WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 330: Spirit Hunt (5)
──────
Hey guys, quick announcement before the chapter! We're hosting an original webnovel contest with a $1000 prize pool, a chance to publish your novel on WeTried, and lifetime free reading access for the top two winners!
There's also a participation prize of 500 coins for everyone participating.
If you've got a story sitting in a folder somewhere, or have been wanting to try writing one, we'd love to read it. You only need your first 10 chapters, and you have until 1st January 2027 to submit. New writers are welcome too!
Full details, rules, and how to enter here! https://wetriedtls.com/announcements/webnovel-contest
Feel free to send this to anyone you know who writes. Enjoy the chapter!
If you have any questions, please join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
──────
After Saryeon searched her memory, I concluded that No Jinha definitely didn't know.
For one, it was suspicious that No Jinha had come looking for me several times, not just once. Second, they had searched Mukrim noisily throughout the night.
If they had seen me fleeing with the Sunfire Monkey, they would have focused their search on that area.
‘At least that's a relief.’
I had cursed Maogong for quite a while because the Sunfire Monkey's inner core hadn't increased my internal energy, but it had ultimately led to a positive outcome.
Even if they checked my internal energy, they wouldn't find any sign that it had increased.
Besides, there wasn't any outward change that stood out either...
“But did you really eat a divine spirit's inner core? Your skin looks incredibly clear...”
“Ahem. Wasn't my skin always good?”
“You're talking bull... Ah, no! How should I put it? You seem to be sparkling right now. Even your hair seems to be shining strangely...”
That fucking bastard, Maogong.
“...How could I possibly catch something that hundreds of lecturers and Academy students couldn't catch on my own?”
“True... What could Senior Brother possibly do to catch one of Mukrim's divine spirits alone?”
“...”
What was that? Was she taking a dig at me?
I put aside my uneasy feeling and headed back with Saryeon.
Everyone was already awake when we reached the place where we had spent the night.
Still, why did everyone look so tense?
“No Jinha came by.”
“Really?”
“And...”
Eunho trailed off while glancing at Yang Japyeong. Yang Japyeong let out a quiet sigh.
“It seems Lecturer No is certain that Representative Jin went to hunt a divine spirit.”
How had things gotten to that point?
“Actually, I...”
“I'll explain.”
“...”
Eunho cut Yang Japyeong off and stepped forward again.
“Lecturer No kept picking at him, asking how he could manage the Academy students when Senior Brother wasn't here. I eventually told them that Senior Brother can read spirit veins.”
No Jinha had tried to pressure Namgwon Sect over its failure to manage the Academy students properly, and Eunho had stepped in to protect Yang Japyeong before blurting it out.
After hearing that, No Jinha had apparently become certain that I had gone to land the finishing blow on a divine spirit using my ability to read spirit veins.
“Is that so? I understand.”
“...That's it?”
Both Eunho and Yang Japyeong tilted their heads in confusion.
I wondered why they were making such a fuss over something so unimportant.
“The fact that I can read spirit veins doesn't mean I can hunt divine spirits. Even if I could, how would they prove it?”
The lecturers, including No Jinha, might pressure me a little, but so what?
If I ate the chicken and denied it afterward, not even the emperor could do anything without proof.
What could they possibly do?
“Is breakfast ready? I'm starving.”
I was ravenous after spending the whole night fighting with Maogong.
#
Even after morning came, our group continued exploring the Demonic Realm without incident.
If we went looking for them first, it would only make people more suspicious.
Yet even after the sun rose high and eventually set, No Jinha didn't come by again.
‘What's going on? I thought they would come after me with bloodshot eyes.’
Still, the forests of Mukrim began to stir again.
From the time the sun climbed high until it set.
Even after night fell, loud noises and explosive blasts continued to erupt.
“Do you think they're still hunting divine spirits?”
“Yeah. They made such a fuss, claiming Senior Brother had already hunted one, but it looks like they found another divine spirit in the end.”
Geumpyo and Eunho spoke while looking toward the direction of the latest explosion. I couldn't help tilting my head.
‘Maogong had clearly come here while being chased by the Academy students.’
Otherwise, there was no way he would have been caught by me so easily.
If that wasn't it, had they found another divine spirit?
I looked at Yang Japyeong, who was quietly serving porridge nearby.
“About the divine spirits. Were they originally creatures that lived in Mukrim?”
“What do you mean? Of course they have always lived here.”
Yang Japyeong said that Mukrim and its divine spirits were inseparable.
“Hmm... Then what happens when a divine spirit is hunted?”
“Mukrim is cut off from the world and operates according to its own laws. I have heard that when a divine spirit is absent, another divine spirit fills its place.”
“...”
A question came to mind.
