WeTried Translations

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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 54: Muksu Returns

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Cheongo was the first to notice Muk-su's change.

Cheongo did not have many daily activities. They either idled in the nest or went out to look for materials to expand it. Aside from that, checking on Muk-su from time to time had become part of Cheongo's routine.

This time too, while doing so, they found Muk-su reduced to a sprout.

“Muk-su got smaller. But it'll grow quickly again, right?”

“Probably.”

Cheongo could hardly take their eyes off Muk-su, now a sapling. Even while in the nest, they kept their head turned toward Muk-su.

“Muk-su eats more now.”

“That’s a good thing.”

Muk-su's appetite had grown much stronger after becoming a sprout.

Whether absorbing nutrients from corpses could really be called eating was questionable, but either way, it consumed at least twice as much as before. Unlike before, Jegyeong could now visibly see it absorbing nutrients and growing.

Even calling its growth speed incredible was not enough. It grew by the day, as though it were leaving its former gluttonous days behind.

The tiny sprout became a small sapling in less than a day, and before half a month had passed, it had grown into a tree over two meters tall.

Its rapid growth was impressive, but what truly pleased Jegyeong was that Muk-su had finally grown branches, allowing them to communicate again.

Its branches had not grown enough to sway freely as before, but brief exchanges were no problem.

“Muk-su. How do you feel right now? Good? Bad?”

Cheongo was the one most excited by Muk-su becoming a tree again.

Whenever they had the chance, they went over to Muk-su and talked to it nonstop. Asking whether it remembered them, whether the cave felt stuffy, when it could bear fruit again...

One useful question was mixed in, but most of it was meaningless chatter disguised as questions.

‘Its appearance looks better than before.’

Jegyeong occasionally observed the newly reborn Muk-su. Even considering the parts of it that had not fully grown, it seemed more full of life than before.

He did not know whether that was because of the Spiritual Soil or because it had turned into a fruit and then back into a tree, but Muk-su looked healthier than when it had stayed by the Spirit Spring.

‘Once it grows a little more and can bear fruit...’

Twitch!

Muk-su shuddered under Jegyeong's meaningful gaze.

* * *

‘This won’t do much longer.’

After finishing his cultivation for the day, Jegyeong shook the gourd and frowned.

This gourd was no ordinary item.

It looked small from the outside, but it could hold quite a lot. By his estimate, he had already drunk around ten liters of Spirit Wine, yet there was still some left.

‘It'll be empty after another two drinks or so.’

The thought of using Spirit Stones again weighed heavily on him, but the barren cultivation environment troubled him even more.

The cave was cozy and free of nearby dangers, making it an excellent place to stay. Yet he could barely sense any Spiritual Energy here. It was the worst possible place to cultivate.

The Clear Heart Mantra tempered the mind and heart, so the lack of Spiritual Energy did not hinder its cultivation. The Heat-Gathering Art was different.

It was already a basic cultivation method with a slow cultivation speed. Trying to cultivate it where there was barely any Spiritual Energy was like tying a lump of iron to the leg of a crawling turtle.

‘I need a Spiritual Land.’

Jegyeong was in no position to take cultivation Medicinal Pills, and even if he wanted them, he could not obtain any.

He had previously used the excuse that he wanted to study Human Race cultivation methods with Gwak Jeongsin. If he tried to obtain cultivation Medicinal Pills as well, Gwak Jeongsin would naturally become suspicious unless he was a fool.

‘Cultivation methods and Medicinal Pills can't go through the Spirit Talisman Merchant Association. I'll have to obtain them myself later.’

It was common knowledge in the Cultivation World that Other Races could partially access the Human Race's inheritances only after facing the Transformation Tribulation, meaning after reaching at least the Golden Core Realm.

Yet Jegyeong could cultivate a Human Race cultivation method despite being only at the Great Demon Realm. If that fact became known, he would become famous throughout the Cultivation World overnight.

