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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 10: Cultivation

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Jegyeong told horned Cheongo that he really had not heard them, rather than pretending he had not.

Cheongo had also been dazed after eating several lotus petals, so they readily accepted Jegyeong’s excuse.

“We’ve stayed here too long.”

Unlike Jegyeong, whose newly opened Spirit Awareness had brought almost no visible change, Cheongo’s transformation was obvious.

For one thing, the blue light flowing through their body had grown clearer and more brilliant. They also spoke more coherently than before.

Had Cheongo become smarter?

“I’m staying here for a while.”

“Here? Why?”

Cheongo looked around as they spoke.

There was only a lone pond, surrounded by leaning and fallen trees that gave the place a slightly desolate feel. Naturally, there was not even a rat to be found.

“I find it more comfortable in the water. It’s much better than climbing trees every day.”

That was true, but the real reason was that the Spiritual Energy here was denser than anywhere nearby.

Jegyeong had not told Cheongo the truth because there was no need to. Cheongo was a good partner, but Jegyeong did not think he needed to tell them everything.

In some ways, secrets were like wealth. The more one had, the better.

Cheongo simply accepted Jegyeong’s excuse. No matter where Jegyeong stayed, Cheongo would have no trouble finding him.

“Got it. Are we hunting more today?”

“No. I’m tired. I want to rest today.”

He had experienced and learned too much that day.

The mysterious Forget-Me Garden. Kin he had never expected to find. On top of that, he had fought with the frog.

Whether physically or mentally, Jegyeong was more exhausted than ever before.

“All right. Rest well. See you tomorrow.”

“Mm. If you need me, call from above the pond. I’ll hear you.”

After saying goodbye to Cheongo, Jegyeong slipped into the pond.

‘It’s certain.’

His Spirit Awareness had opened, and he had immediately received an invitation to the Forget-Me Garden, leaving him no time to truly take it in.

Now that he was calmly using this newly gained sense, the world felt different.

Guide Yu Jeonggyeom had said that Spirit Awareness allowed one to sense the world’s Spiritual Energy.

It was true. Jegyeong could faintly perceive a mysterious force that existed throughout the world.

This mysterious force had to be Spiritual Energy.

It spread through the world like endless threads, like an intricate spiderweb. Most of it did not remain in one place, but continued moving like flowing water.

As he focused on that current, Jegyeong felt as though he had entered a gently flowing river.

‘Could this place count as a kind of spiritual land?’

Most Spiritual Energy flowed away without end.

Yet some of it remained in one place or flowed so slowly that it seemed still. This pond was one such place.

The Spiritual Energy here was at least twice as dense as outside the pond, and three or four times denser than where the trees had leaned.

Jegyeong could guess why.

The lotus he and Cheongo had devoured was surely the cause. The pond’s Spiritual Energy was denser than elsewhere, but the spot where the lotus had bloomed held even denser Spiritual Energy than the rest of the pond.

‘Then the Spiritual Energy here will grow thinner over time.’

If they had left the lotus alone instead of picking and eating it, would the Spiritual Energy here have become even denser? Perhaps this place could have become a true spiritual land.

Well, it was a meaningless assumption now.

Jegyeong decided to enjoy the pond as much as he could while its Spiritual Energy remained.

‘It definitely feels refreshing and pleasant, but what exactly does it do?’

If he had to compare it to something, it felt like soaking in a hot spring.

It felt good, and he knew it was beneficial somehow, but he did not know exactly how.

‘They said I needed to resonate with it. But they also said it would be useless until my Qi and Blood became strong enough.’

Jegyeong considered Yu Jeonggyeom’s teachings.

Yu Jeonggyeom had told him to strengthen his Qi and Blood. Only when his Qi and Blood were sufficiently strong could he use his body to resonate with the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth, break free from being an ordinary beast, and become a Demon Beast.

‘Qi and Blood...’

The way to strengthen Qi and Blood was simple.

Eat plenty, sleep plenty, and move plenty.

Still, just because a clear path lay before him did not mean Jegyeong intended to relax and waste time. If the destination was clear, would it not be best to reach it as quickly as possible?

Yu Jeonggyeom had also told him to consume plenty of “good things.”

As it happened, Jegyeong had eaten one good thing that day.

The frog that had originally guarded this pond.

