WeTried Translations

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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 11: Demon Beast

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Jegyeong had tried to enter the Forget-Me Garden whenever he had the chance, but he kept failing.

His Spirit Awareness could sense the gate to the Forget-Me Garden hanging in the sky, but he could not make contact with it.

In a way, it was similar to Spiritual Energy Resonance.

It felt like reaching out toward something clearly visible, only for it to remain beyond his grasp.

He would not be able to enter the Forget-Me Garden for a while, but he was not disappointed.

Yu Jeonggyeom had said he would need to extend his Divine Sense toward the gate.

That meant the minimum qualification for entering the Forget-Me Garden was cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Stage, a level at which one could handle Divine Sense.

Of course, Yu Jeonggyeom had also told him to awaken his Spirit Awareness and try, but it had sounded more like a casual suggestion made without much expectation.

He had hoped otherwise, but at this rate, it would take a very long time before he could enter the Forget-Me Garden again.

Perhaps he would only be able to return after becoming a Great Demon Beast and gaining Divine Sense.

After confirming that he had made no progress today either, Jegyeong smacked his lips and closed his eyes.

In the comics and novels from his previous life, protagonists often had special powers that let them perform far beyond their level. It seemed that kind of story did not apply to him.

Still, it was not that disappointing.

He might not be a protagonist soaring across his own stage, but he had something special about him too.

He had a human soul, yet remained stable as a Demon Beast.

He did not know why that was such a remarkable thing, but judging by Yu Jeonggyeom's reaction, it seemed to be quite rare. Jegyeong guessed that, while Yu Jeonggyeom's kindness came partly from his role as a guide, Jegyeong's unusual nature had also played no small part.

‘He said it isn't easy for Human Race cultivators to find a stable contact in the Demon Race. What Yu Jeonggyeom wants from me probably has something to do with that. But would someone at their level really need someone like me to talk to?’

Unlike the world of his previous life, where the idea that all people were equal was widespread, the Azure Basket Realm contained clear differences between one person and another.

Those differences could be as slight as a sheet of paper, or as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.

Jegyeong had no idea how high Yu Jeonggyeom's cultivation was, but it was certainly far beyond anything Jegyeong could compare himself to.

Would someone like that really take notice of a mere uncivilized snake?

‘Not right away, probably. Maybe they just planted a seed without thinking much about it.’

Jegyeong was assigning all sorts of meaning to a single encounter, but Yu Jeonggyeom might not have thought much of it.

As a guide, Yu Jeonggyeom had likely met many Reincarnators before. Perhaps they had shown those Reincarnators the same kindness, hoping that one day, far in the future, they might form a good bond with even one or two of their own kind who had benefited from it.

‘Ah, I think too much.’

It was because his body had become too comfortable.

Ever since he began sleeping in the pond, his condition had improved without end.

Whenever he thought it could not possibly get any better, the next day would prove him wrong.

By now, it felt as though his body weighed only a tenth of what it once had.

To exaggerate a little, he felt like he could fly.

His improved condition affected his hunting as well.

Over the past few days, hunting had become much easier than before.

His physical strength and speed had not improved dramatically, but his control over his own body had clearly become better.

Even when using the same amount of strength, he used it more efficiently. Beasts that moved on instinct alone were no longer a match for him.

“Grrrraaaah!”

A sheep-like monster charged at him with its long horns lowered.

It looked like a sheep, but it had nine tails and four ears. It even had two bizarre eyes on its spine.

Its charge was vicious enough that Jegyeong had no intention of meeting it head-on.

He did not think he would lose even in a contest of strength, but why choose a rough path when an easy one was available?

“Hiss!”

As the monster's horns reached him, Jegyeong twisted his long body out of the way and bit down on its jaw at the same time.

His large, lengthy body curved like a lasso thrown by an experienced cowboy, winding around the monster's neck and torso.

That was the end of it.

Crack!

He constricted its airway until it lost strength, then waited for its stone-like muscles to loosen before tightening with all his force and breaking its bones.

Even with broken bones, the monster staggered forward a few steps. In the end, it made a deflating sound and collapsed.

Jegyeong skillfully constricted its neck and broke its neck bones. Even that was not enough for him, so he tore into it with several more bites.

“You're too vicious!”

The moment the hunt ended, Cheongo flew over as if it had been waiting.

Looking at Jegyeong's blood-soaked face, Cheongo spoke in a tone that could have been admiration or criticism.

“I'm being thorough.”

“I know, but... isn't that thing still alive?”

“Hm?”

