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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 34: Encroachment

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Jegyeong considered himself fortunate.

The days when he had struggled desperately just to survive had certainly been hard, but in retrospect, they had not lasted very long.

Perhaps someday, he would look back on that time and think of it as brief, or even just a fleeting moment.

Those difficult days had already passed. Now, he could devote himself to cultivation at leisure in an environment that could not have been better.

Unlike these... pitiful seniors before him.

“I can't even remember when I last properly focused on cultivation.”

Ye Janggyeong grumbled with a sigh.

“Still, doesn't all this hardship count as merit? Someday, you'll be able to exchange it for sect cultivation resources. Just think of it as preparing for the future.”

Choe Jutang comforted Ye Janggyeong with words that could have been either consolation or reproach.

As a Rogue Cultivator, Choe Jutang was in the exact opposite position from Ye Janggyeong, a sect cultivator. They envied each other while also feeling sorry for one another.

Rogue Cultivators had freedom but no backing, so they had to be cautious with every step. Sect cultivators had backing but no freedom, so they had to follow their sect's orders whether they wanted to or not.

No one could easily say which side had it better, but the two occasionally complained about their situations like this.

As Jegyeong listened to their lamentations, he felt that life in the Human Territories was rather harsh as well.

Resources were scarce while cultivators were plentiful, so schemes and struggles never ceased.

When Choe Jutang had once told him how he had nearly died after encountering a Calamity Cultivator, Jegyeong had thought the Cultivation World of the Human Territories was no less brutal than the wilderness beyond them.

‘Or perhaps Choe Jutang had told the story with the roles reversed.’

Jegyeong respected these senior cultivators, but that was only within the Forget-Me Garden.

Here, they were good seniors and teachers.

But what about the Azure Basket Realm beyond the Forget-Me Garden?

Who knew? The cultivators who seemed harmless and kind here might be vicious people outside, people who routinely killed for treasure.

Choe Jutang said he had encountered a Calamity Cultivator, but perhaps he himself had been one.

Life as a Rogue Cultivator was so difficult. Could he really have survived until now without ever staining his hands with blood? And if he had, could not even a single drop of that blood have belonged to an innocent person?

Who knew? That was why Jegyeong neither trusted nor judged them too easily.

Here, he remained a good listener and a quiet junior.

He listened closely to his seniors' stories and occasionally asked questions.

Though his cultivation was still lacking, the three senior cultivators of the Full-Wing Gathering treated him as a junior with great promise.

They had treated him well before, but after Jegyeong planted a Spiritual Seed, they treated him even better.

To them, Jegyeong was already someone destined for Foundation Establishment, no, a Great Demon Beast.

“Junior Jegyeong. It seems your cultivation has advanced.”

After quietly watching Ye Janggyeong and Choe Jutang trade remarks for a while, Uh Dobaek looked at Jegyeong and spoke.

“Yes. I recently made a little progress.”

Jegyeong had wondered when they would notice. As expected, Uh Dobaek was the first.

Yet since Uh Dobaek had only brought it up now, they must not have been entirely certain.

A Spirit Body was merely a manifestation of the mind, so even a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator could not easily infer a change in someone's realm just by looking at one.

“A little progress? Unless you're trying to embarrass your seniors, put away that humility.”

“Fellow Daoist Ye is right. Still, your cultivation speed is remarkable. At this rate, won't you become a Great Demon Beast before we know it?”

Ye Janggyeong and Choe Jutang could not hide their surprise.

They recalled when Jegyeong had first appeared at the gathering.

When had that been? Three years ago? Four? It seemed to have been a little longer, but in any case, it felt like a short time to them.

“I hope so, but it's not as easy as it sounds.”

Jegyeong deliberately let his words trail off as though he were bitter.

His senior cultivators would hardly feel jealous of an insignificant Demon Beast junior, but it was still better to be cautious when he could.

‘Once I become a Great Demon Beast... I won't have to hold myself back as much as I do now.’

From what he had heard, Qi Refining Stage cultivators in the Human Race's Cultivation World were as common as stones beneath one's feet.

Those in the late Qi Refining Stage, knocking on the door to Foundation Establishment, were considered promising enough to have a future, though even that did not apply if they were too old.

Naturally, it was different for the true talents cultivated by sects, clans, and other cultivation forces. But they were rare beings, not even a handful among countless Qi Refining Stage cultivators, so there was no point discussing them.

Only after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage could one truly conduct oneself as a cultivator.

Only those who reached that realm received the minimum respect due to a cultivator and were regarded as genuine “assets.”