Naturally, Jegyeong did not want that to happen. At the very least, he intended to keep his ability to cultivate Human Race methods secret until he reached the Demon King Realm.

For now, he had no choice but to continue cultivating the Heat-Gathering Art. Since even Human Race cultivators at the beginning of the Qi Refining Stage only studied it briefly before moving on, its cultivation efficiency could only be terrible.

‘Still, cultivating in a Spiritual Land should be far more efficient than it is now.’

It would probably amount to little more than a speck in an ant's eye, but even that would be a blessing for now.

‘It really is slow.’

Jegyeong clicked his tongue at the Heat-Gathering Art's poor effectiveness.

If the Spiritual Energy he drew in through the Heat-Gathering Art was only a handful, the demon power he gained after refining it was only a single drop.

He could understand why a basic cultivation method was called basic.

In truth, the underlying principle behind the Heat-Gathering Art he cultivated and the advanced methods cultivated by Human Race Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators was the same. Both drew in the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth and refined it into the cultivator's power.

Then why were basic cultivation methods like the Heat-Gathering Art ignored and abandoned even by Qi Refining Stage cultivators?

Naturally, it was because of the difference in cultivation speed.

Whether it was the Spiritual Power of a Qi Refining Stage cultivator or the Dharma Power of a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, gathering and refining more required more Spiritual Energy. They had no choice but to favor cultivation methods that could draw in even a little more Spiritual Energy.

Of course, nothing in the world came with only benefits.

Walk slowly, and you were less likely to fall. Run in a rush, and you were bound to stumble often.

Cultivation methods with fast cultivation speeds carried all kinds of side effects and imperfections. Some required particular conditions to cultivate, while others carried the risk of cultivation deviation.

Basic cultivation methods, on the other hand, were slow but stable.

Jegyeong had clearly felt that advantage while cultivating the Heat-Gathering Art himself. Aside from its fatally slow cultivation speed, it was a perfect fire-aspect cultivation method.

‘The Human Race abandoned stability and chose speed.’

Jegyeong thought it was an unavoidable choice.

The Human Race had short lifespans.

Even after reaching the Foundation Establishment Stage, they only lived four or five hundred years, let alone at the Qi Refining Stage.

They had to gather enough power within that short time and advance to a higher realm. Even if they tripped over a stone while running or collapsed from exhaustion, they could not stop sprinting.

‘But I'm different.’

There were differences between individuals, but members of the Demon Race at the Great Demon Realm could easily live for two or three thousand years if they did not die violent deaths along the way.

In terms of lifespan, the Demon Race was overwhelmingly superior to the Human Race.

Jegyeong was the same.

The slow cultivation speed of a basic cultivation method? Unlike Human Race cultivators, Jegyeong could endure that slowness and frustration to some extent.

There were two reasons for that.

The first was the Demon Race's long lifespan, as mentioned above.

The second was that his cultivation had completely stagnated after reaching the Great Demon Realm.

He had spent a long time feeling miserable while his cultivation remained completely still. Compared to that, even this crawling pace gave him a sense of accomplishment.

Of course, if things continued this way forever... there might come a day when he reached the limits of his patience.

But that day was not now.

So, each day, he drank Spirit Wine, cultivated the Heat-Gathering Art, and recited the Clear Heart Mantra.

‘Still, I need a Spiritual Land. It's for my cultivation, but those two won't be able to endure this cramped place much longer either.’

Cheongo had already begun to show signs of it some time ago.

It could not be helped. They were supposed to fly freely through the sky, yet they had been forced to remain on a small island and its surroundings. How stifling must that have been?

At first, Cheongo still seemed to go out from time to time. Lately, aside from when they brought back something shiny, they had shut themself inside the cave like a recluse. The bird's once-cheerful demeanor had become somewhat gloomy.

Fortunately, Muk-su had become Cheongo's conversation partner again. Otherwise, who knew how much gloomier Cheongo would have become...

