Chapter 223: Back to the Middle Province
===================
Translated by Frog in the Well
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
===================
Seeing the man waiting in front of her cave dwelling, Cheong Hwa-ran frowned for an instant.
For although he was a guest, he was an unwelcome one.
A man with the appearance of being in his mid-forties, wearing flashy ornaments all over his body. The Castellan of Namhwa Capital City smiled broadly and spoke.
“Daoist Cheong. You have finally arrived.”
Hearing his friendly tone made her skin crawl to the point of goosebumps, but since she could not afford to give him any excuse to fault her, she responded as politely as possible.
“Daoist? I dare not accept such a term. Senior.”
“Haha. With Fairy Cheong’s talent, becoming a Nascent Soul stage cultivator is a simple matter, is it not? Since we will be in the same realm sooner or later anyway, what does it matter if I call you Daoist?”
“…”
“By the way, since Fairy Cheong has also reached the Golden Core Great Circle, you will gradually need a Rank 4 spiritual vein. How about our Namhwa Capital City?”
Treating her with pretend kindness after blocking her path to the Middle Province was abominable, but there was no proper way out.
Since the strong made the laws in this world, she could not even show a hint of displeasure.
“…Challenging the Nascent Soul stage is a very important matter, so I think I will have to think about it for a bit.”
“Hm? Is there any need to worry about it? There is a Rank 4 low-grade spiritual vein that my son used to use, which is a perfect place to challenge the Nascent Soul stage. If it satisfies the Fairy, I will gladly lend it to you.”
Looking at his brightly smiling expression, she did not know how she should reply.
Although he was acting kindly right now to avoid earning the resentment of her who would soon become a Nascent Soul cultivator, if she kept refusing, he might resort to harsh means.
“Hmm. Did the Fairy by any chance plan to cross over to the Middle Province? If so, I would like to dissuade you. The Middle Province is not as good a place as the rumors say.”
“Pardon?”
“There is no way the people of the Middle Province would leave someone with such outstanding elixir refining skills like the Fairy alone, is there? All kinds of forces will probably play tricks on you.”
His tone was as if warning her out of concern, but the meaning contained within was not very good.
It sounded like a warning that even if she somehow resolved the teleportation array problem and secretly crossed over to the Middle Province, he would spread rumors to put her in a difficult situation.
“So, just challenge the Nascent Soul stage here in Namhwa Capital City.”
“That…”
“If there is anything weighing on your mind, do speak. If there are problems, I will resolve them all for you.”
Watching the Castellan act so shamelessly, her chest felt as tight as if it were blocked.
Once she became a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, would she be able to leave if she worked as an elixir refiner for about a hundred years?
Of course, he would play all kinds of tricks to prevent her from leaving even after a hundred years, but if she became a Nascent Soul cultivator and learned various divine abilities, she would be able to resist.
She did not show it outwardly, but her mind was as complicated as if it would explode.
‘Had I known this would happen, I would have left sooner…’
It seemed she had drawn the Castellan’s eye by increasing the quantity of pills she sold recently in order to obtain a Soul Condensing Pill.
Just as she was gritting her teeth to smooth out the brow that wanted to furrow of its own accord while worrying about how best to reply.
The Castellan, who had been maintaining a friendly smile from start to finish, froze.
“Pardon me, it seems something has happened in the city.”
The moment he pulled out a communication dharma treasure from his chest after asking for her understanding, his face hardened rigidly and turned as white as a sheet.
Just what kind of news had he heard, for even his last shred of composure to completely vanish.
“…Who has arrived?”
He muttered to himself, spacing out, and could not even close his wide-open mouth.
Watching him quietly, she grew increasingly puzzled.
For the Castellan of Namhwa Capital City, who possessed the greatest power in the vicinity, to be flustered to such an extent. Just what news could it be to cause this?
In a brief moment.
The Castellan, who had been frozen as if broken somewhere, trembled slightly at his fingertips.
“Why so suddenly? Ah, this is no time to be standing here; I must go to receive him immediately…”
Babbling in a manner unlike a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, his complexion darkened and brightened repeatedly within a short span.
He was flurried, not even paying attention to her, and the lofty dignity as Castellan that had subtly weighed on her vanished in an instant.
“Castellan?”
“Ah, Fairy Cheong. An urgent matter has arisen, so I must go…”
Just as he was about to depart hastily toward somewhere without even properly finishing his words.
The startled Castellan came to a sudden halt and bowed without ceremony.
“I pay my respects to the Lord of the Divine Wood!”
Indeed, it was toward a young man who had appeared out of nowhere.
It was a shocking sight. For the Castellan, who had pressured her with a few words, to be in such a fluster.
