WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 111: Ten Years
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Uh Dobaek and Jegyeong had each shared a whole bundle of knowledge, making it awkward for the others to remain silent.
Ye Janggyeong spoke first.
As a sect cultivator, he was bound by many restrictions and could not disclose much to others.
Having recently broken through to the middle Foundation Establishment Stage, he shared his experience of overcoming the bottleneck. Such cultivation insights were of little use to those who had already reached the middle stage, but that did not make them worthless.
For cultivators like Uh Dobaek, who had younger members in their clan, such insights could become valuable assets.
After all, each person's cultivation belonged to that person alone. The more experiences the younger generation could draw upon, the better.
“Excellent.”
Uh Dobaek praised Ye Janggyeong admiringly.
Jegyeong said nothing, but felt the same way.
Ye Janggyeong's cultivation insights were highly systematic and easy to understand.
Yet they were not shallow. Every word carried the depth of a structured sect inheritance.
Choe Jutang, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.
Choe Jutang had also recently broken through to the middle Foundation Establishment Stage, almost as though competing with Ye Janggyeong. Unlike Ye Janggyeong's orderly presentation, though, Choe Jutang's cultivation insights were exceptionally unrestrained.
Well. Generously put, they were unrestrained. Less generously, they were crude.
Still, any route was a path as long as it could be traveled.
No one, not even Uh Dobaek, who had been knocking at the door to the late Foundation Establishment Stage for quite some time, took Choe Jutang's insights lightly.
Once Choe Jutang had shared his insights as well, the two newcomers diligently laid out what they had in their own way.
There was nothing of real substance to be gained from it, but Jegyeong listened with moderate interest nonetheless.
“I have a great-grandson who is quite promising. His aptitude is one thing, but his temperament is beyond reproach as well.”
Once the talk of cultivation had run its course, casual conversation naturally followed.
“I believe you said something similar before. Is this a different child?”
“Mm. The one from before had problems with their disposition. I did not know it then, but they showed their true colors as soon as they got a little ahead. They are already like this now. If they ever reach Foundation Establishment, they will surely regard the clan as something in their own pocket.”
The atmosphere at the Full-Wing Gathering had changed greatly from before.
In the past, it had been no different from any ordinary gathering of cultivators.
A gathering about cultivation, by cultivation, and for cultivation.
They wore smiles like masks while calculating inwardly how to gain even a little more from one another.
But at some point, Uh Dobaek changed into a different person.
Had someone else changed, it would have had little effect. But since it was the person leading the gathering, the atmosphere of the Full-Wing Gathering naturally began to change as well.
Whenever Uh Dobaek began with casual conversation as now, the others would chime in or gradually share stories of their own.
Ye Janggyeong was the first to respond, followed by Jegyeong.
Choe Jutang did not speak about themself, but they at least offered mild responses to the stories of others.
Even Choe Jutang, who was practically the archetype of a Rogue Cultivator, joined in this unproductive small talk.
If someone unfamiliar with the Full-Wing Gathering had seen them, they might have mistaken it for a social gathering rather than a forum for cultivation discussion.
The change felt unfamiliar and strange, but after experiencing it, it was not bad at all.
It was not only Jegyeong who felt that way. Everyone did.
A cultivator's heart was not made of iron, and cultivators were not machines built only for cultivation.
When the burdens on one's heart felt heavy, was it not a good thing to catch one's breath, even briefly, among one's own kind and friends?
“A disposition like that is dangerous. Senior Uh saw it well.”
Choe Jutang agreed with Uh Dobaek.
“A leaky bucket leaks outside too.”
“Exactly.”
After Uh Dobaek's boasting and lamenting came to an end, and they had heard even Ye Janggyeong's unremarkable recent news, it became Jegyeong's turn.
“Nothing particularly noteworthy has happened recently.”
Jegyeong's stories were popular among the cultivators of the Full-Wing Gathering.