Did that mean Mukrim recognized what it lacked and replenished it, like a person?
Perhaps realizing that my silence expressed doubt, Yang Japyeong continued explaining.
“If you scoop a bucket of water from a small pond, the place you scooped from does not end up empty with a gaping hole, does it?”
He then pointed toward the forest.
“When you cut down a tree, a new tree grows in its place, receiving sunlight and nutrients. That is the law of nature. You can think of Mukrim as a place where this natural principle manifests more clearly. That is why it is also regarded as a sacred land.”
That explanation made a little more sense.
“The Four Great Divine Spirits. How long have they been in Mukrim?”
“As I just said, the Four Great Divine Spirits have always been in Mukrim...”
“No. The Sunfire Monkey, Azure-Snow Ice-White Serpent, Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear, and Golden-Carapaced Roc. Have those four been here for hundreds of years?”
“...”
For the first time, Yang Japyeong hesitated.
“...The Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear and Azure-Snow Ice-White Serpent have existed for at least one gapja[1].”
“Hmm. So the Sunfire Monkey and Golden-Carapaced Roc haven't.”
“...Why do you ask?”
“What happened to the divine spirits that came before the Sunfire Monkey and Golden-Carapaced Roc?”
“...That cannot be known. Divine spirits maintain Mukrim's balance, and when their strength runs out, they meet their end on their own.”
Wasn't that too artificial?
“Then... do you know when divine spirits were first discovered?”
“Two hundred years ago. One of our ancestors first discovered Bulyangmanjo.”
“That was when Mukrim was designated forbidden ground.”
“...Mukrim had been considered dangerous even before then. But why do you ask? Is there some kind of problem?”
I lightly shook my head and smiled at Yang Japyeong.
“No. Mukrim is simply such a fascinating place.”
“Isn't it?”
“Yes.”
Mukrim's divine spirits were fundamentally different from the spiritual creatures of the Central Plains.
Only now did I somewhat understand why the Sunfire Monkey's inner core had been no bigger than a grain of millet.
It had been a divine spirit of Mukrim for less than sixty years.
Since divine spirits had never been hunted before, nobody would have eaten their inner cores. That was likely why so few people knew they had special effects.
I raised one more question.
“By any chance, has anyone ever found the corpse of a divine spirit that met its end on its own?”
Yang Japyeong shook his head as though he were sick of me.
“You really are impossible. You want to find out whether they had elixir pellets, don't you?”
It wasn't exactly the information I wanted, but it would be good to know.
“Yes.”
Though sighing, he explained in detail.
“No. I have heard that when divine spirits are nearing their end, they enter a hidden grave within Mukrim. It is an unknown space that neither Namgwon Sect nor anyone else has ever visited.”
I nodded along as though impressed.
“That is truly remarkable.”
“Mukrim is that kind of place.”
Yang Japyeong shrugged his broad shoulders.
Yet throughout the conversation, one hypothesis wouldn't leave my mind.
‘It fits too well.’
Mukrim being designated forbidden ground.
Divine spirits appearing, then quickly disappearing.
Even the fact that no divine spirit corpses had ever been found.
‘Everything fits together far too perfectly.’
It could be dismissed as coincidence, but I couldn't do that.
That monkey had even said “Heavenly Demon.” Could that be a coincidence?
What, was it some revelation from the Demon God?
There was no information whatsoever about Mukrim in either the Mantong Office or even the Profound Mystery Pavilion.
That meant the Martial Alliance had designated Mukrim forbidden ground long ago, then simply lost interest in it.
I would probably need to investigate this through the Hao Sect.
For matters like this, the truth was usually hidden among fragments of rumor.
Just as I was thinking that...
Tap tap tap tap tap!
I heard someone running frantically toward us.
A group of people came crashing through the undergrowth.
‘What is this?’
Their voices soon followed.
“T-there...! It's there! The smoke is coming from over there!”
“Let's go!”
The people cutting through the forest ran a long way in the opposite direction, then began shouting again.
“Damn it...! This isn't it! It's over there, over there!”
“Move! I'll find the way!”
“This fucking forest! Damn forest!”
The voices that had been swearing gradually drew close again, then abruptly turned right and vanished into the distance.
“Damn it! Not here either!”
“Fuck, somebody do something!”
...What the hell were they doing?
In the end, I had no choice but to walk toward them.
After passing through two natural formations, I finally spotted them.
Academy students drenched in sweat from head to toe, as though they had been running for ages.
“W-who? R-Representative Jin!”
“Jin Sowoon! Why are you here?”
“Don't tell me... You got lost too?”
What were they talking about?
Without bothering to hide my incredulous expression, I asked, “Weren't you following the smoke? What gave you the nerve to wander around without a guide?”