Jegyeong thought the world outside the Human Territories would be much the same.

When he had been an ordinary beast, Demon Beasts had seemed like beings that roamed the heavens. But after becoming a Demon Beast himself, he realized that Demon Beasts were ultimately nothing more than stronger beasts.

‘When I first became one, I felt like I had gained the whole world.’

When he became a Demon Beast, he had thought he had achieved something extraordinary.

He believed he could live proudly in the Cultivation World that had once felt so distant, and that a smooth road lay ahead.

Yet reality had only taught him that the heavens were higher than they appeared.

‘What will it be like this time?’

No one could know the view from a peak they had not climbed, but one thing was certain.

Once he became a Great Demon Beast, he would be able to speak openly with these seniors.

Not as a junior, but as a companion walking the same path.

And that day, which he had just spoken of as though it lay endlessly far away... did not actually seem so distant.

* * *

Jegyeong was once again absorbed in contemplation before the Healing Water when he vaguely sensed the time had come and left his nest.

Each time his enormous forty-meter body writhed, broad waves surged through the water.

The foolish fish caught in the violent current lost consciousness, while the rest fled in terror.

It was unfortunate, but far better than before.

Back when Jegyeong could not control the heat of his Spiritual Seed and suffered from it himself, the water would boil simply from being near him, and fish would cook whole whenever he passed close by.

‘I thought there was no solution... I never expected this.’

Jegyeong had constantly contemplated and worried over the heat from his Spiritual Seed. He had even asked the senior cultivators of the Full-Wing Gathering for advice, but found no suitable answer.

He had thought he would simply have to give up when something he had never expected happened.

As before, the time for Molting arrived one day. Jegyeong had anticipated it and skillfully endured the pain until it was over.

Then, after completing the Molting, he realized that he no longer felt the unbearable discomfort of the heat.

The Spiritual Seed had not withered, nor had the heat within his body vanished.

His body, having completed the Molting, had changed, no, adapted, to better suit the Spiritual Seed.

It was unexpected fortune and a great joy.

For a moment, Jegyeong wondered if he might not be an ordinary snake after all, but he quickly dismissed that hopeful thought.

‘I can tell just by looking at the snake that had been my parent. There is nothing special in my bloodline. But being born ordinary doesn't mean I can never become extraordinary.’

Jegyeong thought his bloodline might have undergone some degree of mutation after becoming a Demon Beast and experiencing all manner of events.

Molting itself was proof. The first Molting he experienced had not possessed such mysterious effects.

As he gradually grew and changed, his Molting had begun to gain various effects as well.

‘It will be different again once I cross into the Great Demon Beast realm.’

Meanwhile, Jegyeong had continued to grow steadily. After Molting once more not long ago, he grew a little further and finally crossed the wall that had blocked him for years.

By the Human Race's cultivation standards, he had entered the late Qi Refining Stage.

Though he had only crossed one minor realm, Jegyeong could clearly feel that he had grown stronger.

He felt that he could now fight the owners of the Spiritual Lands head-on without being overwhelmed.

That was not arrogance. If anything, it was a conservative estimate.

If the fight came down to pure physical combat, Jegyeong was confident he could defeat any owner of a Spiritual Land he had seen.

‘As expected, crossing a wall doesn't suddenly give me an ability I never had.’

He knew the possibility was slim, but Jegyeong had secretly hoped he might gain a special ability upon crossing the wall.

He had not even hoped for an ability to control water like the catfish that had once owned the Spirit Spring. He had only wanted some moderately useful ability, but even that had been too much to expect.

‘No. Strictly speaking, I do have an ability.’

That ability was becoming hot.

It was an extremely simple ability that only required him to draw out the Spiritual Energy of his Spiritual Seed... and naturally, it was not useful at all.

Still, Jegyeong believed this shabby ability would one day become useful.

It was not groundless faith. He had his reasons.

If the ability manifested by drawing out his Spiritual Seed's Spiritual Energy, would it not grow stronger as the Spiritual Seed grew larger and stronger?

Rustle-

As he moved while lost in thought, the sound of something moving urgently caught Jegyeong's attention.

Looking over, he saw a Water Demon that resembled a stingray overall but had six tails, frantically flapping its long wings like a fly as it fled.

What it was fleeing from was obvious.

‘Hmph.’

After glancing at the creature, which kept looking back in case he followed, Jegyeong headed for the surface again.

No Water Demon blocked his path, and none that saw him failed to flee.

After crossing the wall, Jegyeong had become the true owner of the Spirit Spring.

