WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations
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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 38: Chaesanno
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Ever since first awakening his Spirit Awareness, Jegyeong had made a steady effort to hone that spiritual sense.
Yet that effort had never included training to deliberately dull or close it.
Naturally. Who would not want to see and hear farther? Who would deliberately shut their eyes and ears?
Only now did he understand.
There were things in this world that should not be seen or heard.
It was good that he had gained such a precious realization, but the price was too harsh.
‘Urgh!’
Jegyeong struggled to hold on to his wavering mind.
Indescribable pain tormented him through the Spirit Awareness he had failed to withdraw completely.
Far away, all kinds of strange things were mixed into the Aura released as Foundation Establishment cultivators and Great Demon Beasts clashed.
Pure force, killing intent, and countless other things he could not identify.
Whenever his Spirit Awareness sensed them, Jegyeong’s insides churned as though he had terrible motion sickness, and even his mind shook.
As he began to feel that going mad was only a matter of time if this continued, the ones who saved him were, absurdly enough, the Human Race cultivators whose eyes had gone bloodshot in their attempts to kill him.
Boom!
Flames engulfed part of his body, including his head.
For something that had flown in with such force, all he felt was a slight impact and some heat.
That small shock and heat pulled Jegyeong’s clouded mind back to reality.
His mind clearing, Jegyeong cried out and retreated.
He judged that his acting was good enough for a movie.
Perhaps it was too convincing, because the Human Race cultivator who had fired the fireball rushed at him with even greater momentum.
‘Should I kill them?’
Jegyeong hesitated for a moment.
That Human Race cultivator seemed certain he was nearly dead and was charging at him with nothing but a toothpick-like spear.
It was almost laughable.
Should he swallow that fool in one bite? Eating an idiot would not make stupidity contagious, would it?
With such pointless thoughts in mind, Jegyeong waited calmly.
Chewing that fool to pieces would be easy, but he needed to make it look as natural as possible. Drawing too much attention would be troublesome.
His body was already large compared to the surrounding members of the Demon Race, drawing the Human Race cultivators’ attention. He could not show anything unusual.
A threatening enemy on a battlefield could be avoided, but they could also become the target of powerful opponents.
“Grrrooo!”
While Jegyeong maintained the appearance of being driven back and searched for the right moment to counterattack, something suddenly let out a dull roar and rammed into the Human Race cultivator.
It was a stout Demon Beast. A large horn, growing where its nose should have been, pierced through the cultivator’s body. The cultivator could not even scream, only tremble before going limp.
“Junior Brother!”
One death sparked another’s rage.
When the spear-wielding cultivator died, a cultivator carrying a huge axe charged in with bloodshot eyes. Not at Jegyeong, of course, but at the Demon Beast that had just gored the spear-wielding cultivator to death.
Both had some skill, so the battle did not end easily. Before long, it drew in others nearby.
‘Good.’
Yet Jegyeong, who could be said to be the cause of that fight, remained far away and continued his wholehearted act as a grievously injured victim.
He halfheartedly wished his kind well while narrowing his eyes at several members of the Demon Race greedily devouring Human Race cultivators’ corpses amid the chaos.
‘They’re nothing but beasts.’
Even while consumed by rage from whatever brainwashing had affected them, they still indulged their hunger. Perhaps their inborn appetite was simply stronger than that of other members of the Demon Race.
Jegyeong gave one last glance to a member of the Demon Race who had happily torn at human flesh before an ice spike lodged in the back of their head and killed them. The heat of the battlefield was growing stronger.
‘The time is ripe.’
Jegyeong had continued to hold back while watching the state of the battlefield.
After the first clash, enough of the weak had died off, while the strong began fighting the strong.
In particular, the Foundation Establishment cultivators and Great Demon Beasts had each picked their opponents and were locked in fierce battles. As long as he moved quietly and watched out for surprise attacks from behind, he should not face much danger.
The first to rush out was often the first to be beaten down. Still, if he acted too late, he would be left picking through scraps after everyone else had already turned the place upside down.
Jegyeong was carefully choosing the moment to act.
‘Now.’
The instant the head of a Demon Beast that looked like an awkward mix of an earthworm and a spider was cut off, Jegyeong launched himself forward.
The Human Race cultivator, drunk on the joy of victory after killing the opponent that had given them trouble, did not notice Jegyeong approaching faster than an arrow.
Their attention had slipped, and Jegyeong was fast, but more than anything, it was the effect of the Qi Concealment Technique pushed to its limits.
At that moment, Jegyeong gave a thumbs-up with a thumb he did not possess to his past self for choosing to learn the Qi Concealment Technique.