Muk-su did not seem to have a problem yet, but given its growth speed, it would soon have to leave the cave as well.

When that time came, it would need Spiritual Energy to bear fruit. Jegyeong believed that would be the case.

‘Hm.’

In any case, all of them needed a spacious Spiritual Land rich in Spiritual Energy.

“I'll be back soon.”

“Okay.”

Jegyeong glanced at Cheongo, who was absorbed in Muk-su, then left the cave.

Since he had left another Divine Sense mark on the turtle when they met before, it did not even take two days to find it.

“Greetings, Dragon Lord.”

The turtle did not look flustered at all when Jegyeong suddenly appeared.

Its humble bow even seemed detached from worldly concerns.

“Did you know I was coming?”

“Yes. I saw waves suddenly rolling in and knew that Dragon Lord had arrived.”

Whether because of the title Dragon Lord or the turtle's extremely respectful attitude, Jegyeong felt as though the turtle regarded him as its master.

‘It's put on some weight.’

Its whole body had grown, and it looked plumper and better fed than before. It seemed to have been eating well.

“I have something to ask.”

“Please, speak. If it is something I know, I will tell you everything.”

“I need information about Spiritual Lands.”

The size of the Spiritual Land did not matter.

He would be staying in one place to cultivate anyway, so it only needed to be large enough for Cheongo to move around safely without feeling confined.

‘A place rich in fire energy would be best, but there's no way a lake has somewhere like that.’

So Jegyeong had only one requirement.

There could not be any powerful beings or forces nearby.

“It would be even better if it were remote.”

“Hmm.”

The turtle carefully searched through its knowledge and memories.

Jegyeong had given only one condition, but that single condition eliminated most of the Spiritual Lands the turtle knew of.

‘Dragon Lord wants somewhere quiet. But is there a Spiritual Land like that? I think there was one...’

After struggling for several minutes, the turtle finally remembered something.

“Um... Dragon Lord. There is such a place, but there is a problem.”

“A problem? What is it?”

“It has an owner.”

“Isn't that only natural?”

How could a Spiritual Land not have an owner?

Jegyeong had naturally intended to defeat its owner and take it for himself.

“Uh... but the owner belongs to the Human Race.”

“...Human Race?”

Jegyeong's eyes narrowed.

Startled by his chilly reaction, the turtle hurriedly added an explanation.

“T-they belong to the Human Race, but they are not people affiliated with a sect. They are a group called the Black Sect Hall, people who attack and torment other Humans. The ones Dragon Lord punished before...”

“The water bandits?”

“Y-yes! They are in league with those water bandits. I saw them. Not long after Dragon Lord punished those water bandits, other people came looking for them. They seemed to be searching for the ones who had vanished. When they could not find anything, they tormented the other Humans on a nearby island.”

“They torment the Humans living on the island? Why?”

“I don't know either. Maybe... they were venting their anger?”

Jegyeong fell into thought for a moment, then praised the turtle with a few words and left.

The turtle did not raise its bowed head until Jegyeong had disappeared from sight.

* * *

“Fellow Daoist Gwak.”

“Fellow Daoist Jegyeong.”

Jegyeong met Gwak Jeongsin and bought Spirit Wine.

This time, he bought three bottles at once, thinning his funds considerably again. Still, it was an investment in cultivation. His heart ached, but he endured it.

“Haha. At this rate, won't you spend the entire value of your Spiritual Soil on alcohol?”

“That might truly happen. I'm not joking.”

After complaining a little about the high price of Spirit Wine, Jegyeong got to the point.

“Fellow Daoist Gwak. Do you know of a group called the Black Sect Hall?”

“The Black Sect Hall? You mean those water bandits? Of course I know them.”

“Yes, those water bandits. There are a few things I would like to ask about them.”

Gwak Jeongsin's puzzled expression was reflected in Jegyeong's vertically slit snake eyes.

Footnotes:

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