Lee Hyun wondered if he had been mistaken, so he tried several other techniques as well, but there was no mistake.
The moment he formed the hand seal for Qi Sphere Barrier, a translucent barrier appeared around him almost simultaneously.
"So that's it! This wasn't actually a flaw in the Primordial One-Qi Art...."
When he had first heard the explanation of the Primordial One-Qi Art in Qinghe Valley, Steward Wang Jin had said the following.
- The spiritual power refined through this cultivation art is called Primordial True Qi. It can be freely converted as it is released, allowing you to use techniques that do not match your own spiritual root attributes. Their power will be somewhat reduced, though....
Steward Wang Jin had vaguely described the drawback as reduced power, but the greatest problem with the Primordial One-Qi Art was actually its slow technique activation.
In fact, whenever Lee Hyun used Primordial True Qi to cast a technique, he had always found the activation speed somewhat lacking.
Until now, Lee Hyun had assumed this drawback was simply the price he had to pay for gaining the ability to use techniques of multiple attributes.
Since Primordial True Qi had to be converted into the attribute required by a technique, he had thought it only natural that activation would be delayed.
But that was not the case. It seemed the Primordial One-Qi Art had been created from the very beginning on the assumption that its practitioner would form a Primordial Body. Once Lee Hyun formed one, that weakness all but disappeared.
After running several experiments, Lee Hyun figured out why his technique activation speed had improved.
It was because spiritual power now filled his body all the way to the surface of his skin!
Previously, he had to send Primordial True Qi from his dantian through his meridians to his hands, then manifest the technique from his fingertips.
Now, however, the Primordial True Qi already filling his fingertips reacted the instant he formed a hand seal, making the activation delay almost imperceptible.
For techniques cast through his hands, the Primordial True Qi spread throughout his palms and fingers responded. For techniques that enveloped his entire body, the spiritual power flowing beneath his skin moved all at once. The very process of transporting spiritual power from his dantian out to distant parts of his body had disappeared.
Lee Hyun felt that if the Primordial One-Qi Art had previously been worth fifty points in terms of technique activation speed, it was now worth around ninety.
Of course, there might be cultivation arts with even faster activation speeds than the Primordial One-Qi Art, perhaps ones worth ninety-five points. But even compared to those, the difference was only five points. Compared to when it had been worth fifty, the flaw in the Primordial One-Qi Art had essentially disappeared.
It would have been even better if he could close the remaining ten-point gap and turn it into a perfect hundred-point cultivation art, but that did not seem realistic.
After all, the Primordial One-Qi Art still required an intermediate step in which its spiritual power was converted into the appropriate attribute. No matter how much the cultivation art improved, it would probably be impossible to completely eliminate even the minute delay caused by that process.
But that was fine. He did not mind being ten points short. In the cultivation world, the ability to use techniques of multiple attributes was far more valuable in most situations.
'So the true core of the Primordial One-Qi Art was the Primordial Body! Most cultivators probably don't even know that the Primordial Body can compensate for the cultivation art's flaws like this. Just look at me. It took me more than a hundred years merely to create a Primordial Body at the level of Qi Refining Stage 2. There's no way anyone but me would ever have tried something like this.'
...
Since he had reached Primordial Body, 2nd Stage, Lee Hyun decided to write down his accomplishments where he could see them and savor the lingering satisfaction of his breakthrough a little longer.
He took out a wooden board and began carving a "handmade status screen" into it with his fingertip.
'Judging from how long I've cultivated and what I can feel inside my body, I think my total spiritual power is about fifty times what it used to be. If I assume my total spiritual power was 1 when I was around the middle of Qi Refining Stage 1... then I guess this is roughly where I stand now?'
【Age: 61 → 161】
【Realm: Qi Refining Stage 2 → Qi Refining Stage 2 Throughout the Entire Body】
【Spiritual Power: 1.7 → 83】
【Physique: Primordial Body, 2nd Stage】
【Spiritual Roots: Wood, Fire, Earth】
【Cultivation Art: Primordial One-Qi Art】
The age Lee Hyun recorded was calculated by adding the years he had spent in this world to the body's age of nineteen at the time of his transmigration.
If his body truly did not age, his age was not particularly meaningful, but since Lee Hyun still did not know the true nature of his body, he decided to record it for reference.
