WeTried Translations

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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 75: Harvest

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Once he had sensed the intruders and roughly gauged their cultivation realms, Jegyeong decided to capture them alive if possible.

There were several reasons for that.

First, interrogation.

Second, their Storage bags.

Third, their value.

The first needed no explanation. He had to find out where these bastards had come from and why.

As for the second and third, he was tired of fighting hard only to come away with nothing.

Still, capturing them alive was not something he could accomplish simply because he wanted to. If they proved stronger than he expected, he might not even be able to win, much less take them prisoner.

Besides, capturing them was not the end of it. Unless he had some special means of incapacitating them, an incomplete capture would only create endless trouble.

That was precisely Jegyeong's problem.

He did not know the Soul-Seeking Technique, nor did he know any special methods of restraint.

Fortunately, the solution came to him on its own.

“Dragon Lord! We caught the prisoners!”

The two Qi Refining cultivators who had arrived later from outside the island were the children of the Foundation Establishment couple.

Even more fortunately, and surprisingly, the couple seemed to cherish their twin children more than their own lives.

“Well done.”

Hyeon-gwi, whom Jegyeong had kept waiting underwater in case of trouble, had rendered great service.

“Me too! Me too!”

Well, Hyeon-gwi and Cheongo had.

“Are you all right?”

“Y-Yes.”

Yet the one who had contributed the most was Han Cheongyu, who had narrowly escaped death.

Had he not remained on the island alone and deceived the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, there was no telling how this battle might have unfolded.

Of course, Jegyeong did not think he would have lost to them. Their attacks could not even pierce his scales, so they had never had a way to defeat him.

What he meant was that he might not have been able to capture them alive.

Jegyeong did not know how to cripple Dharma Power. Nor did he know how to injure a person's soul or mind.

So, the most he could do to restrain these prisoners was crush their limbs.

Ordinarily, simple bodily injuries did not mean much to Foundation Establishment cultivators. Fatal wounds, such as a ruptured heart or a severed head, were beyond their ability to handle, of course.

But as long as they had Dharma Power, they could recover from severe injuries that did not kill them outright.

Yes. As long as they had Dharma Power.

Whoosh!

“Ghk!”

A tiny Demon Flame burned their flesh.

Seomuso and Yang Yuwan used what little Dharma Power they had left to resist the invading demon power. They did it for themselves, but also to save their children.

If they did not use their Dharma Power to suppress the Demon Flame, the Great Demon Beast before them would act at once.

“Good. I'll ask one last time. So...”

The two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Seomuso and Yang Yuwan, were very cooperative during his interrogation.

Whenever Cheongo took turns landing on their son's and daughter's heads, they spoke twice as fast.

They could not have been more exemplary prisoners.

In any case, according to their repeated confessions, someone had secretly hired them to attack Black Shark Island, which was likely Gwak Jeongsin's business site or treasury.

It was neither surprising nor unusual. Such things happened constantly throughout the Cultivation World.

“Hmm. I hope you'll tell the same story to the person arriving soon.”

“Someone is coming?”

“Yes.”

Seomuso and Yang Yuwan were not curious.

Only one thing mattered to them now.

“You'll keep your promise, right? Don't lay a hand on the children.”

Jegyeong snickered at Seomuso's murderous glare.

“I even swore an oath to the Great Dao. You don't trust me?”

A Great Dao oath was, literally, an oath sworn upon the Dao.

It sounded like wordplay, but its weight became clear when one considered what the Dao meant to cultivators.

The oath had no direct coercive effect. Yet cultivators, who had to remain true to themselves and keep their hearts free of guilt, could not take a Great Dao oath lightly.

After all, the Great Dao was what they had to pursue for all eternity. Swearing an oath to it was like placing heavy shackles on themselves along the Immortal Path.

To someone with no desire to advance on the Immortal Path, a Great Dao oath was no more than an empty verbal promise.

But to one who still carried longing and determination for the Immortal Dao, it was a powerful restraint.

Seomuso and Yang Yuwan could only hope that the Great Demon Beast before them belonged to the latter group.

