WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 114: Flame Demon
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Jegyeong’s Divine Sense caught it in an instant, Spirit Awareness sensed it next, and finally, Jegyeong’s eyes saw it.
A cultivator wrapped head to toe in fire, with more than ten cultivators surrounding them.
Jegyeong did not know the former, but judging by the latter’s clothing and actions, they seemed to be cultivators affiliated with Gwangyang City.
‘What is this?’
At a glance, they appeared to be subduing a rampaging cultivator, but Jegyeong doubted matters were so simple.
First, the strength of the cultivator thrashing about amid the flames was strange.
Their Spiritual Power fluctuations were those of a late Qi Refining cultivator, yet the Fire Arts they used were as powerful as those of an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator.
“Flame Demon!”
Ju Hyeong, having finally grasped the situation, let out a near-scream.
“A Flame Demon?”
Ju Hyeong flinched repeatedly, as though ready to flee at once.
But perhaps the still-composed elder gave them courage. After swallowing hard, Ju Hyeong answered Jegyeong’s question.
“They are a kind of cultivator who has fallen into demonic deviation after being bewitched by the lingering remnant of a Fire Spirit. It looks like that cultivator suffered demonic deviation while attempting to advance to Foundation Establishment. I had only heard stories before. This is my first time seeing one.”
Someone who had fallen into demonic deviation.
Jegyeong had heard of such people often, both in Forget-Me Garden and beyond it.
When a cultivator’s Dao Heart developed a flaw, a heart demon slipped into that opening. If the heart demon was not properly restrained, the cultivator would be possessed by demonic influences. That was demonic deviation.
‘But I’ve never heard that someone who undergoes demonic deviation gains a sudden surge in strength.’
Strictly speaking, only the power of the Fire Arts had increased dramatically, but even that was strange enough.
The gulf between a Qi Refining cultivator and a Foundation Establishment cultivator was so vast that they could hardly be considered the same kind of living being.
Yet this demonic deviant had crossed part of that gulf.
It was quite interesting.
“It’s a Flame Demon!”
“Damn it!”
Unlike Jegyeong, who stood with hands behind their back as though watching an entertaining film, the nearby humans scattered in panic.
While fighting the cultivators surrounding them, the Flame Demon would occasionally attack the area at random as though suffering a seizure. At times, the aftermath swept over humans who had not yet escaped.
“Aaah!”
All manner of screams, shouts, and curses rang out, but Jegyeong did not so much as blink.
A blast of heat strong enough to burn an ordinary human swept across Jegyeong’s face, yet Jegyeong remained where they stood and watched the battle.
“Tsk.”
Jegyeong clicked their tongue.
The battle had reached a stalemate.
More than ten late Qi Refining cultivators could not subdue a single cultivator of the same realm.
Even if the opponent was an unusual demonic deviant, this was clearly abnormal.
‘They’re being too cautious.’
Jegyeong saw the reason at a glance.
Although the Flame Demon frequently exposed openings, not one of them attacked aggressively.
Their attacks were light probes at best, mere gestures.
An observer might have thought they were deliberately going easy on the Flame Demon.
“They’re all holding back.”
Han Cheongyu had noticed it too.
“Yes. They’re truly pathetic.”
Though Jegyeong called them pathetic, Jegyeong understood them.
They appeared to be cultivators affiliated with Gwangyang City, but work was still work.
The destructive force of the Flame Demon’s fire far exceeded the Qi Refining realm, and the cultivators facing it directly would know that better than anyone.
Who would actively fight while risking their own life in such circumstances?
Maintaining a suitable distance while preserving their safety was the most anyone could expect of them.
The cultivators had no intention of actively suppressing the Flame Demon, while the Flame Demon could not overcome the cultivators surrounding them.
Boom!
As the fight dragged on, the wildly surging flames suddenly erupted upward.
The cultivators sensed that something was wrong and withdrew at the same time, as though they had agreed beforehand. Jegyeong let out a faint laugh at the sight.
But that laugh did not last.
The Flame Demon, pouring out flames in a desperate burst, broke through the suddenly widened encirclement.