‘It felt like I’d eaten a tonic.’

The quantity had been unremarkable, but in quality, the frog surpassed every prey Jegyeong had eaten so far.

The only thing comparable was the blood of the Demon Bird that had entranced him. Of course, he had only consumed a few drops of that blood, so it could not strictly be compared to the frog he had eaten that day. Still, it showed how high its quality had been.

‘Rather than filling my stomach with inferior things, it’ll be better for my Qi and Blood to target creatures like that frog.’

A slow, comfortable, safe path and a faster but potentially dangerous path both lay before him.

In the past, Jegyeong would have chosen the first without hesitation.

But things were different now.

He had learned that a path that looked safe was not always safe, and a path that looked dangerous was not necessarily dangerous.

‘If I look for places with dense Spiritual Energy and find spiritual lands, I should be able to find creatures like that frog.’

Jegyeong used the frog as his standard.

If his opponents were around the frog’s level, he was confident he could deal with them without much difficulty.

By “without much difficulty,” he did not mean he could kill them easily. He meant he was confident he could fight them without placing himself in danger.

Was the frog not proof of that?

It had not been able to threaten him, but Jegyeong had also been unable to do anything to it through ordinary means. He had killed it only because several favorable factors had come together, not because he himself had been exceptionally capable.

‘In the end, the frog was a poor match for me. I should avoid creatures too agile for me to catch, or those that can attack from afar.’

Jegyeong believed his strengths were his sturdy body and great strength.

Therefore, if he chose prey, it should be something he could kill using those strengths.

‘Cheongo can help me.’

Cheongo seemed to have become smarter, so they would likely be better at scouting than before.

Even now, deciding to partner with Cheongo felt like an incredibly wise choice.

‘Will there come a day when I can fly through the sky on my own, without needing Cheongo’s help?’

This world differed from the one in his previous life.

In that world, no matter how exceptional a living creature was, there were limits. Creatures without wings could not fly, nor could they display strength beyond their natural size.

But the Azure Basket Realm was different.

Superhumans existed. Transcendent creatures existed.

He could not even guess how powerful an individual could become.

Then why could a snake not fly through the sky? Why could it not soar even higher than the heavens?

When that day came, would he still be nothing more than a snake?

* * *

“It’s that way.”

The hunting method Jegyeong and Cheongo had developed over more than two months changed.

Before, Cheongo had decided everything.

They would fly high above and search for prey. Once Cheongo found a suitable target, Jegyeong would move in the direction they indicated without complaint.

Now, Jegyeong chose the direction.

Cheongo then flew in that direction and searched for prey. It was a unilateral change, but Cheongo followed without complaint.

The reason was simple.

This method was better than before.

It did not make prey easier to find, but whenever they did find something, it was better than the prey they had hunted in the past.

Cheongo could not explain what made it better, but they instinctively knew it was.

‘Creatures that live where Spiritual Energy is abundant are generally more nourishing.’

It was a small piece of information gathered over several days of hunting.

Jegyeong did not know whether “nourishing” was the right word, but he decided to think of it that way. Even when he ate similar amounts, the feeling of fullness was different. Nothing else came to mind.

‘So far, it’s definitely effective.’

Jegyeong chose the direction with richer Spiritual Energy.

Whether it was coincidence or not, it was roughly the same direction in which he and Cheongo had been moving until now.

In other words, it was on the opposite side of the river where Cheongo had seen humans.

‘It probably isn’t a coincidence. The farther I get from human territory, the richer the Spiritual Energy becomes.’

It reminded him of the relationship between nature and humans in his previous world.

Was that a coincidence too?

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“Okay. You worked hard.”

They hunted every day, but after each hunt, they always returned to the pond.

Jegyeong intended to keep using it as his base until its Spiritual Energy began to fade.

They had to find prey, hunt it, and return all the way to the pond, making their schedule tighter than before. Fortunately, they still did not need to travel too far to find prey, but there was no guarantee that would continue.

When predators appeared, prey naturally fled.

Sooner or later, it would become harder to find food.

When that happened, he would have to choose. He could abandon the pond and seek better prey, or somehow keep his stomach full while enduring until the pond’s Spiritual Energy vanished.

‘It’s best to compromise appropriately.’

Still, Jegyeong had been staying at the pond for more than five days, and he still had no idea what effect its dense Spiritual Energy had on him.

