The Wizard Who Endured the World of Murim - Chapter 108

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Surviving in the Martial Realm as a Mage: Episode 108
The greatest weakness of Circle Magic was that it was extraordinarily difficult to advance one’s cultivation through self-training alone.
This meant one had to constantly consume external resources to elevate their realm.
From Ilhyang’s perspective, this was a fatal disadvantage compared to ordinary Celestial Watchers.
Ordinary Celestial Watchers could efficiently raise their realm over time if provided with good spiritual veins.
But Circle Magic was difficult to advance with merely good spiritual veins.
‘Conversely, if resources were provided infinitely, it would become an enormous advantage.’
Everything had its merits and drawbacks, after all.
One simply had to use them wisely according to their circumstances.
With such thoughts wandering through my mind, I gazed up at the castle’s guard standing before me.
“This fortress is quite formidable.”
The guard protecting the crimson castle’s great gate was a Dog Demon.
Since Dog Demons possessed overwhelmingly developed olfactory senses, the Dog Demon could immediately discern that the human before him was not a transformed demon, but genuinely a pure human.
“A human truly intends to enter the Deep Three Continents from here?”
At the Dog Demon guard’s words, Ilhyang nodded with an indifferent expression.
“Is there a problem?”
“The very presence of a human here seems to be the problem…”
The guard stared at Ilhyang with a bewildered face.
Then he gestured for me to wait a moment before disappearing straight into the castle gate.
I stood waiting with my arms crossed for a while.
Then the Dog Demon from before appeared alongside a Snake Demon who appeared to be his superior.
“I am the Guard Captain of Cheonran Fortress’s Western Gate. Are you truly human?”
“Yes.”
“And your companion…… is a Jiangshi.”
The Snake Demon glanced briefly at Woo Ki-cheon, who stood quietly behind Ilhyang, then lowered his gaze to stare at Ilhyang once more.
“Why does a human come to be here…”
“Why? Are humans prohibited from entering the Deep Three Continents?”
“That is not the case. It is simply unprecedented, so there are no particular regulations.”
“I was told to pass through here to enter the Deep Three Continents. Is there a problem?”
“There is no problem, but…”
The Snake Demon Guard Captain.
He examined Ilhyang from head to toe with a furrowed brow before speaking.
“Where is your master?”
“I have none.”
“Then you are not a runaway slave? An investigation will reveal the truth quickly, so do not bother lying.”
“Then investigate.”
“Very well, I shall investigate at once.”
I had anticipated that after flying here for a full two months, matters would become troublesome in various ways, but I had not expected things to proceed quite this inconveniently, so I exhaled a sigh.
Meanwhile, the Snake Demon Guard Captain guided me to a small side door beside the City Gate Entrance, then politely requested permission before plucking a single strand of my hair.
“I will take this to the Records Office for immediate investigation. If you speak truthfully now, I can show you goodwill and pretend I never saw you. So tell me the truth.”
Perhaps it’s because my affinity with spirits is high here as well.
Despite meeting for the first time, I benefited from a favorable impression.
But it was unnecessary consideration.
“You don’t need to do that. Investigate as much as you want.”
“…Understood.”
The Snake Demon Guard Captain watched Ilhyang with an expression of incomprehension at his confident attitude, then promptly took a strand of Ilhyang’s hair to the Records Office.
And shortly after.
The Snake Demon appeared with an expression still displeased, speaking with reluctance.
“Originally, the Heavenly Demon Sealing Divine Formation in our Cheonran Fortress only blocks creatures coming from inside. Humans can never escape from the Heavenly Demon Sealing Divine Formation. However, anyone can enter from the outside.”
“That sounds like entry permission to me, doesn’t it?”
“…Yes. Surprisingly, there’s no slave record whatsoever. A free slave who has reached the Hwashin Order’s level? You truly are a remarkable individual.”
Most humans in the Demon Immortal Realm were slaves.
The absolute bottom of the bottom.
Therefore, the Snake Demon Guard Captain’s praise carried multiple meanings.
It was already remarkable for a fortunate slave to escape their master’s surveillance.
But to have actually reached the Hwashin Order’s level?
That alone proved they were an extraordinary genius.
“Once you enter, I recommend hiding the fact that you’re human as much as possible. Many Demon Cultivators hold grudges against humans, so there’s a high probability you’ll face danger even within the castle.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
Ilhyang heeded the Guard Captain’s counsel and confidently entered through the West Gate of Cheonran Fortress.
“I’m a bit nervous, Senior.”
“I’m looking forward to it too.”
The first castle built by Demon Cultivators.
Cheonran Fortress.
When viewed from the sky, the castle’s shape resembled a giant orchid flower, which was how it got its name.
The purpose for which the castle was built was quite simple.
Among the Deep Three Continents.
The entrance to the spatial gates leading to the Dao Yuan Realm and Cang Qiong Realm was located right here.