The most important entry on his handmade status screen right now was spiritual power. Lee Hyun tried to calculate that number according to as consistent a standard as possible.
A spiritual power value of 83 despite being only at Qi Refining Stage 2 was utterly absurd. By Lee Hyun's estimate, it might rival that of an ordinary late Qi Refining cultivator.
'Even though my total spiritual power is fifty times what it was at Qi Refining Stage 2, cultivation becomes harder with every Stage even within Qi Refining, so there's no way I've reached Foundation Establishment level. I'm probably somewhere around Qi Refining Stage 7 or 8....'
If there were a Qi Refining Stage 2 cultivator and a Qi Refining Stage 8 cultivator, the latter did not simply possess four times as much spiritual power as the former.
In a typical xianxia world, the large divisions such as Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul were called major realms.
Minor realms also existed within each major realm. Stages 1 through 3 were generally classified as early, Stages 4 through 6 as mid, and Stages 7 through 9 as late. Those who reached Stage 10 were said to have attained Great Perfection.
Great Perfection was not actually a separate realm in its own right. It simply meant the completion of Stage 9. Calling such a person a Stage 10 cultivator was merely a special mark of respect for someone who had finished preparing to break through to the next major realm.
Strictly speaking, there was no separate Stage 10, so each major realm could be divided into three minor realms: early, mid, and late.
There was a reason cultivators went out of their way to distinguish between minor realms.
Cultivators generally encountered considerable difficulty when advancing from early to mid and from mid to late. As a result, many Qi Refining cultivators became stuck at Stages 3 and 6.
In other words, a Qi Refining Stage 8 cultivator had broken through two more minor-realm bottlenecks than a Qi Refining Stage 2 cultivator. There had to be some difference not only in the quantity of spiritual power, but in its quality as well.
This was only Lee Hyun's conjecture based on what he had picked up during his time in Qinghe Valley, but Qinghe Valley had quite a few mid and late Qi Refining cultivators, so he was probably not wrong.
'Even within the same major realm, both the amount of growth and the difficulty increase with each Stage. So as I am now, I'd probably still have a hard time defeating a late Qi Refining cultivator. As for a mid Qi Refining cultivator, maybe I could win once I get more accustomed to techniques and combat....'
Lee Hyun continued carving his handmade status screen into the wooden board.
'The techniques I've learned should look something like this right now.'
【Techniques (Novice): Faint Light Art, Lightness Art, Ground-Sense Art, Germination Art, Poison-Discerning Art】
【Techniques (Minor Attainment): Night Vision Art, Spirit Rain Art, Soil-Turning Art, Yang Metal Art, Earth Escape Art, Cleansing Art, Air-Clearing Art, Breath-Sealing Art, Qi Sphere Barrier, Detoxification Art】
【Techniques (Major Attainment): None】
【Techniques (Perfection): None】
【Applied Technique: Reclining Escape Art】
Lee Hyun had arbitrarily estimated the proficiency divisions from Novice to Perfection, so they might not be entirely accurate. The wooden board was only meant to serve as a reference for his current cultivation progress, so a little error did not matter.
"I'll stop advancing my realm for a while and start by learning some basic combat techniques. Ah, before that, I should sow the new spirit fields first."
Over the past hundred years, Lee Hyun had gradually prepared additional sites for Spirit Field No. 1-2, Spirit Field No. 1-3, Spirit Field No. 1-4, and Spirit Field No. 1-5. However, he had not sown them yet, because increasing the number of places he needed to maintain with the Spirit Rain Art would have interfered with his cultivation.
But now that he had reached Primordial Body, 2nd Stage and possessed plenty of spiritual power, he could make the rounds of several spirit fields at once and use the Spirit Rain Art as much as he pleased. This meant he could synchronize all their maintenance schedules to the same day, so even managing five spirit fields would not be a burden.
...
The newly created spirit fields were almost identical to Spirit Field No. 1-1 in both structure and area.
Lee Hyun went from Spirit Field No. 1-2 through Spirit Field No. 1-5 in order, planting Bone-Rot Flower, Yin Soul Grass, Purple Poison Orchid, and Earth Vein Flower before using the Spirit Rain Art.
Patter-patter―
Rainwater infused with spiritual qi fell evenly over the freshly prepared furrows.
After finishing the sowing, Lee Hyun carved the date, plant variety, and time he first cast the Spirit Rain Art onto the wooden boards at the entrance to each spirit field.