He slept better than before and seemed more refreshed when he woke, but he did not know whether that was real or only his imagination.

Yu Jeonggyeom had taught him about it, so it certainly had to offer some kind of benefit.

‘Am I being too impatient?’

Five days had already passed, but perhaps it had only been five days.

Had Korea’s hurry-hurry mindset already seeped into his second life?

He could not afford to be lazy, but being too impatient was no good either.

‘Still, Spiritual Energy aside, I really do like being in the water.’

Safety was one reason, but he had never felt this kind of comfort outside the water.

Even when Jegyeong eventually left this pond, he hoped his next home would also be a river or a pond.

‘Mm. A pond of a suitable size is better than a wide-open river.’

A pond like this would be ideal.

Rivers were good because they were wide, but both upstream and downstream were open, so there was a risk that unwanted creatures could enter. A pond did not have that concern, making it the perfect home for Jegyeong, who only rested and slept underwater.

‘When I find a suitable pond, I’ll have to clear out whatever lives in it.’

Just like this place.

Everything that had lived here had disappeared alongside the frog. Thanks to that, the pond was perfectly quiet now.

Nothing disturbed his peace.

With a calm mind and his body pleasantly slackened, Jegyeong once again tried to resonate his body with Spiritual Energy.

Yu Jeonggyeom had given him general knowledge about the path to transcendence, cultivation.

Of course, Yu Jeonggyeom did not know much about the cultivation of the Demon Race, so most of that knowledge concerned the Human Race.

Jegyeong could not yet follow the Human Race’s cultivation practices even if he understood them, but they could still serve as a reference.

The first cultivation stage of the Human Race was the Qi Refining Stage.

It was the stage of taking in the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and refining the Vital Essence within one’s body.

Compared to the cultivation stages of the Demon Race, especially Demon Beasts, it was the lowest tier. Most Demon Beasts without Spiritual Intelligence, or whose intelligence did not surpass that of ordinary animals, belonged to this stage.

Demon Beasts did not need to refine the Vital Essence in their bodies as humans did.

Even without deliberately cultivating, their Qi and Blood naturally flourished as they ate and grew.

Still, no matter how powerful it became, Qi and Blood was only Qi and Blood. It had to be transformed into a higher form of power.

That was Spiritual Energy Resonance.

Most Demon Beasts underwent this process naturally, just as they naturally strengthened their Qi and Blood.

More precisely, beasts that could not do so never became Demon Beasts.

Jegyeong could not be certain of his own potential.

Perhaps he would naturally become a Demon Beast.

Or perhaps, like his parent, he would remain a beast whose Qi and Blood was exceptionally vigorous.

Of course, he had already opened his Spirit Awareness, so that possibility was slim.

Still, just as he sought prey in places rich with Spiritual Energy, there was no reason not to take a faster path if one existed.

That was why he was forcibly attempting Spiritual Energy Resonance now.

He did not know how to resonate with Spiritual Energy through his body.

That was why he simply kept trying.

This reckless attempt might be meaningless and waste his time, but it might also help, even a little.

So far, he had gained no understanding at all, but his efforts had not been entirely fruitless.

His ability to sense Spiritual Energy had improved.

If it continued to develop, perhaps he might one day gain Divine Sense.

Of course, that was an overly optimistic prospect, close to a fantasy.

Yu Jeonggyeom had said Divine Sense was the exclusive domain of cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage, the realm after the Qi Refining Stage.

The Foundation Establishment Stage.

Among Demon Beasts, it corresponded to a Great Demon Beast.

It was a rather careless name, apparently because the Human Race had coined it.

The Demon Race as a whole, and Demon Beasts born as animals in particular, were far removed from things like formality and delicacy.

Yu Jeonggyeom had said Demon Beasts were the wildest and most self-willed members of the Demon Race.

Yet perhaps because of that, they were the best group to deal with if one could keep them satisfied.

‘That didn’t sound like much of a compliment.’

In any case, someone who had not even become a Demon Beast had no business hoping for Divine Sense.

But so what?

Dreaming was free.

As his mind grew considerably tired, Jegyeong let his consciousness sink.

Pleasant waves washed over his awareness, and the breathing of the enormous snake coiled beneath the pond became even.

Footnotes:

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