They had tried to rob another's home, lost, and been captured. That hope was the only thing they had left.

Leaving the two silent Foundation Establishment cultivators behind, Jegyeong began inspecting the Storage bags he had taken from them.

The Spirit Stones were nothing special.

He had not expected much after hearing their identities and why they had come to Black Shark Island, so he was not disappointed.

They were raiders driven to rob others because their own pockets were empty. How many Spirit Stones could such people possibly have?

The Medicinal Pills were much the same.

All the Medicinal Pills used for cultivation were the sort Qi Refining cultivators would use, while the rest were unusual Medicinal Pills.

The Dharma Artifacts were at least somewhat presentable.

The Flying Sword Seomuso had used was of fairly high quality, good enough even for a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Flying Sword-type Dharma Artifacts were also the most sought-after, so it would likely fetch a good price.

Yang Yuwan's item, on the other hand, was quite disappointing.

It was a bell-shaped Dharma Artifact, and its functions were terribly vague.

It was said to clear a cultivator's mind, suppress heart demons, and repel evil things. It would be highly effective in certain circumstances, such as against ghost cultivators or devil cultivators.

But how often would those circumstances arise?

Ghost cultivators and devil cultivators were both quite rare in the Cultivation World.

Jegyeong guessed that Yang Yuwan had kept the bell because she had tried to sell it long ago, only for no one to buy it.

‘Still, this isn't bad.’

The Storage bags he had acquired before had belonged only to Qi Refining cultivators.

The Storage bag of the Black Sect Hall Master, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had unfortunately vanished into Jegyeong's stomach along with its owner. This was the first Storage bag he had obtained from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Even a poor Foundation Establishment cultivator's Storage bag far surpassed one belonging to a Qi Refining cultivator.

Since it was his first harvest of this kind, Jegyeong was more than satisfied.

A few days later, Gwak Jeongsin arrived on Black Shark Island.

“Fellow Daoist Jegyeong.”

Gwak Jeongsin greeted Jegyeong, then frowned when he saw the two haggard Foundation Establishment cultivators.

“Are these the ones?”

“They are. Their names are Seomuso and Yang Yuwan. They're a cultivator couple. Have you heard of them?”

Foundation Establishment cultivators were not common, but neither were they particularly rare.

Considering the population of the Human Race, one could even say they were everywhere. Gwak Jeongsin could hardly remember every early Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivator.

“Hmm. I believe I have heard of them.”

If he remembered them despite that, it meant they had something distinctive about them.

“They are fairly well-known Rogue Cultivators and Calamity Cultivators. I heard that even the number of small cultivation clans destroyed at their hands is too many to count on one hand. They wiped every one of those clans out to the last member.”

“Cultivation clans?”

Jegyeong asked doubtfully, and Gwak Jeongsin smiled.

“Cultivation clans are not necessarily impressive. Quite a few have fewer than ten members.”

Not every Rogue Cultivator was a Calamity Cultivator, but most Calamity Cultivators were Rogue Cultivators.

Seomuso and Yang Yuwan were no exception.

They were an uncommon pair of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their record was considerable, so their names were fairly well-known. They had survived this long because they knew whom they could provoke and whom they could not.

But no celebration lasted forever.

The little celebration of this Calamity Cultivator couple had come to an end because of a single mistake.

“May I question them briefly?”

“Go ahead.”

Gwak Jeongsin began by asking a few questions.

Seomuso and Yang Yuwan did not want to lose their precious children, so they naturally answered obediently. The answers they gave made Gwak Jeongsin's brow furrow.

He thought their testimony was probably true.

There was no obvious place for them to insert a lie, nor did they have any reason to lie in the first place. Having given up on their own lives and worrying only for their children, they looked exactly like ordinary parents.

“You won't use the Soul-Seeking Technique?”

Jegyeong approached and asked. Gwak Jeongsin gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

“I know how to use it, but I'm not skilled with it. If I were to use the Soul-Seeking Technique, their souls and minds would be ruined, and they would soon die.”

“What a shame. If Fellow Daoist Gwak pays an appropriate price, I'll hand them over to you. Then you can search their souls without worry.”

