Ophidian of the Immortal World - Chapter 23

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations

◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 23: Migration

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Jegyeong had finally dealt with the opponent who had troubled him most, yet he felt no joy at all.

The instant he thought he had accomplished something great, the fatigue and pain he had desperately suppressed and ignored surged over him as though they had been waiting, clouding his mind.

It felt as though he would collapse the moment he let his guard down.

Forcing one eye open as it tried to close from exhaustion, Jegyeong glared at the two remaining Human Race cultivators.

“Jegyeong! That was amazing!”

Cheongo chirped happily, but Jegyeong did not answer.

Every sound felt like a sharp ringing in his ears.

“Threaten them. You do not need to push yourself too hard. Driving them away is enough.”

“Huh? Why? We can kill them too, can’t we?”

Jegyeong could not understand what Cheongo was saying. He could not even tell whether his own words were coming out properly.

He could only mutter as if speaking to himself, hope Cheongo understood, and do what he had to do.

‘I’m going to die.’

Even though he could have collapsed at any moment, Jegyeong desperately maintained his imposing presence.

He had trained in the Qi Concealment Technique and learned to control his Aura.

Fortunately, he seemed to have some talent for it and had achieved decent results.

Now, his Qi Concealment Technique had advanced in a different direction.

Previously, it had only gathered and concealed his Aura, reducing his presence. But Jegyeong was now using the control he had gained through the technique to keep his weakening Aura steady.

It was a bluff, meant to show the two Human Race cultivators that although he was injured, he had not weakened much.

He could not tell whether the bluff had worked.

The world visible through his remaining eye was as hazy as though covered in thick fog, so he could not read the two cultivators’ reactions.

‘Did they leave?’

He did not know how much time had passed.

Jegyeong’s vision was now completely swallowed by darkness.

The only reason he had not collapsed yet was his fierce will to survive.

The longer he held out with his bluff, the better his chances of living became, even if only slightly.

But even that desperate will had its limits.

At some point, Jegyeong felt the world turning upside down.

‘No. Am I the one turning over?’

That was as far as his thoughts went.

* * *

When Jegyeong regained consciousness, he tried to open his eyes.

For some reason, he could barely open one eye, but no matter how hard he tried, the other would not open at all.

It was as if someone had glued it shut.

‘I didn’t die.’

The moment he confirmed that he could open even one eye, that was his first thought.

He had not died. That was enough.

Why could he not open one eye? Why was his vision so cloudy? Where was he, and what situation was he in...

There was much he wanted to know, but for now, none of it mattered.

‘I didn’t die.’

As long as he was alive, he could do anything.

He had to live to do anything.

So as long as he had not died, that was enough.

‘Urgh!’

As his mind cleared, the pain throughout his body grew worse.

He had no idea where or how badly he was injured, but Jegyeong suppressed his fearful curiosity.

The clearer the pain, the clearer his sense that he was alive. For now, he should welcome even this pain.

How much time had passed?

By the time the agonizing pain became bearable, something finally began to appear in Jegyeong’s blurry vision.

Animal carcasses piled in a messy heap.

Looking closer, he saw that several large insects were mixed in as well.

He did not know what they were or why they had been piled before him, but Jegyeong opened his mouth.

He had no strength to move his head, so he extended his tongue, dragged in whatever he could reach, and swallowed it bit by bit.

He swallowed without chewing, again and again.

Like parched ground receiving a few drops of rain after a drought, his body greedily digested everything he swallowed.

The animals and insects were all ordinary, but once they entered his stomach, he felt strength returning to his body.

After painfully extending his tongue a few more times, Jegyeong soon lifted his head and began eating properly.

‘Not enough.’

The considerable pile of food disappeared in an instant.

His body, burning with hunger, demanded more nourishment.

Yet he could still barely move his head, and the food in sight was already nearly gone.

Flap!

A fierce beating of wings sounded, and Cheongo flew in.

A six-legged beast larger than Cheongo’s own body hung from their beak.

“Huh?”

Cheongo’s eyes widened at the sight of Jegyeong. They dropped the beast they were carrying and cried out happily.

“Jegyeong! You’re awake!”

Jegyeong glanced at the animal carcass that had landed directly in front of him and understood the situation.

It seemed all the food he had eaten had been brought by Cheongo.

“You wouldn’t wake up, so I thought you were going to die!”

“No way.”

He said that, but this time had truly been dangerous.

His greed over the Wood Demon’s usefulness had played a part, but his greater mistake had been misjudging the Human Race cultivators’ strength.

‘I overestimated myself too.’

He had thought he always acted cautiously. How had he made such a mistake?

Had becoming a Demon Beast made him reckless without realizing it? Or had spending time with the senior cultivators in the Forget-Me Garden made him mistakenly believe he stood on equal footing with them?

‘Both.’

He had survived, so things had worked out in the end, but he still could not relax.