‘Wait, the Lord of the Divine Wood?’
If it was the Lord of the Divine Wood, it was surely…
Late in recognizing the man’s face, an exclamation leaked from Cheong Hwa-ran’s mouth.
“Senior Jin?”
“It has been a while. Ah, it is nice to meet you too.”
Jin So-myeong accepted the greeting of the Castellan, who was bowing awkwardly, but paid him no further attention.
After waving his hand as if telling him to withdraw, he looked at her and spoke.
“I do not know how long it has been since we last met. Has it been about fifty years?”
Jin So-myeong was exactly the same as before, even though he had become a Soul Formation stage cultivator.
Instead of the sharp momentum characteristic of a sword cultivator, he was full of only a free-spirited atmosphere and vitality.
If one had to point out a difference, it was that his cultivation realm could not be felt at all.
Had she not heard the rumors that shook the entire cultivation world, she would have thought he had lost all his cultivation and become a mortal.
“I congratulate you on achieving the great success of the Soul Formation stage, Senior.”
“Thank you. Since you are also at the Golden Core Great Circle, you will challenge the Nascent Soul stage before long. Have you found a Rank 4 spiritual vein?”
The complexion of the Castellan, who stood blankly listening to the conversation going back and forth, turned pale, and Cheong Hwa-ran, glancing at him, shook her head.
“I have not found one yet.”
“That is perfect then. If you are willing, I shall arrange a Rank 4 spiritual vein for you. In return, I would like you to do me a favor.”
“Ah…”
Naturally, she welcomed it. Senior Jin, who had ascended to the Soul Formation stage, was far more trustworthy than the duplicitous Castellan of Namhwa Capital City.
What would he, the master of the Sacred City, lack that he would deceive her?
However, the one worrying point was…
“I do not know if I can fulfill Senior’s request with my abilities.”
“It is fine even if the result is not good. It is enough just to try it. Ah, there will be nothing dangerous.”
“If so, I am only grateful.”
“Great. Then let us go to the Sacred City together. I shall explain the favor when we get there.”
“Yes.”
“Can we depart right away? If you need time to prepare, I shall send someone separately later.”
“It is fine. Actually, I was originally planning to go to the Middle Province, so my preparations to leave are already finished.”
Right before leaving to follow Jin So-myeong.
Pausing her steps for a moment, Cheong Hwa-ran gazed at the dumbfounded Castellan and bowed her head.
“I am sorry, but I think I must decline the offer the Castellan gave me.”
“…Huh?”
“As you can see, the situation has turned out like this.”
Startled out of his wits, the Castellan waved his hands frantically.
“What nonsense! Of course, since the Lord of the Divine Wood personally came. The offer I made was literally just an offer, so do not pay it any mind. On the contrary, I am apologetic.”
She felt thrilled enough to want to tease him to her heart’s content, but she stopped here.
That the Castellan was behaving like an idiot right now was entirely thanks to the prestige of Senior Jin, who had ascended to the Soul Formation stage.
She must not forget the fact that it was not due to her own strength.
She must not forget that running wild by borrowing another’s power would lead to a miserable end someday. She had to conduct herself wisely.
The moment she, having finished her minor revenge, bowed her head as if ready.
Flash!
Jin So-myeong lightly waved his hand, and the moment she blinked, the surrounding scenery turned upside down.
‘Space teleportation?’
There was not even time to be surprised.
Before she could even perceive it, she was moved to the teleportation array of Namhwa Capital City, and the deacons waiting with respectfully clasped hands shouted simultaneously.
“I pay my respects to the Lord of the Divine Wood!”
Subsequently, the smoothly operating teleportation array spewed light, and they arrived in the Middle Province all too easily.
There was no hindrance of any kind. All the matters that had troubled her were resolved with ridiculous ease.
She might have felt empty, but the surprise was greater instead.
“Ah…”
Arriving in Cloud Dragon Immortal City of the Middle Province as if swept along, Cheong Hwa-ran reflexively scanned the surroundings and grew blank.
They said the Middle Province was a sacred land of cultivation. Indeed, everything was huge.
A grand avenue large enough for dozens of carriages to run simultaneously extended beyond the horizon, and it was filled with countless shops and people.
Following the city scale massive enough to overwhelm in an instant, looking at the Divine Wood standing tall at an unfathomably far distance made her mind go faint.
Just as her mouth gaped open at the majesty of the Middle Province seen for the first time in her life.
Hearing a faint laughter right beside her, her face flushed red.
“This junior has shown an unsightly appearance.”
“Not at all. I was also very surprised when I first came to the Middle Province. I understand how you feel.”
Jin So-myeong, who wore a gentle smile, handed over a palm-sized wooden plaque.
