jin-in and the masters of each peak gathered in the hall.
The matter of the Hanging Tablet, the Calligraphy Painting, and the young shopkeeper’s true identity—it was too significant to unravel all at once in this place. She closed her mouth instead.
She hadn’t even fully made sense of what she’d witnessed herself.
It was then that Jang Hyeon Jin-in stepped forward, his gaze fixed upon the children.
His eyes came to rest on Yi Sun-poong.

“Let me examine you for a moment.”

His palm settled atop the boy’s crown.
A deep, resonant hum filled the air.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s robes billowed without any wind to move them.
His long beard and brows swayed in the churning energy.
Dharma Light bloomed around his body.
The spiritual energy within the hall converged toward a single point.
Won Geom Jin-in’s brow furrowed.

“Jang Hyeon?”

Jang Hyeon Jin-in did not answer.
His divine sense traced slowly along Yi Sun-poong’s form.
Across the Spiritual Root, the Meridians, the Qi Points.
To outward appearance, this was merely the body of a child just beginning cultivation—but within, a clear, pristine energy permeated throughout, flowing along the Meridians without gathering in the Dantian, as though the entire body had been steeped in some mysterious force for countless ages. It seeped naturally into every corner, like sediment that had settled over eons.
But the Spiritual Root was the true marvel.
There were traces that suggested it had not been this way from birth.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in, unable to trust the first sensation he felt, extended his divine sense once more, moving it carefully through the child’s form.
With each new observation, his expression grew more rigid.
Then his eyes snapped wide.
For the first time, an expression of unmistakable astonishment appeared on a face that rarely faltered.

“This is…….”

He confirmed what he sensed once more, as though he could not believe it.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in knew of cases where a cultivator’s body could bear such an energy.
A being who had ascended to a very high realm and resonated with the Great Dao—one whose body and Dharmic power had been washed by the principles of heaven and earth across ages unnumbered, until the Post-Heavenly Turbidity was lifted away, giving rise to this energy.
He had read of it in texts, but rarely had he felt it directly with his own senses.
Yet that trace now permeated the body of a child who had only just entered the Sacred Grounds.
Yi Sun-poong could not possibly be at such a realm.
It must have seeped in from without.
And the transformation of the Spiritual Root was equally inseparable from this energy.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s heartbeat quickened steadily.
At last, he spoke the name of what his senses had detected.

“Celestial Qi.”

Won Geom Jin-in’s laughter died.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s voice dropped to a low murmur.

“And a Post-Heavenly Spiritual Root.”

This time, not only Won Geom Jin-in’s gaze shifted—Yuk Mu-ssang’s eyes changed as well. The air in Taehyeon Hall settled into a profound hush.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in kept his hand in place as he regarded Yi Sun-poong once more.
The remnants of Celestial Qi and Post-Heavenly Spiritual Root dwelling in a child who had once possessed a supreme-grade Spiritual Root.
This was not a matter that ended with having acquired a single talented disciple.

“Post-Heavenly Spiritual Root?”

Won Geom Jin-in was the first to repeat the words back.
The term itself was foreign to all who heard it.
The other cultivators exchanged glances with one another.
Though these were beings who had lived for thousands of years, not one of them immediately grasped the expression that had left Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s lips.

“Jang Hyeon.”

Cheong Yeop Jin-in’s brow furrowed.

“I can roughly gather what Celestial Qi means. But Post-Heavenly Spiritual Root—what does that signify?”

Jang Hyeon Jin-in withdrew his hand from the crown of Yi Sun-poong’s head.
The boy’s hair settled slowly back into place, and he stood silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

“Let me speak of Celestial Qi first.”

Every eye in the hall turned toward him.

“When a cultivator reaches an extraordinarily high realm, body and Dharma Light begin to resonate with the Great Dao.”

Jang Hyeon Jin-in continued his explanation with measured calm.

“As time accumulates and resonance deepens, the post-heavenly turbidity is washed away, and Celestial Qi is born within the body.”

Gu Geo Jin-in’s eyes narrowed.

“At that level… you mean an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator or beyond?”
“At minimum, that is what we must conclude.”

At that brief answer, the faces of several cultivators turned grave.
Immortal Ascension Realm.
A height that the cultivators of Taehyeon Sacred Grounds rarely dared speak of.
And the Qi of such a being had seeped into the very flesh of a boy who had only just ascended from Soji Village.
With each word, their initial joy transformed, degree by degree, into awe.

“Then this child must have made direct contact with that Immortal?”
“Not the kind of contact that leaves a mere brush mark.”

Jang Hyeon Jin-in shook his head.

“The Qi hasn’t lingered in just one or two meridians. It has seeped naturally throughout his flesh, bone, and every Qi point—as though he has lived long within that presence.”