“Huh?!”
The Human Race cultivator noticed Jegyeong’s approach too late, by which point Jegyeong had already reached their back and opened his mouth wide.
Before their startled eyes could fully widen, their body was swallowed into Jegyeong’s mouth, leaving only both knees behind.
‘Good.’
He felt it again, but the strength of Human Race cultivators was abnormal.
They could shatter huge boulders with a snap of their fingers, yet their bodies were not as sturdy as stone.
Of course, that judgment was based on the Human Race cultivators he had seen so far. Some might have bodies as tough as Demon Beasts. For example, Body Cultivators who trained with enormous resources.
‘Or Foundation Establishment cultivators.’
Jegyeong tried not to turn his head toward the direction where repeated explosions rang out, even by accident.
At the same time, he struggled to dull the Spirit Awareness that still pained him, if only a little more.
His efforts were like forcing his eyes wide open and shouting to himself that he would sleep.
The more he focused on it, the more information his Spirit Awareness tried to convey, and the greater his pain became.
To avoid paying attention to the information flooding through his Spirit Awareness and the nausea twisting his stomach, Jegyeong focused on the chunk of meat in his mouth.
The dense Spiritual Power within that lifeless meat was exactly as he had expected.
‘As expected, one big fish is better than a hundred minnows.’
It was not a matter of quantity. A hundred minnows had far more meat.
What mattered was quality, not quantity.
Early Qi Refining was different from middle Qi Refining, and middle Qi Refining was different again from late Qi Refining.
Early Qi Refining was no different from a child who had only just taken their first steps into the Cultivation World. Middle Qi Refining could be called a grown adult running freely.
Late Qi Refining was for those who looked to the sky, preparing to soar beyond walking and running.
‘Late Qi Refining. Though only at the entry level, it seems.’
Jegyeong gauged the Spiritual Power within the meat he had yet to swallow.
There was less of it than he had expected, but its quality was more than satisfying. It seemed enough to accelerate the Spiritual Seed’s growth for at least a month.
Gulp!
If the Demon Race appeared to the Human Race as living treasures, then the Human Race appeared to the Demon Race as living spiritual medicines.
Most members of the Demon Race used that spiritual medicine to purify their chaotic foundations, in other words, their Turbid Qi. Jegyeong had no need for that. His foundation had never been unclean. He had not even known other members of the Demon Race suffered from such a problem.
That was why he assumed the Demon Race craved Human Race cultivators for reasons similar to his own. They must offer something useful for reaching the realm of a Great Demon Beast, since they were burying their heads in meat and swallowing it even in the middle of battle.
‘Good.’
Jegyeong felt the Spiritual Power released from the meat inside his stomach seep quietly into his Spiritual Essence, like wind flowing through a small crack.
Naturally, there was no way his Spiritual Seed would fail to sense what he sensed.
Whoosh!
The small flame eagerly absorbed the Spiritual Power.
Though it had been refined by a cultivator, Spiritual Power was ultimately no different from the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth. To Jegyeong’s Spiritual Seed, it was like a ripe fruit whose flesh had been carefully prepared.
Jegyeong’s Spiritual Seed was part of him.
More precisely, it was part of his Spiritual Essence, no, its central axis.
In some ways, it was even closer to his existence than his body. Because of that, Jegyeong could vividly feel his Spiritual Seed growing in real time.
Its growth was utterly natural. It seemed less like growth and more like a return to its original form.
Jegyeong estimated how long this digestion process would take.
The tougher the meat, the harder it was to chew. Likewise, the higher the quality of Spiritual Power, the harder it was to digest.
The Spiritual Power of a late Qi Refining cultivator was not something even his ravenous Spiritual Seed could digest quickly.
Fortunately, Jegyeong’s stomach was large enough. Even if he could not digest it right away, he could store it comfortably.
Jegyeong flicked his tongue in satisfaction and turned his eyes toward his next prey.
* * *
The battlefield had expanded without end from the moment the first battle began.
Most of the Demon Race tried to close the distance for close combat, while the Human Race cultivators facing them tried to widen the distance instead. It was inevitable that the battlefield would spread.
In the Cultivation World, where no fixed form of battle existed, large-scale battles were usually fought like this.
In other words, large-scale battles in the Cultivation World were simply large-scale individual battles.
The battlefield had grown several times wider than it had been at first.
Yet its center had never changed.
Sin Baekrim and Chaesan Old Demon.
