WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: WeTried Translations
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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈
Chapter 93: Body Cultivator
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The long horns that had been growing outward suddenly snapped off.
Thicker horns rose from where they had fallen away. At first, they seemed as though they would grow long like the old ones, but they gradually began to curve.
Crack!
Jegyeong opened his mouth wide and unconsciously breathed fire.
An agonizing yet refreshing sensation spread from the top of his head to the tip of his tail, as though a skilled, strong massage therapist were kneading his entire body. It was an unbearably intense sensation.
Boom!
When he lightly struck the ground with his tail, the floor of the great hall split apart, and the whole of Black Jiao Palace shook dangerously.
Cheongo, who had been sprawled across the nest with their belly against the ground, was flung into the air.
Still asleep, drool trailing from their beak, Cheongo blankly opened their eyes and tried to make sense of the situation. Then they fell back to the ground with a scream.
“Seriously!”
Cheongo shot an unfriendly look at Jegyeong, whose entire body was writhing.
They found Jegyeong utterly irritating. He constantly wrecked buildings and made thunderous noises.
Wasn't cultivation supposed to be about calm and stillness? Why was that bastard like this?
‘Huh? What did calm and stillness even mean?’
Cheongo was confused by the thought that had suddenly surfaced.
Calm and stillness? Cultivation? Had they seen that in a dream?
Yes, that seemed right.
But when had they seen it?
‘Ah, whatever.’
The more they thought, the sleepier they became.
Cheongo soon shut their eyes again, which had grown too heavy to bear. They stretched both wings out to their sides and pressed their plump belly against the ground.
Even as Cheongo woke and fell asleep again, Jegyeong continued trembling as he savored the increase in his Essence Blood and the lingering effects of Molting.
‘I was mistaken.’
Jegyeong narrowed his eyes as he felt his noticeably stronger body naturally hold and circulate more demon power.
‘The vessel has grown larger and sturdier. Naturally, the power it holds has increased and become denser as well.’
The difference was not enormous.
Still, it was unmistakable.
The prevailing path in the current Cultivation World was that of the Dharma Cultivator.
They refined Dharma Power to raise their realms. It was practically the only path available.
Body cultivation, on the other hand, generally served only as a supplementary discipline.
Tempering the body was slower than cultivating Dharma Power. Even after arduous training, it provided little increase in lifespan, so cultivators pressed for time had no room to pursue body cultivation.
Those called Body Cultivators in the present Cultivation World were not pure Body Cultivators in the end. They practiced Dual Cultivation of Dharma and Body and were only called Body Cultivators because their physical cultivation surpassed that of others.
The Demon Race was not much different from the Human Race.
Most members of the Demon Race were born with bodies far stronger than those of the Human Race, so they never felt any need to temper them.
Their cultivation was also usually based on the inheritance of their Bloodline. Since breakthroughs in realm were fundamentally tied to accumulating demon power, they cared even less about tempering their bodies.
Jegyeong had been the same.
His powerful body was his greatest strength, but it had relied entirely on Molting. He had never particularly considered tempering his body.
But now, Jegyeong had changed his mind.
He could feel that his strengthened body could absorb more Spiritual Energy from heaven and earth.
He could feel demon power flowing and circulating more smoothly.
‘Why is this different from before?’
This was not his first or second Molting.
This Molting had only been greatly accelerated by the power of Essence Blood. Otherwise, it was no different from his previous Moltings.
Could it be the effect of Essence Blood itself rather than Molting?
That was possible, but something about it did not sit right with him.
‘Maybe I was thinking about this the wrong way.’
Jegyeong suddenly recalled the various realms that existed for Dharma Cultivators.
Taking the Human Race as an example, they divided cultivation stages not only into major realms such as Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment, but also into the three minor realms of early, middle, and late stage.
Those were bottlenecks, large and small.
Such bottlenecks must have existed since ancient times, long before they were classified and named.
Then what about body cultivation?
If body cultivation was also one branch of the Immortal Path, would there not naturally be bottlenecks along that path as well?
