Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 52

As if sensing Han-lip’s gaze from afar, the boy turned and looked towards Han-lip. Upon seeing him, his face lit up with joy, and he quickly ran over.

“Senior, you’ve come to Taenam Valley as well? I am Man So-san from the Man family of Goya Mountain! May I accompany you to Taenam Valley?”

Despite being out of breath from running, the boy spoke urgently.

The boy’s skin was fair and soft, giving off the air of a young master from a wealthy family.

“Sure. But do you know where Taenam Valley is?”

“Hehe! I don’t know exactly, but I heard the entrance is on the north side of Taenam Mountain, where there’s a perpetual mist. But surely, Senior knows, right?”

Even with the sudden request, Han-lip calmly asked back. The boy sheepishly shook his head and looked at Han-lip with expectant eyes.

“So, you’ve never been to other regions before, have you?”

Han-lip, barely suppressing a chuckle at the boy’s naivete, spoke gently.

“Senior, you can tell! It’s really my first time traveling this far from home.”

“I see. Then follow me. I’ll guide you.”

Han-lip wasn’t entirely sure if the place he had in mind was correct, but based on what the boy had said, he guessed that the strange mountainside was likely the place they were looking for.

“This is great! Now all that’s left is to broaden my horizons!”

At Han-lip’s response, the boy became so excited that he almost cheered. Seeing the boy’s reaction, Han-lip smiled.

“What kind of horizons are you hoping to broaden in Taenam Valley?”

“There are so many things. First, I want to see the techniques and secret methods of other families and sects, and I also want to trade items with other people.”

“I see.”

He replied in a light tone, but he had many questions in his mind. Judging from the boy’s tone, it seemed that many cultivators were gathered in Taenam Valley right now, but he was anxious because he didn’t know why.

* * *

The two of them continued to talk, but if you looked closely, it was Han-lip asking questions and the boy simply answering. During their conversation, the boy showed no wariness towards Han-lip and talked about various things about cultivators. Some of these were common knowledge that any cultivator would know.

For example, cultivators were broadly divided into three realms based on their level: Lower Realm, Middle Realm, and Upper Realm.

The Lower Realm consisted of five stages: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation. The Middle Realm consisted of three stages: Void Refining, Body Integration, and Great Ascension. Reaching the Upper Realm meant only the Tribulation Transcendence stage remained, and passing this stage would allow one to ascend to the Immortal Realm and achieve immortality. However, this was easier said than done for those who were actually cultivating.

According to the boy, within the Yue Kingdom, there were no cultivators who had reached the three realms, nor even the final stage of the Lower Realm, Spirit Transformation. There were only a very few who were hovering around the Nascent Soul stage, and they had barely reached that level.

Also, a cultivator’s lifespan was closely related to their realm, and each time they advanced to a new realm, their lifespan doubled. Ordinary mortals were considered to have lived a long life if they lived for 70 years.

However, even those who succeeded in Foundation Establishment often lived for over 200 years. If they reached the Core Formation stage, they could live for 400 to 500 years, and if they miraculously encountered a great opportunity and reached the Nascent Soul stage, living for 1,000 years was not a dream!

The boy in white smacked his lips at the mention of lifespans, envying the old monsters who lived for hundreds of years. Their lives were ten times longer than those of ordinary people. Han-lip, who had been listening quietly, was also surprised and his mouth fell open. He had expected that cultivators would live longer than ordinary people, but he had never imagined it would be this much.

If someone who reached the Nascent Soul stage lived that long, how long would someone who reached the Upper Realm live? Eventually, Han-lip couldn’t help but ask the boy this question.

“Who knows? They might live much longer, or they might even become immortal?”

The boy answered casually.

“It is said that when a cultivator who was once a mortal reaches the Spirit Transformation stage, they leave this world and go to a more superior world. No one knows what kind of space or world it is because no one has ever returned.”

‘If no one has ever returned, how did they divide the realms after the Spirit Transformation stage?’

He felt frustrated, but he didn’t think the boy in front of him would be able to answer properly, so he stopped asking. However, through the boy, he was able to get a rough idea of the cultivation sects and families in the Yue Kingdom.

There were seven major and minor cultivation sects in the Yue Kingdom: the Masked Moon Sect, the Yellow Maple Valley, the Spirit Beast Mountain, the Pure Void Gate, the Blade Forging Workshop, the Heavenly Fortress, and the Giant Sword Gate. Among these, the Masked Moon Sect was the most powerful, followed by the Spirit Beast Mountain. The other sects were of similar strength.

If the cultivation sects were like the giant trees supporting the cultivation world, then the cultivation families were like the branches that surrounded them, allowing them to survive in the cultivation world by supporting the sects. Listening to the boy’s secret whispers, most of the ancestors of the cultivation families with long histories were disciples of these sects, and their bloodlines had continued from them.

Following that, the topic of Spiritual Roots, which every cultivator had, came up. Most cultivators didn’t know what Spiritual Roots were. But what was clear was that people without Spiritual Roots could not become cultivators, no matter how much they wanted to. This was because if they couldn’t even sense spiritual energy, it was nearly impossible to cultivate magical power.