That alone would have been fine.
But the direction of the breakthrough happened to be Jegyeong’s.
‘Damn it.’
Ju Hyeong screamed, and Han Cheongyu’s expression hardened as they prepared to spring forward at any moment.
Jegyeong clicked their tongue in displeasure and raised a hand.
The Flame Demon kicked off the ground as though flying, drawing closer and closer.
What might have seemed instantaneous to someone else looked rather slow to Jegyeong.
Savage flames. Skin cracked in places beneath them.
And red light filling the places where eyes should have been.
‘It’s merely savage.’
The Flame Demon’s indiscriminate hostility flew at Jegyeong like an awl, but Jegyeong only snorted.
Then Jegyeong casually threw a fist toward the flames rolling in like waves.
It was an ordinary punch.
But the force contained within it was anything but ordinary.
A blow carrying strength equal to a full-force strike from a mid Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator pierced through the Flame Demon’s fire in an instant and smashed into the Flame Demon.
Bang!
The Flame Demon, who had charged in like an arrow, was sent flying like a streak of light.
The gale created by that single punch swept through the area a moment later.
Everyone who witnessed the scene stood with mouths agape.
Even those whose cultivation was too low to see clearly understood that the fierce Flame Demon had charged Jegyeong, only to be sent flying by a single punch.
They knew it had happened.
But they had no idea how such a thing could possibly happen.
To them, both the scene before their eyes and Jegyeong, who had thrown that punch, were utter mysteries.
“Senior, thank you for your help.”
The Gwangyang City cultivators who had been fighting the Flame Demon were the first to come to their senses.
They were all late Qi Refining cultivators and had seen the previous exchange in relatively clear detail.
‘A Body Cultivator! And one in the Foundation Establishment Realm at that!’
They had not sensed even a trace of Dharma Power.
That meant the earlier punch had been thrown solely with the raw power of Qi and Blood.
Just how formidable did one’s Qi and Blood have to be to achieve something like that?
“It was nothing. Go do your job.”
“Yes, Senior!”
The cultivators pulled the Flame Demon from the ruins of several collapsed buildings.
Not a trace remained of the flames that had covered the Flame Demon’s body. All that was left was a dry, cracked body like earth parched by drought.
“They’re still breathing.”
“That’s fortunate.”
After binding the Flame Demon, whose body resembled burnt firewood, the cultivators approached Jegyeong and bowed respectfully.
“Thank you again for your assistance, Senior. We are cultivators of Gwangyang City’s Patrol Bureau. If Senior tells us your honored name, the Deputy Head will offer compensation.”
Jegyeong silently examined the Flame Demon.
The Flame Demon now lay there like a corpse, with none of the earlier momentum remaining. Yet the fact that the Flame Demon was still breathing without any serious injuries after taking Jegyeong’s punch spoke of uncommon toughness.
‘The body is quite sturdy too.’
Not at the Foundation Establishment level, but seemingly close.
The Flame Demon did not look like a Body Cultivator, yet possessed such a tough body. Was that also power gained through demonic deviation?
‘A Flame Demon.’
A cultivator bewitched by a Fire Spirit? Then this strength must have been bestowed by the Fire Spirit.
The senseless rampage had been a sorry sight, but the transformation itself was quite interesting.
“You needn’t know my name. If there is compensation, bring it to Yuhyang Inn.”
With that indifferent remark, Jegyeong dismissed the Patrol Bureau cultivators and followed Ju Hyeong, who had become noticeably more respectful, toward Yuhyang Inn.
They arrived soon after, and Yuhyang Inn was indeed quite a fine establishment, just as Juhyeong had said.
Even Jegyeong, accustomed to lavish treatment as an honored guest of the Spirit Talisman Merchant Association, found it quite satisfying. There was no need to elaborate on its luxury.
“This way.”
The innkeeper had initially looked suspicious when Jegyeong abruptly demanded the best room, but immediately changed their attitude after Jegyeong flicked over several Spirit Stones. They led the group to the finest room on the top floor.
“Thanks to you, Elder, I get to see a place like this.”