The vast space centered on those two was the absolute heart of this battlefield, where nearly ten thousand cultivators clashed. Even the Human Race’s Foundation Establishment cultivators and the Demon Race’s Great Demon Beasts consciously tried to stay away from them while fighting for their lives.
A few people with poor instincts who became too absorbed in battle occasionally crossed the invisible boundary and stepped into their domain.
Every one of them met the same end.
First, they collapsed on the spot like puppets with their strings cut.
Then, they writhed like insects and screamed incomprehensibly as their bodies repeatedly swelled and shrank.
Finally, they exploded with a pop.
“Sin Baekrim. Do you intend to keep staring at me here?”
“I do not know. I am considering it.”
Across from Chaesan Old Demon’s sinister smile, Sin Baekrim answered calmly.
Neither paid the slightest attention to those who died miserably far beneath their feet. To them, those people were no more than mayflies. Worthless beings who thrust their heads into blazing flames and burned to death in an instant.
“What a cold Supreme Elder. Do the disciples of your sect know they are branches meant to be cut away? Compared to that, our side is far more merciful. At least we give them a chance to eat their fill, whether they live or die. Do you not agree?”
“A tree grows healthier when useless branches are pruned.”
“No one can hear us anyway, so stop deceiving yourself. Be honest. Resources for cultivation are scarce, so you are trying to reduce the unnecessary pests that consume them.”
Sin Baekrim did not react to Chaesan Old Demon’s open mockery.
His expression remained calm, and his Aura did not change.
“It is simply a matter of selection and concentration.”
“Ah, yes. Selection and concentration. Sacrifice for the future. Fine words.”
Chaesan Old Demon nodded in agreement, and no one in the Cultivation World could disagree with those words.
After all, the resources beneath the heavens were limited. The number of people who could enjoy those resources was inevitably limited as well. The higher one climbed, the more resources were needed. For a single expert to be born, countless resources and countless sacrifices were unavoidable.
“Hm. Chatting with you is not as bad as I expected, but it is about time to begin.”
Chaesan Old Demon’s body cracked open with sharp sounds, and an enormous amount of black smoke, no, Demon Energy, burst out.
The half-materialized Demon Energy instantly dyed Chaesan Old Demon and his surroundings black.
At the release of that immense Demon Energy, Sin Baekrim, who had maintained a peaceful expression all along, reacted violently for the first time.
“What are you trying to do?!”
If Chaesan Old Demon intended to fight an opponent of equal standing, such a display was unnecessary.
That meant Chaesan Old Demon’s sudden action was not aimed at him.
“The same thing as you. A small sacrifice.”
With Chaesan Old Demon’s brief answer, darkness fell like rain.
Countless drops sank into the ground and soaked into corpses.
As if Sin Baekrim had realized something, his eyes sharpened and he reached out. A large hanging scroll appeared in the empty air.
“I do not understand. Why are you angry?”
Chaesan Old Demon smiled and stepped back. The space where he had stood was pulled into the fully unfurled scroll.
The semi-transparent space rippled as though it had become a vacuum, then returned to normal after only a few seconds. Still, the Spiritual Energy there had noticeably diminished compared to the surroundings.
“Do not try anything foolish.”
Sin Baekrim warned coldly, but Chaesan Old Demon did not care in the slightest.
“Don’t you already know? It’s too late.”
On the battlefield below, those who had died and lain scattered across the ground began to twitch.
* * *
‘Did I see that wrong?’
After swallowing another Human Race cultivator when the opportunity arose, Jegyeong felt the urge to rub his eyes.
Unfortunately, he had no hands.
He blinked rapidly several times instead, confirming that he had truly seen it.
‘What is that?’
A Demon Beast whose head had clearly burst open was twitching.
It pressed a limp leg with broken bones against the ground, flailed several times, then somehow rose to its feet again.
Its head was still burst open.
‘Did it come back to life? Can that even be called coming back to life? No, this is...’
The shocking sight had distracted Jegyeong for a moment, but he belatedly realized the air had changed.
It was not a figure of speech. It was a clear fact detected through his Spirit Awareness.
The air had changed.
Even the Spiritual Energy around him had changed.
The Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth, which had become somewhat rough and sharp under the influence of the killing intent of thousands of Human Race and Demon Race cultivators, had now turned sinister and sticky.
‘What in the world is this?!’
The corpse with the burst head beginning to move again was only the beginning.
The same thing was happening everywhere Jegyeong looked.
Regardless of whether they were Human Race or Demon Race, the dead were rising and rampaging without restraint.
Those who rose again showed hostility toward every living thing.
The battlefield fell into uncontrollable chaos in an instant.
Footnotes:
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