Perhaps because he had reached Primordial Body, 2nd Stage, even after making the rounds of all four spirit fields, plenty of Primordial True Qi remained throughout his body.
Finally, he visited Spirit Field No. 1-1.
The moment he opened the stone door, purple toxic mist far denser than before seeped out through the gap.
Hiss―
As the toxic mist clung to the surface of Qi Sphere Barrier, a faint sound arose. Wave-like ripples spread across the transparent barrier one after another.
Even with greater proficiency in Qi Sphere Barrier and far more spiritual power than before, the toxic qi still felt threatening.
"...The poison has gotten pretty strong, hasn't it?"
The mother plants that had grown for a hundred years possessed roughly thirty-three years' worth of medicinal potency, even considering the harsh growing environment.
The roots of the Bone-Rot Flower had grown thick and knotted like the bones of a beast, while the buds of the Purple Poison Orchid slowly tightened like living creatures as they spewed purple toxic mist.
After trimming away a few wilted leaves, he used the Spirit Rain Art. Since he had watered the four new spirit fields and Spirit Field No. 1-1 on the same day, from now on he only needed to make one complete round every ten days.
After leaving the spirit field, Lee Hyun used the Cleansing Art to remove the poisonous powder clinging to his body and clothes, then followed it with the Detoxification Art.
...
A few days later.
While digging a new passage, Lee Hyun discovered a small natural cavern surrounded by hard, crystalline bedrock. Even when he brought the Earth Shovel Sword down against the wall with all his strength, it left only a shallow scratch.
'Perfect.'
Lee Hyun created a passage connecting the cultivation chamber to the rocky cavern, then wrote "training cavern" on the wooden plaque at the entrance. Inside the training cavern, he shaped the leftover excavated stone into practice targets.
'I can practice the more restrained basic techniques in the cultivation chamber and use more destructive ones like the Fireball Art here. It's more than a hundred jang (over 300 m) from my living quarters, and the passage bends several times, so the impacts shouldn't reach the cultivation chamber.'
From that day onward, explosions and flashes of light never ceased inside Lee Hyun's training cavern.
***
Ten years later.
Lee Hyun succeeded in reaching Novice proficiency in six new techniques!
【Techniques (Novice): Aura-Concealing Art, Distance-Shrinking Step, Azure Steel Sword Art, Spirit Light Shield, Fireball Art, Aura-Reading Art, ...】
Lee Hyun was moved by his own diligence.
'I don't have any lifespan restrictions, so I could throw away ten years without a care, yet I still managed to learn a whole six techniques. I really am unbelievably diligent! This must be the Korean in me. Whenever I'm doing nothing, I feel like I'm committing some kind of sin...'
After returning from the training cavern to his living quarters, he lay down on his bed and reopened the book he had been reading until recently.
Lately, popular books known as tales of everyday life had become fashionable in Yunze Kingdom. Many dealt with the daily lives and conflicts of people from the mundane world, such as merchants, courtesans, and lower-class commoners, but there were also plenty of utterly ridiculous works among them.
The book Lee Hyun was reading was titled 《Yunze Kingdom's Royal Family Has No Princes, Only Five Peerlessly Beautiful Princesses, and All Five Are Obsessed with Me, a Woodcutter》.
Lee Hyun, who had spent some time living as a woodcutter after first arriving in this world, had been drawn in by the title and found himself buying the book almost without thinking.
The story was quite absurd.
A poor woodcutter happened to rescue one of the princesses in the mountains and entered the royal palace, only to become entangled one after another with the remaining four princesses, who secretly slipped in and out of the palace while concealing their identities. The princesses schemed against one another over the woodcutter, while the King of Yunze Kingdom, rather than stopping his daughters, was actually considering passing the throne to the woodcutter.
By the time Lee Hyun reached the third volume, he could no longer even remember why the woodcutter had gone into the mountains to cut wood in the first place.
Then, when he discovered that the color illustration of the peerlessly beautiful princess that should have appeared at the most important point in the story had been completely torn out, Lee Hyun became quite angry.
His Night Vision Art had already reached a considerable level, allowing him to see even the details of illustrations clearly in the dark without the Faint Light Art. Yet the illustration he had been looking forward to most was missing, taking much of the satisfaction out of having learned the Night Vision Art in the first place.