Yuk Mu-ssang’s pupils trembled faintly. Her mind had already grasped at something.
The Jang Cheong Miscellaneous Shop, visited after returning from Soji Village, was exactly that place—and unlike the other cultivators, she had not been merely astonished, for she had witnessed it directly.
One hanging tablet had contained the Sword Dao Truth; one calligraphy painting had elevated her realm in a single breath. Even the air inside the shop had caused her Spiritual Power to circulate of its own accord, and until now she had thought only “Extraordinary Immortal.”
But the moment the Master mentioned Celestial Qi and the Immortal Ascension Realm, she realized that assessment itself might have been conservative.

‘They may well be far higher than anything I imagined.’

Looking back, there had been nothing ordinary about the Jang Cheong Miscellaneous Shop at all.
Even a wooden hairpin had carried a Tao Principle within it.

‘If that is true, then…’

He might be far more terrifying than he’d first imagined.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in continued.

“The Post-Heavenly Spiritual Root is a secondary matter.”

He turned his gaze toward Yi Sun-poong.

“A Spiritual Root is fundamentally inborn. There are gradations in quality, but it’s nearly impossible to alter after birth.”

The cultivators nodded in agreement.

“Yet this child’s Spiritual Root bears traces of transformation.”
“Changed?”
“Washed repeatedly by Celestial Qi over a long period, the original Spiritual Root appears to have undergone a complete metamorphosis.”

Won Geom Jin-in’s mouth fell open slowly.

“That would mean……”
“That the children of Soji Village may not have been born with Supreme Grade Spiritual Roots in the first place.”

The air in the hall grew heavy. It was already difficult to believe that eight prodigies had been born by chance in the same village. But Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s explanation pointed toward something far more sinister—that someone’s Qi had fundamentally altered the Spiritual Roots of those children.
The weight of that possibility settled over the gathering.
Someone had reshaped the very essence of their cultivation vessels.

“Is such a thing even possible?”

Gu Geo Jin-in asked, as though the words themselves were impossible to accept.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in did not answer at once.

“I have never witnessed it myself.”

That admission weighed heavier still.
It meant a realm of power beyond even Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s direct experience.

“But we have the evidence before us, do we not?”

The eyes of the assembly turned naturally toward the eight children.
They stared back with faces that understood almost nothing of what was being said.
They knew only vaguely that they possessed some remarkable talent.
Cheong Yeop Jin-in exhaled slowly.

“To elevate a person’s Spiritual Root to Supreme Grade using only Celestial Qi……”

He could not finish. Such a level could scarcely be conceived, even in imagination. The other cultivators felt the same.
The silence hung between them, thick with the weight of the unknowable.

“Such a being dwelt in Soji Village?”
“And we—right on Taehyeon Mountain—felt nothing at all?”

The distance between Taehyeon Mountain and Soji Village was so small that any cultivator could travel between them in less than a day’s journey. Yet for all that time, a being of Immortal Ascension Realm or higher had remained hidden there, and not a single soul at the Sacred Grounds had sensed its presence.
That truth was as terrifying as the transformation of the Spiritual Roots themselves.

“The fact that we felt nothing, despite such proximity, frightens me most of all.”

Someone spoke with genuine regret.

“To have seen that being even once would have been a fortune for a lifetime.”
“Even to glimpse them from afar would have been a blessing.”
“Such a person is not something one meets simply by wishing to meet them.”
“The Sacred Grounds—he might never have given them a second thought to begin with.”
“Watch your words. That’s still our Taehyeon Sacred Grounds you’re speaking of.”
“Exactly why it’s frightening. What’s significant to us need not be significant to him.”

The words stung, a blow to their pride.
Yet no one could mount a strong objection.

“Could he have been an Immortal wandering the mortal world on the eve of Ascension to Immortality?”
“It’s possible. There are accounts of Transcendent Beings who dwell among ordinary people to refine their Heart Intent before the final ascent.”

Inside the hall, speculation branched in several directions.
Perhaps the Immortal had merely passed through Soji Village and already departed.
Perhaps he was wandering the mortal realm to sharpen his mental clarity before Ascension.
Then someone ventured to speak, choosing his words with care.

“Jang Hyeon.”
“Go ahead.”
“Could it be… that someone who has already ascended to the Upper Realms has come back down?”

The hall fell silent, as if frozen.
Several drew sharp intakes of breath.
A being descended from the Upper Realms.
That was a step even beyond the Immortal Ascension Realm—a matter far exceeding their comprehension.
Jang Hyeon Jin-in did not answer at once.
Yet he did not deny it outright.
If such a being truly existed, there would be no way for them to fathom that realm. Concealing one’s aura, altering a single meridian, mingling unnoticed among common folk—all of it could lie entirely beyond their understanding.

“I cannot say it’s impossible.”

At those words, cold sweat beaded the foreheads of several cultivators.
Then another man suddenly lifted his head.

“Wait. Our Taehyeon Sacred Grounds has a Patriarch who ascended from Soji Village, doesn’t it?”
“That’s right!”
“Could it be that he has returned?”
“Wouldn’t that explain everything?”