‘I probably just don't know about them, but they must exist.’
Jegyeong was certain that the Human Race possessed inheritances of varying depth concerning body cultivation. Among them, there had to be knowledge about the realms of body cultivation.
Yet such knowledge would be of little use to him.
He was of the Demon Race, a Demon Beast.
Unlike Dharma Cultivators, who relied on Spiritual Essence, body cultivation relied on the physical body.
Since his body was incomparably stronger than those of the Human Race, their cultivation methods held no value for him even as a reference.
‘I broke through a bottleneck on the path of body cultivation.’
Then had he crossed a minor realm or a major realm?
Perhaps even such distinctions were inappropriate.
The division between minor and major realms was the Human Race's way of doing things.
‘Looking at it this way, separating Dharma and body cultivation itself seems foolish. If each can support the other, why is there any reason to choose only one?’
For the past ten years, he had focused only on accumulating demon power.
It had not been bad.
He had felt himself steadily advancing, and he was confident that the mid-stage Great Demon Realm was not far away.
His cultivation speed was exceptionally fast, whether compared to the Demon Race or Human Race cultivators.
Yet when he circulated the Burning Flame Art through his newly reborn body, he could clearly feel that both the quantity and quality of demon power he accumulated had improved.
‘I'm certain. This is the Proper Path. At least for me, it is.’
His heart swelled.
The Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth flowing in under the guidance of the Burning Flame Art became flames that flickered over his entire body.
Within the blazing fire, Jegyeong smiled in complete satisfaction.
* * *
Finding a new and better path was one thing. Walking it was another.
This might be a different matter, but who didn't know they could cultivate faster by stuffing themselves with spirit medicine?
Everyone knew. They simply could not eat it because they did not have any.
In that respect, Jegyeong's situation had not changed.
Whether he accumulated demon power or tempered his body, resources remained the problem.
The only difference was that he had a way to temper his body somewhat faster even without spirit medicine.
Crunch, crunch.
He poured several hundred Spirit Stones into his mouth at once.
It was an act that would make impoverished Rogue Cultivators' eyes turn red, but Jegyeong did not care in the slightest about the envy of such poor wretches.
He simply worked his jaws mechanically while carefully observing the “acceleration” that several hundred lowest-grade Spirit Stones brought to his body.
‘Not bad, but not particularly good either.’
Previously, he would have frowned at the poor value for money. Now, though, it was different.
Buying spiritual treasures with Spirit Stones took time and required luck. Besides, spiritual treasures that aided body tempering were generally difficult to find, so consuming Spirit Stones to accelerate Molting was not a bad choice.
‘Essence Blood.’
As he devoured Spirit Stones as if they were rice, Jegyeong thought about Essence Blood.
The Essence Blood of a Great Demon Beast had certainly been powerful. It fully deserved to be called the finest spirit medicine for body tempering.
His prior accumulation had helped him break through the bottleneck, but even taking that into account, the effects of Essence Blood had been quite impressive.
Once he had experienced its potent effects, it was difficult to forget them.
‘Where can I get more Essence Blood?’
The first thing that came to mind was an auction held by the Human Race, but Jegyeong immediately dismissed it.
A precious item like Essence Blood would be difficult to find at a small auction. He might see it at a large auction, but if he wanted to win the bid...
‘Forget auctions.’
If he would not buy it with Spirit Stones, he had no choice but to obtain it himself.
That would be easier and cleaner.
If he wanted the Essence Blood of a Great Demon Beast, he only needed to hunt a Great Demon Beast.
‘That sounds easy enough, but...’
Having personally hunted Great Demon Beasts and eaten their flesh, Jegyeong knew well that Great Demon Beasts possessing Essence Blood were rare.
Only those with exceptionally sturdy bodies, who had unknowingly advanced their body tempering cultivation beyond a certain point, were likely to possess Essence Blood.
Such Great Demon Beasts were rare, and there was no way to identify them.
At least, Jegyeong could not.
‘This is troublesome. I can't exactly hunt every strong-bodied bastard at random.’