"How dare a mere mortal from the mundane world sell damaged goods to me, an underground Immortal! I'll teach him a lesson by demanding a refund. Hmm... Now that the royal family came up, I wonder if there's a cultivator market where rogue cultivators gather somewhere near Yunjing?"
He sat up and perched on the edge of the bed.
"With my current strength, entering a cultivator market shouldn't be too dangerous. It's not like I have any enemies out there...."
Over the past ten years, Lee Hyun had confirmed that even after making the rounds of all five spirit fields, he still had plenty of spiritual power left. He could probably create several more without any trouble.
"I should see if I can find spirit plant varieties at the cultivator market that become more valuable the longer they're grown."
...
Three days later.
Rustle―
Lee Hyun's head suddenly popped out of the ground in a deserted forest.
Lee Hyun no longer surfaced directly from Tunnel No. 1 as he had in the past. He first traveled ten li horizontally underground, then made his way upward for roughly another ten li until he reached the surface.
'Now that I have so much spiritual power, the Earth Escape Art is actually pretty convenient to use.'
He wore a new dark blue long robe he had purchased in Qingliu County Seat. An ordinary cloth pouch hung from his waist, hiding the storage pouch inside it, while the Earth Shovel Sword had been tucked deep inside the storage pouch.
His spirit plant seeds and most of his wealth were stored separately in a hidden storeroom inside Tunnel No. 1. The only things he had brought in his storage pouch this time were low-grade spirit stones, some silver, a small pouch of nuts, and the Earth Shovel Sword.
Lee Hyun properly activated the Aura-Concealing Art.
A thin film of energy from the Aura-Concealing Art spread over his skin, partially masking the fluctuations of Primordial True Qi that constantly leaked from his entire body.
He examined himself with the Aura-Reading Art and nodded in satisfaction.
'It's only at the Novice level, but the Aura-Concealing Art still hides my aura surprisingly well.'
Tunnel No. 1 lay three hundred li (about 120 km) southeast of Qingliu County Seat in Linjiang Circuit, Yunze Kingdom, but from the perspective of Yunze Kingdom as a whole, it was still near the far northwestern edge.
The capital, Yunjing, was roughly eight thousand li to the southeast.
A mortal of the mundane world would have needed several months, switching between carts and boats along the way, but it would not take Lee Hyun nearly that long.
On deserted mountain roads, he used the Lightness Art and Distance-Shrinking Step. Near villages or highways, he walked like an ordinary traveler.
Each time Lee Hyun used the Distance-Shrinking Step, spiritual power burst beneath his feet and propelled his body forward.
Using the Distance-Shrinking Step while his body had been lightened by the Lightness Art sent him hurtling ten jang forward with a single step.
'Whoa!'
Racing through the forest with his body lightened made even his mood feel remarkably buoyant. By his estimation, his speed while traveling this way was roughly equivalent to eighty kilometers per hour in his previous life.
Even while enjoying the journey, he periodically used the Aura-Reading Art and never neglected to stay alert.
Qi Refining cultivators had a pitifully short detection range with their divine sense, so they placed great importance on visual information when keeping watch over their surroundings.
The auras of mortals seen through the Aura-Reading Art were dimmer than candlelight. Young, healthy men had somewhat stronger reddish blood qi, while murky gray energy hung faintly around the bodies of sickly old people.
Among wild animals, the larger the creature, the more vivid its blood qi tended to be.
Cultivators, however, were entirely different.
Any being that contained spiritual power within its body would stand out from afar like a lantern. Of course, that was assuming it was not concealing its realm.
...
The next day.
He had traveled roughly two thousand li.
Lee Hyun had left the highway and was making his way along a narrow mountain path.
Ahead of him, low mountain peaks overlapped one after another, while a thin mist lay between the valleys. He was far from any mortal village.
Lee Hyun activated the Aura-Reading Art out of habit, and a faint light shimmered in his eyes.
'Huh?'
He could see the glow of spiritual power on the mountainside to his right.
There was more than one.
Four streams of aura, each different in size, were moving along the mountain path. Three people were coming outward, while the remaining person was heading farther in with a load on his back.
The spiritual power of all four appeared fainter than Lee Hyun's through the Aura-Reading Art, but they were undoubtedly Qi Refining cultivators!
Lee Hyun stopped walking.
'Could this be a cultivator market?'