“Don't tell me... you made that smoke? T-then this place is?”
“Yes, the Demonic Realm.”
“...We weren't trying to come this far.”
The six Academy students were the same ones who had been moving with the lecturers.
They had been traveling with outside guides, so where had their lecturers and guides gone that they were wandering around alone?
“...We got lost.”
“How?”
“While chasing a divine spirit...”
“Quiet!”
One Academy student covered the mouth of the one who had answered honestly.
“Hmm...”
Remembering that No Jinha had visited three times last night, I asked, “Didn't you say you had already lost the divine spirit?”
“...”
“...”
They hesitated, exchanging glances like it was some great secret.
What was the point of hiding it now, after they had already shown their hand?
“Looks like you don't need my help. See you after the Great Journey ends.”
When I waved and turned around without hesitation, they panicked.
“W-wait! T-take us back to where the guides are... Then we'll tell you!”
“Hey! If we tell him, the lecturers will...!”
Tch. They still hadn't come to their senses.
“Mm, I'm not that curious. Oh, and be careful. There are a lot of demonic beasts in the Demonic Realm.”
As I slipped into a natural formation, desperate voices rose from behind me.
“I-I'll tell you! I'll tell you!!!”
I only stuck my head out of the natural formation.
“Eek!”
They staggered backward, crying and sniffling as though they had seen a ghost.
“J-Jin So...”
“Representative!”
“...”
No matter how urgent things were, shouldn't they address me properly?
When I shrugged, the Academy students grimaced.
“Y-yes, Representative! Most great and mighty Representative...! We'll tell you everything, so please take us with you.”
I had intended to bring them all along from the start.
The lecturers bore responsibility, but I couldn't just leave these students here to die.
It absolutely wasn't because I was swayed by being called mighty.
Of course not.
“Fine, tell me. What is it?”
But what they told me was more than I had expected.
“A-another divine spirit appeared.”
“Another divine spirit?”
“Yes...! The guide said it seemed to be the Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear.”
“Oh, really?”
It seemed the saying that people who did good deeds were rewarded was true after all.
I had really intended to take them with me from the beginning.
#
“...Must we go looking for them? We can gather everyone at the camp.”
Yang Japyeong objected with a worried expression.
“They abandoned the Academy students under their command and ran off. Can we really be sure no other students have fallen behind? What if those who were left behind wander through the Demonic Realm and get into trouble?”
“...Is that really your purpose?”
“Ahem...”
Yang Japyeong's suspicious gaze showed no sign of easing.
Why was he so incapable of trusting people?
With concern for the Academy students greater than anyone else's, I spoke passionately.
“There is no time for this...! At this rate, we may not be able to find the Earth Bear!”
“...Didn't you just say Earth Bear?”
“Ahem! One of the Academy students has the nickname Earth Bear. We have a very special relationship.”
“...Is he in the Orthodox Society?”
“Yes.”
Yang Japyeong sighed, then finally nodded.
“Very well. In any case, traveling through Mukrim without a guide is extremely dangerous.”
We changed direction and headed toward the lecturers.
As we moved toward the place where explosions had been ringing out all yesterday, we found more people who had fallen behind, just as expected.
“S-save us!”
“We're saved!”
“D-do you have water?!”
The Academy students were in even worse condition than the ones we had saved earlier.
They had quite a few injuries, and more than anything, they showed clear signs of exhaustion.
An Academy student gulped down water, then answered between ragged breaths.
“T-the divine spirit attacked us along the way.”
“Attacked you?”
“It was definitely different from when we hunted the Sunfire Monkey...! It was clearly skilled at killing. We barely escaped midway through.”
“...”
We gathered the stragglers and started moving again.
When we reached the place where they had fought last night, the situation was even more devastating.
The first death had occurred.
I turned around and asked what had happened.
“Th-the divine spirit... the divine spirit became enraged...”
An Academy student muttered strange words as though they had lost their mind.
Beside the corpse...
“Ugh, ugh...!”
A man dressed as a hunter, who had joined them as a guide, kept his head lowered and clutched at his hair.
“...I-it's the divine spirit's curse! It must be the divine spirit's curse!”
The hunter seemed even more out of his mind than the Academy student.
When I turned to Yang Japyeong, he let out a quiet sigh.
“...It is a rumor passed down in Mukrim. When a divine spirit is enraged...”
After taking a brief breath, he continued with shining eyes.
“...Every living thing in Mukrim meets death.”
I had the injured people treated first. We couldn't move while bringing them along in their current condition.
Then I approached the corpse.
Just as I reached out to inspect the wounds...
“...!”
Rrrr.
The Red Phoenix Bangle on my left hand began to tremble faintly.
[1] Gapja: a traditional sixty-year calendrical cycle.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