Ju Hyeong had originally intended to leave at the entrance of Yuhyang Inn, but followed Jegyeong inside after being told that there were questions to ask.
While cautiously looking around the room, Juhyeong wondered what this frightening elder wanted.
“There are some things you mentioned earlier that I am curious about.”
“Please ask whatever you wish. I will tell you everything I know.”
“There is no need to be nervous. Just answer what you know.”
Jegyeong first asked various questions about Gwangyang City.
Its basic organizational structure, how positions such as the city lord were divided when the Heavenly Fire Sect and the Yangbu Seon Family each controlled half of Gwangyang City, and so on.
They were basic matters, ones that Ju Hyeong could answer easily enough.
“Then the city lord is only a nominal position.”
“Yes. You may consider all major and minor affairs in the city to be conducted according to the will of the Heavenly Fire Sect and the Yangbu Seon Family.”
“And the stewards are each side’s representatives?”
“Yes. I have heard they are all Foundation Establishment cultivators.”
“Foundation Establishment. Yes, naturally.”
Anyone sent by a sect or clan to govern an immortal city would naturally be a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
They would not be late Foundation Establishment cultivators, but likely early or mid Foundation Establishment.
“Which side does the Deputy Head of the Patrol Bureau belong to?”
“As far as I know, the Heavenly Fire Sect.”
Jegyeong asked a few more questions before sending Ju Hyeong away.
A short while later, the very Deputy Head of the Patrol Bureau they had just discussed came to visit.
‘Early Foundation Establishment.’
Jegyeong saw through the visitor’s realm immediately.
But the visitor could not do the same.
The calm expression was only a facade, while the covertly probing gaze grew increasingly persistent.
“You’re staring a hole through me. Isn’t that enough?”
“Hmm?”
“Didn’t you come to offer compensation? Or did you come to have a match?”
“Ah…”
The visitor looked far from young, but did not seem to have much experience.
Or perhaps, as a cultivator of the Heavenly Fire Sect, they had grown used only to being treated with deference and were unused to this kind of mockery.
Whatever the case, their facade crumbled, leaving them flustered and hesitant. Jegyeong did not miss the opening.
“This is my first time in the Jimal Plain, but I imagine the ways of the Cultivation World are mostly the same. Am I wrong?”
“No. Fellow Daoist is correct. I was rude. It is my first time seeing a Body Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm, so my curiosity got the better of me.”
The visitor acknowledged the mistake, cleared their throat, and composed themself.
“I am Jeon Yongseong, an Outer Sect Steward of the Heavenly Fire Sect. I serve as the Deputy Head of Gwangyang City’s Patrol Bureau.”
Jeon Yongseong stopped there.
As though indicating that it was now Jegyeong’s turn.
“I am Jegyeong, from Yangseo Lake.”
“Then you are Fellow Daoist Jegyeong.”
Jegyeong had no reservations about revealing the name.
There might be quite a few who knew the Dragon Lord of the Black Jiao Waters, but very few knew Jegyeong’s true name.
Being a Body Cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm was an uncommon trait, but Yangseo Lake was vast and cultivators were countless. It would be impossible for the other party to identify Jegyeong from that alone.
“I heard Fellow Daoist Jegyeong provided great help to the Patrol Bureau. As the one responsible for the Patrol Bureau, I came to express my thanks.”
Jeon Yongseong was certainly an experienced cultivator.
Though briefly flustered by Jegyeong’s unexpected remark, Jeon Yongseong soon created a cordial atmosphere as though nothing had happened.
At the same time, Jeon Yongseong subtly sounded out why a Foundation Establishment cultivator like Jegyeong had left Yangseo Lake and come all the way to the Jimal Plain. On the surface, it sounded like nothing more than a question born of simple curiosity.
“I grew tired of seeing the same scenery every day, so I came to broaden my horizons. Once I have seen enough, I will return. I cannot leave home unattended for too long, after all.”
Jegyeong gave a casual excuse.
Would the other party believe such a half-hearted answer? Probably not, but it did not matter.
The other party did not expect a truthful answer anyway.
Unless someone was a fool, who would reveal all their circumstances to a person they had only just met?
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