“What happened to them?”

“They ran away. I chased them off!”

As Jegyeong tore into the beast Cheongo had caught, Cheongo told him what had happened after he collapsed.

Following Jegyeong’s instructions, Cheongo had threatened the two Human Race cultivators and driven them away.

Already frightened and stripped of their will to fight, they could no longer hold out against Cheongo’s threats, Jegyeong’s bluff, and the Wood Demon’s subtle pressure. They fled.

“The tree?”

“Yeah. While I was chasing them away, it kept waving its branches behind me.”

Cheongo flapped both wings about, trying to imitate it.

The clumsy imitation did not help much, but from the circumstances, the Wood Demon seemed to have done its best to assist Cheongo.

“Is it all right?”

“Yeah. But it is still weak because it is bad at hunting.”

“It is bad at hunting?”

“All the animals nearby ran away, so it has become hard to hunt.”

“Ah.”

That had not been a hunt. It had been a battle, and a very noisy one.

After such a commotion, it was hardly strange that animals with strong instincts had sensed the danger and fled as a group.

“How many days have passed since I collapsed?”

“Almost two days.”

“Two days...”

Even after devouring the entire six-legged beast Cheongo had brought, Jegyeong still felt unsatisfied.

He felt as though he had been cursed to never feel full, no matter how much he ate.

No matter how much he swallowed, it vanished the instant it entered his stomach, like salt dissolving in water.

“Thanks for taking care of me. But I need more. Bring me as much as you can.”

“Got it!”

Cheongo shouted for Jegyeong to trust them, then immediately took flight.

Jegyeong watched Cheongo disappear for a while before closing his eyes.

* * *

Cheongo diligently brought back food.

Jegyeong endlessly devoured what Cheongo hunted, slowly recovering.

If he could eat Demon Beasts instead of ordinary prey, his recovery would greatly accelerate. But he could not ask too much of Cheongo, whose combat ability was lacking.

‘I can move to some extent now.’

Thanks to Cheongo’s devoted help, Jegyeong was finally able to recover somewhat.

Even so, compared to when he had been healthy, he was no different from someone seriously ill. Moving caused pain, and whenever he tried to exert even a little strength, it felt as though his entire body would break apart.

Normally, he should have rested for several more days, but...

‘Still, I can’t delay any longer.’

Jegyeong forced his heavy body up and told Cheongo to prepare to leave.

“Why? Shouldn’t you rest more?”

“More humans may come. We need to leave before then.”

“More humans? Because of those guys?”

“It could be because of them, or it could be because of us.”

Jegyeong did not know whether more humans would truly come, but the possibility was what mattered.

If they came swarming back to settle their grudge, or to skin the monster snake and harvest the Wood Demon’s fruit, he would needlessly lose the life he had won with such difficulty.

That could never happen.

“Anyway, we need to leave before it’s too late. Tell the tree too.”

“Okay!”

A little later, the Wood Demon approached slowly, using several roots as legs. It did not look to be in good shape.

Jegyeong thought it looked just like a cephalopod.

Could all Wood Demons be like that?

Pushing aside the stray thought, Jegyeong spoke to it.

“You came here because you intend to leave with us, right?”

Wooooo!

This time, Jegyeong could guess its meaning even without Cheongo translating.

He had felt its wariness ease greatly after they hunted together before, but now it seemed as though all distance between them had vanished.

Perhaps that was only natural.

From the Wood Demon’s perspective, Jegyeong had risked his life to save it.

“Good. No point dragging this out. We’ll leave right away. Cheongo, I’ll need you to work hard again. The Wood Demon and I aren’t in good condition, so we should avoid fighting whenever possible.”

“Yeah!”

Cheongo had improved by leaps and bounds in many ways since becoming a Demon Beast, but Cheongo’s greatest improvement was in scouting.

The fact that Cheongo had spotted the hidden Human Race cultivators at a glance showed just how sharp their eyesight was.

If Cheongo focused and sharpened their gaze, Jegyeong doubted any Demon Beast could escape Cheongo’s notice.

With Cheongo scouting ahead, Jegyeong and the Wood Demon were able to travel quietly for some time.

Cheongo also hunted animals along the way, helping Jegyeong and the Wood Demon recover. Cheongo’s contribution was impossible to overstate.

The Wood Demon recognized Cheongo’s efforts as well. It voluntarily plucked the only remaining fruit from its bare branches and offered it to Cheongo.

‘To think I’d end up owing Cheongo this much.’

Cheongo seemed satisfied simply to be useful and never acted as though they deserved praise. Still, Jegyeong did not feel at ease receiving so much help.

It is said that the heaviest debts in the world are debts of the heart. This time, he had truly incurred one.

When circumstances improved, he would repay this debt twice over.

With that vow, Jegyeong slowly recovered.

“Let’s rest here for today.”