Unlike the catfish, however, he did not monopolize it. He allowed all Water Demons the freedom to come and go from the Spirit Spring.

But nothing in the world was wholly good.

In exchange for allowing the Water Demons free access to the Spirit Spring, Jegyeong occasionally hunted them and collected payment.

It was, in other words, a tax. Fortunately, no one complained.

* * *

“Here.”

On his way out of the water, Jegyeong hunted a suitable Water Demon and, as usual, handed it to Muk-su in exchange for two Spirit Fruits.

“Nothing happened, right?”

It was a question he asked every time they met, but it was not an empty one. For several years now, it had become a necessary question.

Woooo-

“Good. That's a relief.”

Since Jegyeong and Cheongo had stolen the Fire Crystal, this area had rarely seen a peaceful day. Tension was always in the air.

The hippopotamus-like Demon Beast that owned the Spiritual Land where the Fire Crystal had been stolen often left its own territory and vented its anger elsewhere.

‘It was fortunate it never came this far.’

There was a great distance between that hippopotamus's Spiritual Land and the Spirit Spring where Jegyeong lived, with several other Spiritual Lands in between. Because of that, Jegyeong had not experienced an attack from the enraged hippopotamus.

The owners of the other Spiritual Lands would hardly watch their territories be invaded without protest. No matter how angry the hippopotamus was, it could not run wild as it pleased.

Cheongo had said that it had truly lost its temper several times and even rammed the owners of other Spiritual Lands, only to return to its own territory huffing in fury.

In any case, that hippopotamus had caused such a disturbance that the atmosphere around this area had remained ominous for years.

Since that unease still lingered, Jegyeong always told Muk-su and Cheongo to be careful.

The hippopotamus would not dare come here, but wanderers stirred up by all the turmoil could appear here at any time.

The heat in his body had left him with no choice before, but there was another reason Jegyeong still remained at the Spirit Spring and avoided going outside as much as possible even after completing his Molting.

He was not afraid of such drifters, but there was no need to get caught up in needless trouble.

There was plenty of prey he could hunt comfortably in the water.

“Where is Cheongo?”

Woooo-

“You don't know?”

After learning that the hippopotamus had been rampaging around, Cheongo had become even more cautious and rarely traveled far.

Even when hunting, they only did so around the Spirit Spring. Yet they had gone somewhere without telling Muk-su?

‘That's strange. Could they have ended up being chased by some foul-tempered Demon Bird somewhere?’

Surely that cautious one would not have ended up in such a situation, but Jegyeong could not help feeling a little worried.

Normally, he would have exchanged Spirit Fruits and returned to the water, but this time he remained longer because he was concerned about Cheongo.

How much time passed?

Just as the bright sky began to darken, Cheongo flew in looking unmistakably frantic.

“Trouble! We're in trouble! Jegyeong! Muk-su! We're in trouble!”

Jegyeong, who had been dozing beside Muk-su with his body coiled, hurriedly raised himself.

“What happened?”

Jegyeong was already uneasy, so his voice came out sharp.

He was used to Cheongo's fussing, but their reaction now was worse than it had ever been before.

What could it be? What had happened to make them react like this?

Something instinctive rang an alarm in his mind, whether it was intuition, a premonition, or some other feeling he could not name.

“A monster! A monster is coming!”

“A monster? What kind of monster?”

“I don't know. It's scary... scary like those ones before.”

“Those ones?”

“The ones that ate the Immortals! It feels like them!”

For a moment, Jegyeong nearly demanded to know what Cheongo was talking about. But Cheongo looked half out of their mind, so he swallowed the words and thought hard.

‘A Great Demon Beast? Is it a Great Demon Beast? Or a Foundation Establishment cultivator?’

If Cheongo, who had seen the owners of Spiritual Lands and most ordinary members of the Demon Race, called it a monster and was this terrified, then the approaching monster had to be at least that strong.

But why would such a being come here? And if it was coming, where exactly was it headed?

‘No. That's not what matters right now.’

Should he flee?

If it was a Human Race cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage with Divine Sense, there was no need to even ask. Even if it was a Great Demon Beast, its detection abilities could not be ignored.

Could he hide in the Spirit Spring and conceal his Aura with the Qi Concealment Technique without being discovered?

But what about Cheongo and Muk-su?

While his mind raced through the possibilities, Jegyeong sensed something and suddenly lifted his head.

‘That is...’

Far away, he sensed an intense presence looming like a mountain.

That presence was drawing nearer and growing stronger by the moment.

Footnotes:

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