To reliably protect this special location.
And conversely, to completely block humans coming from this place.
That was precisely what Cheonran Fortress was.
Therefore, the entire Cheonran Fortress was part of a massive sealing formation.
So the materials used to construct the castle in the first place were not ordinary ones.
The stone walls that appeared to be made of red bricks were said to be the shell of a colossal turtle that existed in the Ancient Era long ago.
Though the exact details were unknowable.
Only one thing was certain.
Despite fifteen hundred years having passed since this castle was built.
Cheonran Fortress showed no signs of deterioration or decay in appearance.
Actually, upon entering and observing Cheonran Fortress firsthand, its atmosphere felt somewhat different from castles typically built by humans.
Human castles had the interiors lined with all manner of restaurants, clothing shops, and stores selling magical artifacts and pills.
The Demon Cultivators’ castle had a completely different atmosphere from the moment you entered its gates.
“Most of the shops here sell only natural materials.”
“And most of them are unprocessed items, Senior. Oh! Look over there—they’re selling noble dragon molars!”
“We didn’t come here to shop.”
“Ah… what a shame. I used to run around everywhere trying to find those items. Here, they’re as common as pebbles on the street.”
The shops displayed mostly giant Demon Cultivator ribs and vertebrae, insect carapaces, and living thorn vines.
Raw materials gathered directly from nature were laid out on display shelves and sold.
But what captured Ilhyang’s attention more than these goods was what the Demon Cultivators used as currency.
“Wow~ so they extract their own blood to purchase things? I suppose it would be fresh, at least.”
“That’s the most reliable method. Though they do accept spirit stones over there.”
An unidentifiable Demon Cultivator
extracted his own blood on the spot and purchased some feathers with it.
It was the same elsewhere.
One creature peeled off scales to buy merchandise.
Another carved a small horn into pieces and traded it for someone’s blood.
“This is quite a primitive market, Senior.”
“Indeed. One must know the exact value of one’s own body.”
How long had Ilhyang and Woo Ki-cheon been walking through the Market Street, observing the sights?
In a corner of an alley, shops with a quieter atmosphere than before came into view.
And.
Surprisingly, humans were waiting as shop attendants there, not Demon Cultivators.
“Hmm?”
“It appears they are human slaves.”
You could tell they were slaves the moment you saw them.
After all, they were humans with the character for “slave” branded onto their foreheads with a hot iron.
What the human slaves sold in their shops were mainly beast-rearing pills and transformation pills.
Elixirs favored by Demon Cultivators, and alongside them were surprisingly clothing shops.
Since demons transformed into human form would need to wear clothes, these seemed to be shops for them.
And the garments in those clothing stores appeared to be magical artifacts themselves.
There were items that looked quite expensive.
“Hmm, the quality of the goods here isn’t particularly high.”
“The cultivation techniques in this place don’t seem very advanced. And looking carefully, the pill-forging arts don’t appear particularly impressive either.”
Looking at the quality of goods in the shops, Woo Ki-cheon’s assessment was correct.
It couldn’t really be otherwise.
“I’d heard that Demon Cultivators don’t particularly cultivate pill-forging or artifact-crafting separately. So it seems that’s actually true.”
Demon Cultivators who primarily cultivated demon cultivation methods didn’t separately classify and cultivate what human Celestial Watchers commonly called the Four Arts of Immortal Cultivation—pill-forging, artifact-crafting, and the like.
The reason was quite simple.
Their bodies were already tougher and superior to any magical artifact.
While learning pill-forging would be beneficial, elixirs don’t have overwhelming efficacy for Demon Cultivators the way they do for humans.
So rather than invest effort in something like pill-forging, which requires significant time investment.
It was far more advantageous to deepen one’s cultivation by further refining the Demon Cultivator techniques one was born knowing, elevating one’s realm through dedicated practice.
However, Demon Cultivators of truly high realm typically raised human slaves and taught them the Celestial Watcher arts—pill refinement, artifact crafting, and the like.
In this way, the medicinal pills and magical artifacts produced by these slaves circulated freely in the market.
“Humans and Demon Cultivators are no different, Senior.”
“Quite right. How could they be?”
Humans too raised Demon Cultivators, and once those creatures surpassed a certain threshold in cultivation, they would split them open while still alive and extract their inner cores for use.
In this regard, Demon Cultivators and humans were utterly identical.
It was simply that in this Demon Immortal Realm, humans with dexterous hands or quick minds were captured or sold to high-realm demons.
They spent their entire lives enslaved in workshops, obedient to their masters’ commands, crafting medicinal pills and magical artifacts.
For the talented human, this world held neither dreams nor hope.
“Ah? That looks rather intriguing, Senior.”
“Hmm…?”
Ilhyang narrowed his eyes, following Woo Ki-cheon’s gaze to the location he indicated.
There, a marketplace of a very familiar form had taken shape.
It was none other than the Human Slave Market.

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