Chapter 21 - Act 4. The Bamboo Tube Beauty (2)

It was a week after joining Daemudo that Yise went to the training compound’s administrative office to receive a mission. There was no special reason for letting that week go by. He had simply been waiting for the spirit stones and two basic ritual implements due to be issued after a week. He could hardly march onto a battlefield unarmed.

During that free week, he concentrated on memorizing theoretical texts on the Four Great Crafts of Cultivation: 「Pill Refining Fundamentals」, 「Talisman Crafting Fundamentals」, 「Ritual Implement Crafting Fundamentals」, and 「Formation Deployment Fundamentals」.

“Hey, kept you waiting, didn’t I?”

His assigned guide, Park Gangseo, arrived carrying a bundle. He stopped by roughly every other day to explain basic knowledge about the cultivation world that wasn’t in the books.

“Your allotment from the main mountain. Two basic ritual implements and ten spirit stones.”

“Thank you.”

“Novice disciples normally get five spirit stones a month, but apparently the top-ranked entrants get extra. Lucky you. At ten a month, if you save carefully, you might even be able to buy an elixir pill before you leave for the main mountain.”

“Are we allowed to take elixir pills?”

“Hahaha! Of course. Take as many as you like. We only discourage advancing through elixir pills alone. Though in practice, they’re so hard to come by in the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula that you couldn’t take them freely anyway. So get hold of them whenever you have the chance.”

Park Gangseo laughed heartily and clapped Yise on the back, then pointed to the two ritual implements.

“To use the Purification Staff, hold it in front of a Demon’s corpse and recite the exorcism prayer from the Demon-Exorcizing Spirit Qi Refining Art once each time. Every Demon you hunt must be exorcised and sealed. Never forget that.”

“Yes.”

“There’s not much else to worry about with the Purification Staff... The Demon-Sealing Album is a type of single-use storage implement—a ritual implement that stores objects in a subspace. It can seal corpses that aren’t Demons, too. But you have to account for how you use every single page, and if you use one without permission, you’ll have to pay for it. Tearing out pages without authorization or passing them to outsiders is a serious crime.”

“I’ll remember that.”

The Demon-Sealing Album was a special supernatural treasure developed and controlled by Daemudo, an album that could seal the corpses of slain prey for temporary storage. The Purification Staff was used by Early and Middle Stage Qi Refining Cultivators to exorcise and purify Demons. Yise handled the two ritual implements, going over the formulas he had memorized.

After receiving his ritual implements, he headed straight for the training compound’s administrative office. Inside was a small room containing nothing but a noticeboard and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator seated in front of it.

“Senior, could I receive a mission?”

Without even looking at Yise, the Cultivator jerked his chin.

“Have a look.”

He indicated the noticeboard, then returned his attention to the secret manual he had been reading. There weren’t many kinds of missions posted.

- Find missing livestock (1 contribution point)

- Purify contaminated ground (1 spirit stone, 2 contribution points)

- Eliminate a Level Nine evil spirit (2 spirit stones, 3 contribution points)

- Collect an unpaid debt (1 contribution point)

He couldn’t find a single Demon-hunting mission, no matter how hard he looked. Most hardly seemed like work for a Daoist at all. The only remotely suitable one was the evil-spirit elimination mission.

The problem was that eliminating evil spirits wasn’t a warrior’s job. Such missions required at least one participant whose aspired specialty was shaman.

“Is this everything...?”

The Cultivator answered without taking his eyes off his manual.

“Not many missions come in at the start of the year. The main mountain handles them whenever possible. It takes six months before novice disciples start going out on missions in earnest. You’re the odd one for coming here so early.”

“I see.”

“Besides, we only get the missions nobody on the main mountain will take. Stop wasting your time and focus on your training.”

Despite the Cultivator’s words, Yise couldn’t give up so easily. He had spent a week meditating and training where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was richest, yet his reserves had barely changed. With the next stage so close, he didn’t want to waste time. In the end, he reached for the only mission left to him.

“I’ll take this one.”

“An evil-spirit elimination mission must include an aspiring shaman.”

“Yes. Could I accept it now and add another participant afterward?”

Looking annoyed, the Cultivator pushed the assignment register toward him. Yise wrote his name beside the entry marked “Evil-Spirit Elimination Mission—Client: Hajin Guesthouse.”

“If you don’t finalize your party today, I’ll cancel the assignment.”

“Yes.”

The Cultivator waved him away.

Yise went straight to find Seol Ryeong, who was in the middle of training.

“Come on a mission with me.”

“... Huh? Out of nowhere?”

“Yeah. It’s an evil-spirit elimination mission, and I need an aspiring shaman.”

“Well, of course you need a shaman to eliminate evil spirits... But are we allowed to go on missions just a week after joining?”

“Apparently.”

“I’m not ready for that yet...”

Flustered, Seol Ryeong trailed off.