Jegyeong could hardly be called a gifted storyteller, even with some generosity, but the subject matter itself was unusual.
To the Full-Wing Gathering cultivators, who had spent their entire lives in the Human Territories among Human Race cultivators, even trivial stories about the Demon Race and Demon Region were fascinating.
“If anything happened, it would be the attack I suffered while leaving an auction.”
Choe Jutang reacted to that.
“Was it related to obtaining that Formation Array inheritance?”
“It was.”
Jegyeong told them everything, from competing with an elderly cultivator at the middle Foundation Establishment Stage for an item to deliberately showing an opening to draw that cultivator in.
However, Jegyeong concealed the fact that the auction itself had been half theirs.
Jegyeong did not want to add another peculiarity to an already exceptional image.
“Clever. But dangerous.”
Uh Dobaek spoke with admiration.
“I recognized that the cultivator's Qi and Blood had already declined greatly. Even if there was danger, I judged that it would not be great.”
“Whether the danger is small or large, it is better to avoid it if you can.”
“You are right. My purse was thin, so I acted somewhat rashly.”
Everyone knew Jegyeong was only saying that out of courtesy.
Though this unusual Demon Race companion appeared more cautious and gentle than most Human Race cultivators on the surface, they knew Jegyeong hid the ferocious nature of the Demon Race within.
* * *
“Dragon Lord. This is what I found.”
Han Cheongyu, who had returned from the Human Territories, handed over a Jade Slip.
Jegyeong checked its contents and frowned slightly.
It was as expected.
Yangseo Lake had several Strange Fires, but they were all in the hands of major powers.
‘The Golden Sun Sect and the Myeongseo Sect.’
These two great Golden Core sects of the Human Race respectively possessed the Clear Azure Fire and the Bright Will Fire. According to the information, they kept and managed the Strange Fires in earthfire chambers.
‘There is no way for an outsider to get near them.’
Against an ordinary faction, Jegyeong might have tried to find a way in through the back door.
But against great Golden Core sects, Jegyeong could not even dare to consider it.
‘But... if outsiders cannot do it, could someone on the inside?’
Jegyeong needed only one tiny spark, so little that it was difficult to even call it a portion.
If that was all, perhaps a way could be found.
‘I could probably manage it through Gwak Jeongsin...’
Gwak Jeongsin was one of the three vice presidents of the Spirit Talisman Merchant Association at Yangseo Lake.
If he stepped in, obtaining a Strange Fire would not be difficult.
If he could not acquire one through the two great Golden Core sects, he could surely obtain one from elsewhere.
But acquiring a Strange Fire was neither simple nor trivial.
If Jegyeong asked Gwak Jeongsin for help, Jegyeong would have to be prepared to become more deeply entangled with him than before. That was not what Jegyeong wanted.
Their current relationship, neither too close nor too distant, was appropriate.
‘Clear Azure Fire. Bright Will Fire.’
Both flames were recorded in the Strange Fire Record.
‘They are not bad, but they are not good either.’
For now, Jegyeong decided to take time and investigate further.
The two Strange Fires were safely stored in the earthfire chambers of the great Golden Core sects. There was no need to worry that they would be unavailable even if Jegyeong sought them ten years later.
‘Would the Demon Race have any? Or the Other Races?’
At first thought, it seemed obvious that they would, but that was not certain.
The Human Race needed Strange Fires because their inheritances included methods requiring special flames. The other races, including the Demon Race, did not.
Moreover, most of the Other Races living around Yangseo Lake were Water Races. They had no reason to need such special flames.
‘No. I should think more broadly. There are many places to search beyond Yangseo Lake.’
Compared to the entire Cultivation World, Yangseo Lake was nothing more than a tiny backwater. But everything was relative.
The Jugye Mountains, where Jegyeong had once lived, were no more than small hills compared to Yangseo Lake.
Yet even such a small mountain had contained Demon Race factions like the Upper Demon Grove and Human Race sects like the Jeyeon Sect.