The words spread swiftly among them.
The Patriarch who ascended to the Upper Realms had come home to his birthplace.
In doing so, he had left his aura in Soji Village.
The children had been touched by that presence, their Spiritual Roots altered.
It was plausible—save for one question: why had he not visited the Sacred Grounds itself?

“But if it were the Patriarch, why would he not have come to the sect?”

At that question, mouths closed again.
No one could answer.
Then Cheong Yeop Jin-in glanced around the hall.

“Hm?”
“Where has Won Geom gone?”

Only then did the others notice.
Won Geom Jin-in had vanished.
Yuk Mu-ssang and the eight children were nowhere to be seen either.
On the way back to Yeong Geom Peak, Won Geom Jin-in had heard from Yuk Mu-ssang a few brief words about what had transpired in Soji Village.
The mention of the Hanging Tablet and the Calligraphy Painting had been enough for him. Won Geom Jin-in could wait no longer.

“Not this man again!”

Cheong Yeop Jin-in shook his beard in disbelief.

“At such a critical time, how could he take people away like that!”

Jang Hyeon Jin-in closed his eyes, then opened them.
Knowing Won Geom Jin-in’s temperament, the reason wasn’t difficult to guess.
Eight prodigy disciples.
The possibility that those children were connected to some Immortal.
The way Yuk Mu-ssang had seemed to hold back from saying something moments ago.
Won Geom Jin-in would never overlook such a thing.

“I’ll go myself.”

Dharma Light blazed around Jang Hyeon Jin-in’s form.

“Senior, we should also——”
“Enough.”

He waved his hand.

“Master has an impetuous nature. If too many people rush there, we might actually spoil matters.”

Having finished speaking, Jang Hyeon Jin-in rose into the void.
He became a streak of light and vanished beyond the hall.
* * *
Yeong Geom Peak.
Won Geom Jin-in had climbed the mountain path almost flying.
He left the eight children with the disciples to rest as soon as they arrived.
He grasped Yuk Mu-ssang’s arm almost forcefully as he entered Geom Il Hall.
The door shut.
Won Geom Jin-in turned around at once.

“Mu-ssang.”

The old man’s face, usually so concerned with dignity before his disciples, was filled with urgency.

“Is what you spoke of on the way truly the case?”

Yuk Mu-ssang nodded.

“Yes, Master.”
“There really is someone of that caliber in Soji Village?”
“I confirmed it with my own eyes.”

Yuk Mu-ssang explained step by step, beginning with the moment she had stood before the hanging tablet and her heart wavered, how she had broken through the Gold Yuan Sword Scripture Sixth Stage Wall after losing herself in the swordplay within a calligraphy painting, and she did not omit the fact that the young master of the miscellaneous shop was the one who had written that painting.
As the explanation continued, Won Geom Jin-in’s breathing quickened subtly with each passing moment.

“And the object you obtained.”

Won Geom Jin-in’s voice grew even lower.

“The calligraphy painting that person wrote directly.”

As Yuk Mu-ssang nodded, a barely concealed fervor flashed in the old man’s eyes.
For one who had honed the sword for thousands of years and still wielded it every day, the presence of a trace that could show him a higher realm of the Sword Dao was a temptation stronger than any spiritual elixir.
He extended his hand.

“Show it to me at once.”

Yuk Mu-ssang, now more cautious, placed her hand on her storage ring.
Light flickered. A simple wooden box appeared in both hands.
Clear wood-element spiritual energy drifted faintly from the box itself.
Won Geom Jin-in’s gaze hardened as he beheld such pure, refined wood-element spiritual energy flowing from what was merely packaging. He hadn’t even opened it yet, and already his fingertips were tensing with an anxiety he couldn’t control.

“Did that person give you this box as well?”
“Yes.”

Won Geom Jin-in’s eyes wavered once more.

“Master.”

Yuk Mu-ssang held the box up in both hands.

“The calligraphy painting I mentioned is inside.”

Won Geom Jin-in could not open the box at once. Moments ago, he’d felt only the desire to examine quickly the fortune his disciple had brought, but now that it rested in his hands, he grew cautious instead.
If everything Yuk Mu-ssang had said was true, this was no ordinary calligraphy painting. It could be more precious than any sword treasure in Taehyeon Sacred Grounds—and he brushed the sweat from his palm onto the hem of his robe.
Yuk Mu-ssang held her breath as well.
She had already been swept up once by the sword intent within the painting and had crossed the Sixth Stage Wall as a result, yet that passage had been far from safe. Even if her master’s cultivation far exceeded her own, this was not something to be taken lightly.

“Master.”
“What is it?”
“Please take care when you unfold it. I nearly lost myself the first time.”

Won Geom Jin-in’s hands paused.
He knew his disciple was not one to speak carelessly. If anything, her warning only deepened both his anticipation and his unease.

“Understood.”

His reply was brief.
After a moment, he steadied the trembling in his fingertips, then placed his hands upon the lid with deliberate slowness. The box was light.
Yet to Won Geom Jin-in, it felt as though Mount Tai itself rested upon his palms.

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