Cheongo landed on a branch and pointed a wing at the monster's back.

“Those eyes are still blinking.”

“What?”

Jegyeong turned in surprise. Just as Cheongo had said, the two eyes on the monster's back were blinking, bloodshot and red.

“What is this?”

Startled, Jegyeong struck each of the two eyes once with his tail, bursting them.

His body became a little dirtier than it already was, but he did not care.

‘There are strange ones around sometimes.’

At some point, he had begun to spot creatures that could not be called ordinary beasts.

It would have been one thing if they only looked unusual, but some of them possessed peculiar abilities.

Eyes that continued blinking after death were strange, but still relatively harmless.

A leopard-like beast he had tried to hunt a few days ago had possessed an acceleration ability.

It was the sort of power he had only seen in comics from his previous life, where its movements suddenly became several times faster.

He had somehow driven the nimble creature into an area crowded with large trees, where it could not move freely. Just when he thought, ‘This is it,’ the beast trapped at the dead end suddenly slipped away as though it had activated a speed-up mode all by itself, then fled.

Jegyeong could only stare blankly at its rapidly retreating back.

If it had an ability like that, why had it not used it earlier to fight? Had it saved it until it was time to run away?

‘It probably had a special Bloodline. Maybe it inherited that ability but had not inherited Spiritual Intelligence.’

That hunt had been Jegyeong's first failure since he began working with Cheongo.

Fortunately, Cheongo immediately found other prey, so they did not go hungry that day. Still, Jegyeong carved the lesson taught by that leopard-like beast into his bones.

No matter what happened, he could not let down his guard until he had unquestionably ended his prey's life.

It would be fortunate if losing prey was the worst outcome.

If something that seemed easy suddenly changed and dealt a fatal blow, his own life could be at risk.

A hunt that seemed certain to end easily could cost him his life.

‘There are no easy fights.’

Anything could happen in a fight where lives were at stake.

He had already known that, but his repeated successes and peaceful days had made him forget it for a while.

He needed to carve this renewed vigilance not into his mind, but into his instincts, so he would never forget it again.

“Hm?”

Cheongo looked at Jegyeong curiously as he continued chewing meat while lost in thought.

The yellow snake's eyes were as fierce as a beast's, yet as cold as a human's.

That odd combination gave off an unfamiliar and dangerous air.

If not for the trust they had built while hunting together, Cheongo would have spread its wings and fled at once.

“Jegyeong.”

“Hm?”

“What are you thinking about?”

Jegyeong swallowed a large piece of meat whole before answering.

“How I can become a Demon Beast quickly.”

“You will. That's what I feel.”

Cheongo genuinely meant it.

To Cheongo, Jegyeong already looked little different from a Demon Beast.

His body had grown to around fifteen meters. When he coiled up, he looked as solid and intimidating as a boulder.

The presence he gave off made those who looked at him feel more than simple fear. It stirred an instinctive sense of oppression.

Compared to a true Demon Beast, he seemed to be missing something, but it was only a small difference.

As an outsider, Cheongo could see some things more objectively and accurately.

Cheongo was certain Jegyeong would soon become a Demon Beast.

The envious glances Cheongo occasionally gave him over the past few days came from that feeling.

“Yeah, I can become one. The question is when.”

Jegyeong knew his growth period was not over yet.

He only had to think of his parent to find the answer.

He had already grown to around fifteen meters, but compared to his parent, who had looked more than fifty meters long, he was still small.

‘If my current growth rate continues... maybe one or two years?’

Even now, he found it difficult to understand that his parent had not been a Demon Beast.

But viewed another way, it meant the line between beast and Demon Beast was not determined by Qi and Blood alone.

There was no doubt that, in terms of Qi and Blood alone, his parent would not have been inferior to most Demon Beasts. They might even have been among the stronger ones.

But his parent had lacked Spiritual Intelligence.

That was why they had remained a large, powerful beast rather than becoming a Demon Beast.

‘If I keep eating and growing, I can raise my Qi and Blood somehow. Spiritual Intelligence is different. So the most important thing for a beast to become a Demon Beast is not Qi and Blood, but Spiritual Intelligence. In that sense, I have a huge advantage.’

Jegyeong glanced at Cheongo, who was pecking at a small piece of meat over several bites.

Cheongo did not lack Spiritual Intelligence either.

Cheongo had said that an Immortal had personally given them Ignition. Jegyeong had some doubts about that claim, but either way, Cheongo possessed more than enough Spiritual Intelligence to become a Demon Beast.