There were many such places around Yangseo Lake.
Countless factions had entrenched themselves in small regions around the lake.
Those were precisely the factions Jegyeong now considered.
There was little to expect from Demon Race or Other Race factions, but Human Race factions were different.
Did they not have inheritances and foundations of their own?
If so, perhaps they had constructed something like an earthfire chamber, just as the two great Golden Core sects of Yangseo Lake had.
‘I should investigate.’
After sending Han Cheongyu away, Jegyeong's eyes gleamed quietly.
* * *
Ascending to a higher realm of the Immortal Path meant evolving into a higher form of life.
Many things changed as one advanced in realm and was reborn anew, but the greatest change Jegyeong felt was in the perception of time.
More precisely, it was a change in how Jegyeong viewed the world.
After reaching the Great Demon Realm, and then the middle Great Demon Realm, Jegyeong could, if they wished, make a single day serve as a year. Or Jegyeong could let a year pass like a day.
In particular, once Jegyeong concentrated on cultivation, one or two months often passed in the blink of an eye. A few such cultivation sessions would see an entire year gone.
At first, the gap between that sensation and reality was surprising, even somewhat confusing.
But Jegyeong soon accepted it.
Crunch!
Jegyeong diligently earned Spirit Stones, then diligently crunched and swallowed them.
Jegyeong bought spiritual treasures with the Spirit Stones earned and consumed them.
Taking satisfaction in the gradually increasing demon power, Jegyeong devoted themself to cultivation again and again.
Jegyeong did not turn away from events in the outside world, but did not give them more attention than necessary either.
Jegyeong did not know how many times they had cultivated with complete focus, nor how many years had passed in that way.
Jegyeong merely shut themself inside Black Jiao Palace and devoted body and mind to cultivation.
Even Jegyeong's subordinates on Black Shark Island rarely saw the Dragon Lord's face.
They could only infer from the steadily rising temperature of Black Shark Island that the Dragon Lord's Dao attainment was deepening by the day.
Thus, a full ten years passed.
“Grrr.”
Jegyeong roughly flung aside a Fierce Beast whose entire body had been scorched black.
“That was an easy hunt.”
“Not bad.”
Jegyeong answered Jang Yeong's flattering praise without much interest.
It was not boasting. It was simply true.
The Fierce Beast, which had displayed a rather menacing presence, met a miserable end without putting up meaningful resistance before Jegyeong's overwhelming strength.
Jang Yeong had aided in the process, but the assistance had been unnecessary.
“This was the last one.”
“Is that so?”
As Jegyeong smacked their lips in disappointment, Jang Yeong gave a hollow laugh.
“Do you know how many Fierce Beasts you have hunted, Fellow Daoist? Thanks to you, the Fierce Beasts in this area have been completely wiped out.”
Whenever mental fatigue accumulated during cultivation, Jegyeong moved their body to relieve it.
Even Jegyeong did not know how many Fierce Beasts and Great Demon Beasts had died to ease that fatigue.
Jang Yeong was probably the only one who knew.
“What a pity.”
“Is it?”
Jang Yeong extended a tentacle and repeatedly prodded the blackened corpse of the Fierce Beast, checking its condition.
“If you are disappointed, why not look elsewhere?”
“Mm?”
“You have wiped out the Fierce Beasts in this area, Fellow Daoist, but there are still many elsewhere.”
Jegyeong and Jang Yeong met each other's eyes.
“You want me to set foot in someone else's territory merely for a change of pace? What pleasant words would I hear for doing that?”
“They will not say anything. Instead, they will be grateful. You would be removing a troublesome neighbor for them.”
Jang Yeong did not conceal his intention.
“Your reputation has already spread far and wide. Even my father knows of your accomplishments.”
Jegyeong did not answer.
They merely stretched out the body that had been half-curled.
An enormous shadow fell over Jang Yeong's head.
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