“Ha ha.”

Gwak Jeongsin shook his head again, making it clear that he had no intention of doing so.

Qi Refining cultivators had value as prisoners.

Whether used for labor or something else, there was demand for them. Fundamentally, it was because they were cheap.

But cultivators at Foundation Establishment and above were expensive, difficult to manage, and in very little demand to begin with.

Gwak Jeongsin already trusted more than ninety percent of their testimony. He did not want to pay such a large price to dispel the remaining sliver of doubt.

“I'm sorry that Fellow Daoist Jegyeong had to suffer through this disturbance.”

“I was a little surprised, but fortunately, I wasn't badly hurt.”

“This happened because of me, so I will offer appropriate compensation.”

Jegyeong had summoned Gwak Jeongsin to demand compensation, and Gwak Jeongsin knew it.

Jegyeong did not exaggerate the damage he had suffered, while Gwak Jeongsin did not try to dismiss the incident as insignificant.

Such low conduct would only damage their relationship.

They both understood the other's position and did not resort to petty tricks, so the negotiation went smoothly.

Jegyeong asked Gwak Jeongsin for a more advanced Formation Array inheritance and a useful Soul-Seeking Technique.

“That won't be difficult.”

Gwak Jeongsin accepted Jegyeong's request with a faint smile. He seemed relieved that Jegyeong had not asked for something greater.

“But a similar incident may occur again in the future.”

Gwak Jeongsin's meaning was clear.

He would offer compensation this time, but he could not do so again in the future. A transaction involved both profit and loss for each side, so each party had to bear its own risks.

From that perspective, Gwak Jeongsin had gone out of his way to show goodwill by paying compensation this time.

“I understand.”

Jegyeong did not make unreasonable demands of someone who had shown goodwill.

“By the way, is there a way to restrain Foundation Establishment cultivators?”

“Restrain them? There are Dharma-Restraining Artifacts that limit Dharma Power.”

“Good. I'll buy one. No, two.”

Jegyeong only smiled at Gwak Jeongsin's puzzled look.

* * *

Jegyeong had asked Gwak Jeongsin for Dharma-Restraining Artifacts because he intended to put the two Foundation Establishment cultivators to good use.

‘I should sell them to suitable buyers.’

To the Demon Race, Human Race cultivators were powerful tonics.

Yet if the medicine was too strong or unsuitable for the body, it could cause problems. Demon Race cultivation was fundamentally based on Blood Meals, making it crude and impure.

That was why Human Race cultivators who had built up pure cultivation were tonics for the Demon Race.

Their clean, refined Spiritual Power or Dharma Power could wash away the Demon Race's chaotic Aura.

Of course, this might not apply to members of the Demon Race born with noble Bloodlines, but most of the Demon Race were not like that.

There were conditions, though.

First, the Human Race cultivator serving as food and the Demon Race cultivator consuming that food had to be in the same realm.

If the Human Race cultivator's realm was higher, the Demon Race cultivator might not be able to withstand the medicinal effect. If it was lower, the medicinal effect might not be strong enough.

Second, the cultivation method practiced by the Human Race cultivator had to suit the fundamental attribute of the Demon Race cultivator.

Otherwise, it would likely cause problems. Even if it did not, the medicinal effect would be severely reduced.

Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of the Demon Race living in Yangseo Lake's waters had water attributes, and most Human Race cultivators around Yangseo Lake also had water attributes.

They were practically made for each other.

‘This will also give me a chance to make some connections in Demon Race society.’

That was right.

Jegyeong intended to sell these two Foundation Establishment cultivators, no, these two precious tonics, to suitable Demon Race customers.

He thought these two tonics would be very popular among his fellow members of the Demon Race.

‘Don't feel wronged.’

If they had lived by spilling the blood of others, they had to be ready for their own blood to be spilled someday.

Besides, this was a world where even those who spent their entire lives cultivating quietly before a wall could still fall prey to the wrong people.

There was no reason to feel wronged or sad.

The bolt from the blue that had struck another's head yesterday had simply fallen onto their own today.

Footnotes:

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