Whether he had the ability to do so was another matter. Even dealing with the consequences would be no simple task.
If he were seriously injured, piranhas drawn by the scent of blood would swarm him. Even if that did not happen, he might attract the attention of powerful figures who disliked disturbances...
‘No, that's not it.’
Jegyeong thought of Jang Yeong.
The demon fiend with the upper body of a giant and the lower body of a cephalopod.
Jang Yeong had hunted Dae-yeong without hesitation.
Had the two held a deep grudge against each other? Or had Jang Yeong lost control after seeing wounded prey?
No, that could not be it.
If there had been a grudge between them, it would have shown at the exchange gathering.
Even if the calm and composed Jang Yeong had not reacted, Dae-yeong, that impulsive fish-brain, would have shown some response.
‘Jang Yeong has backing.’
When Jegyeong had visited Jang Yeong, Jang Yeong had not relaxed his guard despite Jegyeong's mild introduction.
That caution had eased only after Jegyeong revealed his nominal status as a guest elder of Dragon King Palace.
At the time, Jegyeong had assumed Jang Yeong had simply been intimidated by the prestige of Dragon King Palace, a great faction.
But now that he understood Jang Yeong to some extent, looking back on that moment, it could not have been so simple.
‘There are only two reasons Jang Yeong could have relaxed after learning that I belong to Dragon King Palace. Either Jang Yeong looks down on Dragon King Palace completely, or Jang Yeong believes that someone from Dragon King Palace would never harm him.’
The answer was obvious.
That was why Jegyeong found it strange.
‘I only need to find out now.’
Having made up his mind, Jegyeong raised his heavy body.
* * *
“Ah, Fellow Daoist Jegyeong.”
Jang Yeong did not look much different from when he had last met Jegyeong.
A considerable amount of time had already passed. Even if Jang Yeong had suffered some injuries in the battle against Dae-yeong, they would have healed by now.
“Fellow Daoist Jang Yeong.”
They exchanged greetings outside Jang Yeong's cave abode.
Jang Yeong was wary of Jegyeong, but Jegyeong's huge body also could not pass through the cave entrance.
“Fellow Daoist Jegyeong... it seems you have made some progress during this time.”
Jang Yeong's gaze swept over Jegyeong's even larger body before settling on the horns atop his head.
The long, awl-like horns from before had become much thicker, and they now curved in a strange fashion.
In some ways, they resembled a bull's horns, yet in other ways, they were entirely different.
Jang Yeong had never seen anything like them.
Still, Jang Yeong could sense that those unfamiliar horns were extraordinary.
Of course, the horns of a Jiao Dragon could hardly be ordinary.
“Well, I've merely avoided standing still. In any case...”
Jegyeong trailed off and narrowed his eyes.
“Fellow Daoist Jang Yeong. I heard you made a move against Fellow Daoist Dae-yeong?”
“...”
Jang Yeong's body stiffened.
His gaze darkened as it met Jegyeong's.
“...Yes. I did. Did Fellow Daoist come to see me today to blame me for that?”
“Perhaps I did, perhaps I didn't. Fellow Daoist Jang Yeong is clever, so you must have your own guesses about the gathering I held before.”
“...”
“Dae-yeong was lacking in many ways, but Dae-yeong was still someone in this area worth associating with. Yet Fellow Daoist Jang Yeong made a move against Dae-yeong, so didn't all my effort go to waste?”
Jang Yeong's stiff body relaxed slightly after hearing those words.
The tension between them did not lessen in the slightest.
“I understand. As for that matter... I apologize.”
“An apology in words alone is meaningless.”
“Of course. How should I apologize?”
“Fellow Daoist Jang Yeong. Were you not afraid of the consequences? Or did you trust in your backing? Dragon King Palace?”
Jang Yeong hesitated briefly, then nodded.
“Yes. That is correct.”
“As I thought.”
Jegyeong smiled faintly and coiled before Jang Yeong.
At the same time, his enormous, vertically slit eyes swept Jang Yeong up and down.
Footnotes:
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