“I have some business for a moment, so rest in a suitable place. If a troublesome matter arises, break this plaque.”
“Ah… yes.”
As she received it in her confusion, Jin So-myeong nodded and vanished like smoke.
He had vanished from before her eyes, but she did not even have a grasp of what he had done.
Realizing firsthand how vast a gap had opened between her and Senior Jin, who had been a Qi Condensation youth in the past, a bitter smile emerged.
Staring at the empty spot, Cheong Hwa-ran turned her gaze again.
Looking at the city bustling to a degree incomparable with the Southern Province, she had no choice but to be blank again.
***
The city that Jin So-myeong had taken as his base when he first crossed over from the Southern Province to the Middle Province in the past was indeed here, Cloud Dragon Immortal City.
‘I obtained the Light-Moon Silent-Life Sword near here as well.’
Since it was a place where he had spent a lot of time, it was quite welcoming, but he did not halt for that reason. In fact, if he had wished, he could have gone straight to the Sacred City using the teleportation array.
There was only one reason he stopped by here.
To meet the artifact refiner Ha Un, who had made the Starlight Residual Shadow Sword, the Spiritual Treasure he had used as his mainstay during his Nascent Soul days, and the Myriad Thunders Chaos Sky Scroll. It was to meet him, a capable artisan.
He had felt it several times since the past, but Ha Un’s skills were far more outstanding compared to other artifact refiners.
It was to the extent that he wondered if he might be the most outstanding artisan in the Human Realm.
He had even completed in three months a sword that an artifact refiner good enough to have a ringing reputation in the vicinity said would take five more years to make.
Upon becoming the Lord of the Divine Wood, he had met artisans belonging to the Sacred City as well, but they were lacking compared to Ha Un.
That was why he had come to find him, but…
“Huh? No, who is this? Jin So-myeong! Lord Lord of the Divine Wood has descended.”
Ha Un, whose face was flushed red from being drunk, giggled.
Ha Un, who used to dress neatly enough to bring a scholar to mind, had turned into a ruined man emitting a musty odor before he knew it.
“…”
“What are you looking at with those eyes? Since you became the grand Lord of the Divine Wood, did you come to kill even me? Hehe. If you want to kill me, kill me.”
Killing intent arose in his hazy eyes, and he glared at Jin So-myeong.
A rather deep hatred was felt for it to be merely a drunken fit.
“I do not understand. Why would I kill you? Explain what the circumstances are.”
“…Damn it! You snatched my revenge!”
“Revenge?”
“The former Lord of the Divine Wood, Cheong Un-hak! Even though I dedicated my entire life to killing that bastard. To think it would end so futilely, damn it!”
Meeting the gaze of Ha Un, who was glaring with eyes bloodshot from broken capillaries, he asked.
“Just what did Cheong Un-hak do to you?”
“He killed my father a thousand years ago.”
Spitting out the words as if grinding his teeth, Ha Un gulped down alcohol and mumbled with slurred pronunciation.
“Heh… Once father vanished, all kinds of packs of jackals rushed in and tore the family apart. Starting with mother, the entire family died miserably. What kind of bullshit situation is this! Uhahaha!”
Ha Un, who was laughing like crazy, slumped down.
As if he had completely lost the will to live, he stared only at the ground with unfocused eyes.
“Damn it… If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have died long ago. I do not know what my past thousand years were for. It is so empty…”
Listening silently to the lamentation poured out like a complaint, Jin So-myeong spoke.
“Do you remember the Starlight Residual Shadow Sword?”
“…”
“It is the sword you made for me. I do not know if such words have any meaning, but it was indeed that sword that cleaved the former Lord of the Divine Wood.”
Ha Un, who had been staring only at the ground with unfocused eyes, froze. Whatever he was thinking, he only lifted his head after a long while.
“Show me.”
“The Starlight Residual Shadow Sword? I am sorry, but that sword turned to dust at the same time it cleaved the Lord of the Divine Wood.”
“…”
“That is why I came to ask you for a new sword, but if you do not want to, there is nothing I can do.”
Just as Jin So-myeong turned his steps to depart.
“Wait!”
Ha Un, who threw away his alcohol bottle, let out a long sigh, then washed his face with his dry hands and spoke.
“Just what kind of sword do you need? There must be plenty of artifact refiners other than me in the Sacred City.”
Looking at his eyes, which had now become clear, he quietly spoke.
“A Rank 5 Heavenly Spiritual Treasure.”
That was the answer to the question of what kind of sword he needed.
Enjoyed the chapter?
If you like our work, consider supporting us on Ko-fi. This site solely runs on donations. Every donation helps us keep translating!
Support on Ko-fi