At Jegyeong’s words, the Wood Demon’s roots burrowed into the ground.

Before long, several trees dried out completely.

If this continued for a few days, not a living tree or blade of grass would remain in the area.

‘I really envy that ability.’

He had learned something surprising this time. The Wood Demon could recover to some extent simply by sinking its roots and absorbing vitality.

A Blood Meal would naturally be even better, but it could eventually make a full recovery without one.

Jegyeong, who had to replenish his Qi and Blood through meal after meal to recover, could not help envying such an ability.

“Jegyeong. Are you going hunting again?”

“I have to.”

Cheongo had brought him food whenever they could while they traveled, allowing Jegyeong to recover somewhat.

Once he had recovered enough to believe that a light hunt would not be too much for him, Jegyeong began hunting regularly and actively seeking food.

He still had not tasted Demon Beast meat, but he made up for the lacking quality with quantity, and his condition was not bad.

At least, compared to when they had first left.

‘It might be time to find a place to settle down.’

About two months had passed since they left the Wood Demon’s territory.

They had needed to avoid the territories of Demon Beasts and demon fiends as they traveled, and neither Jegyeong nor the Wood Demon had been in good condition, so their pace had been slow.

Still, after coming this far, perhaps Jegyeong could worry less about pursuit by the Human Race cultivators.

His condition had improved greatly, but to fully recover, he needed to stay somewhere and rest.

‘The eye is the real problem.’

The fire-scorched areas and the spear wound were still uncomfortable, but they had recovered well enough.

Only this eye showed no sign of healing.

Had he gone completely blind in it?

‘Forget it. There’ll be a way.’

Perhaps it was simply taking longer to heal because it was a sensitive area.

If not, he could find another way to treat it.

Surely, in this vast and mysterious world, there had to be some method of healing one eye.

Checking his surroundings through his unfamiliar one-eyed view, Jegyeong silently slipped into the darkness.

* * *

“Hiss!”

The Weasel Demon Beast sprang forward with a hiss.

It was trying to find an opening to escape, but roots from the Wood Demon had already stretched out and blocked its retreat.

The Weasel Demon Beast’s eyes darted nervously between the Wood Demon and Cheongo.

Then Jegyeong emerged from the swamp like a ghost and bit its hind leg in an instant.

“Attack! Attack!”

Cheongo excitedly shouted at the Wood Demon.

The Wood Demon silently moved its roots, neither fast nor slow.

It was a meaningless action anyway.

Through their repeated hunts, they had learned that once Jegyeong bit a target, it was over.

“Gah!”

Jegyeong dragged the desperately struggling Weasel Demon Beast straight into the swamp.

It could not escape even outside the swamp. Once it had been pulled into the swamp, the result was obvious.

Before long, its desperate struggles stopped. Jegyeong tore the Demon Beast’s body in half, swallowed one half, and threw the other outside the swamp.

“Jegyeong. Is that it for today?”

Cheongo, waiting outside the swamp, took their share and sounded disappointed.

Not long ago, Cheongo had suggested that they increase the number of hunts.

The three of them worked together better each day. They no longer needed to be overly selective about which Demon Beasts they lured in, making their hunts much easier.

No matter who the target was, as long as they lured it into this swamp, the hunt was practically a success.

“You never know when to be satisfied.”

Jegyeong flicked his tongue as he raised only his head above the swamp.

Over the past fifteen days, they had hunted as many as seven Demon Beasts.

That was nearly one every two days, something that would have been impossible before, regardless of their hunting skill.

After all, if they hunted a Demon Beast every other day, there would soon be none left nearby.

For example, there had only been around ten Demon Beasts near the Wood Demon’s former territory.

Naturally, each had its own territory, and within that territory, it was no different from a king.

But here, such Demon Beasts could not even be called nobles, much less kings.

There were many drifters without territories of their own, wandering from place to place.

The Demon Beasts that held territory here were not ordinary ones.

Jegyeong had not seen them himself, but based on Cheongo’s stories after surveying the area from high in the sky, they seemed to be Demon Beasts nearing the Great Demon Beast rank.

He could truly feel that they had moved far from the Human Territories.

Could this be the Demon Region? Even if it was not, perhaps they had at least reached its threshold.

It was good that he no longer needed to worry about the Human Race cultivators, but he also wondered if they had gone too deep.

That was why he had chosen this swamp, rather than a Spiritual Land, as their home.

The location was not especially good, but that also meant they could avoid other predators’ attention.

Of course, he also liked the feeling of soaking in the swamp, but that was a minor reason.

“If we get too carried away, those guys might notice us. We should be careful for a while.”

“Okay.”

Cheongo readily set aside their greed.

Just as Jegyeong knew Cheongo, Cheongo knew Jegyeong.

‘Yeah. For a while.’

Jegyeong was a cautious hunter, but he was just as greedy as Cheongo.