Finding someone born with Spiritual Roots among mortals was as difficult as finding a needle in a desert. Moreover, even if they had Spiritual Roots, only a few of them would walk the path of a cultivator. The vast majority would live their entire lives without even knowing they had Spiritual Roots and die peacefully. For this reason, finding someone with Spiritual Roots to take as a disciple was very difficult, and the cultivation sects were constantly struggling with this.

Generally, Spiritual Roots were divided into five attributes: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Most people with Spiritual Roots had a mix of five or four of these attributes, so even though they could sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, their cultivation efficiency was extremely low. Even in the basic Five Elements cultivation method of the Qi Refining stage, they could not progress further after reaching the 3rd or 4th level, and they could never reach the Foundation Establishment stage even with a lifetime of effort.

Therefore, in the cultivation world, Spiritual Roots with a mix of four or five attributes were called Pseudo Spiritual Roots, and Spiritual Roots with a mix of two or three attributes were called True Spiritual Roots.

And a single Spiritual Root with only one attribute was called a Heavenly Root in the cultivation world, meaning they were favored by the heavens. Those with such roots had a cultivation speed that was two to three times faster than others, regardless of the attribute. Also, unlike most who struggled at the end of the Foundation Establishment stage and could not reach the Core Formation stage, they easily reached the Core Formation stage without any obstacles.

For this reason, when someone with a Heavenly Root appeared, fierce competition often arose between the various cultivation sects. Once they took them as a disciple, it would be an opportunity to produce a great expert who had reached the Core Formation stage, which would increase the sect’s power.

However, the probability of someone with a Heavenly Root appearing was very low, happening only once every few hundred years. And in the case of Variant Spiritual Roots, which did not belong to the Five Elements Spiritual Roots, the probability of their appearance was relatively high. They appeared at least once every 20 to 30 years.

These Variant Spiritual Roots were the result of two or three of the Five Elements attributes mixing and sublimating.

There were Lightning Spiritual Roots, created by the variation of Earth and Water Spiritual Roots, Ice Spiritual Roots, created by the variation of Metal and Water Spiritual Roots, as well as Dark Spiritual Roots and Wind Spiritual Roots.

The cultivation speed of cultivators with Variant Spiritual Roots was not much different from those with Heavenly Roots. If they could find and master a cultivation method suitable for their attribute, most of them would become great experts, achieving results that were better than three or four ordinary cultivators. Therefore, these Variant Spiritual Root holders were also welcomed by the major cultivation sects.

However, it was not easy to find talents with Heavenly Roots or Variant Spiritual Roots, let alone ordinary True Spiritual Roots. Under these harsh conditions, some small sects were on the verge of losing their lineage because they could not find suitable disciples.

As this frustrating situation continued, some insightful people discovered that Spiritual Roots were more likely to appear in those with similar bloodlines.

For example, if one of the parents had Spiritual Roots, their child had a one in four chance of being born with Spiritual Roots. If both parents had Spiritual Roots, the probability increased even further, and their children might all have Spiritual Roots. This discovery turned the cultivation world upside down.

Who would be displeased when someone listened to them with such sincerity? The boy in white grew increasingly fond of Han-lip, and without realizing it, he revealed everything he knew about the cultivation world.

Han-lip was greatly pleased listening to the boy’s stories, and he often encouraged him to talk more enthusiastically. Unfortunately, the mist-shrouded mountainside was not far from the village entrance, and they were about to arrive in a few hours.

Han-lip wanted to take a detour to hear more about the cultivation world, but he couldn’t. He could only stop talking and look at the boy, who couldn’t take his eyes off the thick fog.

* * *

“Senior, what family are you from?”

The boy, who had been looking at the thick fog, turned his head and asked as if he had just remembered. From the boy’s stories, Han-lip had learned that in the cultivation world, besides the prestigious cultivation sects and families, there were also scattered cultivators.

Most of these independent cultivators were either descendants of fallen cultivation families, or ordinary people who had accidentally obtained cultivation methods and entered the cultivation world on their own, like Han-lip, or those who had left small sects. Most of these independent cultivators were not very skilled, often only reaching the Qi Refining stage, and were often looked down upon by people from other cultivation sects, just as the wealthy in the mortal world looked down on the poor.

“I am not a member of any family. I am just cultivating on my own.”

Han-lip hesitated for a moment, but decided to tell the truth. In fact, if he met other cultivators, the lie would be quickly exposed.

“Senior, you’re an independent cultivator!”

He seemed a little surprised, but he didn’t look down on him or belittle him. Rather, he seemed a little happy. He looked at Han-lip curiously, as if he were a strange person.

“I heard that the cultivation clans don’t look favorably on independent cultivators, so why are you happy?”

“They are them, and the people of my family have always gotten along well with independent cultivators.”

When Han-lip asked with a puzzled look, the boy pouted and answered proudly. His deep pride in his family was evident.

“Our family’s ancestor was originally an independent cultivator who later became an official disciple of the Giant Sword Gate. That’s why the Man family’s rules include the teaching that independent cultivators should not be looked down upon.”

The boy continued with a smile.

“Actually, there are a few families besides ours whose ancestors were independent cultivators. So how could we have bad feelings towards independent cultivators? But since there aren’t many families like that, people say that there’s an overall atmosphere of looking down on independent cultivators.”

“I see. It seems I was really lucky. The first cultivation clan I met was the Man family.”

As the boy finished speaking with a shake of his head, Han-lip was able to relax his guard against the boy a little.

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