Unfortunately, Cheongo had Spiritual Intelligence but lacked Qi and Blood.

It was a limitation and weakness Cheongo had been born with.

‘It's a difference between species.’

Although Cheongo had eaten its fill ever since they began hunting together, Cheongo had not grown much.

Of course, compared to Cheongo's original size, its body had nearly doubled. Even so, it was only the difference between a sparrow and a pigeon.

Size was not everything, but from what Jegyeong had seen, larger bodies generally possessed greater Qi and Blood.

He did not know how much Qi and Blood Cheongo needed to become a Demon Beast, but in Jegyeong's eyes, Cheongo was still far short of it.

‘Cheongo is the one who desperately needs better meat, not me.’

After watching Cheongo diligently tear at its meat, Jegyeong headed back to his cozy home beneath the water.

The pond was still large enough for him to submerge himself in, but its water level had clearly dropped compared to when he first found it.

Its Spiritual Energy had decreased in proportion.

At this rate, within a month, he would have to leave the home where he had spent enough time to grow attached.

‘That's disappointing.’

Enjoying his steadily improving condition was addictive, but Jegyeong felt even more regret at having to leave such a safe, comfortable home.

Even in this pond, he had to maintain a minimum level of vigilance in case some crazed creature came barging in while he slept. Still, it could not compare to the days when he had dozed on tree branches with the wind blowing over him.

If he had to force a comparison, it was like the difference between a suite in a five-star hotel and sleeping on spread-out newspapers in front of a station. He had never experienced either, but it probably felt something like that.

Still, it was time to prepare to leave.

He had already asked Cheongo some time ago to look for a suitable place, but there had been no results yet.

There probably was nowhere appropriate nearby, so they would have to travel farther out to find somewhere good.

‘It'll be fine.’

Jegyeong thought optimistically.

He would surely find a place larger and cozier than this pond.

It would be able to accommodate his steadily growing body, and unlike this pond, it would not shrink smaller and smaller.

Maybe he would even be able to stay there comfortably for several years.

Would that mean an end to his wandering life?

As Jegyeong continued those positive thoughts, his eyes suddenly twitched.

An itch came over him without warning, like thousands of ants crawling across his body.

Thousands? No, at this rate, it was tens of thousands.

‘Could this be...?’

If this had been his first time, he would have been overwhelmed by more than surprise. He would have been terrified.

But Jegyeong had experienced this before.

His expression, which had twisted in pain, loosened into a smile.

The pain was difficult to endure, but he knew it.

It would eventually pass, and after the pain ended, the sweet fruit of his endurance would come.

“Ghh!”

The condition was that he had to endure this terrible pain.

Having experienced it once did not make it hurt any less.

The pain of his second Molting was just as agonizing as the first.

‘Damn it. I made a mistake.’

He should have prepared for this!

Making do with what he had, Jegyeong began rubbing his body against a small rock embedded in the bottom of the pond, trying to relax his strength as much as possible.

But before he had rubbed against it many times, cracks began spreading across the rock.

Without realizing it, he had put too much strength into his body as he rubbed against it.

“Ghh!”

In the end, Jegyeong had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure the pain.

He wanted to bite every part of his tail and body that his teeth could reach, just to ease the itch.

But he drew on every bit of patience and reason he had, overcoming the urge.

Some time later.

The period of suffering that had seemed endless finally passed, and Jegyeong let out a long breath as he sprawled out.

Crackle! Rustle!

Scales peeled away from Jegyeong's long body as though dead skin were shedding.

It was as if unseen hands were forcefully scrubbing grime from him, stripping away and breaking apart what had once been part of his body.

Jegyeong had not noticed it yet, but this state differed from his previous Molting.

During the last one, his bones and muscles had become stronger without any outward growth. This Molting, on the other hand, had made him grow significantly.

His long, stretched-out body had grown to nearly twenty meters, and his bulk had increased to match.

‘Huh?’

Once he regained his senses, Jegyeong was startled by the sudden, overwhelming hunger.

Only after he lifted himself up in alarm did he notice that he had become enormous.

‘Is this even possible?’

He had thought he was already somewhat used to the mysteries of this world, but apparently he had been badly mistaken.

‘Still... this is good.’

His body had grown larger and stronger.

He was too hungry to properly feel it yet, but his Qi and Blood must have increased just as much.

He would need to fill his stomach before he could judge properly, but...

‘I think I can do it. Even if not, it has to be close.’

Jegyeong swam toward the surface.

As a snake nearly twenty meters long moved its entire body forward, the once peaceful pond shook violently.

Footnotes:

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