She would be going on missions endlessly in the future anyway, but the first time was always difficult. Perhaps it was because she had heard far too many stories about how hard it was for Qi Refining Cultivators to survive in the cultivation world. Here, she was comfortably sheltered under Daemudo’s protection. The moment she set out on a mission, she would be thrown into the wilderness of the cultivation world.

“I’m not forcing you. If you don’t want to, that’s that.”

“R-right. You should take things a little easier yourself. It’s not as if you’re advancing slow—”

“If you know any other aspiring shamans, could you introduce me?”

“... What?”

“They say it’s a Level Nine evil spirit, so they don’t need to be incredibly talented. I’ll be as careful as possible to keep things safe. Do you know any shamans interested in missions?”

Seol Ryeong’s brow furrowed.

“What? Don’t you have any friends?”

“You’re one to talk...”

He was going to leave her behind and take another shaman on the mission?

Seol Ryeong’s imagination took flight. After all her effort to befriend Daemudo’s top-ranked novice, he would go off on missions, laughing and chatting with some other shaman? She would have done all the work only for someone else to reap the benefits.

“Nobody comes to mind? Oh well. I’ll just look for someone my—”

“Wait!”

Her motives were a little calculating, but what could she do? Cultivators only survived long by being lofty on the outside and scheming within.

“I’ll do it! The mission!”

“Really? You don’t have to force yourself.”

“I said I’ll do it!”

All she had to do was say yes. Why the temper?

“But you have to help me out on one of my missions in return.”

“Of course. Anytime. Just say the word.”

Seol Ryeong’s angry expression turned positively gleeful. Yise thought she really was an odd one.

* * *

After registering the additional participant, Yise explained the request while Seol Ryeong packed for the journey. An evil spirit estimated to be Level Nine had appeared in South Mountain Village, a fairly sizable settlement nearby, and was attacking brokers—people who arranged deals at inns—as they crossed a mountain pass. The client wanted it eliminated.

“Isn’t that awfully little information?”

“It says to ask the outer affiliate stationed at Daemudo’s outpost in South Mountain Village for details. Anyway, why are you packing so much? Are you moving house?”

“S-shut up. Girls always have a lot of luggage when they travel...”

For all that, most of what she was packing consisted of protective ritual implements. Seeing the almost imperceptible trembling of her hands, Yise held his tongue.

* * *

Instead of heading straight for their destination, Yise stopped in the middle of Azure Mountain Capital and kept looking around as though searching for something.

“Where are you going?”

“You got your allotment too, right?”

“Yes. Exorcism implements and eight spirit stones.”

“Since it’s our first mission, I thought I’d buy some protective ritual implements rather than save the stones. Do you know a shop?”

“I know just the place. I’ll recommend a shop run by someone I know.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

“But you won’t get a decent ritual implement for ten spirit stones. Even single-use ones usually cost five or six.”

“If there’s really nothing to buy, I’ll just save them.”

“Sure. Do that.”

Seol Ryeong led him to the deepest part of Azure Mountain Capital’s market district. In a city that was practically a tourist attraction, this was an alley nobody could have found without deliberately seeking it out.

“This is the street real Daoists use. Too many ordinary people give us headaches from all the impure energy, so the shops selling genuine goods are tucked away like this. They have arms and armor, ritual implements, even cultivation manuals. They buy things too. Keep that in mind.”

“Oh. I see.”

Now he understood why the ritual implement shops in the main market had been full of swindlers.

Seol Ryeong poked her head through a shop doorway and called out.

“Old Hyun! I’ve brought you a new customer! He’s my friend and this year’s top entrant, so treat him well!”

“All right.”

An old man’s gravelly voice answered from within. Seol Ryeong smiled and gestured for Yise to enter.

“He won’t overcharge you. But he won’t lower his prices either, so don’t waste your time trying.”

“Okay.”

“The shop next door has equipment specifically for shamans, so I’ll go browse there.”

Yise stepped into the ritual implement shop. Inside, numerous ritual implements were neatly displayed in orderly rows. There were plenty of them, but the shop didn’t feel crammed like the other shops selling fakes. Each implement seemed to be kept a minimum distance from the others. For some reason, the orderly arrangement of the displays inspired trust.

“Looking for something?”

The old man who appeared to be the shopkeeper was... a Cultivator. He was at Qi Refining, with what looked like fifth- or sixth-star reserves of spiritual energy. Apparently, Cultivators really did trade the things they used among themselves.

“Could you explain some of the ritual implements you have?”

“Explanations cost one spirit stone, but since it’s your first visit, I’ll explain three or so for free.”

Yise accepted this without objection and pointed at a palm-shaped ritual implement.

“That’s worn on the hand. It’s called the Capturing Hand. It draws in distant objects or lightweight living creatures and holds them against your palm. Eighty spirit stones.”

“Oh... That’s impressive. What about this?”

“That is...”

The shopkeeper paused mid-explanation.

“...?”

“A ritual implement used in dual cultivation. You needn’t know about that yet. Ask about something else.”